Chapter 22
Princess Morrigan-Feyin Lefay stalked quietly through the unfamiliar forest, 21 of her best elvan warriors flitting through the trees behind her. She felt the warm night air wrapping around her, fouling her magic perception. Everything about this forest was wrong, and it grated on her nerves.
The trees didn’t stare protectively down at her. The air was far too warm, stealing her breath away, and eating away at her precious mana just to keep her [Winter Cloak] and [Armor of Living Ice] active. At least now, during the night, that damnable ice blasted yellow sun wasn’t present. These things had been bothering her for nearly a week, while she spent the lives of slaves and spies to learn how the humans fought.
It would have all been worth it too, if not for that damn Captain. Something about him seemed off. She could almost smell the power rolling off him, but he’d been a standard unimpressive human only 6 days before. There were rumors of course. One of the level 2 slaves on the first day of the invasion had spent most of his life force opening a portal to the Black Forest. Somehow the Captain and his female companion had made it back. Such rumors were simply absurd. Her Mother would never allow a slave to access one of her realms, and even if the Lady of Horrors Walking had allowed a slave in, no outsiders would have been granted access.
Nor would they have been allowed to leave. The Black Knight corps would never have allowed it. She had only to think the word of her Mother’s personal guardians, and the memories nearly overwhelmed her. Each Black Knight represented an existence on par with her Mother, someone who’d challenged the throne, and lost. Reaching her own level of 25 had been harrowing, including many near death encounters while sailing the stars with the Frozen Legion, seeking out worlds to conquer and winning her mothers blessing in the process. So how could a mere level 10 initiate exude such power.
Nothing had prepared her for the human world called Earth. Normally the Legion stayed away from worlds so warm, and they’d initially come to this system with their eyes on the 9th planet from the system’s star. A world far more capable of housing the elves and their legions. However, her mother had taken one look at the system and ordered it taken fully. The 9th planet had become a staging point, a hastily constructed base in the endless cosmos, from which the legion would launch one of the largest offensive actions in their history. Even now, the overwhelming power of her Mother’s empire gathered. These humans stood no chance.
Or they shouldn’t have, but Morrigan couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. These thoughts and others of a similar nature plagued her as she and her company of elites made their way toward the human airfield. She would have questions for her Mother once all this was done, but now, she had to focus. They’d been trudging thought the forest for hours, and the morning was soon to come, bringing that all together unbearable sun with it.
As soon as the large clearing around the human structure came in sight, she ordered her company to stop. They would let the lesser races who acted as scouts test the defenses. It might grant the human defenders a few final levels, but that was the way of things. The weak would be sacrificed to serve the strong. And the strongest of all, at least on this continent, was Morrigan, a true daughter to her mother.
“We will wait for the scouts to return. When they do we will attack. We will hold nothing back. You will finish off this pathetic excuse for resistance before the horrible sun comes over the horizon, or I will make sure my mother’s displeasure is with you. We will not waste our time with stealth, instead favoring an all out attack. That is all.”
She turned to find a nice tree to wait against, and was again disturbed by how unfamiliar this forest was. Perhaps the captain would be willing to answer questions about the local environment. He'd been most unwilling to reveal any information thus far, and relished the thought of breaking him. She would take her time. It wasn’t long before the scouts returned. Their numbers reduced, but not enough to worry Morrigan.
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“The humans hide behind a wall of metal. They will be easy to kill, bunched up in one place like that. Powerful warriors like yourselves will be able to easily overpower them.” The lead scout, a Redcap, promised.
Morrigan sneered. “Then you will serve as our first wave, wasting their ammunition and attention so we may more easily defeat them. Go, and don’t come back without their leader’s head.”
The other redcaps, boggards, will-o-wisps, and snow sprites that made up the scout forces cowered back, likely afraid to suffer the same fate as their friends at the hands of the humans, but Morrigan paid them no head. Their leader quickly led them away, to serve the ultimate purpose of the empire.
It didn’t take long before the sounds of fighting reached the elf company. The bark of projectile weapons that had seemed so strange a few days ago now seemed familiar, singing the song of death the same as any other weapon. Eventually an uneasy quiet returned, and Morrigan ordered her troops forward.
The humans had indeed hid behind a wall of steel, made from their fighting vehicles. The idea of ground based fighting vehicles that could not fly still boggled her mind. If her own ships weren’t so preoccupied with transporting freshly taken slaves to their flag ship, she would have loved to display the superior firepower of the elven craft.
The fact that her Mother still forbade the use of true attack craft, or simply orbital bombardment itched at Morrigan. However, she would not question her Mother’s will, at least not in this, and not yet. Perhaps after she had broken the captain’s mind, and ravaged his body, she would present him to her mother, and ask her questions then.
She focused back on the present, just in time to dodge out of the way of a larger projectile. One of the human “Tanks” must have spotted them. She turned just in time to see one of the elves behind her stumble forward, a gaping hole in his chest. Shortly after a large blast threw the unfortunate weakling forward, impaling him on a tree branch.
A hail of pesky human bullets rushed toward her force, causing no real damage, but proving to be one further annoyance on top of all the others. In response, she motioned her 8 archers forward. Their massive war bows unleashed a rain of precious blackwood shafts, each a meter and a half in length, bearing a collection of spells and abilities that would ruin the human’s morale.
Several more tank round came hurtling towards her, and two of her archers went down, similar gaping holes in their chests. With enough time, her warriors would be able to heal such wounds, but the field of battle was no such peaceful place, and the two were soon truly dead, ripped to pieces by the rain of lead while their bodies tried to focus on healing the chest wounds.
This was not going how she’d planned. Of her 21 warriors, 18 were left, 3 having fallen in the opening salvo. Morrigan considered fading back into the trees to regroup, but knew such actions would lead to punishments from her mother.
A distinctive whistling sound had her glancing up, and then quickly issuing the order to close the distance. The humans were simply too good at waging war from a distance. While most of the human’s munitions couldn’t kill her warriors outright, the shells streaking down from the sky could injure them, and she couldn’t risk that.
Her warriors surged forward, careful to dodge out of the way the next wave of tank fire. They would have to engage the humans in close quarters battle, which would have the elven bladed weapons, and their skills far more. Sensing the archers would be of little use in such a close battle, she motioned them off toward a towering metal structure with a wall of glass on top.
Orders given, she focused on the battle ahead. The thunderous crash of explosives rang out behind her, letting her know the shells she’d glimpsed had found their mark. Fortunately none of her warriors were still in that area. Something told her she was going to want every warrior she had for this, even if it was supposed to be an easy win.