Chapter 35 - Water Against Fire
The water struck the incoming monsters in the distance, splashing hard across their scorched hides. Steam hissed into the air as the blazing aura surrounding the Lava Hounds dimmed. If only slightly, from the dampening effects of the water magic. Their molten skin, once glowing bright with lava-like veins, now flickered and sizzled as droplets clung to them.
But the moment of reprieve was short-lived.
The hounds burst forward.
From every direction, they charged, howling and growling with a thunderous ferocity that split the air. Their growls sounded like deep, cracking stones and their snarls rang with the sharp echo of flame. Their bodies cut through the mist, claws digging into the earth, jaws agape, snapping with an intensity that promised death.
"This is bad! Very bad! Very bad!" someone shouted as the pack closed in fast.
"Back to formation! Take your positions and finish these things, now!" Oriana commanded.
The two defenders, who had moments ago been standing between Orion and Elias, hesitated for only a heartbeat more before abandoning the stand-off entirely. With grim determination, they shot off in opposite directions, shields raised. If one of those two arrogant fools ended up dead, so be it, as long as it wasn't them.
One of the Lava Hounds leapt forward, a massive beast with glowing cracks down its side, and slammed into the frontmost defender's shield with brutal force. The impact rang like thunder, the metal groaning under the weight, but the shield held. Barely.
Around them, the squad snapped into motion.
The long-range attackers and support casters gathered quickly at the center, forming a solid core of magic and healing. Meanwhile, melee fighters surged to the outer ring, blades drawn, spells readied, clashing head-on with the incoming tide of monsters.
Orion and Elias, despite their feud, weren't entirely beyond reason. The moment the monsters closed in, they split off, tearing through opposite flanks of the battlefield. Their grudges could wait, this wasn't a fight they could afford to ignore.