They continued their sprint through Riverfront, heading towards the attack. Although Kaztos couldn’t see anything yet, he knew the battle ahead would be difficult. Of the dozen militiamen who had fought beside them, only five had joined them in relieving the second assault. The rest had been too tired or injured to be of any help. Instead, Gwelen had them work on repairing the barricade.

  This running was taking its toll. Kaztos tried to keep his breathing under control. His lungs begged for more air, but he needed to pace himself. Despite having received no injuries, the last battle sapped a decent amount of his strength. Combined with the desperate sprint he now found himself in, the sweat on his brow was more than warranted. Thank goodness for Dollanti’s workouts. He’d be hopeless without them.

  It seemed Saiya was not faring much better. While Zeltara’s plan had been a success, it heavily relied on Saiya to succeed. Kaztos didn’t know much about casting, but knew it could be physically demanding. He saw her cast well over a dozen spells. That must have eaten away at her reserves. Kaztos would cover her in the coming fight so she didn’t have to overdo it. At least Zeltara looked to be in good shape compared to them.

  “Bakin, can you tell us more about the situation?” Gwelen asked the militiaman who’d alerted them.

  “Of course, Lieutenant. I was part of the garrison for the southern part of the barricade.” That was where they entered Riverfront from. Kaztos’ mind went to the two guards who had let them in. Were they still there at the time of the attack? He didn’t like them, but they didn’t deserve to be attacked like this.

  Bakin continued. “There aren’t usually attacks in that section, so it was under-defended. Their numbers overwhelmed us quickly. I ran to get you just as they were breaking through. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s alright. You did the right thing coming to us. These adventurers have proven themselves capable. We’ll be able to fight these monsters off with their help.” Bakin looked over to them. His expression turned skeptical.

  “Are you sure, Gwelen? They look rather young.” Another dig at their ages. Kaztos was going to have to get used to that, wasn’t he?

  Gwelen was quick to defend them. “They may be young, but they’re adventurers through and through. I can imagine that the captain was just like them back in the day. They’re impressive.” And didn’t that bring a mix of emotions? While Kaztos took pride in the compliments, being compared to such a despicable man left him feeling conflicted.

  Bakin gave them another glance filled with curiosity this time. “Then I’ll take your word for it. My apologies, adventurers.”

  “There’s no need to apologize. You meant no offense,” Kaztos said. Some skepticism was more than warranted this early in their careers. That they were giving them a chance at all showed their faith in them. Or their desperation.

  Zeltara called out, “I can hear fighting up ahead. Get ready.” Kaztos slowed down to get his hammer out before continuing to run. The rest of the group also drew their weapons.

  “How? I can’t hear anything yet,” Gwelen said. Kaztos could see her face, but he could imagine that the comment made Zeltara nervous. Hopefully, fighting alongside her would make Gwelen see past any prejudices she might have.

  “Oh, uh... I just have good ears, that's all.” The half-stuttered explanation thankfully appeased Gwelen’s curiosity.

  “That’s amazing. Well, does it sound like we’re winning?”

  Zeltara paused before answering. “I can’t say for sure. Just sounds like a lot of yelling and clashing. They’d probably appreciate our help.” Gwelen nodded.

  “Right! Then let’s go, men! For Riverfront!” Bakin and the other militiamen matched the battle cry. They surged forward even faster toward the battle ahead. Kaztos struggled to keep up.

  By now, he could hear the battle too. It was like Zeltara said, he couldn’t tell anything from the sounds of yelling and the clashing of steel. Still, it at least meant the defenders hadn’t been defeated.

  But the villagers were still in danger. The image of the children earlier in the day appeared in Kaztos’ mind. Could one of them be in the houses by the battle? The thought pushed him forward.

  They finally turned the corner. Without stopping, Kaztos observed the situation. Five militiamen were fighting twelve thin men inside the village. They were losing badly. The militiamen continued to give up ground to avoid being overwhelmed. Their tired sword swings did little to deter the thin men’s advance. They then had to avoid the monster’s swings and grab attempts as they got pushed closer to the houses.

  It all came to a head as one militiaman tripped over his own feet, falling to the ground. One of the thin men lunged forward and started restraining the man. He let out a terrified scream. Kaztos sprinted forward and swung his hammer, knocking the thin man several feet away.

  The attack left Kaztos unbalanced, but he had accounted for it. As he spun around, his foot came down. Kaztos channeled mana into his boot, and the ground violently shook. The vibrations caused everyone to stagger apart.

