Battle cries filled the area the very second after the fox woman gave the order. Her crew of disheveled warriors ran toward us. The legionnaires, without missing a beat, ran at them. The archers flung arrows at the raging onslaught, though only a few managed to hit their mark.

  This group of ferals were sharp, agile; clearly trained fighters unlike the group that kidnapped me previously. If this group had been the ones to nab me there would have been no way I could have escaped. But after spending what felt like days in this raid, I learned a single, simple fact about Laurelhaven’s soldiers: They were some tough sons of bitches.

  The few remaining melee fighters were already engaging with the ferals. Even against the overwhelming numbers advantage, they kept their weapons, natural and forged, held high. The archers joined in the fray once the fighting exploded. It’d be nearly impossible to fire into that chaos without heavy friendly fire. They drew small finesse styled weaponry, daggers, short spears, and light hammers. The sharp ring of steel matching steel echoed into my ears.

  But that was all the time I could spend watching the others battle. The giant axe wielding woman cracked her neck. The feathered man stood up straight, a nasty grin on his face. The fox woman hadn’t moved, her shroud keeping her face covered. The three stood twenty feet away. But I could tell, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. They were poised to attack.

  Daila sniffed. “Elea.”

  “On it.” The elf stepped forward, turning to me and winking before a mass of brown roots grew from the ground, crawling up her body. In a second she was swallowed by them, dragged underground.

  The crow man’s face twisted into a slimy smile. “Ooo, goodie. I get to fight the babe. Lucky day. Maybe I’ll get to have some fun after—” Roots shot out of the ground under him, cutting off his words. The roots zipped straight to his feet, tangling around the man. But just as they were about to tighten, the man burst into the air, leaving behind a mass of dark feathers. Elea arose from the ground just a few feet away from where the man was.

  “I assure your dear, the fun has only begun. Just wait until I get a good grip on you. You’ll never want to leave.” She said with her usual flirtatious smirk.

  “Don’t make it sound so tempting.” The man spun in the air, black feathers shedding from his arms. Dozens flew, heading straight for Elea. But before they landed, the wood mage dropped her hands to the ground. A wall of tree bark grew out of the ground, catching all the feathery missiles.

  The man dropped back on the ground, his smile now barring all his teeth. “Oh this will be fun.”

  Elea dropped her bark shield down a bit, just enough to show off her torso. She ran a finger down the front of her chest. “I’ve never had any complaints.”

  I gulped. Daila coughed, nudging my side. “Sorry.” I said, bringing my attention back to the other two leaders.

  “Tawny, Hait.” Daila addressed the twins who no longer clung to me.

  “Yes ma’am.” They answered.

  “Support the troops. Leave these two to Liam and myself.”

  “Are you sure?” Hait asked.

  “Yeah, I know you’ll be fine, but he will need our help against that mountain of a lady.” Tawny said. At another time I’d have been annoyed with her lack of faith in my abilities, but thinking back on that devastating blow the burly woman just used, I had to agree.

  “No, our troops are terribly outnumbered, they will need you more. If, ahem, when we win, we’ll need an escape route. I’m leaving that up to the two of you. Understood?”

  The two fidgeted but nodded.

  “Good. Now go. It appears we are out of time for any further discussion.”

  Tawny alighted her arms in yellow electricity, while Hait formed a ball of water next to his head. They walked off, turning back for a second. “You’d better not Liam. It’d make our squad look bad.” Tawny said.

  “We're not done paying our debt yet, either.” Hait called out.

  Dumb kids, you’ve done plenty. I clenched my fists. I’m sorry for wrapping you into my mess. Not that I have any clue how I got into it in the first place. Seriously, what do they even want from me?

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  The fox woman had her hand raised to her arm, this time wielding a strange sword. It curved heavily, almost like that of a gardening scythe. She pointed it at me.

  “Glenna, remember, no permanent damage.”

  The giant woman nodded. She stepped in front of the fox’s outstretched weapon. “Yes Chief. But don’t trouble yourself. I can handle the two of them myself.” The woman leaned her whole body back, raising up a single foot. She bellowed out, so loudly I felt it in my chest. I swear, everyone in the immediate area paused as her voice roared to the heavens.

  The fox lady lowered her blade. “Very well. Show me, my friend.”

  She slammed her foot into the ground once she was given the okay, making a small crater under her heel.

  She launched off that foot, axe held high, heading straight for Daila and me.

  Daila pushed me out of the way, just in time. The world slowed for a moment as I looked at the side of the axe blade, watching my reflection fly to the ground.

  I rebalanced myself with my tail and hopped back a few feet. The woman’s axe shattered the ground, blowing dust and debris into the air where I was just standing. My left eye twitched as I looked at the sheer destruction. Forget permanent damage, that blow would have killed me.

