-7-
[https://i.imgur.com/LoYByv0.png]
Tolin was laid out in four major districts.
Market, Port, Garrison, and Residential. The city was surrounded by tall, castellated walls; and each district was separated by smaller walls with a single gatehouse acting as the point of entry from one district to another. A number of towers lined the walls that overlooked the city.
The market district began directly past the front gates. Two main roads winded through the city from there; the residential district was to the west, and the port district was to the east.
Beyond the rows of homes and villas in the residential district was another gate, that led to the garrison district which housed the Citadel. The size of that stronghold would allow tens of thousands of soldiers to be stationed there with ease.
In the east laid the sprawling port district, with its quay walls jutting out against the ocean waves. Warehouses and artisan crafting workshops dotted this district, it was the industry backbone of the lost Empire’s expanding frontier.
South of the port district, a massive steel-reinforced stone bridge spanned the length of the channel mouth. This engineering marvel linked to Tolin’s sister city, Ingmont, on the other side of the gulf.
It was late when the scouting parties reported back in.
The teams that scouted the walls around the city reported no hostile creatures and very little activity as a whole.
One party provided a detailed sketch of a section of the city wall that had crumbled near where a river ran through the city. The river flowed along the residential and market district border wall. They indicated that the damage appeared to be more likely from erosion, than from any monster.
The four parties that searched the city were much busier avoiding hostiles to fully accomplish their reconnaissance mission. After taking in all the reports, our adversaries included packs of wild dogs, demon hounds, and Capradaemns.
I asked each scouting party the same question, and each party had the same response…
Nobody saw anything that they would describe as a Terror Demon.
Once the last scouting group left and we were alone Hailey let out a sigh, whether it was in relief or from stress I wasn't sure.
"Airis, do you think we’re in the clear?"
"In the clear from what?"
"I mean, do you think we’ll have to deal with that... Terror Demon?"
"It could just be hiding. Or it may have moved on. We don’t have any actionable intel that can confirm either of those two options."
She sat down and buried her face into the table. Her mumbled words could barely be made out.
"Being in command sucks."
I laughed and gently brushed my hand through my hair.
"It really does sometimes."
"If I had known it would be this stressful I… I wouldn't have taken this position!"
Hailey raised her head up and looked at me in alarm as she blurted that out.
She started to push her chair back but I grabbed a hold of her shoulders. I raised an eyebrow at her, and in response she tried to pull away from me.
“Not fair. Let me go!”
She squirmed with all her might, but couldn't get out of my grasp.
“Not until you explain what you meant.”
Hailey crossed her arms, “Hmph.”
“You can sit here and pout, but I’m not letting you go till I find out what you’re hiding from me.”
"Fine, but the next secret you try to keep I’m gonna pester you until you tell me. I heard about an opening in Third Division when Commander Morgan was thinking of retiring. It came with orders to Axio, and I applied to be closer to you!"
Ohhhhh… wait what!?—
Before I had the time to really digest what she had said, the canvas door flung open wildly and Julius ran into the command tent. He bore a grim expression, and even grimmer news.
"Hostiles engaged the guards at the gate. A lot of them."
"Shit. Where are the others?"
"They're already there, and now that I've found you two we have to get out there!"
Hailey and I hurried after him, rushing out of the camp. The evening sun was setting, there would only be an hour of good light remaining.
The sounds of battle echoed over the hills.
Two wounded soldiers limped past us as we rode to the barricade. A fiery explosion flared in front of us followed by a tower of smoke that rose up into the sky.
The air around us thickened as we descended into the Aethermist that covered the battlefield.
The Divisional guards had hastily repositioned the barricades to form three hardened defensive positions.
From these makeshift positions, archers were taking opportunities to pick off their aggressors. On the front, a shieldwall had formed and was preparing to charge forward.
Humanoid figures swarmed from the battered gates. Their heads, however, were anything but human—more goat-like. Long, twisted horns arched back from their foreheads. Sickly pale skin was pulled taut against muscular upper frames with thick hair covering their lower halves, ending at cloven feet.
A quick scan of the demons revealed they weren’t as formidable as they seemed. But with sheer multitude of them, this was still going to be a hard pressed battle.
TARGET
STATISTICS
VALUES
CAPRADAEMN
HEALTH
STAMINA
MAGICKA
175 / 175
92 / 100
50 / 50
Just as Julius had said, our party members were already here. Mei was taking shots with the other archers. Soren and Alistaire were among the shieldwall, swords at the ready. The only person I didn’t have eyes on was Luke—and as soon as that thought came to mind, Luke's voice crackled to life from the Communirune in my ear.
"Glad to see you made it, Commander. The gate was overrun by a surprise attack, but we have managed to keep the defensive line."
