Alton crept through the canyon, keeping his head low below the shields stacked up at the choke point. His team silently trailed behind him. His core thrummed with excitement as the moment of no return closed in. Miser was behind him with his new toys ready to be thrown. The little devil had been busy with the crafters back at camp and cooked up a delightful surprise.
Miser explained they were metal balls that contained mana inside, and purposefully wrong glyphs inlaid on them. When infused, a chain reaction would begin and draw in ambient mana before exploding. The more mana infused, the larger the explosion would be. Each required more mana than any single alta stone Alton possessed. A hefty price, but well worth the cost.
Alton ordered Lews to heal Jonah and wake him up regardless of his hesitations. It was death by improper healing or death by Edorians at this point. Between them both, they could infuse two of Miser’s so called runeblaze each. Four charges to create a distraction long enough to punch through and disrupt the mindless pens. Once the fiends were loose, they would make a break for deeper in the mountains.
He sorely hoped the Edorians would focus on taking the pass and assaulting the Third Army instead of chasing them through the mountains. They reached the choke point and Alton paused to let everyone catch up. Forty-nine soldiers to break through an opposing force of hundreds. It was long odds even if they were mostly common soldiers and mindless.
Alton picked up one of the shields and braced it on his off arm. Fang was in its sheath for now, and he wielded his salvaged sword in his dominant hand. The blade was too thick to fit in Fang’s sheath. Miser and Nelson unloaded their shields and prepared to cover. Each of the infantry picked up shields as they advanced, trying not to show movement.
They were fifty feet from the canyon entrance when shouts began to sound off. Alton abandoned stealth and sprinted to close the distance. He pulled the first runeblaze out of his pocket and infused it with a full quarter of his mana. Arrows thudded into his shield as he waited for the first volley to pass. One of the large tower shields slammed down in front of him and Alton gratefully dropped his own. He reached back and launched the metal orb through the air into the crowd of targets.
An explosion rang out loud enough to be heard for hundreds of feet. Alton wasted no time in infusing the second and tossing it further into the crowd. Behind him, Jonah did the same with his first. They continued to run in the direction of the pens as the Edorian infantry started moving to meet them.
“Jonah! The pens!” Alton shouted.
Another explosion sounded out as Jonah launched his own runeblaze at the makeshift pen containing the mindless. The wooden posts were destroyed on the opposite side from where Wolf team and company were. The Edorians caught between them and the pen were run down. Alton shouted out a second location for Jonah to throw his runeblaze and a second opening was created on the pen.
Alton and his team continued to run towards the far end of the encampment. The mountains up above the pass were closing in as the Edorians tried to contain the mindless beginning to roam out of the pen. They were only a few hundred feet from the edge of the camp when Alton cursed.
A column of heavily armored Edorians rounded the pen and blocked the way up the pass. Alton looked behind him and saw his charges strung out behind him, some of the slower infantry failing to keep pace. They were getting bogged down by archers and foot soldiers. The plan to free the mindless horde only a partial success.
He turned and watched the Edorians contain the mindless at the two blown exits. His fears confirmed when he saw a Sapient exerting its control over the horde. Anger flashed through Alton, and he had to stop himself from changing directions and charging at it. He continued to run straight at the incoming Edorian heavies.
His team was hot on his heels as they neared the line of armored foes. The plan would fall apart if they became bogged down here, still inside the encampment. Forces would catch up on the backside and box them in, or the Sapient would send the mindless after them. They had to break through, and fast.
Alton reached down deep in his core. Time slowed as mana pulsed through his body. He surged as he hit the first of the enemy soldiers. Alton ducked his foolish strike and ripped his new sword up, hacking off the soldier’s arm. Mana flowed through his arm to the sword, and he buried it to the hilt through the faceplate.
He pushed the dying corpse backwards and pulled Fang from its sheath. Spinning around in a circle with both blades held high brought two more casualties and placed Alton deep inside the line. Both swords blazed as he infused them and cut through the heavy armor like paper. All hesitation and doubt fled from him as he carved a line of devastation.
---
Amelia huffed as she sprinted after Alton through the enemy camp. This plan felt more like a gift wrapped execution as Alton first explained it, but now she could see the sliver of opportunity. If they could reach the end of the camp and slide around the pens, the mountains would hide them and hamper pursuit.
An arrow flew past her and forced her to duck awkwardly. Amelia watched one of the infantry took an arrow through the neck beside her. She fell behind a few paces and pumped her legs to catch up. Rico was off to her right and she could see Prian beyond him. The rest were behind. She groaned inside when she saw forty heavies wrap around the pen and plant themselves firmly in the way.
There was no turning back on the plan now. If they stopped, they would be swallowed. She drank deeply from her core and circulated through every muscle. When Alton hit the line, he punched through a gap and dropped three soldiers with his opening move. She barreled in after him, sword singing through the air.
