His rest was blissfully peaceful, his mind and body both too exhausted to have time for dreams or nightmares as he opened his eyes, still feeling Thera in his arms as the first rays of dawn were beginning to make their way through his window.
I guess I’ve just gotten used to not sleeping very long. He thought with a small yawn as he faced the reality of the day. In a matter of hours, the gates would open and all hell would pour out.
In the smallest bit of personal luck, he at least had the benefit that there would be sunlight in the area he was when it happened, even if there’d only be a couple hours of it left. With invasion points all around the world, there’d be plenty of people having to start their battles in the dark, and even if they all would have to eventually, as what was sure to be a long month rolled on, he didn’t want to have to begin things in such a manner.
Even awake though, he didn’t want to get up to face the day. He wanted to lounge in bed with Thera as if that would put off what the future held, but he suppressed that impulse to do something else as he let her rest, instead closing his eyes again to force his mind to his god’s realm, arriving to find both Myriad and Helori deep in their work when he got there.
Neither god noticed his arrival as images and characters kept popping up in front of them in a flurry before disappearing again, information spreading and being shared out as they all prepared for whatever they could while Ben was content to sit and watch in silence, waiting to be noticed instead of bringing attention to himself as Myriad finally picked up on him as the minutes passed.
“Ben, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be preparing for the day?”
“What’s there for me to prepare? Besides, is it really so surprising I might want to see you?” He asked with a wry smile as the cube seemed momentarily surprised.
“No, of course not. Sorry, I’m glad you came. I can spare a ten-minute break.”
“And so can I,” Helori joined in. “So many hours of constant work, I think we deserve a small break.”
The work of the two gods vanished in a flash, leaving the three of them to each other's company, though none really knew what to say. They were about to enter the easiest wave, the one that no one doubted they’d overcome, and yet it was undeniable that people would still die in it. Lots of people, maybe ones Ben cared about, maybe even himself depending on how things turned out.
It was Helori who broke the silence, hopping from her usual place atop his god to stomp her foot. “Enough of the doom and gloom. Even if we’ll be busy, Myriad and I will have our eyes on you when we can and this is the most powerful any people have ever been before this so stop thinking about it when nothing’s even happened yet.”
“Just try to be positive,” Myriad agreed. “As nice as it is to see you taking things seriously, you can only do the best you can.”
“Ha, don’t worry, I haven’t gone and given up on life, it’s just hard to keep the mood from setting in,” He told them, before letting himself get a little more serious. “Still, just in case I get hit by a stray spell on the first day and die embarrassingly fast, I should probably say this now.”
“Ben, you don’t-”
“Myriad, thank you for everything,” He said, bowing to his friend and god. “When I thought I might die in the trial I regretted not saying it enough but without you, I wouldn’t be where I am right now. Even if I don’t always show it, I want you to know I’m always grateful to have you in my life. And Helori, it’s been fun. Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions and brainstorm with me on my projects. You've been an excellent teacher and I appreciate it.”
Both gods were quiet, neither of them expecting the sincere display of emotions from him. They were used to the feeling of mortals giving them their love, but what Ben was conveying wasn’t the feelings of someone talking to a higher power, but instead words to what he really saw them as, friends. It was a far rarer feeling for them to receive, and for that all the more touching as he stopped to clear his throat.
“Well anyway, I just wanted to pop up to say that, just to be on the safe side, but I don’t want to distract you so enjoy suffering through your work, I need to get started on the day.”
And like that, before either god could stop to convey their own feelings he vanished from the realm, forcing his mind back into his resting body to get up and begin all he had to.
----------------------------------------
After preparing the best breakfast he could with the ingredients on hand, both he and Thera walked through the city, trying to reach their destination.
The average citizen was gone now, while in their place the town was filled with adventurers, ready to take on any beast that got too close to the gate-network or the many rest areas people would be staying in, the embassy included. He and Thera were going to be the only ones using it in that time, receiving the keys as the regular staff evacuated and having the entire place to themselves for the month to come, but there were other buildings that would host who they could, as well as a shelter for healers that was close enough to the battlefield for any major cases, yet far enough that they wouldn’t be trapped in the thick of things, both of them seeing all of this as they passed the city’s edge to get their eyes on everything else that had changed.
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The biggest one being just how busy each nation's earth mages must have been, along with any extra help that had finally come through after working to get other cities defended.
A wall had gone up on the side of the city that faced the invasion point, maybe twelve feet high to act as a simple deterrent from any demons set on making their way in. During the first wave, it would only be the non-sapient stage of them in the end after all, the chances of that being enough to put off many of them wasn’t slim.
