"Is everyone alright?"

  "Yeah... I did have to burn that patient you dropped at our feet. He wouldn't wake up. For a second, I thought that he'd sleep through getting cooked alive." Frey stated matter-of-factly. No one uttered a chuckle at the absurd statement.

  Ah! I totally abandoned that guy. Well, forget it.

  "Let's help the guards. I'll run distraction, and Alex will hang back."

  "Provide support from a distance. If things look like they're getting too dicey, we'll retreat to the Spire and wait this out on one of the floors. The Valkyrie should show up sooner or later."

  Serious looks met Damian's own. None of them could be doing well mentally. Frey tried to look composed, but her nervous leg-tapping betrayed her. Donna looked distressed; she wore her emotions on her sleeves.

  Fergus seemed put back together, no nervous tic to be found. The closest Damian had ever come to seeing him distraught was when the whites of his eyes showed. But most startling of all, Alex wasn't smiling.

  They had just lost Isaac, and now a city-wide threat was barreling down on them. The only things they could do were address the issues in front of them or curl up and hide from the problem.

  Turning back around, Damian could see that the guards' formation had been divided even further. One of the unlucky soldiers who got separated was boxed in by flaming ground. The panicked man tried to jump over the flaming wall, but a sliver of flame licked his boot.

  As if his armor was drenched in alcohol, he caught ablaze. "AAAAAHHHHH," He screamed at the top of his lungs as he was burned alive.

  Not an instant later, Donna shot balls of water toward the inflamed man. Water met fire, but instead of the sizzling sound of flames being snuffed out, the fire only engulfed the man faster. It was as if our innocent Donna had poured lantern oil on him.

  Before anyone could act on a plan B to save the man, he stopped screaming and went still. Not even ten seconds after receiving a small attack, the man had died.

  Shit!, Fucking undead and their damn strange powers!

  Shaking his shoulders a bit, Damian started to run toward the battle. He went along the trimmed brush lining the road. As he ran, he tried to figure out the wraith's power.

  Does the flame burn liquid? Maybe it actually burns mana? Best not to get hit at all. But if worst comes to worst, I'll have to try and put it out with more natural means.

  The horseman had just finished another attack run on the guards and was turning around for another. Close by, Damian jumped out from behind the brush and over the horse's back. With a swift slash of his sword, he cut off the rider's head. Wind dashed along the wraith's back, nibbling at its existence.

  It just had to be a wraith; if this had been a normal battle, it would have finished there. But as the wraith's head landed on the road and dissolved into mist, the horseman, now headless, continued to attack the guards as if it hadn't received a grave wound.

  This time, as the headless horseman rushed the guards, its polearm caught one in the shield and sent him skidding back and into a line of flame. "AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Another soul was engulfed in an unending inferno. He would have met a less cruel end if he had died in the guardhouse.

  As the man was screaming, one of the other guards slammed their foot on the ground, moving the earth beneath the road like a wave; it shot up and covered their fallen comrade. Surprisingly, the fire went out.

  He must have retracted his mana from the soil before it covered the man, or the flame is just weak to earth mana. At least we have a solution for when more people get caught.

  The horseman slowed, making a U-turn, and then quickly sped up towards the guards. This time, it angled itself to line up on Damian.

  Spells and skills peppered the running figure for a short time, followed by panicked leaps to the side to avoid the mad wraith's attack.

  Breaking free, the headless rider headed for Damian. Just as the polearm would have skewered him, he became one with the wind and appeared on the rider's other side. With his sword arm extended into the horse's side, its momentum drove the blade deep into its flank.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  As it continued to run by, a large gash formed down the side of the horse. It looked as if a giant wheel had run over it.

  But to Damian's surprise, the horseman didn't slow down and continued down the road while veering toward the rest of his party.

  Shit!

  As the headless horseman picked up speed, Damian could see Alex stomping her foot on the ground, similarly to the guard earlier. But instead of a tidal wave of earth, she created a ramp that went far over their heads.

  Unable to stop in time, the rider went up the ramp and ended up midair.

  Alex and the group were already running to the side, anticipating that the horseman's flaming trail would drop down.

  But strangely enough, the fire trail hovered in the air, showing the path of the horse's crash into the ground. Instead of a graceful landing, the wraith buckled and fell on its side.

