The sounds of battle grew louder as Leaf drew close to Southsheer’s front gate. Jahora was at his side, keeping pace with his slower stride. When he looked at her, he recalled the image that flashed through his mind just minutes before. The sight of a gnome couple, heads hung over a table littered with papers, defeat and despair clear on their faces. He shook his head, there would be time to ask about that later. However, as he started to focus there was a feeling at the back of his mind that gave him pause. It was similar to the presence of the bow when it had been stored with Jahora’s magic, and had he not felt the touch of her magic before he may not have even noticed this feeling start to form. It was creeping, sliding along the back of his mind with a colder touch, and the gooseflesh that already trailed down his back grew more stiff as the feeling started to grow prominent.
He stopped and shook his head, trying to focus his mind and flushing it free of this invasive presence.
“Get out of my head,” he said through grit teeth. He glanced around him, making sure that there were no predators lying in ambush, and closed his eyes as he took a deep breath and focused inward towards his Core.
He repeated the actions of Cultivation, stilling the pulsing heart of Ether and containing the energy within. The familiar ethereal punch stuck him in the chest, followed by the burn at his Core that spread throughout his body. He focused on the pain, emphasizing its presence in his mind, using the fire that lanced through him to melt away the ice that crept in from the outside. When he opened his eyes, he let go of the breath he was holding, allowing the Ether contained in his Core to wash through him. His mind was clear, that cold touch from before gone. When he looked to Jahora, the Thaumaturge was in a meditative state of her own, two Circles of Aether around her head flaring with a pale purple light. They faded when she opened her eyes, and the two of them shared a knowing look as they resumed their flight to the front gate.
“Was that the Sword?” Leaf asked.
“I would assume so,” Jahora said, “If Marjorie has drawn it somehow, or freed just a bit more than before, its reach may have gotten stronger.”
“Shite,” Leaf cursed, “was that why we’re seeing each other’s memories?”
She shook her head, “I can’t say. It was able to show Helbram his own memories, but it would have no reason to display such things between us. It is possible that the Sword’s magic was reacting with the Troll’s own empathetic abilities, creating such an effect.”
Leaf nodded, “I can’t feel the Sword anymore, so it shouldn’t happen to me again.”
“Likewise,” Jahora said, “but what of Helbram and Elly?”
“We’ll just have to trust them,” Leaf said in a solemn tone, “For now, we need to focus.”
Jahora set her jaw and turned back to the road. They closed in on the front gate, and both paused as the chaos of what they encountered dawned on them.
A mass of beasts and men stood in front of a broken gate, its locking beam splintered at its center as if it had been ripped in half. The barest semblance of a defensive line was what held the cluster of fur and claws at bay, the steel of their blades flashing at irregular intervals as the men tried to exploit any small opening to thin the swarm set upon them. The bodies that littered the ground behind them told Leaf that such efforts were in vain. Some of the men dispersed throughout the line emitted auras of different colors, indicating their status as Awoken, but the highest level of strength that Leaf could see was a second Layer Journeyman that sat at the center of the line.
A cluster of Mages stood further back, Aether swirling around them as they peppered the horde of beasts with bolts of fire, ice, and lighting. Some were on their knees, spells still flying from their hands but at a steadily dwindling rater. A smaller line of Archers stood to the side of the Mages, mimicking the spellcasters’ actions with their arrows. Their quivers were near empty, but bundles of arrows littered the ground around them. It was with these two groups that the horde had been thinned to the degree where the defensive line could still hold them, but the fatigue throughout the men was evident, and the vacant eyes that stared up at him from the corpses spread throughout the ground stabbed at his chest with a spike of despair.
“Gods…” Jahora gasped.
Leaf pulled his attention away from the bodies and kept his gaze focused straight ahead, “Focus Jahora, we have little time.”
“Right,” Jahora said as she clapped her hands on her face, “I’ll support the Mages.”
“And I the archers,” Leaf said, “We need to clear the horde before the Parents arrive.”
She nodded as she broke away from him, Aether already swirling around her as she joined the fray. Leaf ran towards the bowmen, notching an arrow of his own, not a moment too late for as he closed in on the archers a Scalehound leapt over the defensive line, fangs bared as it charged towards the now panicking men. Arrows were loosed at the beast, glancing off of its scaled hide, and a scream of panic broke from the archer’s group as the Scalehound closed in on them. Leaf pulled his arrow back, forcing the Ether within his Core into the projectile and into his feet.
