Chapter 521: Lunis Lives
…Earlier… Siege of Hollow Shade…
Valley warriors rushed the western gate. There were no city guards or soldiers left manning the gatehouse. Only a single old woman stood in the warriors’ way. The Tempest Archmage flew high above the gate, pillars of water swirling around her in the rain.
Valley archers drew their bows and mages conjured bolts of magic, and fired up at her. The pillars of water formed layers of shields blocking every attack. Electricity crackled over Ismene’s and she called down lightning onto her foes. Yet for every dozen she smote, twice as many rushed to the gate, hoping to bypass her power or strike her down in a moment of weakness.
By order of his queen, General Alwin Loch had brought his own personal squadron of battlemages to deal with the archmage, but he had found a prey far more worthy of his ire. His mages and their centaurs surrounded Una Noir.
She hadn’t expected to ever come across him again. He should have been burned to ash back in their assault on Undergrowth. Yet here he stood, leading the assault on Hollow Shade.
Worry for her daughter Unalla trickled into her mind, but Una ignored it and focused on the enemies at hand. She needed to deal with them before helping Ismene.
The Tempest Archmage was powerful, but she was alone. She couldn’t hold off the horde of enemies forever. Una needed to somehow reach her and get her to retreat before it was too late.
Lightning crackled across Loch’s blade, drawing her attention back. He glanced at his men. “Kill her.”
Without hesitation, Una reacted first. She channeled Orange and threw her hands out to her side. Azure fire burst from her palms and in jets of flames. The Undergrowth mages were ready. Red wards sprang to life in front of them and formed wide shields. The flames crashed into the wards with roaring force, but the shields held and dispersed the flames to their sides.
Three centaurs charged Una from her front and back. Their riders channeled Brown Vigor spells. A bronze sheen covered their muscles as they raised their swords to strike.
Yellow mana surged in Una’s veins. She released her flame spell and spun on her heel, then kicked outwards with her other leg. A gust trailed across the tip of her boot and formed a powerful gust around her. The three centaurs and riders cried out in surprise as the winds pulled them up into the air.
Una threw her hands up, fingers outstretched, and hurled fire into the swirling mass of wind. The flames hungrily ate up the wind and exploded in a blast of infernal blue. Chunks of charred body parts fell down around her in smoking trails.
She glared at the other mages surrounding her. “Who’s next?”
The mages glanced at each other uncertainly and their centaurs backed a few steps. Loch stared at her cautiously through his mask, then broke into a laugh. “For someone who killed three of my best battlemages with seeming ease, you seem awfully reluctant to continue with your little display of power.”
“And you seem awfully reluctant to personally attack,” she replied.
“Oh, I know what you're capable of. I personally carry the scars of the day you appeared in my city. Which is why I can tell,” he leaned forward, “You’re not the same person. Not really. You’ve grown weak.”
Una grinned viciously, “You think I can’t kill you?”
“I think you’re bluffing,” he said calmly. “Your grey complexion is paler than usual, almost white. I can see the way your shoulders tremble slightly. You’re struggling to breathe. You’re already at your limit.”
Una twitched at his words. She quickly smothered any surprise on her face, but it was too late.
Loch shook his head and clicked his tongue, “Oh, Una. I was hoping for a proper rematch. Let me guess, you encountered a dragonbane, and it took everything you had just to survive its assault.”
She spat at his feet. “Actually, it was two, and I helped kill them both.”
“Is that so?” he laughed skeptically.
Realizing the futility of hiding her exhaustion, Una rested her hands on her knees, took deep breaths, and tried to steady her breathing. She refused to admit it out loud, but he was right, the battle with the dragonbanes had taken everything she had. That last spell had exhausted most of the mana she had left. She needed to get Ismene’s attention quickly.
“Is it hard?” taunted Loch. “The heat generated by casting magic slowly builds up in the body. Too much of it at once will cause the body to go into shock and the heart to stop. I’m sure you can feel it now, the burning sensation flowing through your veins.”
Loch slowly removed his mask, revealing the burn scars across his face. “Believe me, you have no idea what fire can truly feel like. But you will. I will make sure you feel every single lick of flames as your skin melts, just as I did. Then when your lungs are burned from the heat of the air, I’ll send you off just like Elzri did to the rest of your siblings.”
Una’s expression twisted with rage, “Even if it’s the last thing I do, I will kill you.”
