Dawn of the Last Dragon Rider - Chapter 085 - Adventurers Falling (Patreon)

“Fall back!” Hess shouted.  “Fall back! To the trees!”

How did they know we were going to attack?

Hess was still struggling with how quickly the horde of creatures had responded the moment they had attacked.  The moment they had charged, it was like every creature in the cave had surged at them.

As they rushed toward the trees, Hess couldn’t help but glance at the four dead bodies of the third group knowing he couldn’t help the last warrior who was being slaughtered by half a dozen hobgoblins.

The second group was barely holding their own, and their healer struggled to keep them up and fighting.  Hundreds of arrow shards littered the ground where they were retreating from, broken from hitting his shield.

What I wouldn’t give for a real archer.

It wasn’t their fault, and Hess knew it.  The two archers in his group were not horrible, but they did not have a thirty, and their skills choices were not helping here.  Headshot had been great for taking out the orcs, but the long-timer and the lack of multi-target shots turned this fight into a range battle they couldn’t win.  His single mage was out of mana already, which meant he was nothing more than a weak fighter with a staff.

I swear if I live, I’m going to kill Fiola.

As that thought ran through his mind, the fear of what he had just admitted rocked him to his core.  He had to survive!  He had a child of his own coming, and he could not, would not allow it to grow up without him!

“To the trees!

His group was running, and he smashed any creature foolish enough to get within range of his hammer.  The shield was thankfully able to withstand the onslaught of arrows and the magical spells that had hit it.  The few cuts and spots he was bleeding from were fine for now.  If they could get to the trees, his healer could help him with those in a moment.

“Hess!  Behind you!”

Glancing behind him as he ran, Hess saw what the archer had pointed out.  Coming from the cave entrance was a tier three orc with a pair of shamans behind him.

“RUN, you idiot!” Hess shouted again.  “We have to get to the trees!”

Arrows rained down upon them, dozens bouncing off his shield, but one got past it, hitting his chainmail and sending a stinger through his forearm, weakening his grip on his hammer for a moment.

Fifty yards more.

The last fifty yards were the worst.  Every few yards required them to stop and raise their shields to prevent the arrow storm that fell upon them from striking them dead.   Slowly, they made it to the treeline, fighting the creatures approaching them.  The large orc was shouting and bellowing out orders, mocking them as he strode through its allies.

Perhaps he should have attacked earlier, but Fiola had called for them to wait till three hours after sunrise.  It made sense, and yet they were getting driven back.

“Can we make it if we flee?” called out his healer as they made it to the trees.

“No! They will run us down!” he shouted back as he quickly pivoted, surprising a group of three goblins who were almost upon him as he swept his hammer in an arc, dropping all three of them in one blow.  “We fight in the trees! Form up! Protect the archer and call out targets!”

They began to slowly move as a group, using the trees to try and provide safety from arrows, knowing they would eventually be surrounded.  The only advantage they had was the thickness of the tree growth kept them from being attacked at once by fifty or more enemies.  There was one spot they needed to get to if they had any hope at all, but it was still a bit away.

———

“To your left!” Selmah shouted as she watched Ava burn down a group of hobgoblins with bows.  “Good work!”

Wiping the sweat from her face, Ava nodded and was impressed with Selmah’s tactics.  The ring of six warriors around the three mages and the archers behind them taking out the individual attackers was impressive. Selmah cast only when she deemed it worthwhile, but when she did, it was a sight to behold.

Her single lightning attack had killed over twenty-five creatures in one go, arching through all of them and burning them instantly.

“The cave is close! Bring up the barrels!”

The archer behind her responded to Selmah’s order by whistling four times in a row.  She glanced back and saw the two men tasked with bringing those kegs to the cave dashing from the trees and toward their position.

As Ava turned her attention back to the cave opening, a fireball erupted from inside it, slamming into their front warriors, engulfing them in flames, and knocking them over ten feet from their position.

As the men slammed into the ground near them, she saw the shield she had cast flash and disappear.

“ORC MAGUS!” Selmah bellowed as she ran over to Ava and flung her backward.

Another fireball appeared from the cave opening, hitting a barrier that Selmah had erected just in time, sending flames running over the invisible wall for a moment.

Climbing to her feet, Ava saw more goblins and orcs rushing their position as the remaining two warriors tried to close the gap the magus had created.  Both were slightly injured but still alive, while the other four were not moving.

“Heal them!” Selmah ordered as she released a fireball into the cave's opening, watching it bounce off a shield similar to hers.

The healer rushed forward, chanting and glowing as a small light glowed around him.

“We need to move!” the warrior called out as he pointed at the edge of the mountainside with his weapon.  “Take away that thing's line of sight and make it come out!  Otherwise, we are dwarves in a barrel!”