I looked out among the pockets of red-clothed Divisionals, but still couldn’t find where he was hiding.
"Hey Luke, good to hear your voice. Where are you?"
"Eastern barricade. I'm spotting for the rangers here. None of these bastards are getting past us."
An unsettling chill ran down my spine. The pressure of the Aethermist was increasing, the demons were about to make another charge.
But, before I had a chance to warn him, Julius had already run forward and was shouting orders.
"Alcotts, Jameson. Get your asses over here. Let’s go! Form up on me. Alcotts you’re in cycle first. Jameson you stay two lengths back and watch our hides."
The two boys fell in with Julius. With all those training drills every night and morning, they had become very proficient in following Julius’ orders. As they moved forward, It felt like they had been fighting together for years.
Their strides were perfectly in-step with each other. Both of the junior warriors had picked up cycling quickly in training.
Ear piercing screams emanated from the gate and a horde of Capradaemns spilled out into the battlefield.
A warcry roared from the shieldwall, and they began pushing forward steadily. A flare spell rose in the air behind me, prompting a hail of arrows that peppered down upon the demons.
Divisional arrowheads were designed to inflict the most damage possible to monsters and demons; triple-bladed broadheads with another set of blades that winged out behind it. They caused a tremendous amount of damage, basically guaranteeing that a target would start to bleed out. In most cases they would leave a limb crippled if struck.
The advancing shieldwall made contact, blade and spear met claw and fang.
Hailey called out to me while she was casting a spell.
"Get up there and backup our boys. I can manage healing for now. I’ll call out to you if I need your help."
I nodded at her and stepped to move away, but quickly stopped.
I traced a focusing sigil and channeled energy to my palms. I placed one on her right shoulder.
“Peer past the infinite veil. Let the power hidden within our being come forth, Brilliance!”
Violet light enveloped us both and she grinned widely.
Julius, Soren, and Alistaire were to the west of the shieldwall. I took a position on the eastern side, giving Luke a clear line of sight to me. This way, I could call out for support if I got into anything too troubling.
The shieldwall formation was a standard pushing defensive formation. This one was on the smaller side, only being three rows by fifteen columns with three officers in the rear. They advanced in a wedge, gaining a few inches of ground against each demon they felled.
Arrows continued to inflict casualties, and the demons began to act more erratically. Instead of engaging directly with the force ahead of them, they started to focus their aggression on the archers raining hell down on them.
A group of five demons charged at the opening between myself and the shieldwall. A red glow illuminated each of them and a cry rang out far above me.
I unsheathed my blade, the dark-crimson flames erupted in a dazzling display of ferocity.
Valiance, Mei’s ebon-feathered companion had used her MARK TARGET ability. In addition to making them much easier to detect, it highlighted weak spots with an intense light.
I readied my blade in front of me, in an attack stance, leaning forward and crouching at the waist. I balanced myself for a quick slash and waited to strike. Once the first demon was close enough, I burst into motion.
My blade cut upwards in a diagonal arcing slash through the monster. Flames trailed behind the swing, erupting aggressively once the blade finished rending the flesh. The dark fire spread out in a nova, engulfing the group of demons.
They screamed in pain as their flesh burned in magickal fire.
The target of my BLADE SLASH was completely eviscerated by the attack. I had aimed at the brightest spot on its body, which happened to be its lower abdomen. The bloody carnage was made more appalling by the foul smell of burning flesh.
Nobody had seen the effect of SOULFIRE yet. Julius and I had only been training with practice weapons. We expected that it would be intense—but I was surprised at the power of the ability. The reactionary effect of the nearby Divisionals indicated that it was more than awe inspiring. A throng of slack-jawed soldiers gave their impressions.
"By the Celestials!"
"A single strike took all five of those bastards!"
An officer called out a rallying cry, "Witness the power of our Commander! These demonspawn stand no chance, we’ll cut them all down!"
The soldiers in the shieldwall let out a boisterous cry and advanced further.
I quickly reviewed my combat log for a detailed breakdown.
» BLADE SLASH HITS, INFLICTING MODERATE (132) DAMAGE
» BLADE SLASH CAUSES MAJOR WOUNDS
» SOULFIRE HITS, INFLICTING MAJOR (132) DAMAGE
» SOULFIRE SPLASHES, INFLICTING MAJOR (132) DAMAGE
» SOULFIRE CAUSES MAJOR WOUNDS
By the Celestials, that effect is staggering.
The splashing damage from the SOULFIRE looked like it applied the full amount of damage to nearby enemies, rather than a reduced area of effect like most Combat Class spells. I wasn’t sure if the effect did major damage because of the major wounds, or if that’s just standard for this ability.
Fortunately for me, there was a horde of these goat-man demons for me to test this out on.
