I raced back to the inn to get my friends. I never went anywhere without my equipment in my bag of holding, just in case I needed it at a moment's notice, but I wasn't going to tell anyone else that. When I arrived the inn was already preparing to close.
"What's going on Patsy?" I asked, moderately disturbed to see them shutting down so early.
"We're gettin' ready for the siege Callan. Honestly, I thought Sandra would have told ye by now. That daft woman." Patsy replied, putting chairs up on tables and shooing customers out of the inn.
"She did tell me. I was just surprised you already knew."
"We all got notified. It's one of the perks of living in a bigger city, notifications can go out to everyone."
"I didn't get a notification. Why?"
"If I had to guess, Sandra knew how long it would be and wanted to let ye rest as long as she thought she could. Ye've been fightin' nonstop for a while now and really needed the break. This is just terrible news, but we've been preparing for a while now to be sure we could handle this. We've got an evacuation point that all non-fighters will pull back to that is completely defensible. The streets should be empty before much longer so people won't get hurt."
"That's great news. Is anyone else from my group here?"
"No, lad. I'd expect them to be at the wall. As should ye before long."
"I was told just to be there two hours before dark."
"Bless the lass. That's Sandra. Looking out for ye when we be about to be attacked. Get over there, Callan. They can use all the help they can get."
I ran back out the door and down the street. I paused only long enough to get my armor on and weapons equipped, then I raced back to the wall. I found Sandra already ordering troops into place and getting weapons ready.
"You just wanted me to wait around while everyone else prepared?" I asked her, a bit of irritation in my voice.
"Sorry, Callan. You are our greatest weapon and I need to be sure you are ready for the battle, not too tired to do what is needed." Sandra said, a bit of irritation and exhaustion slipping into her voice as well.
"I see. Well, thank you for thinking of me like that. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"You can go find Orthos and Nuros. They should be near the Dragon Roost. They need to speak with you."
I nodded once and took off again. When I reached the Dragon Roost I was shocked to see dwarves climbing all over Aeolith, fitting her with gleaming armor.
"Whoa. What is that?" I said, stunned by what I was seeing.
"It be armor lad. Don't tell me ye've never seen any before." Orthos said, walking over to me and flicking my armor with his index finger.
"I know that. I was just shocked to see it."
"We've been working almost nonstop on it to try to have it ready to go. Finished it yesterday and we were goin' to be presentin' it to ye later this week. But no time like the present I suppose."
"It's amazing! More than I had even hoped for."
The armor was gleaming bright silver against her dark scales. Overlapping plates protected her chest, arms, legs, the back of her neck, and the top of her tail. The chest plates ran down her stomach to protect her more sensitive underside from attacks as well, all the way down to her hind legs. There was a space for the saddle in between the neck places and some additional plates that sat on either side of the spines on her back covering her sides and rear haunches. The entire set of armor was pulled together with a gleaming helm that covered the top half of her head with spaces for her horns to jut out of the helm and a protrusion at the end of her face that could be used to stab opponents like a sharpened beak.
"Glad ye like it. It's the best high steel armor we could make. Anything higher ranking in the metal quality would have bankrupted the city to make. It be enchanted with both Constitution and Dexterity buffs so she'll still be able to move around with almost the same grace and speed as if she wasn't wearing it. Speaking of that. Come take a look at this. Nuros and I have one more thing for ye."
I followed Orthos over to a tent just a ways off from the wall where Nuros was standing over a long shipping crate, polishing something inside. As I approached Nuros looked up at me and smiled from ear to ear.
"This be Shadow Breaker. Not only is she a scalable weapon just like that fancy sword o' yers, but she be a named weapon. The head is forged of adamantine metals to make it harder than almost any known metal. The shaft be made of ironwood, hard as steel so she won't be breakin' anytime soon. And the foot be made of adamantine as well. It be enchanted with light magic, and both of the gems it be equipped with be light gems of the highest quality we could find."
