On cue, the battalions of soldiers near the breach in the wall met the swarming Wendigo, forming a battle line set back from the wall. We waited a few seconds for them to establish the position and lock the Wendigo in place, and then I signaled Campbell.

He leapt from the wall, bulking out his muscles as he fell, until he was an immense mass by the time he struck the ground, his overgrown legs cushioning his landing. Without wasting any time, he pushed off into a gallop, building up speed as he approached the soldiers and monsters. Holding his arms up in front of himself like an imperfect shield, he plowed into the Wendigo, crushing many and sending others flying in all directions. Most of the soldiers were able to dive back out of the way as they saw Campbell coming, though from up on the wall it looked like some were late and blowed aside by Campbell’s charge. But they eventually recovered.

Campbell slowed and turned his attention to the hole in the wall, batting aside any Wendigo that dared step through, leaving them dazed and at the mercy of the torch, sword, and noose-wielding soldiers. I kept Rachel and Sara by my side up at the wall, as we were mostly directing the soldiers, keeping their emotions in check, and trying to confuse the enemy.

But it wasn’t long until Campbell started to tire and I could see the girls were losing steam, as the Wendigo kept coming. They continued to batter the walls and we were running low on tar and arrows.

So I ordered a retreat.

“Campbell,” I called down to him through a mental projection from Rachel, “we’re falling back. Scoop up any wounded and head to the village. We’ll meet you there.” Just after, she sent images to all the soldiers of their town, signaling the retreat as we’d arranged. I hoped Campbell would still have the strength to fight if need be.

We hustled back, but it was slow going. I had Rachel send copies of many of the soldiers and Campbell off through the fields in a different direction and Sara hit the Wendigo with as strong a feeling of fear as she could, hoping it would break through their blood lust.

Luckily, the combination of their abilities confused the beasts enough to slow them down as they tried to figure out where we really were.

By the time they’d sniffed us out, we were mostly in the village. I crossed our makeshift bridge over the trench last and had Campbell pull back the planks, leaving a moat of rusty swords embedded in the ground to the base of each blade.

“That ought to hold them back,” said Samuel. “Glad you folks are on our side.”

“Get your men posted on all sides,” I told him. “Have them report any problems.”

We huddled all the wounded and children into the central most homes. And soon the Wendigo were upon us again.

Blind with rage and the need to eat flesh, the first of they fell wildly into the trench, impaling themselves upon the blades. They couldn’t move. But what I hadn’t counted on was them flooding the village from one side, falling one onto another until the blades were buried in twitching, bleeding bodies.

The remaining mass of the Wendigo army stopped at the edge of the moat, but they were starting to figure out the danger, and the first few crept onto the bodies of their fallen comrades and were inching their way over. There were probably a good seventy-five of them left, but only around twenty-five of us who I’d call ready to fight. The process of killing them was too damn convoluted and killing or maiming our men so easy.

But there was no going back. We all knew we’d have to hold our ground. And Campbell, Sara, and Rachel looked exhausted.

“Campbell, keep an eye on my body. Put me somewhere safe if you can.” He started to argue, but I ignored him and slipped from my body. I had to keep as many of them from making it across the moat as possible.

So I possessed the closest one and threw him over the side, sharing everything as each blade entered his body, his death howls enhancing the excruciation. But I kept at it, tossing them to their deaths over and over, seeing my friends through their eyes and knowing I couldn’t stop.

At some point I must have passed out briefly, because I awoke back in my body, scared for a second that I’d died along with the last Wendigo I’d inhabited.

I sat up and realized I was on a rooftop, overlooking the fifty or so Wendigo trying to cross the moat. Campbell had reverted to his normal size, unable to mount the strength to enlarge himself. The men and my friends were all starting to huddle back into a cowering mob, with Sara and Rachel unable to keep their spirits up as impending doom approached.

I saw as Sara took a look around and assessed the situation. She turned to look at me and seemed about to try and say something before she looked away again.

She sprinted forward to the moat and leapt, throwing herself over the bodies and rusted swords, surrounding herself with an auric shield, pink around the edges. She was able to barrel through the first few Wendigo before her shield petered out, but she was on the other side of the moat, surrounded.

They turned to face her, engulfing her. From what little I could see between bony arms and protruding ribs, her eyes burned a heavy glaze of pink and purple flame and she was more angry than I’d ever seen her. She held her arms out, then lifted them up above her head. It seemed the whole world went silent. And then there was an eruption, a ripple of heat and light blowing out in all directions from where Sara stood, the light shooting straight up into the night, blinding everyone and forcing us to look away from the burning fluorescence fringed with pink. When I was able to look again, nothing remained.

Sara, the Wendigo, even the edges of some surrounding trees and rooftops; it was all gone.