Quiet as a mouse, Luna followed me down the gravel road as we went to the rendezvous point our group had established.

When we met up with the rest of our team, I told them my grand plan: "As you'd all suspect, meeting our enemy out in the open is a terrible idea. So what we're going to do instead is use this village to our advantage. Before they reach us, however, I want to leave a few presents for our friends. Before the hoard breathes down our neck, Luna and I are going to head out and set as many traps as we can spare before falling back. Dorrian, I want you on the bulwarks coordinating the archers. Ben, you'll be with me and Luna. Ana, keep the guards in line and make sure they'll be ready to throw hands at a moments notice."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Dorrian inquired with a raised eyebrow, only to grunt as I shared a portion of my reserves with him.

"So this is what your power feels like?" Analise mused, "This is...awesome."

"Yeah." Dorrian agreed, "Beyond awesome."

I grinned, "Each of you have been given a portion of my reserves, which grants you enhanced strength and regeneration. Simply put, you won't die easily."

"Will this be detrimental to you?" Luna asked me, "Spreading your reserves out as much as you are right now?"

I shook my head, "I'm linked to each of you. I give you power, and you all keep me alive."

"Oh," She breathed. "Fair enough."

"Yeah, I'll be fine," I assured her.

Ben had a thoughtful frown on his scarred, grizzled face. "Why exactly do you need me to come along?"

"For one, you'll know where to place traps." I explained. "And I'll also need you to act as a spotter. If the hoard gets too close for comfort, let me and Luna know. I'll blink us onto the bulwarks so we can start laying into these bastards."

"Fair enough." he mused, eyes glued to my huntsman blade. "And might I ask, why do you have a glowing sword?"

I sighed, "It's a long story."

Ben looked like he wanted to press the issue, but Luna shook her head. "We don't have time-We must make haste."

My team nodded and went their separate ways. The remaining guards of Klausiin were already gathered there, and they waited for us with swords, shields, hand cannons, and any other weapon they were able to scrounge up. Ana hurried over to the group and gave them orders while Dorrian scrambled up onto the bulwarks and issued orders of his own.

I stopped suddenly as my small group of three started to leave the town. "Where's Nova?"

"Coming!" She shouted, running toward my group. She slowed down when she drew near to us, "Sorry, I thought these would be really useful."

She held up a small sack and flashed me a bright smile. "Anyone order explosives?"

"Awesome." I breathed. "Good work Nova. We can use those as traps as well. Nova, can you repurpose those to be mines?"

"I mean, yeah. It'll take me some time, but I can repurpose them to act as mines." she replied, only to frown and blow her bangs out of her field of vision.

"Good. Stay back here and do that. When you're done with that, come out and help me and Luna set traps for our friends to trip."

A toothy grin lit up Nova's expression. "With pleasure bro."

I caught sight of Dorrian looking down at us from the bulwarks with a bright grin on his face. "Took you long enough!"

"Bite me!" She shot back.

Since she was here, I made sure to share a portion of my reserves with Nova.

"Oh," She began simply. "Hmm...intriguing. Your power is quite impressive, Helix. I wonder if I could harness it and put it into a weapon..."

I snorted, "I'd rather not be your Guinea pig right now, so please don't get any ideas."

"Okay, fair enough," she replied. "So after I get done with working on these grenades and set them for our friends to step on, what then?"

"You'll help us mow down the hoard on the bulwarks." I explained. "When they get closer, we'll leave the village and take the fight to them."

"Awesome." she breathed. "good luck setting those traps, bro. I'll be out there soon-give me twenty minutes."

I sighed. "I doubt we have twenty minutes. Just...Get as many of those ready as you can."

"Will do."

After that, my small team approached the front gate, which was where Analise and the group of fifty guards were mobilized.

"My group will be back shortly." I told them. "I don't want you lot charging out into battle yet, so stay back and wait. Analise will lead you into combat, so wait for her call to charge. I wish you all the best of luck."

When I was finished speaking, Luna, Ben, and I left the safety of the village: some of the archers waved at us when we cleared the gate. As we continued moving forward, I heard the faint sounds of marching approach us. Good...The hoard isn't here yet. I guess someone with a good eye (or a handheld telescope) had caught sight of our enemies approaching. We had some time to spare. As to how much time we had, I was unsure. We jogged a fair distance away from Klausiin so we'd have some wiggle room when the traps detonated.

"Alright." I breathed. "Let's get to work. Nova should be out here soon, so we'll have to lay down magic traps. Let's settle with fire traps, Luna. They'll require less magic to create, and they're quite effective at dishing out punishment against armored enemies."

"How effective are they exactly?"

"The ones I've casted can turn most types of armor into molten slag."

"Fire traps it is then." Luna breathed.

Another thought occurred to me, and I turned to regard Ben. "Scout ahead and try to gauge what we're dealing with."

"Aye." he replied and disappeared.

So with no further delay, Luna and I scrambled to set out as many traps as we can while Ben slinked forward. We spent about ten to twenty minutes setting out traps at semi-even intervals before the old ranger returned to us.

"I have good news and bad news." he breathed. "The hoard isn't as large as I was expecting it to be."

"And the bad news?" I prompted him.

"There appears to be a horse-mounted figure leading this hoard." Ben explained. "Couldn't tell if it was a demonlord or not, so I fell back. My guess that there's anywhere from five-hundred to six-hundred demons marching toward us right now. Not bad, but not good either."

I nodded, only to hear hurried panting approach us.

"I-I'm here!" she wheezed. "S-Sorry. I have...Gifts."