  Gwelen’s voice rang out. “Fall back, men! We’ll cover you as you recover.” Behind Kaztos, the weary militiamen started to walk and crawl away. He paid this no mind, instead focusing on the opponents in front of him. The thin men had reoriented themselves and started advancing again. He prepared himself.

  “Kaztos! Use your boots again, then duck.” He didn’t hesitate to follow Zeltara’s orders. With a mighty stomp, the ground in front of him shook again. Cracks appeared as the ground tore itself apart. The thin men crashed into the ground. Kaztos then ducked and covered his head.

  A large fireball flew over him, hitting the thin men. The monsters immediately burst into flames. Their previous methodical movements changed into desperate struggles. They futility tried to put the blaze out as they disintegrated under the searing heat. A violent buzz could be heard that steadily vanished into nothing as the thin men turned to ash.

  The fireball continued on its path and impacted the barricade. It caught fire, threatening to leave the village exposed.

  “Shit! Bakin, grab the water wand from Jinna’s family. You three, get water from the well. The rest of us, stop the flames from spreading.” Everyone rushed to complete Gwelen’s orders. The repeated ground tremors had left the soil loose, so they started grabbing that and throwing it onto the fire. Zeltara had found a bucket from somewhere, which helped slowly suffocate the flames.

  But after a couple of minutes, that failed to quell the fire. At least they prevented it from spreading further. A few of the militiamen had gotten buckets of water and sat them nearby. Kaztos was about to suggest using them when Bakin made it back holding a small blue wand. He handed it to Gwelen.

  “Here. I got it as fast as I could.”

  “Thank you, Bakin.” Gwelen then handed it to Saiya. “Here, use this to put out the fire.” Saiya gave the wand a skeptical look. She then pointed the wand at the fire and started to channel.

  Kaztos watched as the water from the buckets lifted into the air. It was as if gravity had lost its effect on the liquid. It then coiled into a thin length and fired over to the fire. Combined with their previous efforts, the water successfully drowned the flames.

  There were some halfhearted cheers, but everyone seemed too exhausted to celebrate. Saiya seemed especially tired, as she panted after completing the spell. Kaztos ran over to check on her.

  “Are you alright?” Saiya’s breathing calmed down as she nodded.

  “Yes. That took more out of me than I thought it would.” Interesting. Perhaps it would be because fire and water are opposing elements? Kaztos didn’t know enough to be sure. It could easily be because Saiya wasn’t familiar with that particular medium. “It’s strange. I feel tired, but my body is still fine. While I feel like I could go for a run, the idea of casting another spell sounds awful.”

  Gwelen said, “You must be low on mana then. Understandable, since you cast so many spells. The captain talked about it once. Feeling the need to rest while your body is in top shape.” Saiya nodded, confirming what she felt. Gwelen turned her attention to the burnt wall. “Well, at least the fire is gone now.”

  Kaztos turned his attention to the barricade. While they kept the fire contained, a significant part of it was damaged. There was now a dozen-foot gap where the wood had burnt. That didn’t include the other holes where the thin men had broken in. It would take a lot of time and material to fix it all.

  “Our apologies for the fire,” Kaztos said, feeling the need to say something. Gwelen and several others gave him a surprised look.

  “Please don’t apologize, adventurer,” Gwelen said. “Tonight would have been far worse without you. We’ve never had an attack this large before.” Several other militiamen spoke up in support. The kind words made Kaztos grin.

  Until one militiaman stepped forward. “Hey. Aren’t you the kids we let in earlier?” Kaztos recognized him. He greeted them as they entered the city. They froze as he examined the three of them. “Oh, you are! You had the elf with you.” He pointed to Zeltara. “Aren’t you her?”

  All eyes turned to Zeltara, who froze. She seemed to glance at Kaztos before slowly pulling her hood down. The crowd broke into whispers upon seeing her face.

  “An elf in Riverfront...”

  “What is she doing here?”

  “What could she be up to?”

  “She did help us, though...”

  The words of over a dozen seemed to hit Zeltara at once. Kaztos felt his metaphorical hackles rise at how skittish she seemed. Saiya stepped in front of Zeltara, partially blocking her from view. Kaztos did the same. Tension filled the air.

  “Enough!” Gwelen yelled. “These adventurers just helped us defend Riverfront, and you see it fit to gossip and badmouth them in public like this?” Various militiamen shifted in place, acting like scolded children.

  “But she’s an elf, Lieutenant,” one man said. It sounded less like an accusation and more like an uncertain observation.

