For half a second, the world held its breath.
Then everything moved at once.
> "Dawnforged — defend the caravan."
Riley's order hit the party like a trigger pull.
Hayes, Hayley, and Jonathan surged to the front, shields and blades up, boots digging into the dirt. Bramble and Terror thundered into position to either flank them, the great moss-bear and storm-golem forming living pillars. Husky padded up on the right, fur bristling frost. Tiger took the left, tail low, eyes burning.
Behind them, Stoneback stomped into place, squat and immovable. Luna hovered just above the ground, horn glowing soft silver. Lumi rose higher, light tightening into a sharp, focused flare. Riley dropped into position at their center, Dawnstring already in his hands.
On the wings:
Kalyani and Aria split to left and right with terrifying enthusiasm, flanked by Arcial, both shadow cats, Fire Cat, the Ember Gecko, Dot, and even Prisma-Puff — the entire speed and chaos division fanning out to hit hard from the sides.
Sofia fell back a step, Echo and Les shimmering at her sides, Ether hovering near her shoulder like a tiny, luminous guardian.
Behind Sofia, the new members formed a nervous reserve line around the wagon and eggs, spirits bristling — foxes, wolves, little shield-beetles, a nervous owl, all of them small but determined.
The road became a battlefield.
"Loose!" the Vanguard Eclipse leader snapped.
Arrows hissed toward them in a dark sheet.
"SHIELDS!" Hayes barked.
Jonathan raised his shield; Hayes and Hayley mirrored him. Terror slammed both rocky fists into the earth —
> Terror: Ground Lock — Activated.
Knockback resistance increased in an area.
Stoneback jammed itself behind Jonathan's legs like a living brace. Bramble's Verdant aura flared, green light rushing out from his paws.
The arrow rain hit.
Steel pinged off shields, splintered in Terror's stone, thunked into Bramble's thick, mossy hide. A few made it through — one grazing Hayley's arm, another nicking Husky's ear.
Ether's wings flashed; three thin threads snapped from her to the front line, bleeding some of the damage into herself. She winced but held.
The ambushers didn't stop.
A line of mages raised their staves.
"Storm fan, on my mark!" their leader — the woman at the front — commanded. "One, two—"
Lumi pulsed before she said "three."
Riley's eyes narrowed.
"LEFT!" he shouted. "Brace left!"
Hayes slammed his shield sideways; Jonathan and Terror followed. Bramble shifted, Verdant Rampart wrapping the left side in green light.
The storm fan hit a half-second later, a sweeping cone of lightning meant to plough through their center.
It slammed wide instead, tearing up the roadside, frying bushes and sending one unlucky Vanguard melee flying.
The leader's gaze snapped to Lumi.
"Interesting," she murmured. "That little thing reads patterns."
Arcial snarled.
"You're not taking him," Riley said.
"Now?" Aria hissed, practically vibrating.
"Now," Riley said.
Both wings exploded into motion.
Arcial became a bolt of living lightning, streaking along the left flank. The shadow cats melted into the ground, reappearing at the enemy archers' backs in twin bursts of black mist. Fire Cat and Gecko spat arcs of flame from opposite directions, forcing Vanguard casters to spread out or burn.
On the right, Kalyani sprinted low, Ember Gecko clinging to her shoulder, tail flaring like a tiny torch. Prisma-Puff bounced beside her, shrieking in rainbow waves. Every scream sent a disorienting sound pulse through the enemy line, staggering lower-level players.
Dot launched off Aria's hair and landed squarely on an archer's visor. The man screamed, dropped his bow, and ran in a circle.
"DOT, PRIORITISE SOFT TARGETS!" Aria yelled.
Dot ignored her and sank tiny venom fangs into anyone who looked like they earned too much money.
A Vanguard warrior tried to corner Kalyani. Ember Gecko spat straight into his breastplate. Flame crawled under his armor. He screamed, slapped at himself, and went down when Husky barreled into his legs, ice fangs bared.
"YES, HUSKY!" Rezion yelled, voice cracking. Frostwing circled overhead, dropping thin sheets of ice on enemy boots, locking them in place for the flanking cats.
On the left, Tiger slid between two shield-bearers, hamstringing one while a shadow cat tore at the other's back.
For a moment, the Dawnforged flanks looked unstoppable.
Then the enemy leader moved.
She didn't shout this time.
She just walked.
Level tag: 15. Class tag: Stormblade Marshal.
Her spirit appeared beside her — a sleek, four-horned storm stag, hooves crackling, eyes cold.
She pointed her blade at Arcial.
"Pin that lynx," she said.
Two trap spells lit up under Arcial's paws — sigils he hadn't seen coming, masked under other spell effects. Lightning chains whipped up, latching around his legs.
