“ELASSA! GET OUT OF THERE!” Fortia screamed into the phone.

Elassa’s reply took a few seconds to reply, the magical reverberations of the spell she was using to break through Kassandora’s barrier slowly rumbled in the distance. “What are you talking about?”

“GET OUT OF THERE ELASSA! RETREAT! I’M ORDERING A FULL RETREAT!” Fortia screamed again.

“Why?” Elassa said slowly.

“FER AND ANASSA ARE COMING FROM THE EAST! GET OUT OF THERE!”

“Are they?” Elassa said slowly. “I’m almost done with breaking through the second barrier, it’ll be over.” Fortia simply could not believe how stubborn the woman was. It would be different if Leona were here, all the Goddess of Luck would have to do is wave a finger and Divines would move.

“AND IF SHE HAS A THIRD? A FOURTH? IT IS KASSANDORA ELASSA! SHE’LL HAVE SOME TRICK UP HER SLEEVE!” Fortia screamed into the phone. “MOVE ELASSA! NOW!”

“I’m fine For…” Elassa’s voice trailed off.

The roar of a lioness came through the speaker.

‘What makes a fortress unassailable? Castle walls? Impassable terrain? Vantage points and sheer size? I have never believed in such a thing as an unassailable fortress. Olephia would make a hamlet invincible, and a million children would not be able to hold the most advanced of dwarven holds. It all matters on the quality of the defenders.’ Leywin recalled Kassandora’s words as the rear doors of Raptor-Two lowered. He turned back to his men as wind rushed past them for an instant when the pressure dropped. All elves, the best Kassandora’s army had to offer, all had served with Iliyal for at least a century, most of them were well onto the fourth or fifth.

A man in Atny’s airport leaned back and turned to his compatriot. “Are you picking that up?”

“I am.” The other fellow replied quickly. “But they’ve not replied to any messages. I don’t know if they’re picking us up or not.”

“Still though, four planes?”

“Not heading to us either way, it’s towards Olympiada’s direction.”

“Probably to Lubska then.”

“I’m thinking it’s Pantheon planes, you know what they’re like.”

“I do.” They shared a chuckle and got back to monitoring the air traffic around Atny airport.

Every man was dressed in full black, long sleeves, long trousers, and full face-masks. Leywin remembered how Iliyal once talked about the great heavy plate armours of the past, when he heard about a war in Kirinyaa, he had hoped to get his own suit. Then he saw a Paladin be dropped by a rifle, a Guardian’s head blow straight through by a sniper, a mage dropping from the air by hail of targeted fire. And he understood why there was no need for armour anymore, not when a weapon that could be even used by a child was so devastating.

The entire team of forty elves were armed with rifles they held in their arms. Swords on their hips, pistols on the other side. Parachutes strapped over backpacks, goggles to cover the night. Leywin checked his own rifle, he pulled the bolt back and slid a bullet into the chamber. The safety came off with a satisfying click. Captain Erik’s voice came over the speaker. “Vanguard squad, we’re nearing Olympiada. Firestorm in twenty, dropping in twenty-five. Prepare.” Leywin looked through his men again, these were the men who had been tasked in the Elassa ambush above Nanbasa some time ago. From snipers to a vanguard squad.

He didn’t know whether the glory was worth the danger, but the order came from Kassandora directly, so there was nothing to do about it.

Whiright looked up at the sky. No one else felt it, but he did. There were planes approaching. Four of them. They should have been notified already. He looked up and left Olympiada’s skyport.

“Firestorm has started, dropping in five.” Erik’s voice came through the speakers. “Four.” Leywin checked his rifle again. “Three.” he unhooked the cable holding him to the ceiling of the plane’s holds. “Two.” Leywin took a deep breath and readjusted his mask. “One.” Leywin lifted his hand as the team behind him got ready. “GO!” And Leywin ran out of Raptor-Two’s cargo holds.

