Evelyn cradled Alaster's head as the carriage rocked violently side to side. A few of the others tried to help by keeping the rest of his body still.

Evelyn stared at her brother's face, twisted in pain. Nothing she did helped. Not her own healing spells, nor any of the other children's.

None of them knew what was wrong with him, so they did the only thing they could. Keep him as comfortable as possible as they rushed to the safest place. Unfortunately, the only safe place they had known was now under occupation by Demons.

With no other choice, they had to continue the trip to Onigas, a city none of them had ever been to, and had only heard rumors about. Her brother had seemed to think it was a safe place where the children would be safe, including her, so she chose to believe it would continue to be even if her brother was injured in some way.

After Liam and Felix helped bring Alaster into the carriage, Evelyn had begged the Undead horses to move faster. She didn't think they would listen, Minions never obeyed anyone but their Master, but she was panicking and didn't know what else to do.

Just as she had thought, they didn't listen, not until Alaster personal mount, Nightmare, growled.

Horses shouldn't be able to growl, at least not like a bear.

Immediately, the Skeletal Horses transitioned from a consistent pace slightly faster than someone walking to that of a galloping horse. Nightmare easily kept pace. As they sped up, the noises of the forest grew in agitation, the sounds of battle reached her ears, but none were allowed close.

Evelyn nearly fell out of the carriage door but managed to stay on, barely.

It had been nearly two hours since they sped up, but they had yet to reach their destination. David had taken it upon himself to take watch outside. He was currently sitting on top of the carriage, somehow sticking to it despite the rough and winding path.

Liam ignored his grumbling stomach in favor of keeping Alaster's arm from flapping around. While he knew it wouldn't hurt the man, he was more afraid that it would hit one of them and actually break something. He just hoped that they would arrive in Onigas soon.

He was hungry.

Evelyn watched her brother's face twist and contort in agony, praying to whatever gods that were listening that she would not lose her brother after she just found him.

As the minutes dragged on, Evelyn began to hear the roars of Monsters. Without Alaster constantly resummoning them, they were being pushed back towards the fast moving carriage.

The Undead Cavalry could only do so much without constant reinforcements and they were slowly beginning to lag behind.

In a few minutes, the carriage would meet the front of the defensive circle as they battled a Warband of Orc Riders.

And none of the children had any weapons.

When Alaster's Undead took the Children out of Zolis, they did not allow them to take their weapons. The only ones who were mostly unaffected were the few of them that had ranged Magic, and David, who preferred to rip and tear into his enemies with his bare hands.

As the fighting grew louder and closer, David opened the hatch on the roof of the carriage leaning in so his face was upside down inside.

"Enemies."

Was all he said. It was all that needed to be said.

Evelyn looked up from her brother, knowing she had to take charge.

"Harper, Illa, Tyron, go help David. This carriage will not stop, so whatever happens, do not fall off. Just keep whatever is out there away from us. Don't try to kill it, just keep it away."

The three whose names were called stood up, "Understood."

Tyron stood under the hatch and lowered his stance, helping the girls up and out before hopping up and grabbing the bony ledge and pulling himself out.

"Liam, Ulex, you go out too. Out of all of us, I trust you two the most to fight in melee even without weapons. Keep anything from clinging to the carriage, but most importantly, make sure the others don't fall off."

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Liam and Ulex nodded sternly, following after the Mages through the hatch.

"Everyone else, stay inside and away from the walls for now."

The rest replied with various forms of acknowledgement.

While all of Evelyn's Seeded Companions were slightly stronger than their peers of similar level, most of them were still much too weak to reliably contend against Orcs, least of all while trying to maintain balance on a fast moving carriage through a winding and bumpy dirt path through a forest.

Liam was often seen as the stupid large man of the group, but he was intelligent, and always knew where his body was in relation to his surroundings. And Ulex had yet to be moved an inch by something of similar size unless he wanted to. The only time Evelyn saw Ulex be moved by an enemy's attack was when a Warg, a wolf as tall as a house, charge into him.

Even then, Ulex had only been thrown back a few feet and managed to deflect the charging Monster away from the more fragile members of the Party.

If there were any of the melee fighters in Evelyn's group, Evelyn trusted those two to keep the Mages safe and on board, including themselves, even without weapons.