In a similar vein were the heavily defended areas that each nation had prepared, small fortresses that individuals could retreat to if the need arose as soldiers would be on a constant rotation, with hours of fighting making way for lighter bits of treatment and whatever small rest they could receive through it all as the two of them pushed through the crowd to get where they needed to be, at the weapon of Iberu.
Originally, it had been on a similar ground level as any of the forts, but it looked like that had been changed last minute, the area it sat on raised up into a small hill, giving them a perfect view of the ground around them, letting them see the soldiers adding the finishing touches to their designated area before they all would stand ready for whatever was to come.
It wasn’t like the weapon was all they had to rely on after all. Each nation had filled their own designation areas with whatever traps they could to take off whatever brute they could from the warriors beneath them, even if it would never be enough.
Ben could see pitfalls with illusions being placed over them to claim all they could, an area laced with spikes he had to assume were either poisoned or enchanted, and more that he wouldn’t be able to identify until it was all activated, each one ready ensnare any careless demons that entered their range, as he couldn’t help but think aloud.
“Makes you wonder if they know what they're coming into, doesn’t it? Are they aware that this world has been waiting so long for their arrival, or do they think it’s going to be like any other conquest in the past?”
“Doesn’t matter,” His teacher said, walking up beside them without either noticing, both being too lost in the sight before their eyes. “It’s not going to be enough. If records and the gods are right then they’ll just keep pushing through. Any trap will be buried under a mountain of bodies as the rest just keep climbing over and it wouldn’t be shocking if by the end of this first day armies retreat to their forts and take shots from there, letting most demons run by to kill the ones they can.”
“Cheery,” Ben said dryly, not able to take his eyes off things. “So how long to go?”
“A couple hours. Mages will fire a signal off into the sky at an hour, ten minutes, and one minute. The only positive of having so many worlds being invaded in the past is that we know to the second when that thing will open up. How are you two feeling?”
“Like I was really lucky to be asleep for my first violent death,” Ben told him, the tone coming off far darker than he meant it to.
“A little scared, honestly,” Thera admitted. “Is aunty around?”
“Here,” Sonya called out, jogging up beside them with her hands full as she handed a bar of something wrapped in paper out to each of them. “Sorry, had to wait in line for this. Make sure not to eat it till we’re past the ten-minute mark.”
“Sure, but why? What is it?” He asked as he looked it over. Since she’d said that, it was obviously food, but he didn’t know anything beyond that, nor why they were getting it at all.
“Food from the divine chef,” Falk explained, giving it a smell. “I hear she’s been working on making as much as she could since before the invasion points were marked. You could almost consider yourself lucky to get to try this, if it wasn’t for the war then you'd probably go your full life without getting a bite from her.”
“And she is…?”
“A person with a third-tier cooking skill. I don’t know about everything that went into it when it got there, but one thing that merged into it was a tier two light magic. That little bar of food will likely leave you buffed for a couple days after eating it, and a powerful buff too. I’m honestly surprised they’re being distributed for the first wave, she must have made an absolute mountain of things if it’s not all being saved for the second and third.”
Interesting.
It was the fourth of the tier three skill holders he was now aware of, along with the two soul mages and the true shifter, and he would have wanted to know significantly more if it weren’t for the present circumstances. When he’d been told about them, he’d assumed that most would fighters, the fact that someone held a tier three cooking skill left him infinitely more curious on the matter.
But it was a curiosity that could wait. He didn’t want to be distracted by stray thoughts so he put every level of his focus to use, many minds examining the situation around them as a few locked onto the people he was with.
“Alright, so are we just standing off to the side while things go down then?”
“Ha, not exactly off to the side, just don’t get in the way of the folks who actually built the weapon unless something’s gone very wrong. Sonya and Thera, are you both feeling ready for some long days of healing-slash-guard duty?”
“Of course,” Sonya told him, giving the yeti a smile. “Just like old times, right? Maybe even smoother than old times without Pel around to cause any unnecessary chaos.”
“And I should be able to fight fine from here,” Thera said confidently. “You’ll both get to see the earth magic I’ve worked so hard on put into action.”
“Ha, well, just keep an eye on flyers,” Falk told her. “Those will be the biggest threat to deal with where we are. Otherwise, all we can do is wait.”
Which is the worst part.
There really was uncomfortably little for them to do in the time they had, so they made the small bits of chitchat they could, each of them feeling as every single minute ticked by.