My blade slashed through them, always followed by its ravenous flames that engulfed each target. Without fail, each swing resulted in fire bursting outwards to consume anything close by.
After the first few groups I stopped checking the combat logs. Every time SOULFIRE hit, it caused major damage and applied the same level of wounds.
» BLADE SLASH HITS, INFLICTING MODERATE (156) DAMAGE
» BLADE SLASH CAUSES MAJOR WOUNDS
» SOULFIRE HITS, INFLICTING MAJOR (156) DAMAGE
» SOULFIRE SPLASHES, INFLICTING MAJOR (156) DAMAGE
» SOULFIRE CAUSES MAJOR WOUNDS
» BLADE SLASH HITS, INFLICTING MODERATE (98) DAMAGE
» BLADE SLASH CAUSES MAJOR WOUNDS
» SOULFIRE HITS, INFLICTING MAJOR (98) DAMAGE
» SOULFIRE SPLASHES, INFLICTING MAJOR (98) DAMAGE
» SOULFIRE CAUSES MAJOR WOUNDS
Within an hour, we had control over the gatehouse. The sun was now barely visible on the horizon. Countless demon corpses lied slain in the dirt—not a single Divisional soldier had died. Though some were moderately injured, but not severely enough to warrant expending more magicka from the healers.
The injured were loaded onto carriages and carts and sent back to the main camp to be overseen by the field hospital staff.
The remaining Divisionals were completely exhausted. The majority of guardsmen leaned on their shields and spears, breathing heavily.
Even past their limits, a few of the guards were fawning over Soren and Alistaire, who had enraptured the group with their flashy combat cycle switching.
Those two never had formal weapons training, instead, they’d developed a style very similar to Julius’. It looked like they were competing at a tournament with every strike. Every attack had an elegant motion to it.
It was truly something to watch the three of them in training, and I’m sure it was at another level in real combat.
The guardsmen dispersed when I walked over, saving me the trouble of trying to figure out how to get my party members back.
"You boys look like you’re in one piece."
Alistaire grinned, "Not a scratch on us."
Soren nodded.
"Looks like you’ve gained some admirers as well." I pointed at the guardsmen who were walking away.
"Hah! Yeah we did. Soren and me hit those demons like thunder strikes! Pow! Pow! Pow!"
Alistaire punched his fists in the air.
"Lightning strikes..." Soren interjected quietly.
"Yeah lightning strikes, Soren! You knew what I meant, whatever, that battle was intense!"
"Uh huh, well Lightning Striker, how about you take some of this energy and focus it on making sure this gatehouse is secure?"
Alistaire kicked at the ground with his boot in a ‘Awh, do I have to?’ response.
Soldiers were scrambling around us, busy repositioning barricades to form a new defensive position.
I laughed, "Look, just make sure the guards moving the barricades don’t have anything nasty sneak up on them."
The two of them scurried off to help a pair of soldiers struggling with a heavy steel-reinforced spike barricade.
The main gatehouse to Tolin stood at a menacing forty-five feet tall. It was designed to elicit a sense of admiration and awe towards the former empire that built the city. Though in part it was built to be defensive, its main features were more dramatic than practical. The vaulted stone ceiling was crumbling, revealing the rotting lumber of the floor above.
Hailey, Luke, and Mei joined us at the gatehouse. They all looked healthy, though Hailey looked a little drained.
The archetype for priest healing was expensive, long cast time, spells that applied an area of effect heal in a wide range. Where I, as a paladin, could get away with using less than ten magicka for each of my minor healing spells, Hailey would spend thirty or more per each basic healing spell. The trade off for efficient healing being an area effect was well worth it to most divisional healers however.
I swiped at my wrist to activate my OVERSIGHT ability to see how she was fairing.
PARTY MEMBERS
STATISTICS
VALUES
HAILEY BROOKS
HEALTH
STAMINA
MAGICKA
60 / 60
115 / 185
225 / 540
She definitely had her work cut out for her. With a little over three-hundred magicka spent she would have cast ten or so spells in an hour. That kind of mental drain was hard for any caster if you didn’t have an absurdly high SANITY attribute.
Even battle hardened war-mages couldn’t pelt an opposing force with a barrage of spells.
The best magickians in Axio could only conjure two or three action class offensive spells every ten minutes without succumbing to magicka feedback.
Feedback made even the worst case of brain freeze feel like a calming massage in comparison.
Her head was probably throbbing in pain.
"Hails, you doing okay?"
"..."
Her response was walking straight into me, pressing her head against my breastplate and letting out the tiniest whimper that only I could hear.
"Nnhh-uh."
Well that answers that.
A hand clapped my shoulder and Luke’s voice came from behind me.
"That was an incredible display there, Commander," he whistled softly, "Those demons didn’t know what hit them."
