"How'd you like a quick ride across it right now," Evie threatened, whirling her bladed chain up into her fist, held only a half span from Atar's face. The mage flinched back before his Spirit ignited with orange Mana.
"Stop it, both of you," Felix snapped. "There's other ways to..." Felix trailed off as he looked up and down the ravine. "Hm. Maybe. Maybe. How much can they hold, though?"
"What is it?" Vess asked.
"The trees," Felix said. "We can use the trees."
"You thinkin' of jumpin' across them?" Evie asked. "That's a tall order for some here."
"Not jumping, walking," he explained. "I could ferry everyone else across, unless the trees want to eat my other magic. But I don't think I could lift the birds without hurting them."
"And findin' a way down and then back up would add hours to our day," Harn said. "It's better than nothin'."
"Why do we need the mounts anyway?" Kylar asked, and his little mustache quivered when he noticed he had everyone's attention. He rallied as his Spirit sparked with something like pride. "We are moving faster on foot right now, and the way is going getting more mountainous. Shouldn't we abandon them?"
"We'll need the birds for after the first range," Harn grunted. "They stay."
Matter settled, Felix instructed them to bring the trees closer. Vess sent her floating spears out to shepherd a number of them, which was more difficult than she had expected. The trees fought back, in a way. The flows of air Mana in and around them pushed back against her spearsmade of mostly air Mana themselvesand wanted nothing more than to sit where they were. At least they didn't eat away at them like they had with Felix's Skill, though their resistance was frustrating to her.
Felix took this as encouraging for some reason, and began to help. Tendrils of shadow whipped from both of his hands, each one securing a single tree, and he hauled back. Strong as he was, it was only a matter of time before he brought them to the cliff face. The rest were grabbed by Evie and Vess.
"Oh, they're fighting back," Felix said, a slight note of strain in his voice. His tendrils were wrapped now around the outermost layer of Orphale Trees, split into eight or so thinner cords of shadow Mana. The trees steadily bucked against being grouped together like that. "Like similar polarities on a magnet," he said, another one of his meaningless phrases. Something from his home, she assumed. "I wonder if"
Felix's face twisted in pain and Vess stepped toward him. "Felix what"
Then she felt it.
A presence. It was oppressive, jabbing at her senses like a blade. Vess' heart thundered and her brow dampened. The others were feeling it too, she saw, in varying degrees. The guard simply looked confused. Vess looked around, searching for the source.
"There!" she gasped.
Across the chasm came the sound of snapping branches and crashing boulders as a horde of monsters barreled toward them. They were huge, running on four legs and covered in rocky armor. Wide, mad eyes and drooling fangs stared and snapped at them from a quarter league away. That oppressive, dangerous presence only multiplied, honing itself to a razor's edge.
"Defensive line!" Harn shouted, and the team staggered to their places. The Haarguard followed, far slower as they fought with the mounts. "Release the mounts!"
The avum ran off, all of them, nearly yanking Kylar's arm from his socket.
"It's too many!" Vyne shouted as he brought his shield to bear. "Nevia!"
The Dwarven mage looked to Vess for instruction. She nodded at Harn. The gruff warrior raised a hand as the beasts thundered down the slope. They were almost upon their position, and the beasts were even larger than Vess had thought. The chasm would pose no problem for them.
"Walls!"
A spray of jagged ice shot up around them, solidifying into a dense wall of ice Mana that covered about thirty span in an arc. Vess was impressed. It had even grown around the struggling Orphale Trees, locking them in place.
"Great job!" Felix shouted, dropping his shadow whips and giving Nevia a thumbs up. "Now me! Stone Shaping!"
The earth rumbled beneath them all as dusty brown Mana exploded outward. Then there was a mighty chorus of bellows, and two of the enormous hulks tore through the ice.
Vess whirled her new spear, heart hammering and core singing.
Finally. A proper fight.