In the next hour-and-change, Ana got plenty of opportunity to catch up to and convince any of her opponents that she might have missed. The rank-and-file were no more sanguine about killing what Ana imagined that they saw as "real" people than the leaders had been. As the fighters were organized and brought up to speed, Ana was constantly in motion, encouraging, bullying, or shaming them into the right headspace as needed. Not even her own Party, people she considered friends, were spared. When Deni didn't respond to more gentle methods, Ana simply pointed out which of the girl's friends would take the brunt of the casualties if they had to close to melee to root the cultists out: melee fighters like Petra, Messy, and Ana herself, or her friend Mirell, who was with Tarkan's party and still below Level 10.

Deni didn't want to just start blasting her spells at someone who didn't even know she was there. She wanted to see her friends run through the spells and arrows of an entrenched and forewarned enemy even less.

Intellectually, Ana understood their reservations. She herself had never killed anyone that she didn't consider to be immediately threatening her, but even an avowed pacifist might be pushed to kill if their life was in immediate danger. But this was no time to be squeamish, and most people could be made to understand that if she just found the right leverage, which was getting easier and easier.

Perhaps it was her complete focus, or perhaps it was the life-and-death importance of everybody being as motivated as possible, but the time between the decision being taken to attack and when they actually advanced was a goldmine. Charm, Command, Intimidation and Sense Motive all gained Skill Levels, reaching 7, 9, 8, and 7 respectively and netting her 4 Medium Crystals in the process. That still left her more than 2500 Points short of Level 16, but she had no doubt that at the end of the day, she'd either be dead or she'd have gained another Level.

On top of that she also gained another Achievement — or rather, a new tier in an old one.

Congratulations! You have completed the Achievement Skilled II! Further increase to Skill Leveling speed awarded!

Skilled II: Gain 100 total Levels across any number of Skills.

Ana suspected that the System, for whatever reason, wanted people to learn many Skills. Why else would it reward you with the ability to learn the things you liked or needed faster for doing so? And that was on top of the fact that learning a few Levels in a Skill wasn't that hard to start with, and provided you with Growth Crystals.

Ana asked the Wayfarer. The goddess only told her, "Oh, yes, that sounds reasonable!" She refused to elaborate on if she didn't know more, or if she couldn't or wouldn't tell. It was frustrating to say the least, but that wasn't what Ana needed to be focusing on.

They moved through the forest in a long, loose line. Everyone who could shoot carried some kind of ranged weapon, all to lend more weight to that first, unexpected volley. Ana had Kaira's arbalest in her hands, cocked and ready, and her gun tucked in her waistband, hidden by her tunic at the small of her back. The non-combatants, the spears, and a few of the militia — including every person Ana and Mamtass had marked as likely to turn on her — were a few minutes behind them, far enough to be somewhat out of danger, but not too far to evacuate any injured to them or to turn around and defend them in case it turned out that the cultists were sneakier than they expected.

No ambush was sprung, but the sounds of fighting erupted well ahead of their line, then stopped just as suddenly. Ana fought down the urge to run ahead and see what had happened, instead commanding the whole line to double-time it until they reached two of Kosh's Party mates guarding two thoroughly beaten Rangers.

"Got the drop on them, Marshal," one said. "The rest of the gang went after a runner. Wouldn't worry. Kosh'll run 'em down."

And run 'em down, she did. Shortly thereafter they met Kosh and the rest carrying an unconscious elfin man. Kosh grinned and said, "That's all of 'em. Dumbass here tried to run from a Pathfinder in a forest. In a fucking forest!" She laughed and smacked the unconscious man on the head with the palm of her hand. "I'm faster here than I am on flat ground!"

"You're sure?" Ana asked. "You're absolutely sure that's all of them?"

"Sure as I can be, Marshal. 'Course, if they got a Level 30 Stalker or something watching us we're shit out of luck, aren't we? Can't deal with anyone with their Stealth in the 30s, either, but if we're gonna worry about that we may as well sit down and wait for the end."

"Alright. Fair," Ana said. "You all good to move back out?"

"Yes, ma'am! Just needed to turn over custody of this asshole. Good call on taking anyone we caught alive, by the way. I woulda just put an arrow through his neck if you hadn't said. Guy couldn't juke for shit."

"Good to hear that somebody's fully on board," Ana muttered.

Taking prisoners was a hassle, but a necessity. They couldn't know if the cultist sentries had Party members back at the camp, but they had to assume that they did, and that killing any of them would have alerted the survivors. As it was they could still hope that the exact time of their attack was a surprise, if not the fact that it was coming.

