Dominic nodded. "This is a mage from the invading force. He has most graciously accepted our offer to defect from the Dagos Prince’s forces and join our side of the battle.

There was a minor matter of him being under a killing curse, but I think that we’ve gotten that all sorted out. Did you want to move on right away? Or does your team need a break before going after another group of monsters?"

Alexis glared at him, and Dominic smirked back.

"Perhaps I should add that we completely depleted the besieging force around a city with this one battle? Having them all in a tidy row, and out in the open, made the fight so much easier for us.

So, if we happen upon another fight like this one, it will be because we relieved another city of its invaders.

That should be a rather heavy blow to the moron Prince’s forces." He elaborated.

The captured mage nodded eagerly. "The city of Skiple should be nearly free of invaders now, with only a few thousand Ogres remaining. That might not be enough to keep their elite soldiers at bay.

Like Cygnia, they have a large number of magic using warriors in the Royal Army."

Alexis tapped the hilt of her sword as she considered the options. "So, these all came from the Capital? I would say that they should have been able to break through the horde easily enough, but with so many civilians in the way, and the terrain, I can see how it would be an issue."

The mage frowned. "Not all of them were at this fight. There were a dozen other groups as well. They were sent to respond to areas where the monster reserves were being overrun.

It was an order from above, but I’m not sure who actually issued it. Only that it was something that they didn’t believe an Acolyte like me needed to know."

Alexis shrugged. They weren’t wrong to make that call. The man had happily betrayed them the moment that he was captured, and he didn’t seem to have any lingering loyalty to his own Sect. Or to the Academy, wherever he had come from.

She didn’t know, and she didn’t really care. If he survived today, Dominic could deal with him.

"Give the men thirty minutes to clean up and get something to eat. Then we will move out and hit another target. We don’t have much time left before more of the mages will start arriving to reinforce them, and every mage that shows up increases the likelihood that we will lose men by a significant margin." She instructed.

The prisoner, eager to help, decided to add a bit of advice for her.

"There aren’t that many Elders left. A bunch were already killed, so it’s mostly students of the Academy who are doing the grunt work, and then some graduates who were loyal to the staff.

If you target the strongest one first, the others are unlikely to have a spell above level ten or fifteen.

I’m not the weakest of my peers, I am almost set to graduate, and my mage skill core is only level twelve. Half the others are younger than I am." He offered.

"Now that is valuable information. Thank you for that. I will leave that to Dominic and Amie, as they both specialize in hunting mages." Alexis replied.

The Paladins were pretty good at it, but the Duskblade Sect specialized in it, and Dominic was just generally good at killing things with his bloodline advantages and firepower.

"Amie, leave that one with us, we will take care of him so he’s not slowing you down." One of the mages who had come with Alexis’ group insisted.

"Oh, thanks. He’s been well-behaved, but keep an eye on him. He might stop for a little cry or try to run away at some point."

The mage chuckled, while the prisoner looked vaguely insulted. But Dominic thought that Amie was right. Once he realized how badly things were going for his team, he was definitely going to need to stop and cry for a minute.

As one, the cavalry formed into ranks, and Dominic turned to Alexis for directions.

"We’re going to head toward the core of the force. Everyone is working from the edges toward the middle, so you can flank us or try to keep up with the cavalry." She informed him with a smirk.

Even the Royal Paladins had mechanical horses today, so there was no way that Dominic and Amie could keep up with their charge.

"We will flank to your west and look for something good to hunt. See you in the middle." Dominic agreed.

Alexis led the soldiers away, and Amie turned to Dominic with an intensely curious look.

"It seems that you’re actually good friends, but she doesn’t want to fight beside you. Not like she doesn’t trust you, but something else." The little mage announced.

"It’s a competition. What she wants is to kill more or better monsters than I do so that she can gloat about it when we go home. If she finds an Ogre Lord or something, she will be over the moon with joy.

Paladins get like that when they have a chance to fight monsters." Dominic explained.

"And you’re any better?"

"Oh no. I’m far worse, but that’s only more reason for her to want to compete."

"Is this some strange couples flirting thing that I just don’t get?" Amie asked.

"One hundred percent, yes. Don’t think about it too hard, it’s not based on logic, but on the mutual enjoyment of a shared interest and an intensely competitive spirit.

If you try to make it make sense, it takes all the fun out of it." Dominic joked.

Then he paused and gestured ahead. "I sense more monsters up ahead, we might luck out this time and get all the good stuff."

Amie shook her head in dismay. "Well, at least I’m getting rich off this. But for the record, just killing the monsters is reason enough, you don’t need to make it weird and flirty with the wife."