A Bored Lich

Frey winced as his blood trickled down his leg, pooling on the dirt. The Bloodwood seemed to come to life with creaks and groans, but listening closely, not all of the sounds were from the forest. He shifted towards his shield.

The spike sagged from his loosened grip; It forced him to wrap his arms tighter around it as if it were a needy lover, lest he restart his progress. His hair raised on end.

Electricity was in the air, literally. 'Enchanted arrows!?' Buzzing shadows hurdled towards his widening eyes. He turned away and lifted.

The bright, deafening flash overrode the intense pain, or so he thought. In the silence to follow, he felt nothing but the tension of his body. He glanced over his shoulder to see his shield, floating over broken arrows. 'The word for this was…autonomous, right?' Frey thought as he laughed aloud.

"Keep firing!" a voice called out. "He's almost broken through."

Frey snapped out of his shock, and remembered that he had lifted the spike inches off the ground. The barrier quaked, not yet undone, however he could tell it was weakened because he caught a glimpse inside.

The flames continued to spread, unencumbered. As the group fell back, Doevm made vehement motions towards Olpi, who kept pointing at the barrier. He rolled his eyes.

"Frey?" Olpi gasped, her eyes locking to Frey's bloody leg. Her hesitation vanished, and mana poured out of her palms.

"Guys," Frey huffed. "I've almost…damn!" he cried out as pain punched through his back, and a bloody point emerged from his shoulder. His instincts screamed at him to let go and run. He held on, but as he shifted his grip, the arrow's enchantment lit up. Electricity flooded through his body and before he knew it, the spike was back in the ground.

"Maintain your distance and shoot all together!" a voice bellowed. "A shield that small can't block everything at once."

"Then how about this, you bastards?" Frey muttered. He tapped his shield and its mercurial edges expanded outwards, morphing it into a tower shield.

"Spread out!" the voice bellowed. "East unit, match your timing with the west unit."

Frey yanked the arrow out of his shoulder, then healed the wound with life essence. He grabbed the other one, but hesitated. 'I can't spare too much life essence on myself,' he thought. He wiped his hands on his shirt, took a breath, and grabbed the spike. 'Last time. This is it,' he thought. He lifted, and the barrier quaked.

The group had pressed themselves against the barrier's edge to avoid the flames. A storm of mana surrounded Olpi, who sat with her eyes closed. The others piled dirt up to hold off the flames for a few precious seconds.

'What are they doing?' Frey thought. 'I thought the barrier prevented people from using magic.'

"Hurry!" Doevm ordered.

Frey lifted the spike up another inch. Cracks spread through the barrier. 'They were really waiting for me?' he thought. 'I'm an idiot. Of course Doevm has a plan. It's me. Why did I think he had something more complicated? Why did I sit here taking hits when I should have been doing my job?'

Frey yanked up once again and, the moment the barrier reached its limit, vines wrapped around him. He pulled his leg away too late as the Bloodwood took root in his thigh. His hands trembled around the spike. "Are you kidding me!?" he yelled out. He called upon his flaming, white aura. It was too slow.

"His shield is caught!" A voice yelled.

Frey looked back to see his shield also entangled by the vine. "Damn it!"

"Frey!" Thomas yelled out, his voice muffled within the cracked barrier. Everyone's faces were so pale as they watched, hopelessly.

"Fire!" a voice ordered.

Olpi opened her eyes and her mana expanded, the force shattering the barrier. The subsequent boom echoed throughout the forest.

'At least I was good for something,' Frey thought, watching the arrows pierce into a rising wall of earth. He breathed a sigh of relief and cut the vines loose. His aura would take care of the remnants, eventually.

The group rushed out of the flames and gulped down fresh air. "Finally, we're out," Elero coughed.

"What happened?" Frey asked. "Not that I'm disappointed."

Kilot pat Frey on the shoulder: "You loosened the barrier just enough for Olpi to blast through with the force of her mana alone."

Olpi dispersed her mana and held her forehead. "Not that I'm complaining, but can someone please carry me?"

"I got you," Frey said. As he went to stand, however, he fell back down, feeling the exhaustion catch up with him.

Elero pulled Olpi over her shoulders. "Frey, no offense, but you look like shit."

Frey pointed to the oncoming hail of arrows. "Take a couple of those and then we'll see if you can stay on your feet."

Doevm stepped forward, both mana and life essence circulating his demonic spear. With blue flames at his back, his emotionless eyes seemed more alive than ever.

Frey scrunched up his eyebrows. "Doevm, what are you doing?"

Doevm ignored him and blasted through the barrage with an arcane gale. By the time Frey realized what happened, Doevm had prepared another spell.

"Magic user!" a voice said. "Everyone, keep your distance and hold your fire. He can't see us!"

"Doevm, what are you doing?" Frey repeated.

Thomas stepped forward. "Doevm, are you listening to us?"

A red, transparent membrane expanded outwards from Doevm's chest; it harmlessly passed over the group, but cloaked the invisible enemies. "Now let's finish this," he muttered. He spread his mana into dozens of magic circles and held them, point-blank, in front of every enemy in sight. 𝗳𝒓𝚎e𝚠𝒆𝐛𝐧𝐨v𝚎Ɩ.co𝓶

No one could hide. No one could fight. It was as times like this, when Doevm's face became an emotionless husk, that he scared Frey the most. But Frey had seen it plenty of times before. He stood up and ran towards Doevm, kopis raised high. "We are fighting, are we not!?"