Janis took a deep breath, trying to slow the pulse pounding in her ear like a war drum calling for a charge. Her fingers were trembling slightly, she noticed. She wasn’t sure if that was from anticipation or nervousness, most likely a mix. She clenched them tighter, winding them into the leather straps running across her mount’s back. The Hive’s drones didn’t need reins, but having it wear a harness was still useful. Especially if they were going to do some risky aerial maneuvers.
She nudged the drone up slightly, glancing down to check the distance to the fighters coming to meet them. Elites, obviously. They were an eclectic mix, as those usually tended to be. It was hard to see them clearly from up here, the wind stinging her eyes, but she could coopt the eyes of other drones to get a better view.
When do we strike? Dan asked her over the psychic link.
Janis glanced at him. A moment longer, she answered, then looked at the other drones.
A few of those flying close to them were sapient drones, but only Evolved Winged Drones. They’d judged those to be the most suitable, and others too much of a risk, at least right here. Having some of the newest type Regina had unlocked would be nice, but they were still too young. Janis wouldn’t agree to sending them into a battle against high-level fighters like this even if anyone suggested it.
The human elites rose as well, getting further away from their army. Janis eyed them carefully. She wasn’t entirely sure how far any high-leveled soldiers remaining on the ground could shoot. And for that matter, there might be a few Class Skills capable of hurting them that high up, too. Still, most of them, by far, shouldn’t be able to engage at all. There was a reason she’d decided on this approach.
Then a blinding bolt of light swept past her, barely missing them as her Mount swerved out of the way, and she remembered that most of the elites now after her would still be stronger than her own forces.
Janis sighed and gathered some magic. She knew from talking to other mages that she felt it differently than them, probably because of her elemental heritage. She didn’t have to look for some mana pool to scoop mana out of, it was more like calling magic that just happened to be inside her, living under her skin. Since she’d gotten her new Class and leveled up some, that feeling had only increased. She’d practiced rigorously, and with proper concentration, she could be very fast.
She’d never be as powerful as Regina, with her frankly ridiculous mana pool, but that was fine — Janis was aiming for being more skilled instead.
She cast blades of air at a few of the attackers coming dangerously close, keeping them tightly focused and on a curving trajectory rather than a straight line. All three of them dodged, unfortunately, but it did make them lose some momentum. Janis leaned forward, narrowed her eyes, and repeated the spell - based on an application of Air Manipulation - this time doubling the number of attacks she used.
One of them hit, and a human man wearing leather armor dropped. He appeared to catch himself after a second, rather than tumbling down to crash into the ground, but he was definitely slower and out of the fight for the moment.
Now, Janis ordered over the psychic link.
The swarm swerved and spread out. Further away, drones she’d kept waiting in reserve accelerated. It would take a while for them to come, but that was fine, she’d planned everything out and timed it pretty well.
The human elites scattered in response to the Winged Drones’ movements. Several of them were shooting at the attackers like cannon balls, and the instinct to get away and avoid getting hit was strong. Janis took a deep breath and used Air Manipulation again, this time using a much wider effect.
It was tricky, perhaps the most delicate application of large-scale magic she’d ever used. Janis nudged the currents of wind, the flow of the air in the area around and beneath her, controlling everyone’s position. She couldn’t outright place them where she wanted them, but using small pushes, she got close enough.
Then the hive’s drones started releasing the gas in the canisters they carried.
It needed a lot to affect anything in this big an area, Janis knew. It would dissipate quickly, even with her influencing the winds. A few of the humans closest to the drones, caught by the streams of pressurized gas coming from their containers, were hit, dropping in most cases.
Most of it, however, wasn’t meant as a direct attack. Elites’ Con stats would be too high for that. Instead, it affected the air just enough, making it briefly more malleable to her control.
Janis clenched her fingers and reversed her previous efforts, triggering her newest Class Skill, Elemental Control. It allowed her to boost the effects of her elemental manipulation magic. And the kicker was that it worked with both the definition of the classical elements and the chemical elements Regina and Galatea had taught her. Keeping both conceptions in mind simultaneously while trying to cast magic was a strain that already made a blinding headache bloom behind her eyes, but she’d known she wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long.
