Over a dozen different attacks headed towards the empowered soldiers, of various kinds. I saw no less than three spears hurled at speeds that would surely destroy them, two bolts of fire, three of water, and one, surprisingly, that looked like electricity and left a small afterimage on my vision. There were also two bolts of esoteric energies that screamed danger, and an attack I couldn't quite identify. These were mixed in with some more normal spears and stones that were being hurled, but not at nearly the same danger level.

Kar and his men were quick to respond, though not quite quick enough. I saw counter attacks fly forth, exploding in midair to disrupt what they could, and weapons flash outwards to clash against other projectiles. Oddly I didn't see any shield bubbles like I used, either they avoided them for some reason, or didn't think to do something like that.

Chien pulled the boat back with his magic as I continued to pump protections around us, this was all according to plan, as both of us knew my magic was still quite a bit stronger than his. For her part Isha was already starting to sing, and I felt a light pulse of power from her. She didn't use her magic as much as either of us for combat, but it felt like she was trying to begin healing, even if there was no need just yet.

Three of the soldiers looked injured, struck here and there, but not yet completely out of the fight. The others though, looked quite serious, angry at the pain inflicted upon their fellows, determined to stop the assault.

“They're going to be crushed,” Chien observed as we settled near the boats full of bystanders.

“Look, there's something missing,” I pointed out as I wove a much larger shield around the innocents, pushing it outwards to slow or deflect any stray attacks.

“Curz, and the other caster,” Isha whispered.

Kar and his men didn't notice, several of their outriders launching themselves at the attackers. The physically enhanced individuals were strong and alarmingly fast, and trying to get into the formation of about twenty who were assaulting them.

Some of the villagers leapt forward at the oncoming soldiers. They looked to be hunters, and not senior ones. My guess was that most of the older ones had either left, or were with Curz wherever he'd run off to. They weren't helpless though, and on them small lines brightened, causing their skin to shine as the soldiers impacted. It was a tell-tale glow of a magical tattoo, one I'd not seen before or noticed on them, but the effect was obvious. The defenders became bulwarks, stopping dead the first round of strikes against them.

Even if I hadn't seen that it made sense. Hunters in these lands would have to contend with powerful animals magical or otherwise, and some defense would be a lifesaver. Did the soldiers know about those tattoos though? Or expect them? After all the images themselves had been well hidden enough that I'd not noticed them on the young elves' bodies.

It was at this moment that Curz decided to make himself known. From behind me a series of powerful bolts blew forward, past my shielding, which had only been made to keep things out, and into the boat of the soldiers. One went straight for Kar, but at the last moment he ducked, the attack striking the fighter beside him and blowing his head clean off. The pumping spray of blood into the air soaked those who'd held back on their own vessel in their comrade's fluids before his body fell. The other caster's series of attacks was no less effective, even if it was less thunderous, and killed two of the injured soldiers.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Kar and his people did the same thing I did, turn to see where the attacks had come from. Curz and I were definitely going to have a problem after this, and I needed to know now where he'd hidden at. After all, he'd asked me to defend the innocents, and now he was among them, using them as living shields. I found them on one of the boats, slinging spells and standing among several other villagers who were preparing spears, right in the middle of the civilian's crafts.

I was still trying to figure out how to push my shield so it didn't cover them when the first impacts struck it. It had only been designed to deflect, but the casters on Kar's side must have been using very different techniques than I was used to because their balls of flame and energy exploded when they impacted the barrier. Some of the spells were only deflected, but they flew so wide as to be useless.

The more muscle inclined soldiers seemed to identify the true threat around this point, and pivoted, with a couple taking attacks to the back when they did, all but one of them rounding on Curz's boat. The one that didn't turn toward him turned at us, and sped forward across the water with murder in his eyes.

All three of our formations formed a sort of L shape, with Kar's men being the meeting place of the two lines, the initial attack the end of the short bottom bit, and Curz and his personal forces being the point at the top. I of course was situated right between the Kar and Curz, right in the line of fire from both sides.

Chien caught the oncoming physical soldier as he bounced against the much more thorough protections I'd woven around our own craft. His spell was kinetic in nature and pretty impressive, similar to what had proven the end of Atal.

“Not your enemy idiot!” he yelled before tossing the man in a high arc.

Curz, not letting a good moment pass threw an attack as the much slower falling soldier, rendering him into a burst of red chunky rain. That was four, four people he'd managed to kill because I was in the way, and it was enough for me, I pulled back my outer shield, dropping all protections on any who weren't my own.

This marked a turning point, and while Curz and the other caster put up a good fight, without a physical magic user to defend them their protectors quickly fell to the leftover soldiers. The initial attackers died screaming when Kar himself sent a fireball into their craft, leaving little but bits and flaming splinters.

By the end Uro's soldiers had lost six of their number, but they'd killed almost all of the attackers, leaving only Curz and a few of those on his boat still alive. The other village leader floated in the water with eyes looking in backwards, neck snapped so powerfully that it looked like she'd been born with a head facing in the wrong direction.

None of those who hadn't attacked had been harmed though, and that was a small blessing. Even if the two leaders of these villages had been determined to fight some of their people were very young, or had simply hid, paddling to the side of the river when things started to go down.

Kar called them all out now as he strode over to the leader across their tied together boats.

“Uro sent us to offer you his mercy, all you needed to do was not fight. We didn't want this, didn't want to harm you, didn't want to kill you. No, you brought this down upon your own head,” Kar intoned, amplifying his voice enough that everyone could hear it.

“Liar, slaver, killer!” Curz spat at him, screaming as loudly as he could.

“Enough, see now what happens to those who refuse to accept mercy or kindness.” His men held Curz by the arms as he raised his hand, flames pouring out around it brighter and brighter.

It was clear he planned to burn the captured man to little more than bones, but before he could do more than show off a small, almost invisible pinprick of light hit him in the chest. The spell took effect instantly and he fell dead, fire dissipating in a poof of air and smoke. Next were the two soldiers holding Curz, who died similarly before anyone could find the attacker.

“I heard there were disturbances and came to see for myself what was going on, this is not what I expected to find,” a gentle feminine voice spoke through the grasses to one side of the marsh.

Reeds parted and from them strode a number of elves, all clearly elders, at their head could be none other than Nora, with straight hair that fell just to her shoulders, a bit over half of it pure white. The last of Kar's soldiers tried to flee, but hardly made it a step before they were torn apart by magic.

A bridge of vines grew where Nora walked, leading her over to where the defeated leader lay sprawled on the ground. She leaned over Curz, smiling.

“Are you okay dear? Don't worry, I'm here now.”