I stared in awe at the weapon in front of me. It was one of the most magnificent weapons I had ever seen. The head of the spear was about eighteen inches long and shaped to look almost like a double-edged sword that flared out at the base to sit on an ornately carved socket attached to the shaft. There were two lightly glowing gems on either side of the base of the spearhead that shone with a golden light. The shaft of the spear was wrapped in red leather with a black thong of leather wrapped in the opposite direction for a cross-coloration pattern that allowed for a better grip with the slightly raised texture. The foot of the spear was equally as beautiful with a small ball of metal at the very end that could be sued to bash opponents.
"I-I don't know what to say."
"Pick it up and say you'll kill some of those shadowy bastards with it for us," Orthos said with a chuckle and a smile so wide I thought it might split his head in two.
I picked up the weapon and inspected it.
Item:
Shadow Breaker
Item Type: Magical Weapon
Durability: 10000/10000
Attack: 85-125 damage
Item Quality: Master Craft
Item Rarity: Legendary
Slots: 2
Enchantment 1: Once the Shadow Breaker has been attuned to the wielder, it will gain XP for the kills its bearer exacts and will grow with the wielder.
Enchantment 2: This spear has been embued with light magic during every portion of its creation process. Due to this, it not only deals light damage with each strike but can be embued with mana to allow the wielder to light up the area around it and deal additional light magic damage when fighting with it.
Attuned: No
Weapon Level: 1
Weapon XP: 0
XP to next level: 1000
Skill: Dawn's Hope: Because this blade is now equipped with two radiant gems and was reforged with the light of the sun and infused with iron from a dead star, this blade can now use the activated skill Dawn's Hope which will light the blade, dispelling darkness in all directions with the light and power of Dawn.
"How were you able to get the same skill into this weapon as my sword?"
"I was able to see the details on the inspection. Once I did that we be able to recreate it since we had all of the details already. It's not super hard to do Callan. We just need to know the enchantment exists and we can usually recreate it. Iron from a dead star was the hardest material to find, but we managed it. Besides, it was created with ye in mind and was meant only for yer hands. When we added the light gems it was basically screamin' to have that enchantment added." Orthos replied, winking at me.
I ran my hand over every part of it, memorizing its features, and picked it up. It was far lighter than I had expected it to be based on the size of the blade.
"It's so light," I commented.
"That be the strength of adamantine. It's goin' to cost ye a pretty penny, but it be totally worth it."
I took a few practice swings with it. I had been learning to use the spear of bloodletting while we were out training to fight and had used some books to learn more about how to fight with a spear. I had also learned several katas on earth in my martial arts training so I was at least moderately prepared to use this weapon. I sat down on the ground and focused on the weapon.
"Alright lads, let's give him some time. He needs to attune to the weapon." Orthos called to the dwarves who all began to move off to find other things to do.
After about half an hour of concentrating on the spear, I got a notification that I had attuned to it. I stood up and moved over to be with Aeolith. Orthos called over to me before I could get too far from the tent.
"Dragonrider! Ye be leaving with that old armor o' yers still?"
"What's wrong with my armor?"
"Oh likely not much, but wouldn't ye look so much better in this?"
Orthos reached down behind a stack of crates that were in the tent and pulled out a gleaming chest piece that had shoulder pauldrons shaped to look like the top half of a dragon's head attached to it. I stood there staring at it for a moment. It was the most badass-looking armor I had ever seen before.
"But isn't that heavy armor? I was using medium to keep my dexterity high." I said, walking back to the tent, my mouth almost watering at how cool the armor looked.
"Aye, but yer strength be over fifty by now right?"
"Yeah?" I said, slightly confused.
"Well once ye reach a Strength of fifty the negative effect of wearing heavy armor goes away."
"Brutus, did you know this?" I asked the air around me.
"I did. But you never asked and it never came up since that armor was from the Dragonriders." Brutus said appearing beside me.
"Well, I'll be a troll's ugly stepchild. Is that a fairy?" Orthos said, awe in his voice.
"Yeah, it's my friend Brutus. He is my fairy guide. He has helped me in fights since I got to this world and knew very little about it," I replied. "Come to think of it, why did you decide to show yourself now Brutus?"
"I really think we can trust these people. They are doing so much to help you, and since everyone knows about the Dragonrider thing why not me? Plus I was tired of being invisible all the time now." Brutus answered.