"I was just as surprised as anyone else. I’m still not entirely sure how the sword’s ability effect works, but I think I’ve got the general idea down."
The damage the blade inflicted was doubled by the SOULFIRE effect, that damage was then splashed to any nearby enemies. What I didn’t know was if the effect applied a major wound to any foe, or if these demons were just susceptible to that particular effect.
I was getting lost in thought, when Valiance let out a high-pitched screech above the gatehouse. We all looked at Mei expectantly. I wasn’t sure if they could communicate somehow through their soulmate bond, but you never know what sort of weird tricks an elf could pull.
"Danger is approaching." she said blankly.
I felt and heard Hailey groan, but it was quiet, muffled by my armor. The rest of the party was still unaware of her condition.
"Any chance you can elaborate on the type of ‘danger’?" Luke asked.
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"Monsters." she shrugged.
Luke sighed, and gave Mei a pat on the shoulder, "Really narrowed it down there."
Julius picked up his shield, "The soldiers aren’t ready for another fight like that last one. They’ll buckle against the next wave. We should take a position in the courtyard past the gatehouse and keep whatever is coming busy while they rest."
Soren and Alistaire both shrugged and followed Julius, who was already walking away. Mei followed closely behind them.
"He’s something else, ya’ know that?" Luke said flatly, staring at Julius.
"What do you mean?"
"He organized the guards during the first attack—and ordered moving the barricades and shieldwall in absolutely no time. Before the first demon even took a step past the gates, we were ready for them. No doubt that the only reason anyone here is alive, is because he was around."
"That’s Julius for you. He’s not just a pretty face. There is a reason he’s my vice-commander."
Luke continued to stare as the rest of our party walked through the ruined gateway.
"Next fight should be easy, Hails. You only have to watch the six of us. I’ll assist if you need me to."
Another pitiful groan echoed up from my breastplate. Hailey stomped her feet as she followed me and Luke through the gate to face the new threat.
No rest for the weary, they say.
The gateway opened up into the market square. The city’s main street continued south. The ruined exterior of shops stood along the promenade. Overgrown foliage entangled every surface. Roots broke their way through the paved streets, making the whole place a hazard.
The sun was setting fast, the light was barely bright enough to illuminate the courtyard ahead.
“Source of light that dwells among the veiled. Come forth and guide our way, Radiance!”
Bright golden light washed over us as AURA OF LIGHT took effect. In addition to its increased healing spell efficiency, the aura provided a small radius of visible light around each of us, allowing us to see for about fifteen feet in any direction clearly—though the light faded quickly past that point.
The open market square had little in the form of cover or defensive positioning. We were in the open. But before I had a chance to bring up my discomfort in our current state of affairs, a new situation developed.
Guttural howls pierced my ears, and the faint red glow of demonic eyes appeared around us. More of the goatmen charged out of the surrounding buildings, this time accompanied by demon-hounds—Identical to the two that Julius and I had fought a week ago.
"Hey Julius, good thing you remembered your shield this time." I teased.
The snarky response that I was expecting didn’t come. Instead, a soft silver light emanated from his shield. The light grew in intensity until his entire shield was glowing. The shield itself started to shift. It warped in shape, now extending down past his knees to a sharp curved-point and up above his shoulders. The top of the shield jutted forward in what looked like the face of a bird of prey. The face of the shield was a flashy crimson-red, and was emblazoned with a silver feathery pattern. Three ruby-jeweled sockets adorned the crimson-red face of the shield.
“Light, grant me strength. For in strength I find power. In power I create unity. In unity, I serve the righteous and bring forth justice to these tainted lands. Despair forces of darkness, Silver Bulwark!”
The silver glow that had been building up as Julius spoke his incantation, burst—flowing out around us and forming a bubble.
» YOU ARE AFFECTED BY A PROTECTIVE BARRIER.
"What in the Aether is that!?"
Julius flashed me with the largest and by far, the most annoying grin to date.
"You weren’t the only one to get a new toy from that dwarven lady."
"Are you kidding me!? This whole time you’ve been keeping some crazy superb skill from me!" I huffed.
I cannot believe this man!
He turned to address the rest of our party and started calling out orders.
"Stay inside the field, and any damaging effects will be reduced. Soren, you’re up first with me. Mei, pick off these hounds. There are too many of them, their charge ability can do some serious damage."
Soren jumped into action with Julius and they began to engage the oncoming legion. Soren’s flashy swings perfectly mirrored Julius’, It was like watching the performance of skilled artisans. Each strike was deliberate and perfectly timed.
Mei’s arrow shots produced a deep ‘thwang’ from her longbow, echoed by the ‘thud’ of a devastating impact. Each arrow loosed resulted in a near perfect headshot. Her arrows were a complex variation that were issued to an elite core of rangers, called Waystriders. They were, in terms of lethality, twice as effective as their standard Divisional counterparts.