The silence that lay over the advancing line as they made their final approach to Karti's camp was like that of a house in mourning. While everyone among them had at least claimed to be willing to go along with the decided plan of attack, they stalked toward the battle with grim acceptance and little to no enthusiasm. To Ana's right, Dilmek carried her bow with an expression like she was walking to her own execution. To Ana's left, Deni's face was scrunched in anticipation of something terribly unpleasant, nose wrinkled and lip curled. Only a handfull were like Kosh the Pathfinder; Kaira was mostly her own cheerful self, and Omda was silently stoic and expressionless.

This battle is going to create a lot of pacifists, Ana thought.

The Wayfarer answered, And there will be more of them alive to renounce violence at the end of the day than they could have possibly hoped, had you gone ahead with that idiotic idea of offering a chance to surrender. Really, Delvers these days! Ask them to kill a bandit and they go all bleedy on you. But it's my fault, I suppose. Those who want to fight, fight demons and monsters. Barely even any wars anymore.

Ana's curiosity was piqued, but there was no time to go deeper into that. Ahead of them the trees broke, revealing an afternoon sky. And beyond the trees rose a white pillar, almost blindingly bright and at least twice as tall as the Waystone, a hundred feet or more.

Twenty yards from the treeline Ana gestured, and everyone stopped. At another gesture they crouched. Ana looked to Kosh, who'd revealed herself. The Pathfinder nodded, and her Party joined the line.

"The plan is on," Ana said in a stage whisper, calculated to carry only as far as necessary. "Shooters at the front. Stay low and pick your targets. Same system as when we fought at the outpost: pick someone roughly corresponding to your own position in the line, left to right." She remembered something she'd heard Nic say during his game nights, and she finally understood what it really meant. "Geek the mages!"

There were some confused looks and mutters of "Geek—?" but she pressed on. "Meaning: target the mages first. Especially the Binders, if you can identify them. With any luck that'll make them lose control of the demons they're controlling. If you don't think you can hit reliably from this distance, save your strength and ammo. After the first volley, us frontliners will advance along with any backliners who need to get closer. Backliners! Only get as close as you must to hit reliably, and if you can't hit anyone, try to force them into cover before advancing. Frontliners! Our job is to cover the Water-mages as they put out the bonfires, and to kill or disable anyone who doesn't throw down their weapons and surrender convincingly. If you feel that someone needs a boot to the head before you can trust them, do it! Alight?"

"Alright, Marshal!" came a wave of hisses and whispers.

"We won't lose. Right?"

"Right!"

"We're Bluesky Guild, and this is our Splinter! Right?"

"Right!" The answer came a little stronger this time.

"We're not going to let some plague-spreading, zombie-making death cult take it from us! Right?"

"RIGHT!" The last time, Ana was actually worried that someone in the camp with high enough Perception might have heard them. But no alarm rose.

"Of course, right! Bluesky Guild! Shoot and advance on my order!"

The camp lay in a bowl-shaped clearing, similar to but smaller than the one around the outpost. In the center, dominating the area, was the white obelisk. Around that were six large bonfires, and in a ring beyond those were the structures of the camp: several pens made of wooden stakes, and a large number of square semi-permanent tents of varying sizes, from ten feet on a side and up. There was no wall — the cultists clearly were not at all concerned about demons or wild animals. There was also a single small stone structure, which looked like it might be a shrine, presumably to the Sentinel.

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Many of the cultists sat in rings around the obelisk. Others patrolled around the outside of the camp, accompanied by demons, including some sapient revenants. The rest were presumably inside the tents. It was in most ways, peaceful.

The peace was shattered by Ana's ringing cry of, "NOW!"

The first volley went well — Ana had even hit her target, picking up a Level in Crossbows when she did. So did the second. Then things got messy.

Cries of alarm went up immediately, but that was to be expected. The cultists weren't expecting their attack, but they were expecting something. They had plans and contingencies in place, and while they took some harsh losses in the first seconds, they reacted fast. There was no third, unified volley from the attackers — shots came in at will as Ana and the other frontliners advanced.

Then the cultists responded. At some unseen and unheard command or action, a shimmer like a heat haze flowed out from the obelisk, creating a dome of refracting air around the structure with a radius as wide as it was tall. Accurate targeting became impossible, and the attackers quickly switched to taking down those unfortunate enough to be caught outside the field and too slow to get inside in time — that, or by increasing their rate of fire and hoping that volume could do what accuracy could not. Someone, Kaira or Deni or some other Fire-mage with the range, started targeting the tents in order of size. Soon, several were ablaze, their smoke mingling with that of the bonfires.