"Well, ye just be full of surprises, Callan. Now come on over here and let's get this armor on ye."
I went back to the tent and several dwarves helped me out of my armor, which I stored in my bag of holding for the time being, and into the new armor.
Item:
High-Steele Cuirass of the Dragonrider
Item Type: Armor
Durability: 1000/1000
Armor: +50
Item Quality: Master Work
Item Rarity: Epic
Weight: Heavy Armor
Enchantment: Constitution +5
Item:
High-Steele Bracers of the Dragonrider
Item Type: Armor
Durability: 500/500
Armor: +35
Item Quality: Master Work
Item Rarity: Epic
Weight: Heavy Armor
Enchantment: Strength +5
Item:
High-Steele Grieves of the Dragonrider
Item Type: Armor
Durability: 500/500
Armor: +35
Item Quality: Master Work
Item Rarity: Epic
Weight: Heavy Armor
Enchantment: Dexterity +5
Item:
High-Steele Tassets of the Dragonrider
Item Type: Armor
Durability: 700/700
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Armor: +50
Item Quality: Master Work
Item Rarity: Epic
Weight: Heavy Armor
Enchantment: Endurance +5
Item:
High-Steele Helmet of the Dragonrider
Item Type: Armor
Durability: 1000/1000
Armor: +40
Item Quality: Master Work
Item Rarity: Epic
Weight: Heavy Armor
Enchantment: Intelligence +5
This armor was absolutely incredible. Each piece gave me a stat boost to go with the protection it offered. There were images of dragons etched into the bracers and grieves, the pauldrons on the cuirass looked like dragon heads, and the helmet was shaped to look like a half-dragon head as well. Once the dwarves helped me finish equipping the last piece of armor I got a popup notification.
Armor Set Complete
You have equipped a full set of armor, Dragonriders Salvation. For wearing a complete set of matching armor you are given a 25% boost to your overall armor rating.
"And the bonuses just keep on coming," I whispered.
"I take it ye like the armor then? Go ahead, move around. We took into account that ye likely be a versatile fighter, so each of the pieces should fit together seamlessly with the others to allow the maximum amount of movement a set of heavy armor can." Orthos explained.
I took some test strikes in the air, moved around, ran in a circle, blocked some ghost strikes, and dodged some as well. No matter what direction I moved, the armor flowed with me, and felt as though it would never get in the way. It was heavier than I was used to, but not by a lot, and it did limit some movements, but only the most extreme contortions.
"Oh yeah, this will do nicely. Though I worry what this will all cost me, Orthos."
"For defending the city? Let's just say yer payment can be coming back alive and victorious."
"That is truly generous of you Orthos, but I don't think I could just accept such a gift."
"Lad, ye see, if ye go out in that armor and come back alive and we win this fight, everyone will be lining up to buy armor from my shop. The shop that built the Dragonrider's armor. So ye just be a walking, talking, killing marketing strategy for me shop. Think of it as an investment on my part in my future business. We all believe in ye laddie. We will be OK if'n we take care of ye."
My heart filled with pride as the weight of the situation really hit me at that moment. I couldn't fail. We were putting all of our eggs in one basket here. I firmed my resolve again, as I had done so many times before, and stared at Orthos.
"I won't let you down."
"I know ye won't lad. Now let's finish up the preparations. We'll be ready for them when they come."
We continued to get the city ready and the weapons to the walls as quickly as we could. We ended up having almost three hundred Light Crossbows, forty-five Light Cannons, and a working prototype of the Light Catapult, which we were going to save for when the fighting got really bad. We tried to have most of them facing to the east, but we couldn't leave the other walls totally undefended so we stationed some more sparsely around the other three sides. They could be moved if need be later in the battle. I was handed a few more potions by Harlow as well for the battle so that I had a ration of health, mana, and stamina potions. I hadn't used many of the ones from the Dragonrider island, so I had a good stock now.
