Ryder continued his hopeless struggle to free himself. He managed to get back to his feet. The mages were too concerned with the mist to care that he had stood up. He looked up just in time to see Ashe disappear. His eyes widened and he looked up at Alex. He had the same look of surprise. It wasn't part of the ritual, which meant that Ashe was taking risks again. Given their current situation, he couldn't exactly blame her.

He felt the hands reaching around him and looked back to see Ashe working quickly. When the bindings broke, he had to fight the urge to take on Alex. Ryder knew he was too weak for a head on fight with a mage, especially without any weapons or armor. It would be suicide, and he wasn't about to let Ashe take him on by herself. As he started pushing her towards the trees, a red orb flew past them and hit one of the mages.

"You...you are trying to kill me! You always were!" The mage started shouting at his closest comrades. He raised his hands and started shooting lightning at the rest of the mages. The camp became a dizzying sight of light as spells and wards were tossed around. More bolts of light, in varying colors, shot out from the tree line. Blake ran out from their origin and started shouting at Ryder and Ashe. Ryder couldn't make out what Blake was saying. The spells were causing too much noise, but he kept motioning for them to follow. Ryder took a look back at Alex, but he was busy repelling elemental strikes from two of his own men. It was their best chance.

Ryder took Ashe under his arm, partially to protect her and partially to help steady himself, and guided her towards Blake. They entered the trees and the scene started to make sense. Isabel was hiding behind a tree as they approached. She took the chance to throw one more spell of her own before she nodded to Ryder and led them into the forest.