CH 238: Weathering the Storm

Claire bashed another approaching woman with her shield, barely slowing her down. It took stabbing her and kicking her back to finally slow the crazed attack. And that was after Claire’s side was cut by her sword. Thankfully, her armor took the brunt of the blow, but she could feel the pain shoot through her body.

Ana’s magic dulled the pain, but she could still feel her blood dripping down her body. Hannah was quick to cover for Claire while she got healed. The veteran knight was an expert at this exact task. Her Shieldmaiden class was meant for this exact scenario. She pulled the attention of the crazed women using her Warcry, which worked since Dream Drop lowered both intelligence and resistance when used.

Hannah dropped any pretense of attacking, letting the mages, Vanessa, and Clara do it for her. She focused entirely on her shield and blocking the progress of the crazed bandits. She held back at least six of the crazed women, and seemingly the last of them, while the normal ones were slowed down by Vivienne. She was adept at creating earth structures, so she could impede the bandits from advancing on their position.

Claire finally felt her wound close with no more blood dripping from it. She quickly charged the nearest bandit and used her Defensive Strike to stun and disorient her. With a quick few slashes, the woman stopped moving. Then she focused on the other five. Between Claire, Elsie, and Vanessa, they were able to focus down each of the remaining drugged-up women, while Hannah kept them at bay.

Now, all that was left were the sober bandits.

Claire glanced at Ursa, who’d taken the attention of the werewolves. Surprisingly, she was having issues taking them on. The remaining wolves had the same crazed movements and expressions as the women, so they were also on the drug. The Ravian was more confused than struggling. The drug-fueled craze was not something she was used to.

That brought Claire some relief. Ursa was nearly done with the wolves, meaning she could join the fight. A bit of curiosity sparked within Claire about what magic Ursa’s axe held within it. She could only guess some sort of power-up or anti-lycanthrope magic since she seemed so much stronger against werewolves than humans.

Shaking that off, she refocused on the women approaching them. There were sixteen left approaching them. Each one was filled with anger at what Claire and her group did to their members. They approached far more cautiously than their fallen peers. Vivienne’s magic was slowly giving out since her earth barriers were crumbling.

Clara regrouped with Claire and Hannah to fill them in. The veteran adventurer had several of her own injuries that she was ignoring. Ana’s radiant magic engulfed her as she spoke. “Vanessa has maybe a dozen more arrows; she needs some to be retrieved, or else she’d have to use her knives. Vivienne is out of mana. She needs time to recoup some. Your mages seem to have more, but I can’t tell.”

Claire nodded. She glanced at the twins, both of whom looked worn out. Elsie was more worn than Ana. She’d been casting her offensive magic more. “Elsie’s got a bit before she’s out, I think. Ana should be fine.”

Clara pursed her lips. She glanced at the women approaching them. They had maybe thirty seconds until Vivienne’s magic crumbled and gave way to the approaching bandits. “What should we do?”

“Hold them back,” Claire said, glancing at Ursa. “Ursa is almost finished with those wolves. She’ll be able to aid us once we’re done.”

Clara’s eyes widened. She’d been so focused on the fight in front of them that she neglected to pay attention to the Ravian. She assumed the woman took the wolves' attention to distract them, not to fight them. Run off and bait the wolves to follow her. Her Trance did make her far more tunnel-visioned.

“What in the fuck are you gals?” She muttered.

“We’ll explain later,” Claire held back a smile. “Scout the flanks first, make sure no one slipped behind while we were fighting.”

“Gods,” Hannah chuckled. It was clear she had a wide smile under her helmet. “She’s seeing what Jasmine refused to see. You three from Restol are not normal.”

Claire didn’t get a chance for a follow-up, since Vivienne shouted their way. “I can’t hold on any longer!”

Her cry snapped them back into focus. Clara’s mind tunneled back on the fight ahead, her wounds now completely healed. Normal fighters she could handle; it was the drugged-fueled ones she had issues with. She cracked her neck, then her knuckles, before diving behind a tree.

Claire and Hannah stood shoulder to shoulder again. They’d need to get through the two to get to the mages causing them so many issues. Clara had already moved from her position to secure the flanks. The only real way to get to the mages was through Claire and Hannah.

However, it was practically suicide.

They’d more than proven to be formidable opponents, so it left the remaining bandits somewhat hesitant. Yes, these adventurers killed their comrades. But bandits were inherently selfish individuals. Several of the women ran and cowered out of the fighting. They raced back towards the carriages.

Five or so left the fight to escape, which could pose a long-term problem. But they couldn’t focus on that now. They had to focus on the women who were still choosing to fight. The ones remaining were too mad to leave now.

