Chapter 134:
Verona idly picked at the dirt and grime underneath her fingers with her dagger. Satisfied with the amount she wiped it against her thigh and returned to her prying. There was nothing better to do.
Shaken would have been an understatement to the Dark Elves reaction to the last nights foray into the darkness. Not only was it clear the war wasn’t going to be over quickly but the presence of the strange duo, where only Greens and Yellows had ever been observed, only threw more doubt into their minds. Instead of attacking again they decided on repairing their own strength until Anton, and his summoned creatures, could arrive.
It’s not like we didn’t do some serious damage to their numbers. A thousand Goblins isn’t that easy to replace…But if they’ve got thousands of Dark Elves…
Verona shuddered at the thought. The Atros villagers, dragged underneath Mount Aspire, held at least ten Goblins in their bellies.
“They’re not even trying really.” Verona sighed, tapping the end against her leg. “Just these sort of…probing attacks.”
“What are you mumbling about?” Kal asked.
Kal moved from one gravely wounded Dark Elf to the next. The medical tent held rows upon rows of Dark Elves, stained with blood and moaning in pain. Nearly a half glowed with a faint white hue. Kal worked tirelessly, drinking as many mana vials as she could before vomiting so. A truly monumental effort, but it was taking its toll.
“You should really take a break.” Verona jumped from her chair. “You’re not looking so great.”
Kal smiled. “I’m fine. I still have almost half of my mana.” She waved over the wounded Dark Elves. “And these people still need our help.”
Verona sighed, kneeling next to Kal’s Dark Elf. “I just wish that I could help. I suppose I could keep the blood in them, but those that need that sort of help are already dead.”
Kal glumly nodded, placed her hand on the Dark Elf’s forehead and chanted her prayer. A faint white hue covered their body as their pained face relaxed ever so slightly.
“Another one that will live to see another day.” Kal chuckled.
“Thank you.” The Dark Elf whispered. “Thank you.”
Kal gently held their hand and placed it by their side. Though saved from death he was still incredibly weak, probably delirious from pain and blood loss.
“I just have this line to finish off for this morning.” Kal moved to the next Dark Elf. “After that, we should probably get some breakfast.”
Verona returned to her seat and turned her attention to the Dark Elf warriors standing guard at the entrance of the tent. Gerin ensured at least four Dark Elf warriors travelled with them at all times. Though Verona didn’t need their protection with her blood power she knew it would be bad manners, if nothing else, to allow two women to wander about a war camp unescorted, even if almost a third of the warriors were women.
When the last of the row of wounded Dark Elves glowed with a faint white aura Kal joined her, flopping onto the chair next to Verona.
“Don’t overdo it.” Verona chuckled.
“I’m not. That’s about all I can do. I have maybe a quarter left.” Kal nodded to the other rows. “They’re not much better but at least they’ll survive a few more days until we can get to them. I really wanted to try this prayer artefact I read in the book, one that creates a field where everything is slowly healed, but it says it’ll take a lot of mana. And I don’t know if it’ll help those on the verge of death or maybe just fix a few scratches. I’ll try it later. And if I were to get it wrong-”
“These Dark Elves would die.” Verona frowned. “Not to mention some Principle Mage could come and undo it, then you’d be in serious trouble. Thankfully everyone’s been well behaved. So far.”
Kal snorted. “Apart from Vonkal…Trying to just grab my ears.”
“Only two people can do that.” Verona rubbed the very tip of the soft-furred extremity between her fingers. Kal sighed and gently shook her head. “I know you haven’t eaten anything since you woke up. Time to get you some food.”
“We kind of missed dinner too.” Kal sighed, forcing herself up. “That meeting dragged on and on. Then we just fell asleep.”
Verona approached one of the guards. “We haven’t eaten today. What do you have to eat on The Shadow Isles?”
The warrior stiffened, perhaps taking the wrong impression about their lack of food. “We have a large selection of food available, even at the frontlines; meats, fruits and vegetables. I’m sure the cooks could make something good for you.”
“Awesome.” Verona slapped her stomach. “This is completely empty.”
The Dark Elves led them outside to the war-camp. All Verona saw were Dark Elf warriors desperately trying to get some sleep for that night’s assault. Any place that looked comfortable enough to catch a quick nap had been taken. Nevertheless, the Dark Elves were not turning lax in their security. There were more than enough keeping a vigilant watch towards the northern forests. Even with daylight the heavy mist and thick forests kept visibility poor. The torches, which had burned through during the night, were being replaced for tonight's assault. Every so often a bow would release and a tell-tale thud of a dead body would crash onto the grass. The Goblin’s assault was relentless, perhaps designed to push the Dark Elves mentally to the breaking point. That implied intelligence and cunning. Something the lower ranked weren’t capable of. But the Reds...
“The cooking tents are this way.” The Dark Elf led the way through the sprawling camp.
“Verona, Kal.” Anton’s voice echoed through their heads. “Are you there?”
Verona chuckled. “We need to work on a better introduction but we’re here and fine.”
“I think it works just fine. We’ve just finished wrapping things up in the west of Qaiviel, wasn’t that difficult but it wasn’t exactly easy either. And we’ve got a few days spare before the next part so I thought we should jump across.”
“You aren’t worried about someone destroying the other set?” Kal asked. “If they do that Atros is pretty much doomed.”
“I’ll be staying in Qaiviel.” Cetina began. “Just to make sure something doesn’t happen. If something does I can just call you three.”
“Great. We’ll get the stones set up on this end.”
“Okay. I’ll be glad to see you two again.” Anton’s words didn’t sound exactly pleased.
“I’m taking it didn’t work.” Verona sighed. “It was worth a go though.”
“Wasn’t your best decision.”
“I let you and Anton cuddle without saying anything,” Verona smirked up at the Beast-kin deliberately ignoring her. “Remember? Nonbur’n. You and Anton holding each other tight as you crawled over the rubble and I just act like nothing happened.”
“You didn’t.” Kal raised a brow. “Next thing I know you’re barging into my bath.”
Verona laughed. “Everything worked out in the end.”
“Excuse me.” Kal stopped the Dark Elves. “We need a secure area. Where no one is going to interrupt us.”
The Dark Elf frowned lightly. “What about something to eat?”
Verona waved him down. “Don’t worry about that. Do you have a place like that?”
“Of course. Please follow me.”
A few moments later they had a small tent used to store armour repair kits. The four guards waited outside as they laid down the portal. With a flash the white disk emerged, shimmering like a pool of water.
“We’re ready on our end.”
“Give me a minute and I’ll be there.”
“Do we tell Anton about the Sand Timer?” Verona asked. “If we don’t tell him, now that he’s coming here, I think he’s going to be upset with us.”
“I think we should,” Kal said. “But we need him to remain focused on this battle and not something from his world. How we do that I don’t know, I know I’d be very interested.”
The white disk flashed white and Anton stepped through. He held his temple, furiously rubbing his head while baring his teeth. His transformation hadn’t alleviated that aspect of the portal.
“Anton!” Verona squealed happily as Anton stepped off the white disk.
Anton smiled and pulled them into a tight embrace.
“I hate being apart from you two.” Anton squeezed them again. “Even for just a few days.”
“Same.” Verona chuckled.
“Night time gets rather boring.” Kal nuzzled her nose into the crook of his neck, breathing deeply his smell.
“Yes…” Anton’s hold relaxed. “About that.”
Verona’s ear jolted in pain, Kal let out a tiny whimper. Anton held the ears tight and pulled. Not hard, Anton had never acted even remotely violent against them, but more than enough to hurt.
