After Numair called two troops of the King's Own, they went to sleep. The next day they rode hard. They camped near Golden Lake, where the battle was. Although Atalaya had ridden a mountain pony and handled it well, which meant she must have had a lot of strength, she was as exhausted as everyone else.

The next morning they were up an hour before dawn. It would be an interesting fight for them. They would break through the enemy lines, retreat to the back of the camp, then, if they were alright, they would come back up to join the King's Own.

All five of them were on horses, amongst the reinforcements. When the Tortallan soldiers charged, the Carthakis weren't surprised. Despite being hit from the back, the Carthakis were organized and fought well.

Numair, George, Daine, Onua, and Atalaya had a second to prepare because of the soldiers in front of them, but then they were in the thick of the battle. George immediately kicked Beauty's Prince into a jump. Prince tucked his legs under him, then kicked out with his hind legs at the height of his jump. Most men moved a distance away; those who didn't were killed when hit by Beauty's Prince. Daine, Atalaya, Onua, and Numair galloped up to him in the path he had created. The five charged forward. Daine shot an approaching man in the shoulder then pushed on.

"Atalaya!" Onua yelled. Numair took care of the archer shooting at Atalaya.

A mounted night with a sword attacked George. He blocked and cut for the knight's side. The knight backed off quickly. It went on like that, one attacking the other blocking, neither one gaining an advantage.

Meanwhile, Daine was attacked by a mage. She tried to shoot at him, but only missed terribly and had to gasp for breath afterwards. She felt the air around her tighten with the mage's spell. The air around her turned a faintly sparkly color and she could breathe again. The mage broke off and disappeared into the others.

Onua had been about to shoot down a Carthaki archer when she doubled over in pain. It stopped quickly and Numair galloped up, pointing. "Do the Wall of Power."

They started chanting together and a protective wall took form. The enemy mage got someone to help him too. The enemy mages threw power, orange and blue, at their Wall. The magic had no effect on the combined efforts of Onua and Numair so the mages stopped, but soon Onua and Numair both were in great pain.

"Keep the Wall," Numair croaked.

They chanted louder and then threw the Wall at the Carthakis. It didn't reach the mages, but it killed many people just the same.

Suddenly, they heard George cry out in pain. Daine, Atalaya, Onua, and Numair looked toward him.

George had a deep, bloody gash down one side of his face. All of the color left him, leaving him white like a ghost, and he slid from Beauty's Prince. Everyone saw and the fighting paused for just a moment, like the moment before a mighty storm. George landed on his back and jumped up, and in the confusion of the fighting which had begun again, he ran through the already celebrating knight. He remounted Beauty's Prince shakily and the five of them galloped into the camp.

Atalaya rushed George into the healer's tent. The others hurried to find Raoul. He saw the condition they were in and told them to settle themselves in the camp and wait until after the battle to talk with him.

The camp was neat and organized, white tents forming many straight rows, drooping in the dead air. They set up their tents, looked after their horses, laid out their things, and rested until Raoul came for them.

At noon they went to the mess tent and had the ever popular war meal of beans and meat, then met with Raoul.

"Those mages killed about as many men as you brought as reinforcements," the big knight said. "Is there anything you can do?"

Numair nodded. "Dampeners," he said. "Even if the mages lift them it will distract at least one. If they don't, the healers will be useless. The wounded will die."

"Perfect," Raoul said with such a bloodthirsty sound that the others were surprised. "Daine, do you know if there are immortals in the forest?"

"Yes, spidrens, you were right. They'll only attack if needed or if you retreat, so don't forget them," she warned. "I also felt the griffins. I'll talk to them tonight when it's quieter, but I didn't feel a strong resistance in them. They may not be being controlled. It doesn't make any sense though."

Raoul's optimism died. "We still need more people. Onua can you contact the nearest Riders group? They're fast, just what we need." As an afterthought he added, "Buri's group would be best. They have the most experience in real battles."

"You just want to see Buri," Onua accused. Raoul didn't deny it.

They went back to their tents. Atalaya, who had been left out of the meeting, was cleaning her tent.

George was grooming his horse. He had just gotten out of the healer's tent recently or he would have come to the meeting. Onua went over to him. They argued, then Onua gave up whatever they had been fighting about, but tacked up her horse with him. Atalaya saw them ride towards the battle a little later.

Daine went to the tent she and Numair shared and made sure their belongings were neat. Then, when he came in the tent, she told him, "Numair, the animals were fighting twice as hard today than usual. It was distracting. I've never had to fight them that hard."

"Have you ever been in such a dangerous situation? I was worried for you, too."

"Of course I have." There was an awkward pause. "How long are we going to be here?"

"Hopefully not long. I need to look in the palace library for a book that tells about the spell those mages put on Onua and me. I've never been in so much pain."

"You're addicted to libraries," she scolded him.

"I can't help it. I'm a scholar."