The horde was thinning, at least around them. Her team had torn through the edges of the battle before plunging in, but each of them was a powerhouse compared to the average Revenant. Even Atar and the Dayne girl held their own. The creatures seemed to be fleeing from them, or perhaps shifting closer toward the Broodmother in some sort of protective formation. All it meant to Cal was that it made her task that much easier.
Ahead something impacted the ground and the Revenants about sixty strides ahead tumbled into the air, thrown by some large object. Cal looked up, pushing her Perception, but Felix hadn't dropped that giant crystal. What was?
Fatal Flurry!
The last of the Revenants blocking her view fell, their spines and throats severed instantly. Cal flowed into the gap they left, Vess, Atar, and the Hand close behind.
"Is thatis that a wagon?" Atar panted. The Crown atop his head flickered and faded, and Cal noted his eyes shimmered bright crimson for a moment before returning to their natural hue.
"Supplies," Cal said, nodding at the characters along the side. Redcloaks were good at being orderly, at least. "But why is it here? The redcloak line is further up."
A slight figure landed atop the wagon, trailing a bladed chain that almost floated in the air. Cal felt her chest clench and release at the sight, only to have her senses blaze warning when a man in white armor led a battalion of Inquisition closer and shouted at Evie. Beside her, Vess sucked in a breath.
"Him," she pointed at the older Initiate. "The one in the lead. He fought Felix to a standstill."
"Oh really?" the Hand said, eagerness in his voice. "And only Journeyman? How fascinating."
"Good, then you can take him out, Reed," Cal barked. "The rest, we need a distraction."
"I...have an idea," Atar said.
"My Lady! We've spotted another force form the upper levels!"
"Report, Klark," DuFont demanded. She shoved a hand forward and let loose a torrent of heat Mana, burning through the Revenants before her. They died before they could even scream. "How many?"
"Only eight, but they recognize the Guilder known as Onslaught among them," the boy said breathlessly. His own sword was out, burning with the Order's flame and cutting into the horde that never stopped coming. "They're cutting a path to our rear guard, as if they're trying to flank us."
"Harn Kastos and Calesca Boscal," DuFont scoffed. "They finally arrived. But only eight? Was one of them a young man with blue eyes?"
"No ma'am, the only younger male was blonde. A fire mage."
"Damn." Eliza dragged her other hand through the air and let her own brand of flame pour out of her gauntlets. It baked the root-covered tiles before her, igniting many of the Revenants pressuring her men. "Then where is that bastard? Pass the word. We're too close to the Broodmother now. We'll not be taken off course by the Fiend's entourage!"
"What of the rear guard?" Klark asked.
"They stand at least three hundred strong," DuFont snapped. "Do you think they'll fall to eight fighters?"
"No, ma'am."
DuFont and the two other Inquisitors had pushed their troops forward as quickly as possible, forming a path lined with their shields and bodies. Acolytes were falling by the dozen, but there were plenty to spare. The Initiates more than made up for the loss of meat shields, taking up the fight against the Revenants and Ghouls. DuFont had spared some of her precious Mana to push back the horde, but it was an impossible task. She had to take the Nest firstshe hadto; before that need, all else was meaningless.
Then they were there. The base of the Broodmother and its field of noxious eggs.
Eliza paced ahead, joining Inqusitors Daur and Rutger at the head of the procession. She took the lead, eyeing the both of them, almost hoping they would try and challenge her right to be there. They simply looked away, though Rutger looked quite bitter. DuFont let a smile slip across her face.
"Come, men. Time to take the Authority we deserve."
That I deserve, she amended.
Without warning, a strange hornblast cut through the air, and only steps ahead an aquamarine wall of light rose up over the eggs and Broodmother. It shimmered in the crimson light, almost painful in contrast.
"No!" DuFont screamed. She unsheathed the hooked blade at her side, the one she'd claimed from the Foglands expedition. She struck at the shield rapidly, but the enchantment on the blade did nothing to the shield.
"That is a Master Tier shield," Daur gaped.
"The Sorceress is here!" Rutger hissed.
"Indeed she is," a voice said.
DuFont spun toward the sound, sword and gauntlets up and ready. A woman with pale blond hair and a crooked iron rod leaned casually against one of the man-sized eggs.
"Nice to meet you at last, Eliza," the woman said and aquamarine light rippled down her arms. "I've been meaning to have a chat with you."