“You two have some explaining to do,” Anton spoke very softly.
“It was all Verona’s idea.” Kal jokingly pleaded, her eyes focused on his hand.
Anton quickly relinquished his hold, it was the same ear that had been torn off.
“You turned on me very quickly.” Verona poked Kal’s waist.
Anton sighed lightly, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I…I honestly was more than a bit surprised. Especially when Cetina sounded like she was okay with it.”
Verona shrugged. “It was just a suggestion. But it sounds like she would have…If it weren’t for a few nasty Principle Mages. They’re dead, right?”
“Cetina killed one. You should have seen it. It was quite impressive.”
Verona gently squeezed his hand. “You’re getting off topic. Deliberately. I know you well enough now.”
“I honestly haven’t given it much thought.”
That’s a bit of a stretch.
“You need strong people protecting you.” Kal took his other hand. “And I’ve been speaking with Ceccitol and Tuccac. Leaders were normally killed, outside of battle, because someone in their bodyguard turned against them. At least for the Dark Elves.”
“I remember some Roman Emperors were killed by their guard, one for forcefully sleeping with their wives…” Anton rubbed his bearded chin again. Verona, honestly, liked it when it was short and prickly, he would need a shave soon. “But how would it work with you two?”
“We’ll be sleeping with you in your bed all the time,” Kal stated firmly. “That doesn’t mean that they couldn’t choose to join us every few nights. I know two people that would enjoy that.”
Verona laughed, Kal wasn’t exactly wrong.
“And children?” Anton asked, more serious this time. “Even with my transformation, Ferula says there isn’t a problem, there’s every chance that I could get her pregnant. Or anyone else that joins.”
“No men for your bodyguard.” Verona winked.
Anton sighed. Before he could speak Verona pulled on his hand.
“Of course they’ll be ours.” Verona smiled. “And we’ll love them all the same. But we’ll have a few more chats before we jump to the question. Not kids but the bit before…”
“You didn’t for Kal.”
“No. And you didn’t say no either.” Verona took Kal’s free hand. “And everything worked out wonderfully, didn’t it? So, what do you think?”
Anton closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. “I honestly don’t know. Right now we need to focus on the wars, those that determine the fate of Atros and everything we’ve accomplished and not those in the bedroom. I wouldn’t even know how to talk to Cetina about this. I’m not exactly into forcing people to have sex with me.”
Anton sighed again. “And I can’t exactly let you two, mainly you, Verona, run around and do whatever you want behind my back. I was definitely more than a little surprised.”
Verona laughed. “True. True. But we can definitely help in your…Conquests.”
Anton rolled his eyes. “Tell me one thing before I answer. How long do you think it’ll take to secure The Shadow Isles?”
“Even with your help probably a long time.” Verona sighed. “There are a lot more Goblins than anyone thought. And there’s a red and black pair that are leading them so it won’t be a quick win.”
“I get the feeling Qaiviel will be much, much quicker than this, even if it’s probably going to be more dangerous.” Anton took another breath. “Once that’s done we’ll talk about this further. Nothing before. We need to focus on the battles. No distractions.”
“After we’ve dealt with Qaiviel,” Verona linked her arm around Anton’s. “It’ll be the perfect time to talk about it. The entire Qaiviel Kingdom will be singing our praises. I’m sure that you’ll be up for some nice reward.”
“Is Qaiviel going to be where I bed every new woman?” Anton jokingly smiled.
Verona laughed. “Possibly. Quite Possibly.”
Well, maybe not some of them. Bedding some Dark Elves or Beast-kin girls there might be a bit difficult. Dwarf women? They might not be for you…
“But I am serious.” Anton said firmly. “No more worming and twisting people. Okay?”
Verona nodded.
Kal patted Anton’s arm. “There is something that we need to tell you. Unrelated to that. We found something when we arrived, something that we both know that you’d be interested in seeing. We didn’t tell you right away since it would’ve distracted you but we do need to tell you.”
“What did you find?”
Verona smiled. “The Dark elves use some strange…How would you describe it? Measurements of time? They say things that you sometimes slip out. Like hours, months and years.”
Anton tensed slightly. “Why didn’t they speak like this before?”
Kal smiled. “Ceccitol and Tuccac probably thought we would use what the other humans did. It would make things easier on their side if they used our words. How are they supposed to know that you know what those are?”
“Those aren’t things you can just make up on your own. Someone else has been here before, from my world.” Anton didn’t quite know how to hold himself. “You’re right. It is a little distracting. If I’d been mulling that over when those bandits attacked things might have been more difficult.”
“Not just that.” Verona brushed her front. “There’s also something called a Sand Timer, to accurately measure one hour.”
“That’s-”
“And there was some writing on the top of the one the DuskReavers have.” Verona bit her lip. “Kal hasn’t seen it, but I recognised there were letters from your world written on a metal band. No idea what it is though.”
Anton remained still for a moment, working through the implications. “Is there anything else? Anything else there that looked strange like that?”
“Nothing. The Mist Walkers are supposed to have many more artefacts from the United Empire but they definitely won’t let us see them.”
“Other people from Earth…” Anton smiled. “They’d be long dead by now, unless they found a way back. Which, by the way, I don’t want to find. So much better here, especially with you two. When we get a chance I’d like to see them.”
“We didn’t want to keep too much a secret from you.”
“It’s fine.” Anton ruffled their heads. “We can sift through it later. Once The Shadow Isles are safe.”
Kal collected the portal stones before linking with Anton’s other arm. When they emerged the Dark Elf warriors nearly drew their weapons. Verona raised her hand and the warriors calmed.
“This is Anton.” Verona began. “One of the people that’s going to help us.”
“Hello.” Anton smiled, bowing his head slightly.
“I…” The lead guard looked to Verona. “Forgive me for saying this but I’m certain that Lord Gerin and Lord Vonkal will wish to see them right away. Do…Do you still wish to visit the kitchens first?”
Anton looked to Verona.
“Just a quick visit.” Verona smiled. “There’s no way we can focus on an empty stomach. Besides, I want to see what the Dark Elves call food.”
Anton smiled. “Send a message that I have arrived and will be joining them shortly. Surely they can understand wanting to spend at least a few moments with my wives before heading into, what I imagine, will be a gruelling meeting to plan the next stage of the war.”
“I…Yes.” A warrior broke away and jogged to the Command Tent.
“I also don’t intend to walk into something completely blind,” Anton spoke firmly. “The thought of being lied and misled doesn’t fill me with the desire to help.”
Well, if this is a consequence of your transformation then I kind of like it. I’m sure if you were to talk to Cetina like that she would have dropped to her knees.
The Dark Elf nodded slightly nervously. “If you will please follow me please.”
The Dark Elves began leading them back into the camp. Anton remained with his arms linked as he looked to the sky. “There’s…Now I know why they call it The Shadow Isles.”
“The mist is actually pretty clear here,” Kal said. “Near the coast it’s almost impossible to see anything more than a few feet. It was incredible the Dark Elves even managed to guide us through it.”
Verona saw the faintest hint of a smile on the Dark Elves’ faces.
“Look at this grass.” Anton motioned to the ground, then to the trees. “Everything here has developed for low light levels. The darker and broad leaves absorb as much light as possible. This place is truly fascinating. Though it doesn’t explain why the Dark Elves have such dark skin. Surely their skin should be lighter to absorb what little sunlight comes through, unless there’s something in their diet that counteracts that. Such a shame that we didn’t come during more peaceful times.”
