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

  A fist smmed into my armor from the right.

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

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

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

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

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

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

  "Alright, we take a pack of feral werewolves, but we should still meet up with Elyne aa. The open spa the road will be nice. How many still o get out?"

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

  "Yes, they'll be able to pass through it mostly unharmed. So if os 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. o worry about drawing attention. We already have it. They may have more of a pack than what is around us right now. Five seds, aart!" I switch to a smaller shield and pull out my short sword. The trees still limit the size I use.

  Right at five seds, a ring e fire surrounds us, aart to move. The beast tio move around us, but they stay away from the fire.

  The way back is even slower now that we have to worry about the hidi. 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 vilge.

  Our luck doesn't hold out till we escape. About two-thirds of the way to the road, one es bursting through, going straight for Inanos. Ioeles first to the attack, hitting the werewolf with a time-dition spell aing Inanos hit it with a decay spell. The time dition ends, and the beast withers away, but the rest have also crossed the fire barrier. A few take too long to pass and cat 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 attag the fnks fused. Ioelena was careful to limit her magic to the ones in the ba case her pixie blood caused a trick that could hurt allies.

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

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

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

  Ioelena takes a risk and uses a bigger skill, oo slow time for your ehe problem is time is sped up for all of us. I do my best to trol 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 O DO THE ATTAG!" I shout out, putting my shield away. I t on the mages huddling up and cast a weak barrier behind me. With that I switch to attag, using a few skills to sharpen my bde 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 seds to strike. I get two more before the barrier es crashing down.

  "PROTECT MY ALLIES AND SMITE THE BEAST!" es from behind the wolves. The wind howls through the trees. A padin's natural golden glow of her skills es through the shrubs. I keep the offensive up, crushing any wolf I reach. Elyne aa e st in, fog on keeping the werewolves from esg. The wind did a good job knog them over, letting the mages focus on attag again.

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

  "Thank you for ing. I was worried we didn't get close enough for you all to hear us," I say, ing the beautiful wind mage up in a hug, getting wolf blood on her 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 stant sou 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 't move my left arm," Inanos calls out.

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

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

  "Sorry, I didn't..."

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

  "Yes, I should als guards even with all of us around. Still sorry. We see if a healer in Lilin 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 ers, and Inanos is in the ter with Sextia.

  On the journey baothing else jumps out at us.

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

  "I think."

  "Join me. o have you fall off. Elyne, 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, a. Once all that is done, we'll only have a few hours to travel with before the sus 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 vilge shortly, the mayor waiting patiently for our return.

  "Thank you for your help. I'm sorry to see one of you e back hurt. We don't have a healer in the vilge, 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 iack," 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 kit," the mayor says.

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

  "Always happy to have a princess e 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 expe a square. The food is basic. Both the vilge and what we brought are meant to st, taking with it a lot of the taste.

  All of us know we're on the clock, so there is much versation, but I do mao 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 o get Alzi. Babies with these girls are going to be the cutest things ever.

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