Luke had disappeared from sight and was prowling out in the darkness looking for unaware targets to ambush.
Alistaire was on our left flank waiting for his turn to switch in.
I took the right flank. I held my sword with the blade low, ready to counter an attack and follow through with a forward strike.
A demon hound leapt at me from the darkness, and I swung my sword upwards. The blade connected with the hound mid lunge and cut deep. It impacted against bone and knocked the hound off course.
Flames engulfed the demon and illuminated the surrounding area. The newly lit corner of the market square turned into an archery range as Mei let loose a volley of arrows at a cluster of newly exposed demons, now illuminated by MARK TARGET.
I used the opening to engage my own new targets, a group of goatmen who were skulking behind a ruined market stall.
I charged forward, lunging at the closest demon.
My blade sank deep into its chest and flames erupted from the cavity within, taking its allies down with it.
We pushed deeper into the market square slaughtering the demon hordes with gross efficiency.
Mei’s voice came over the Communirune.
"Commander, I’m sensing a change in the weather coming in fast. Winds are picking up speed—we may be in the middle of a storm in minutes."
I slashed through another demon, flames gorged on another victim. A bright flash of light crawled across the sky revealing the true level of annihilation—hundreds of demons laid slain. But the lightning also revealed something more worrying.
A massive shape was moving through the city streets. Its towering body could be seen lording over the roofs of the dilapidated square.
A rush of wind almost pushed me over. The drumming of raindrops impacting the ground grew in intensity until the rainstorm was on top of us, soaking the square completely.
Each time the lightning flashed, the shape of the approaching foe grew larger.
Luke emerged from the shadows, "Commander, we need to go. This storm is getting worse by the second, and I don’t want one of these roofs coming up and burying us in debris."
"I don’t think we have that option." I said as thundering footsteps shook the ground beneath us.
An ear piercing screech paralyzed me, and incredible pain flared against my forehead. Luke’s face was stuck in a twist of pain as well. His hands were holding his head and a weak cry escaped his lips.
Hailey cried out and dropped to the ground, clutching her head. Soren and Alistaire faltered momentarily, but composed themselves quickly. Julius didn’t even appear to be fazed by the noise.
The monstrous figure stepped closer, its true shape now in view. An ettin. It stood over twenty-feet tall. Broad, musclebound shoulders supported two grotesque bald humanoid heads. Both heads looked almost identical, save for the unique scarring that bespeckled their faces. Eyes as black as the Void peered at us through the fog.
Its arms stretched downwards, gripping an enormous crude mace that looked like it was created by hammering large iron spikes through the mast of a ship. The ettin was without any heavy protective equipment, wearing only a weathered loincloth.
A large chain was wrapped around its waist, along which were strands of rope. Each rope ended with a knotted skull that dangled in place as the monster advanced.
TARGET
STATISTICS
VALUES
GIGAS
HEALTH
STAMINA
MAGICKA
4350 / 4350
1000 / 1000
0 / 0
With a wild swing of its giant mace, it struck a small building, shattering the tiled roof and splintering the wooden frame. Gigas roared a guttural battle-cry and shadows moved in the darkness around us.
Julius readied his sword. He took a wide stance with his arm pulled back, the blade angled up sharply. Soren and Alistaire lunged forward swinging their swords in a diagonal strike aimed at Gigas’ legs. Its mace swung between them, colliding with the blades. Both of them were knocked back by the strength of the blow.
Out of the corner of my eye I watched their health drop substantially.
Julius jumped in without hesitation. Gigas was still recovering from its own swing, and didn’t have a chance to block the attack.
His sword connected with the demon’s torso. A clean hit. The deep cut glowed with golden light from Julius’ weapon imbuement.
"Groaaaaah!"
Gigas bellowed with fury and staggered backwards. Light glinted from both sides of its legs. Soren and Alistaire had recovered and were taking advantage of the momentarily distracted demon’s lack of attention.
I took off in a run to catch up with the fighters.
As I passed by Hailey, her staff flared brightly with golden energy as she began casting a spell.
“Blessed and divine light, lend me your strength. Through me, channel the goodwill of your power and deliver them from harm. Healing Grace!”
A runic sigil formed in the space above her and rays of light beamed down on Soren and Alistaire.
Luke shimmered in the light and he faded out of sight as he activated a stealth ability. Moments later he reappeared near the darkness beyond the aura’s reach, eviscerating a group of smaller demons that had encroached on our battle.
He vanished once again into the dark and more bleating screams were heard.
Turning my attention back to the bigger threat, the giant had recovered and its club came crashing down overhead the three swordsmen. Julius managed to jump back, pushing off of an overturned stone slab. Soren grabbed Alistaire by the wrist and pulled him narrowly out of the attack's radius.