“Even though Ceccitol and Tuccac are pretty nice people I don’t think they would have come to Atros.” Verona shrugged. “Even the DuskReavers sound like they don’t want to go further than Bebbezzar. Maybe when we control an entire kingdom’s worth of land they might.”
Anton took in the sights of the sprawling war camp. Overall he seemed impressed though Verona sensed an unease in his stride. It was incredibly subtle, Kal would have undoubtedly noticed it too, but he was clearly worried about being here. He stopped and looked out to the forests to the north. A small group of Green Goblins slinked out of the shadows. Dark Elf warriors peppered them with arrows, felling the diminutive creatures without a care, and rushed forward to retrieve the arrows. Anton’s eye twitched ever so faintly with each kill, a hand tried to brush against his waist where his tail was coiled tight.
“Even from that far?” Verona asked softly.
Anton nodded. “Those, the Greens and Yellows, don’t do that much. Not even the Blacks. But…We did encounter something in Qaiviel.”
Anton motioned for the Dark Elves to continue. Along the way he told them of the Stitch Soldiers. Verona’s mind shuddered at the mental imagery, of what was once people transformed into hideous killers, of the glowing purple cuts, no eyelids or lips and their ability to reattach limbs merely by pressing them together. And the vile worms leaking from their wounds.
“You don’t think the Dark Elves would have heard of something like that?”
Verona shared a glance with Kal.
“Gerin might know something.” Kal offered. “He’s Ceccitol’s father. I’m sure their Elders might know more but we didn’t get the chance to talk to them before we had to leave for the front.”
“I doubt they would know anything.” Anton kicked at the dark grass. “None of what I saw was meant to be. And each time I killed them that feeling shot up my…”
“How can they be related to those things?” Verona waved towards the northern forests.
“I have no idea. Duchess Belinda’s having a look over the papers we found. It’s not much but it’s something. Not to mention they’ve got some immunity to magic.”
“Great.” Verona rolled her eyes.
Delicious scents and smells wafted through the air as they approached the kitchen. Though it was probably unbecoming of a woman to become so excited over the prospect of food Verona didn’t care. These were new types of food to experience; ones that all their Dark Elf friends had been clearly longing to taste once again. Verona kept herself under control as they were showed through.
Piles of freshly cooked meat, a dull red thick hunk of flesh, dripping with a purple sauce alongside fruits and vegetables that Verona had never seen before. Judging by their looks neither had Anton or Kal.
“You eat like Kings here.” Anton chuckled. “They don’t overdo it, do they?”
The Dark Elf smiled. “Certainly not. But Gerin and Vonkal ensure that everyone is well fed. Can’t fight a war like this on an empty stomach.”
A servant pushed through the warriors delicately balancing three large plates. She directed them to a nearby table.
“This looks excellent.” Anton nodded politely as he was passed a knife and fork.
Verona copied but she still needed practice with these implements. Most of their food they simply tore into small pieces and ate with a knife if their hands were dirty, not that that was a problem anymore with their self-filling water barrel. Kal had a little trouble as well, her life had been even less refined around eating, as Anton would put it.
All three took a bite out of the large piece of meat. It wasn’t pig or chicken, something harder but nonetheless exquisite.
“This tastes like beef.” Anton mused. He caught the servant’s attention, the young girl scurried to his side. “What sort of meat is this?”
“Is, is there a problem?”
Anton waved down her concern. “Absolutely not.”
“Fell-Cow. A small creature that lives in the undergrowth of The Shadow Isles. These are not wild though, these have been raised in a farm otherwise they’d be a lot smaller.”
“We must get some for Atros.” Anton nodded as the servant took her leave. “Very good. We’ll definitely buy some. Before we meet these local leaders what can you tell me about them?”
---[]---
With their bellies full, a rather welcome feeling, they arrived at the Command Tent. Halfway through eating a small group arrived looking for them. Anton apologised, saying that they were absolutely starved and no one could be expected to fight on an empty stomach. One appeared to be getting stroppy but their Dark Elf escorts intervened. Anton’s words had struck a chord with the man.
“If that man reaches for your ears again I’m just going to drop him,” Anton grumbled.
Vonkal immediately rubbed Anton the wrong way. Whether he disliked his actions or someone so peculiar was difficult to read Verona didn’t know. He simply told them to keep an eye on him at all times. And to never travel alone.
Daylight had brought once frenzied activity in the Command Tent to a complete crawl. Most people were gone, leaving behind a skeleton crew, as Anton had so wonderfully described such a situation. Nevertheless, the leadership had gathered before the large map of The Shadow Isles. Verona was delighted to see a small section had been retaken, where they currently stood. A tiny mark of blue against a sea of red.
“Which one is which?” Anton asked softly. “They all kind of look the same.”
“The one standing next to Ceccitol is Gerin,” Kal replied. “And Vonkal opposite him.”
Anton frowned as he studied the Dark Elves. They did look very similar but they had no such issues telling themselves apart.
“Kal, stay on my side away from Vonkal.”
Ceccitol nudged Gerin’s side before nodding to Anton. Gerin studied Anton for a moment before breaking into a smile.
“Welcome to The Shadow Isles.” Gerin smiled warmly, his hand outstretched. “I believe you are the one called Anton?”
There wasn’t this much friendliness from him when we arrived. Probably because he didn’t know what we were capable of…And probably because he’s a man. Whatever works...
Anton shook his hand firmly. “I’m very sorry that we couldn’t focus all of our attention on The Shadow Isles. A major war in Qaiviel has taken away some of our attention.”
“Is it already over?” Gerin glanced at Verona and Kal. “In but a few days?”
He appeared incredibly hopeful, though Verona knew that he was hoping for the impossible.
Anton smiled bitterly. “I’m afraid not. But there is a lull in the fighting. I have a few days to help here before I must return.”
“And my daughter told me there was a fourth person?” Gerin shifted his head to look around Anton.
Oh. I wonder what Anton’s going to say when he sees Ceccitol’s children.
“She is still in Qaiviel,” Anton said. “So it’ll just be the three of us.”
Gerin nodded slowly and waved them forward. “You already know my daughter and her husband, and these are Vonkal and Salvira of the Wind Runners. They’re an Island Clan like us, so they’re actually fighting this threat.”
“A pleasure.” Vonkal held out his hand, Verona felt that he was just mimicking Gerin’s actions rather genuinely interested. “Every morsel of help is greatly appreciated.”
Salvira mumbled something but refused to elaborate.
“So how bad are things?”
Gerin and Vonkal painstakingly explained the situation, again Verona felt that they were being treated as the vanguard and Anton as the main source of help. Not that it wasn’t entirely false but they both could help immeasurably. Well over two hundred Dark Elves would live just from today’s efforts from Kal and many more no longer had to fear the life of a cripple and burden.
Anton held his chin as they pointed to specific points on the map indicating suspected Goblin hot-spots.
“It’s a great big mess.” Anton sighed. “Is it true the Mist Walkers refused to help?”
Gerin glumly nodded. “It is. And there’s very little we can do about it without angering the Mainland Clans.”
“Even in the face of annihilation…” Anton trailed away and shook his head. “A problem for another time. Verona explained to me that you’d prefer to not have your forests burned to the ground.” He frowned at Gerin. “Even though the price of failure is extinction.”
Gerin sighed. “We could not be the ones to set fire to the forest. There are sacred trees, far older than you or I, scattered throughout the forests. If we destroyed them almost all the Dark Elven clans would turn on us. And if you were to burn them down you would have no choice but to leave.”
