Chapter 93 – Returning Through the Forest

I squeeze through the opening and welcome the fresh air of the forest.

A fist slammed into my armor from the right.

"ENEMIES!" I shout out, looking for the source of the fist.

All I can find are a bunch of outlines running around us, fast fuckers ducking through the trees and shrubs. How the damn shrubs grew so thick with so little sun is a question for someone with a very different interest from me.

I move to cover the entrance so Syro and the rest can come out and join me. Our best bet is to walk back to the horses. Maybe Elyne and Geta will hear us and join in.

"MOVE FAST! I CAN'T GET A GOOD COUNT!" I call out. I pull out my tower shield and brace for another attack. I'm not the best tank, but just about anybody could hold the line for a few minutes with a shield this enchanted.

Geta would be wonderful to have right now. Except the next attack doesn't come. Did they think the goblins were coming out? I can still hear them ruffling around in the brush, but what are they waiting for? "See anything?" I ask whoever has come out.

"Some type of animal. Can't read a thing from their minds. Werewolf maybe? They're moving around too much to get a good count," Syro says.

"Alright, we can take a pack of feral werewolves, but we should still meet up with Elyne and Geta. The open space on the road will be nice. How many still need to get out?"

Vanya speaks up, "I'm squeezing through now. I agree we need to move. Shimmer, can you control a burn around us while we run back?"

"Yes, they'll be able to pass through it mostly unharmed. So if one gets brave, we'll have them all crashing in on us."

"I don't think they really want a fight right now. It seems they wanted a piece of the goblins," I say, pressing forward. "I'll take the lead. Just be in reverse of how we came here. Call things out. No need to worry about drawing attention. We already have it. They may have more of a pack than what is around us right now. Five seconds, and we start!" I switch to a smaller shield and pull out my short sword. The trees still limit the size I can use.

Right at five seconds, a ring of orange fire surrounds us, and we start to move. The beast continues to move around us, but they stay away from the fire.

The way back is even slower now that we have to worry about the hiding beast. A few girls call out that they see fur moving around, so werewolf is a good guess. Hopefully, they attack us on the road. It would be good to get rid of the feral beast for the village.

Our luck doesn't hold out till we escape. About two-thirds of the way to the road, one comes bursting through, going straight for Inanos. Ioelena reacts first to the attack, hitting the werewolf with a time-dilation spell and letting Inanos hit it with a decay spell. The time dilation ends, and the beast withers away, but the rest have also crossed the fire barrier. A few take too long to pass and catch on fire. Their howls of pain shake our bones as the first wave reaches us.

I swing my sword wildly and bash out my shield, trying to keep them back from the mages. I hear Vanya doing the same behind me. Shimmer lets the wall down and switches to more targeted attacks. Syro doing her best to keep the beast attacking the flanks confused. Ioelena was careful to limit her magic to the ones in the back in case her pixie blood caused a trick that could hurt allies.

I can't get a good count, but it seems about two dozen werewolves surround us, howling and charging at our lines. My plate armor holds against their claws, so I focus on keeping them from hitting the mages.

The first few must have been the youngest, as they went down to the magic quickly. The rest seems to be able to shake it off or at least keep attacking through it. Several of the wolves have some healing passive. Their burns send them to the back, just to come back without a blemish on their fur.

Swords seem to work better on them, but Vanya and I can't get a good strike in and keep the mages safe.

Ioelena takes a risk and uses a bigger skill, one to slow time for your enemies. The problem is time is sped up for all of us. I do my best to control the hyper-speed, but I'm only able to chop the head off one werewolf before time returns to normal.

"GET CLOSE! VANYA AND I NEED TO DO THE ATTACKING!" I shout out, putting my shield away. I count on the mages huddling up and cast a weak barrier behind me. With that I switch to attacking, using a few skills to sharpen my blade and help me from getting knocked over. I get three with my quick strikes before I hear the barrier break.

"BARRIER!" Vanya shouts out giving us a few more seconds to strike. I get two more before the next barrier comes crashing down.

