Unlike the branches at Fortress Hickory, which were hollowed out and open-topped, the branches of this tree were simply larger than normal. Solera sat on one of them, a thick green vine in his hands.
“I still don’t know how to use this.” Solera grumbled to Guinness, who sat next to him and was similarly holding a vine. “How far does it shoot when you squeeze it, anyway?”
Guinness squeezed the vine, sending a spray of acid shooting into the air.
“Oh, pretty far.” Solera squinted his eyes, looking into the distance. The United Duchies armies had set up camp in the forest thirty kilometers away. Little wisps of smoke rose up from their campfires, and the occasional chaser flitted about through the air, bloodied from several skirmishes with the imps.
Many of the soldiers were inside the tunnel system, preparing for a battle. Solera wanted to fight, but Chianti had forbidden it. As a compromise, he was all the way back at base, holding this acid-shooting vine. A regular had given him a very basic explanation of the vine, but that was all.
An imp flew over from a nearby branch, landing next to Guinness. Chittering angrily, it took out a smooth rock and began scratching away at it. After a few seconds, it flipped it around for Guinness to see. Solera leaned over to see that the imp had written “Dont shoot idiot.”
“... Sorry.” Solera said, inwardly holding back his laughter. “My fault.”
The imp socked him in the stomach before flying off.
“Infant.” The regular overseeing the imps on the adjacent branch looked over at Solera. “How old?”
“Thirteen.” Solera answered hesitantly. Unlike many of the other regulars, this one was wearing a uniform, but it still looked quite fearsome with its sharp fangs and black fur.
“Not infant then.” The regular took out a snack and began to eat. “I am four since become self aware.”
Solera blinked in surprise. “Only four?”
“Yes.” The regular waved at the imps. “They are thirty days mostly.”
“Four years…” Solera tried to process that information. Warriors like this regular could be made in four years in Sky?
“What is Sky like?” Solera asked curiously. He had heard so many things about it, but here was a person who had actually been there. “It seems like a crazy place.”
“Crazy? No. Simple. Simple place.” The regular popped another cracker into its mouth. “Sky made out of power. Spirits made out of power. You have more power, you are bigger. You are bigger, you are boss. Very truth- only truth in Sky.”
“How big are you, then?” Solera smiled. Size meant rank? What a strange concept!
“In Land, I am this big.” The regular pointed at itself.
“In Sky, this clone is this big.” It made a small ball with its hands.
“Big clone is this big.” It pointed at itself again. “Close to this.”
“Clone?” Solera asked, confused. “What’s a clone?”
The regular smiled. “Clone is me. Mind split, make clone. Easy.”
Solera scratched his head, astonished. At Fortress Hickory, he had learned that mind splitting was the process of dividing the soul into two pieces that could each think for themselves and perform different tasks. All controllers had split their mind at least once.
“Wait, that actually makes a lot of sense.” Solera muttered. Spirits were just souls! Dividing the soul would of course split the spirit into two.
“I have three clone.” The regular went on. “When rift came, everyone near with clone must give one or more. Big hurry. But other clone get big reward because I go.”
“How strange.” Solera remarked. “So even if you, uh, this body, dies, your clone lives?”
The regular nodded. “Never see clone again. But fine.”
“That’s not simple.” Solera laughed. “Making clones? That’s crazy.” He found this regular to be very easy to get along with. It didn’t look like it had any ill intent at all.
“Hey, how big is the Gardener?” Solera asked. “He must be huge.”
The regular grunted with amusement. “Too big. Too big.”
“How big?” Solera pressed on.
The regular looked around, scratching its head. “Too big. Live inside Gardener. Like Land. Big.”
Solera rolled his eyes. “That’s crazy. Eeden alone is twenty thousand kilometers across, and all of Land is somewhere between one and two mil-”
A giant plume of erupting dust and smoke appeared thirty kilometers away, cutting Solera off. He covered his ears, motioning for Guinness to do the same. Several seconds later, a roaring boom hit them, causing the nearby imps to shriek in shocked displeasure.
A flood of imps poured out from the site of the explosion, followed by a group of regulars. As the regulars had previously been imps, all of them naturally had wings. Flashes of power shot out from their ungauntleted hands, impressing Solera. It took great skill and power to channel without a gauntlet, yet they made it seem effortless.
The sounds of explosions came in incessantly. Solera squinted closely, but couldn’t see clearly through the trees. Sighing, he rummaged around his bag for his truesight goggles.