“There she is,” Loch smiled. He raised his hand in a short signal to his men, “Hold her down.”
“General, what is that?” A battlemage pointed to the curtain of white fog encroaching on them from behind.
Loch turned around and frowned. “What in the—?”
The frost-mist swallowed them whole, blotting out the night sky. The mist was so thick Una could hardly see a few paces in front of her. The freezing air burned her throat, but she welcomed the cold touch.
Summoning the last traces of mana within her, she turned to run when a giant beast swept past her in a flash. Una stumbled back. A wolf the size of a horse pounced on one of the centaurs. A goblin rider lanced his spear straight through the battlemage’s chest as his wolf sank his fangs into the centaur’s chest.
All around Una, giant wolves rushed past her in a stampede of claws and fangs. The battlemages shouted in panic. They tried to defend themselves with spells and steel, but the wolves overran them in an instant.
Una cast Yellow protective scales over her body and hid behind a dead centaur. She curled into a ball as the wolves ran above her.
~~~
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
…South-West Wall…
The Cinder Brood tribe aimed the last of their arrows at the fleeing valley warriors scrambling back down their ladders. The valley captains blew their horns to retreat and regroup with the rest of their warriors before the frost-mist reached the wall.
More than half their warriors had already been on the ground, and now were preparing a shield wall against the coming mist, ignoring the last few enemy archers left on the wall.
“We need more arrows!” said Rowan, the only drow among the Cinder Brood.
“There are none!” replied the vampiress, Captain Talia. “My soldiers are out as well!”
“We have to do something! If the valley tribes can hold off the mist, then they’ll come back for us! We need to help Lunis!” said Melfyn as he held his tribe’s banner aloft.
Sandra struggled to sit up and offered Rowan her quiver. “I have a few arrows left.”
“Sandra, don’t move. You need to rest,” said Jack worriedly.
She shook off his hand from her shoulder and staggered to her feet. “I can fight.”
“But—”
“She’s a newborn mage, not an invalid, Jack. If she says she can stand, then let her,” said Captain Talia.
Sandra took a step forward and her knees buckled underneath her. A hand caught her by the waist and helped her up. She looked up in surprise, “Jack…”
“Even if I disagree, we are Cinder Brood, we help each other, Sister,” he nodded. “If you want to fight, then I’ll be by your side.”
Sandra nodded in silent thanks.
“A human and a goblin helping each other, huh…” Captain Talia muttered under her breath in quiet admiration. Even now, it was odd to see these teenagers working together, entrusting their lives to one another.
“I’m out! I need more arrows!” said Rowan once more.
“Dammit, find whatever you can then! Shoot those bastards down!” yelled Melfyn.
A cacophony of howls drowned out his voice. A cavalry of wolves broke through the mist and charged the valley warriors from their flank. A massive wolf, far larger than the rest, led their charge. The Warrior Elect Lykos broke through the enemy lines atop his frost wolf.
The valley warriors stumbled back on each other as they tried to escape, but the wolves trampled over them and pushed forward, ripping through their ranks.
“They don’t need our help…” mumbled Jack in awe.
As Lykos charged he glanced up and spotted the Cinder Brood banner flying above the wall, the Sapphire City of Lunis displayed proudly on its crest. The Warrior Elect broke into a smile for his people were alive and they had not forgotten who they were. He raised his spear high and roared at the top of his lungs, “LUNIS LIVES!!”
~~~
The last of the cavalry of wolves passed over Una, leaving behind crushed grass and the torn remains of the battlemages and their centaurs. Her protective scales were cracked, but she had somehow managed to avoid the worst of the charge.
Una opened her eyes, slowly stood up, and looked around at the gruesome scene. She had no idea why goblins were here, but this was her chance to escape with Ismene and regroup with her family.
“*Huff* Where do you think, *huff*, you’re going!?” yelled Loch.
“You’re alive…!?” Una turned around in surprise.
Blood trickled down from his temple, his armor was cracked or outright torn in several areas, and his centaur was nowhere to be seen, but Loch stood tall, without any visible serious injuries.
“Did you think *huff* I’d die while you still breathe?” he sneered.
Una narrowed her eyes and drew the dagger from her side.
Loch stared at the weapon and laughed, “Do you think a measly dagger is enough to kill an archmage!?”
“Let’s find out,” said Una coldly.
“Lykos missed you two, typical, I’m always left to clean up his mistakes,” spoke an unfamiliar voice.