I was now close enough to hear Julius hiss expletives at the monster.
If we put pressure on the giant with all of us at close range, it’s going to continue using these power attacks.
We watched as the monster heaved its mighty weapon from the crater the blow had formed. Maybe keeping pressure on the giant was not the greatest plan. With a simple thought I opened a mental channel to the party over the Communirunes.
“Spread out and attack during the recovery period after each attack. Julius, see if you can taunt the thing to give us an opening to strike.”
I heard him mumble something, but he wasn’t close enough for me to make it out. But it had sounded like he may not be enjoying this fight. I was positive that stupid grin of his was long gone.
“Come on you ugly bastard, over here! Rooaaah!”
The ettin turned its attention down towards Julius. It lifted up its weapon and prepared to swing.
I lunged forward to get a quick strike in while it was distracted. The flames of my blade licked at its flesh as the ebony metal cut through its thick skin. As my sword came free and I readied for another attack, I was stopped as my plan fell apart…
The giant had stopped its swing short and was now turning around, its weapon racing at me with an incredible momentum.
Julius dived in front of me. Now stuck between the impending mace attack. He had tossed his sword and was gripping his shield with both gauntleted hands.
“Light, grant me strength. For in strength I find—”
Julius’ incantation was cut off as the giant’s mace impacted his shield. The force knocked him off his feet sending him tumbling backwards.
The attack was deflected slightly, but not nearly enough as the weapon bearing down on me struck me hard in the right shoulder.
“Shaaaaaa!”
An unearthly screech clawed its way from my throat as the metal plate was sheared from my breastplate. The jagged metal was driven downwards across my arm, slicing a deep gash through my bicep.
My stamina drained away into the black-zone and I was left writhing on the ground, paralyzed with a stun effect.
My left hand released its grip on my blade as I grabbed onto my shoulder. The sword clattered to the ground, dark crimson flames flaring brightly. An icon blinked into existence next to my interface and a message displayed in my combat log.
» YOU HAVE BEEN STUNNED.
» YOU ARE AFFLICTED WITH EXHAUSTION RANK I.
» YOU ARE SUFFERING FROM A CRIPPLED ARM.
Shit. Can’t heal this wound until I get my arm set.
I craned my neck using every bit of strength that I had remaining, trying to look up.
A shimmering figure in the distance was barely visible. Luke was still dealing with the horde of demons that flooded in around us. Soren was on the giant’s flank. He was charging in for an attack, sword high above his head—
“Watch out!”
Luke's voice echoed through the courtyard and rang out in my ear as the communirune crackled with feedback at the surprise shout.
I turned my head back to where I last saw him. Three demon hounds had skirted past him and were barreling down the cobbled roadway straight at me.
Double shit.
The stun effect was wearing off and I tried to stand. My footing didn’t hold and I staggered forward, catching myself from hitting the ground face first by extending my left arm.
“Aaaah!”
I cried out in pain as my right arm twisted from the impact. I rolled left and swung backwards to sit on the ground.
I lifted my left arm and channeled a moderate amount of magick through it.
“Righteous Fire!”
A bolt of golden flame struck the closest hound, exploding and taking it out of the fight.
The remaining two snarled, unphased, and continued to close in.
Golden light coalesced around my fist, I readied another HOLY BOLT.
“Righteous Fire!”
Another hound was taken down in an explosive light show. I reached out for my sword, grabbing it just as the final hound lunged at me. I brought my blade up to attempt a deflecting parry and caught the beast’s jowls with it.
Vicious claws ripped and tore at me as the demon snarled violently. I pushed back with my limited strength in an effort to free myself. My stamina bar flashed wildly in my periphery.
The beast’s legs found purchase in the pavers beneath us and I was pushed down onto my back, knocking the breath out of me. I wheezed hard, and the hound freed itself from the entanglement with my blade.
My health bar was now flashing almost as wildly as the stamina bar below it.
PARTY MEMBERS
STATISTICS
VALUES
AIRIS VANIXI
(OPERATOR)
HEALTH
STAMINA
MAGICKA
17 / 90
0 / 245
275 / 350
I was now in a position where I was praying my armor would absorb the damage long enough that someone could arrive to help. I raised my good arm up to protect my face from the impending attack.
“Get the fuck off my commander!”
The brutish yell made me drop my arm to see who had shouted it.
A plated sabaton connected with the hound’s midsection knocking it away from me. I followed the leg back to its owner, and looked upon the face of the ever quiet and reserved Soren.
He was panting hard, and beads of sweat cascaded down his face. His normally soft and passive features were gone, replaced with a bloodcrazed fury.
