“This is a disaster,” The Mage General announced three hours later to a round table of five other mages.

“The entire null infantry lost and a third of the mages dead or taken,” a man in white robe said. “Disaster is too weak of a word.”

“The nulls are unimportant. The mages however is quite a devastating blow,” another mage said.

“It wasn’t a complete loss,” a spectacle mage in purple robes said. He stood up his lilac hair falling in front of his face. “The trace magic on the null infantry did give us an approximate location of the generator. I believe a ten second firing should be sufficient to ensure its destruction.”

“At least they were useful for something,” the Mage General pronounced. “Fester do you have the coordinates?”

“Naturally,” the spectacle mage replied, pushing his glasses farther up his nose.

“Prepare the mana cannon for twelve second sustained firing,” the Mage General said.

A mummer ran through the other mages, Fester just hummed happily.

“General Darkfall that would drain the area of mana for at least two to three weeks,” the white robe mage complained.

“Better that then the city falling. If we destroy that generator it would put the spawn back months, maybe longer. We need time to replenish our losses,” Darkfall said.

“Yes Mage General,” The mages grumbled as they left on their assigned duties. None of them enthused. Darkfall couldn’t blame them. They wouldn’t be able to refill their mana pools until the ambient mana was restored. They would almost be nulls themselves. Alone in the conference room he got to his feet and straighten his uniform before leaving. He had to present the image of power even when he felt the opposite, especially then.

The walk to the mana cannon didn’t take long. It did rest at the top of the keep after all. Where else would you station a massive weapon that could destroy cities? As he exited onto the battlement a feeling of awe overtook him. It did every time he saw the weapon. A gigantic diamond was the first impression he had of the weapon. Of course he knew that was an over simplification, if somewhat accurate. The mana cannon was indeed a massive crystal but it wasn’t diamond, it was quartz reinforced with magical energy. While not nearly as rare as diamond, the quartz was purified and then treated with mana. It was the work of a decade by highly trained mages. The crystal then had thick inlays of gold to help channel the massive amount of magic that would be gather for the attack.

Fester was at the control panel adjusting the coordinates for the attack. They would active the weapon then do a small sweep with it along the projected coordinates of the generators location. Other mages were out relaying instructions to activate the mana collectors in the valley, which would act like a powerful set of lungs drawing in the ambient mana and funneling to the cannon. The entire valley would be a mana poor afterwards.

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“Are you sure you have the generators location?”

“Approximately,” Fester said. “As the nulls entered the mists they followed the corruption tendrils back to the source. Their locations made a nice triangular pattern. By following the triangles base onward we can get an approximate location for the tip.”

“Fine,” Darkfall said had stopped paying attention at the word triangular. Math had always given him a headache.

“Is everything ready?”

“The collectors are ready and have begun drawing in ambient mana,” Fester confirmed. “We need about ten more minutes.”

The pair waited in silence. The Mage General nervous as he looked over his city and Fester happily as he made some minor adjustments.

“We’re ready,” Fester said.

“FIRE!” Mage General Darkfall yelled as he pointed toward the mist wall. He didn’t have to yell, but if felt appropriate.

A high pitched whine followed by a steady deep reverberation that steadily increased in volume shook the keep. Darkfall kept his hand pointed but felt awkward as nothing immediately happened.

“It takes a few minutes to fire once activated,” Fester yelled over the tumultuous of noise.

Darkfall lowered his hand. At least the sound prevented him from having to answer.

His embarrassment didn’t last as mana cannon grew so bright it was painful to look at. Then suddenly it went dim before a massive beam of iridescent power shot outward eradicating everything in its path. The distant mist wall parted and continued to do so as the beam slowly shifted to the right obliterating trees, spawn, and pretty much everything else. Seven seconds into the firing a colossal explosion of greenish energy lite the night. It was so bright it even overpowered the mana cannon’s beam. Darkfall smiled as the final seconds expired and the beam came to an end. They had done it.

“Good work mages,” Darkfall said as he left the cheering group.

The Mage General exhausted went to his private chambers. Inside a bath had been drawn for him, but it sat cold and unappealing. Sighing he went to the tub and used a heating spell to warm the water to an acceptable degree. Some luxuries he could live without, others not so much. He stripped before immersing himself in the water. The hot water soothed his aching body but did little for his mind. The ambient mana was gone as he feared.

“Galina!” Darkfall shouted.

A timid badger-kin female stepped the room her eyes downcast. Her fur was black and white matching her maid’s uniform.

“My lord how may I serve you?” she meekly asked.

“Have the servants prepare one of my special dishes.”

“Yes my lord.”

She immediately left to follow instructions. Darkfall relaxed. At least the kin could be trained properly. He didn’t look forward to the next couple of weeks as the ambient mana gradually replenished. Fortunately that wasn’t the case for him. He had several pieces of preserved mana beast steaks with him. In the last few years an anonymous hunter had been very busy in the mana forest outside of capital city. Whomever the mage was they must be exceptionally skilled. It was difficult killing mana beast without destroying the flesh. Explosions and mana bolts tended to not leave many pieces intact. Now he was glad that he had prepared so well in advance. They might have to procure a steady supply of the enhanced magical food to augment their mages if the spawn attack. It was unlikely as they couldn’t survive long outside the mist. Certainly not long enough to siege Fortunia. Unless of course there was more than one mist generator.