Arcial roared, blasting sparks, but the chains held.
"ARCIAL!" Aria yelled, genuinely panicked.
Kalyani's eyes went wide. "RILEY—"
"I see it," Riley said, heart hammering.
The Marshal lifted her blade toward the second line.
"Break their core," she said. "Kill the healer. Take the eggs."
Half a dozen assassins slipped into shadow.
They didn't charge the front.
They went for Sofia.
Luna felt it first.
Her horn snapped toward Sofia, light flaring.
> Luna: Moon Veil — Activated.
A soft, silver dome shimmered around Sofia just as the first dagger hit — deflecting it off-course. The assassin flickered into view, cursing.
Echo stepped forward, body swelling with light, becoming a semi-solid barrier between Sofia and the blade. Les darted to the side, slamming into a second rogue's knees with surprising weight.
Ether's glow intensified; she threw a Phase Mend on Echo just as a third dagger sank in, letting half the damage ghost through.
Even so, one assassin slipped under the Veil's edge — blade angling straight for Sofia's throat.
Sofia flinched—
—and a shield slammed between them.
"NO YOU DON'T!"
It was one of the newbies — the too-young-looking tank from Dawnview, shield too big for his frame. His spirit, a trembling little Bronze-Tusk boar, planted itself at his feet, tusks glowing.
The dagger hit the shield dead center.
The boy's HP cratered into the red.
Ether screamed — not with sound, but with light — racing to them in a streak.
Sofia caught the boy's shoulder. "Hold— you did so good—"
Bronze-Tusk roared, tiny body somehow holding the line.
The assassin snarled and raised their dagger again—
Riley's arrow took them through the shoulder, pinning them to a tree.
They dropped with a grunt.
Sofia's hands shook as she flooded the newbie with healing, Ether weaving extra regeneration threads into his spirit.
"Thank you," she whispered.
He went bright red. "N-No problem, ma'am, I— AHH—"
Because Ether bonked him too — a soft, grateful tap.
Rezion's voice shook. "They're targeting healers. Of course they are."
"Then we make that expensive," Riley said.
At the front, Vanguard charged again.
"BREAK THEM!" the Marshal ordered.
Three heavy fighters slammed into Hayes, Jonathan, and Hayley at once. A hammer crashed into Hayes' shield. A spear glanced off Jonathan's shoulder. A greatsword scraped sparks across Hayley's blade.
Bramble lunged, tackling one to the ground. Terror met another head-on, stone fist against steel.
Husky slid in, frost aura flaring, biting at exposed legs. Tiger tore into a flank, claws rending armor.
"STONEBACK!" Jonathan yelled.
The cub barked, slamming Mini Guard Wall into the earth just as a mage dropped an earth spike aimed for their knees. The spike shattered against the conjured wall.
But the enemy weren't scrubs.
One mage dropped a silence field on Sofia's position.
One archer popped a storm arrow that shattered part of Bramble's Verdant shield.
One lancer ducked under Terror's swing and thrust—
Straight at Hayes' shadow cat.
The spirit didn't hesitate.
It leapt, intercepting the blow meant for Hayes' exposed flank.
The spear punched through shadow-fur and void essence.
The cat yowled — a horrible, tearing sound — then burst into black mist, dissipating.
"NO—!" Hayley screamed.
Hayes froze for half a heartbeat, eyes going wide.
His HP dipped from a follow-up blow.
"Focus!" Riley snapped. "He'll come back at Emberton. Right now he bought you three seconds — use them!"
Hayes' jaw clenched.
"Right," he growled.
He slammed his shield into the lancer's face. Hayley followed with a vicious combo, twin blades carving lightning-fast strokes. The lancer went down.
Bramble roared and redoubled his efforts. Terror's cracks glowed with inner light as he absorbed more force than he was ever designed to.
The line bent.
It did not break.
On the flank, Arcial still strained against the lightning chains, snarling.
The Marshal smiled slightly. "Elite spirits don't matter if you control the board."
She raised her sword, gathering a crackling spear of pure storm essence.
Lumi flared hard, blinding white.
"RILEY!" Aria screamed.
Riley didn't think.
"Luna!" he shouted. "Swap!"
Luna's horn pulsed.
> Moonstep: Positions Swapped — Arcial ↔ Luna
In an eyeblink, Luna was where Arcial had been — wrapped in chains — and Arcial was hovering, weightless, in her prior space.
The Marshal's storm-spear crashed down.
For a heart-stopping instant, Riley thought he'd miscalculated.
Then Luna's other skill triggered.
> Luna: Phase Gleam — Passive.
When targeted by lethal burst, convert to 1 HP and break restraints.
