Tash turned and fled.

  She sprinted left, barely avoiding the swipe of a hobgoblin that had been standing there, leering at her as it struck at empty air. Adrenaline flooded her system, one clear thought cutting through the panic.

  I’m going to get away.

  A plan formed as she ran.

  There should be another party only a block over. If she could reach them, warn them—let them know she was dragging three hobgoblins behind her—they’d have time to prepare. Maybe they could take the hobs down cleanly. Maybe no one else would have to die.

  She ran flat out, lungs burning, legs screaming as she tried to widen the gap.

  Behind her, the hobgoblins gave chase.

  They didn’t yell. They didn’t howl or beat their weapons together. They ran in silence, relentless, their heavy footfalls the only sound chasing her down the street.

  The pursuit felt endless. Tash cut across front lawns, vaulted low fences, ducked between houses—anything to buy herself even a few extra seconds. Her heart hammered as she risked a glance over her shoulder.

  They were still there.

  But she’d gained a little distance. Enough, maybe.

  She sucked in a breath and opened her mouth to shout.

  “HELP! I NEED—”

  Her foot caught.

  A small child’s bike lay abandoned in the grass of the front yard she was sprinting through. Tash barely registered it before her momentum sent her crashing forward. She hit the ground hard, face-first, pain exploding through her chest and arms.

  Her old gymnastics training kicked in.

  She used the forward momentum to roll back to her feet, scraped skin screaming in protest; it had only taken seconds.

  Seconds too many.

  One of the hobgoblins had already stopped. Calm. Calculating. It ripped a metal gate decoration free from a fence they’d passed, muscles bunching as it hurled the jagged projectile with brutal force.

  Tash barely had time to turn.

  The metal slammed into her left hip.

  Bone shattered.

  Pain like nothing she had ever known tore through her body, stealing her breath, her strength, her scream. She collapsed again, legs refusing to obey, vision exploding into white.

  As she hit the ground for the second time, Tash had one fleeting, bitter thought—

  This is it.

  Then the pain dragged her under, and everything went black.

  ___________________________________________________________

  John and Gabriel’s party heard the female voice call out—help, and something about need. They were just around the corner from the next house.

  Jason reacted instantly.

  With a sharp whisper, he ordered everyone up against the side of the house and down into a crouch. Once they were in position, he turned to Gabriel.

  “Scout the corner,” he murmured. “Quick look, then back.”

  Gabriel moved without hesitation, slipping forward and peering around the edge of the house before retreating just as quickly. She returned within moments, her expression tight.

  She recognised the woman immediately—Tash. One of the healers. Zane had made sure everyone in the wider group knew exactly who the healers were, so help could reach them as fast as possible.

  Knowing every second counted, Gabriel delivered her report as succinctly as she could.

  “Healer down. Three hobgoblins, slowly circling her. No other people or monsters that I could see.”

  Jason didn’t waste time asking follow-up questions. His experience as an army reserves officer kicked in, and he took control without hesitation.

  In a low, controlled whisper, he issued orders.

  “Tanks, line up on the corner of the house. Ranged DPS, behind them.”

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  As one of the ranged DPS himself, Jason took his place alongside the other ranger. Both of them still carried the goblin bows they’d acquired the day before.

  He then turned back to Gabriel.

  “As our scout, I need you watching our rear. Make sure nothing sneaks up on us while we’re engaged.”

  Gabriel nodded and peeled off to take position.

  Jason tapped the lead tank on the shoulder.

  The group moved.

  They stepped around the corner as one, shields coming up and bows already drawn. Within a second of spotting their targets, both rangers loosed an arrow.

  Unfortunately, both shots were aimed at the same hobgoblin.

  Fortunately, both hit.

  One buried itself deep in the hobgoblin’s thigh, the other punched into its gut. The creature howled, staggering sideways, momentum broken as it collapsed to one knee and clawed at the shafts jutting from its body. It was out of the fight—for now.

  That left two.

  The tanks surged forward as one, homemade shields raised just in time to absorb the counterattack. One hobgoblin roared and slammed into the lead tank, the impact rattling bone and wood, forcing him back a step. The second circled wide, trying to flank, its crude blade scraping along the shield’s edge as it searched for an opening.

  “Hold the line!” Jason hissed.

  John felt his heart pounding as he raised his own weapon, positioning himself just behind the tanks. He could see Tash now—crumpled on the grass ahead, blood darkening the ground around her shattered hip. She wasn’t moving.

  The second Hobgoblin rushed towards them from the other side of Tash, his steps coming close to crushing Tash’s head as it ran past her. The wounded hobgoblin tried to stand, getting in the way of the running one, causing it to slow just a bit, trying not to bowl over its own teammate.

  Jason and the other ranger didn’t miss the opportunity.