Rico was at her shoulder, and they found the same sync as the top of the canyon. Where Alton pushed forward to collapse the line and make space, Amelia and Rico kept anyone from getting behind him. She felt more than saw the rest of her team pile in and the battle lines broke out in earnest. Her core felt alive as she parried, dodged, and retaliated.
The fight was turning in their direction, the bodies of the Edorians littering the ground. If they could just punch through the gap long enough for the commons to get through, they could break out for the mountains. Nelson and Miser established a bulkhead, further increasing the ability of Amelia and Rico to dance around their tower shields.
Only around ten opposing soldiers were left in the clearing after the first minute of combat. Amelia stepped over a fallen foe and slashed down at another. She turned to look for a new foe and saw another group of massive Edorians closing in on them. Activating manasight, six of them were blazes of mana.
“Alton! Alton!” She shouted, desperate to get his attention.
He turned and saw her pointing. His eyes flashed blue, and she watched him confirm what she had seen. Her captain’s face dropped as he moved to face the newcomers. She felt it in her soul that all of them were at or above the fifth tier. Amelia wouldn’t let him fight alone despite the odds.
She stepped up beside her captain and faced her death like a proud daughter of Agorra. Her heart sang when a tower shield slammed into the ground beside her on one side, followed by another moments after. Rico stepped up on Alton’s other shoulder and she felt her emotions threaten to overwhelm her. If they were to die here, they died as a team. The closest family she had ever known.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Amelia turned to the remaining infantry and scouts that traveled with them. “Go now. Make for the mountains. Hide until the Edorians move on and make your way to Kitsu, or farther if they lay siege.”
They argued, but she held up her hand. “That is an order. Do not let our deaths be meaningless. Go now.”
It was her voice, but it felt cold, unattached. A calm like she had never felt before settled over her. She shared a look with each of her teammates, a tear streaked down her face. The temperature in the clearing dropped and Amelia gasped when she felt a raw power course through her veins. She reached down to her core and found it alive with power and purpose.
—-
Alton faced down the six Edorian elites charging in his direction. His team had arrayed themselves around him and he didn’t have the heart to tell them to run. This would be it, then. A clean soldier’s death. He wouldn’t be alive to grieve again, small miracles.
He emptied the last of his reserves from his belt and Fang. His core was only a little over half. Enough for a full body surge for thirty or forty seconds. It would have to be enough. He shared a look with Jonah that conveyed the depth of emotions they held for each other. Brothers through an unbreakable bond. The older man looked exhausted, his eyes glassed over and his breathing labored.
Nine elite soldiers of Agorra versus eight elites of Edoria. Under other circumstances, Alton would be thrilled to test himself and his new team. Now, he just wanted the kids to live. Nelson on his left began to pray. Alton felt the mana in the air as the two forces closed in on each other.
The lines met in a furious clash, and all thoughts fled his mind except for survival. Fang pulsated, his mana flowing freely through his instruments of death. His first foe ignited a wicked barbed mace and shield both, leading with a smashing attack. Alton side stepped the mace and pummeled both swords against the shield. The strange black metal held and sparks of mana showered the air.
Alton changed tactics and ducked low to get under the shield and avoid the mace moving towards his head. He lashed out with both blades from opposite directions and made the soldier choose. His first strike was blocked by the shield, but Fang collided into the armored calf. The soldier stumbled back and Alton pounced, getting inside his reach. Using Fang’s hilt as a weapon, he punched into the soldier’s gut repeatedly.
The Edorian tried to get his mace inside and force Alton to back off, but Alton persisted. He got his leg wrapped around the injured calf and tripped his enemy, taking him to the ground. Before the Edorian could get his shield around, Alton flipped his new sword into the air and grabbed it on the way down, slamming it to the hilt in the soldier’s chest. A massive burst of mana trailed off into Alton and refreshed his rapidly draining core.
Alton’s tunnel vision faded, and he turned to see his team in dire straights. Jonah, Lews and Letty were fighting three against one and losing. Miser and Nelson were shoulder to shoulder with Rico and Amelia dancing around them, trying to keep the focus on themselves. Prian was down and bleeding from a dagger buried in his side.
The momentary distraction proved disaster when Alton was bludgeoned in the side by a massive war-hammer. Alton was thrown to the ground, his side on fire. He knew right away his ribs were broken, among other internal injuries. Alton turned and got Fang up in time to block the next strike off to the side, but it cost him a kick to the groin.
Alton flipped over his head and got back to his feet, defending against a powerful advance. The Edorian opposing him stood taller than the twins and fully encased in thick, black metal sheeting. Alton grimaced and reached out to his core. One quarter full and already starting to feel the effects of strain.
He launched himself at his foe with both swords held low. At the moment of impact, Alton surged with everything he had and launched a furious offensive. Both swords sang through the air and clashed against the metal plate armor. The Edorian tried to get his hammer around and block, but Alton didn’t give him the chance. He cut at the elbow joint of the soldier with Fang and its partner in succession; the armor held for the first attack but failed on the second. The Edorian’s arm came off below the elbow, and they stepped back in shock. Alton wasted no time and followed up with two stabs at the neck from opposite angles.