They charged the two women as a group to overwhelm them. Their suicide charge was not something that they were expecting. Claire and Hannah barely had time to react, and neither did the mages. They were expecting the crazed tactics to be over. All the duo could do was plant their feet and hold their position against the mob of people.

Claire braced herself and mustered all her strength the moment one bandit got close to her. She took a risk to slow the momentum of the group. She used her Defensive Strike to bash the closest woman, then quickly kicked her back into her comrades. She didn’t know if it worked or not, since she was tackled to the ground by another.

Claire felt pain shoot through her shoulder, but she couldn’t focus on that. She grappled with the woman, using her legs to gain control. She released her sword and went for her own knife. She felt something leave her shoulder and blood gush down her left arm. She ignored it to wrestle for control.

Hannah would have laughed if she could upon seeing what Claire did. She knocked the fastest bandit out cold, then sent her body flying into the group of women. But Hannah had to focus on the women that Claire didn’t slow down with her maneuver. She held her ground and kept the women in front of her. Again, she found herself focusing entirely on defending.

The women sent back by their unconscious comrade were quickly attacked. Elsie’s firewall ignited beneath their grouped feet, followed by several well-timed arrows. Their suicide charge made them far too grouped up. Their shrieks echoed through the forest as Elsie’s fire burned them.

Still, they kept going.

They pushed forward even while they were on fire. If Elsie’s fire weren’t magic, they’d have set the whole forest on fire. They charged at Claire, who was still occupied by the bandit she was wrestling. She exchanged blows with the woman, who clung to her wounded arm and shield. Claire stabbed rapidly into the woman until the strength faded from the bandit.

She rolled back, abandoning her shield but regrabbing her sword with her wounded left arm. The bandit clung to her shield even in death. She resheathed her knife and swapped her sword to her right hand. She looked up to see several women already nearly on her.

Thankfully, Ana’s Ward stopped them. They banged against the invisible wall with their weapons and skills in an almost feral manner. Claire caught her breath and went for her shield. She had a sinking feeling that the fight wouldn’t be over.

She glanced at the woman she had just killed. Her lifeless body seized, then shook violently as she shed her human skin. Claire grabbed her shield the moment she could and joined Hannah.

“There’s more wolves!” Claire shouted as she got to her feet.

She pressed her back to Hannah’s and watched the wolf spring from the lifeless bandit’s body. It stared directly into Claire’s eyes, baring its teeth. It lunged for Claire with blinding speed, and Claire could barely get her shield up. She angled her shield as best she could with her weakened arm. She pressed with her other hand, shoving the wolf away from her and Hannah.

She let out a cry of pain as her wound worsened with strain. Ana’s magic and her aura were helping, but not fast enough. The wolf bounced off Ana’s ward and quickly back onto her feet. It rushed towards Claire once more before something landed between Claire and the wolf.

Ursa’s axe slammed into the ground between them, its head lodged into the ground.

Claire blinked and dared a glance towards Ursa. She saw a white blur crash into the women the moment Ana’s ward came down. Claire dropped her shield and sword in favor of Ursa’s axe. She pulled it from the ground and felt its magic radiate in her hand.

She gripped it with her weakened hand and stared down the wolf.

Her body moved without thinking, or maybe it was the axe. She swung downward before she even knew the wolf pounced. She swung with all her might and ignored every bit of pain flowing through her body. The axe crashed into the wolf’s back, slamming the wolf straight into the ground. She did not notice how the ground shook beneath her nor the bone-breaking sound that echoed through the forest, but the women around her did.

Hannah paused. She let Ursa take care of the remaining women. She turned back to Claire with wide eyes. “What the fuck?”

Clara, too, stopped after striking a woman down. At first, it was because of the white werewolf that appeared and attacked the bandits. Then she felt the ground shake. She watched Claire pull the axe from the wolf’s body and turn to finish the rest off.

Had a werewolf not been ravaging their ranks, the bandits would have been shocked too. But they had to focus on not dying at the moment. They weren’t long for the world since Claire joined Ursa in finishing them off.

Six women watched like statues as Claire tore through the bandits with Ursa’s axe. She was exhibiting strength closer to Ursa and much more than they’d seen before. In a matter of moments, the remaining bandits were ruthlessly cut down. Claire let out one last war cry, before her vision blurred.

Ursa was quick to soften Claire’s fall with her wolf body. She shifted the now passed-out Paladin onto her back and walked towards the frozen knight. She let out a small yip to pull Hannah out of her frozen shock. The knight flinched, then quickly picked Claire up.

“What the fuck do they feed you in Restol?”