I stripped naked, applied ten layers of sunscreen, shoved my slimy body into my leather bodysuit, tightened my leather gloves, donned my black hood and veil, and wrapped myself in my robes. In front of us, the Lowland marines formed a great shield-wall, and their mages solidified it with a combined incantation. XXX They pounded against the planks, blasting clouds of dust into the air, splintering the wood. Only twenty? A regal knight in full plate rushed me. “I’m sorry about Eva,” she croaked. I felt very-much like the balding middle-aged man I’d once been; helpless and useless. As her whirling claws and feet burst through robed bodies, the twenty mages at the end of the line sequentially raised their arms. The haze lightened, revealing the space around me. In front of us, the Lowland marines formed a great shield-wall, and their mages solidified it with