The chains shattered.
Luna shot backward as a streak of moonlight, ricocheting off a nearby rock and safely landing beside Sofia, Ether already pouring healing into her.
The Marshal's eyes widened.
"Cute trick."
Arcial dropped out of the air onto her stag, claws first.
Static detonated.
Storm fur met storm hide — but Arcial's was honed, focused.
He raked along the stag's neck, lightning exploding in a cascade of chained crits.
> Arcial: Chain Lightning (Burst) — Activated.
Bolts leapt from plate to plate on the Marshal's armor, shorting out half her buff icons.
She staggered, teeth bared.
"You little—"
Aria hit her from the other side like an angry meteor.
"DON'T PICK ON THE ROUND ONE!"
Shockstrike connected with the stagger point Lumi had just marked. Prisma-Puff screamed a disorienting note right in the Marshal's ear. Gecko's flames kissed the gaps Arcial had carved. Dot skittered up her leg and hit a joint with venom.
The Marshal's HP chunked hard into the red.
She tried to blink back—
Riley's arrow was already in the air.
"Stay down," he said.
The shot hit clean — not a headshot, but right through a burst node Arcial's lightning had softened.
Her HP ticked to zero.
She dropped.
Her stag spirit screamed, surged toward her— then fragmented into sparks, returning to wherever storm-spirits went when their bond snapped to gray.
For a heartbeat, the battlefield froze.
Then Vanguard Eclipse panicked.
---
No Survivors
"Fall back!" someone yelled. "Leader's down — retreat!"
Several broke and ran.
"Do we let them?" Hayley shouted.
Riley's memories flashed: a different life, a different ambush, a different caravan that hadn't made it.
Eggs smashed.
Spirits stolen.
People crying in voice chat.
He drew string to cheek.
"No," he said.
Arcial was already moving.
Lightning blurred through undergrowth, cutting off escape routes. Frostwing dropped sheets of ice in front of fleeing rogues; they slipped and went down. Fire Cat and Gecko harried the backline, driving them into Jonathan and Hayes' reach.
Newbie archers, shaking but resolute, fired into exposed backs on Riley's mark.
Ether did not heal enemies.
Dot did not show mercy.
When it was over, Vanguard Eclipse lay scattered across the trail, HP bars empty, gear strewn.
Silence fell, broken only by heavy breathing and Kipp softly weeping over Terror's cracked knuckles.
Riley lowered his bow slowly.
"Check everyone," he said, voice hoarse. "Then the eggs."
No one from Dawnforged had died.
They'd come close — too close — but Ether's threads, Luna's veils, and a newbie's shield had made the difference.
Hayley knelt where Hayes' shadow cat had vanished, fingers twitching in empty air.
"He'll respawn at Emberton," Riley said quietly.
Hayes nodded once, jaw tight. "I know. Still feels like losing a mate in the field."
Bramble flopped down heavily. Stoneback toddled over and headbutted Tiger, who purred in agreement: they'd done good.
Sofia finished checking the eggs in the wagon.
"All safe," she reported, relief softening her eyes.
The boy who'd shielded her was sitting nearby, Ether and Sofia fussing over him despite his protests.
"I'm Liam, by the way," he said shyly. "Figured… you should know the name of the idiot who jumped in front of you."
Sofia laughed, a little shakily.
"You're not an idiot," she said. "You're Dawnforged."
He smiled like that meant the world.
Riley knelt by the Marshal's body. He found a lot of Gold coins
On her belt, he found a sealed contract window.
> CONTRACT: Retrieval – Primordial Eggs
Client: [REDACTED]
Payment: High-tier sponsorship, Emberton-based. Half before and half once it has been done.
His stomach turned, that explains why there is so much Gold.
"Someone paid them to hit us," Hayes said, reading over his shoulder.
"Someone in Emberton," Sofia added quietly.
Riley closed the window.
"We were already going there, Aria we should record a thank you video, for the gold, but dont post it untill we have arrived" he said. "Now we know to watch our backs."
He looked over his battered, brilliant, ridiculous caravan — at Arcial still pacing like a storm, at Luna dozing in Sofia's lap, at Lumi floating tired but smug, at a crate of quietly glowing eggs.
"At least," Aria croaked, flopping onto the grass, "we can't say the road was boring."
Dot patted her nose in agreement.
Riley stood, dusted off his hands, and looked toward the distant hills.
"Patch up," he said. "Loot what's safe. Then we move. Emberton's not getting any farther away."
The caravan stirred back into motion.
And somewhere far ahead, in a city of copper towers and contract screens…
Someone who'd tried to buy their future was about to learn what it meant to pick a fight with the Dawnforged.