The earth shook with the charge of Azeria's army as they rushed out of the gate and over the bridge. It was a sight to see them charge to what would be their end. On the other end was the army created by the enemy, which was coming to finish them off. With a start, Meera realized she and the Wardens were caught in the middle.
"We should get out of the way," Meera said.
Lexa nodded. "The girl's right. Let the living army take on the undead one."
"And don't forget the Mistblades," Pallas added, still huffing from the incredible defense he had put up.
The only reason we're still alive is because of the big guy.
Meera ran to the side, and the Wardens followed, along with a reluctant Dirik who still lingered to watch the charge of his armies. Pallas pulled him along to the side at the last moment as the first of the soldiers dashed off the bridge, followed by a deluge of their brothers.
The Wardens ran along the moat's edge until they were clear of what became the battlefield behind them. Swords clashed against swords, the living against the undead, and the shadowy Mistblades.
Meera identified quite a few, and they were around level 210. She remembered that the ones she had fought were around level 160. Erenyx and Doromar had given them a boost of fifty levels, but it was of no concern as the Steel Sentinels and Shadow Vanguard were also around the same level.
It was good that Nisaya had thrown the undead so far back into the forest. It gave the living enough time to take the fight to them. Hundreds of soldiers stormed out of the fortress every moment. It was unreal.
A woman in black riding a shadowy wave came towards them, keeping low to the ground. Hilnoa came to a stop before Dirik. She stepped off her shadow disk and bowed her head. "Your Highness."
"Grandmother, I thought we were past this," Dirik said.
"We are, but today, I want to bow my head to you. Today…" she had tears in her eyes. "Today, you have shown all the qualities befitting a just king. A king who cares for his people. Who fights for his people, even when no one else is willing. You've shown everyone why you are meant to take the throne from my spineless nephew. So, today, I am not bowing my head to the little kid who used to play in my lap. I am bowing my head to my future king."
Dirik blinked back tears and enveloped her in a big hug. "Thank you for bringing them, all."
"I did nothing save remind them that with the king out of commission, you were the one in charge, and you had ordered them to fight."
Dirik raised an eyebrow. "Did you? What did you really say?"
"Of course, I wasn't so nice about it. I reminded them that their prince had charged out the gates alone and that they should fall on their swords for letting him fight all on his own and other such niceties."
Dirik shook his head. "Whatever you did. Thank you for bringing them."
"Yes, lady." Tekton swung his sword in an arc. "With the undead and the Mistbaldes being taken care of, we can focus on the root of the problem."
"That's why I've come," Hilnoa replied. "That evil bitch has my nephew, who I love as if he were my own. I am fighting till the bitter end."
"Your skills are not effective against her," Meera blurted out, immediately wishing she had kept her mouth shut. Even though Meera had about fifty levels on the woman, the icy look of hers made Meera want to burrow deep into the ground and pour sand over herself.
"She's right," Dirik said. "Grandmother, if we lose you, who will lead the armies?"
"I don't care. There are enough generals who are fighting the enemy's forces. I will fight to free my son."
Dirik sighed. “Fine.”
"The Wardens, minus Pallas, will take on Erenyx," Lexa said. "And you three try your luck with Doromar."
"Doromar?" Hilnoa and Meera cried at the same time.
"Didn't you hear me?" Hilnoa drawled. "I came to free my son. You lot can take on the queen."
"I'll be honest," Dirik said. "I don't think I can hurt my mother, and if it's possible, can you draw out Doromar some way without killing my mother."
The Wardens shared glances.
Lexa stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's not going to be easy—"
Zona interrupted her. "This is no time to be sentimental. Your efforts bought us some time—time that we're squandering by debating amongst ourselves, while each dead soldier is one more for the enemy. We've decided who to fight, so let's get to it. Dirik, the harsh truth is, your mother might already be gone."
Dirik's head fell, and the lad looked on the verge of tears. Meera wasn't used to seeing his whole face, so it was much easier to read his expressions, even with his horrific scars.
