Six creatures

The light flickered ahead, wavering like a dying star, but it was all I had to chase. Behind me, the cacophony of battle swirled into a storm of clashing steel, gnashing teeth, and desperate cries. The horde of creatures had multiplied fur, claws, and shadows, all bearing down on us.

The ground trembled with each monstrous footfall, and I could feel the weight of their overwhelming presence, like a thousand thundering hearts pulsing through the earth.

"To the light!" I shouted again, my voice raw, barely audible above the chaos. But the sound of my own command was drowned in the roar of the fight, my words scattering like leaves in a gale.

Seraphina had been flung back, her form crumpled on the ground, motionless for just a heartbeat too long. Fear clawed at my insides, but there was no time for hesitation.