We continued the preparations until it began to get dark. Just before the sun touched the horizon I decided to hop on to Aeolith and take a ride out really high to see what we could see. Climbing up into the saddle, Aeolith took off from the roost and we flew out over the countryside to see if we could spot them coming. After we climbed really high into the air I activated my Dragon Senses and looked out as we flew. Aeolith saw them before I did. A black mob moving across the land toward Jewelston from the east. They were moving quickly and there were a bunch of them. There looked to be at least a thousand Shadow Beasts. Most of them were small beasts, but there were a couple of mid-sized beasts with them, and at the back was the largest Shadow Beast I had ever seen. It looked to be almost twice the size of Al'Doran. Aeolith had grown since leveling, but this could be a problem. I would need to use the special ability on that monster to have a chance of beating it. That left me with few options for the other monsters. It was going to be time to see how the new weapons and skills I had would do against the Shadow Beasts. I hadn't had a chance to practice on any since learning about them, but there was no time like the present.
We flew back to Jewelston to deliver the news. When we landed I quickly hopped down and ran to Sandra.
"There are a lot of them. Probably over a thousand. And they are headed this way. We have a chance, but it's going to take everything we have."
"Damn. I was hoping for less. Oh well, nothing to do about it now. How far away are they?" Sandra asked.
"Less than an hour. They will be here just after sunset."
"And in the dark. I'm sure that's just a coincidence."
"Can we add lights to the outside of the wall?"
"We are ahead of you on that front. We set large bails of hay with oil in them at regular intervals along the outside of the wall. Once they are in range of the walls, archers have orders to light them. That should give us some light on what we will be shooting at."
"Sandra, you have thought of everything."
"I certainly hope so. We need every edge we can get."
"Alright, let's do this then. Time to pay them back for what they did in the villages."
We walked up to the top of the wall to see what was going on. Aeolith was now big enough that she couldn't stand on the wall anymore. So she stayed patiently down on the ground. Most of her attacks would be best served by flying out and raining terror down on them with breath attacks anyways later on. I would help from the wall for as long as I could and then fly out with her to try to fight off the biggest foes. The men on the walls would need to fire down to kill as many of the smaller beasts as possible. I was eager to see how the Light Crossbows and Light Blast Cannons would do in this battle.
We waited and we watched. I used my Dragon Seneses again to zoom in and see the Shadow Beasts coming. As they got closer more and more people could see them. They were moving in a mass of bodies that were only somewhat organized. Like animals that were just barely under the control of a master that didn't have enough experience to keep them in formation. The shadows writhed and danced in and out amongst each other, seeming to get more and more agitated as they got closer to the city. We watched them marching methodically toward the city from over a cresting hill like ants across the land. The biggest one lumbered in the back slowly, able to keep up only because of its giant strides. When they were about a hundred yards from the wall the mass of Shadow Beasts stopped advancing. One Shadow moved as though levitating through the pack while others hurried to get out of its way. When it reached the front of the line it stood about ten feet out in front and looked up at the wall.
Sandra gave the order and the archers lit up their arrows and held them pulled taught over the wall.
"Foolish mortals. Fire will not aid you in this fight." The Shadow Beast's apparent leader called up to us.
On another order the arrows were loosed and flew up and out then down and hit the large piles of hay with an explosion of fire from the oil, igniting almost instantly. The Shadow Beasts recoiled slightly from the sudden light, but they did not break.
"So, you have a little light now. Is that the best you can do? Cower behind your walls and light campfires to see by?" The leader called up again. "Send out the Dragonrider, and we will make all of your ends swift and painless. Deny us, and we will make you suffer while you watch all of your loved ones die a slow and agonizing death."
Sandra stood up on one of the ramparts, grasping a flag pole that was attached to the battlements, and yelled back.
"That is a very tempting offer. But it still means we don't get the pleasure of killing you. I think I'll take the third and unspoken offer."
"And what offer is that?" Yelled the leader back at Sandra.
"The one where we kill every last one of you and hunt your brethren to extinction," Sandra said with a half smile.
She was really good at this. I found a new level of respect for her as the men cheered and yelled back down at the shadows at this declaration.
"Very well. Don't say I didn't warn you." Replied the shadow.
