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The hobgoblin's feathers ruffled as it peered through the undergrowth, pointing towards a faint golden glow. "There. Sun on metal?" Around him, his three companions grinned toothily, raising their axes as they stalked forwards. The first imagined the taste of blood as it stalked forwards. For over an hour, they had stalked through these woods, hunting for remnants of the human army, and it was growing tired. Traps had been set, and there was one fewer hobgoblin in the pack than had been present minutes earlier, when one of them had found a spiked pit, coated with venom, the hard way.

Now, however, the humans had erred, and true battle would resume. The hunt was uninteresting to the hobgoblin. It was the play that followed that made the world worthwhile. Its tongue lolling in anticipation, it led the charge as its fellows broke through the thicket...

Only to find itself impaled upon the haft of a gleaming golden spear.

Bryce, still glowing faintly, his caste mark shining on his forehead, threw the hobgoblin from his spear and into another one, bringing it around defensively as he stepped from the corpse of the last three he had fought and towards the new arrivals. His mind was tired, but the hobgoblins saw the set of his jaw, and for a fraction of a second they paused. Then they leapt, diving as one towards him from opposite sides. Dropping, Bryce slammed his spear to the left as he kicked rightwards, sending one hobgoblin sprawling backwards as he split the forehead of the other. Leaping to his feet, he charged the first hobgoblin to have fallen, bringing his spear around in a sickening crunch, and turned back to meet the charge of the final one.

What he saw instead was Hervan Pannai delivering the final strike to the beast, as six men behind him watched the woods. Pannai saluted tiredly, his uniform stained with mud, blood, and black feathers. One of the men with him was carrying a silver axe, but the rest had their bows and swords, and iron daggers at the ready. Pannai shook his head. "Dragons, Bryce, but it's good to see you. We thought you were dead for sure when that snake went down."

"Yeah, so did I, for a moment."Bryce smiled back, letting his spear fall to his side. "What's our situation like?"

"Not as bad as we were afraid of, honestly." Pannai's men began to methodically check the hobgoblins for anything useful, and Pannai stepped forwards. "We sent our three most wounded back to town, and those of us who could still fight - twenty-eight people, at that point - started setting traps and priming leftover ones. The hobgoblins have split into two roughly equal groups - one stayed at the fort, and the other spread out into teams of five or so and fanned out into the woods. I don't think they know where they're going next, after that big snake died. We split into three groups and started picking theirs off through ambush. My team's taken out thirty-one Fair Folk, plus your seven, and we've lost two of our nine in the process. Don't know how the other teams are doing."

Bryce did some quick calculations. "I've killed twenty-seven hobgoblins other than the ones here, working my way northwards. I figured they were ahead of me - but if they're fanning out, I've probably been crossing their paths. That makes sixty-five dead between our groups. If the other teams are doing this well, we might have a chance, especially if the army is fragmenting. Hells, it could be that we've gotten most of the hobgoblins going northwards by now, and it'll take them hours to realize what's happened."

Pannai nodded. "That was my thought. We can't hope to fight them straight-on, but they're not really used to woods, I don't think. They keep treating it like plains - not paying attention to reduced visibility, or keeping an eye out for ambushes." He looked around, and then smiled, wiping blood off of his sword with a piece of ragged, bloodstained cloth before tossing it aside. "Alright, sir, what's our next plan?"

"Start falling back to town, but make it a fighting retreat. I'm going to push north and see what things are like on the other side. Whether we have re-inforcements could make all the difference." Bryce sighed, patting Pannai on the shoulder. "This is going to be a hell of a day, Pannai."

"We're still alive, sir." Pannai paused, and then pushed on. Behind him, his team paused also, listening as he spoke. "And... and we wouldn't be, if you weren't... you know... what you are."

"A Solar, you mean." When Pannai nodded, Bryce sighed. "I know. I'd be dead three times over by now. I know you're worried, Pannai. Hells, I am, when I have time to stop and think. I haven't finished working through the implications of my Exaltation - and yes, it is an Exaltation." He looked over the seven men in front of him, expressing various degrees of doubt in their eyes. "I'm still the same guy, though, and I'm still here to help. Keep up the fight. We'll win this." He nodded solemnly, and Pannai saluted again.

"Yes, sir." Pannai smiled. "We trust you, Bryce. Solar or whatever, you're here now, and that's what counts." He saluted. "Head north, and see how the commander's doing. We'll make the hobgoblins pay for every step that they take with blood."

"Do that. Just don't lose your own in the process." With another nod, Bryce started pushing northwards, ignoring the pain running through his side. Deep down, he knew that he was beaten up and hurt, and the Fair Folk army already pressing around was bad enough. If there was a second, he wasn't sure what he could do to beat it.

Things were under control here, but that might not, in the end, be enough.

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