Alex g her, his deade. “We’ll intervene, but not yet. Let them tire each other out. Wheime is right, we’ll strike.”

  The battle between the taur elder and the werewolf wizard had devolved into a tealemate. The werewolf wizard flung curses with uing speed, only for the elder to deflect them with precise sweeps of his spear. Occasionally, the elder mao ter with a quick thrust, but the werewolf wizard, agile and resilient, dodged with infuriating ease.

  While the duel dragged on, the rest of the taurs found themselves in dire straits. Outnumbered almost two-to-one, and with three youaurs among them, their charge had been stopped cold. Forced into brutal close bat, the taurs fought desperately. Their powerful hooves nded punishing blows, and their spears and bows inflicted grievous wounds on the werewolves.

  In the opening csh aloolves were severely injured. But werewolves excelled in close quarters. Their smaller frames allowed for faster, more flexible movements pared to the taurs’ broad, sweeping attacks. The werewolves darted around their foes, sshing at exposed fnks areating before the taurs could nd a ter.

  The werewolves’ natural regeion tilted the battle further in their favor. Alex watched as one werewolf, pierced by an arrow, bit through the shaft, snarled, and charged bato the fray. Even those who retreated briefly to nurse serious injuries soourheir wounds partially healed.

  The taurs, however, had no such advantage. Each wound sapped their strength, and their blood loss slowed their movements. Some of the taurs’ coats were stained crimson, and their heavy breathirayed their mounting exhaustion. The sleeping potion vapor jured by the werewolf wizard was taking its toll as well. The taurs began showing signs of dizziness, their footing faltering.

  The situation became even more precarious wheolves who had been lying in ambush struck. Laung themselves from the high ground, they targeted the youaurs. With swift, calcuted strikes, they destroyed two of the youaurs’ bows, rendering them onless.

  It was clear these werewolves weren’t aiming to kill. To the werewolf wizard, the youaurs were valuable prey to be captured and traded. Their attacks were deliberate, desigo disable without causing excessive harm. The youaurs, already weaker in stamina and magic resistance, began to succumb to the effects of the sleeping potion. One of them staggered, his eyes fluttering as he struggled to stay awake.

  Seeing their young at risk, the adult taurs grew frantic. Their attacks became fiercer, their movements wild. Some even wielded their rge bows as melee ons, swinging them furiously to keep the werewolves at bay. But the desperate terattack came at a cost. The taurs’ uncoordinated movements left gaps in their defenses, leading to more injuries. The increased exertion quied their blood flow, accelerating the sleeping potion’s effects. “Haha! Your prophecy is failing, old nag!” the werewolf wizard jeered, his voice dripping with arrogaell your broken stars to save you now!”

  The elder taur’s expression remained calm, but doubt flickered in his eyes as he watched one of the youaurs colpse uhe potion’s influence. ‘Had his vision been wrong? Was the M Star no longer on their side?’

  Alex, from the sidelines, k was time to act. The taurs wouldn’t st much longer, and while he was tempted to test the elder’s prophecy by doing nothing, he couldn’t stomach the idea of letting the werewolves win. “Wimzy,” Alex said, his voice sharp and anding. “Stay here. Do not move. If anything dangerous approaches, Apparate immediately.”

  “Yes, Master,” Wimzy replied, clutg her robes tightly. Alex drew his wand, his resolve steeling. He leapt from the tree. “Thundris Vortex!” The spell Alex cast was one of his owion, refined after months of experimentation. Thundris Vortex was a modified version of the Atmospheric Charm, designed specifically for crowd trol.

  At the point of his focus, 5 to 20 meters above the ground, a swirling thundercloud formed. The cloud’s core crackled with trated energy, a roiling mass of power. The spell targeted everything within a radius of 10 to 30 meters from the cloud’s ter. Ay within range became a target, subject to relentless lightning strikes.

  The storm began its assault immediately, unleashing high-speed bolts of electricity at a rate of nearly one per sed. The attack frequency, strength, and duration were determined by the caster’s magical output. Alex had poured a signifit amount of his magito the spell, ensuring 50 strikes at full iy. The first bolt struck a werewolf that had been advang on a youaur. The lightning carved through the air with a deafening crack, smming into its target and sending the creature sprawling, its fur singed and its howl of pain eg through the clearing.

  The werewolves turheir glowing eyes upward, fusion and fear fshing across their feral faces. Before they could react, another bolt struck, then another.

  The Thundris Vortex owerful aructive, but it had one critical fw—it didn’t distinguish between friend and foe. Alex, however, had long since ated for this. What the werewolves aaurs saw was a lone wizard leaping into the battlefield, his wand raised high. Above him, a swirling thundercloud crackled with electriergy as it moved toward the ter of the chaos.

  The werewolf, its scarlet eyes bzing with bloodlust, immediately abas current fight and lu Alex, charging on all fours.

  Crack! Boom!

  A bolt of lightning shot down from the thundercloud, striking the werewolf before it could reach Alex. The creature’s fur charred instantly, and it was thrown backward by the force of the strike. The acrid stench of scorched flesh filled the air. But the werewolf’s resilience was as fearsome as ever. It rolled to its feet, snarling in rage, and prepared to attack again.

  “Sectumsempra!” Alex didn’t wait. With a precise flick of his wand, an invisible bde sshed through the air.

  Swish!

  The werewolf’s head separated ly from its body, and it crumpled to the ground, lifeless. The sudden and brutal death silehe battlefield for a moment. taur and werewolf alike froze, stunned by the sheer efficy of the kill. “Hold fast! The M Star has sent its sign!” the elder taur roared, his voice filled with renewed vigor. “Close ranks and charge toward the wizard!”

  “Kill him!” the werewolf wizard snarled, spinning to face Alex. He raised his wand a a jet of green light—a Killing Curse—straight at the elder taur. But the elder taur, emboldened by Alex’s arrival, deflected the curse with a powerful swing of his spear. He led the taurs in another charge, their spirits lifted by the ued reinforts.

  Despite the boost in morale, the taurs were far from victory. Three of their number had already succumbed to the effects of the sleeping potion and colpsed mid-charge. The remainiaurs were bloodied and weary, their movements sluggish. Seeing the shift in momentum, tolves broke away from the pad charged toward Alex, snarling as they closed the distance.

  Alex ighem. Instead, he jumped straight into the heart of the battlefield. “Electra Surge!” He thrust his wand forward, and a powder-blue sphere of light expanded outward from the taurs’ position. The sphere crackled with electriergy, its translut shell flickering with arcs of lightning. The taurs froze as the light engulfed them, their eyes wide with fusion. The sphere exploded in a brilliant fsh, bathing the battlefield in a blinding glow.