And with that, the smaller beasts began to move. Sandra made one motion with her hand holding the flag pole. I almost missed it as it was just two fingers pointed straight out. With that, the first volley of the Light Blast Cannons went off from below us on the wall and the blasts of light soared out and toward the beasts. As they were running the balls of light collided with the front lines and exploded in a bright flash of light. When we were all done blinking away stars, the first sets of Shadow Beasts were no longer running toward us. Many of them seemed to have just been wiped off the map. Some of the second rows were now stopping and holding back, not sure what to do, while others in their number seemed to be missing some body parts, caught in the edge of the blast but still taking damage. The advance halted in its tracks, not seemingly willing to advance any further with this new threat showing itself.
The Shadow Beasts made some odd clicking and high-pitched growling sounds like something you'd hear when hyenas are hunting on those nature shows back on Earth. I could see the leader looking up at us with what I guessed was a look of utter hatred before he urged the minions on again. With the new order, the full horde of shadows began to move toward the walls. Another volley of Light cannons filled the night sky and then obliterated another section of the shadow army. This was going better than I had thought, but there were still far more of them than the cannons would be able to deal with.
As they got closer, the crossbowmen came to the wall and aimed over the side at a command from Sandra.
"FIRE!" She yelled, after a pause to let them get in range.
The weapons twanged and even more orbs of light shot through the night down at the enemies. These orbs were much smaller than the ones released from the cannons, but they traveled almost as fast, and straight toward the oncoming shadows. When the first ones hit, they detonated on impact with smaller explosions. Some of the beasts merely lost limbs to the shots, but others were hit in more vital areas like the head or chest and were turned to fleeting specks of dark dust on the wind. For everyone that was killed though, another took its place in the charge.
"FIRE AT WILL!" Sandra yelled out.
"WHICH ONE IS WILL?" Came a mocking reply from a dwarf further down the line and the men had a laugh at the age-old joke that seemed to cross worlds.
"DUNALND! I swear to the gods if you miss any you'll be on latrine duty for a month when we are done here!" Sandra called back.
The laughing stopped immediately. The men with the Light crossbows began to fire down at their own chosen targets. Some picking unhurt creatures, others picking off injured ones. They could only fire every five seconds though so the volleys were slower than I would have liked being used to seeing old war movies where they had rapid fire from guns, but we were making a dent in their numbers.
Soon the first and fastest of the bests reached the walls and began to climb. They moved much faster up the walls than a normal army would have, not needing to find footholds and seeming to just stick to the sides as they climbed. I stepped up to the wall and began firing light bolts from my hands down at the ones climbing the walls. My section of the wall was soon getting clear, but others were not able to keep up and they soon were nearing the top of the walls.
"MAGES TO THE WALL!" Sandra yelled. and from behind the crossbowmen stepped men in robes who looked down the wall and began casting spells down at the shadow beasts. Some threw Magic Missiles, others tossed fireballs, and a few here and there cast a Sun Beam down and into the crowd. One mage was able to cast radiance, which shot out hundreds of lights and killed many of the beasts climbing the walls on that section. There were still too many and before long the first of the beasts had climbed over the wall and killed a guard who was drawing his sword too slowly. The men around him who were not holding the crossbows quickly drew their weapons and began to attack the monster. It was being injured but too slowly. I rushed over and took my spear in hand and stabbed the creature in the chest. A radiant light shone from the weapon as it impacted the shadows and the beast screamed in pain as it dissipated into specks of darkness. Now that, was cool. I was going to like this weapon.
I ran back and forth to the sections of the wall as I could to kill as many of the beasts as possible, but too many were getting over the wall now. I could see pockets of fighting all along the wall where crossbowmen had to abandon their firing out to shoot the monsters mauling a fellow guard, or where someone like Rutherford was dealing out justice left and right with his hammer. In some sections, the shadows climbing the walls were so thick that when a Cannon fired it blew beasts off the wall, damaging sections of it in the process. It was time. Stabbing out in front of me, then slashing around behind me, I killed the last few Shadow Beasts on the wall in my current location and I jumped down from the wall and climbed onto Aeolith as quickly as I could. She took off into the sky and over the wall. The Shadow Beasts hissed in displeasure as we flew back the way they had come. We flew out and up, then circled back in a tight loop and dove toward the beasts. Aeolith let loose four of her breath shots down into the ones climbing on the wall as she flew past the battlements and I let several light beams fly from her back to hit a few more.