  Two more arrows flew. One punched through its neck. The other caught it in the eye. The creature toppled backward, dead before it hit the ground.

  “Left!” Gabriel called out sharply.

  The flanking hobgoblin lunged, faster than expected. Its blade slipped past the shield edge and slashed into the second tank’s shoulder. The man grunted in pain but didn’t fall, slamming his shield forward and bashing the creature’s face with the rim.

  The lead tank followed up, driving his shield into the Hobgoblin's chest and pinning it against the house wall.

  “Now!” Jason ordered.

  John didn’t think.

  He moved. Dropping his Bow and grabbing the machete that Kai had made sure he had from his waist.

  Adrenaline drowned out fear as he rushed forward, swinging with everything he had. His weapon crashed down onto the hobgoblin’s exposed arm, bone cracking loudly. The creature screamed, weapon clattering to the ground.

  An arrow from Jason took it in the throat a heartbeat later.

  Silence fell.

  Heavy breathing. The smell of blood. The distant sounds of fighting elsewhere in town.

  “Clear,” Gabriel said after a tense scan of the street.

  Jason didn’t relax. “Two on security. The rest—Tash. Now.”

  John was already kneeling beside her.

  She was alive. Barely.

  Her breathing was shallow, her face ashen, eyes fluttering but unfocused. The damage to her hip was catastrophic—bone fragments, blood loss, trauma that no basic healing spell could casually undo.

  “We need a healer,” someone whispered unnecessarily.

  “She is the healer John whispered back.”

  They had seen injuries like this being healed yesterday, but only by Kai and Kaitlyn. All the other healers, including Tash, only had Basic heal.

  “Gabriel, quietly called out from her watch position. “Can healers even heal themselves?” Jason tapped his chin in thought before replying. “You know what I don’t know. Does anybody else know?”

  Everyone shook their heads.

  Jason exhaled and started giving orders again.

  “Alright. We make a stretcher and get her to Kai or Kaitlyn. Who do you think we can reach the fastest—”

  “Wait.”

  John’s voice cut in, firmer than he expected it to be.

  “I know something that might keep her alive long enough to get her there.”

  As he spoke, he was already undoing the straps on his armguards.

  John swallowed hard and looked down at them.

  Kai’s words echoed in his head.

  You know what they can do. So use them well.

  With that thought, John started working faster on the buckles. He had to call out twice before Jason finally looked up at him, confusion etched across his face.

  “What did you say, John?”

  By now, the Wolf Armguards were almost free. John repeated himself, louder—and this time with authority.

  “I need access to both her arms. Try to straighten them.”

  Jason glanced back down at Tash. She was lying on her uninjured side, one arm tucked under her head where they’d placed her in the recovery position. Moving her wasn’t a small thing.

  Jason looked back up—and met John’s eyes.

  Whatever he saw there made the decision for him.

  “Alright,” Jason said. “Everyone, help me.”

  With careful coordination, they eased Tash’s arms free and straightened them. She was unconscious, which made it easier—though no one liked what that implied.

  John knelt beside her and began fitting the armguards onto her arms.

  Confused murmurs rippled through the group.

  As he worked, John spoke quickly.

  “These armguards give a plus five to Constitution. That should increase her total HP by around thirty to forty percent.”

  He paused, concentrating as he tightened the buckle on the arm pressed closest to the ground.

  That pause opened the floodgates.

  “That won’t help,” someone muttered.

  Another asked, “Won’t that just scale the damage up with it?”

  John took a slow breath as he moved to the second arm.

  “Damage is measured as a flat number,” he said, keeping his voice steady. “Not a percentage.”

  More questions were already forming, so John cut them off.

  “If you’d just let me finish explaining, I will.”

  One of the tanks started to bristle—until Jason placed a firm hand on their shoulder and gave a small shake of his head.

  Jason spoke for everyone.

  “Alright, John. We’re listening. Tell us what you’re expecting to happen.”

  John secured the final buckle.

  “I’m not expecting,” he said quietly. “I know.”

  He carefully lowered Tash’s arm back into place.

  “Think of it this way,” John continued. “If you have ten HP and take one point of damage, that’s ten percent of your health gone. But if you have a hundred HP and take one point of damage—”

  He finished tightening the strap.

  “That’s only one percent.”

  As the last buckle clicked into place, Tash’s body began to glow softly.

  The damage to her hip visibly lessened—bone shifting back into place just enough, bleeding slowing, her breathing evening out.

  No one spoke.

  They stood there in a silent circle, staring.

  Jason was the first to say what everyone was thinking.

  “So when her Constitution increased… her total HP increased. And that meant the same damage became a smaller percentage of her overall health.”

  He looked down at Tash, then back at John.

  “…which reduced the actual injury.”

  John nodded once, exhausted but certain.