Two down. Alton turned to jump on his next foe when a scream of pain erupted from behind him. He turned to see Jonah standing limply, holding his left arm with his right. He was bleeding profusely from the stump that ended just below his shoulder. Jonah pulsed blue and launched a mana blast at the chest of the closest foe, blowing apart his chest piece. Jonah collapsed after and Alton felt his heart stop cold.
Nelson went down next, Amelia limping and desperately trying to keep him from being swarmed. Rico was tied up in his own life or death battle. Lews was kneeled over Jonah, sobbing uncontrollably while Letty tried to pull him away. It was all falling apart before his eyes, just like last time.
Alton reached down to his core and begged it for more as he sprinted to Amelia’s position. He dug deep, looking for the connection that had carried him twice through the fire already. His core roiled with anticipation and emotion. The surface of the normally placid lake in his mind was alight with movement.
He felt his mind transported to another realm, as it had during the funeral. A furious blizzard flowed all around him, eternal and unforgiving. Alton fell to his knees in the ambient mana, so intense it overwhelmed his senses. A shape of pure white walked through the darkness towards him.
“You are not ready. You cannot stay.” An ancient spectral voice whispered out from all around him.
“I need your help. Save my team. Please.” Alton begged.
“You are not ready,” the voice repeated. “You can not stay here.”
“Please! I know you felt the connection as I did! We are linked! Lend me your strength once more! Don’t leave me to fight alone!” Alton pleaded.
Alton felt himself being pulled back to his realm. He had failed. He hung his head in shame and prepared to give his life to buy his team time to escape.
“You are not ready, there will be a price,” it repeated, “but you are not alone.”
---
Alton snapped back into the present with perfect clarity. His cores surface was carved in the shape of a glyph that Alton had never seen before. Yet, he knew what it meant instinctively. A half dozen feet lay before him and the back of the soldier pressing Amelia.
“Strength of the pack,” Alton mumbled under his breath.
Power and purpose flooded Altons veins. His muscles sang with ecstasy as he surged far beyond anything he had experienced before. The temperature in the clearing dropped so low he could see his breath. Both Fang and his new sword were flaring with unbelievable levels of mana. He grinned and said a small prayer to the Mad God and to the Wolf of Winter. It was time to hunt, and his pack was hungry.
Even Alton was surprised with the speed he moved forward with. He closed the distance between them before any foe could react. Both of his swords flailed out with flawless precision, avoiding the heavy armor and finding spots along the seams. He halted his advance and dropped to a knee, spinning around and swiping through both soldiers’ legs below the knee.
The two tumbled down, and the rest of his team pounced on them. Nine against eight became four against four. Miser slammed his shield into the ground and probed out with a lethal barbed spear. Rico danced around the shield, faster than Alton had ever seen him move. His own sword was glowing softly.
Alton viciously hacked apart another soldier that was too slow to react. He cast a glance out at the wider camp and realized back up was arriving. They needed to break away and fast, into the mountains. He stabbed down through the back of Amelia’s most recent foe.
“Go! Lead them away and into the mountains! Find the others! I will delay!” He shouted at her over the din of battle.
She started to argue, but Alton shouted over her, “Now! GO!”
The fight left her eyes, and she bent down to check Miser’s pulse. She tried to lift him with trembling muscles until Nelson stepped in and lifted his brother. Amelia pulled Lews off of Jonah and poured a healing potion down his throat, lifting him over her shoulder. Rico moved over to Prian and did the same. One last look back at Alton tugged at his heartstrings, but his decision was made. He had one last foe to hunt before he could join them.
Alton turned and watched the approaching forces. One hundred Edorians remained, not counting the mindless. He found his target over near the pens, still corralling the fiends. Alton knew it wasn’t the same Sapient, just as he had last time. He still didn’t care. It was on the other side of the pen and it would take too long to run around it.
Alton hopped the fence and dove into the horde, hacking and slashing the walking dead apart. His heightened strength and speed made the mindless a pathetic opposition. The Sapient watched him approach and gathered mana near its core. Alton waited out the attack and then jumped to the side at the last moment before it released it. A blast of mana ripped through the crowd.
He continued his advance and closed the distance over a matter of seconds. The Sapient tried to turn and run deeper into the camp, but Alton caught up to it. He threw his new sword and screamed with fury as it buried itself to the hilt in the fiend’s back. Alton finished closing the gap and turned to face the rest of the Edorians. He held the fiend by its wiry hair and decapitated it with Fang.
Alton bent down and retrieved his sword, thus named Fury, and pointed it at the Edorian forces. He mimicked slitting a throat and let the threat linger in the air. None of the soldiers remaining advanced, settling into a stunned silence. Alton threw the corpse down and spat on it before turning and moving after his team, deep in the mountains.