Distantly, Janis felt other mages chiming in, every Attendant or Witch who had a Skill or Spell similar enough. A gaping void appeared in the middle of the human group, a zone of low pressure that sucked them in, with buffeting winds charging towards it and dragging them along.
Some of them managed to resist it. Those who had Abilities to control their own movement to a greater degree, presumably. Most just had a simple flight Skill or something similar, though, Janis knew, and those were out of luck now.
Just in time, the smaller swarm they’d prepared to send into the midst of it arrived. Small and agile Winged Drones darted between the human elites. Janis tried her best to exclude them from the effect of their magic, but it didn’t work that well. Some of them were simply crushed against each other or their enemies. Some of them looked like they did stab or bite the elites, though.
“Reverse,” Janis gasped, distantly hearing Dan echo it over the psychic link.
Then she implemented the last step of the plan. A good thing, too, since she wouldn’t be able to hold it much longer. The ‘void’ in the air winked out as the Skills creating it were canceled, and she turned the winds she was controlling. Instead of pushing them together, the air and their magic now shot them outward. And she’d successfully managed to form the center of it somewhat above the huddle, so now most of the humans were sent careening into the ground.
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Some still managed to stop it, and the hive recalled the drones in the area to get them clear. But Janis watched with satisfaction, panting heavily, as some of them slammed into the earth, directly where their own soldiers stood.
Sweep, now, Dan ordered. She felt him nudge her own Mount and it leaned to the side, following his, as he flew in a tight arc higher into the sky.
Janis squinted and looked down. She still wasn’t sure how much damage their little magical trap had really done. But the human elites were now definitely in disarray and out of position.
When most of the flying drones the hive had left converged on their location in several loosely interspersed flocks, they were badly prepared to face them.
Janis rolled her shoulders and took deep breaths, giving herself a few seconds to calm down and center herself, to muster her remaining energy while she left the battle to the warriors. That took a lot out of me, she admitted. She hadn’t talked to Volance in person in a while, but the concept was something she’d discussed with the elemental what felt like ages ago. Right now, her grandmother had wandered off into the mountains again with her fellows, giving a promise Janis wasn’t sure she trusted that she’d be back once the war with the gnomes ‘got around to actually being fought’. Having her here would have made that a lot easier, she considered.
Then Janis shook her head, forcing her exhausted mind back on track, and focused on the fight.
They’d been pretty sure that the Cernlians and Nerlians wouldn’t have a large-scale weather mage. If they had, they would’ve probably deployed them before now, during the battles against Lyns. It was still possible that they had one and kept them in reserve, but after this, Janis wouldn’t consider that at all likely. They’d made plans for the possibility, and she’d been ready to abandon the magic if a strong weather controller interfered, but she was just as glad it hadn’t come to that. Derrek Zephyr also didn’t seem to be there, something she found a little concerning. The Cernlian leadership probably didn’t want to risk him, and she supposed it was possible he was still drained if he really had been essential for their buffing ritual.
A sharp whistle pulled her out of her thoughts, and Janis ducked on instinct. She felt something rustle her hair and almost chanced a look before she instead remembered to reach out for nearby drones and see through their eyes. Some kind of glowing javelin, big enough to almost count as a lance in sheer size. She glanced down at where it come from, then cursed and made her Mount drop just in time to duck under another.
Dan moved farther away from her, and Janis almost cursed again as she realized what he intended. She played along, though, directing her mount to move slightly away to the side, zigzagging a bit to escape the soldier. A woman with a deceptively small build riding some kind of giant vulture-like monster, she noted.
You weakened them, but they’re far from done yet, Regina whispered into her mind. Behind you, dodge to the right!
Janis obeyed instantly, flattening herself against the side of her flying drone mount even as it jerked in the air. She felt heat pass over her side, then her mount dropped.