Soren brandished his sword and thrust it forward, sinking into the demon’s nape. He yanked the blade upwards and cut through the spine and connective tissues, the demon’s head rolled free.
I couldn’t do anything but stare in bewilderment at the scene in front of me. Soren wiped the blood from his sword on his uniform’s coattail. He sheathed his weapon and turned to me.
The blood rage had faded away, and his soft smile had taken residence once more.
He held his arm out for me, “Allow me to assist you. I’ll help you over to Commander Brooks.”
We hobbled over towards Hailey. She was already running to us at a sprint. The look of panic radiated off her face as a palpable aura. She clutched me tightly and traded Soren as my primary supporter.
“Easy now, I’ve got you.”
Her gentle words soothed my pain. Her own kind of unique magick.
“Sit down, let's get you patched up.” she ordered, helping me down. She looked at Soren, who nodded and took my limp arm.
He counted down calmly, “Three… two… one—”
POP!
The golden glow of Hailey’s magick was already building up around her hands. She placed them gingerly on me, “Divine light, deliver her from harm. Healing Grace!”
The best way to describe the feeling of a wound being healed by magick was told to me by a senior instructor at VxA: A dance of a thousand needles around the wound.
Normally, a wound on its own heals by the tissue slowly stitching itself back together. But through magick the tissue is forced to stretch and replicate under extreme stress, rapidly accelerated, in seconds.
I gritted my teeth as the pain of my wounded arm abated, though just replaced by the pain the magick was wracking my arm with.
It was perilous to keep fighting without a plan. If we didn’t come up with something it was likely one of us would die here. And at this point that someone might be me.
Hailey’s hand lingered on my now healed arm. Her face looked pale, but her expression had relaxed. She didn’t look nearly as unnerved. I reached up and clasped my own around hers.
“Nice job, Hails. I’m good as new thanks to you.”
She shuddered, letting out a pained sigh.
“I… nevermind—”
She got up from her stooped position and held out her hand. With her help I was back on my feet.
My uniform coat had been torn and ripped to shreds. The coattails were hanging loosely around my waist. I pulled my dagger from its sheath and quickly cut the damaged fabric free.
A cold gust of wind blew through the courtyard, making me instantly regret that decision—but a little cold air ruffling my skirt was a better situation than tripping over the ruined strips of coat.
My full attention was now back on the priority threat, that was the twenty-foot tall siege weapon of a demon. The boys had been chipping away at its health consistently, and one solid push might be enough to take it down.
I spotted Mei across the courtyard. She had fallen back, giving distance between herself, the ettin.
She was holding her bowstring back in a draw, arrow knocked. A greenish glow was building around the tip.
Her voice carried in the wind, the words felt like they were being echoed by the gale around us. The sharp inflections and cadence of elvish
“EGI ADVICAE QUTI DUX. STELLAE IMPERIAE. EXCIPI CALX!”
The intensity of the wind grew around her, rushing in and blowing her hair and cloak wildly. A soft metallic sound rang out and the arrow tip changed from a dull steel color to a brilliant white. She must have a direct mental link to me, because she was already preparing for a final push.
Her voice came over my communirune, "Airis, get ready to strike."
I rushed the demon again. Adrenaline coursed through me, though my nerves were alight with fear.
Mei spoke a single word. Her voice was so soft and calm that I almost faltered.
"Now."
As she was expecting her command to be executed precisely when given. I lunged with my sword pulled back, and swung it forward with all the strength I could muster.
Mei loosed her arrow and with a loud crack that shattered the air. It flew forwards so fast that it practically materialized in the demon’s chest. The arrow struck at the center of a bright red illuminated glow.
The impact caved the beast’s chest in, flesh and bone blew out over the street below. An instant later, my blade struck the impact site. My sword carved hungrily through the exposed tissue. Flames engulfed the cavity—but these flames were different—glittering particles of crimson-red raced out across the demon’s skin.
Gigas cried out in another ear piercing screech. This time however, we weren’t struck with a paralysis effect.
This time the demon was crying out in pain. The critical strike effect of SOULFIRE was burning every nerve the monster had.
A quick succession of blade slashes flashed, as my trio of swordsmen struck the demon with a series of combination strikes. Soren and Alistaire attacked with an impressive display of speed and agility.
Julius’ strike was a heavy slash that made a shuddering crunching noise as it hit. The giant demon stood frozen in place for a moment before it crashed down to the ground.
The earth shook as the mountainous beast fell.
A deafening thunderclap reverberated against the city’s stone walls. Like a supernatural call of retreat, the horde of demons fell back and we were left standing alone in the market square arena.
The heavy weight of my rain soaked armor overcame my resolve. Fatigue flooded in and I collapsed to the ground. I groaned loudly as my head throbbed.
"Uhhhhhgggh!"