We circled back again and she grabbed some of the shadow beasts in her massive claws from the top of the wall, crushing them in her hands while I continued to let loose light beams on as many as I could.
"It's no good. We are going to have to get down in there to draw their attention. Are you ready for this?"
"Let them rue the day they came here! My claws and fangs thirst for their destruction!" Aeolith replied in my mind, her bloodlust at its peak.
We flew out to just beyond the wall and Aeolith let herself drop like a stone in front of the wall on a pack of the Shadow Beasts. They screamed in pain as her weight crushed some and her claws and tail went to work on the others nearby. I jumped from the saddle and pointed my spear straight down to impale one of the creatures as I landed. The blade began to glow and I fed more mana into it to make it even brighter. The beasts around us and on the walls turned to see the source of the light and began to crawl back down the walls to us. I slashed left and right, every blow sending these pathetic shadow minions to their death, blocking blows as they came when I saw them with my spear. The beasts began to rush us, but it gave the men on the wall a chance to regroup.
"MEN, TO THE WALL FIRE THE CROSSBOWS AND CANNONS, AID OUR DRAGONRIDER!" Sandra called out from over the wall, and the men yelled a war cry in return. Bolts of light began to rain down on the enemies around us and I heard one particularly loud battle cry as I slashed the middle out of one beast and turned in time to see Rutherford flying down from the top of the wall, every bit the action movie hero pose with his hammer held back over his head and feet pulled back to give him the maximum power through the strike, ready to smash down when he landed. I slammed the butt of the spear into the ground as I cast the skill Dawn's hope from the spear and a brilliant flash of light show out in all directions blinding nearly everyone on the battlefield. The Shadow Beasts squealed as the intensity of the light actually caused them pain when it touched their bodies. They were literally smoking when the light stopped shining so brightly. The head of the spear still glowed and a streak of light followed it as I moved the head back and forth in my hands, taunting the creatures.
A moment later I was back in the battle, the Shadow Beasts still rubbing their eyes from the flash that had blinded them moments ago, and I heard a boom come from behind me as Rutherford landed. I smiled knowing that had to have ended a few more of the bastards and I continued my attack. I used a Dragon Slash to push some of the enemies back, and to my surprise the force wave came out as a light as well, not only pushing them back but burning the Shadow Beasts at the same time, causing them to scream out in pain. Oh, ho, ho, I was definitely loving this weapon. I let loose a volley of light breath attacks as well to give myself a little bit more room and began to channel my inner video game player, making huge arcing slashes back and forth in front of and behind me then around in circles to clear the area of fodder. With every strike at least four or five of the Shadow Beasts were stuck as I moved forward through the crowd of enemies. The blade sliced through each of the Shadow Beasts like they were warm butter. They didn't stand a chance against my weapon.
Aeolith was stomping and clawing at the ground while biting down at the beasts as well as they washed off of her, occasionally letting out a light breath attack to kill some in a line in front of her. She was a killing machine, swiping away whole groups if she got too overwhelmed, all while the men on the wall kept raining light bolts down on the enemies as well to try to help keep them off of us. Eventually, the monsters began to thin and pull back slightly. I thought we might have them on the run for a moment when the huge beast from the back came rushing forward.
"Take to the sky Aeolith!" I mentally yelled to her.
She looked at me for a moment.
"I'll be fine. I'm a much smaller target than you. And I have the secret weapon remember?"
She took flight and began to circle the battlefield. I fought off a few more of the minions and then had to roll quickly to the right to avoid an attack from the huge colossus of a creature that had come rampaging in. The cannons began focusing on the larger creature while the crossbows focused on the minions, but the gigantic creature seemed to just shrug off the explosions that appeared small on its body. With Aeolith in the sky, the Shadow Beasts began to move back to the wall to climb up to try to stop the Light Crossbow shots. I heard more men dying on the wall as I gritted my teeth, knowing I had to help deal with this monstrosity before I could get back to help them or it would destroy the entire city. I dove and rolled out of the way of a giant fist again and came back up swinging my spear into its hand where it had impacted the ground. The beast pulled its hand back and hissed in pain, glaring daggers down at me. I had to fight off a couple of Shadow Beats around me and nearly avoided the next attack, but was hit with a glancing blow that sent me rolling off to the left. Aeolith screamed in fury and dove to meet the beast from behind. She let loose a light breath directly into the back of the great beast's head and it roared in pain, rearing back to try to strike at her. Aeoith was too quick though and contorted herself away from the blow dodging it and then latching onto the arm, her claws and teeth digging in right away. The beast howled again in pain and tried to shake her off. I took that moment to clear the area around me with a few wide arcing slashes and then cast a Sun Beam at the beast. A hole was carved into its side where the beam hit and the beast roared again swinging its free arm across the field to strike me.
