Fer must have lost track of how many were really left over. He had stood up to listen to Auriel's advice and neglected to watch Cole's back. He had heard the interchange between the sword and the old sharpshooter. He understood Cole's feelings, however. He felt somewhat like that himself. They were supposed to be great heroes. People who would surpass the skill and power of the angelic warrior and the grizzled adventurer and yet here they stood barely overcoming the onslaught of balloon beings. But as Marcino had pointed out, at this point taking on bigger prey would just result in their demise. 

The young hero had been too preoccupied with his musings that he forgot Auriel's advice to try make sure that the flanks were always taken care of. He heard Cole's yelp and turned around. He saw his companion's foot stuck and the three or four balloons gnawing on the other's arm. As if he had done this his entire life and not just discovered it by accident, Fer jumped towards Cole saying, [color=0054a6]"MORPH SHIELD!"[/color]and imagining in his mind the heater shield he had used earlier. He swung at the little buggers in Cole's arm.  Following Auriel’s advice, Cole used the sharp edge of the rounded point with all his might. He managed to put enough strength into the balloon to make it explode and the remaining force sent a second balloon into orbit about five feet away. 

He was reaching for another when the creature suddenly latched onto his arm. He instinctively reached his hand back expecting to feel a pain in his forearm that never came. It took his brain a couple of seconds until he realized that there was only pressure where the little monster’s teeth were. Puzzled but still moved to action, Fer grabbed unto the one that had latched onto Cole. 

[color=0054a6]“Ok, I’m gonna try to pull him off you ok? Sorry if it hurts.” [/color]Cole Gave a couple experimental tugs.  Then remembering his experience with seeing a dog bit on a man’s leg decided to instead help Cole get his leg out of the hole. He again imagined an even pointier shield and managed to materialize what looked like a mini version of a Kite shield. Using the point, he started to dig around Cole’s foot to make the opening wider. 

By this time, the other balloon monster had made its way back and jumped at Cole. Fer placed his body in between the attacker and its intended victim. The orange creature latched greedily onto the young hero’s side. Again, he could feel the pressure but felt no pain. He must have looked silly to any onlooker with a balloon sprouting from right hip and right forearm as his left kept on digging. 

Finally, the hole was wide enough to wiggle the sword hero’s foot out the hole. Instinctively, Fer prodded and felt with his fingers to ensure there was no sprain or snap that would signify broken bones. The ankle felt fine, there was no swelling or obvious cracking noises. When he realized that he was taking too much time he let go and brought his hands back. He turned to Auriel and spoke in an apologetic voice. [color=0054a6]“I guess it would be better to leave the healing to a trained professional huh?”[/color]

He then turned to Marcino. [color=0054a6]“I like learning about my shield’s talents on the go, but is there a way to learn before a battle? Also, how come these things don’t seem to hurt me as much as they seemed to be bothering Cole?”[/color]  A this he remembered the little monster still in Cole’s arm. “Oh man we better get that thing off you before his teeth leave scars.”