The colorful world was bleached of color, turning into various shades of gray… except it was much less gray than before. The entire hill Solera was atop was aglow with light. Dots of light ran through the vine he was holding. The branch he sat atop was no different. The grass below was no different, although it was less vibrant than the tree. It only became entirely gray several hundred meters away from the base of the hill.
Solera’s eyebrows raised up as he saw a cluster of huge worms carving through the dirt towards the enemy. Hordes of indistinct figures were rushing out of several tunnels, taking up positions in the forest outside and sending channeling attacks flying into the enemy camp. Vigors formed a shimmering wall that defended the tunnel mouths from return fire. Above, the horde of imps flew forward as the regulars behind them provided covering fire.
“Very… not fierce, battle.” The regular commented. “Weak shockwaves.”
Solera eyed the regular skeptically, before returning back to observing the battle. The ground erupted as the worms shot out, devouring a group of enemy soldiers before tunneling back into the ground. A group of what appeared to be men riding tigers leaped onto the back of one worm, preventing it from escaping. Solera couldn’t see clearly what they were doing, but they left the worm writhing on the ground after several seconds.
Solera heard the imps behind him screeching, so he turned around. To the west, over thirty kilometers away from the fortress, Solera could see a horde of figures flying through the sky. He narrowed his eyes when he saw them.
Airborne!
The fortress stood between the Airborne and the battle, which was taking place in the east. If the Airborne wanted to help, they would first pass by Solera. A grim feeling of anticipation rose up in Solera’s stomach as he gazed at the faraway figures. It was time for some payback.
Solera completely ignored the battle taking place in the east as he watched the Airborne approach. Explosions rumbled out continuously, along with faint screams and shouts, but they were all relegated to background noise. The Airborne had killed so many children without hesitation. They would have killed him too, if they had the chance. Out of all the forces of the United Duchies, Solera despised them the most.
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After an hour, the Airborne were five kilometers away. Lightning and lasers began to streak out from all over the fortress towards the Airborne flying in. The regular had his palm pointing towards them, and continuously shot blasts of a plasma that Solera didn’t recognize towards them. Although the vast majority of attacks missed, individual Airborne started falling out of the sky into the trees below.
One Airborne flew forward, vibrant colors of power shooting through his arms. A hazy wall formed, which dissipated any projectiles Solera could see when they ran into it. A high-pitched whistle started to ring in Solera’s ears. Puzzled, he took off his goggles to see more clearly what was going on.
A swirling vortex of wind had appeared between the Airborne and the fortress, with dust and leaves blowing around it. The channeling attacks shot into the wall and were quickly absorbed by the stray debris, while the flying darts they were shooting would be knocked astray. Behind the tornado, the Airborne descended onto the ground.
Solera took off the Shatter gauntlet he had just put on, a frustrated frown on his face. The Airborne were still moving forward, but now they could use the trees as cover. The trees began to catch fire as the soldiers of Eden shot indiscriminately into the forest.
A group of reindeer resting at the base of the tree trotted into a tunnel leading westwards. A group of monsters climbed onto the back of the King Snapjaw’s shell as it lumbered off.
A half hour passed. The Airborne were now only two kilometers away, allowing Solera to clearly see them. Many were using earthen shields to cover themselves from projectiles and a few other Airborne as they jogged through the forest.
Solera pointed the end of the vine at them, a dark look in his face. A globule of acid blasted out of the vine at high speed as Solera squeezed. It splattered against one of the earthen shields, with no other effects. The vine puffed up as more acid was loaded into it. Solera shot again. It landed onto a tree several hundred meters away, sending smoke billowing into the air.
The imps began to shoot from their vines as well. Acid shot everywhere, causing some Airborne to fall from the corrosive spray.
A flying explosive streaked through the forest into a group of Airborne before detonating. Immediately, Solera shot a blast of acid into the explosion. Many of the nearby Airborne not killed by the blast were knocked away. The imps swiveled around, sending a barrage towards the fallen Airborne.
Solera cursed as he waited for the vine to replenish itself. The Airborne were dying too slowly!
Below him, the King Gorilla stood up and began to stretch. After a bolt of lightning smashed into its shoulder, it walked behind the fortress and continued stretching. Solera cursed the King Gorilla for its complete disinterest as he shot another globule of acid into the Airborne.
A stampede of reindeer charged out of their hiding spot into the Airborne. One of them caught a man in its horns, tossing him up into the air. When he fell onto the ground, the reindeer trampled him to death. A woman was headbutted by a reindeer into a tree before her head was bashed in by its hoof.