"PROTECT MY ALLIES AND SMITE THE BEAST!" comes from behind the wolves. The wind howls through the trees. A paladin's natural golden glow of her skills comes through the shrubs. I keep the offensive up, crushing any wolf I can reach. Elyne and Geta come storming in, focusing on keeping the werewolves from escaping. The wind did a good job knocking them over, letting the mages focus on attacking again.

Just two minutes after Geta and Elyne came by, we had the beast slain. The final count is closer to three dozen.

"Thank you for coming. I was worried we didn't get close enough for you all to hear us," I say, wrapping the beautiful wind mage up in a hug, getting wolf blood on her clean shirt.

"Elora! I work hard to keep the blood off my shirt, and you go wipe your bloody armor off on it!" she protests. "But, yes. It was faint, but the constant sound let us be sure it was a fight. Vanya cut a thick path through, so it was easy to run here."

"Good idea, Vanya, and good work, everyone. Does anyone have serious injuries?"

"I can't move my left arm," Inanos calls out.

"Have you tried a potion? I've got some extra if you forgot yours," I ask.

"I tried. Still not healing. It may have been some skill. Some of those wolves seemed old. Magic was barely scratching them. The worst took three of us focusing on her to kill," Inanos says.

"Sorry, I didn't..."

"No, no. You blocked more than enough. I think we just need to make sure Geta is with us in the future. Set up the camp a bit farther back so the maids can watch it. Geta and Elyne could watch the entrance so we have all the front lines," Shimmer interrupts.

"Yes, I should also bring guards even with all of us around. Still sorry. We can see if a healer in Lilin can help you. If not, the capital has plenty to try; I may even send you to see our future seed a little earlier. She should be able to send enough life mana to force out whatever is keeping it from healing. Let's get out of this damned forest if there are no other injuries."

"All good," Vanya says.

Geta takes the lead, Vanya and I take up the rear corners, and Inanos is in the center with Sextia.

On the journey back, nothing else jumps out at us.

"Are you able to ride?" I ask Inanos.

"I think."

"Join me. No need to have you fall off. Elyne, can you take her horse?"

"I've got it. But you owe for the shirt," Elyne says, grabbing the horse's reins.

"Yes, yes, dear. Now up you go, Inanos."

I help her up and then take off a lot of my armor with magic. The straps may keep it from being put on with magic, but taking it off is easy—though the maids will yell about needing to undo the straps.

Down to just the undershirt and pants, I hop up behind Inanos and hug her tight. Elyne and I sit in the middle of the formation as we head back down the road.

The sun shows it's about midday. We'll get back, report our findings, and eat. Once all that is done, we'll only have a few hours to travel with before the sun sets on us. Shimmer will let us travel for another hour or so before we have to break for camp. That should allow us to reach Lilin in two days if we keep the horses to a run.

We reach the village shortly, the mayor waiting patiently for our return.

"Thank you for your help. I'm sorry to see one of you come back hurt. We don't have a healer in the village, but..."

"Don't worry. I've got access to a healer. She'll just have to put up riding with her wife for a while. We also found a feral werewolf pack. We were able to kill what should be most of them. Just watch out. See any signs and put in a request to the guild. They had some elders in the attack," I say.

"Thank you. I will be sure to let everyone know to be careful. We prepared the lunch as you asked. Well, your maids did most of the work. They are quite skilled in a kitchen," the mayor says.

"Yes, they are quite skilled. We'll eat and be out of your way. Thank you for hosting us," I say to her.

"Always happy to have a princess come out. Especially when she helps us. If you follow me. We set it up in the square. Already have a few women ready to take care of your horses."

The square is really just a street in the middle of the town. There is an old tree in the middle of the road that gives us great shade to eat under, but not what you would expect in a square. The food is basic. Both the village and what we brought are meant to last, taking with it a lot of the taste.

All of us know we're on the clock, so there is much conversation, but I do manage to make Inanos let me feed her despite the wound being her weak arm. The elemental, trying to hide her blush as a princess, brings her food up to her mouth. It's so cute.

I need to get Alzi. Babies with these girls are going to be the cutest things ever.

Just like lunch, we finish the preparations in silence and make our way out of town.