“And you too,” Verona added. “Since your daughter brought us here.”
“Indeed.” Vonkal smiled. Verona still didn’t like the way he held himself, thankfully neither did Anton. He would be kept at arm’s length, if necessary.
“Esperit’s power isn’t going to be much use here then.” Anton mused. “What you really need is some breathing room. Something that can fight for you while you recover. And I have the answer for that.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
A Lightning Crow burst into life. The small creature flapped its wings as it hovered in front of Anton. Verona didn’t understand the connection Anton purported to have, she wasn’t about to create her own summons, horrific parodies of life, to find out.
“You can actually summon a creature that easily?” Vonkal asked excitedly. “The Glyph Mages here can only do that after considerable practice and preparation. It takes over a minute to do something like that.”
“Otherwise they create Abominations?”
Vonkal nodded, throwing a hand through his black hair dramatically. “Such things are utterly horrific. Like that crow has been riddled and bloated with diseases before turning on the caster. I’ve lost…Four mages from that since this war started. Poor fools pushed themselves too hard. And they’re hard to get too. At least once the caster’s dead they disappear.”
“Well, that’s good news.” Anton smiled forcefully. “But if I bind these into a Strohierite gem I can leave these here and they can clean out the Goblins. They don’t really have good archers, maybe some decent slingers so they’ll be fine.”
The Lightning Crow fluttered towards Anton to receive a pet. His face dropped when he saw the Vonkal and Salvira stare at him utterly devoid of emotion and comprehension.
“What?”
“Strohierite?” Salvira squeaked, she shook her hands to calm her thoughts. “That’s worth more than diamond. And yet you talk like you have hundreds?”
“Not hundreds.” Anton shrugged. “But more than enough. And I can always get more.”
Salvira struggled with the financial implications.
“You’ve spoken with…her?” Verona asked softly.
“She’s still investigating what nodeing is, not much luck she says, but she’s found some more Strohierite. Hasn’t told us where to get it, but that could just be so we retain contact with her. Apparently, it’s more tests for her apprentices.” Anton ground his teeth. “And we know how well that turned out last time.”
Gerin approached the Lightning Crow and touched its beak, recoiling and gently shaking his hand. “How many of these creatures can you make a day?”
“More than I have Strohierite,” Anton replied. “But I could easily make four or five of these and leave them scattered along the front, leave them to keep attacking anything that comes near and give you some breathing room, then move them up with your advancing…Why are you looking at me like that?”
Gerin smiled like an insane man while Vonkal was giddy with joy.
“Please tell me you aren’t joking,” Gerin asked, forcing down his elation while his daughter and husband looked on slightly worried. “We can finally start to take back some land without spilling blood, just mana…”
“That’s the plan, since I can’t burn down your forests this will have to do while I’m back in Qaiviel.”
“Just one of those will do wonders.” Vonkal laughed. “If we had the Strohierite stones it wouldn’t have needed to get you…But I digress.”
Vonkal shooed the Dark Elves away from the map. He tapped on a point near the frontline, an area was slightly darker than the rest.
“This morning our Jaguar scouts found a huge concentration of Goblins. A camp. And we believe this is where a decent portion are coming from. Is it possible for you to take them out?”
“Absolutely. I’ll need forces to come with me, otherwise, I’ll have to burn down the forest.”
Gerin nodded. “I’ll send all of my Jaguar Riders and Vonkal will send soldiers to back you up. Won’t you Vonkal?”
“Send everyone!” Vonkal laughed. “If this could start to reverse the tides I’d go out myself. Well, I’ll send Salvira now...Do you require mana vials?”
“The Dark Elves have quite potent mana potions,” Kal said. “Far more potent than those from Graterious.”
“I’d like as many of those as you can spare.”
“Of course.” Vonkal smiled. “Our mages reach the limit of mana potions long before they run out of targets.”
“Once I get those I can actually start to help.” Anton saw his hand idly reach for his waist and the tail underneath. Thankfully it was hidden and only if someone hugged him would they discover it. “Make it a bit easier on you guys…By the way, how do you feel about Dwarves?”
---[]---
Umikgruid and Gosthilda groaned loudly as they stepped through the portal to Atros. Their armour rattled and jostled with every movement.
“Forgive me for saying this,” Umikgruid shook his head, frowning deeply at Anton. “But for all your strength why still haven’t you fixed the portal?”
“I can’t.” Anton smiled. “I’ve asked Tethra to fix it but it simply doesn’t change anything.”
Umikgruid grumbled and stepped off the portal. He passed over two bags to Anton and rubbed his temples. The white disk flashed again and again as almost half the Dwarves followed. Verona was excited to see them, alongside a desire to see the full potential of the Dwarves construction ability. Verona wasn’t just going to leave everything up to Anton, she was going to keep an eye on their abilities as well.
“Everything still okay in Atros?” Verona asked Gosthilda.
Gosthilda, annoyingly only slightly shorter than she was, smiled and laughed. “Very good. I don’t know if it’s going to last but for now, everything’s going very well.”
They both helped pull the Dwarves off the portal and get some air. “Especially for humans and Beast-kin living together.”
Verona gently pulled Gosthilda to the side. “Is someone saying the Beast-kin should go?”
Gosthilda smiled bitterly. “No. Not yet at least, but…How do I say this properly, without someone’s presences, someone that could easily destroy an army with a wave of his hands, some things are starting to emerge.”
Verona checked Anton and Kal, both busy lightly healing away the disorientation of the Dwarves, and pulled Gosthilda to the side.
“Are the humans hating the Beast-kin?” Verona grumbled, shaking her head. “I know that Anton said that wasn’t acceptable under any circumstances. They don’t know about that, do they?”
“I haven’t heard anyone talk about it. Dwarves know when to keep their mouths shut, except for my husband at times.”
Brown Ears…
“Violence?”
“No…But the black skinned humans-”
“Are the Seocurian refugees doing something?” Verona glanced around. “I was certain they tried to fight to free the Beast-kin.”
“No, they’re still as nervous around the Beast-kin as usual. But some of the Beast-kin…They haven’t given up their well-deserved hatred of the Seocurians. Of their empire…You understand what I’m saying.”
Verona rubbed her forehead hard, hard enough for the skin to turn red. Gosthilda raised a brow when Verona finally stopped.
“I think we all knew this wasn’t going to be easy but…I don’t know, maybe we hoped that everything would be fine.” Verona sighed. “Some Beast-kin, despite being freed by humans, want nothing more than to be rid of humans and Kal. I know that Anton saw those looks. So what’s happening?”
“Not much right now; a few dirty looks and a small group refusing to work with the Seocurians. Which is making things difficult for the other humans, since they still have a slight hesitation about working with the Beast-kin but the Seocurians are at least human. So some prefer to work with them rather than the Beast-kin.”
Verona groaned. “All so fucking complicated with people.”
Gosthilda held Verona’s shoulder. Again she was annoyed she didn’t have to reach high up to her. “But not all the Beast-kin and humans aren’t getting along. Many are trying hard,” Gosthilda chuckled. “There have been a few awkward encounters. I saw a young woman ask about a Canine's fur and how much of their body it covered, since they knew about Kal. That was a very awkward conversation…But in the end, everyone was laughing and they continued on with their day.”
“So it’s not all doom.” Verona saw Anton finish with the last Dwarf. “Thanks, Gosthilda. Can you keep what you told me a secret? Anton’s got so much to worry about right now.”