He jumped into the open air above Olympiada. The mountain sat above the clouds and the full-moon illuminated it beautifully. It was a huge mountain, flattened at the top and separated by large roads and pathways into sectors. Iliyal or Kassandora would most likely to be able to tell who’s sector belonged to who immediately. A massive gate stood at the end of the stairs leading up to Olympiada, although it was empty for the night, and then the pathways spilled out in all directions through a salad of structures.

Some were blocky structures, every angle a perfect turn of ninety-degrees. The roof flat, with the buildings themselves making patterns of rectangles and squares all nicely arranged as if they were lined up in the rank of a military formation. Then there were temples and grand manors, with high towers and windows glowing with bright orange lights. Steep roofs that pointed into the sky, or others that were flowing as if it was water that had been frozen in place. A massively tall tower was off to the side, platforms and balconies hanging off it. An in every space without a path or a building lay a garden, as if the designers had simply used the greenery to fill in whatever space they could find. A set of buildings had been demolished, the ground was smoothed out, fresh brick had been laid out and structures were starting to appear again.

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Leywin dropped to the air as his eyes passed over the people. There weren’t crowds so to say, but every path had servants running about or soldiers taking leisurely strolls. It was a mix of all them, Fortia’s Guardians in their gold-bronze, Maisara’s Paladins with grand shields and heavy greatswords on their backs, or the shield-less Seekers that followed Allasaria. They were all carrying tall spears. And Leywin turned as he heard the whistling of bombs pass him by.

The assault on Olympiada had consisted of two transports, those carried the main package, and two bombers. They were simply here to support and cause chaos and confusion. Two massive planes that had been domestically built in Kirinyaa, with bomb bays and floors that slid open to reveal their terrible weaponry. The planes were in the distance now, the two bombers turned higher and escaped south, back to Kirinyaa. Raptor-Two and Raptor-One still circled Olympiada.

Leywin’s team was a probing attack to find out if this was a suicide mission or not. Whether it was actually correct information that all of the major Divines were present in Arika, and that Olympiada had indeed been left open. He spread out his arms and legs to slow his fall, the forty elves behind copied the motion, and the bombs by their sides shot downwards.

Leywin watched those two long trails stream downwards, and then the first bomb hit a building with a swirling roof as if it was a fine cake decorated with icing. It exploded into a marvellous flame, throwing stone and roof tiles all around itself. And the second bomb hit. The third. The fourth. Two long lines of fire started to scar Olympiada’s marble with a terrible sickly blackness, as the smoke of those flames even wounded the magnificent dark blue ocean of a sky. The stars themselves seemed to retreat and dull against the rage of those of flames.

And so, the screaming started. Soldiers started running towards the fires, maids and servants away from them. A few mages lifted into the air and quickly flew to try and contain the flames. And Leywin pulled the strap to his parachute.

SEND WORD TO ALL NEARBY BASES! OLYMPIADA HAS JUST BEEN BOMBED! CALL FOR ARCADIA! WE NEED SUPPORT!

Leywin pulled his legs up as he landed on his rear and slid on the ground. The dark fabric of the parachute settled behind him and he quickly pulled the straps off. Another man landed by his side, Leywin was already on his feet by the time the third man touched down. They were landing in one of the larger gardens. A place filled with trees and trays, although the latter had only thin grass and no flowers, and the former were weak and dull and looking as if they had been planted in a desert.

Leywin lifted his rifle, brought the red-dot sight close to his eye, and immediately stalked close to a tree. The plan had three phases. Phase one’s Firestorm had already been completed, he was in charge of phase two: Shield-Crack. Phase three was called Spearthrust, but a landing site for a Divine had to be secured first. That landing site was here, but it had to be secured for a whole minute. He clicked the earpiece underneath his black balaclava. “Team members, this is Vanguard One, secure this garden. Over.”