"Good." I replied. "Set those out-Luna please help her dig holes for the explosives. We can place them in between the fire traps that have a little more distance between them."

She nodded. "On it."

So while Nova and Luna started planting the explosive traps, I continued setting fire traps, which comprised of a large, faint orange rune circle. From a rough estimate, Luna and I were able to set out about thirty of these in the twenty-or-so minutes we had been working. They were arranged in a straight line that'll leave quite the mark on our enemies. From what I could tell, Luna and Nova were working on creating a second line about ten yards away from the first one.

"I see that look in your eyes." Ben began as I created another trap. "What are you thinking?"

I chuckled to myself. "What if I was able to take down the figure leading this hoard?"

"You can't be serious."

"Humor me then." I replied. "What if I took this bastard down?"

"You could...Potentially demoralize the hoard." Ben mused. "However, this is still a crazy, borderline-suicidal gamble."

My only response was to chuckle to myself once again.

Another ten minutes passed before Luna and Nova returned to us.

"Alright." my sis breathed as she wiped sweat off of her forehead. "All of the explosives have been placed. I take it it's time to fall back now?"

"Not exactly..." I breathed as a group of eight wolves appeared around me.

Correction: Eight pale blue wolves. The alpha male of the pack walked over to me and head-butted me affectionately.

"Master," He murmured. All of the wolves were pale blue with dark blue patterns all over their bodies.

"Helix..." Ben whispered. "We're out of time."

He wasn't wrong: the hoard had gotten closer, and jagged spearheads could be seen as the sounds of marching grew steadily louder. Thankfully, the hoard stopped as their leader continued to approach my small group.

The alpha male growled, "What do you want us to do with these impure creatures, master?"

"Nothing yet." I replied, "Hold on."

I turned to regard my friends and grinned. "Let's go have a little chat with our friend."

"Are you insane?" Luna demanded.

"If this twat figures out we set out a bunch of traps for his hoard to trip, we'll be fucked." I explained. "Also, if I can cut this guy down, that may work in our favor."

She sighed. "Fine...If things get too hairy, I'm blinking us back to Klausiin."

"I can't argue with that." I replied.

We walked forward until the mounted figure stood before us. His armor has seen better days, but this guy was still an imposing figure: He wielded a spear that was easily his height. (Keep in mind that this demon was about seven feet tall) He had a helmet on that hid his facial features, but his horns still poked out of his helmet.

A few moments passed before the being spoke in a deep, guttural language I didn't understand. After he realized that I couldn't understand him, he switched to basic: "Terribly sorry. I forgot you mortals don't speak daedric."

I rose an eyebrow, "What is your business in this plane?"

He-it laughed, "Isn't it obvious? I'm here to conquer you." (The bastard said this as if he were talking about a normal matter over a cup of freaking tea.)

"Why exactly?" I pressed, "I thought you assholes were sent back to where you belonged when the Dread Decades wrapped up? Didn't you learn your lesson the first time?"

The demon snarled at me, "You mock me now, but your recent victory against my lord's forces during the Dread Decades has caused him to send me back here to sack the city known as Volhime."

My smile was devoid of any humor. "Sorry friend, but that's not going to happen."

The demon scum tilted his head to the side in question. "And why's that...friend?"

"Because I'm going to kick your fucking ass." I retorted.

The demon barked out a laugh. "You will try."

The alpha male of my pack looked at me expectantly, "Now master?" His voice was pulsing with excitement.

"Embrace it," A voice in my head whispered.

"Go." I replied simply. "Eat."

My pack charged past the demonlord and leapt at the first lines of the hoard. The sounds of screaming could be heard, and I couldn't help but chuckle to myself. For a small pack of wolves, these guys sure worked efficiently.

My small group flinched in surprise, and I issued my orders. "I need you guys to cover me while I deal with this asshole. Can you do that?"

" Aye! Excelsior!" Nova exclaimed as she holstered her weapons and pressed the buttons on both of her explosives. She then tossed them at the hoard before us, and we were all shaken to our core as they both detonated. When the dust settled, a large hole had been blown into the hoard's ranks.

So while I charged at the demon before me, Benjamin, Luna, and Nova provided me with cover fire. Any demon that got near me was pulverized. However, I could tell we had limited time.

I engaged the demon bastard before me, cutting his horse down so we could -kind of- be on the same level. He fell, then he picked himself up and glared at me: "Who do you think you are, mortal?"

I grinned wolfishly, "That's wearing thin, bitch. Less talking, more fighting."

We charged at each other. He tried to keep me back with the long reach of his spear, but I got up close anyway and punched him in the face. I attempted to disarm my opponent, but he sent me staggering back when he hit me square in the chest with the butte of his spear.

"You dare think to cut me down so easily?" The demon hissed. "I won't allow it!"

We went back and forth, exchanging blows and dodging out of the way of each other's reprisals. I felt a bead of sweat arch down my cheek as I narrowly avoided a thrust from my adversary's weapon. I had to end this quickly before my luck ran out.

I decided to take a risk and charged toward my foe. He scored a glancing blow on my chest plate, but I was still able to chop his spear in half with a downward slash. I then took advantage of the moment and ran the demon through the stomach with both of my swords.

He coughed out blood: "Wh-What are you?"

"The defender of this motherfucking realm." I shot back, "Never forget that, you cocksucker."

Removing my blades from his abdomen, I decapitated the miserable excuse of a demon and blinked my friends back to the bulwarks. I was starting to strain my reserves, but I couldn't stop now. The party had just begun.