Morn cursed. Without interrupting their jog they looked back over their shoulder.
“We won’t be able to fight an army.”
“You’re kidding,” Acantha replied unamused.
They both jogged towards the glowing portal. The forest floor was sticky and transformed an easy sprint in an exhausting endeavor. When they reached the portal, two soldiers had already come through and were ready to take them on. A little further down, Jade was still fighting two soldiers.
***
The wolf-helmet had his chain wrapped around Jade’s arm. It felt familiar to Jade. She had a very similar experience only a week ago when she got overrun by weemen. This time, however, there were only two opponents and only one of them sported a high annoyance factor. The wolf-helmet pulled the chain and instead of resisting, she let herself fall face-down to the ground. The chain let loose by her sudden yield.
Jade heard a rambling sound incoming and she rolled away from a strike of the chained spear-tip. Another blow followed quickly and she kept rolling until she was out of the wolf-helmet’s reach. She swiftly stood up and took a split second to assess the situation. If she wanted to attack them, she would need to get close. Behind her, the guard with the halberd saw the elf standing still and went in for a hit. Through her feet Jade felt the movements of the incoming attack. She side-stepped while turning to face her weaker opponent. She grabbed the long weapon and pulled the soldier close to her. The guard stumbled and fell forward into her arms.
Again she heard the rambling of chains, this time from behind. She wrapped her arms around her victim and turned so that her back was no longer facing the wolf-helmet with the lethal chain. The chain flew through the air and missed its strike. The elf assassin grabbed the helmet of the lesser soldier and pulled its head back. With her short blade, she cut his throat. The thrill of battle subdued her fear.
“Don’t worry about your friend,” Jade offered almost kindly, “As you said; death is not the end.”
The wolf-helmet said nothing but moved his head in a way that could be interpreted as a nod. He tugged on the chain of his weapon and started spinning the chain to keep it’s lethal spike up in the air.
***
Morn cleaved their way through two soldiers. The one that Acantha was constricting was easily decapitated. The other screamed and struck back at the orc with his sword.
“We need to let Jade know about the portals,” Acantha said, “And, you know, the possible incoming army.”
She lashed out with her vine onto the guard that was between her and Morn. The orc grunted as they took a hit from their opponents blade on their arm.
“You think she does not yet know?”
Acantha glanced over at the elf, who was now dueling a chain-swinging guard with a scary mask.
“I think she’s a bit preoccupied.”
“As are we.”
The orc slashed their axe down and cut off the blade-wielding arm of the guard. The poor man stood still for a moment before slowly realizing why his blade wasn’t being flung through the air any longer.
“Maybe we don’t need Jade, let’s go get the Lost ourselves,” Acantha wrapped her vines around the one-armed guards neck and disabled it to breathe. “Perhaps, if we set them free, they can run away on their own?”
Morn prepared a blow to break down the portal. Before it hit, a halberd appeared from it and deflected Morns swing.
“Have you not noticed the creature guarding them?”
Acantha turned her head towards the Lost. The circle of elves were just sitting there. Their eyes were fixated on something right in front of them. Circling carefully around them was a large insect-like creature. A shiver ran through Acantha’s spine. She gasped.
“It’s the retriever daemon,” her voice was devoid of hope.
***
The chained spike flew through the air towards Jade. With her blade she swung at it to change its trajectory. The wolf-helmet had another attack ready and swung the other side of his weapon to grab hold of the nimble elf. The chain’s end struck at her left arm, creating a deep cut. She stepped forward, closer to her opponent. The soldier stepped back to create distance for himself to swing at her again. He thrust his pike towards her head and Jade ducked below his chain. She moved even closer and when she stood up, she had positioned herself right in front of him.
The elf reached around her opponents head and put her hand in the back of his neck. Her blood trickled over the back of his armor. In the same motion her blade followed and was put against his throat. The wolf-mask let go of his weapon and punched Jade in her stomach. She flinched but refused to let go of her trophy. She pushed her hands together and let her bone blade sink into the wolf-helmets throat.
Red blood flowed over Jade’s hands. She turned around to look. Acantha and Morn were trying to reach her.
“We can’t fight them all!” Acantha shouted from a few meters away, “We have to rescue the elves now!”
Jade was confused, she had not seen any danger apart from the few soldiers. Then she saw the glowing doorway standing where she had seen the guard kill himself earlier. She realized it hadn’t been suicide, but a sacrifice. Some kind of ritual. Jade looked through the forest and saw glowing lights all around. Her mouth dropped open. She had noticed something else as well. If her hands had not been as bloody as they were, she would have definitely made an attempt to rub her eyes.
A giant snake was coming their way. And it was flying. The snakes’ scales were dark green, thin and round with hooked edges. They closely resembled the leaves of an elm.
“Watch out!” Jade shouted and pointed towards the incoming behemoth.
Acantha and Morn were quick to jump away as the snake landed right were they had stood. It’s enormous body crushed the portal in front of them, including one of he guards that had just stepped through. A slush of sticky amber splattered around. There was someone riding it, a young woman. A bunch of smaller snakes were riding it with her. The snakes were coiled around her body. She bend her head as if she was looking down onto the three of them. Her eyes were closed, however.
“Don’t just stand there gasping.” The woman said, “Hurry up and get on!”