“Harpies!”, the princess declared, unsheathing her blade. “Aim for their wings!”

The two elves had already nocked their bows, and were aiming for the birds. The soldiers from the princess’ crew were getting ready. The Tian settlement soldiers, much less impressive, were also following the princess now.

The princess spoke to the clan head, “If we are to survive, follow exactly what I say. What perks do you have, Mister Guo?”

“My affinity is for a [Fortified Settlement]. I have [Minor Fortification], [Safe Hiding] and [Stocked Crannies]!” the clan head spoke loudly. Meanwhile the other people were rushing, some trying to hide and some trying to find a weapon. The clan head continued, “Every Tian who is able will join in the fighting!”

The princess’ eyes looked grim but stoic. “It’s just a few harpies – traditional scouts. They won’t do much, the real trouble will begin after. Any other perk I should know about?”

She looked pointedly at Huo, but he was stoic. “My levels are but my own concern, princess. My father may have forgotten, but I do remember that you are still an enemy to Tian.”

The princess sighed but motioned to her soldiers. “Archers, take positions on top of those huts, they should be able to support the weight. The rest of you, stay in formation.” To the Tian soldiers, she said, “You all stay beside the main building and protect the commonfolk. Kill any harpy that lands in the village.”

She turned to a woman next to her, and spoke. “Thank you, Merchant Ria for escorting me here. I would request you to rush to Gugbuldihr, but I doubt that still exists on the surface. The damn dwarves probably destroyed all entrances from the surface as soon as they felt the slightest danger.”

The merchant laughed, “My family wouldn’t last if we didn’t take risks, Princess Wyrmheart. The Patels are well known across this continent, across the world even, for doing the impossible for a price. Even if the dwarves of Gugbuldihr won’t listen, the others might. I shall go to the towers of Faye and to the castle of Zhang to inform them of this.. this travesty.”

The princess bowed her head slightly, “And for that you have my thanks. For the next time we meet.”

Saying that, the princess handed the merchant a pouch of coins. Looking at the avarice in the eyes of the others, Ash could only assume it was a lot of money exchanging hands.

“Hopefully some of you still make it out of this alive if someone decides to come save you.” Saying that, the merchant got in her carriage and sped out.

—

The place had gone quiet after watching the princess’ exchange with the merchant. It was one of the most tense moments in Ash’s life. He really wished to be inside the main building, instead of standing outside some hut with a spear that he had no idea how to use.

The harpies had been whiling time, going around in erratic trajectories, instead of coming straight towards them. The soldiers had gotten bored, and some had completely stopped paying attention, instead gossiping with their fellows. Only the elves and the princess’ troupe were fully alert, eyes pinned to the harpies.

The moment broke when one of the elves fired a shot and a harpy who’d come close fell in the distance. That was the triggering point for the harpies, and they saw a cloud of harpies headed towards the settlement.

Ash was completely non-plussed and only came back to his senses when the elves started shouting crazily.

“Tree Rot! Ilyrana is helping us, look!”

Apparently, the archers from Noe Valley were able to down a few of the harpies even at that distance. That would certainly reduce the number of harpies raining down at them.

“Faelenya’s perks! Ilyrana just killed three with one shot, but even that won’t be enough for this swarm!”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Said swarm was getting closer and closer. Ash couldn’t see anything properly, but his heart was beating fast and his ears were glued to the elves’ commentary.

“Does anyone in the forest have something to counter swarms?”, the princess asked. One of the elves narrowed her eyes, “Not really. Faelenya has [Threefold Volley], which gives us an edge, but nothing major.”

“Does anyone have a [Battlefield] room affinity?”, the princess continued her interrogation. The elf replied, “No…”. Lingxin’s hands tightened on the sword in her hand, “Not for us either.”

The princess sighed and turned her head towards the action, “Nobody said it was gonna be easy.”

—

When the harpies came, it was chaos. Ash couldn’t see outside of his makeshift leather helmet. He had somehow offset it when trying to stab a harpy with his spear, and now it was hampering him more than helping him. Not like he’d killed any harpies yet.

