Kryssa had never felt weak before.

  She’d felt outmatched. That other glamour she’d fought had beaten her soundly but that had been more about him being strong and experience than her being weak.

  It was different here. The Emptiness seemed to drain her in a way that the rest weren’t affected by. The wind boy stood tall and the druid, while looking lost, was still standing. She was giving her staff an experimental swing. She didn’t seem happy about the prospect.

  Halmir was suffering as much as her. The poor boy had fallen asleep in her pocket. She gave him an absentminded pat.

  It was probably because they were more magic than flesh between the two of them. Her arms felt heavy and shaky instead of their usual grace. It would almost be novel if she wasn’t about to be in a battle.

  The wind boy had come running to them with a warning about the Emptiness. He’d also let them know that Ratface had run off with some goblins. No doubt she was already meddling. Girl couldn’t help herself.

  The rest of them had been hurried off by the knight to go save the gaggle of adventurers. She didn’t really have time for them, but it wasn’t like she could just wander off. They’d found the group of the adventurers about the same time a giant light had burst over them. Abigail had taken control of the group and got them all in a line. She’d taken one look at how Kryssa was standing and sent her to the back with orders with someone to give her a bow. She’d never used a bow before, but Kryssa was naturally gifted, so it’d be fine.

  The adventurers had lined themselves in and around a fountain. Kryssa was with the archers standing on different parts of the inside of the fountain while the mele had put themselves either in front or behind the lip of it. It wasn’t a perfect place to hold up but they adventurers were surrounded before they’d had a chance to move. At this point pushing to any other spot would lead them to being overwhelmed.

  Kryssa was standing on a raised part just behind the lip checking her bow when the noise around her stopped. A moment before the adventurers close to her had been talking. They still were, but nothing was still coming out.

  A faint hissing filled the air as the area outside the fountain square began to fade into darkness. She knew something was out there, but she couldn’t see it even with her superior eyes. The hissing grew ever louder until there was a sea of dark between them. Then the clinking began.

  It started far away at first. The suggestion of a noise more than anything. It walked with a measured pace. It wasn’t in a hurry. It knew its prey wouldn’t be able to escape it.

  It got louder and louder as it got closer. The sound piercing into her mind with each step, filling her with a fear of the unknown she didn’t have. This thing is beyond you, it whispered to her. This thing would take her.

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  Abigail walked in front of them all. Her eyes met the adventurers one by one. No doubt they looked terrified. Not that Kryssa would know about that.

  Abigail sighed. She drew her sword; it looked dull in all the dark. She frowned, then tensed. Her sword burned blue in the dark and began to push it back. She raised it up, then plunged it point first into the ground.

  A wave of blue power rippled across the ground. It washed over Kryssa and there was a ripping noise as the sound reappeared around her.

  “That’s better,” said Abigail. She looked tired, but still stood tall. She glanced back at the dark behind her with a considering eye, but Kryssa didn’t see the same fear in her that she saw in others.

  “For many of you, this will be your first time fighting against the Emptiness,” she explained. She spoke like a teacher and her lecturing tone began to drain the fear out of those around her.

  “They are difficult foes, and they don’t die straight away. The face they get up after being killed leads some to believe they’re endless. I’m here to tell you, the solution to that. Kill them again.”

  She stood at the front where the fighting would be most difficult.

  “What about Halvin?” someone asked. Abigail glance back, she gave them a smile that was all teeth and viciousness.

  “Leave the old man to the old woman.”

  As if the insult was too much to bear, the Emptiness charged then. They were a sea of monstrosities. Each a twisted version of humanoid to monster. Kryssa fired an arrow across the way and struck on in the head. A small smile toucher he lips. She knew she’d be able to do it.

  In her pocket, Halmir stirred. He poked his head out to see the encroaching enemies. With a pop, he turned into a noble next to her. He yawned.

  “No changing or blinking for me in this fight,” he said. Then he was slinking closer to the frontlines.

  The Emptiness hit the adventurers. They smashed into the adventurers like a wave, but the adventurers held. They shoved the monsters back. She saw Abigail literally throw some backwards.

  “We’re used to fighting real monsters,” said Abigail, “come back when you have more teeth.”

  The adventurers around her chuckled and stood straighter. They stabbed into the closest group to them then pulled back. The ranged cohort Kryssa was a part of never stopped firing.

  The wind boy was holding one of the other spots in the circle. If Abigail was a wall, he was firmly like the spear he held. He stabbed forward and ripped into anything that got too close to him. His side kept its place not with strength but with sheer violence. There was no taunt from him, just the patient hunter waiting for its prey.

  The druid girl had set aside her staff and had grabbed someone’s spare mace. She lacked finesse but still fought well. Her hands were covered with bark that both stopped the empty creatures grabbing her and looked like they were adding oomph to her swings.

  Kryssa scanned across the line looking for Halmir. She hadn’t seen him in the first hit, so she hoped he was okay. She finally found him slipping through the line. Someone had fallen as one of the monsters attacked them. The creature was about to finish them when it collapsed. The rat noble had snuck behind it and cut it apart. He grabbed the fallen adventurer and pulled them back behind the line where they could recover and join where they were needed.

  Ratface’s friends were holding themselves well and the adventures were doing okay yet they weren’t winning. It was slow, but Kryssa could see from where she stood that they were being pushed back. That wasn’t the only problem. Amidst all the sound of battle, another noise carried through. It was quiet but was gaining in volume. The clinking still sounded in the background, and it was getting every closer.

  She hoped Ratface was doing something useful during all this.