Torches were lit and enspelled. The army traveled more miles. True night had fallen, and the canopy above blocked out all moon and starlight. Without being told to do so, all members of the war party clustered closer together. Though battle loomed with the dawn, they all instinctively knew one thing. The night was dark and full of terrors… They were right.
A scream was the first indication that they were under attack. By then, it was too late. Something swooped in from above and carried away one of his guardsmen from the back of the warband before anyone could react. The scream lasted only a few seconds before it cut off abruptly. While everyone searched the skies, arrows nocked, another scream echoed from the front of the line. Again, from just the corner of his eye, Richter saw something large speed by and grab a sprite before disappearing into the dark of the forest again. This time the screams did not end quickly. Instead, they grew louder and more piteous, seemingly just out of range of the light the warband carried.
The Mist Village guards had begun to run towards the sounds of the screaming, but stopped when Yoshi shouted, “Stand fast! Stay shoulder to shoulder and do not let yourself be surprised.”
Manic laughter rose from all around them, and fear began to infect their hearts. Mutters popped up throughout the warband, “There must be dozens of them! I can still hear him screaming! What is happening? Why are we even here? We are going to die!” Another dark blur flew in from east to west, and two of the warband fell to the ground screaming, large gouges on their faces.
Richter felt an urge to run, to give up, and to abandon hope. Doubts and fears began to worm themselves into his heart, and his thoughts were occupied by basically anything except standing fast against whatever was attacking them. Then it stopped.
Confused and befuddled, Richter checked his combat log.
Richter has been assaulted by unknown Fear attack.
Richter has resisted unknown Fear attack.
Whether it was because of the Fighting Spirit of the warband, the bonus from the pixies’ song, or if it was because of his various resistances, Richter was able to fight off the magic caused by the maniacal laughter that surrounded him. The doubts that had assaulted him faded into the background. He was able to stop feeling like they came from within, and instead clearly identified them as an assault from without. Doubt faded and a familiar transformation began to overtake him. Fuck fear, he thought. I’ll take rage!
Alma had been trying to communicate with him for the past few seconds, but Richter’s mental turmoil had kept him from hearing her. As soon as his mind cleared, her message came through to him.
*I see it. It’s coming for me!*
His agile familiar was weaving through the trees as one of the monsters chased her. The dragonling had had the foresight to cast Weak Haste, Weak Life Armor and Weak Life Aura once she had seen the monster chasing her. As she sent him a mental image, he couldn’t disagree with her choice.
It wasn’t black, but it had blue skin so close to midnight that the difference was academic. Its overall body was humanoid, and it had a mane of thick, dirty grey hair. Each hand only had three fingers, but they were large and tipped with dark talons. It grinned as it chased his familiar and a faint green light would be seen emanating from its mouth, outlining a mouth filled with long, needle-like teeth.
*Bring it to me!* he shouted mentally. Richter placed an arrow to his bow and began to imbue it. He poured his mana into the magic field around the arrow and pulled on the connection he had with Alma, accessing his newly enhanced subskill. Another scream echoed from his right, and then two from his left, but he didn’t let himself be distracted. He couldn’t help those who had just been attacked by running around like a headless chicken. What he could do was protect his familiar and take out one of the attackers. Besides, he wasn’t alone.
Yoshi had fought off the effects of the magical fear as well. The Battle Leader wasted no time and climbed to the top of a nearby boulder. Raising blade into the air, he activated a Talent that was only available to Warriors with the War Leader skill, Valiant Anger. Everyone in his Sphere of Influence gained a 200% bonus against Fear, Feeblemind and Confusion effects. The Talent also channeled any negated effects into anger, increasing the Fighting Spirit of all those afflicted. A low roar of anger spread through the warband, that rose in volume until the manic laughter of the flying creatures was drowned out.
The Hearth Mother also entered the fray. As important as Yoshi’s efforts were, she would not be outdone. As soon as the attacks started, she began casting. Her hands moved in intricate patterns, and golden Life energy began to surround her arms. The will of the sprite leader was too great to be affected by the fear-inducing laughter of the monsters attacking them, and her spell continued unabated. Words that were beautiful in shape, but still horrible in the power, flowed from her lips, and reality was shaped by a Master of magic. Eight seconds later, she finished her spell, “Rana ito Callaban!”
The initial manifestation of her spell, Lira’s Death Prison, was humble. A pale globe of golden energy floated into the air, growing larger as it rose. A tether of energy connected it to Hisako’s chest, and she continued to feed mana into the spell. Initially only a foot across, the globe quickly grew to four feet, then eight, before finally swelling to a diameter of ten feet. The walls of the globe seemed to strain for a moment, then it burst!
Particles of golden light flew everywhere. The motes of light weren’t stopped by the flesh of bodies or the wood of the trees. Instead, they flew through them, leaving a luminescent gold residue on anyone they touched. They shot out for two hundred yards in every direction, and every member of the warband as well as the creatures attacking them were struck and began to glow. If the fact that they stopped laughing and started howling in anger was any indication, the attackers were furious about it.
The motes of light all stopped moving at once, and began to hover in midair. Then they flared, and a dome of pale golden light phased into existence. One of the monsters, easily seen with the motes of light sticking to it, tried to fly past the barrier. As soon as it touched the wall of the dome, the golden light flared, and the creature was thrown back. It screamed in pain, one wing flapping weaker than the other, as it took refuge in a tree.