"But we'll—I'll try to do my best to save her," Brison said, surprising everyone, seeing as how he doesn't even fight. "There might be a way. I came about it in my readings, but it won't be easy. If you all can weaken Doromar to the point of submission, I can draw him out."
Zona sighed. "And if we die in the process? We're already two men short."
"I'll be along shortly," Pallas said. "Just need a breather. I've already refilled my Stamina and Mana with my potions."
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Meera wondered why he would need a further break if he had refilled his Stamina. She filed this question for later. Right now, there were two Cosmarians who needed killing or exorcising.
"Ready, Dirik, or sorry, Delkoris, or what was the other name you gave me?" Meera asked.
He chuckled nervously. "Just Delkoris is fine."
"Fine, let's go end this."
Together with the Wardens, they charged the two enemies who were watching the battle. Something told Meera that they were waiting for them.
Erenyx grinned maniacally. Seeing that grin on Narikas' face felt wrong. Though it wasn't really Narikas's face, the Cosmarian demon had deformed it. Another thing that just rubbed Meera wrong.
Meera flew at Erenyx with level 2 chakrams in both hands. She clashed against her shadow and steel swords so hard that it sent out shockwaves that made the trees shiver and ripped the grass around them.
Erenyx was pushed back several meters, and her grin was wiped off her face. Meera blasted the area with mirrors and used Mirror Step to teleport to the side. From behind her, with impeccable timing, Delkoris slashed vertically up at her exposed back.
Erenyx cried out but quickly recovered and blocked the shadow spears Hilnoa had thrown her way. It was unreal the speed at which she had recovered. The Wardens were fighting a crazy battle with Doromar, who still had the shadow powers that his wife had given him. He had created more Mistblades that were keeping Tekton busy while the ladies assaulted the possessed queen.
It was something that Doromar felt so confident that he hadn't brought any of the undead to overwhelm the Wardens. He fought them himself.
Meera shot Vampiric Chains at Erenyx, but she cut them before they connected. Hilnoa assaulted her with a barrage of shadow spears, trying to keep her busy while Delkoris found an opening, but both were for naught.
Once Hilnoa's barrage stopped, Delkoris engaged the Cosmarian in hand-to-hand combat. Despite Narikas's bigger size, the prince held his own for some time before almost tripping on a rock. Erenyx opened a deep cut on his sword arm.
Meera flew to a downed Delkoris while Hilnoa took over. "You okay?"
"Just about. It looks worse than it is," he replied and punched the ground. "How is she still so strong? We took her out of the fortress."
"That's right, little prince," Erenyx cooed. "You're finally grasping at the truth. You might have separated me from my seat of power, but you cannot defeat me until the fortress stands, and you cannot defeat my dear Doromar without killing your mother. In essence, you cannot do anything."
Then something clicked. Meera's eyes widened. She looked to the Wardens, whose fight was going a little better. "Lexa, I need you!"
"I'm sort of busy over here," she yelled back.
"Mind if we take your places," Melas said, stepping out of an invisible door with his brother. "What do you say, brother?"
"I call Doromar," Pallas replied with his trademark manic smile.
Melas cracked his knuckles. "It's fine with me. Meera, you do what you need to do."
Without another word, he charged Erenyx. She saw him coming but could only do so much in the face of his incredible speed. Melas landed a thunderous punch on her shadow armor and sent her flying through the trees.
Hilnoa was about to zip after them on her flying disc, but Meera caught her by the wrist. "I need you to empty the fortress."
Understandably, she was shocked. "Are you mad? What are you thinking?"
"I'm going to bring down Tearsfell Prison. I need you to command all the civilians and nobles to leave before the rain starts."
"What rain—" her eyes widened as she realized what Meera was talking about.
"It's the only way we can weaken Erenyx enough to kill her. Melas can hold her off but not kill her. If Erenyx goes, then so does her shadow magic, which is protecting the Mistblades. In one blow, we'll weaken the enemy's forces by half."
