"A dozen foxes on the first wave, but every second I can feel more of them on their way here." Valthar answered as every one gathered around the passage to a magically improvised bunker.
Rose the Caravan's cook carried the heavy cauldron of soup on her arms.
The other two non-combatants moved boxes full of things scavenged throughout the short hour above ground.
"How much time do we have?" Lionel asked with eyes locked on the forest line.
"A minute… maybe less." Valthar's voice dripped with trouble.
The foxes approached fast, their speed even higher than they had shown in the night of the ambush.
Lionel shouted orders fast, in a moment he selected two of the knights to carry as much as they could underground.
Him and the other knights readied themselves to hold the foxes back for as long as they could.
"Does anyone remember if anyone down there has the other light sphere's?" Lionel yells out as strategies flash through his mind.
"Clara has one of them." Rose the cook mentions the name of the caravan's healer.
"Good, once you're down there tell her to count to twenty and light one up." Lionel called without hesitation even though they only had three of those now.
But if one of the foxes invaded the metal room without the light sphere it would be a blood bath.
In seconds all non combatants were down the tunnel, Valthar included though he himself was unsure if he should have gone down.
After all he was the only one who could track the foxes so without him the knights above would have to play by ear and guess the enemies numbers
At the center of the room Clara the water mage whispered numbers under her breath, all around the room eyes attentively watched the hole in the ceiling.
"What's going on Valthar?" Hector asked with a frown, his life force pulsing with worry and fear.
"Right now? We are under attack from the shadow foxes." Valthar answered in a rush, his attention focused on the fight above.
He could feel foxes dying by the second as hundreds more rushed through the trees.
"Weren't they far away? And don't they attack at night?" Hector questioned in confusion.
"A lot happened up there, what matters is that we ended up provoking the shadow foxes… or whatever is the thing controlling them."
Just then the mage activated the light sphere and light bloomed in the underground bunker.
A loud thunk echoed as one of the knights landed with his arms full of boxes.
"Warn Lionel to come down! The clearing is about to be flooded by the foxes!" Valthar yelled to the knight.
Seconds seem to stretch into hours as the caravan holds their breath in worry, all eyes glued to the ceiling in fear that what will fall from it won't be the knights.
Moments later that fear became true when from the shadows of the tunnel a fox jumped out.
Before anyone else could react Amber and Blathazar shoot spells at the creature, metal and fire move without a word.
The fox is killed, but another two pop out, everyone's hearts fall to their stomach.
The beasts growl, some people scream, some people cry, chaos takes over the bunker.
In fear Valthar takes a step back to the wall and his mind locks on the life force of the knights as they make their way down the tunnel.
In fear Hector rushes forward as his body moves faster than his mind.
Close to the beasts a village girl freezes in place and by her side Rose freezes as well.
One of the foxes advances towards the village girl, the other advances towards Rose.
The next moment a knight falls down from the hole, John, in a flash he kills the fox that jumped at Rose.
The other one however is already too close to the village girl to be stopped by the knight.
The girl falls to the ground and from a few steps away Valthar watches with wide eyes as the fox's teeth penetrates skin.
Only the fox's mouth doesn't hold the girl's neck but instead Hector's arm as the farm boy takes the hit after he pushed her away.
Hector's F rank body shows no resistance to the D rank level fox.
A scream leaves his mouth as his arm is torn away in a single motion.
"Hector!" Valtahr yells out and his mind locks onto the fox's life force.
In a moment he calls forth the fox's light in a desperate attempt to kill it before it kills Hector.
Sadly this isn't a worm or a blade of grass, but a beast strong enough to end him in seconds.
Its life force doesn't leave its body obediently, instead only suffering a small tremor before settling back in its place .
Still the beast stumbles as sudden weakness hits its body, a weakness much like the one Valthar suffers in backlash floods his system in response to the failed command.
Falling to the ground he watches in despair as the fox regains control in a moment and shoots towards Hector's throat.
And just before it reaches him a sword impales it mid air, just like that John saves Hector in the nick of time.
A moment later the other knights hit the ground.
"CLOSE THE TUNNEL AMBER!" Lionel yells out as the last one to jump down.
After them a dozen foxes poured from the hole like water from a hose.
Thankfully before things spiraled further Amber closed the tunnel.
The caravan knights with their magical weapons dealt with the foxes with little to no fanfare.
Silence almost took over the room, the only sounds present being the grunts from Hector and the sobs from a girl kneeled beside him.
"Clara, do emergency treatment on him, but conserve your mana." Lionel ordered without hesitation, needless to say regrowing Hector's arm was out of question at the moment.
"Valthar what's the situation up there?"
Still weakened by the backlash, Valthar turns his attention upwards.
Complete and utter destruction is what he sees.
"I feel foxes rage everywhere, trees are felled one after another and grass is clawed right out of the ground." Valthar frowns with a sigh. "I'd say anything we didn't bring after this time… is gone." a