Despite the preparations done, it was still hard for the aurors to keep their positions in the formation while not letting the fenroxes slip through the gaps.
Lance has taken on the biggest burden out of all, fending off 4 fenroxes all at the same time. Zahir focused on the flanks, where the rankers were considerably weaker, distributing power where it was needed most.
Nearly thirty rankers struggled, their faces etched with determination and fatigue, as they protected the non-rankers and the wagons carrying goods. Lance had drilled into his squad the importance of civilian safety. They were knights, not mercenaries; lives mattered more than any amount of damaged goods.
Leera, the Wyvern, did her best to fend off some beasts, but due to her size, she couldn't offer enough help to the rankers. Still, she managed to kill four of them while circling the perimeter, making the fenroxes more vigilant. Regardless, it didn't stop them from their hunt.
Junho, the vice leader of Lance's squad, guarded the carriage where Ardiel was. His breath came in ragged gasps as he fought off the relentless Fenroxes. "One down," he panted, surveying the two Fenrox corpses around him, their bodies skewered by ice spikes and encased in frost.
Suddenly, a blur darted past him and slammed into the carriage. The impact was deafening, the force flipping the carriage onto its side with a violent jolt. The door buckled, splintering with a resounding crash.
Junho's heart raced as he spun around, seeing another Fenrox barreling towards him. He was caught in a critical dilemma—protect Ardiel or fend off the approaching threat. His instinct screamed at him to guard Ardiel at all costs. Ignoring the incoming Fenrox, he lunged toward the carriage, preparing a powerful spell to deal with the new threat.
But before he could act, a figure burst from the carriage with alarming speed. Junho's eyes widened in shock when he recognized Ardiel. The boy had easily evaded the Fenrox that crashed into the carriage, but the moment of surprise quickly turned to action. He deftly defended himself from the fenrox poised to attack and quickly turned at Ardiel to check his status.
Ardiel appeared beside him, completely evading the fenrox, who had crashed on the carriage, with ease.
"What happened, sir?" the boy asked, his voice steady despite the chaos around them. He glanced at the newly killed beast with an enormous ice spike piercing its guts.
"I'll explain later. Can you protect yourself, Sir Ardiel?" Junho asked, though he felt a twinge of awkwardness in asking the ten-year-old to fend for himself. The boy's earlier actions had convinced him of Ardiel's capability.
"I can at least evade them," Ardiel replied confidently, tidying his shirts from the earlier chaos.
The Fenrox that had crashed into the carriage seemed to hesitate, its beady eyes flicking between Junho and Ardiel, clearly wary of the small boy who had so easily evaded its attack.
"Okay, stay close to me and try to evade as much as you can," Junho instructed, casting another spell. Dozens of ice shards appeared in the air, shimmering like deadly crystals.
"HUPP!"
The dozen ice shards flew towards the Fenrox, which didn't have time to evade. The creature let out a pained roar as the ice pierced its hide, freezing it in place. If there was one thing that put Junho ahead of others, it was his quick spell reaction time.
After seeing Ardiel agilely dash around effectively, he felt reassured and started to help others, especially Lance, who was visibly struggling and exhausted. Six corpses lay scattered around Lance, showcasing his remarkable kill count despite the immense pressure.
But things didn't go as they hoped. As the number of fenroxes dwindled to fewer than ten, the remaining few retreated, but now it was time for the strigers to appear. Their numbers had diminished to just seven, but each was more formidable than three fenroxes combined.
A chill ran through the rankers as they saw half a dozen of these beasts, nearly twice the size of fenroxes. Zahir felt conflicted, this being his first time seeing one in person. It was a far cry from the stories he had heard, those stories were definitely understating the beast before them.
"Don't back down! Don't let them see that you're exhausted, or they'll see you as chicks waiting to be chewed on!" Lance yelled at the top of his lungs, increasing his aura output. He remained at the forefront despite being covered in wounds, his blood staining his face and silver armor.
Strigers were intelligent beasts; they could sense fear from their prey, their heightened senses allowing them to exploit any sign of weakness.
Eliya sneakily appeared behind one of the strigers, delivering a lethal attack that dropped it to the ground. Now, only six were left. She had killed seven alone with her stealthy tactics.
The other strigers growled upon seeing one of their kind killed so effortlessly. The rankers gasped, awe-struck by Eliya's instant kill.
She threw one of her daggers at the leader of the pack, a massive beast nearly seven feet tall. Eliya was almost drained of mana, but her resolve remained. She aimed to intimidate it, to show that whatever it attempted, it would fail because she was there.
Leera landed nearby, letting out a menacing growl at the strigers. The battlefield fell into a tense silence, thick with anticipation and the stench of blood.
The Alpha of the pack roared at Eliya but didn't dare to provoke her further. Frustrated by the failure of its hunt, it began to retreat, knowing that pressing on would only cost it its life.
Eliya sighed in relief as she watched the six strigers vanish from sight. She walked over to Leera and patted her mount before heading to Lance, who had collapsed, weak but grinning after surviving the ordeal.
They had survived their first night, and though the encounter had been brutal, they had made it through. He couldn't imagine the dangers that would come their way soon, but for now, they have survived.
"Why is he outside?" Eliya asked, pointing at Ardiel, who was now helping clear the corpses of the beasts.
"I'm not sure. Ask Junho about it," Lance replied, slowly getting to his feet and wincing from his injuries.
Zahir approached, bowing sincerely. "I'm grateful to have you all as escorts. I'd probably be dead meat by now if it were just me and my crew."
"Thank you as well for doing your best. But also, this isn't normal, at least from the previous scouting that we have done a few months ago. It's the first time I've seen strigers working in packs. May I know how many casualties there were?" Eliya inquired.
"Sadly, four of my crew died. It's a hard reality, so we can only mourn and honor them," the merchant said regretfully.
Zahir's gaze shifted to Ardiel, who was now carrying large cooking pots to prepare their meal. "But that boy—he's something else."
Eliya raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "What did he do?" She looked at Lance, seeking confirmation, but he merely shrugged.
"Ah, it's not like he killed any of them, I saw him darting around evading here and there, it helped the magisters striked the fenroxes easily as those beasts focuses on him," Zahir explained, still amazed by the boy's bravery.
"How old is he again?" Zahir asked.
Eliya didn't answer. If others didn't know, it was not her place to reveal such information about Ardiel.
"I see. Well, join us for dinner. I bet you're both hungry," Zahir offered apologetically, aware he'd asked an inappropriate question but respectful of their response.
"UNGGG," Leera gave a low, rumbling growl, as if to underscore Zahir's invitation.
Zahir glanced at the wyvern with a nervous laugh. "And of course, this majestic beast must be hungry too." He gave a half-hearted bow before making his exit, leaving the group to their well-earned rest.