  “Good to see that you have eyes,” Gwelen said. “But I want to make one thing clear. It doesn’t matter if she is human, elf, or a goblin. She helped us defend Riverfront. That deserves our respect.” The militiamen talked among themselves again. This time it sounded much more positive. Their quiet words had Zeltara smiling. Kaztos relaxed his guard, thankful for Gwelen’s intervention.

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  The militiaman who called Zeltara out walked forward and bowed. “I’m sorry for the way I’ve treated you. It was disgraceful.”

  “It’s no problem. Just be sure to be more considerate from now on.” Zeltara gave him a warm grin. The man straightened up and scampered to the back of the crowd. She turned to Gwelen. “What should we do now?”

  “Well first, we have to have someone report to the captain. He needs to know what happened. Think you can do that, Bakin?” The man nodded and took off towards the manor. “Next, we need to treat the wounded and repair the barricade. It needs to be ready before the next attack.”

  Before they could get started, some villagers came out of their houses. “We need help quickly!” The two, a man and a woman, rushed over to Gwelen. “Please, have you seen our children?” the man said. The desperation in his voice felt like a rock in Kaztos’ stomach.

  “No, there haven’t been any kids around. What happened?” The woman started sobbing.

  The man didn’t look much better. “Those monsters got into our house. I tried to fight them off, but I got trapped under a fallen cupboard. They took our three children. Please, you have to save them!”

  “But how? I thought we killed all of them,” Zeltara said. Kaztos tried to think of a time where some could have run off, but nothing came up.

  One militiaman came forward. “Some must have gotten by during the breach. I remember there being more than the dozen we fought.” So, they sneaked by when the defenders had been distracted. That lined up with what Kaztos understood of the monsters so far.

  “I see, then they could have gotten past again while we were distracted with the fire,” Gwelen said. “Please, go back to your house. We’ll figure something out, I promise.” The man nodded and guided his crying wife back into their home.

  Gwelen turned and gave them an apologetic look. “I’m sorry to ask this of you, but those kids need help.”

  “Of course we will.” Kaztos’ answer was immediate. And so was Saiya’s smack to the back of his head.

  “Don’t be an idiot. We aren’t in any condition to chase after a couple of kids. They can be rescued with the rest of the missing people.”

  Kaztos rubbed the back of his head. “That’s assuming they’re even still alive to begin with. There isn’t any guarantee that those kids will still be alive once they get back. We need to act now.” In what was now becoming commonplace, their gazes turned to Zeltara.

  She gave both of them an uncertain look. “I don’t know, Kaztos has a point. We don’t know how long those kids will last. They couldn’t have traveled far either.” She paused to consider something before focusing on Saiya. “How much mana do you think you have left?”

  “I don’t know, thirty percent? Like I said before, I’ve never used this much before. It won’t be enough if we get into a big fight.” The answer made Zeltara grimace.

  She turned her attention to Gwelen. “So, do you have anyone who could help us? We’re already pretty tired.” The lieutenant took a moment to converse amongst the gathered militiamen.

  After a minute, she said, “We have a few people with enough strength to help. I’m willing to help as well.” That made Kaztos relax. A group of them would be much more likely to succeed. He got ready to argue with Zeltara if necessary. He couldn’t let children die on their watch.

  But that was when Captain Bollin arrived. He gave the destroyed wall a disgusted look before turning to Gwelen. “Lieutenant! What is the meaning of this damage?”

  “Sorry sir. The thin men attacked with much more ferocity than previously seen. It took everything for us to drive them off.” The captain snorted and looked over the crowd, unimpressed.

  “Yes, your messenger told me everything. What were you thinking? Now several sections of the barricade are damaged. We don’t have the time or resources for these kind of repairs. What will we do for the next attack?” Bollin shook his head. “If you did something like this back during the Sixth Crisis, demotion would be the least of your worries.”

  Gwelen bowed. “Again, my deepest apologies. I tried my best to follow your training.” The anger in the captain’s expression dissipated. He sighed.

  “I just expected better. I cannot fight anymore, so I rely on you to shoulder the burden. You need to be better, understood?” Gwelen perked up and gave a salute.

  “Of course, sir! And just to inform you, I was going to take a few men with the adventurers to go save three kids whom the thin men had kidnapped. With your blessing, we’ll depart immediately.”

  Bollin shook his head. “Utter nonsense. You can’t risk yourself like that. Those kids are as good as gone. Focus on protecting those still in the village.” The callous words made Kaztos clench his teeth. How dare he talk about those poor kids like that?