Removing his helmet, he tried scanning the field. The two soldiers near him were trying to fight the harpy that had attacked their group. Ash, slightly ashamed, felt happier about his decision to stop pretending to fight. His frantic spear attacks would probably have killed one of the soldiers instead.

A glint somewhere caught his eyes. He saw a soldier defending against a group of harpies. Beside that soldier lay the dead bodies of his fallen comrades. Ash recognized the soldier as the princess’ escort he’d seen earlier in Guo Tian’s tent. He ran towards the man praying that he make it in time.

—

The princess was on fire. She fought with an intensity that made Arcaena ashamed of questioning her honor. Even though she could have run, she had stayed. For a fight that was not even hers. And that was why both Arcaena and Ecaeris would fight with everything they had this day.

And their bows sang, taking down harpies left and right. But it was not enough. Arcaena regretted not being in Noe Valley. Oh, only if she and Ecaeris had had a [Tree]! Her [Piercing Shot] combined with Ecaeris’ [Pinpoint Shot] would be a major blessing. And if this was Noe Valley, Faelenya’s perks would have been a great blessing. [Threefold Volley] with their skills would guarantee three harpies with every shot.

—

The Tian head flew into a rage when he saw his son, Huo, fall. He rushed into a group of harpies hoping to maybe save his son, but it was not enough. He struggled, stabbing a few harpies with his spear. The soldiers around him tried to distract the harpies. They followed a classic boxing pattern that worked well for deerfoxes and other small beasts.

But those were less intelligent and prone to making mistakes. And more importantly, not being able to coordinate. One by one, the soldiers thinned out. He followed soon enough.

—

More and more people were falling now. Everyone was fighting like cornered pigs and there was nothing to do but shed tears for this carnage. She had underestimated the harpies.

The princess knew, and she was trying to get back to her tent. But the harpies wouldn’t relent on her, and she faced the most out of anyone in the area.

With a clean arc, she managed to kill four harpies at once. But more sprang to replace their fallen brethren.

It was not enough.

—

Ecaeris was covered with blood and sweat. She and Arcaena had run out of bows and were now were in a scrimmage for their lives. Trying to fight with a knife was harder than she’d ever thought possible.

To top it off, she couldn’t even imagine what the elves in Noe Valley were facing. She had thought that a bigger chunk of the storm of harpies had gone to the [Forest] because of Ilyrana’s attacks. She just hoped that they made it out.

—

It. Was. Not. Enough.

The escort had fought valiantly, whittling down the harpies’ number to the last. But that last one was persistent. Ash was trying to stab the damn harpy, but it would not give. The harpy was focussed on attacking the escort, and managed to get its claws in. But that also meant a moment of distraction for the harpy and the escort was able to strike a blow in return.

Ash took over, poking the fallen harpy in it’s wounded areas. The harpy gave a final grunt and died. Looking over, Ash saw that the escort was already dead. With sorrow in his eyes and anger at his helplessness, Ash lost himself momentarily.

The glint from the device made him came out of his stupor. It was the same as the thing that had attracted him to this location earlier.

The device looked like a giant spherical compass with rods on each side to hold it. When Ash picked it up, the compass in the middle started revolving crazily, and Ash felt his vision shift.

It looked like he was getting a top down view with an interface that was reminiscent of his favorite games from Earth.

“If this is what I think it is, we are saved! ‘Choose where to place this castle.’ If I encircle this area, that should keep the harpies out. And done!”

—

The princess saw everything. She saw Ash enter the tent and tried to rush to stop him from making a mistake. And then what she dreaded happened. The castle appeared, boxing the harpies with them inside.

“That idiot!”, she shouted.

The harpies grew much more frantic. Something something cornered rats.

—

Ash knew that he’d done the wrong thing almost instantly. The swarm instantly became worse, and he could make out more and more harpies descending through the tent. He lost consciousness as the tent scaffolding fell on top of him.

—

[Building Affinity - Castle Obtained!]

[Castle Level 1!]

[Building Perk - Spacetime Dilation Obtained!]

[Building Perk - Major Rejuvenation Obtained!]

[Room: Control Room Obtained!]

[Room Perk - Control Room: CCTV Obtained!]