The force of the explosion tore through the night, scattering debris and sending searing heat radiating outward in devastating waves.
Kael slammed into the ground hard, his body twisting reflexively to roll and absorb the worst of the impact. Pain flared through his shoulder and side, but he forced himself upright immediately, scanning through the billowing smoke and settling dust.
Mira had landed near a fallen tree, already pushing herself to her feet with a sharp intake of breath. Sera groaned from several paces away, her bow lying just beyond her reach where it had been thrown by the blast.
The horses, spooked by the explosion, had bolted into the darkness, their panicked hoofbeats rapidly fading into the distance. Kael wiped dust and ash from his face, his mind already processing the tactical situation.
This was a well prepared ambush. Waiting specifically for them.
A deep, crackling voice echoed from the darkness ahead. "Leaving so soon?"
The smoke began to clear, revealing three figures standing in deliberate formation across the road.
The first was an elderly man dressed in traditional Earth Kingdom military robes, his long silver beard catching the dim light from residual flames that danced in his open palms.
A pyromancer, powerful enough that fire responded to his will without visible effort. His eyes blazed with controlled intensity, but his posture remained almost relaxed. Confident, even.
Beside him stood a hairy middle-aged man whose muscular frame strained against the confines of his armor. Yellow eyes reflected firelight like an animal's, and when he grinned, fangs gleamed wickedly.
He cracked his knuckles with deliberate slowness, each pop echoing in the sudden silence. A werewolf, and not newly turned, judging by his control and presence.
To the werewolf's right stood a woman in flowing blue robes that seemed to move even without wind. She observed them with eerie calmness, her expression neutral and calculating.
Faint ripples of water magic swirled at her feet, and moisture glistened on her palms where power gathered. A hydromancer.
Kael exhaled slowly, assessing. 'A well-rounded squad. Fire for raw destruction, water for control and defense, physical power to exploit openings. This won't be easy.'
The pyromancer tilted his head slightly, studying them like insects pinned to a board. "Three little rats sneaking through our kingdom, stealing our secrets." His smile didn't reach his eyes. "You should've left when you had the chance."
Kael's grip tightened on his dagger. "And let you continue feeding lies to your people? Sending them to die for a manufactured war?"
The elderly man laughed, a dry, papery sound. "You misunderstand, boy. I don't care about the war's justifications. I care about maintaining order. About eliminating problems before they spread." His eyes hardened. "You three are problems."
The werewolf, Garth, rolled his massive shoulders, joints popping audibly. "Can we stop talking?" His voice was rough, impatient. "I'm tired of waiting. Let me tear them apart already."
The water mage sighed delicately, brushing a strand of dark hair from her face. "Patience, Garth. If they had the nerve to infiltrate Lord Elric's manor and escape with stolen documents, they must possess some capability."
Sera, now back on her feet, wiped blood from her split lip with the back of her hand. "Capable enough to ruin your entire evening, at minimum."
The pyromancer's smile widened, showing too many teeth. "Then by all means, let's see it."
Kael moved first.
He surged forward explosively, his enhanced speed making him little more than a blur in the darkness. His dagger aimed straight for the pyromancer's exposed throat, the most dangerous target, eliminate him first...
WHOOSH!
A wall of flame erupted directly in his path, forcing Kael to veer sharply to the side. He barely escaped the blast radius, heat licking at his cloak and singeing exposed skin.
Movement in his peripheral vision. Garth was already closing the distance with frightening speed, covering ground in massive, loping strides that ate up space impossibly fast.
Kael dropped into a low crouch just as clawed fingers ripped through the air where his head had been a heartbeat before. The wind from the strike alone was violent.
Garth's follow-up came instantly, a devastating knee aimed at Kael's midsection. Kael twisted at the last possible moment, but the blow still connected partially. The impact sent him skidding backward, boots tearing furrows in the dirt.