  Gwelen seemed similarly dismayed. “But, sir-” Before she could continue, the Captain interrupted.

  “It’s done! You’ll get yourself killed running blindly out there. I order you to abandon such a venture.” Gwelen deflated at the words. The captain turned to Kaztos. “Now, if the adventurers want to risk themselves, then be my guest. Not that they’re worth much, anyway.” The crowd watched as Bollin walked away. “I need to check on the rest of the barricade. Patch up that hole the best you can. I’m sure the mayor will figure something out.”

  “Yes sir...” They watched as the Captain left. Kaztos turned to see Zeltara staring out the barricade, her expression conflicted.

  Saiya walked up to her and grabbed her hand. “Zeltara. We can’t.” Kaztos joined them.

  “If we don’t go, those kids could die. We’re their last hope.” Even Saiya looked uncomfortable about that.

  “I know that, but we’re not in any condition to fight. If we go out there, we’re not going to make it back. Much less with the kids.”

  Kaztos wouldn’t give up. Not with this much at stake. “Then we can avoid fighting. The thin men are slow. It’ll be easy to outrun them. We just have to grab the children, then get out.”

  “And when we get ambushed? You’re making it sound like it’ll be easy to avoid them. How many times was it mentioned to us that these monsters are sneaky?” Kaztos had to hold back a growl of frustration.

  “How could you be this callous? Those kid’s lives are in our hands. How could we live with ourselves if we do nothing?” Saiya seemed to be equally angry with him.

  “Don’t call me that! I care almost as much as you do. But I can see the writing on the wall. There is nothing we can do in this situation. We’d just be throwing our lives away.”

  Before Kaztos could respond, Gwelen walked towards them. She bowed on her hands and knees to Zeltara. “Please, those kids did nothing wrong. You have to save them. I saw what you’re capable of. You can save them, please.”

  At first, Zeltara said nothing, continuing to stare outside the village. She hadn’t said a word during their argument. Even Gwelen’s desperate plea seemed to leave her unmoved. After a minute of thought, she said, “We’re going.”

  Kaztos almost teared up in relief. “Thank you, Zeltara.” Saiya meanwhile looked hopelessly resigned.

  “So that’s it then.” She did not look the least bit happy. Kaztos felt just a bit sorry. Unfortunately, the situation required the extreme action they were about to take.

  “Thank you,” Gwelen said as she stood up. “Riverfront will forever be in your debt.” Zeltara gave her a quick glance.

  “Of course. Now come on. We need to hurry if we want any chance of catching up.” Zeltara started walking out of the village, through the burnt hole. Kaztos and Saiya followed behind. They left after a few calls wishing them good luck. The words brought a small smile to Kaztos’ face.

  As they walked into the darkness outside the village, Zeltara lit her lantern. It provided enough light to see where they were going.

  “Great, now they’re going to know we’re coming,” Saiya said. Her words held a bitter undertone. Kaztos ignored it and corrected her.

  “They won’t be able to detect the light without eyes. We’ll just have to be quiet.” Zeltara started to lead them north once they were far enough away from the village.

  “Not necessarily. There are more ways to detect light than with your eyes. Unfortunately, we don’t have much of a choice.” Zeltara looked back at Saiya. “You said your mana was about thirty percent before. How many spells can you still cast?”

  The question seemed to pull Saiya out of her mood. “I don’t know. A few? The question should be how many I can cast and still be standing at the end of it.” Kaztos noted the continued sweat on Saiya’s forehead. He needed to monitor her condition if they entered combat.

  “How about you, Kaztos?” He felt where his mana was. It was like a small pool that sat deep within himself. He imagined hands cupping the water in the pool, feeling how much remained.

  “I’m still good. Well over half.” If anything, it was his physical stamina he needed to worry more about.

  Zeltara picked up the pace. “Then a direct confrontation wouldn’t be a good idea. I doubt we’d win against more than a few of them. Speaking of which, we need to catch them before they reach their destination.”

  “We’re assuming the kids are being taken to whatever these things call home?” Kaztos asked.

  “That’s what we have to assume. And considering how many attacked, the place must be swarming with them.” They reached the forest and had to watch out for trees. Their pace slowed down a bit to avoid getting tripped up.

  Saiya asked, “Why are we heading north?”

  “That’s where we guessed where the thin men are coming from,” Zeltara said. “It’s not a great idea, but none of us know how to track. And the thin men are long gone, so I couldn’t listen for them.” Kaztos grimaced.

  “So we might be going in the wrong direction?”

