Chapter 138
Arran ran until his lungs felt like they would explode, sprinting with all the speed he had in him . There would only be a single chance to get this right, and he would not let it go to waste .
Along the way, he encountered a lone raider scout . The man died as soon Arran caught sight of him, body bisected by a Windblade .
He briefly felt another stir of bloodlust as the scout fell, but with a ranged attack, the effect seemed weaker . Either way, he could not give into it — not now, with a far more devastating attack at the tips of his fingers .
When he finally thought he had gone far enough, he paused for some moments to catch his breath . The wind was still strong — that was good . It would play an important role in the battle to come .
If it worked, it would be a massacre that no sword could match . And if they were particularly lucky, it wouldn't just be the closest raiding parties that died . But either way, the attack would buy them days, not hours .
Arran took a look around and soon found a dried spot of brush . He flicked his hand, and a small stream of Fire shot toward it, setting the brush alight instantly .
With the wind feeding the flames, it only took seconds before the fire turned to a blaze, and when it did, it began to spread eagerly, rapidly moving downwind as if filled with a desire for more fuel .
He did not pause to watch . Instead, he searched for another shrub or piece of brush to set ablaze, and quickly found one .
Another flick of his hand, and another fire was started . Then another, and another still . Only traces of Essence were needed to set the dried shrubs and trees aflame, with the hot, dry weather having done most of the work already .
Then, he began to trace his steps back the way he came, this time leaving a long trail of fire in his wake . It wasn't long before thick clouds of smoke wafted upward behind Arran .
He did not hurry as he moved, taking care that the fire took hold everywhere . While the fire would spread as the wind drove it southwest, he did not want to risk even the smallest chance of leaving any gaps for the enemy to flee through .
As he moved forward, he looked in the distance before him, then cursed when he saw that there was still no sign of smoke ahead .
Although he had known that Stoneheart's injuries meant the novice would be slower in starting his task, he now began to feel some concern . Injuries or not, if Stoneheart was too slow, the entire thing might yet go awry .
Still, he continued onward undeterred . Stoneheart's actions were out of his hands, and the better the pace he made, the smaller the distance Stoneheart would have to cover .
By now, the clouds of smoke behind him were thick enough that the raiders would have noticed them even from miles away, and once they realized what was happening, they were bound to increase their pace .
He had already covered half the way back when he saw smoke rising far in the distance . Stoneheart had not failed .
Although Arran was relieved, he did not let himself get distracted . Even with miles of land already turned into a seething inferno behind him, there was still plenty of ground to cover .
The work took time, but finally, he reached the tracks their group had left earlier, and he turned to head for Stoneheart, with the smoke ahead of him guiding the way, and the trail of fire still growing behind him .
As he walked, he kept his eyes open for any sign of the raiders . While they should still be over half an hour away, any groups that were ahead of the rest might have noticed their route of escape closing and rushed forward to escape .
But no raiders came, and with Stoneheart and Arran now moving toward each other, the distance between them shrank rapidly .
Then, at last, he saw Stoneheart approach him . Quickly, they crossed the remaining distance, closing the last part of the wall of fire that now stretched well over a dozen miles across .
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