The cultists inside the dome suffered no problems with their accuracy, which became clear as they recovered and returned fire. Quite literally, in many cases; the cultists didn't have much in the way of ranged firepower, but what they had, besides arrows, came in the form of Fire- or Death-magic.

The casualties were immediate. Ana and the others had about a hundred and fifty yards to cover, mostly open ground with only the occasional stump or bush for cover and sloping gently toward the obelisk. Their goal was the relative safety of the tents. Some sprinted, others ran; Ana maintained a pace which was, to her, slow and comfortable, but it was the fastest Petra could manage. No matter how fast they moved, people went down left and right, some to arrows, others to bolts of fire. Captain Falk took a small burst of flame on the chest and kept going, his mustache smoking. Beside him, Brosden darted to the side to take an arrow meant for Marra on his shield. Others, like Wandak, fell to bolts of sickly green light, rolling and spasming on the slope. Cries of pain, dismay, and rage rose from the attackers, but all they could do was to press forward and hope that their fallen friends were down, but not dead.

With her bonuses up, Ana kept her Party members close; Messy and Petra ran by her sides, with Sendra behind them, Waller and his cronies on the right flank and Sadie and Braggie on the left. They'd left Dil and her bow at the treeline, and Deni had dropped off about halfway down the slope to take cover behind a nice, dense bush.

Clumped together as they were, the nine of them presented a tempting target; the Fire-mages didn't have anything like that fireball spell Nic had loved so much in his games, but any shot taken at them had a good chance of hitting something. When they reached the first tents, breaking the defenders' line of fire, Ana's right hand was throbbing from blocking a bolt of fire with her shield. She had another burn high on her right side after Braggie got hit, and she had a shallow puncture on her left thigh; she didn't even know who that arrow had hit. But better her than them. Those hits would have crippled or killed her Party members, but pain couldn't touch her, and with almost 80 Vitality she'd simply shrugged them off. At worst she'd have another few small scars to show, and Messy liked scars.

Morale once they cleared the killing field was… mixed. There was a lot of anger and a lot of relief, but also fear and grief. Braggie was crying openly, her spear shaking in her hands, and they hadn't even lost anyone in their Party. Sadie's face was rigidly neutral, but she might as well have been screaming in Ana's ear with how loud the fear was in her aura. Ana suspected that her Champion Ability was the only reason neither of the two volunteers had stayed with Deni behind that bush. Ana herself had no idea if she would have been able to keep her cool without Fearless — going into battle was one thing, but running across open ground, taking fire all the way? She could practically hear herself screaming deep in the back of her mind, behind the Willpower and the Ability. Looking back she could see one or two people huddled behind stumps, and she couldn't blame them.

Goddess, the people shooting at them didn't even have guns! How did anyone ever charge a machine gun nest?!

She blinked rapidly to clear those thoughts. They'd made it. She looked along the line of tents, locking eyes with Pirta, who nodded. "Alright, guys, hard part's done," she said. "Time to finish this. We're putting out the bonfires if opportunity arises, but from what we know the Splinter isn't collapsing in the next few minutes. Prioritize taking out the cultists, especially mages! Sendra, are you good?"

"Y-yeah," she said. Her normally unflappable attitude was badly shaken, and that came through in her voice. "For a— a bonfire like these, I'll need to be close. It'll use a lot of mana and power. Even with Mana Confluence boosting my efficiency I can't afford to waste much."

"Alright, you all heard her. Let's get her close. After me!"

The closest bonfire was almost directly between them and the obelisk, but there were two lines of tents between them. Ana kept her ears sharp over the shouts and screams, the roar and crackle of the fires and the loud cracks of the Death-mages' spells. She heard nothing in the tent they were behind, but when they reached the next she heard unsteady breathing, like that of someone trying to control themselves.

Ana put her finger to her lips, shushing the others. Then she drew one of her daggers, still the same ones that she'd taken from the first cultists she'd killed. With one quick, smooth motion she stabbed it through the tent cloth, drew it from top to bottom, and burst through. Inside were some cots, a few small chests, and two Cultists, a Level 15 man and a Level 17 woman. They were peeking out the front of the tent, but turned around when Ana burst in.

They were both holding daggers, but they didn't hold them like they could use them with any confidence. That was further evidenced by how the man dropped his, and the woman went so far as to throw hers away from herself before they both raised their hands and started babbling something incomprehensible that Ana guess-lated into "No, no, no, please!"