  “Unfortunately. But I think we’re going the right way. The surrounding buzzing noises are getting more numerous.” That was both good and disconcerting. What did around us mean? Were they in danger of being attacked? Kaztos wished they could see more.

  “So, what are we going to do if we find them?” Kaztos asked. They needed a plan before they caught up.

  Zeltara took a minute to answer. “We’re going to hit hard and fast. Kaztos will use his boots. I will focus on pulling the kids away. Then Saiya can burn them. We don’t look to see if they’re still alive. We each grab a kid and run.” Simple, but they probably wouldn’t be able to think of anything better in such a short amount of time.

  “I’m going to need to be careful,” Saiya said. “One errant spell, and we’d have to deal with a forest fire.” The thought made Kaztos’ stomach churn. Out of control flames like that could do a lot of damage.

  “Try not to do that, Saiya. We have enough on our plate,” Zeltara quipped. “Did you at least bring that water wand with you?”

  “No, and I doubt it’d be helpful. It took a lot out of me, even with a water source for me to use.” Unfortunate for them. Kaztos could have at least tried to use it. He was in better condition than Saiya at the moment.

  The minutes continued to pass as they moved through the forest at a light run. Kaztos took steady breaths as he felt his energy continue to dip. They really needed to avoid a fight. He and Saiya were not in any condition to be in one.

  If it weren’t for the necessity of the situation, Kaztos wouldn’t be risking this. He still might not have if it were adults who’d been taken. But the thought of children having to suffer pushed him forward. They did nothing to deserve this, and Kaztos would see them saved.

  More time passed, and Kaztos could now hear the buzzing. It was coming from all around them. A part of Kaztos felt worried about getting ambushed, but now wasn’t the time to think about that. They were getting close. He could feel it.

  Zeltara signaled them, and the three came to a stop. Her ears twitched as she listened in on something. “Damn it!” The sudden exclamation caused Kaztos and Saiya to jump. They pulled out their weapons.

  “What’s wrong?” Saiya asked, watching the surrounding darkness. Kaztos wished that there were some source of light so they could see outside the lantern’s range. As it was, they wouldn’t see anything until it was almost on top of them.

  “We’re too late. I can hear the kids struggling and pleading for help. But they're surrounded by a lot of buzzing. More than I’ve ever heard before.” Kaztos bit back a curse of his own.

  “And you think that’s the thin men’s home?” Zeltara responded with a nod. “What should we do then?” Kaztos didn’t like their odds. The almost hour of running after the previous battles left him exhausted. They wouldn’t be much help like this.

  Saiya said, “We need to turn around then. I can hear enough buzzing to think that we’re getting surrounded.” Kaztos agreed to that. It sounded like a swarm of bees buzzing around them. How many thin men were waiting just beyond their lantern’s light. Had they even made it this far undetected, or did those monsters know exactly where they were?

  “Not yet. There’s still a chance we can save them. They haven’t quite reached the loud buzzing yet.” Zeltara walked forward. “Come on, I think we’ll be right above them. We can scout out the situation before deciding.”

  Saiya said, “This is reckless. We could be walking into a trap.”

  “I don’t think so. I can’t hear any approaching us. The closest thin man is fifty feet away, going in a different direction.” Kaztos didn’t know if he should be relieved hearing that.

  “How many can you hear?” he asked.

  Zeltara seemed to take a moment to mentally count. “At least a couple dozen. They’re all around the area.”

  “And they just happen to not be where we are?” Saiya’s question is filled with a thinly veiled panic. Kaztos shared that sentiment. They couldn’t be that lucky, right?

  Zeltara also understood the gravity of the situation. “I know. Just get ready to run. At this point, I just need to confirm that this is their den or whatever it’s called. We can come back better prepared to destroy it. Riverfront can survive another couple of days.”

  Kaztos kept his head on a swivel, looking for any signs of an attack. He needed to be ready to protect the others. They weren’t in any condition to get into a melee fight with any thin men. He wasn’t in much better shape, but that didn’t matter. Only their safety did.

  They came to a stop on a ledge. Zeltara crouched down and held her lantern out. It was a ten-foot drop. Down below was complete darkness. Kaztos could only hear the insistent buzzing and the struggles of the children.

  “I can’t see anything from here,” Zeltara said. “Could one of you channel a mana light? That might reach farther.” Saiya leaned her staff against herself and held out a hand. Slowly, a small teal light came to life. Its light reached only a few feet beyond the lantern’s not enough to reach the struggle below.

