Dodging another strike from the commander of the knights, Edeline tried to figure out what they should do now. None of her sword swings or Hamond's spells had been able to get through the man's armor spell. Conversely, he was too slow to hit Edeline, with her spell bolstering her speed. And it did not seem like this Lord Gortyssa - a name she did not recognize - had any spells for ranged combat.

  She couldn't keep up dodging forever though. Edeline could already feel the shortness of breath setting in, slowing her ever so slightly. Eventually, she would be too fatigued to react properly, and he would land a deadly blow.

  Ugotlas might be able to figure out a solution, but he was still dealing with the extra men that kept emerging. There had been far more men here than she had expected. She had not kept count, but it had to be over two hexty. They offered no real threat to Ugotlas, but were keeping him occupied.

  Again, Lord Gortyssa swung in a wide arc. Falling back outside of his range, she considered using her biggest spell. It was not ideal, since it would alert all of Kelshir to the battle in the compound. No, she could only rely on it as a final resort.

  "Phloxoistos." Hamond sent a blazing missile at the knight. Like with Hamond's previous spells, it was stopped by the glowing armor.

  "Your pathetic efforts won't get through this armor," Lord Gortyssa boasted, "Give this pointless fight up. I'll make it quick."

  Edeline shook her head, not about to give up defeat. There had to be some opening. Perhaps the conjured armor had a limit on how much damage it could take, such that a heavy enough blow could break through. She looked it over again, but no obvious clue, such as a sign that Hamond's spell had weakened the spell, presented itself.

  Taking a sudden deep breath, Lord Gortyssa strode forward with a surprising burst of speed, lunging in Edeline's direction. Edeline tumbled out of the way, rolling to the side with a labored gasp. She did not have much time left.

  At least the knight was also showing signs of exhaustion. He had stopped to catch his breath, bent slightly over. It gave her a chance to recover, and plan her next...wait.

  Lord Gortyssa was breathing hard.

  Air was passing through his armor spell.

  "Hamond!" Edeline called out, "Blow him down!"

  Hamond's glance was doubting, but he turned and extended his hands regardless. "Ventus fugit!"

  To Edeline's complete shock, Lord Gortyssa was sent sprawling, a strange metallic clatter echoing as his glowing armor spell made contact with the cobblestone. She had expected Hamond's spell to stagger him, give her a brief moment of respite. Not...actually do what she had said.

  This spell of his...it did not work like an actual suit of armor. There was no actual extra weight added as a result of the spell being active. Watching as he slowly climbed to his feet, Edeline found herself wondering just how it worked.

  "You will regret that," Lord Gortyssa warned, taking a step in Hamond's direction.

  "Ventus fugit!" Hamond answered with another spell, again knocking the man on his back.

  An idea occurred to Edeline, one that would be easy to test. "Hydropidax!" The stream of water hit the knight right in the face as he started to rise again. It appeared to startle him, so much so that he dropped back down for a moment.

  "What sort of joke was that supposed to be?" he snarled, finally standing up.

  Edeline just grinned at the sight of water dripping off of the man's beard. She had figured it out. The armor spell prevented all solid objects from passing through. It would block any blade or arrow, or even certain spells. But it was not impenetrable.

  "So that's the weakness of it," Edeline heard Hamond say, more to himself. Good, they both had spotted the flaw with the spell, so all that remained was figuring out how to exploit it. And Edeline had a good idea how to proceed.

  "Ventus fugit!"

  "Tetra hydropidax!"

  Both spells hit Lord Gortyssa at the same time. Edeline focused, adjusting her aim to make sure all four streams found their way to his face. She could feel the enchantment that fortified her strength and speed fade, but if this worked, that would not matter.

  Struggling to raise himself up, Lord Gortyssa looked defiantly at Edeline, staring over the water flowing onto his face. The water that prevented him from breathing. Give it up, Edeline thought to herself. Give it up.

  Finally, as he lay there struggling weakly, the gleaming armor began to fade as his own concentration failed him. Letting her conjured water vanish in turn, Edeline walked up to Lord Gortyssa. It seemed quite strange to her, that a man who bore responsibility for so many dead and suffering now seemed so pitiful and helpless.

  But she knew better. Flipping her blade around, Edeline drove it downward, putting an end to the man's life.

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  And with it, the threat of the knights for Faehaven.

  Pulling her sword free, Edeline shook the blood off of it as best she could before turning to see how Ugotlas had fared. While the sphinx still faced two hex or so men, none of them were attacking. They instead had stopped and were now staring at her in stunned silence. Clearly they had not expected their thaumaturge to be defeated.

  Unfortunately, since none of them showed any signs of retreating either, they were next. Edeline supposed she could manage a little more fighting. "Corpus volt," she said, voice sounding rough to her own ears. Still, the spell activated again, power surging once again through her body.

  She began to trot in their direction, too tired for a full run, but keeping a steady pace. At this point, she'd settle for intimidating the remaining knights into fleeing. If they couldn't stop her here, they'd have no chance once she was back at full strength.

  The knights looked at each other, and turned to start running.

  "I insist that you stay," Ugotlas spoke up, "Dijed inek heka tijez khener khener wenen."