He released the energy-infused projectile as the beast was mid leap, jaw open and ready to wrap around an unfortunate man’s throat. Before the Scalehound could clamp down, the arrow struck its side. A scale cracked as the shot pierced through the beast’s hide, staggering it as it turned its head towards Leaf. The archer kicked off the ground with his Ether infused legs, the energy granting him a longer, faster stride as he closed the distance between him and the Scalehound before the beast could fully recover. Leaf brought up his foot, striking the beast in the jaw with his reinforced leg, the blow carrying enough force to knock the hound from its feet. The archer drew his short sword and was already on top of the beast as it hit the ground, driving the blade into its unarmored throat. The Scalehound flinched as the blade bit into its flesh and stopped moving soon after.
Leaf turned to the other archers, who were all looking at him with stunned silence, “Don’t stop shooting!” he snapped, jolting them from their stupor and back into action.
The archer fell in line with the others soon after, but stopped as he noticed that the group was spreading their shots wide, across the horde rather than at any one singular spot.
“Oi oi!” He yelled, drawing the attention of the others, “We don’t have the numbers for that kind of aim,” he directed their attention towards the end of the line closest to them, “Focus your shots, clear the flank so the defenders can close in.”
Without waiting for any acknowledgement of his instruction, he followed his own directions and loosed his arrows at the side of the line closest to him. His quiver soon ran empty, and he paused to fill it with the bundles of arrows on the ground. When he directed his attention back towards the beasts, he noted that the archers took his advice and were focusing their shots towards where he was shooting. The group soon fell into a rhythm, and soon the beasts were thinned enough that the front line was able to press them back and close in towards the center.
“Keep up the focus!” Leaf yelled, “Do not let up until all the beasts have fallen!”
As they continued their volleys, Leaf glanced to the side to see the status of the spellcasters, feeling relief as he noticed Jahora at their head, barking orders that he could not hear. He could see their effect, however, for just as he focused the archer’s fire, she was directing the Mages’ spells to the opposite flank, the stream of fire, ice and lightning thinning the hordes enough for the defensive line to press in from their side. The beasts were unable to maintain their assault as their ranks thinned, and they were pushed back towards the gate, clustered together as the line pressed them back. The front line was now on the offensive, slicing down the beasts and shoving them back with shields until the animals were too packed together to move effectively. The momentum continued, and eventually the beasts were pushed out of the town’s gate.
“Now!” Jahora yelled, signaling a surge of Aether that flared from the spellcasters.
A chill swept over Leaf as flames gathered around the Mages, forming a brief cyclone of flames that took in the heat from the surrounding area. Frost skated across the ground as the twister of fire condensed, forming a small bead that hovered over Jahora’s finger.
“Brace yourselves men!” She yelled towards the front line.
Some turned back, and upon seeing the bead of fire turned to their companions on the line and barked out commands to one another. Leaf could not make out what was said, but it all achieved the same effect.
The men tightened their stances and got down on one knee, trying to fit as much of their bodies as they could behind their shields. The moment that they slipped into this defensive stance Jahora released the bead into the mass of beasts. Only the faintest of glows trailed its path, stopping the moment that it reached the center of the horde. Light swelled around the bead, and the air itself went still as Jahora snapped her fingers.
Fire burst forth, surging up to the sky as a pillar of fire and light. Those at the epicenter of the blast were incinerated entirely, while those around that were lifted from their feet and engulfed in flames. A shockwave burst from the explosion, ripping through the horde and sending them crashing into one another, and though there was a mass of bodies to cushion the blow, it still struck the defensive line with enough force to knock the non-Awoken from their feet. The dirt and dust blasted into the sky, creating a haze over the battlefield as it tried to settle back to the ground. Leaf’s hearing left him the moment the explosion went off, and even at his distance he still staggered back as the force of the blast washed over him.
The smell of burnt fur and flesh swelled as a gust wind swept over them, and he could hear muted roars and muffled cries slowly start to clear up as his ears recovered. He scanned the defensive line, finding the men shaken, but otherwise unharmed by the explosion. The same could be said of the archers at his sides, many of which had fallen to their knees as fatigue took their strength. A few of the Mages collapsed to the ground, their chests heaving as they were no doubt overcome with Aether sickness. Jahora herself had fallen to one knee, but she pushed herself back up and looked back at the remaining spellcasters.