Gosthilda patted her shoulder and nodded. She knew how to keep a secret, not that it was particularly hard.
“How are you feeling Gosthilda?” Anton asked, holding Verona’s side and pulling her close.
“Better. I just needed a moment to get rid of the spinning. What did you want us for?”
“Defences.” Anton smiled. “I want to know what you can do to help the Dark Elves increase their defensive works. A survey of what they’ve currently done.”
“Shouldn’t be too difficult.” Umikgruid hurriedly waddled behind Anton to Gosthilda’s side. “Since there’s only a few of us I don’t think we’ll actually be able to do much but we’ll get something started.”
“Excellent.”
The Dwarves stumbled out of the tent into the misty air of The Shadow Isles. They huddled together and took a moment to let the new surroundings sink in. Dark Elf warriors, escorts and those just in the camp, stopped in surprise. Some shook their heads, muttering the situation must truly be desperate, but didn’t truly begrudge their help or presence.
“We’ll be advancing soon.” Anton began. “So don’t go too far from this tent. And definitely not beyond the perimeter.”
“Even with this?” A Dwarf slapped his metal armour. Though it didn’t shine with polished metal it was still rather bright, especially in a place as dark as The Shadow Isles.
“Maybe.” Anton shrugged. “Just don’t take any chances.”
Umikgruid led the small throng of Dwarves through the encampment. Half of their escorts broke away to ensure their safety.
“All we need now are some mana potions and a target and we’re good to go.”
Anton looked nervously at Verona’s Jaguar Mount. The giant cat stared back at him, unmoving and unflinching. Verona knew it was mentally playing with him.
“How do you ride these things?” Anton asked Verona.
Verona approached the beast and gently stroked its shoulder. The beast didn’t look particularly happy, unlike Luna always behaved when she received a scratch, but didn’t stop her.
“With some difficulty.” Verona laughed. “Kal’s got it, but I just end up bouncing around all the time.”
“That’s because you don’t stand up,” Kal said. She tended to her own mount. “So your body…At least a part of it just bounces back and forth.”
Verona cupped her breasts and pointed them at Kal. “Just because you’re jealous.”
“I’m not jealous.” Kal laughed. “Your back is jealous of mine.”
Verona opened her mouth but clamped it shut. Kal was right, it still did ache from time to time.
Anton held her hands. “I wonder if the Dark Elves have any good seamstresses.”
Verona chuckled, pushing herself into his chest. She looked up with a devilish smile. “I was about to ask what that was in my back but it’s a little high for that. Although…”
Anton kissed her, deeply. Verona’s moment of bliss, after being separated from this for so long, was rudely broken by Kal coughing. She nodded towards the entrance of the stable, Salvira stood completely unmoving. She held another bundle of mana potions in one hand but the other tried to cup her perfectly flat chest.
“Sorry, Salvira.” Verona laughed. “Been a while since I’ve had my husband hold me.”
Salvira’s ears pricked up slightly. “I can understand that feeling. I haven’t seen my husband or our children since the war started.”
“Hopefully it won’t be much longer, before winter hits at the latest.” Anton smiled. “Speaking of, did you meet Ceccitol and Tuccac’s children? What were they like?”
Verona chuckled, prying reluctant fingers free. “A lot younger than you’d think given what she said. A lot younger.”
“How young are we talking?”
“A little bit older than Shawn and Jocelyn.”
“Oh…That’s young.”
“On the outside, I have no idea their actual age.” Verona checked the fastening on the Jaguar. “Just goes to show how desperate they were when they turned up. I don’t fancy the idea of selling off our children.”
“Certainly not,” Kal spoke defiantly. She mounted the Jaguar with her usual grace and speed. Salvira looked on in with envy as Kal’s body slinked into position.
“Later.” Verona tapped Anton’s stomach. “Once we’ve taken the position we can worry about that.”
Anton ruffled her hair as they both mounted Verona’s Jaguar. Anton clearly held reservations about straddling something with such large claws and teeth but Verona no longer had such worries. If they wanted to kill them it had ample opportunity before. Anton hugged Verona tight as they slowly exited the stable. Outside the Dark Elf forces had already gathered. A large number of Jaguar troops would lead the way, backed up by regular warriors that would mop up those they missed. Before Verona could speak a faint rumbling echoed from the north. The single Strohierite bound Lightning Crow was beginning to wreak havoc amongst the Goblins. The Goblins could only flail hopelessly at the sky as small lightning bolts rained down upon them. Anton tossed the small stone in his hand, separating it from the other four Strohierite gems.
“If only they had these earlier,” Verona mumbled. Anton squeezed her waist tight.
Gerin pushed his mount through. “Are we ready to go? The warriors are ready.”
“Just give me a moment and I’ll have the Lightning Crows ready.” Anton relinquished a hand from Verona’s waist and turned silent and still.
A lightning disk emerged in the air, a small crow, its wings rippling with lightning, emerged, gently flapping its wings as it stared blankly at Anton. Several Dark Elves gasped at the sight, Verona saw some wielding staffs wince. The knowledge that they were insanely jealous of her husband was quite a thrilling rush.
When five Lightning Crows floated in the air, and the other crow still attacking in the distance, Anton was ready. Before he could speak Verona patted Anton’s hand with her dagger. Blood coiled around her hand and into the small pots at her waist. Her clay pots were rather fragile…Why hadn’t she changed them to metal pots yet?
Metal Principle Mages. Don’t want them to just make these explode into my guts. Couldn’t an Earth Principle Mage do the same thing?
A hand rubbed her stomach.
Especially if there’s something in there.
Gerin studied Verona, her red glowing form safely nestled in Anton.
“Is Vonkal coming?” Verona asked.
“No…I thought your voice would have changed.”
Anton laughed, patting Verona’s shoulders. “I don’t think I’ve been in this position when you’ve had your power on.” He ran his hand over her hair before fastening her helmet on tight. “I like the red peeking through the silver.”
“Stop it.” Verona swatted at his chest. “Later.”
Verona smiled at Kal, she shook her head and sighed lightly.
Gerin waved the warriors forward, Verona bumped Anton’s side.
“Aren’t you worried about your tail?” Verona whispered. “There are going to be a lot of Goblins.”
Anton nodded. “I am. Don’t worry.” Anton kissed her head. “I’ll let you know if it starting to get dangerous. I can just make a spear and let it crumble.”
We both have something that we need to look out for. Lucky us.
Anton ordered the Lightning Crows to attack every Goblin within range. The five creatures flapped hard and sped into the sky, soaring above the camp and trees before unleashing a small torrent of lightning into the darkness. Even with Kal’s night vision enhancement still functioning the death of the Goblins were something to behold. Once silent and still shrubbery, even with Anton’s lone bound Lightning Crow attacking from above, erupted in movement. Green and Yellow Goblins darted in every direction to avoid the deluge of lightning bolts. Dark Elves cheered and laughed at the scattering of their enemy. Anton frowned lightly and gently shook his head.
“There’s just so many.” He whispered to Verona. “They had moved so close without anyone noticing…And in such numbers too…I don’t like this at all.”
“How about your tail?”
Anton smiled. “A few little blips, nothing too bad so far.”
The Dark Elf force silently followed the trail of destruction left by the Lightning Crows. Smouldering corpses littered their path, many lay blackened and charred, sprawled where they fell while others had been partially melted to the shrubs and trees. Small fires had started, an unavoidable aspect of using Lightning magic, but a water mage followed behind. Verona clicked her tongue when she saw he was a Principle Mage. Not that he couldn’t be useful.
