Elves weren't dumb, uneducated in a lot of things, uncaring about a huge number of things that people from the 'modern' world were concerned about, but not dumb. If they knew there was an army coming they prepared as best they could. This made it a lot easier for me to do my job, as people who were accepting of what they needed to do and willing to get to work were a lot easier to deal with. Walls were prepped for when I arrived, workers ready to listen when I told them what I needed.

“Alright everyone, once you're here and aimed where it needs to go, you slap it like so,” I did just that on the odd trigger that I'd cobbled together, launching the practice bolt with a WOOSH before it slammed into a tree. “Let's get some practice.”

I stepped back and let them have at it, keeping watch as one by one they came up to work the contraption. While I did so I was approached from the side by the local elder, with her keenly observing those chosen to operate the ballista.

“That is an interesting machine,” she said, peering at it as it tossed another lance at a dead tree.

“Thank you Elder,” I responded with a small nod.

“Would it be difficult to build them ourselves? Make more for what is coming?”

I'd already considered that particular question myself. “I doubt it, but you are welcome to try. The most difficult parts to make will be the metal ones, without enough material or the know-how you're unlikely to manage it. Most things like wood and rope just cannot take the power needed in the same way.”

“There are some materials from monsters that might,” she retorted, seeing what I thought of that.

“Perhaps, perhaps not. I've not had access to every single one yet, but I know of none that would do it.”

“What about the spears it is throwing?”

“You can and should make some of those,” I agreed. “While you may not be able to make any as good as the metal tipped ones you'll need extras for practice, and even after that a wooden one will still hit hard enough to do real damage.”

The machines themselves weren't brought in fully built, but rather just the needed pieces. Wood was everywhere and so we just gathered it on-site for each one, assembling it from the bits made in the capital and handing it over. Mostly those were the metal parts and ropes, a bit of an idea taken from armies of the past.

Days passed and we worked our way outwards. The path wasn't an exact spiral, well with the lack of maps it was sort of hard to tell exactly what shape it was at all, but we were slowly working towards the edge of the inner villages. Those further away would need to deal with things themselves, but the ones closest would be fortified for now.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

As we neared the end of our trip I briefly wondered what all this would do in the end. Would this be enough? Would we manage to destroy them all or would we fall? There was real risk, that many mages could simply overwhelm us in the end.

We crested a hill and something felt... off. It took me a few seconds to realize what it was, and then it hit me. The woods had gone silent. The bugs, the birds, the little critters here and there, all had frozen.

The instant I realized it I threw up shields around us, and not a second to soon. They'd barely made it into place before several spells splashed against them, angry purple magic licking at the barriers.

Our group numbered only about ten for this leg of the journey, but all of us moved quickly. Spears were pointed outwards, those with magic began charging their own abilities. From far behind I heard a yell as someone's attack landed true, but we held.

I needed to act quickly, strike decisively, because these weren't the kind of spell I would use. The way they moved, the odd colors, they looked more like mother's magic had than mine. I could mostly effect the physical world, but others worked in organic compounds and living things, such magics could be deadly and fast.

Opening with two bolts of flame I tossed projectiles out, hoping to find the enemies, or at least limit their angles of attack.

“Get down!” Ian yelled, pulling me backwards as a spell hurled itself in my direction.

At first I hadn't worried about it, but where it hit the shield I could see cracking in the air, the magics competing to hold.

“We need cover!” I responded, looking about.

There was nothing though. The enemy had chosen this spot and chosen it well. All around us were trees, but pulled back a bit from the top where we were, easy protections for them. By us though? Nothing, had there been rocks or some other thing to hide behind it had been moved, I even saw a few things that looked like small indents in the ground that I'd missed before.

I saw Ian throw a spear, only to have it barely scrape his target. As he did so we lost two, purple orbs striking them and spreading a black necrosis across their skin.

“In the center,” I heard one of the enemy yell in their accented speech.

Naturally I was in the center, the soldiers who were here supposed to be guarding me.

One of my shields shattered and I ducked, only for the offending projectile to slip inches from my skin and into Ian's shoulder. He froze, like he couldn't move, almost as if he'd been tazed, then he fell, shaking and gasping at my feet.

Quickly the group was dispatched, leaving only me at the center. I stood over my fallen friend, looking out and throwing all the spells I could. Could I have fled? Maybe, but not with him, not with the others, and looking about I doubted I'd get far. No, it would be better to end it here, take as many of the bastards down with me as I could.

I'd practiced for this, not even knowing that I had. The shields got a refresh and then I began to turn the magic in my hands. A sphere of force as opaque as I could make it, filled with fire. It grew hotter and hotter, brighter bit by bit as I forced my power into it. I could create crystals from fire magic, I could certainly wipe out some of these fools.

The enemy had a say too though, their attacks battering my defenses nearly down before I thrust my hands forward, aiming for what looked like the largest part of their forces.

The orb popped like a balloon, but instead of helium it was filled with white hot death. It was as if a bomb had gone off on one side of the hill, blinding light and searing temperatures. Trees near the explosion were knocked down, but even those around thirty feet from it instantly found themselves aflame. Oddly there was no screaming from those struck, they simply died too quickly.

Before I could form a second though I was struck. It didn't hurt, not in the slightest, no it felt more like being hit with a snowball. There was a quick wave of chill and then numbness as my muscles loosened and refused to move, accompanied by a wash of confusion as everything spun.

I must have been on the ground, which was odd. I couldn't feel the ground, the rocks and sticks and grass poking into me, but I must have been. Above me stood a man, and while his face came in and out of focus I could see rage in his eyes.

“You're lucky I was ordered to bring you alive,” he said, and then darkness took me.