By the time the second batch of Innutukians had come into archer range, several groups of rebels had ensconced themselves in and around the exposed buildings that had once been shielded by stone walls. Perched on a rooftop with Jude, Michelle, and Kyle, Dustin watched the bearded invaders close in on their armored horses, hand clenched tightly around the hilt of his sword the whole while. Nathan had taken it upon himself to watch over the magical olive branch that had caused so much calamity, just to make sure no foolish Innutukian used its power against the rebels.

Dustin's attention shifted to Michelle when she suddenly stood up, dropped a stone into the pocket of her sling, and wound up to hurl the stone. When she released it, the rock flew almost gracefully through the air, spinning at a consistent speed until it hit an Innutukian cavalryman in the helmet. Though the stone bounced off his metal headgear, the impact still dazed him, and when he fell off his horse, the Innutukians' unit cohesion all but fell apart.

Even those Innutukians who hadn't been thrown off course still slowed down to adjust, which significantly destroyed the power of the overall unit's cavalry charge. Arrows began to fly at the slowing riders, and while many hit flesh and bone, most simply gave away the rebels' locations. Innutuk's mounted archers returned fire.

Dustin twitched impatiently, eager to make himself useful in the growing battle beyond. But Nathan had ordered him not to throw himself into combat unless absolutely necessary, and never alone. Not only that, but his only skill was in swordsmanship, rather useless when the enemy still galloped so far off.

Then he spotted a crossbow sitting beside Kyle as he chiseled away at a thick bough of wood, apparently fashioning it into some sort of weapon. Several extra bolts also lay scattered by the weapon. Dustin took in a deep breath and stepped over.

"Surely you don't mind if I give this a try?" Dustin asked with a smirk which Kyle returned.

"Go ahead." Kyle said, "You can see I'm not using it."

With that, Dustin picked up the crossbow and weighed it tentatively in his hands for a moment. Then he walked closer to the edge of the rooftop, leveled the weapon at what appeared to be the middle of the cavalry unit, and pulled the trigger. A jolt rippled through the crossbow and into his hands as his bolt flew through the air at incredible speed, finally making impact on the side of an Innutukian's breastplate.

The bolt didn't penetrate the armor fully, but merely stuck in the left side of the metal plate and constricted the soldier's movement. Dustin found himself mildly disappointed, but still glad his first shot had actually hit a target. Now to reload.

Dustin already had an inkling about how he would go about resetting the crossbow, given he'd watched so many military drills taking place at the garrison near the royal palace. He set the front of the weapon down on the rooftop and leveraged his foot in one of the limbs to brace it in place while he tugged the string back. The sheer tautness of the string surprised Dustin, and it forced him to struggle a good deal to set the line back on the catching mechanism midway down the weapon. With some gritting of teeth and strain of muscles, he succeeded, and then it was no difficult matter to slide a second bolt into place.

By the time Dustin reloaded the crossbow, Jude had fired four or so arrows, and Michelle had flung three stones. And they hadn't been the only ones unleashing weaponry on the galloping Innutukians either. The cavalrymen had suffered several losses, and their formation weakened each time. What had once been one cohesive cavalry charge now splintered into several smaller and therefore weaker units.

Dustin pulled the crossbow's trigger again. Not by any skill on his part, he hit an Innutukian straight in the jugular. When the bleeding warrior tumbled off his mount, he further forced his comrades around to slow down in order not to trip their own horses. The slower the Innutukians advanced, the more accurately the rebels could fire upon them.

Nonetheless, the Innutukian archers continued hitting targets of their own, and a few arrows flew back at Dustin's rooftop, to no avail. One such arrow clattered to the stone at Jude's feet, and without missing a beat, he nocked it to his string and loosed it right back at the enemy. Michelle subsequently hit a horse in the ribs with her stone, causing the equine to rear and toss its rider under the hooves of the animal behind. Mayhem ensued.

But despite all the Innutukians' setbacks, they retained greater numbers, and before long, they began to trot through the maze of buildings the rebels hid in and around. As Dustin grunted and reloaded his crossbow again, he watched a particular group of Innutukians with dread. They stopped their horses alongside a one-story shack, dismounted, and hurried up the stairs in the back to reach the rooftop. They slaughtered scores of rebel archers who had stationed themselves there and failed to hear the attack coming in time. Dustin clenched his jaw, having just finished resetting the crossbow.

He aimed and fired at the armored murderers, just heading down the stairs again with what appeared to be laughter and joviality. His bolt buried itself in the lead man's thigh. Though not immediately lethal, the injury caused him to lose his balance, and he tumbled down the stairs, breaking his neck in the process. Jude quickly caught on and shot a few arrows of his own at the group until all had paid for their massacre.

By the time Dustin prepared a fourth bolt to fire, another group of Innutukians had apparently made it their intent to swarm the building he and his comrades camped out upon. Comprised mostly of bearded warriors wielding battle axes and spears, they galloped closer and used shields to defend against Jude's arrows and Michelle's stones. The few archers among them quickly fell, forcing the remainder of the unit to close in if they wished to strike killing blows.

Dustin nailed one of the cavalrymen in the face with a crossbow bolt before dropping that weapon and drawing his sword. He exchanged a nod with Jude before hustling down the stairs to meet the incoming attackers face to face. This was his chance to prove Nathan had treated him with an undue amount of caution, and that he was ready for more. Dustin charged into battle with all the bravery of a fully knighted warrior.

Admittedly, Dustin couldn't help but feel small when he as a mere man with a sword squared up against a mounted warrior donning armor and pointing a spear down at him. He locked eyes with the lead Innutukian and kept a brave face, poised to strike at a moment's notice. A small smirk crept to the Innutukian's lips, which was all the spark Dustin needed to attack.