I dove forward into a roll to avoid the strike and bring myself closer to the beast. Aeolith's attacks were too much to ignore and the beast went back to trying to pry her off of his arm. It smashed her on the head and she let go for a moment, then snaked her way around to the back of its shoulder and bit down into the flesh there instead. Being much harder to reach now, the huge beast began to dance around while it tried to reach her on his back looking like someone trying desperately to scratch an itch they couldn't reach when they lost their favorite back scratcher. Everything around the beast began to panic as they desperately tried to avoid its feet which were stomping indiscriminately around in its fury. Some Shadow Beasts were crushed under its feet while others narrowly avoided being killed by their own teammate. From behind me, I heard a new set of cries coming from lower on the ground. I looked back briefly to see what it was and I saw torches being carried by men and women on horseback charging from the gate and into the fray. Apparently, Sandra had gathered some cavalry and they were now charging out to aid us in the fight. As they rode, they crashed into the side of the remaining Shadow Beast army and continued to charge through hacking and slashing at the beasts around the. What I had originally taken as torches turned out to be flaming swords. While not as effective as light magic, it sure made it easier to see.
Turning back to the fight I ran to the large beast. I jumped up onto its foot, stabbing my spear into it for purchase, and began to climb up its leg. It was so distracted by the attacks from Aeolith that it took no notice of me climbing. I reached its waist and almost lost my grip when it turned so fast I was almost flung off. I managed to barely hang onto my spear in its side and began climbing again. Just as I reached the middle of its back, it managed to get a grip on Aoelith and threw her from its back. It reared back to strike her, but she released a light breath right into its face and it recoiled in pain again, stumbling slightly while trying to shield its face from the attack with its arms. At the same moment, a huge ball of light flew over the wall of the city and came down toward the colossal beast. It struck it on the top of the head while it was trying to block the attack from Aeolith, causing it to stumble even more and fall to one knee. That must have been the Light Catapult. This gave Aeolith the chance to flip herself back over like a lizard and jump at it again. This time it blocked her attack and flung her to the side. But that was all the time I needed. I had been able to climb at a less verticle pace and made it to the beast's head and stabbed my spear into its forehead and hung down from its brow right into its vision. The beast screamed in pain from the strike. Just as it tried to reach up for me, I put my hand on the middle of its forehead and cast the Dragon's Hope spell
"From darkness, you came, to darkness, you shall return, LUX NEGAT TUUM ESSE!"
Light shone out of its eyes and then every orifice on its head as it began to roar in complete agony before it fell to the ground dead and began to disappear into the specks of darkness. Fortunately it fell forward and I was able to land on my feet and roll to get away from the rest of its body as it fell. A cheer erupted from the top of the wall and the cavalry in the fight, and with this new bolster of courage, the men charged and began firing again. The remaining Shadow Beasts caved and began to try to flee. I slashed out at as many as I could while they ran away. I searched the crowd of enemies as I attacked, trying to find the leader to attempt to kill it as well, but it was nowhere to be seen, and, quite frankly, most of the Shadow Beasts looked alike in this pandemonium of fleeing creatures and chasing men.
Another, even louder cheer came from the wall as a cry for blood was let out by the men on the ground. The battle was won and the enemies were routed. Aeolith let out her own roar of victory straight up to the skies. I let my body relax a little from the fighting and wiped blood from my brow. Apparently, I had hit my head when I was struck. Oh well. The battle was over and we could regroup to be sure we were ready for any counterstrikes.