Gary’s face crumbled in agony and for a moment it looked like he would try and shove past her, but instead he nodded and turned to Rufus. Rufus was still on the ground, disoriented and in shock. His eyes darted back and forth unfocused, his face confused. Still holding the severed arm, Gary dismissed his conjured armour, picked Rufus up and headed for the backlines. He tried to yell for a healer but it came as a loud croak, his own torso having been savagely pummelled.

People were coming in to hold the line and the enemy leadership was pulling back. Whether from an unwillingness to lose all their constructs or from almost losing part of their leadership, it was enough that they started withdrawing from the engagement. Danielle retrieved Farrah’s body, whose conjured armour had vanished on her death. Under the feet of swarming constructs, it had been mangled unrecognisably. She sealed it away in an Adventure Society casket, which she then placed into her storage space.

* * *

Danielle wasn’t happy with their position, with the water at their back. Organisation was still a mess, certainly beyond crossing between islands under battle conditions. The advantage was that the beach was an open enough space to regroup and take stock. The only other open area was the cleared ground of the camp, which they had paid such a price to escape from. They had lost another silver-ranker and some of the bronze, but most of those left were solid. The major loss was Farrah. Not only had she been a massive factor in the large-scale combat, but her companions were almost as valuable and her loss had gutted their morale.

The group still had their silver-rank healer, so reattaching Rufus’s arm hadn’t been a problem. The brutal kick that had sent him out of combat had required more healing. Aside from the tiredness that came with the extensive healing, Rufus and Gary were physically good as new. Emotionally, they were wrecked, especially Rufus. Left sitting in the sand with other recovering adventurers, he just stared into space, saying nothing. Gary paced back and forth next to him, a volcano that could erupt at any moment.

The eruption, however, came from elsewhere. Thalia Mercer, who Danielle needed calm and collected, was exploding on a pair of iron-rankers.

“YOU LEFT HIM OUT THERE ALONE?”

“We didn’t leave anyone,” Neil said, standing up to Thalia’s fury. “Your son told us to hold them back while he was already running for it. It’s not our fault your—”

Thadwick’s other lackey thumped Neil on the arm to shut him up. Venting a decade of frustration at that moment would likely get them both killed by Thadwick’s furious mother. It looked like it might happen anyway until Danielle arrived, placing herself between Thalia and the pair.