"But what about fire?" Hilnoa asked.
"Send as many Blazers as you can my way."
Hilnoa smiled. "You will either win us this battle or kill us all."
Lexa arrived. "We're about to die anyway. We might as well try the girl's mad scheme."
Hilnoa nodded. "I'll get as many out through the Gateway Mirror and the rest through the exit into the woods. I'll shoot a dark arrow into the sky once we're all out." She zipped off toward the bridge.
Meera nodded, turned to Lexa, and explained what she needed from her. Lexa listened attentively, then laughed.
"It really is a mad scheme. You realize we'll have nowhere to retreat if your plan fails," Lexa said.
"I know," Meera said, noting the dozen Blazers coming her way. "Please get the storm started, and I'll join you shortly."
They stopped before Meera. The one in the lead glared at her for a moment. "The Matron has commanded us to follow your command. What are your orders?"
That was easy, Meera thought. She told them what she wanted from them. It didn't take long, but they got the message after a little bit of arguing that she was asking them to destroy their country's greatest fortress. But they came around once Meera threatened to have them court marshaled as she knew their Crown Prince quite well.
"It's ready, Meera," Lexa said, her hands raised high to the sky. "Just add your Mana to it, and it'll be the greatest fireworks of the century."
Meera joined her, raised her hands high, and focused on the storm clouds. Heaven's Wrath was a simple skill. It took less Mana than anticipated to make the clouds grow darker and broader until they covered the entire fortress. Thunder rumbled in the sky.
Meera looked to the Blazers. "Start getting ready!"
They nodded, and balls of fire bloomed in their hands. Meera looked to the skies and waited for the signal, but no arrow came.
"Meera, we're wasting a lot of Mana holding back that storm," Lexa said.
"I know." Meera was watching her Mana dip at a dangerous rate.
To her side, the Blazers had started to form the Inferno Storm. With a dozen Blazers pooling their Mana together, it would be something to see.
"Condense it," Meera called. "We don't want it to be so big that it evaporates the clouds."
"Huh? But how can—"
"Just do it," Meera barked.
"Meera, I'm almost done—" Lexa was interrupted by a massive arrow of darkness that shot right through the storm clouds.
Meera grinned. "Let fall the rain."
She stopped holding back the storm and let the lightning fall. Thunder roared, and one after another, brilliant bolts of lightning fell on the fortress of dark metal. She knew enough that they just had to start the storm, and the metal fortress would pull the lightning to itself on its own. The world flashed with each bolt, and thunder threatened to rip her eardrums apart.
She pulled off her Gem of Echoes and joined the Blazers, who were all understandably transfixed by the storm Meera and Lexa had conjured. Meera took a moment to down a Mana potion, which refilled her Mana to about two-thirds. It should be enough.
Inferno Storm was, in essence, a fire tornado, but tongues of flames lashed out on all sides. The Blazers had created a fine one. Something told Meera they hadn't put the bulk of their Mana into it, which was fine. The fire tornado before her was about thirty feet tall and about ten feet wide. It spun at the edge on the other side of the moat. Despite the distance, Meera thought her skin was melting off her bones.
"Blazers! Let's get this done," Meera shouted.
She extended a hand to the fire tornado and added her Mana to the spinning Inferno Storm. The tornado grew, but she controlled her Mana further and condensed it. The flames grew redder and redder. The Blazers were also pouring more Mana into it, and the Inferno Storm's flames had grown to be white hot.
The lightning had begun to melt the fortress quite nicely. Time to give it a push.
"Go!" Meera pushed forward with her Mana, and the Blazers followed suit.
The Inferno Storm blazed through the metal wall. It didn't even stop the fiery tornado for one second as it melted the wall into a puddle and attacked the fortress of Shadowsteel.
"No!" Erenyx cried as she came blasting through the trees to watch its seat of power be assaulted by lightning and fire. "What have you done?" She cried, horrified.
"To rain and fire will the cage of tears fall."