A frost wolf stepped out from the mist. The beast towered over them. She lowered her head and growled, revealing the rider atop her neck. A small woman, even by goblin standards. Unlike the other riders, she wore no armor, but a vivid deep blue cloak and robes. “Ugh, drows,” she said in disgust.
“And who the fuck are you?” snarled Loch, lightning crackling at his fingertips.
She looked down her nose at him. “The Eyes of the Watcher, Shaman Elect of the Sylvan. I am Lumi, daughter of the Frost Whisper tribe. And you—” she stared at his Undergrowthian armor, “Are my enemy.”
Loch threw his arms out and fired bolts of lightning from his hands. Lumi’s hand shot out from under her robes, red sigils already written on her palms. Red wards spiraled around her frost wolf and her, diffusing the lightning in a storm of crackling light.
Without missing a beat, Lumi shot a jet of searing orange flames at Loch. He met her spell with a swirling pillar of water and the two spells clashed in the air. Clouds of steam erupted from the clash only to be cooled by the frost mist in a cloud of white.
Loch gritted his teeth and channeled more Blue into the spell. His arm shook uncontrollably and he realized in dismay that the goblin was overpowering him. With his free hand, he quickly wrote a series of Grey sigils in the form of a chain. As his torrent spell fell apart to Lumi’s flames, he lashed the cursed chain from the side at the shaman.
Lumi snapped her fingers and a cocoon of water surrounded her. The chains wrapped harmlessly around the cocoon and with another snap of her fingers, the water expanded in a burst, shattering the Grey sigils.
She flicked her hand in Loch’s direction and the grass underneath his feet grew into thick vines that latched onto his limbs. He shouted in surprise and tried to move to no avail.
Yellow mana swirled around Lumi. She jumped off her frost wolf and the wind carried her to Loch. She landed softly in front of him and she watched him with her yellow eyes. “Is that all a drow archmage is capable of?”
Loch broke into a malicious smile. “Hardly.” Brown mana surged into his body. He ripped through the vines and threw his hands around her throat.
Without flinching, Lumi caught his wrists, Brown magic surging through her arms as well. “Is this it?” she leaned forward with a raised eyebrow. “The limit of your kind?”
More vines sprouted from the ground and wrapped around his limbs. Her shadow darkened and reinforced the vines in a series of black tendrils. Even with the strength of the Brown magic, Loch was pulled down to his knees. A shadow grabbed his neck and yanked his head back, forcing him to look up at Lumi.
“My, you are ugly.”
He snarled, “You little—!”
She slapped her hand on his forehead and channeled Purple. Ethereal mind tendrils stabbed his skull. He stiffened with a small grunt. His eyes rolled up and his head sank as his body went slack.
“Pathetic,” Lumi said dismissively. She waved her hand and the vines carried Loch’s unconscious body over to her wolf’s saddle, hooking him to its side like a satchel.
Lumi glanced at Una who took a step back warily. “And who are you?”
“I… I am Una, daughter of the Great House of Noir,” she said. Una knew little of the Sylvan folk, save that they kept to themselves, and any outsider who dared enter their lands was quickly killed.
Lumi walked over, looking her up and down. “Noir, hm? You’re an archmage, aren’t you?”
Una wanted to escape, but the frost wolf had kept its eyes on her the entire time. “...Yes,” she replied.
“I hope you prove more able than the other drow. Though you seem like you can barely even walk.” Lumi stood in front of her, yellow eyes locked into her blue. “Our War Master spoke of your House, he said you were allies.”
“I see…? I didn’t know we had allies among the Sylvan, let alone an 8-manifold archmage,” she answered carefully.
Lumi reached up and unceremoniously placed her hand on Una’s sternum. A soft white glow emanated from her green fingertips and flowed into Una’s grey skin, slowly knitting her flesh back together.
“9-manifold archmage,” Una corrected.
“Stop staring,” said Lumi, annoyed.
“My apologies.”
Lumi scoffed. “I have no need for your apologies.” She stepped back, “I took care of the worst of your wounds. The rest I leave up to you.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me, thank my War Master.” Lumi leaped onto her wolf’s back with a simple agility spell.
“Your War Master? I’m not quite sure who that is.”
“Yes, you people seem to know very little.” Lumi turned to leave, “You have forgotten who the true masters of this Realm are. We’ve come to rectify that.”