Encroaching armies point of view

“We need more chains! We need more men! We, WE NEED MORE EVERYTHING!”

Dozens of men hold chains that are circled around a monster's neck. Dozens of gigantic beasts are being held down by various means. The leader yells out.

“We need the beast calmer now!”

A man rushes off and the men continue to struggle to hold down the monster until a man wearing a brown robe appears. The man looks at the beast and it starts to move around with fear. It is as if this man has continuously put this giant monster down over and over again. Just his mere presence is enough for it to stop fighting against the men. The men take that time to refasten the chains to the ground. The robed man continues to walk around quelling the beasts. Most of them aren't used to being moved so they are acting up more than usual.

Dozens of monsters, all big enough to need a raid team to kill are being transported somewhere. They all look relatively normal, except for one. One that isn't making any attempt to escape. A gigantic ape, big enough to be confused for a tiny hill is laying on the biggest platform where almost a hundred men and horses are transporting. It remains sitting down. A guard watching over this one speaks up.

“Whats up with this big bloke here? Even with you here I doubt we could keep him under control.”

“He wont act. This one is special, he only kills when he's hungry or when he feels a threat against him. We keep this beast fed, we make no attempt to harm him and it wont attack us. Also, it is a giant dangerous animal, not a bloke.”

“That's pretty continent! I wish all the beasts acted like this one!”

“Well there is another way the beast will act up. If it feels the presence of a challenger, this monster is extremely territorial… Also, I think you meant convenient, not continent.”

The men hear another yell for help from near a number of cages.

“The wildlings are acting up!”

The beast calmer now looks like he is in a slight panic. He runs over to the cages and throws some type of powder onto the contents of it. Inch thick steel bars with claw marks covering the inside clatter with attacks for only a few more seconds until the powder takes effect. The guard watching the giant ape rushes over and asks another question.

“These seem like they'd be the easiest to take care of. They're even smaller than me but they act up like they're the biggest threat in here. Why do we bother keeping these wild things?”

The beast calmer only looks inside at what was causing the biggest uproar. Small children lie on the floor now sleeping from the powder the beast calmer had thrown at them. The oldest looks to be about 11 years old… A dozen children are being treated like dangerous animals, because they are dangerous animals. The beast calmer finally speaks.

“That's because these children are the most dangerous beasts we have… I also think you meant wildlings… Not wild things… These children are born on the battlefield and grow up only knowing war. They're honestly far harder to deal with than what they are worth. No enemy can stand up to their onslaught of quick and deadly attacks. Well, maybe the greater dire ape could deal with them but it would still be a close fight.”

He looks at the cage again eying the children more closely. Thick teeth and claws cover their mouth and hands. Constantly breaking and regrowing them have made them as deadly a weapon as any that can be crafted by a blacksmith. Tiny bodies that have more muscle packed into them than a full grown adult. They are truly deadly. The sleep powder he had thrown at them is enough to put down a beast 20 times the size of a normal human but they quickly recover in less than half the time. He scratches his head and speaks again to the guard.

“I understand why we are bringing these beasts but if we are moving these wildlings… We may be facing a far more difficult opponent than a small army. I think it is just the sultan being paranoid though.”

The beast tamer curses his luck, he hates working hard and with transporting so many beasts it is going to be endless hours of work with little rest. He sighs again before hearing another call for help and running off.

Blue's point of view

I had gotten back to the fortress recently. Assuming that I was going to be the last to make it back I was shocked to find out the Red had not returned… How!? She should have been the first one back. It pisses me off that she is so lazy when it comes to following instructions… Not only that but I've had a bad feeling since I've gotten back. I asked the others but they don't seem to see the problem here. We've all been given permission to leave by master if we aren't comfortable here. She must have just decided to not come back everyone said… My gut is telling me that isn't what happened. I decided to go through her portal scroll.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

I gathered up some supplies, I assume that if my elemental lord involved swimming to the bottom of a lake to meet the village of water nymphs leader, hers is going to be similar except with heat. I don't need water so bringing some cool cloths to keep the sun off me is all I take. I go through the portal and am hit with a wave of heat. FUCK it's hot! Her portal scroll was buried under a few inches of sand, it was hidden in a place that would be very difficult for sand pile up like this… I think it is a sign that it has been placed here for awhile. Meaning that she could have been back home much sooner than everyone else but decided against returning.

Now I'm pissed off again. I knew she was slacking. I walk sort of aimlessly for awhile before stumbling across a giant tent… It feels more imposing than I thought it would. I open the outside flap and I'm immediately hit with a wave of stinky smoke. It overwhelms my sense of smell the to point I can barely even feel the heat inside here. Even the short trek to the tent has all of my cloths soaked in sweat. I see a huge entrance with people sitting inside. Side rooms are at the back behind a huge man but that doesn't matter. Even without much effort to find her I can see her as soon as I enter the room.

She is lying on a giant bed leaning against the giant red man who has 1 arm wrapped around her and his other arm over a few other women on the opposite side of him. He is the only one who seems to have noticed me, almost like he knew I was here before I was even close to the building. I somewhat assumed that the leaders of each elemental branch could sense anyone entering their territory. I ignore him and yell out towards Red.

