At last, the battle had begun.<br/><br/>It seemed the horsemen they were facing were not normal horsemen. First, the horses themselves were pitch black, with flaming manes and hooves, and dismal, hellish physique. On the other hand, their riders didn't appear to<span style="font-style: italic">have</span>a physique. They were dark, twisting, foggy beings that radiated evil. As ethereal as these riders seemed, it was clear the weapons they carried were real.<br/><br/>Thanks to Morys's courage they learned a little about their enemies. For starters, it seemed magic was necessary to fight them-- or at least similar ethereal forces like fire.<br/><br/>In support of Farish's theory, most of the foes seemed to have locked on to Morys as their main target. They were almost definitely after the object he carried. Three of the riders were attempting to box the man in, and Farish ran under one of the horses to join him and even the playing field. A deft hand swept up and conjured a barrier to deflect a dirty attack from the human's blind spot.<br/><br/>"I can keep them off of you while you summon up another attack spell," the boy offered.