  Saiya moved the ball of light to the tips of her fingertips. “Let me try something.” The light slowly inched away from her fingers, moving down to the clearing below. Dozens of thin men came into view. They wandered around aimlessly, unbothered by Saiya’s light. Next, a burrow revealed itself in the center of the clearing. It was lined with branches and looked large enough for an adult to walk into easily.

  “Would you look at that,” Zeltara muttered. “They’re like rabbits. Dug a hole into the ground.” She then pointed off to the side. “Look, there are the kids.” Kaztos turned his head.

  The three children weakly struggled as a thin man carried them. They must have burnt through all of their energy trying to escape earlier. The thin men moved slowly towards the burrow.

  “That must be where they’re keeping the others,” Kaztos said. They now knew where thin men came from. There was only one problem. “We’re not going to be able to save them, are we?”

  Saiya let the mana light dissipate. Kaztos watched as the kid’s tearful gazes disappeared from sight. The area had fallen silent as well. She took a moment to catch her breath before saying, “I doubt it. There are too many down there already. Who knows what will happen if we kick that hornet’s nest.”

  “And we can’t set the burrow on fire. That’ll likely kill anyone who is already in there,” Zeltara said. “We’re going to have to plan this out carefully. Riverfront won’t help, so it’ll just be the three of us.” She then muttered to herself. “Maybe we can come back during the day. They don’t seem as active then.”

  Kaztos sighed. “So, that’s it then.” He felt like a failure. They promised to save these kids, only to come back empty-handed. There didn’t seem to be anyway for them to pull off a rescue. Not in their condition.

  “Unfortunately, but don’t worry. We’ll be back. I promise,” Zeltara said. “I already have a few ideas. A good night’s sleep will have us ready to come back.” Kaztos smiled. That’s right, they had an actual bed waiting for them.

  “That’s assuming we make it back before midnight. Might have to survive another night in our sleeping bags,” Saiya said. The thought made Kaztos want to run back to Riverfront. Sleeping on the ground sounded dreadful after the day they had.

  Zeltara said, “Well, I just know-” The buzzing came back right on top of them. “Move!” Zeltara tackled them onto the ground. Kaztos felt the air above them shift as something launched through where they just were.

  “Shit!” Their momentum carried them over the ledge. They were in brief free fall before impacting the ground. It became pitch black as Zeltara’s lantern went out. Kaztos gasped as the air left his lungs. His ribs and shoulder ached. After a few moments, he caught his breath. It was then a mad scramble to disentangle themselves and stand up. Kaztos channeled a weak mana light, revealing Zeltara and Saiya next to him.

  “What was that?” Saiya demanded as she held her staff at the ready. Kaztos pulled out his hammer and prepared himself. Panic built up within him. Things were going incredibly wrong.

  “Some of them sneaked up on us. Stupid! I should have been paying attention. That silence was too suspicious,” Zeltara said as she worked on relighting her lantern.

  Kaztos said, “It’s fine. We didn’t notice either. Now get the lantern working and let’s get out of here.” Zeltara continued to fiddle with her lantern.

  “Of course. Just have to one more thing.” The lantern came to life. “There!” Zeltara stood up with a triumphant look. One that fell to fear as she looked over Kaztos’ shoulder. He whirled around to see what it was.

  There, dozens of thin men faced them. They were completely boxed in against the bottom of the ledge. It was a trap, and they had walked right into it.

  Saiya held her staff forward, a small flame flickering at the tip. “What do we do?” Her voice shook with unhidden panic. Kaztos didn’t feel any better. This was bad. The thin men shuffled closer. Their already limited space started to disappear.

  “We have to find a way to break out and run. Look for an opening, or something.” Zeltara didn’t sound like she was any more composed than them. They needed to get a grip now, or they’ll find up trapped in that burrow like the others. There had to be a way out. He needed to believe that. It would just take some strength and ingenuity to find it. Kaztos picked out targets and prepared himself for the battle of his life.

  The Trinity Divide - A LITRPG Mystery Thriller

  ??THE TRINITY DIVIDE

  ? WHAT TO EXPECT: ?

  ? LitRPG with stat progression and ability unlocks

  ? Weak to Strong (starts Level 1, learns through survival)

  ? Fast-paced noir mystery with frequent combat

  ? MC + bound companions (angel and demon literally on his shoulders)

  ? Hard magic - wards cost blood, abilities drain health

  ? 1920s Prohibition setting meets theological horror

  ? Both Heaven and Hell are antagonists

  ? No harem, slow-burn romance