A Bored Lich

Chapter 390 - Friendly Fire

Olpi's back hit the ice wall before she knew it. The wolves were coming and no one would help her. She aimed a magic circle at the incoming horde. Mana flooded out of her outstretched hands just as Elero landed in front of her.

"Watch out!" she cried. It was too late to stop.

Mana turned into frost. Elero barely saw the white flash, however it was just enough for her instincts to take over.

Elero's knees bent, pulling most of her body out of harm's way. Most. Not all. Just before Olpi's vision went white, the spell latched onto part of Elero's back.

"I'm sorry!" Olpi's words were drowned out by a scream filled with nothing but pain. The spell continued onwards over the pack of wolves, and mournful howls joined with Elero's cry. Olpi blinked through the tears and all she saw was Elero, writhing on the ground, her shivering form covered in frost.

Olpi dispersed the magic circles and kneeled next to Elero. She wanted to offer a hand, but she couldn't bear the thought of even touching her. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

Elero's life essence flickered as it desperately sought to replace the dead sections of skin of her back. Her violent, uncontrollable twitching began to subside. She gritted her teeth, struggling to remain conscious. She was alive. Unfortunately, since Elero had absorbed a portion of the spell, the wolves were alive as well.

The spell had slowed them, but not by much. In a few seconds they would be upon her. Olpi had mana left, but she couldn't focus on making magic circles with the knot that had formed in her gut.

An audible snap accompanied a falling figure as he descended onto the battlefield like a comet. Frey put the force of his fall behind his blade, which flashed through a wolf's neck. He reeled a metal boot back and kicked the wolf's at the rest of the pack. Even though Frey was armed, armored, and more than ready, he hesitated. He glanced over his shoulder. He lingered upon his companion.

His helm made his face too dark to tell his expression. Olpi wasn't sure if that was a blessing or a curse because frankly, she didn't want to know. She wanted to cry and run and never show her face again.

Frey whipped around and batted a wolf with his shield, then cut through another with his kopis. Three down, but there were many, many more to go. Frey stood challenging the sea of fur and fangs before him. They threw themselves upon him. Biting. Tearing. Clawing. He threw them off and cut them down, yet still there were more. He would not fall.

Elero opened her eyes with a jolt. Olpi smiled and offered a hand. "Come on, we gotta get you out of here." Elero didn't hear her. She scanned the surroundings; the ice wall, the wolves, Frey, the goblins moving about the tree cover, and lastly, Olpi. Her eyes narrowed. "You, out of the way!"

Olpi was on the ground before she knew it. Elero on top of her. She was shivering. Her icy gaze was as cold as her frost-covered body. Olpi threw her hands over her face, waiting for the fists to rain down. "I'm sorry!"

"You idiot," Elero hissed through gritted teeth.

Olpi flinched. Was Elero waiting for something? Why was she hesitating. Olpi more than deserved to be struck. "Please, I didn't mean it." She didn't know why she begged. She did it anyway. However, it wasn't fists that rained down, it was arrows.

Arrows whistled into the snow, where they had both been moments ago. If Elero hadn't moved them to the side, they would have been turned into pincushions.

"Shut up and stand up." Elero dragged Olpi to her feet and surveyed the scene, still deciding on a course of action.

"You're not going to hit me?" Olpi asked.

A wolf slammed into the icewall, forming a bloody streak as it slid to the ground, limp.

"Both of you, focus!" Frey roared. Blood flowed out of lacerations along his body. He breathed out great puffs of smoke as he stood atop a pile of corpses. The fight was beginning to take its toll on him. "Olpi, ground those little fuckheads! I want them where I can hit them. Elero, pass me my pole axe and watch my back."

"Elero can't fight in her condition-" Olpi stopped, shocked as Elero practically leapt to her feet.

Elero staggered for a moment, then slid into a stance. "Got it." She kicked Frey's pole axe into her hands and bolted towards him. "Switch!" Frey caught his pole axe and Elero caught both Frey's shield and kopis. The wolves circled around them and attacked, but with Elero, it was different. The moment she caught Frey's weapons it was as if she laid claim to them. She moved through the battle like a whirlwind, hacking away with the kopis in her right and bashing faces away with the shield in her left. Olpi barely noticed the sluggishness in her movements, and the pain in her expression.

Another volley of arrows huddled towards her and she threw up two more walls around herself. The goblins had circled around to kill the threatening mage first. She gathered a surge of mana and launched it into a massive magic circle, which appeared in the treetops.

Similar to Olpi's first spell, a flash accompanied the roar of blizzard winds. Branches bent under the force. Goblins were flung out of their cover, then shattered on the ground. Olpi looked at the rest of the opponents. She had plenty of mana to spare, but she might hit Elero again. She stepped back and erected a protective housing around herself. 'I should be safe here. Plus, I won't hit them by accident.'

"Leave some alive." Frey shouted, his voice growing distant.

Olpi sat against a wall with her knees against her chest.

"Frey, I need some help over here," Elero called. "Where did Olpi disappear to?"

"I don't know, but we can handle this."

Olpi's chest shuddered as she closed her eyes and let out a sigh. 'I've never heard her scream before,' she thought.

The chaos fell to a silence. Several minutes passed by, and a knock dragged Olpi out of her thoughts. She made an opening for herself to walk out to find that it was Elero.

Elero was covered in cuts and bruises, still breathing hard from battle. "So this is where you were. Hey Frey!"

Frey emerged from the tree cover with a kick in his step.. He took off his helm, threw it to the ground, and marched straight up to Olpi. "What happened out there?"