“Hey you shithead! What are you doing!? You could have came back and let everyone know you were going to live here from now on! I feel like I wasted…”

She barely moves her head to look at me. Her eyes are glazed over with the look of some type of haze blocking her senses… I start putting pieces together and the giant man is already out of the bed and charging at me as the last parts of my theory are pieced together. He has her under a mind control effect somehow like a slave collar!

The giant man swings at me and I barely get out of the way. The sheer force from the punch is enough to still send me flying out of the tent. Ripping through the entrance flap, I'm sent flying back enough for the fall to cause me harm. If I hadn't cast jet stream to slow my decent down I would have been harmed. He charges at me again. Fear shoots through me as I run away from him. SHIT! SHIT SHIT SHIT! I should have waited for Kite to get back! Fuck! He's so fast! I cast haste on myself and slow on him. I still can't outrun him! I'm going to die! Think! THINK THINK THINK! I have the time magic stop time which would buy me a few seconds to get further away but that will only buy me a few seconds! THINK!

He keeps getting closer, there is no way I can fight with him. With the first swing of his fist I knew how outclassed I was. I need to think of an idea quick so I don't die. I need to make it back to that portal scroll and get through. But if I do that he'll know where it is and he might use it and come into the inner part of our fortress. I doubt he would be able to survive fighting our entire army but he would do significant damage to our troops. I got it!

I turn around and start blasting him with jet stream to try and slow him down. There is enough water pressure to push back a giant rok monster but it barely slows him down at all. Steam rises off of him as the water makes contact, his body must be burning at an incredible temperature. Switching where I was aiming from him to the hot sand it kicks up enough sand into his face to slow him down more than using it on him. I need to save enough mana so that when I get close to the scroll I can stop time enough to take the portal scroll and buy myself enough time to make it home and rip up the receiving end of that portal scroll. Slowing him down this way had only pissed him off. He jumps into the air, high enough and hard enough to shoot him over me.

Shit I was running for the portal scroll… Does he know that I was running towards something or does he think that I was just running in a random direction? I can't head towards him now anyways so I need to keep track of it mentally. I should only be a mile away from it but if I run back towards his hut I'll only put more distance between me and the scroll. I have to choose left or right… With only enough time to take a single glance in both directions I notice something to the right. There is a mound of rocks. I decide to head right and I'll try to think of a way to use this to my advantage while I do.

He's so fast, if he had jumped with less strength and put himself closer to me I wouldn't have had much of a chance to get away. It sort of feels like he is playing with me. He is treating me like a cat playing with a mouse. Enjoying the chase because he knows there is no way I can escape from him. I doubt I will make it away alive. NO! I can't think like that! I have to survive so I can tell Kite whats happened to Red… I start to question weather Kite can even do anything about this guy...

He is only a few steps behind me as I hit the rock formation. If he reached out or tried any harder he could have beat me hear. My legs are on fire from running. The heat fills my lungs and makes it even harder to breath. He hasn't even broken a sweat yet. Stepping onto the rocks is the first chance I have to really screw with his footing. I tried moving the sand out from underneath his feet but it kept filling back in with more sand and it is harder to control sand than it is rock.

I make a pothole under his foot the second he tries to step on rock tripping him up. He rolls behind me from the momentum of running full force. I shift directions the moment he does and let him roll past me, now that his feet aren't planted I hit him with a tidal wave of water. It is a signature move that uses jet stream and mana control to increase the power and size of the water I put out. The wave pushes him even further in the wrong direction. He curses loudly as I make my way towards the scroll.

When he gets up he could possibly jump over me again but I'll just blast him with water while he's above me to slow his fall down, the second his feet are off the ground I can push him back with water. That tactic put him far behind me too, I think I'm going to make it-. A wave of heat that is hot enough to burn me is now behind me. Fire is coming out of the red man now. I barely get up a wave of water to save me from being burned to a crisp. Water counters fire but even with a huge amount of water his fire still makes it through burning my back and arm incredibly. Shit! If he does that again I don't think I'll survive it. I've used up so much of my mana already, if he does that again I might not have enough to stop time when I get closer! I'm close now, almost within sight of it. I might be able to make it!

Yes! I am so happy that as I round the hill I trip over a rock. A wave of fire blasts over my head, the fire was far more concentrated and faster than the other attack. I wouldn't have been able to defend against it with a wave of water. By unluckily tripping I was just saved from being roasted alive. I scurry back to my feet as he rounds the top of the hill behind me. Only a few steps away again I am within sight of the scroll. I need to run a bit further! If he attacks me again with a fire spell I will die! I need to make it just a little further!

I feel the heat behind me again, he is going to use that controlled fire attack again but I am so close to him that I can feel it this time. Just… A little further… STOP! I freeze time and continue to run. Turning around for only a glance I can see fire erupting from his hands, he would have burned me alive if I had waited even a second longer. With the last bit of my mana I make it to the scroll and use it.

I fall down onto the floor inside our fortress and quickly pull over the stand that the scroll is on making it fall onto me. I rip it to pieces as I take extremely heavy breaths. My body feels completely worn down by just that running. I wheeze and heave heavily as I try to catch my breath. All those days I ran training my running speed and fatigue points with Kite have paid off with my life… I need to go find Kite and tell him what I've seen now that I'm safe… Maybe I'll rest for another minute and go to the medical bay to have these burns treated before I do though.