The Innutukian may have been armored, but his legs weren't. Dustin's blade arced through the air and sped for the spearman's thigh, only to be stopped short by the shaft of his spear. The Innutukian leveraged his weapon to push Dustin away.

Dustin stumbled back, almost into another mounted warrior who had circled behind him for a stealthy attack. He whirled about just in time and crouched to evade an axe blade whistling through the air. The Innutukian could't bring the weapon back around in time to prevent Dustin from slitting his thigh open. As he wailed in agony, Dustin yanked him off his horse and snatched his shield from his left hand.

With that accomplished, Dustin turned back to his first opponent to see the spear point coming for his head. With less than a second to react, panic surged through his veins. He jerked his shield up, and the spear head screeched against its face. The Innutukian growled at his lack of success, and now Dustin smirked instead.

Dustin charged in closer, blocking several more spear thrusts as he did. Then he angled his sword's blade just right to slide underneath his foe's breastplate and stab the flesh below. With considerable effort, he yanked his weapon back out of the wound, and the thud of hooves on the ground behind him gave warning of another cavalryman's appearance.

This one hopped off his horse, presumably for greater mobility. After all, the other men hadn't been able to attempt using their shields, because twisting around to have weapon and defense on the same side of their horse would have been strenuous and terrible for balance. This way, the Innutukian could attack and defend with equal convenience.

Dustin quickly found himself overwhelmed by the sheer power of his new foe. Blow after blow from a weighty axe came his way, and though he caught the blade again and again with his shield, even that impact rattled his wrist terribly. Dustin could hardly even think about executing a counterattack, so voracious was the Innutukian's advance.

He finally managed to smack the axe blade aside with his shield and close in for a counter. Dustin's blade raced for the Innutukian's throat, only to be intercepted by a shield. Metal shrieked against metal before Dustin withdrew and again braced his shield-bearing wrist for a succession of most forceful blows.

One of the axe-wielder's attacks hit so hard that Dustin lost his shield altogether, forced to slip underneath his followup and strike back from a new angle. Dustin's clumsy swipe of the sword only tore a tiny bit into the Innutukian's bicep, but his hiss of pain and menacing growl indicated he had indeed suffered greatly.

The Innutukian battled Dustin with even greater ferocity now, blows coming quicker and with even more power. But he was losing his technique. He over-committed himself to nearly every swing, leaving openings to be exploited. Dustin simply ducked and weaved around the incoming attacks to bide his time.

And then, like a serpent, Dustin struck.

His blade slithered behind the Innutukian's collarbone when he bent over after a missed downward strike. With a renewed cry of pain, he dropped his axe to grasp the sword that had wounded him. All he succeeded in was allowing Dustin to slice his fingers open when he withdrew. Dustin's foe collapsed seconds later.

After retrieving the fallen shield, Dustin left the man to bleed out. And with that surge of confidence, he engaged new foes, most of which never had a chance to dismount their horses before he was upon them and causing injury. One mounted swordsman displayed surprising skill on horseback which challenged Dustin, but still, he prevailed in the end.

Of course, Dustin couldn't help but be afraid when three spearmen circled him with their horses and constantly prodded at him with their weapons. Blocking each spearhead from three directions at once, with those directions ever changing grew overwhelming. Dustin wearied of constantly twirling about to block the next spear, never finding opportunity to fight back.

One hungry spear made it through Dustin's defenses and ate into the shoulder of his sword arm. He winced, a stinging sensation spreading beyond the site of the wound itself and even causing an uncomfortable tingle as far down as his feet. As the pain intensified, Dustin let out a pitiable cry, all while still attempting to stay alert and block his trio of spear-wielding foes.

Another spear sped uncomfortably close to Dustin's leg. The next narrowly missed his ribs. To his horror, a third even whizzed by his bleeding shoulder. He stumbled about with increasing clumsiness, surrounded with little idea how to break himself out. By the time he could lunge at one mounted warrior, he would have moved from there. And if he attacked early, he would leave himself open to the other two. Weariness and a sense of defeat began to set in.

Then an exceedingly loud bang ripped through the air over Dustin's shoulder, and one of the spearmen hurtled out of his saddle. The sudden noise had startled all three horses, and the two Innutukians who retained their mounts still could no longer keep control. This kept them still long enough for an arrow to impale one rider's neck and a stone to knock the other off his animal.

The equines fled the spot, allowing Dustin to lay eyes on the one who had not just fallen, but flown off his saddle. The sight was almost horrifying—a massive hole torn through his midsection despite the breastplate he wore. Blood flowed profusely from the mysterious wound, and Dustin finally glanced up at the rooftop where his comrades were perched, eyes seeking answers.

Kyle offered a humorous salute and raised the mysterious weapon he'd been crafting. "I figured it out, Dustin. I found my proportions."

Dustin quirked a brow. "You mean...the controlled expulsion weapon? It's a success?"

"Seems so. I stuffed the mixture in here, crammed a chunk of lead in front of that, and made a spark. That hit him even harder than I expected."

"Exceedingly so; his armor hardly exists, in the eyes of your new weapon."

Kyle nodded. "A powerful weapon in our arsenal the Innutukians have no counter for."

"And neither can they replicate it for themselves. Scatterer of horses and shatterer of armor."

At that, Kyle grinned. "That has a nice sound to it."

Dustin laughed for a moment before shifting his gaze up at Jude, who intently stared at something distant with growing worry on his face. "What is it, Jude?"

"I believe Nathan may need your assistance." Jude replied, "I see two figures approaching him, one in a burgundy cloak."

"The sorcerer these rebels have spoken of. I will go; which direction?"

When Jude pointed, Dustin slid his sword into its scabbard and dashed onward, heart set on assisting Nathan in whatever trouble was falling upon him.