Just as the injured teens passed the wall’s gates, the dwarven and the monster armies clashed. Giant teeth were pitted against cold steel. Flying sharks smashed against mighty griffons.
The monster army was superior in physical strength and numbers, while the dwarves were more organized and skilled. Although there were 10 giant sharks for every griffon, they had to go through a barrage of fireballs, ice spears, wind blades, and spatial distortions. By the time the two sides actually fought, it was one griffin and its rider against 3 bleeding and exhausted fish.
The stingrays tried to fly above the dwarven army, but they were shot down by the archers in the back, and their clam-payload fell on the monsters instead. Not even the giant octopus posed much of a threat, since its movements were restricted by its own allies, and Countess Amara Ironhand was mowing through monsters on her way towards it.
“Milord, please wait for the rest of us!” A lieutenant desperately called out to her, but she was already lost amongst the beasts.
Amara found herself surrounded from all sides by creatures of all shapes and sizes. Countless snake heads smashed against each other on their way towards her throat. Crabs used their pincers to push other monsters out of their way, so they may get closer to her flesh. Even the clownfish bit into the other monsters trying to propel themselves forward.
However, it was all for naught.
“Out of my way, seafood!” A single swing of Amara’s axe turned all of the creatures within a 50 feet radius into dismembered corpses. Mana and space itself distorted around her, and the approaching creatures were once more cut into bits. Laughing at the suicidal monsters, she jumped towards the octopus as if shot from a cannon.
After a little over an hour of combat, the octopus was dead, the monster army was in tatters, and the remaining creatures were forced to retreat. Unfortunately, while this happened, two more monstrous armies attacked the south and the middle fronts.
Since those two areas had fewer soldiers, the monsters had reached all the way to the wall only to end up in a stalemate against the stationed forces.
This stalemate would be maintained in the following days. Wherever Amara Ironhand went, the monsters would retreat and attack the other two fronts. The enemy’s forces were endless, and their leader was nowhere in sight.
With the battle having escalated to an all out war, there was no more room for weaker combatants. Most of the mercenaries were delegated to support roles, such as carrying ammunition and preparing food.
As for Finn and Luca, they spent the first day on medical beds waiting for a healer while slipping in and out of consciousness. Through the corner of their eyes, they could see Annie and Michael carrying wet towels, while Natalie and Tommy placed them on their foreheads and slapped their cheeks to keep them awake.
Finally, a healer arrived, and after blessing them in the name of Loki, he covered the teens in light and brought them back to their senses.
‘Screw Loki,’ Finn muttered as soon as he lifted his head from the pillow. "What’s going on with the war? Have they gotten past the wall?”
Fortunately, Natalie shook her head and showed him a summons notice to the Marquis’ office.
“It looks like our quest is over.” There was a mix of relief, exhaustion and frustration on her face, as was on everyone else’s.
After resting for a couple more days and receiving the doctor’s clearance, the two teams of academy students made their way towards the city hall.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“It hasn’t even been two months,” Michael frowned as they crossed the lobby towards the Marquis’ office. “This doesn’t sit right with me. What exactly have we even accomplished?”
The secretary was gone today, probably carrying orders to deal with the invasion.
“Let’s tell him about the goblin,” said Luca as he walked further ahead. “They should at least keep an eye out for it and that crystal.”
However, when the elf touched the office’s door, he froze on the spot. With his free hand, he gestured towards the others to wait, and then to approach slowly.
“Keep quiet,” he whispered and placed his ear on the door. As Finn did the same, he could hear an unusual conversation from within.
“You seem upset; why are you so upset?” The voice which spoke this was jovial yet animalistic in nature. It was neither feminine or male or human for that matter, and it was accompanied by what could only be interpreted as radio static. “Relax, Ivan, and enjoy your wine. Or is it tea now, since you’ve become a bureaucrat?”
“I’m not in the mood for your jokes,” Flintbender’s voice was accompanied by a punch on the table. “I don’t care who did this; you better reign them in!”
“Already on it,” the voice cackled with pleasure. “They’ve turned the ocean red; we’d have to be blind not to notice. Unlike you, old friend, we don’t have any wine down here to dull our senses.”
“Make the monsters retreat today.” Again, Ivan’s fist struck the table.
“Err, that’s not going to be possible. If I’m not mistaken, the culprit is a survivor from a tribe we’ve just squashed: the tentacle mermaids, bluish, ugly, annoying little bastards. They’re also tough as hell. My nephew got brutally murdered by them in the middle of our invasion.”
The voice turned sweet and eerie, murderous and giddy at the same time.
“I don’t care about what you animals do to each other,” Flintbender huffed. “You stay out of our lands, and we stay out of the water. That was our treaty. If you make me enter the ocean...”
“Whoa, big guy. The treaty still stands. We will catch and kill the culprit, relax.” The voice had turned a bit more serious, though not by much. “By evening, the monsters should stop coordinating with each other, and then it's only a matter of cleaning up the beach.”
A heavy palm was heard striking the table.
“I have waited plenty.” The chair was heard moving. “I’m going for a light jog on the beach right now, and if anything or anyone gets in my way, I will rip them limb from limb!”
“Of course you will, but no swimming, right?”
The connection was interrupted without a response.
“Come in!” The Marquis’ gruff voice resounded beyond the door, and the teens opened it while smiling awkwardly.
There was a fist sized purple crystal ball on the table and even more paperwork than normal. However, the dwarf did not stand behind it this time and instead walked towards the huge axe on the wall.
He no longer wore pajamas and was bare chested instead, so Finn could see every fiber of his muscular body. Truly, the Marquis was built like a barrel, if that barrel had abs of steel and biceps thicker than Michael's entire torso.
“We’re Phoenix academy’s students,” said Finn while struggling not to gulp. “We’ve come to complete our quest.”
“We’re not spies,” added Annie.
A small smirk appeared on the dwarf’s face as he grabbed the hilt of the axe. It was a double-edged axe with the top as big as the dwarf’s body and the handle almost 20 feet in length. With one arm, Flintbender pulled it out of the wall and swung it across the room, almost chopping Luca’s head off.
“I know who you are,” Ivan rested the axe on his shoulder while scraping the plaster on the back wall. “Now, let’s get this over with; I want to go for a run.”
[Name: Ivan Flintbender.
Age: ???
Race: Dwarf.
Title: Marquis, Second in command to General Cyrus Goldbeard, ???
Abilities:
* Monstrous Strength.
* ???
Achievements: ???
Buffs: ???
Debuffs: ???
Relationships:
* His secretary,
* Weird voice,
* ???
Comments: None]
………………………………………….
[Name: ???
Age: ???
Race: ???
Title: Weird voice.
Abilities: ???
Achievements: ???
Relationships:
* Ivan Flintbender.
* ???
Comments: Tapping noises]