Unfortunately for herself, she had yet to learn any ranged Magic, at least not any that would be useful. Her only way to attack through the use of Magic required her to touch her opponent. Besides, she was not sure she could make herself part with her brother when he was in this state.

Instead, she, like the others, resigned herself to sit and wait, hoping that if and when they reached Onigas, they would arrive with the same number of friends.

* * * * *

Liam climbed to his feet and turned to help Ulex close the hatch. The dark gray carriage, made from bone, rocked and bounced, making footing troublesome. Liam was just glad Evelyn's brother had not made the roof of the carriage smooth.

Illa was already struggling to stay on her feet as the trees whipped past. Eventually she simply crouched down so low she might have been sitting.

Harper was used to moving while keeping the aim of her bow. A skill that translated quite well while using her Wind Magic.

Meanwhile, Tyron remained completely rooted to the carriage. As with most Earth Mages, it was very easy for him to remain on his feet. His body swayed with the carriage, but his feet did not move.

Ulex was looking around for anything he could use as a weapon, but there was none. The carriage was practical, not flamboyant. Anything that was not needed to make it function well, was not present.

Ulex sighed, resigning himself to punching an Orc while he somehow avoided their massive and crudely crafted cleavers, hammers, and spears.

The sounds of battle grew louder as the winds grew harsher and colder. The sun had already set, but the skies had cleared, allowing the children a good view at the horror that awaited them as they wheeled around a bend.

Hundreds of large Skeletal Knights clad in dark bone armor, riding upon equally large Skeletal steeds, facing an equal force of massive and feral Orcs riding atop even more massive Wargs.

The battle had already flattened the shrubbery around for more than a mile, and had even caused many trees to fall.

Undead against Greenskin.

Each one wanting nothing more than to tear apart the other.

This was not a battle of planning and formation. This was a battle of simplicity, in all its brutal and bloody glory. Each combatant fought until the enemy before them was dead.

Many had been dismounted and now fought in close quarters in the churning mud and root. Their mounts fought as well, despite having no rider.

Any time a still mounted combatant gained any form of distance, they used it to devastating effect.

The Orcs were a stark difference from the uniform Undead. They wore mismatched furs and hides, wielding various weapons. They fought as barbarians, not as soldiers. They tore into their enemy with the frenzy of a wild beast.

As the children watched, coming ever closer, the saw a Skeletal Knight skewer two Orcs before its lance broke. It than drew its sword, using it to decapitate a third before a lone Warg dive into the side of the Skeletal Steed, dismounting the Knight, who was piled onto before it could get back to its feet.

The Orcs quickly noticed the carriage and a few disengage from the battle to pursue the more tantalizing prize of actual flesh and blood.

Tyron was the first to act.

The boy raised his hand, and as he did, a spear of stone erupted from the ground, flying into the throat of an Orc Skirmisher as it attempted to throw an axe at the children.

Then all hell broke loose.

The Orcs focused on the carriage, which the Undead flocked to, attempting to protect their Master. No longer was the battle spread out for the mounts. Instead, it focused on the singular target the carriage represented.

Illa conjured a fire ball, hurling it at a group of mounted Orcs. The resulting explosion engulfed the group, hurling body parts of both Orc and Warg out of the inferno. Another Orc managed to throw a spear at the young Fire Mage, but Ulex was faster.

He grabbed the back of Illa's shirt and yanked back. Instead of impaling the young girl, the spear imbedded itself into the bone roof of the carriage.

Without stopping to think, Ulex jumped over Illa, yanking the spear out of the bone and thrust it into an Orc as it jumped to cling to the carriage. The spear was yanked out of the boy's hand as green blood coated his hands.

Harper conjured wide blades of focused Wind, sending them through the ranks of the Orcs. They lost momentum after only two or three.

As the carriage reached the battlefield proper, the ride grew even more wild and bumpy. The cause was obvious. The carriage, pulled by the Skeletal Stallions, cared not for the corpses that lined the path.

The Orcs of course attempted to target the Stallions, but Nightmare was right there, ripping out throats, crushing ribs, flattening heads, and even just ramming them to the ground. It was everything it could do to accomplish just that. The children were on their own.

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