Bolts of light shot out, downing several reindeer. Another group was caught in an explosion, sending dismembered body parts and blood spraying everywhere. Vicious fights between the reindeer and the Airborne started all over the forest. Solera aimed carefully at an Airborne shooting lightning at the reindeer. The Airborne screamed as the acid ball splashed all over him. He scratched at his clothing, desperately trying to rid himself of the acid, before collapsing onto the ground.
Smiling, Solera aimed at another cluster of Airborne backing away from an oncoming reindeer. The acid splashed four of them, sending half the group onto the ground.
An imp fell down from the adjacent branch, a flying dart sticking out of its destroyed head. Lightning and wind blades smashed into the fortress, leaving small patches of black or scratches where they had struck. Frowning, Solera looked for the Airborne shooting at them.
A flying explosive shot out of the forest towards them. Solera shoved Guinness off the branch, pushing himself off as he did.
Solera smashed into the ground eight meters below, gasping from the impact. He had channeled power throughout his body as he fell, preventing him from breaking any bones, but it was still an eight-meter fall.
A loud boom rumbled out above Solera’s head. Liquid splattered onto his back. A second later, a part of the branch crashed into the ground several meters away, causing the ground to tremble.
Solera stumbled up, his head ringing from the blast. “God damn…” He cursed as he looked for Guinness. Part of an arm covered with black hair had landed near him. It had the tatters of an Eden army uniform on it.
Solera looked around for the regular he had talked to, hoping that the arm didn’t belong to him. He couldn’t see the regular anywhere, only blood and body parts everywhere. Bitterly, Solera realized he had never learned the regular’s name.
Guinness was lying in a heap not far away. He seemed to be uninjured. Breathing a sigh of relief, Solera circled around the tree and climbed a vine back up.
A giant dome-shaped shield of earth rose into the air several hundred meters away from the fortress. Behind it was a large group of Airborne, channeling attacks that smashed into the fortress. Seeing this, Solera dropped back down from the vine, taking a position behind the tree and taking his shatter gauntlet out of his belt.
“LEERA, COME OUT!” A nasal voice shouted from on high. Solera looked around the fortress at the dome. At its top hovered a gray-haired man dressed in black armor, with a gold trimming. He had emotionless black eyes that would unnerve anyone who looked into them, and a cold, arrogant expression that reminded Solera of Chip.
“I took Fortress Hickory, so you decided to make a shoddy knock-off, hm?” The man sneered. “Last time I saw you, you were a near-dead sack of skin. Impressive.”
“Get out, Archibald.” A whisper rolled out from nowhere. “We were friends, once.”
Archibald laughed acerbically. “Yeah, the Lynx and I don’t want to be here, truly. But the Council voted for war, so war it is. Leera, I’ll be lenient if your troops surrender. I’ll even let you Ascend with no hassle.”
“Your loyalty is admirable, Archibald.” Leera’s whisper emerged again. “But you are being manipulated.”
“Hmph.” Archibald’s voice turned cold. “Don’t say I was merciless, then. Soldiers, pre-”
The King Gorilla stepped out from the fortress, its muscles rippling as it threw. An immense boulder arced through the air towards the dome. It landed onto the top of the dome, bringing down half the entire dome with no resistance at all.
The gorilla sprinted towards the dome as the boulder flew forward. The moment the boulder reached the ground, a plume of flame shot out of the gorilla’s mouth. Tortured screams rang out as the Airborne were incinerated.
Archibald had flown high into the air along with the surviving Airborne. The vortex of wind around them thickened until they could no longer be seen.
“VERY GOOD, LEERA!” Archibald’s snarl rolled down from above. “YOU WIN TODAY, BUT I’LL BE BACK!”
The hurricane cloud began to move away. On the ground, the Airborne turned tail and fled into the underbrush. The reindeer chased after them, but were peppered with a horde of covering fire from Airborne farther back.
On the top of a nearby hill, a giant turtle appeared. On its back was a row of regulars, firing into the side of the retreating Airborne. Screams filled the forest as one Airborne after another was picked off. After some consideration, Solera climbed back onto the tree and grabbed a spare vine to shoot at the retreating Airborne.
The massacre continued for ten minutes until the Airborne had finally escaped their range of fire. Solera wiped a trickle of blood off his cheek, a wide smile on his face. Against the Airborne, they had won a crushing victory!