  Numerous shimmering ropes appeared from the ground, shooting forward and wrapping around the men. A few hacked away with blades, but more ropes appeared to take their place. Within a few short moments, every one of the men was bound immobile, forced to stand there.

  Well, her spell was now pointless then. Edeline let it fade again, hoping she wouldn't need it. "Are you ready to surrender now?"

  "We'll never give in to a witch like you!" The response from one of the men made Edeline pause in confusion. They had just been trying to flee. Any defiance they showed now did not have much weight to it.

  What in Aether's name did they think this would accomplish, anyway?

  "Refusing to admit your defeat, even after attempting to escape?" Ugotlas sounded amused. "I fear I will never understand your like."

  "I'd bet they planned to go tell either the lord or the city guard," Hamond said, "They lost the battle today, so they want to come back and fight it again tomorrow."

  "We will never stop fighting!" called out another of the men, and the others shouted cries of approval.

  "So you want to be knights for the rest of your lives?" Edeline asked coldly, seething. She'd only made the offer because she knew Myron would have insisted on it. So much for mercy.

  "We will always be knights," the man stated, "Now and forever."

  Edeline walked over to the man, and swung her sword down. It cut through his bonds as well, and his body slumped halfway to the ground, held up by one arm.

  "I will repeat myself. Do you wish to be knights for the rest of your lives? If so, I will grant that wish."

  None of them said anything for a long moment, as the true meaning of her question hit them. "We swore oaths," one finally said.

  "Curse your oaths! When you swore to protect the people of Hyarch, where did it say that those who showed kindness of an elf were exempt? Where did it say you would gladly burn their houses and leave their children parentless? You decided you have no regard for anyone but your lords and fellow knights. You should be grateful I would give any regards to yours."

  Edeline stopped to catch her breath. She had plenty more fury to give voice to, even if she had run out of air to voice it with for the moment.

  "Fine! We yield!" the man spat out, still glaring at her.

  "That would be more convincing if you weren't still holding your spear," Hamond remarked, moving forward to stand by Edeline.

  The man grimaced, but did not release his grip on his weapon. Not that it would do him much good with his arms securely bound by Ugotlas's spell.

  "I captured them because I was considering questioning them on why they so fervently oppose the existence of weretheka when they serve under the leadership of one." Ugotlas shook his head fiercely, his mane flying wildly. "Even if they were willing to give me an answer, though, this entire conversation leads me to believe they would just contradict themselves. Shall we put an end to this farce?"

  Edeline let out a tired sigh. "Go ahead," she said. These knights would never back down, and their small group did not have the time or energy to take prisoners. That left just one option.

  "Dijed inek heka seshep sheser sheser wenen."

  The men all went limp as the light pierced them, the ropes being the only thing holding them upright. A moment later, Ugotlas released that spell as well, and the last of the Aetheric Knights fell to the ground.

  "I believe I will go patrol around near the entrance to the compound. Discretely, of course." Ugotlas lifted one paw and rubbed his face against it. "If there are any stragglers among the knights that have yet to appear, I believe you two should easily be able to handle them."

  "Of course," Hamond answered readily. "We'll meet up with you once Myron and Nela are done."

  Ugotlas turned and padded off, not bothering to say anything else. Edeline wondered if he felt like she did. Doubtful, since the sphinx showed no real signs of being worn down. Edeline, however, was just too drained to deal with niceties or polite conversation. If Ugotlas had remained, she wasn't sure she could restrain herself from saying something that might offend him.

  "Good work on figuring out that weakness of the armor spell," Hamond said once Ugotlas had departed. He reached out and took her free hand in his. "I didn't think about the possibility of using conjured water to suffocate the man."

  Edeline blinked. "Wait. I thought...you said you saw the weakness."

  "I saw a different one," Hamond explained, "The spell did not cover the bottom of his feet. By knocking him down, it left a potential opening that any sword or spell could get through."

  Edeline laughed weakly. "So you were trying to aim for that with that last spell? Expose the bottom of his boots?"

  "It wasn't that good a plan," Hamond admitted with a shrug. "We'd only get once chance to hit his feet before he realized what we were doing, and it would have been a difficult target for my spells. But I didn't see any other options."

  "Though if you had not knocked him down again, I am not sure my spell would have worked in time before he was able to attack again." Edeline frowned as the truth set in. Their victory owed more to luck than anything else. "We need to be better than that."

  "Agreed. Especially with more powerful thaumaturges like the Witch of Wrath out there." Hamond sounded equally grave.

  "You still think we might end up having to fight her?" Edeline had her doubts this would happen, but she could not ignore the possibility.

  "If she ever learns who I am - or who I was - she will try to kill me." Hamond's simple statement carried a weight heavier than the world. "Just as she killed the Spellking."

  "Then we will work harder." Edeline was not about to complain. After all, getting to sit down with Hamond to improve her spellcraft had become one of her favorite activities. It certainly was better than having to clear a campsite, at the least.

  "Of course. But that gets to wait for when we aren't standing watch." A good reminder of what they still had to do here, Edeline admitted.

  Not that she expected any more trouble, but again, it was possible. Letting go of Hamond's hand she turned to survey the compound, looking for any signs of trouble. If any stragglers came out, it would be a fight again. And she wasn't sure how much more fighting she could handle.

  Hurry up, Edeline thought, hoping her brother would return soon.