Flashes of light and puffs of smoke surrounded the three and an instant later they were swarmed from all angles by purple and red creatures thrashing at them with long, ferocious claws.

Alex instinctively flinched and put his arms up to shield himself. His arms were met with the worst physical pain he’d ever experienced in his life as the claws of one of the creatures sliced through his flesh. A splatter of blood shot out of his arms and sprayed onto the purple creature that had attacked him.

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Alex cried out and toppled into Lika’so and Nijo’tika, knocking them off balance. Lika’so spun around, wrapping her arm around his chest to catch him and swinging at the imp that had just ripped chunks of muscle and flesh out of his arms.

“Cover me! I’m getting him out of here!” Lika’so shouted to her friend over the multitude of ear-piercing cries from the pack of imps as she pulled Alex away from the mob. She swung her sword in wide (but controlled) arcs, fending off all the imps she could. Alex was screaming and gushing blood. His arms were shaking from shock, making it difficult for Lika’so to keep hold of him.

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Lika’so managed to drag Alex about five meters away from the chaotic skirmish before dropping him on his back. “Run!” she yelled at him before charging back into the battle.

Alex rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself off the ground, adrenaline now allowing him to ignore the pain. He made his legs move as fast as they could, choosing flight instead of fight. He took a few steps before tripping onto his stomach.

The instant he hit the ground Alex changed his mind about fleeing and decided to fight back. It was no longer fear that fueled him, but rage. These things were hurting his friends and he wouldn’t just run and cower while they were torn to ribbons. He was going to fight.

He pushed himself off the grass once more, this time running towards the battle. He saw that Nijo’tika was on the ground with one of the creatures standing on top of her. It was about to strike. Alex made a full sprint at the creature, screaming as he kicked it off of Nijo’tika. He could hear and feel the snap of its neck breaking as he made impact with the small skull.

The body of the red creature flew like a ragdoll in the direction Alex had kicked it, landing a dozen meters away. There was a flash of light beside his head and one of the creatures appeared in a small cloud of smoke. Nijo’tika quickly aimed her crossbow in Alex’s direction and shot. The bolt whizzed by him and struck the creature between the eyes.

Alex reflexively ducked as the corpse of the creature fell onto his shoulder. The body hit the grass. Alex looked in Lika’so’s direction and saw one of the creatures clinging to her, its claws stuck deep inside her shoulder blade. Alex yanked out the bolt from the head of the dead creature and ran at the one on Lika’so’s back.

Alex impaled the creature’s eye socket, killing it instantly. He suddenly felt overwhelmingly weak and his vision blurred. He collapsed, succumbing to blood loss and falling unconscious.

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Lika’so saw Alex fall to the ground. A wave of panic and rage struck her. She couldn’t let him die. She wouldn’t.