Immediately after hearing the alert, Sera shifted her magic binoculars towards the southwest. The nachzehrer reinforcements were still extremely far away, but they had already dismounted their transports and formed up. While this second army was the same size as the first, it had chosen to organize itself differently.

  “Dalian, there’s a second army incoming from the southwest,” Cadenza informed her second through the communicator. “Composition is the same, but they’ve interspersed their gunners among the vanguards and pushed their leapers further afield.”

  “Why split themselves and let us defeat them in detail like that?” Dalian replied, asking the question Sera had on her mind as well.

  “Best guess? They hoped we’d either hold back on our artillery in case more nachzehrer showed up or that we’d go all in and waste all our energy on the first group, allowing them to learn how we fight while depleting our strength,” Cadenza theorized while working her jaw. She’d been outplayed and she knew it.

  “Well, if that was the goal, they succeeded on the second point. The same strategy won’t work twice. Do we pull out?” asked Cadenza’s lieutenant with surprising nonchalance. A low hum came from Cadenza as she tossed the question over in her mind.

  “First I need to know how bad our casualties are,” she prompted Dalian in the end. His image seemed to look around, probably taking stock before answering.

  “No deaths, thank the high elves, but at least a quarter of my mages are injured and everyone is exhausted,” the elf reported.

  “Not as bad as it could be…Dalian, pull back to the fortress for now, and assign a scout to retrieve my swords. I think we still have a high chance of winning, but we need to rest and have the clerics that stayed behind heal the wounded,” Cadenza ordered resolutely.

  “You said yourself survival is most important, boss. What’s got you so confident?” Dalian questioned with suspicion. For her part, Sera was getting worried that Cadenza was more committed to this fight than warranted- and more than she had let on.

  “There’s only so many ways to the top. We’ll split our forces and wait for them at the top of the stairs- that traps them in a choke point while denying their leapers the advantage at the same time,” Cadenza replied, but Dalian only narrowed his eyes.

  “That leaves the elevator and assumes they don’t just climb the sides instead of using hidden entrances. Which isn’t even mentioning their artillery,” Dalian argued. Behind Cadenza, Tiriana and Sera traded a concerned look, but neither chose to interrupt.

  “Only so many of them can fit on the elevator at a time- a much smaller force can hold it. If they climb, we retreat into the tunnels ourselves. As for the artillery, it will be some time before they enter range of that side of the fortress, so I’ll be holding my position and preparing another round of railguns to eliminate it,” Cadenza listed off point-by-point.

  “Leapers are stronger in tight spaces. How do you propose we deal with that?” Dalian interrogated relentlessly. But while Cadenza didn’t have an answer to that, Tiriana did, so she decided now was the moment to speak up.

  “Have the clerics bestow a water-walking miracle and then have your mages coat the tunnels in ice. In a narrow space like a hallway, there’s less surface area to worry about, so you should be able to cover a long stretch of tunnel easily,” she proposed, stepping up beside Cadenza.

  “Hm…that should work, yes. Even if their soles were spiked, that would result in the ice cracking under their feet and shattering, which would just as surely destroy their footing.” Dalian took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. “Alright, boss, I’ll give the order. But I want you to promise me that if further reinforcements arrive before the barrier is up, you’ll call the retreat.”

  “I wouldn’t commit to a fight I don’t think we can win. I promise,” Cadenza assured the elven adventurer. Mollified, he ended the transmission. As she placed her communicator back in her pocket, Cadenza turned to Tiriana and Sera.

  “Could you-” she began, but she stopped midsentence when a piercing whistle rose up from the direction of the settlement. “What was that…?”

  Although Cadenza and her mages looked confused, Sera’s mind flashed back to a conversation she’d had the previous day.

  “That must be Isidro. He told me he was going to keep an eye out for surprise attacks,” she informed the others, who immediately looked alarmed.

  “If they seize the settlement before we can reposition, we’re going to have to retreat.” Cadenza’s had swiveled away from the direction of the settlement and back towards Tiriana and Sera. “You two are the only ones that came mounted. Can I ask you to head back first and send up another signal to let us know the situation?”

  “Sure, but what should the signals be?” Tiriana answered, posing a question of her own.

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  “Let’s keep it simple. A red flare if it’s time to run and blue if you think we can retake it,” Cadenza instructed.

  “Fire isn’t my strong suit, but…I think I can manage some flares. Sera, it might be safer for you to wait here,” Tiriana replied as she looked to Sera.

  “If you ask me, the safest place for me right now is inside your barriers. Besides, maybe I can help you with illusions,” Sera decided without a second thought. Tiriana just nodded and strode towards the stairs, Sera following along behind her.

  Verinilla and Soswa rose from where they were laying when they saw the two women descending the stairs. Neither looked terribly perturbed by all the noise. Having had time to rest from the run there, both flokkas were more than ready to make the return trip. Tiriana and Sera mounted up and dashed back towards the settlement, the trip passing mostly in tense silence.

