Reassured by their obvious competence, Even turned to the next batch of Nightmares with less apprehension than he had felt, or 'felt', for combat in a long time. There was room for a little experimentation. He focused and pointed at a group of Nightmares clearly preparing to charge en masse; a series of icy stalagmites sprung up along the line he had determined, cutting them into two more manageable groups. He turned his attention to the leftmost and sent more conventional spells at them. His Pricklemane darted in and out of the group, staying out of the way of the magic and doing damage while avoiding a counterattack. Perhaps they were intelligent, after all, Even thought.