Chương 55: Chapter 51

As Oraeus and Shepherd carried Shaya away from the front line, a zombie lunged at them with arms outstretched. An arrow slammed into its head, the force from the shot causing the neck to snap from whiplash. Several more rushed them, rotting muscles pushing the creatures up the hill at astonishing speeds. A stream of flame rushed past them on the right, catching a few of the monsters. The heat melted flesh from bone in seconds, causing a pair of them to fall apart.

The others rushed forward, heedless of the fire eating away at them. Shaya felt her limbs tingling as she regained control of her body. She tried kicking her feet, seeing how much force she could exert to either fight against creatures rushing her allies or maybe move on her own again. But despite the sensation, her muscles still refused to move. Another zombie went to lunge at them, but a small stone turned under its foot and tripped it up.

The next zombie to take a swipe had the attack miss its mark as something yanked its sleeve. The sprites bought them a little more time, but didn't make any progress in thinning the enemy.

"Duck!" Una shouted, a poleaxe whipping past them and taking off the head of the closest zombie.

"Stupid elitists," she said, jumping into view, "always trying to take all the glory." Una's poleaxe didn't slow after the decapitation and she snapped it down after another rotation, sweeping the legs of the zombies. The next two fell, but her giant manoeuvre left her open as another rushed towards her, arms outstretched. Bri lunged forward, bringing her bastard sword down with one hand as hard as she could. It wasn't an elegant strike, but it didn't have to be.

The blade cleaved into the zombie's head, dropping it. She braced a foot against it so she could unsheathe the blade from its skull, then moved on to deliver the coup de grâce to the prone zombies. A putrid green gas descended upon the entangling vines in the back, dissolving them but leaving the necrotic forms trapped within unscathed. As the other dozen zombies were let loose, Shaya noticed Umbresnakes slithering amongst them and on them for cover.

Beady little eyes glowed amethyst within the horde, ready to drop more of that caustic gas once the monsters drew closer. Shaya was certain that its range was very limited based on her observations thus far. An arrow flew past them, taking down another zombie with surprising force. But the one that followed thudded into a zombie with no effect. The spare arrows Ren was given were too small and thin for his bow, so his shots lacked the power and accuracy to make a difference against the horde.

He emptied them into the horde anyway, hoping for a lucky strike against an Umbresnake and having little else to do while everyone else braced for the impact.

"I can't believe I'm going to die standing next to you," Bri said, settling her bastard sword on her shoulder again. Una scoffed.

"I can't believe I'm going to survive because of a group of disturbed misfits."

"I can stand," Shaya managed, grabbing Shepherd's hand.

"Let me go."

"Are you…" Oraeus and Shepherd asked, looking at her.

"I'm back," she said, looking away from them.

"Looks like I lost my sword back there though."

"Here," Shepherd said, helping her up and handing her their knife—a wavy bladed kris.

"Thanks," she said, wondering how she was supposed to use this strange weapon. Shaya, Shepherd, and Oraeus joined the front line.

"I told you to stay with your people," Shaya said as she walked up next to Una.

"You're welcome for jumping in and saving your lives," she replied.

"We're even now, so go screw yourself." Shaya drew in Amber, but much of it slipped through her, her emotions still too tumultuous, even if she was in control again. There was no way she'd gather enough to cast the spell in time—the shambling monsters were less than ten seconds away.

"Brace for the gas," Shaya said.

"There are spawn amongst that horde ready to drop it on us. I can't defend us from it right now."

"Typical Amber mage," Una scoffed, more blood vessels having burst in her eyes, "sooo invincible until you put them in a tight spot where you need them most." Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. The insult bounced off Shaya, who was too exhausted and focused on the problem at hand to care. Part of her regretted the lack of influence, even the rational side of her brain recognizing that going berserk had its merits when she otherwise couldn't cast spells.

Especially since she didn't have a plan to get people out of here. No defensive magic. Everyone forced to use too much magic already, burning out their circuits. No time to drink potions. Too many injuries for a direct fight. If only I hadn't lost control of myself. If only I could draw in Amber. Shut up! Think! Adapt and overcome! Shaya's ears popped. A gout of flame roared from within the horde's ranks, similar to the streams of fire that Bri threw around.