  At least, silence prevailed between the two of them. As they drew closer, a sound like cannon fire began to reach their ears, growing in volume the nearer they grew. It was highly intermittent, but provided a direction for the two women to head in. When they were approaching the center of the small settlement, a figure burst from a nearby alleyway before spinning in their direction, drawing an enormous compound longbow as he took aim at something above them.

  Air split as Isidro released his hold, launching an arrow that sailed forth at a speed it had no business reaching. Sera whipped her head around to find out what the hunter was shooting at and witnessed a leaper as it landed on the top of a nearby building, balancing precariously on the walls for lack of a roof. In its arm was an arrow Sera recognized as one she had assembled herself.

  “Tch. Bugger guarded its face at the last moment,” Isidro spat as he drew another arrow from his quiver. Before he could nock it, however, the leaper vanished.

  “How many are we dealing with?” Tiriana asked, straight to business. Remaining alert, Isidro answered while glancing around for his next target.

  “Hard to say. They’re fast. That one was the first I’ve hit, so if we see one with an uninjured right arm we know there’s at least two. I’m learning how they move, though- won’t be long before I land a killing shot,” Isidro informed the elven mage.

  “I’ll start laying down ice- I can’t cover the entire settlement with it, but that should narrow down where they can land,” Tiriana replied as she began to cast.

  “Don’t,” Isidro interrupted. “I’m fairly certain this is a distraction. I saw some of them head towards the elevator- at least half a dozen.”

  “They can’t possibly know we’re trying to restart the core, can they?” Sera asked Tiriana, absentmindedly stroking Verinilla’s neck out of nervousness.

  “Probably not…they must be planning to scrap it or use it for something themselves,” Tiriana replied after considering the question. “Isidro, where are Layla and Rinnie?”

  “Last time I saw them they were headed for Broviss’s forge. Probably looking to rearm,” the man answered as he began to draw his bow. An instant later he shifted his aim and loosed an arrow, sending a gust of air through the road. Sera couldn’t see what he’d fired at from her position, but she heard the arrow hit something. “Hm. That leg won’t be doing it much good anymore. Wasn’t hurt, though- seems there’s at least two.”

  “They’re not even trying to get closer,” Tiriana observed. “I think you’re right- they just want to keep our attention on them, not the core. Isidro, I’m going to send up a blue flare to let Cadenza know the settlement hasn’t been captured- if you hold out for a while longer you’ll have all the reinforcements you could want.”

  “Reinforcements? Bah, this is barely a hunt as it is. Odds are I’m done by the time they get here,” Isidro boasted with a cool confidence. “Send your flare off and get to the elevator. They might actually need you at the core.”

  Tiriana launched a spell directly up, a dark blue fireball that stood out even against the blue sky above. It exploded with more sound than substance, probably a result of Tiriana compressing air to make up for her lack of skill with fire, but the wisps of flame that trailed away likely got the point across.

  “Should we find Layla and Rinnie first?” Sera asked Tiriana once she’d finished.

  “No, that’s just wasting time. We’d have to cover the same stretch twice to go there and back…better to just let them make their way here on their own and have Isidro point them our way,” she replied as she spurred Soswa forward. Verinilla followed on his own without Sera having to prompt him.

  “How many adventurers did Cadenza end up leaving down there, anyway?” Sera inquired as she let Verinilla do his thing.

  “Two parties, I think, but at least some of their mages were assigned to the wall with her. Vivi was asked to join them to make up the numbers with her healing miracles,” Tiriana responded with a note of worry.

  It took less than a minute to arrive at the structure built around the elevator. Entering on flokka-back, Tiriana illuminated the interior with a short lived spell before dismounting once she was satisfied the room was empty. Sera followed suit and they moved to the elevator, finding the door closed, a sure sign someone had recently gone down. Rushing to the call button, Tiriana pushed it and tapped her foot impatiently while they waited.

  “I’m sure she’s fine,” Sera whispered comfortingly.

  “Yeah. If all else fails she can consecrate the door to the core room.”

  The door opened and the two women stepped onto the platform, which began to descend as soon as Tiriana chose the floor. When it reached its destination they both started forward at a light jog, Sera taking care to remain close to Tiriana where the elf’s barriers could protect her as well.

  “Look: the lights are dimmer,” Sera pointed out as they moved rapidly down the first hallway, dodging traps Tiriana had marked on their last trip through.

  “That’s a good sign. It means our people have probably figured out how to turn off the core. All that’s left is to repair the connections,” Tiriana said between breaths. As they advanced, Sera realized there were no sounds of combat ahead- either a very good sign or a very bad one.

  Fortunately it turned out to be the former, at least arguably. They emerged into the room where they had fought the cyclophant just the other day to find five dead nachzehrer- but they hadn’t gone down easily, judging by the wounds decorating the eight adventurers one the opposite end of the room.

  “Thank Adventure you’re here!” Vivi exclaimed when she sighted them. She stood from where she had been healing a man in broken armor who was clutching at his ribs. “There’s at least two more nachzehrer down here with us- they went towards the security switches during the fighting!”