“Sound the retreat to the barrel, men!  “Everyone shift right!”

The archer turned to whistle and, as he did, saw that the two men who were coming toward them were being chased by two hobgoblins who appeared out of the woods.  They were losing ground as the barrels they carried weighed them down.

“Selmah! The barrels!”

Turning around momentarily, she saw the two hobgoblins who would be upon the two men quickly, and a curse slipped from her lips.

“Shoot them, you idiot!”

All three archers turned and began losing arrows at the hobgoblins.  As the arrows reached the area they were aiming at, one of the hobgoblins managed to strike one of the men from behind, causing him to drop his barrel and fall to the ground, rolling on the rocky soil.

The other hobgoblin took two arrows, one in his shoulder and the other in his gut, falling to the ground injured but not out yet.

Ava focused her mind and summoned the arrow she had practiced for so long and prepared to let it go.

“NO!” Selmah shouted as the arrow flew at the hobgoblin who was about to butcher their allies.  A shield shimmered a few yards before the hobgoblin, deflecting her spell into the air and allowing the goblin to skewer the man.

An explosion rocked an area behind Ava, and she felt herself pushed forward, back toward the trees.

Ears ringing and covered in dirt, she groaned as she tried to stand up and saw both warriors gone, Selmah still standing in a massive crater devoid of dirt except for where she was.  Their other mage was gone, evaporated, and one of their healers and archers was dead as well.

Another fireball moved toward their location, even bigger than the first, caught by a shield again, leaking fire all over its edges.

“You fool!” Selmah yelled as she started a wall of flame inside the cave, allowing her to see the Magus waving its hands and the talisman it carried as it grinned at them.  “You would have exploded those barrels!  Now, all of you move right!  Archers, take out that last hobgoblin!”

Ava wanted to say she was sorry, yet she knew it was not the time to talk. Her mistake had cost them the lives of four adventurers because she had made Selmah drop her shield here.

She saw the two archers firing arrows at the last hobgoblin, injuring it before finally finishing it off as they moved to follow Selmah and her shield.

Groaning, Ava stood up and dashed to get in position, casting a fireball at the cave entrance, watching it bounce harmlessly off the shield the orc magus had created.

“I’m sorry,” Ava said as she panted, leaning on the staff she had somehow managed to keep with her.  “I forgot about the..”

“Focus,” Selmah interrupted as she snapped her fingers. “You two, keep the opening clear.  Matthew, keep us healed.  Ava, save your spells for when a large group comes.”

Closing her mouth, she nodded and moved back behind Selmah’s position.  Now, it was a waiting game.

They had about seventy-five arrows left between the archers, and she was currently down to maybe four or five spells.  She knew Selmah had more power and mana, but how much she was not certain.  They could see the cave but could not see inside, which meant the Magus could not see them either.

The few orcs and goblins who had come out died quickly to the arrows, but she knew they would prepare defenses against that soon enough.

“Meditate, regain your mana, and be ready to act when I tell you to.”

Ava saw the expression on Selmah’s face. Things were bad, and it was obvious.

The Magus had not been expected, and as powerful as Selmah was, having to protect all of them limited what she could do.  One-on-one, she would win, but protecting these fools would be her downfall.  She wished she could meditate and try to regain as much mana as possible, but with no warriors, she had to be ready for anything.

“What are we going to do?” Ava asked, realizing how bleak things were going to turn.  “Once nightfall comes, we will be at a major disadvantage.”

Selmah weighed all their options. The odds of the Magus making a mistake were small.  She could try and bring down a portion of the cave opening, but there was no guarantee it would work, and it would take a large amount of her mana to do it.  The Magus could easily get his minions to clear it, and then they would be hot on their heels.

“Meditate for now,” she repeated.  “Let me consider the options we have.  I need you to get as much mana back as possible right now.”

Ava nodded, her eyes still closed as she sat on the ground.  Her thoughts were conflicted as she took deep breaths, trying to settle herself and clear her mind.  All she could think about was her mistake and the lives she had cost.

I’ll never get out of here… I’m going to die… Kaen…

Her heart hurt at the thought of knowing she would not see him again.  No man had made her feel the way he had, and she knew he cared about her, not because of her title or power.  He liked her for who she was.  That was the first time she had ever met a man who saw her as she was and not as the daughter of Lord Hurem, heir to the family business.

He would like me even if I was just some poor adventurer with no family.

“Focus!” snapped Selmah.  “Stop letting your mind wander and focus!”

Ava took a deep breath and held it as she cursed in her mind.  Selmah could tell she was not meditating… just how powerful was she?

Ava wondered if Selmah was strong enough to save them from what awaited them in the cave.