Janis exhaled and loosed several Magic Missiles in quick succession. Even without checking the System, she could tell her mana pool was getting dangerously low. Casting that air control magic had taken a large chunk of it. But luckily, this Spell didn’t take much mana for her, so she didn’t stint on the barrage. A quick look through several nearby drones showed her that it succeeded in driving the two dangerous human fighters off from attacking, at least for the moment. The second one had raised a flickering barrier, but it didn’t seem very solid.
I’m not the only one getting low on mana, Janis noted. She smiled to herself, then ordered her drone to fold its wings and dive again.
Many of the surviving human fighters were riding tamed monsters of some kind. It made them maneuverable and more resilient to some ways of attacking their movement, but also imposed constraints they wouldn’t have if they just used flight Spells. Unfortunately, she was currently stuck riding a flying mount, too.
Judging the timing carefully, Janis made her drone start spiraling upwards again, just in time to let another shot from the javelin thrower go wild. That was getting annoying. She glanced at the surrounding drones. Their swarms were getting decimated, even if they did keep most of the elites busy and even kept dropping a trickle of them.
Overwhelming them with numbers was always going to have to be at least part of how she played this. It might be predictable, but it was also kind of the only thing the Hive had that reliably worked.
Janis called for reinforcements again, distantly noting that Ben was already sending some closer, as well. Their Winged Drone numbers were really going to take a beating, but taking out this many enemy elites was worth it. Confident that the larger situation was handled, she turned her attention back to her personal pests.
The mage had been drawn into combat against some drones, she noted. Inu and Gale. They’d take care of it. The javelineer was closing on her again, probably estimating that she’d find it harder to dodge her attacks at a shorter range. Which was probably true. Janis let her come a bit closer, squinting at her for a moment. She ignored the name the System prompt showed to note that her Class was a Master of the Spear, not very helpful, and her level only shown as a question mark. Higher than her, then. Janis smiled slightly. A challenge would make for good Experience.
This time, the soldier waited until she was closer before she launched two attacks in quick succession. Janis sent some magic into the air between them to nudge them off course with a gust of wind, setting the javelins to pass harmlessly to the sides of her mount.
Then she ordered her drone to turn around and close the distance. She saw the woman’s eyes widen, clearly surprised that a mage would charge her like that. She must have been an experienced combat veteran, but it still gave Janis a split-second of surprised hesitation, just enough for her to get the drop on her opponent in their next exchange.
A flurry of javelins shot out, clearly a Skill of some kind, but they never connected. Janis formed a shield of air that crashed against and diverted them, not enough to truly stop them, but enough to ensure they would miss at the speeds all of them were moving. She pushed that same bit of hardened air, only held together for a few precious seconds, forward. The soldier’s mount jerked to the side to evade, but the attack clipped its wings.
That was just enough to briefly unbalance it, and Janis took ruthless advantage of the opening. A Firebolt roared out, taking almost the last of her mana. She saw the woman attempt to put up a defense, raising a shield, but Janis hadn’t aimed for her. The bird screeched in pain as it was blown back, and a second later she saw its feathers were smoldering. It bucked in the air, starting to fall. Janis had her own Mount close the distance, and then gave her enemy just enough of a push with another wind blade. The soldier tumbled from the back of her bird and fell. Janis glanced down, watching as she was stopped by a briefly flickering blue field. Falling from this distance and at these speeds, she might as well have crashed into the ground directly, though.
You have leveled up
Janis panted, letting herself slump over the drone’s back for a moment as it got both of them out of danger on its own. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, but she knew she was smiling.
Around them, the fight was winding down as well. They hadn’t stopped the enemy army and she knew they wouldn’t, not here, but that hadn’t been her job today. The Hive had bled the enemy army and the elites, made them pay a toll for crossing into territory they defended. It was giving them a taste of what was to come.
She willed her mount to retreat and reached out over the psychic link to Dan and the others, turning her thoughts to making sure they all got away cleanly. It had been about as close to a success as she could have reasonably hoped for, even if she found it hard to call it a clean victory. They’d taken too many casualties for that.