A flurry of affirmations came through the earpiece as men responded with their answer. Leywin pulled up his rifle, hunched down, kept the barrel up, and made a careful run to the nearby tree, his eyes constantly jumping from window to door to shadow to tree to box to one of the long roads. Kassandora had been correct with the bombing run serving as a smoke screen, most of the soldiers were rushing towards the flames to try and contain them. A pair of mages quickly flew over Leywin’s team as the man aimed his rifle at them.

They disappeared behind a high-arched roof and Leywin almost turned back. He suddenly saw a head appear from behind the golden roof tiles, with a pair of eyes that scanned the garden and what was happening within. Leywin had expected them to have a minute or two at least. A fire appeared in the man’s hands, and then a pillar of flame shot from him and into the air above the garden.

The flames lit up the garden as if it was a spotlight and Leywin pulled the trigger. The man’s eyes had time to widen at the shock, but whether it was surprise that stunned him or whether it was trained battlemages that were sent to Arika, he didn’t put a shield in time. His head was flung back, a thin stream of blood following it as if a tap had been installed into the top of his head. Leywin’s long ears quivered under the balaclava, the earplugs dulled the sound of the rifle but they still hurt. He shouted at his men, no point for stealth after a bullet had been fire. “COVER THAT ROOF! Team two! That building! Three, four and five, clockwise from them!”

Immediately his elves started to move. They started moving like prowling jaguars, footsteps not even making a sound as they trod through dried grass and into the shadows. One elf kicked open a door and swerved his rifle inside. “CLEAR!” He shouted and disappeared in. His team silently followed in under the cover of moonlight.

Leywin kept watch over the roof. The mage’s partner appeared, a bubble of water around the woman already in the air. He took a sigh and gave a quick glance over the gardens again. His own team one had hidden themselves away already. The others had raced into buildings, all that remained were just the parachutes that had been left on the ground. Leywin ducked behind an empty flowerbed and lay close to the ground as she came close. He signalled with his hands to other elves to copy him.

The witch came close, her feet did not touch the ground, but she lowered herself to inspect what the parachutes were. Leywin rolled out of cover and put a bullet into the shield. It moved instantly, water caught lead, stopped it in mid-air as the woman’s eyes were overtaken with shock. She didn’t drop the barrier, instead, it shot forwards right at Leywin’s heart.

Too slow, an elf from the side got her when she lowered her defences to attack. “GUNSHOTS!” Someone shouted from around the building. Leywin clicked his earpiece as he took position behind the flowerbed. He saw his soldiers dressed entirely in black stalk through the buildings. They appeared through the well-lit windows as dark spectres armed with rifles, a few bursts of gunfire sporadically came from the buildings as they cleared out rooms.

A team of Guardians in gold-bronze plate appeared at the end of a pathway. Guns were already drawn to meet them. They managed three careful steps before the elves opened fire. And they collapsed, red blood leaking from their bodies in thin streams as if someone had merely spilled a glass of water. It was simply a cold operation, Leywin took no pleasure in it, no discomfort. It was merely another job that had to be done.

And then came another band of soldiers, Seekers this time. In full gold with dashing red capes and long spears. They fell too. Iliyal had said they could fight at range, Leywin wasn’t willing to find out whether the ancient elf was correct or not. A response came from team two. “This building secured.”

And three. “Building clear, holding. There’s a troop moving towards us, fifty men or so.”

And team four. “This building is secured. We’re ready.” Leywin was glad his men worked fast. The bombs no doubt helped spread confusion, and Olympiada itself was too large for huge masses of men to sweep through it. They would have a few minutes more before the defenders realised that attackers were on the mountain itself.

A few minutes was all Leywin needed. He radioed Captain Douglas, pilot of Raptor One, through the earpiece. “Landing site is hot but secure.”

Douglas replied instantly, in an easy joking tone. “No major Divines I take it?”

“Not in the immediate area.”

“Understood Vanguard. Hold for a minute and await the Second Spear.”

Neneria held onto one of the tall steel beams that had been installed in the holds of Raptor One. The jet made a sharp turn and its rear-doors began to slide open.