Bows twanged and arrows sunk into flesh all around them. Verona kept them away from the front, alongside Kal and, without being asked, Salvira. They remained in the relative safety of the centre while the warriors on foot raced to maintain pace behind. Verona kept her attention upwards, she wasn’t about to be struck by a falling Goblin.
After some time the forest began to thin and Gerin slowed their force. Verona saw him looking back to them so she waved Kal to follow. Salvira was more than content to remain where she was.
“This is the first hotspot?” Anton asked.
Gerin nodded glumly. “Indeed.”
He pointed to a large clearing before them. What was once some holy site, giant wooden totems dotted the clearing, was now a huge writhing mass of Goblins. Despite the quietness of the Dark Elves, there was no way to hide the sound of lightning, though they didn’t know what was coming for them. Amongst the crude stick and central leather skinned huts, the creatures prepared their defences as best they could. Those with spears took the front, arming themselves with pieces of black and red marbled wood for shields, and those behind with their crude bows, javelins and slings. Verona scoured their numbers for any sign of the Red and Black duo but found nothing. A few Oranges and Purples but nothing too dangerous. Verona glanced up at Anton, his face mirrored her thoughts.
“It’s worse than I thought,” Anton mumbled. “That map had a lot of red dots. Some bigger than this…”
“Yes. They love desecrating our holy sites and turning them into nests.” Gerin fell quiet.
“We need to convince those Elders to actually risk their forces and fight.” Anton’s face turned dark. “Or they have to be removed. Your people won’t survive otherwise.”
Gerin remained silent. Such a thought had crossed his mind, and probably nearly every member of the Island Clans, maybe even those of the mainland too.
The Lightning Crows swooped into the clearing, discharging their strikes at everything that moved. The Goblins quickly broke as their ranged weapons couldn’t reach the crows and those that could simply missed the small targets.
“Kill everyone,” Gerin ordered, shooting a rouge Goblin trying a pointless charge. “Stay together and don’t venture away from the area. This is our objective, not to go running through these forests only to get ambushed.”
“Let me have the first strike,” Anton said.
While Anton’s variety of magics had grown the range of most new magic was quite short, short enough for him to gather whatever the dying Goblins let off that built along his tail. Kal waved him down, drew a flame enchanted arrow and fired. A burst of flame erupted on the outer defences, quickly spreading to the other ramshackle huts and defences. Even if they had no other magic Verona was confident they would win this fight.
“Charge!”
The soft paws of the Jaguars did nothing to hide the sound of hundreds of beasts tearing through the undergrowth and into the clearing. Upon seeing the true nature of the assault the Goblins dropped their weapons and ran.
At least those at the front broke.
The second line, several with ranged weapons, tried to catch those fleeing and put them into the defences. A few Black Goblins remained behind them and directed the Greens and Yellows with whatever measure of control they had.
“Fucking rats.” Verona snarled.
“We’ll get them all.” Anton patted her shoulder. “Don’t you worry about it.”
“I know…I know.” Verona wrapped a cloth around her face, lest a drop of blood send her into a frenzy.
Arrows peppered the Goblin defenders as the flames began to spread. The Jaguars ran along the streets, trampling everything in their path while the Dark Elves could fire from safety. Within a few moments, the entire Goblin force was in complete and total chaos.
“This isn’t so hard.” Anton mused. “At least once they’ve been broken.”
“Some Dark Elves will still die,” Kal grumbled. “A few lose arrows and spears will still find their mark.”
“True…” Anton sighed. He looked at the surrounding forests, frowning at the dark and murky shadows occasionally illuminated by a flicker of flame over a dark shiny leaf. “We might not be able to hold this position. How long does it take to reach these Mist Walker Elders?”
“Less than a day on one of these things.” Verona scratched the Jaguar’s neck.
“When we’re done we’ll need to have a chat.” Anton barred his teeth for a moment. “They might have brushed you away because you’re women but I’m not going to let them get away with their shit.”
“I’m liking this newer, more aggressive Anton.” Verona stepped her fingers up Anton’s chest to his chin. “Did your new body do this? Did you actually bed Cetina?”
Anton scratched his beard. “Perhaps. And no, I didn’t. But seeing this…Wait a second.”
“What’s wrong?” Verona drew up her blood.
“One of my crows just disappeared.”
Five Lightning Crows remained above them, firing indiscriminately into the camp of Goblins. Verona saw another disappear into a burst of lightning. Anton grumbled loudly. He glanced back to the Dark Elf warriors approaching on foot, they were too far away to have done this.
“A damned Awakened.” Anton shook his head. “They can block magic. I can feel it tearing at the crows, rather than the Principle Mages.”
“I can’t see him.” Verona bobbed her head about, pushing the Jaguar forward. “Is he hiding in the bigger tents?”
“I can’t tell where it came from.” Anton downed a mana vial. “It just ceased to be.”
Verona rose up. Something at the rear of the camp, just before a large wooden totem of some unknown god, caught her eye. It was clearly a Goblin but its blue skin stood out amongst the Yellows and Greens swarming around it. Verona had never seen anything like this, neither the wooden staff in its hand. It looked similar to the staffs of the Principle Mages however more bestial and savage. The skulls, not from a Goblin, adorned the gnarled top alongside sinewy pieces of meat and animal limbs.
“I see him!” Verona pointed at the Blue Goblin. “At the back. Blue skin.”
“A Blue Goblin.” Anton glanced at Kal. “What else have these little bastards got in store for us? They’re only meant to be Yellows and Greens here.”
“I’ll stop him.” Kal drew an arrow and chanted a homing prayer.
As Kal released another Lightning Crow faded away. The Blue Goblin swayed from side to side, its deformed lips muttering some incomprehensible language and rattled the skulls on its staff. It glanced up and dove behind another Goblin, pinning him in one spot to take the strike. Anton tapped Verona’s shoulder and signalled for her to charge.
Both Jaguars leapt from the safety of the shrubbery and into the fray with the warriors on foot close behind. The Blue Goblin snapped its head towards them, clearly aware where the arrow had come from. Its screeches stopped the retreat of the nearby Goblins and threw them back into the fray, even a few Black Goblins. That alone told Verona where they stood in their hierarchy.
“Stay behind us Kal,” Anton yelled.
Kal gave a single nod before losing another homing arrow. Again the Blue Goblin used another Green Goblin as a shield, holding its body up as its lips began muttering another chant.
The remaining Lightning Crows descended upon the Blue Goblin. Its eyes snapped up and crouched low behind the Goblin and absorbed the blows. A small white aura grew around the staff and shot out like a bullet, just like the Awakened from Mount Aspire, at a Lightning Crow. The crow tried to dodge but it couldn’t, its downward momentum only allowed some minor changes to its direction and took the shot head-on. Anton grunted as the creature disintegrated into an explosion of lightning. The other retreated, Verona knew that Anton had directed it and the creature hadn’t abandoned them.
A beam of light shot out of Anton’s hand, a lance of lightning. The Blue Goblin slammed its staff into the ground and a white six-sided shield burst into life and caught the lance. The shield flickered and cracked but held. Anton appeared slightly annoyed but the Blue Goblin was exhausted.
“Just a bit closer,” Verona whispered.
Anton readied to attack again when the Blue Goblin screeched with an ear piercing shrieked and shot another bolt of white magic at Anton. Anton’s hand tensed on her waist as a fire shield erupted in front of her. The white shot hit the shield, Anton’s hand shook, but it held. The flame dimed for only a moment, unlike the Blue’s shield. When it faded Verona saw the goblin tremble in fear, both hands gripping tight on its fetish covered staff.