The men at the front recovered to their feet, wasting no time to finish off the beasts that were not felled in the explosion. Leaf pulled his gaze from them and tried to focus his sight through the haze of dust that hung over them. It was not a moment too soon, for as his vision focused he noted two silhouettes in the distance. They were large, and were approaching steadily.
Panic flared at his chest, a feeling that he suppressed with a shake of his head.
“Eye up everyone!” He bellowed, “We’re not done yet!”
A few looked at him with confusion, but he could hear groans as the dust started to clear, revealing the pair of Trolls that just emerged from the forest. Their large, imposing figures were now adorned in twisted woods and branches, forming a makeshift armor that wrapped around their frames. The Father walked ahead of the Mother, his armor thicker, hand wrapped around a tree that looked as if it had just been ripped from the ground. Dirt fell from the broken roots of the tree, and its leaves fell as the Troll rested it on his shoulder.
HEAR ME, CHILDREN OF MEN.
The voice was mental, rather than physical, but crashed over them with enough force that some men fell to the ground in surprise. It was the voice of the Father.
SURRENDER TO US THE ONES WHO SLAYED OUR SON, AND WE SHALL LEAVE YOU IN PEACE.
All paused as the words washed over them. The men were filled with confusion, but soon their attention fell upon Leaf and Jahora. Both of them back away from their respective groups.
“If you’re looking for the one responsible, then you’re going to have to take it up with the Shrine,” Leaf said, his bow lowered but grip still firm around the weapon.
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“What of your leader?” one of the men spat, “He was proud to brag of his accomplishment just a day ago.”
That phrase was enough to trigger the other men to close in on Leaf, hands outstretched.
Leaf knocked an arrow and swept it over the oncoming crowd, which gave them pause, “Get your heads out of your arses, you saw us walk into the forest yesterday. If they were looking for us do you honestly believe we would have come back out?”
His appeal gave them further pause, but still some men inched closer to him.
“Stop!”
Leaf did not dare turn his head away from the crowd, but the urgency behind Jahora’s scream made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. He knew why, for out of the corner of his eye he saw a bolt of fire slice through the air. It was small, barely a speck as it faded into the distance, but all watched as the bolt glanced off of the Father’s armor.
The crowd’s heads were turned, and when Leaf stepped away from them and looked towards the Mages he saw a young woman who lay on the ground with her hand outstretched.
Was she unconscious before the Trolls arrived, panicking at the sight of them as her vision returned to her? Was it arrogance that drove her actions? Leaf did not have time to consider any of this. For before he could open his mouth to say anything the Father spoke once again.
SO BE IT.
The Parent’s started their charge, with the Father lifting the tree in his hand over his head as his steps started to quicken. Yellow energy surged from the ground and into his feet, trailing into his hand and eventually the tree itself as he brought it to the ground.
“With me Mages!” Jahora yelled, rushing in front of the defensive line, blue Aether wisping from her hands.
Some, but not all of the spellcasters joined her, forming a small line as they all mimicked the spell that formed at the Thaumaturge’s palms. They thrust their hands out, summoning a large barrier of a transparent blue light that enveloped Southsheer’s gate. A stream of Aether flowed from Jahora’s hands and into the barrier, spreading a glyph throughout the barrier’s make.
As the Aether infused tree struck the ground, the ground itself surged forward as pillars of earth tore through the ground in a wave towards the town. The wave of stone struck the barrier, shattering it as both magicks collided. Jahora was knocked from her feet along with the Mages maintaining the shield.
Leaf rushed towards his companion, channeling his Ether into his eyes to keep track of the Parents, whos’ charge had only quicked. He got to Jahora’s side the moment that she returned to her feet.
“Such strength…” she said, clutching her shoulder.
“Leave it to Helbram to task us with the impossible…” Leaf muttered, “How injured are you?”
Jahora rolled her shoulder, “Tis minor,” she looked back towards the town, “Their spirit, however…”
Leaf looked back, seeing many of the men had fallen to their knees, dropping their weapons as they looked upon the display of force in front of them.
“Godsdammit…” he muttered. He looked for those that still had weapons in their hands, recognizing most of them as the Awoken amongst the defensive line. Amongst them there was one wearing a sleeveless gambeson with chainmail underneath. He was shouting orders at the rest of the line, but only a few joined with him. With his Ether infused vision he saw the man’s Core, noting it to be the size of a small ball. A second Layer Journeyman.
“Can you rally the Mages?” Leaf asked Jahora.
