"We're surrounded, a pack of beasts is on their way to the tents!" Valthar screamed, pulling attention from those in the night watch.
With his sword in hand Lionel stared quietly as Valthar grunted in pain.
He hadn't known the fallen noble for long, but the man didn't seem like one who would joke about such things.
Lionel reached for a collar around his neck, taking the small whistle tied to it on his hands as his eyes shifted to Kassia.
The woman herself had already knocked an arrow on her bow, as the scout of the team she was specially sensitive to danger and always the fastest to respond.
Their eyes locked in a silent discussion that took mere moments thanks to their years of collaboration.
Seeing Kassia nod seriously Lionel knew they came to the same conclusion, it was better to wake up for nothing then to never wake up at all.
With a heavy heart Lionel blows the whistle, a warning to those sleeping in the tents… at least for the members of the caravan who were trained to know the emergency whistle.
"Can you feel the beasts Kassia?" Lionel asks first, grabbing a small crystal sphere from his pouch.
This is a high grade light sphere, a single use device of the light element, extremely cost prohibitive due to its rare element and potent strength.
"No, I can't feel even a single new beast mana signature." She said with a frown as wind mana coalesced at her arrow. "Actually, I'm not feeling the signature of our horses either."
A detail she overlooked earlier as her focus was all concentrated in looking for strange signatures.
Hearing this Lionel squashed any doubts and with a throw he activated the magical device.
The sphere flew twenty meters up before the runes on its surface pulsed with mana and light flooded the clearing as if it was daylight.
The two of them plus other caravan members in the night watch started to move.
The light sphere could last up to two minutes and with its high price the caravan only carried four spread throughout its members.
Meaning in a matter of ten minutes they either would have solved the situation or would be forced to fight in mostly darkness.
"Hector, keep your eyes on Valthar." Lionel said before dashing off with his team.
Though he wanted to ask more from the fallen noble, the grunting man was clearly struggling not to pass out.
And though information made difference they might not have much more time to waste trying to gather it from this barely conscious Deep Bonfire recruit.
For better or for worse the type of beast they were against was not a mystery for much longer.
A yell came out mere seconds after the whistle as the caravan members emerged from their tents.
"Shadow Foxes! MANY MANY SHADOW FOXES!!!"
Lionel's thoughts ran fast.
Shadow foxes were stalking predators, scouting their enemies for days at a time before launching an attack.
When in light they were simple to deal with being nothing more than small sized beasts with E strength.
In the shadows however they could phase through objects and were almost impossible to spot.
If there were a few dozen during day time his team could deal with them easily.
But now with minutes to work with before the light sphere went out Lionel knew a protracted battle would spell their doom.
"Combatants hold the line! Merchants pick one recruit and go to the fireplace! We are in a tactical retreat!!!" Lionel called before the beasts even reached the tents, his voice amplified by mana boomed like thunder.
He knew the recruits still fresh from the villages must be barely awake at this point, many still deep in sleep.
Though his team might not rescue everyone, each one saved would soften the losses they would inevitably incur tonight.
As he closed into the tents the beasts entered his eyes, illuminated from the light sphere their numbers were simply absurd.
Their coats, a mix of black an white, seemed to merge in a colorless sea of fur that spread from the tents all the way to the forest.
Arrows coated in varied elements flew to the sea, each with their own effects based on element and user.
Kassia's pierced through many while carried by the wind.
Another blew in a fiery explosion and a third petrified a single fox turning it into a statue.
The four D rank knights and Lionel step forward their weapons spewing elemental mana with each strike.
With incredible efficiency they killed multiple foxes with each move, but just like the arrows that poured without rest, their efforts did little to stop the advance of the shadow foxes.
Watching such suicidal moves from the beasts made Lionel aware of something.
'They have a leader, one smart enough to know we can't win in a life for life fight.'
"WALLS READY!"
One of the caravan mages yelled out signaling for the melee combatants to step back.
As soon as they did, the four caravan mages' cast elemental walls back against the wave of beasts.
Their elements layered one after another as water, wood, metal and fire stacked themselves up in a perfect sequence.
But Lionel knew the walls couldn't last long.
Even now few foxes still got through small openings while the others worked on overwhelming the mages mana pools with sheer force and numbers.
"FULL RETREAT TO THE FIREPLACE! LEAVE ANYTHING OTHER THAN YOUR LIVES BEHIND!!!"
Lionel yelled out, a similar command to the last one, but one the caravan members would understand the true meaning.
Cut the losses, sacrifice both recruits and cargo, and only help those who were truly members of the team.
Beasts were not dumb creatures, its leader might be willing to use lowlevel ones as cannon fodder, but if it had a free meal instead chances are it would go for the easy path.
At least that was all Lionel could hope for.
Hearing the orders both combatants and merchants made haste on their retreat while the mages held the walls for a few more seconds before they too dash out to the fire pit.
Soon screams started to spread from the tents, as the beasts took the lives of confused and fearful recruits.
Their dreams to make riches in Deep Bonfire dead before they even stepped on the city.
As the caravan members reach the firepit one mage enlarges its flames while another fuels it with wood to decrease the first one's mana consumption.
Moments later the light sphere dims out in the sky, blanketing the clearing back into darkness.
"Is everyone here?" Lionel asks Kassia, her scouting skills letting her count everyone by their mana signatures in seconds.
"Yes everyone is here… and ten or so recruits were rescued as well." She answers in a moment, her tone filled with self reproach.
If she had been able to locate the beasts days earlier, such a tragedy would never have occurred.
Now from a bit more than 80 travelers on the caravan only 35 remained.
The whole 25 true caravan members and 10 recruits.
With worry the group watched the shadows flood the clearing, screams now silenced under the maddiening yapping of the shadow foxes.
The sound of wood breaking echoed from the darkness, as the cargo holding meat for their meals was breached.
It was only minutes later when silence took over the clearing.
But the caravan watched in tension the shadows that surrounded the firepit.
Would the beasts leave after such a massacre or were they still hiding quietly waiting to strike?
All the caravan could do was prepare for a last stand.
The only one who knew of the beast's slow retreat to the forest was Valthar as he felt their lights grow further and further away.