“I can get him,” Verona yelled.
The blood coiled above her head and dived into the ground. She followed the buckling ground as the crystallised blood burrowed through the dirt. The Blue Goblin backed away, its head and eyes twitched from side to side. Dirt burst as the blood shards flew out and skewered the Goblin’s chest and head. Verona griped her hand and the fresh blood, the blood that she had letted that was now under her control grew into more crystals and eviscerated its body into shreds. The remaining Goblins broke upon seeing the Blue Goblin fall.
Dark Elves swarmed throughout the camp and drove Goblins away, Gerin had to rein them in so they didn’t run into the forest. They had very little idea of what was happening a hundred feet into the forest from the clearing. For all they knew a new Goblin force could be coming or they could stumble into regrouping survivors. Though it was a short battle they had won the day, not that Verona heard any cheering.
“Be careful of the tents!” Anton yelled. “These little bastards are great at laying ambushes and traps.”
Dana found that out the hard way.
Verona didn’t know if the Dark Elves were going to listen to Anton, being an outsider, but they appeared to. Small groups breached the small wooden huts. A few screeches, and a few wounded Dark Elves later, and everything except the larger tents were cleared.
Gerin approached, looking very proud with the outcome. “One of our recent victories. A small one, to be honest, but one we sorely needed.”
“I think it’s a bit premature to call this a victory,” Anton noted. “You haven’t checked the central huts yet.”
“My lord!”
A Dark Elf recoiled from the central tent, backed away and vomited. The others only looked on in surprise and worry.
“That’s why.” Anton sighed. “What better way to ensure the fronts are always fully staffed.”
“Oh no.” Kal forced her face to remain rigid.
“Are you telling me they’ve been this close all this time?” Gerin’s face barely held his fury in check.
“Let’s check before we get any ideas.”
Verona knew that Gerin understood the lifecycle of the Goblins; they could use female Goblins to reproduce but they needed other races to breed to truly ridiculous numbers. Anton had a few ideas about that but they mattered little when the reality was lying before them. The other tents elicited similar reactions to the first, soon none were willing to peek.
Ceccitol and Tuccac joined them in the centre, Salvira was smart enough to remain behind. Verona felt Anton’s trepidation and anger, not that she didn’t share such feelings. She had borne witness to the horrors in the depths of Mount Aspire. And while those memories were better left locked away for all time she simply couldn’t run away.
Anton took a deep breath and opened the tent. He sighed, a hand reached out to prevent Verona and Kal from looking but Verona did not accept such kindness. What lay inside confirmed her fears. The Goblins were reinforcing from the frontline bases. And the poor, poor Dark Elf women lying before them provided that service.
Twenty lay before them, forced into the small tent with no regard for space or cleanliness. Their blank eyes stared at the ceiling while their chests moved with only the lightest of breaths. Mentally destroyed but that didn’t matter, only their bodies were of importance. Every stomach was bloated with baby Goblins of varying levels of pregnancy. Clearly, some were about to give birth, judging by the stretch marks covering their otherwise smooth dark skin, and others only just recently captured.
“I’ve never actually seen it.” Tuccac held a hand over his mouth, clearly breathing slowly in an attempt to calm his head. “They’ve told us but…”
“I…” Ceccitol had no further words.
“You’ve been lucky then.” Anton smiled bitterly. “Can you hear us?”
The women barely responded, a few looked at them but their eyes clearly didn’t believe that rescue had come. After all that they had endured why would it come now?
“Get them out of here and into the light,” Anton ordered. “Then we’ll burn this place.”
Tuccac ordered the reluctant Dark Elves forward.
“What about them?” Ceccitol asked. “Can your magic get rid of them?”
“No…But Kal and I can heal simple wounds.”
Ceccitol didn’t understand, she backed away as the captives were gently carried out.
“As I see it there are two ways to deal with this.” Anton began. “Firstly, we let nature take its course and wait for the Goblins to be born naturally.”
“And then kill them?” Tuccac asked.
“Yes. But…I’m never going to understand what it’s like to have something growing inside of me, knowing what horrible place it came from, but it can’t be good. The other way is to remove them. Physically.”
---[]---
“Fucking hell.” Kal wiped the blood from her gloves. “I never want to have to do that again.”
“Hopefully we won’t,” Verona said glibly.
Verona sat outside of a large Dark Elf tent lying in the middle of the former Goblin encampment. The Dark Elves moved quickly, bringing up goods and materials for an outpost. Dwarves moved hurriedly around doing what they could to reinforce the perimeter. Verona even saw some Dark Elves, that looked like shamans, placing strange protective wards on the exterior. How effective they were, considering their current state, was up for debate. But it was better than nothing.
“Are they all saved?” Verona asked. “I’d go in but there’s way too much blood in there for me. I can smell it out here.”
Kal smiled. “They’re fine now. All the babies have been removed and Anton’s healing the last few right now. But…I don’t know about their minds. I don’t think those can be healed.”
“Dana was fine.” Verona winced. “But I suppose that depends on what you mean when you say fine.”
“I don’t think she’ll ever forget what happened.”
“How could you?”
Anton emerged from the tent, hands and sleeves covered with even more blood than Kal. Kal used her cloth and began dabbing away the flecks of blood on his face. At first, Anton wanted to say something but wisely said nothing and allowed Kal to tend to him. Kal smiled as she enjoyed the moment.
“Eighty caesareans isn’t what I expected to witness today.” Anton mused, tilting his head at Kal’s behest.
“I’m glad that they’ll live.”
Anton’s face darkened. “I honestly don’t think many will survive the winter. One tried to slit her own throat the moment she regained her strength.” Anton shook his head, Kal slowly pulled her hand away. “I think they just want it all to stop. I don’t blame them.”
“Anton!”
A deep voice, Umikgruid’s, called out from the perimeter wall. It wasn’t much, a series of short spikes rammed into the ground that Goblins could simply climb up or squeeze through the small gaps at the ground level. Umikgruid held similar doubts.
“I’ve got to be honest with you, Anton, but I don’t think this place can be held. Not with what you have. And help so far away.”
“We don’t have the numbers to push the front-line forward and hold it.” Anton glanced to the south. “Of course, if some Elders were to actually help we’d have more than enough soldiers.”
“I can’t help with that.” Umikgruid laughed. “But I don’t want to be here at nightfall.”
Anton searched out Gerin. “No. Can you come with me? Help explain to Gerin that we need to retreat after all this?”
Umikgruid nodded.
“We’ll be back in a minute.” Anton smiled.
Verona and Kal both waved as Anton and Umikgruid left. Kal followed Anton’s back for a moment, her tail falling low, before joining Verona on the box.
“Last winter…” Kal chuckled and trailed off.
Verona knew exactly what she was going to say. The same thing could so easily be applied to her. Last winter she was certain of her imminent death, one way or another. Who knew the next spring everything would change, seemingly out of nowhere. It really was a gift from the gods.
“Can you still walk?”
“I can.” Kal slapped her legs. “It’s only a problem when I lose all my mana. Why?”
Verona pointed at the totems. “Because we can help Anton and Atros right now.”
Verona hoped off the box and found the Dark Elf Principle Mage. He was guarded by several warriors, it was easier to replace a warrior than a mage.
“Excuse me,” Verona called out. “Do you have a moment?”