She looked over those that had joined her in forming the barrier, who were still trying to get to their feet. Her brow was furrowed, but she nodded at him.
“Good,” he sighed, “Gods willing we’ll be able to hold them back in the meantime,” he drew one of the two daggers from his waist, the ones that were engraved with her glyph, “Get ready to restrain them.”
Her eyes widened, but she nodded at him, “Understood.”
Leaf left Jahora and rushed to the armored Awoken, who had managed to gather some more men around him.
“Form up men!” the man ordered, “We need to hold them here!”
“That’s not going to work,” Leaf said as he joined the group, drawing their attention, “We need to meet them outside the gate, in the field.
“Are you mad?” One of the men said, “We’re going to get flattened out there!”
“As opposed to here?” Leaf said, “Or would you rather fight two giants in a narrow road, surrounded by buildings that could collapse on top of you?”
The armored man grimaced, “He’s right, our movements would be limited if we stay here.
“We’ll die if we go out to meet them,” a man yelled at them, one of the ones that had not gotten to their feet.”
The Awoken sighed, “Better to die on my feet than on my back,” he looked to Leaf, “You look to have a plan.”
Leaf fingered the daggers on his waist, “We need to buy the Mages some time.”
The man nodded, “Then that is what we shall do,” He looked to the others around him, “Ready men?”
They all let out a cheer.
“Then we need to move,” Leaf said as he turned back to the gate. The Parents were now close to Southsheer, and would enter the town proper soon.
The men joined him as he ran past the gate, entering the field just outside of town. He passed by Jahora on the way out, noting that the Thaumaturge was surrounded by a circle of other Mages.
“Your name, archer?” the armored awoken asked as he kept up with his pace.
“Leaf,” he said, focusing his eyes upon the charging Trolls.
“August,” the Awoken said in response, “where is your leader?”
“Dealing with the real cause behind all this,” Leaf did not look back to see if the man believed him.
“I see… we will speak further on this when the day is done.”
They said nothing else, but shared a nod before charging forward. Blue Ether radiated August’s body as he sped ahead of Leaf, hefting his shield in front of him and readying his spear. Leaf infused an arrow and his arms with his own red Ether, and pulled his bowstring past his chest. He loosed the empowered projectile towards the Father. The armored Troll twisted his body, intercepting the shot with his shoulder. There was enough force behind the arrow to throw the Father’s arm back, but it did little to slow his momentum. The Troll responded by sweeping at the oncoming group with his tree, the makeshift weapon infused with a yellow energy.
“On guard men!” August yelled, lining up with the men at his side, who all had begun to channel Ether through their bodies.
The blow collided with the shield wall, triggering a burst of force as Ether and Aether collided with one another. The defense held, the men maintaining the guard sliding back as the Father pressed the attack, but could not fully complete his swing. August pressed forward ahead of his men and threw his arm to the side, repelling the Father’s weapon to the side.
As soon as he did, however, the Mother leapt at the men, fist raised and ready to bring down on the still reeling troops. Leaf loosed another infused arrow towards her, striking her forearm and forcing it off course. Her blow struck the ground, but the resulting tremor knocked the adventurers off balance. The Father swept his free hand across the men, knocking many, including August, from their feet. The armored Awoken rolled as he hit the ground and recovered to his feet. Still gripping his shield, he rushed forward and caught the Mother’s follow up blow, tilting the angle of the shield so her fist slid off and into the ground next to him. Leaf sprinted forward and pulled one of the daggers from his waist, infusing his arms with Ether as he drove it into her wrist. The Mother howled in pain as Leaf twisted the knife, further embedding the blade into her skin. Leaf was thrown from his feet as she threw her hand back, but he quickly recovered and grabbed his bow.
“MURDERERS!” The Mother bellowed, both audibly and into their minds, the sorrow and anger behind his voice bringing both Leaf and August to their knees, “YOU WILL ALL PAY!”
As the Mother screamed, the Father brought back the tree in his hands and swung it towards August. Leaf forced himself to his feet and tackled the armored Awoken, throwing them to the ground and just under the blow as it passed over them. Adrenaline forced the Mother’s grief from his mind and the two men managed to get to their feet before the Father could follow up on his attack. Both men fell back from the Trolls, attempting to gain back some semblance of footing.
“To your feet men!” August yelled, “well wishes will not repel our foe this day!”