  The dust settled, the hulking woman’s blade still stuck in the ground. And something else.

  Red goop covered the ground where her attack landed. The crimson goop also coated the axe head stuck in the ground. The woman’s face twisted as she tried to retrieve it. But she couldn’t pull the blade out of the earth. Soon the substance’s red hue faded. It seemed to have lost all its, well for lack of a better word, goopiness, now calcifying, ensuring that the blade couldn’t move from its spot.

  I looked over to my mousey companion. Daila must have dropped a vial on the ground right before the attack landed. What a great move. But Daila’s face said otherwise. It was tense.

  Daila ran around the woman, drawing some of the knives from her belt. She threw them at our enemy, aiming right for her forehead. The woman let the blade go with one of her hands, raising it to block the coming knives. The blades struck, but landed shallow. The woman’s muscled arms practically bounced the knives away.

  But Daila had far too many tricks up her sleeves, her whole body was covered in those tricks, actually.

  She pulled a few vials, light green ones that I recognized immediately. The acid she used against the rock dwarf. Damn, Daila wasn’t pulling any punches here. She threw them at the woman. They exploded against her blocking arm, light green liquid trailing down her veiny forearm.

  This fight’s over. I thought. I remembered how badly that crap burned, and I only had a few splashes. She hulk over there just got a full dose. That arm was toast.

  I turned to the fox woman, surely she’d intervene with her subordinate on the ropes like this. But she hadn’t moved an inch, except for her head. It was directed right at me. Shining purple eyes hidden under the cloak met my own. Why wasn’t she watching the fight, or helping her lackey? From how the other underground ferals acted, I figured loyalty was a big deal to them. But with the intensity of her stare told me she hadn’t taken her eyes off of me for a second.

  Another bellow filled the air. I turned back to the axe woman. Her arm sizzled as the acid worked its magic. But her arm didn’t melt away like the dwarf’s had. Daila’s face twisted as she readied a few more vials. A few white strands of her hair escaped the tight bun.

  The woman grabbed the axe with both hands. Veins popped out of her forehead as her massive arms bulged, gripping the axe handle. The acid burned away as her arms began to glow. The ground cracked around the hardened goop on her axe.

  Before it got any further, Daila tossed an assortment of vials. But with another ear-piercing roar, the woman tore the axe from its confines. With a speed one such as her shouldn’t be allowed to have, she swung the axe out, catching all the vials with a single swing. A host of colors exploded on contact with the earth-covered blade. She swung again, the wind pressure blowing the colorful smoke away. The woman’s face was stone-cold, but the pressure surrounding her said otherwise. If I was in Tigris form, I bet I’d feel nothing but waves of anger coming off her.

  She charged Daila, swinging wildly. Daila ducked and dodged each of the blows, dropping vials with each movement. Acid and the red goop covered the ground, but none of it slowed the woman’s assault. Soon, other colored mixtures joined the mixture. Soon a rainbow surrounded the two women as Daila danced around the woman’s assault. None of the colors lasted long, each evaporating into the sky.

  It was almost mesmerizing. It looked choreographed, planned even, like a show you’d see at an amusement park.

  I shook my head. I needed to help Daila, she shouldn’t be fighting alone, even if I wasn’t sure how I could even help against the woman. I started for the woman while she was turned away from me. But just before I took a step, Daila yelled. “Wait!”

  Daila’s eyes shifted upward for a split second after she called out. I followed them. A cloud of rainbow colored gas sat above the woman. All the smoke from her dropped potions whirled above their bodies. She must have had a plan, and I was about to get in the way.

  Daila jumped back from the assault after she managed to drop some of the red glue on the woman’s foot. While the woman fought with the sticky substance, Daila tossed another couple of vials at the woman. A one-handed axe swing swatted the vials away with ease. But they were decoys. In the flurry of vials, one was thrown up into the cloud. The vial shattered inside the cloud, and in the next second, the whole cloud fell on top of the burly lady, swallowing her. She flung out with her arm and axe, coughing and sputtering as she inhaled. Not gonna lie, it was satisfying to see them getting a taste of their own medicine.

  Daila switched back to the knives on her belt while her opponent was distracted, throwing out six in rapid succession. Daila was going to win. I about cheered for her right there on the spot.

  But before the knives connected, the blades clanked against metal and fell from the air. Even in that fit, the massive woman could block, But it wasn’t the woman’s axe that stopped them.

  The fox woman’s curved blade cut through the air. She stood within the smoke. And then, with a single swipe of her tail, pushed Daila’s cloud away.

  Her tail glowed green for a moment, as her tail fluffed up and shook. A green mist poured from it, surrounding her still coughing comrade.

  “I’m sorry, Glenna, I think I should handle that one. You focus on the boy.”