“Yes, honoured guests.” All bowed deeply. “Thank you for rescuing our brethren. Their lives must have been true hell before you arrived to save them.”
“Thanks. What can you tell me about these totems? Are they of the Old Gods or something else?”
“Each is a different aspect of Fliodher, the Demi-God of Beasts. But that totem is the most common depiction of her. At least in The Shadow Isles. Why do you ask?”
Verona flashed her powers. “Because we need their help.”
“Many try to commune with the Old Gods but very, very few succeed. I have tried but found my questions unanswered.”
Verona laughed. “We’re a little bit different.”
The Principle Mage wasn’t going to push the point, he bowed and returned to his duties.
Beneath the central totem, the Blue Goblin’s corpse lay dormant and still. Odd, considering every other corpse had long been thrown outside the clearing.
Verona glanced at Kal. “You’ve never heard of these ones either, right?”
Kal glumly nodded. “Never. Ferula didn’t mention Blue Goblins, but she did the other colours.”
“So are these new or unbelievably rare.” Verona kicked the corpse. “Goblin mages. Seems like we’re running into a lot of things that are supposedly rare.”
Verona’s crystallised blood picked the creature up and threw him into the dark shrubs and out of sight. Hopefully some rats would find nourishment from the horrible thing. That left his fetish staff behind, a small trophy of this battle. Once they had a teacher for Principle magic, the Dark elf didn’t fit Verona’s criteria for a truly loyal teacher and potential bodyguard, they would know more about this.
“How did Anton do this?”
Verona looked at the totem. Above three Lightning Crows rested on the top, their heads darted from side to side as they scoured the surroundings. Beasts had been carved deep into the wood, all depicting struggles for dominance or simple survival. Near the top Verona saw a Peryton. Were they not always one of Nithroel’s toys?
“How do you pray to Tethra?”
Kal retrieved her silver medallion. “Usually I hold it and just talk to Tethra. That’s what I did for so, so long. Took long enough to work.”
Verona laughed. “I think this might be a bit big to hold.”
Verona stood close to the totem, clapped her hands together and closed her eyes.
I don’t really know what I’m doing, but if you can hear this we’d like to meet you. Someone we’ve met said that you would be willing to help us but can’t contact us without Nithroel noticing. But if we do it this way…
Verona opened her eyes, Kal stood beside her mimicking her actions.
If you can hear us bring all three of us into a dream we will gladly hear what you have to say. Surely you could use some help somewhere, Fliodher, Demi-god of Beasts, and in return help us. Please hear this.
Verona opened her eyes, Kal still held her closed and murmured something underneath her breath. When they opened she smiled.
“Do you think it worked?” Verona asked.
“I think so. I prayed to Tethra before I knew anything about magic.” Kal smiled. “This time I don’t think it’ll take as long.”
“I wonder if we’ll get a new girl this time.” Verona teased.
Kal rolled her eyes.
Anton ran towards them looking more than a little disappointed.
“Bad?” Verona asked softly.
“Gerin wasn’t particularly happy to hear we have to retreat.” Anton glanced at the camp. “They put a lot of work into this.”
Anton pulled out five Strohierite stones from his pocket. “Even with Five Lightning Crows, or even the next level or two up, I don’t know if another Blue Goblin will emerge. And if it banishes them, whatever it actually did, this place is far away from the front and will be surrounded. Doesn’t take a genius to work out this place won’t survive. The Dark Elves can’t afford such losses.”
“In a few days, they’ll have some more warriors.” Verona offered, shrugging lightly. “It’s not much but something. Maybe more if you get some healing aura…” Verona sighed. “Fucking stones.”
Anton patted her helmet. “I remember some of those etchings I could put onto the rings would make them more resistant. I think I know what that means now.”
“Anything from the totem?” Anton asked.
“Maybe.” Verona glanced at the wooden pillar. “I think Fliodher might contact us tonight. Who knows? Kal can join us for one of those meetings. Just so long as we don’t meet Jira or Esperit. Don’t want her planting her breasts on my head again.”
Anton laughed. “I wonder what Fliodher looks like. Not much to go on with this.”
Anton quickly repeated their prayer. There wasn’t much else to do but wait.
“The shelter’s almost ready!” Umikgruid yelled across the camp.
“Shelter?” Verona raised a silver brow.
“No point to just leave this place to become reinfested.” Anton waved them to follow before downing another mana vial. “Much better than the ones from Graterious. Anyway, why not just leave some summons here and let them keep the Goblins away. That alone should take some stress off the front.”
The shelter was really just large column of wood with a large flat surface on top. On top, a small rudimentary roof would protect the precious stones from the weather and any ranged weapons but allow the crows to come and go. They didn’t know if the creatures had to return to recover their mana but it was better to prepare for all eventualities.
Five small Lightning Crows fluttered away from the shelter, rising high into the air before beginning to strike the Goblins nearby. The forest was all but completely illuminated by the lightning flashing around them.
“This will buy you some time,” Anton said to Gerin. “Though they’ll just go around this place eventually.”
“A bit of relief will do us wonders.” Gerin smiled faintly. “Just a shame we have to give it up.”
“How much does Earth Mana does that use anyway?” Anton returned to the resting Jaguar, nervous to offend the large beast, and retrieved the small wooden dial. He nodded and tucked it back into the pack.
“Thought so. We’re still under by a long way. Looks like it’s just these bound Lightning Crows.” Anton rubbed his beard. “I wonder if we over utilised Earth Mana it would draw all of the Goblins here? Best not test it here.”
“I’m not really sure what you’re talking about but I think we can consider this a victory. At least we’ve gotten something out of this.” Gerin shook his head as the captive females were manoeuvred to the Jaguar Mounts. “Eighty lives isn’t much but everyone will fight much harder now. If only in the hopeless belief their lost loved ones might linger in the shadows.”
“We’d best retreat now. Leave the tents. I know that we’ll be back.” Anton nodded to the south. “After we have a little chat with the Elders.”
“They won’t listen to humans.”
“They will.” Anton summoned a small fireball. “I’ll make sure they will.”
“But-”
“Gerin, I’m only going to be here for another few days maximum.” Verona didn’t like the intensity or tone of Anton’s voice. “In that time I could make a few, maybe ten more bound Lightning Crows. And I don’t know when I’ll get more Strohierite gems. But what good is that going to do along miles and miles of constant fighting? None! Sure Kal and I could make something that heals the wounded but the Goblins are going to keep killing and we can’t resurrect the dead. There only two of us, soon only one, that can actually heal. Their numbers are essentially limitless and they’ll grind you to pulp. Just like that have been for almost a year. You can’t win this way.”
Anton paused and took a deep breath, calming himself and lowering his voice. “Your people are dying in droves while those Elders sit content in their little fortress doing absolutely fuck all. That is not acceptable, for you or your people...Only the most arrogant and stupid person would let your species become extinct because they hate you for where you were born. I’m not saying they aren’t capable of absolutely moronic decisions but I refuse to believe it. There’s something more to this, I’m sure of it and I’m going to find out. And if they are just being stupid.” Anton summoned a fireball. “We’re going to whittle our way through them until we find someone sensible.”
Verona hoped the elders would actually listen for once. Were they really going to let their people die for some ancient and petty reason? She didn’t like the implications in Anton’s words. The humans that he killed when he first arrived, to restore a semblance of order and organise an effective resistance to the Goblins, he didn’t flinch as he killed them horribly. Verona knew that, sometimes, bad things had to be done for the betterment of all. She trusted Anton’s judgment.
She just needed to support him, no matter the outcome.