Across the battlefield, Mira raised her staff high, lightning crackling between her fingers as she prepared to unleash a bolt at the pyromancer.
But the water mage reacted before she could release it, a surge of conjured water crashed into the building electricity, neutralizing the spell in a hissing explosion of steam.
Sera loosed an arrow at the pyromancer's head, her aim perfect. The shaft melted in midair, reduced to ash before traveling even halfway to its target.
The elderly man sighed, almost disappointed. "You'll have to do significantly better than that, child."
He raised both hands overhead in a deliberate gesture.
Flames erupted from the ground itself in a curving line, forming a barrier of fire that cut Kael's group off from one another. Mira rolled away from the sudden inferno, barely avoiding being engulfed. The heat was intense enough to make breathing difficult even at a distance.
Kael's jaw clenched. 'They're separating us. Classic tactics.'
The werewolf bared his fangs in a sadistic grin, yellow eyes gleaming. "No more running now, little human."
Kael didn't waste breath responding. Garth lunged again, moving with terrifying speed for something his size. Claws swiped in a horizontal arc aimed at Kael's chest. His cloak tore, threads parting like tissue paper as he barely twisted away.
But instead of retreating, Kael stepped forward into the werewolf's guard. The unexpected aggression caught Garth off-balance for just a moment. Kael drove his dagger upward, sinking the blade deep between the werewolf's ribs.
A normal opponent would have dropped. Would have died.
Garth merely laughed, a wet, gurgling sound that should have been impossible with a punctured lung.
Kael's eyes widened in shock as he watched the wound begin healing immediately, flesh knitting together and actually 'pushing his dagger out' with a sickening squelch of displaced tissue.
"Cute trick," Garth growled, his grin widening. Then his hand shot out, iron fingers clamping around Kael's wrist like a vice. "My turn."
Kael felt the bones in his arm groan under the crushing pressure. Pain radiated up from his wrist in waves. Garth's free hand pulled back, claws extended, aiming for Kael's exposed ribs in a strike that would gut him.
Kael acted on pure instinct and desperation.
He activated Abyssal Pulse.
Dark energy erupted from his body in a visible shockwave, the air itself seeming to warp. The pulse slammed into Garth at point-blank range, sending the werewolf staggering backward several steps, not far, but enough.
Kael ripped his wrist free and immediately created distance, breathing hard. His arm throbbed where Garth had gripped it. His dagger felt inadequate in his hand, effective against normal opponents, but clearly insufficient against something with regeneration this powerful.
He needed something better. Something with more raw power.
And he had an idea. He just needed an opening.
On the opposite side of the firewall, Sera and Mira faced their own desperate situation.
The water mage flicked her wrist with practiced precision. Tentacles of pressurized water lashed out toward Mira like living things. She ducked, barely avoiding a whip-like strike that carved a deep gouge into the stone where she'd been standing, the pressure sharp enough to cut.
Mira retaliated immediately, lightning arcing from her staff toward the hydromancer. The woman was forced to backstep, raising a shield of swirling water that hissed and steamed where electricity struck it.
Meanwhile, Sera circled the pyromancer cautiously, looking for any opening in his defense.
The old man watched her with amused contempt. "A little archer thinks she can match me? How quaint."
Sera loosed her arrow without warning.
The pyromancer didn't move. Didn't even flinch.
The air around him shimmered with intense heat, and the arrow combusted to ash before crossing even half the distance between them.
"Predictable," he said dismissively.
He flicked his fingers almost casually. The earth beneath Sera's feet erupted into roaring flames. She leaped backward desperately, barely avoiding the inferno, but the edge of her cloak caught fire. She had to roll to extinguish it, scorched fabric falling away.
"Sera!" Mira's voice carried urgency. "Switch targets! We can't fight them head-on like this!"
Sera's eyes darted toward where Kael struggled against the werewolf, both combatants locked in a deadly dance.
They needed to change the dynamic. Disrupt the enemy's formation.
Or they were going to die here.