Braggie came in behind Ana, followed by Sadie. The Barmaid sniffled, then said, "They surrender."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Ana said. She took one look at the two volunteers and said, "Brag, Sadie, tie them up with those sheets, then watch them. We'll pick you up after dealing with the first bonfire."

"Yes, Marshal," Sadie said. She didn't bother trying to hide her relief, and Ana could only hope that the two wouldn't break once she left them behind.

The rest of the Party quickly followed Braggie and Sadie through the slit, and Ana told them, "The rest of you, with me."

The third and final tent was also silent, but Ana went through the cloth anyway. Crossing quickly to the front she looked out the open flap. Spells were still flying in every direction from the shimmering dome as other Parties did the same thing they were, approaching other bonfires. Some had already circled around to the far side, spreading the defenders thin. Still, the only cover they'd have would be the bonfire, and with the dome being something like two hundred feet wide they'd be exposed.

"Alright," Ana said as the Party piled in, filling the small tent. "I'm going out there with Sendra. The rest of you, stay here and watch our backs in case these other tents have cultists in them. I'll—" She frowned as her voice caught. Even the idea of leaving anyone was uncomfortable. "I might be going farther from you than the range of my Abilities, so be careful. And don't be surprised when the Willpower-boost against fear drops."

"We'll be fine," Messy said. "Go!"

Ana nodded. "Sendra? You good?"

"Mm-hmm!" Sendra said, her voice a fearful squeak and her eyes locked on the fire thirty feet ahead of them. As they watched, a firebolt burst out of the dome, narrowly missing a woman from Halmer's Party that Ana didn't recognize and smashing into a tent.

"I'm with you every step," Ana said. "Just remember that. Nothing can happen to you as long as I'm close."

With that Sendra steeled herself, hesitated, and did nothing. So Ana picked her up bodily and ran. Sendra barely had time to yelp before they were feet from the bonfire, the heat of it burning their exposed skin, and her feet were back on the ground.

"Shape!" Ana barked, and mana was moving around Sendra before the Evoker even looked at her. As Sendra channeled unaligned mana, aligning it with Water, Ana focused and could feel the difference between it and that radiating off the bonfires, both of them different to that she drew from the earth. Where Earth was steady and reliable, Water was patient and flexible, and Fire was fickle, hungry and ambitious. And while she was pleased to be able to put words to how those alignments felt, neither felt as right to her as Earth did.

Then, after what might have been seconds or a full minute, Sendra said, "Here goes!" A constant stream of water erupted from her extended hands and sank into the bonfire, creating a boiling cloud of steam that erupted from within the stacked firewood and branches. As the spray continued, the fire died down on their side, but attacks also started coming in from the alerted defenders. Ana's solution was simple. Shield ready and eyes peeled for any incoming attacks, she grabbed Sendra's collar with her weapon hand and slowly dragged her forward, increasing the cover afforded to them by the huge pile of steaming wood.

"Can't go much longer! Clear some if you can!" Sendra shouted over the roar of water and hiss of steam. "Clear the doused wood! It'll let me get deeper faster!"

Without hesitation Ana dropped her shield and weapon and did as Sendra said. The wet heat was oppressive to the point where it stung her skin, but she could take it. Working as fast as she could and trying to stay out of the path of the water, she grabbed huge pieces of half-burned wood and threw them to the sides, not caring as her eyes watered.

"Can't—" Sendra panted as the last of the fire died out. "Gonna—"

The stream of water turned into a trickle, then died entirely as Sendra keeled over, spent to the point of barely remaining conscious.

Ana took one look at the steaming pile of carbonized wood, then grabbed her kit, scooped up her teammate in her arms, and ran. "You did good!" she told the Evoker as she burst into the tent, which the others had already vacated through the back. "You did so damn good!"

"More…" Sendra mumbled. "Gotta— the rest…"

"You've done your part. I'm leaving you with Braggie and Sadie while we clear out the cultists."

"'Kay." With that sigh, Sendra went entirely limp.

They did as Ana had said, leaving Sendra to rest with Sadie and Braggie, who had not, in fact, lost their nerve when Ana got too far away. They were preparing to go out again and either help the other Parties or prepare to assault the obelisk when the battle was forcibly brought to a lull.

"STOP!"

A powerful voice, noble and pleading, boomed throughout the dell. Speaking Inter-guild, it was strong and clear enough that Ana was sure they'd heard it all the way to the treeline. "You must stop! This is necessary! For the future of the Primes, for all the great cities, for all life, this constant Splintering of the world must end!"

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