  Moments later, Damian could see a bright light shoot out from Frey's hands. Unlike with her fireballs, this new attack was like a concentrated beam of fire, striking instantaneously.

  As the horseman lay on its side, trying to get up, the beam pierced the horse's belly. To Damian's surprise, like the horseman's own flame, Frey's fire spread from the center of impact, engulfing the entire creature in seconds.

  There was no explosion, just the destruction of their enemy, burning away without even a scream. If Damian had to compare it to something, it was like the final embers from a campfire burning away.

  As the headless horseman's figure flicked out of existence, he could see Frey wobble and fall into Donn's arm. Rushing over in a mad dash, he could see that the flames left behind by the wraith were fizzling away.

  Reaching Frey's side, Damian scrambled and asked, "Are you alright? Is there a backlash? Did something else hit you?"

  "I'm fine, that skill just uses more mana than I expected."

  Ok, good. She's alright. I don't know what I would have done...

  As Damian was worrying over Frey, he could hear footsteps coming from behind.

  "Thank you for your assistance." A woman's voice sounded.

  Turning around, Damian could see that there were only seven guards left. Eight, if you counted the one burnt to a crisp and carried by another.

  Behind them, he could see the burning guard house. Not a scream could be heard, nor the slightest sign of life.

  The leader of the guard didn't look particularly impressive; she wore standard plate armor and wielded a mace and shield. She wore a helmet that framed her face, with an extra metal extension running from the top of the helmet to the tip of her nose. Dirty blonde hair poked out here and there.

  "You're welcome, but we should get a move on. The rites chamber has been destroyed, and wraiths are already coming up."

  The guards wore shock on their faces. Damian supposed that they hadn't had much time to get a read on the situation. They were knocked to the ground as soon as the explosions went off.

  "Let's head toward the healing center, and maybe you can take command of the adventurers and healers. Your ally's burns don't look good," He signaled toward the toasted man. Even though he had only caught fire for mere moments, his skin was completely charred.

  "Fergus, could you check to make sure he's out of any danger?"

  One of the guards stepped forward, looking ready to raise his voice, but the woman put up her hand, holding him back.

  "We would appreciate your help once again..."

  Waiting a moment, she followed up, "I am Corporal Maria Higgins Tier 4. Could you help make sense of the situation?"

  Only a Tier 4 Corporal! We're doomed!

  The military structure within the Earthen Union was as follows:

  Recruit -> Private -> Corporal -> Sergeant -> Lieutenant -> Commander -> Captain -> Major -> Colonel -> General -> Vice Marshal -> Marshal

  In major cities, enlistees formed the city guard. This gave the government more control. They claimed it was necessary due to the ongoing forever war with the Fire Empire.

  The war effort was more of a slow boil; neither side had gained much ground in decades, thanks to natural barriers between the two powers.

  But Maria, being a corporal, meant that she was a grunt, a grunt that had a little more say over her fellow soldiers. At least she was tier 4 and likely due for a promotion.

  Shaking the thought, Damian introduced himself, "I'm Damian, Tier 4. That's Fergus and Alex." Damian began pointing out his party members as they rushed back toward the healing center.

  "We were headed for the healing center when we saw someone fire a spell from a rooftop. It took out a quarter of the building. Not long after, we saw that same spell hit your guard house and several buildings in the area. Wraiths started to pop out from all over."

  "There were no guards near the healing center when it happened? Do you know where the rest have gone? Do you have a communicator that could speak with leadership?" Damian blurted out. This information could be critical to determining how they acted next.

  "..." Hesitating for a moment, Corporal Higgins responded.

  "We were recalled back to the barracks for new orders. Our next post was to head into the sewer system to guard against wraiths. We found multiple burned remains underground. Our Lieutenant had a communicator, but he was lost in the barracks."

  Ah, they were going to be used as cannon fodder. Fighting a wraith underground was suicide.

  Pausing for a moment, she continued, "We still had thirty soldiers back at the rites chamber to ensure that everything went smoothly. But if it was blown up—then Simon, Donna..."

  Donna flinched at someone mentioning her name. All too easily, that could have been her, rather than some soldier with the same name.

  As they approached the healing center to see if the situation had sorted itself out, they saw exhausted adventurers and the dead strewn along the ground. Looking toward the Spire, numerous people were rushing for safety.

  Just one thing at a time...