The heat melted flesh, but not at the same rate as Bri's potent blasts. Where the gout made up for its lack of power was in its area—it was much wider than Bri's. While the burning zombies kept coming towards them, the Umbresnakes amongst them hissed in distress, their shadowy skin doing nothing to avoid such an indiscriminate area of effect. Caustic gas spewed around the horde, unleashed prematurely as the spawn panicked and died.

The weight of the gas caused it to roll down the hill, away from Shaya and her allies, saving them from its effects—at least those already cast. Looking over her shoulder, Shaya saw Apricot's reserve Lance had arrived alongside the professors. She had expected the professors to be behind the counterattack, but she was mistaken. Sweat beaded Apricot's forehead as she opened a small rift before one of her comrades, who channelled their flames through the portal and directly into the ranks of the enemy.

Rather than having her Ruby mage take up more energy projecting that power like Shaya had done with Bri, Apricot used her magic to share the cost and leave her comrade with energy to pump into their close-range spell or save for later. Shaya's eyes were drawn to Apricot's esper, curiosity compelling her to see what her friend bonded with. The spirit looked vaguely feminine in shape, her face veiled by hooded robes made of dark storm clouds that flashed with lightning.

A scarf covered her face, but two points of blinding, burning fire marked where her eyes would be, flickering from within solid shadow. The oddest aspect was the spirit's lower body: a large serpent's tail emerging from the robes and coiling about Apricot protectively. Shaya vaguely recalled words Rea and Apricot had used to describe such beings from their home: jinn, jann, janni?

One of Apricot's comrades rushed towards the front line, Shaya vaguely recognizing him as one of the shy people in her Abjuration course. They finished their invocation and a ward of translucent Amethyst energy erupted from the angelic spirit floating above them, protecting Shaya and her allies from further magical assault by the Umbresnakes. A boisterous voice called out next, finishing her invocation: "—fill these brave hearts with the energy to be heroes this day!"

A wave of energy surged over them, banishing their exhaustion while Samorn's music continued to give them strength. Combined, Shaya felt invincible. She turned back to her friends, kris raised high.

"Charge!" With reinforcements at their backs, Shaya's Lance charged in alongside Una, making short work of the remaining zombies and Umbresnakes under the watchful gazes of the chancellor and their professors. Less than a minute later, Bitey and her primal crow snacked upon the flesh of an Umbresnake amidst the destroyed bodies of their enemies.

Shaya spared a thought to what consumption of corrupted flesh would do to them, but dismissed her concern since they were summoned creatures anyway—and at least natural ones didn't feast on them unless desperate. After recovering their weapons and what arrows they could, Shaya and her allies walked back up the hill to where Bari and Apricot's Jade mage were seeing to Una's wounded. Zaal and Basillo stood aside, talking to one another in hushed tones.

The rest of Apricot's Lance had gathered together again, all of them but Apricot flopped to the ground to rest—their eyes bloodshot and their expressions haggard from the work they'd done today.

"Thank you for the timely save," she said, walking up to her friend.

"You were amazing!" Apricot blushed, then looked around at the marks of the battles that unfolded on this hill.

"It looks like you did more than your fair share of the work. I wish we could have gotten here sooner." Shaya nodded, looking at Una's injured comrades.

"I wish we got here sooner too." Una cleared her throat as she approached the two of them, looking more uncomfortable than Shaya had ever seen her despite the sudden lack of monsters trying to kill them. She rubbed more congealed blood off on the sleeve of her gambeson while looking at the ground hard enough Shaya expected her to start burning a hole to the centre of the planet.

"Look," she said, avoiding eye contact with them, shuffling uncomfortably and running a hand through her short, spiky bronze hair, "uh, thanks. For…saving my team…and me, I guess."

"You're welcome," Apricot said, voice soft. Shaya laid a hand on Una's shoulder.

"Don't think I'm letting you off easy with that…eloquent thank you." Una glared up at her.

"We have more to settle," Shaya said, smiling down at the shorter woman.

"Once we're recovered, you owe me a sparring match."

"Deal," Una said, the hint of a smile touching her lips and her bloody eyes.

"I'm going to do everything in my power to take you down."

"I'd be very disappointed—and bored—if you came at me with anything less than your best," Shaya said, letting her go.

"I probably still will be, to be honest." The two women glared at each other, but Shaya was happy to feel the hostility tempered into rivalry. This, I can work with.