The men responded to the command, scrambling to their feet as Leaf and August leapt back into the fray. The Mother drove her fingers into the ground and ripped her hand back up, sending a wave of earth towards them. Leaf ran up the surging tide, infusing his legs with Ether to grant him some stability on the unstable terrain. When he cleared its crest he loosed another infused arrow at the Mother, ignoring the increasingly hollow feeling at this chest. It bit into her armor, the wooden plating enough to absorb the shock of the arrow, negating any effect it may have had. She swung the back of her hand into Leaf as he fell to the ground, and it was only out of instinct that he managed to channel Ether throughout his body when he caught the blow in its entirety. His vision blacked out as he was thrown into the air, his body numb when it hit the ground.
Only the barest amount of consciousness remained, as if his mind had decided to shut down in response to the pain that would have surged through him otherwise. His senses retreated, and beyond muffled shouts he could only feel the tremors of the chaos that had occurred around him. There was a cadence that rang through it, most likely August barking orders, but Leaf could not make out what was being said.
He wanted to let his consciousness slip away, to forget the pains that would no doubt torment him should he decide to wake up, to pay no more attention to the insurmountable foe that stood before him. He just had to close his eyes, let someone else take over, to finish the job.
But he knew they couldn’t, he knew that there was one thing that he still had to do.
Drive overtook comfort, and resolve flared the thread of his consciousness into full awareness. Pain lanced throughout his body, and though he could not feel one of his arms, he could still move it. His hearing returned, catching the sound of the Father’s tree striking against August and the men’s shield wall. Grunts of effort soon followed, and as Leaf turned his head he saw that they were keeping the blow in place as before, leaving the Father’s wrist wide open.
With a roar Leaf forced himself up, stumbling forward as he got to his feet, but still finding enough momentum to drive the dagger into the Father’s wrist. He collapsed back to the ground shortly after, but still find strength in his lungs.
“Jahora! Now!” he yelled.
As soon as the words left his lips, wind billowed by him. He turned his head to a spot between the Parents, seeing a large green glyph form on the ground. As it did, threads of Aether wrapped around the daggers that were driven into the Parent’s wrist, pulling their arms back towards the symbol and onto the ground. A swirl of green light formed at the front of the town, with Jahora and the Mages gathered at its base. The spell bound the Parent’s arms in place, and despite their wild efforts, they could not pry their arms from the glyph.
“Good…” Leaf said in a weak tone. He felt dizzy as his adrenaline rush wore off, a feeling that was soon joined by the pain that he tried to ignore. Despite this, he forced himself back to his feet.
Things were not finished.
August and his men had formed up once again, but Leaf noticed that their ranks were considerably thinner, by more than a half. The auras of their Ether, as well, were much more faint than before, though even that was more than Leaf could manage to muster at the moment. Still, he managed to find his bow in the grass, miraculously unharmed even after the blow he took.
It took far too much effort for him to even pull an arrow from the splintered mess of wood that was in his quiver, but he knocked the projectile regardless, turning to face the Parents, who were still fighting their bonds, swiping their free hands at August and his men to keep them away.
Leaf paused at the sight, remembering the sadness that had bombarded him just a couple of days ago, remembering the sight of their dead child. They had caused so much death already with their actions, yet still he could only question his own.
Was he right for doing this?
He did not have much time to contemplate the question, for his thoughts were interrupted by the constant tremors that rumbled under him. The Father was striking the glyph with all his might, denting the ground the Troll’s fist kept passing through the magic and into the earth. As he did so, however, the glyph started to flicker, a detail that both Leaf and August were unable to catch in time.
“August!” Leaf yelled, “pull ba-”
His words were interrupted as the glyph shattered. The next moment, the Father swept his newly free hand into August and his men, swatting the group to the side and ripping them from the ground. None of them stood back up.
“Dammit…” Leaf muttered, looking back at the Parent’s, his fingers trembling as he held the arrow in his hands.
The Parents returned to their feet, their size looming over Leaf as they walked towards him. His legs refused to move as they closed in, a mix of fear and resignation holding him in place, and what little remained of his defiance was expressed as he pulled his bowstring back, aiming the arrow towards the Father. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see the final blow.
One that never came, for soon after a pulse of energy washed over him from behind, forcing him to stumble forward. He bumped into the Father’s leg, surprised when the Troll did not respond to it. No, he saw their gazes directed elsewhere, and when he followed it he knew why they were distracted.
From the Shrine, a pillar of silver light pierced the night sky.