I was joined by my party members, they walked over and sat down in the rain with me to catch their breath. The rain fell harder and the wind grew fiercer, but we didn’t move a muscle. We leaned against each other, stacked together in a pile of exhaustion.
Soren broke the silence, his boyish voice wavering and broken, not a hint of the crazed berserker that saved me earlier.
"I—I can’t believe we survived that..."
A wild fit of laughter came from Alistaire. His hearty laugh was contagious and soon we were all lightly chuckling.
Julius was the first to stand, he stretched his arm out to help me up, "Let’s get the hell out of here. The forward guard should be able to handle it from here. Doubtful anything will show its face tonight after this."
I eyed the fallen ettin.
I was confident that the beast didn’t have pockets, so I doubted it carried any notable loot—but I did make a mental note to tell the quartermaster back in camp to send someone out to gather anything of use from its corpse.
We left the courtyard, and passed a squad of guardsmen standing at the gateway. Their faces bore wide smiles and wicked grins. They must have watched us fell the massive ettin.
On the other side of the gates we were greeted with the sounds of loud cheering that drowned out the drone of the wind and rain.
"They slayed a giant!"
"Hail our mighty Commander! Airis, The Crimson Blade."
"The Crimson Blade!"
"With the Commander on our side, nothing can stop us!"
My body ached in pain, but I kept my shoulders high as we walked through the crowd of fatigued faces. Their calls for ‘The Crimson Blade’ gave me a short burst of adrenaline.
Once we passed the mass of recovering soldiers Hailey slumped against me, making each step an awkward stumble. We climbed up onto a horse and my muscles turned to jelly. I melted into a puddle of slime in my saddle and she jostled around behind me. Beyond exhausted, the singular goal in my mind was to get back to camp and fall into my bed.
Hanna was there to meet us as we entered the camp. Alistaire and Luke began to recount our heroics while the rest of us walked past them like living corpses.
Hanna tried to stop Hailey and me to talk about something—Hailey just grabbed my hand and pulled me forward. She mumbled at Hanna that we could talk in the morning, and that she wanted someone to come by and take our gear to the blacksmith.
When we approached our tent, Rias rushed over to meet us. Her bloodshot eyes said enough and I closed my mouth before saying anything stupid.
“You jerk!” She pounded a fist against my chestplate, “You left without saying anything and I was worried. When the injured soldiers got back, I—“
Her voice cutoff as she gawked at my ruined uniform and damaged armor. She reached out towards my right shoulder, touching the ripped cloth sleeve where a metal plate should’ve been.
“W-What in the Aether happened to you!? Are you okay?”
“I’m okay. We had a little run in with something nasty. But your big sis handled it, no problem.”
Rias pursed her lips and angled herself away from me, looking to Hailey expectantly.
Hailey weakly raised her hands up. “Hey don’t get upset with me, I just healed everyone. Airis got herself all beat up on her own.”
With a weak laugh I placed my arm around Rias and led her into the tent. “We’re all fine. I think all three of us are probably exhausted, physically and emotionally, let’s turn in for the night.”
Rias huffed for a bit, but eventually settled down. She helped me struggle out of my equipment and fetched a cloth and wooden washbasin.
I barely managed to scrub off the grunge before collapsing into bed. The muscles in my arm spasmed momentarily causing me to twist awkwardly to my side.
Hailey stumbled back while taking off her boots, falling into bed on top of me. I groaned in discomfort, but didn’t budge.
She curled up next to me and complained.
"I am so sore! My back hurts from carrying the party so hard."
She laughed loudly but doubled over to clutch her side.
"Ow—ow, it hurts to laugh."
I tried to think of a joke to lighten my own mood, but my brain was fried. After the stress of battle I was far from a humorous state. Instead, I buried my head in her shoulder, trying to hide my face—so that she couldn’t see me break into tears. My voice trembled.
"I—I didn’t think I’d make it… I was so afraid."
Hailey wrapped herself tightly around me.
"Me too."
I did eventually stop crying—but only because I had run out of tears. Not because I managed to somehow get control back over my emotions. I rolled over and acknowledged the soft blinking on my wrist, gently tapping it. A flood of new notifications filled my view.
» YOU HAVE GAINED IN POWER, YOUR ATTRIBUTES HAVE INCREASED:
» STRENGTH HAS INCREASED TO 32
» TOUGHNESS HAS INCREASED TO 26
» FORTITUDE HAS INCREASED TO 27
» COURAGE HAS INCREASED TO 45
» AGILITY HAS INCREASED TO 17
» SWIFTNESS HAS INCREASED TO 21
» PERCEPTION HAS INCREASED TO 10
» REFLEX HAS INCREASED TO 22
» AETHER HAS INCREASED TO 26
» INTELLIGENCE HAS INCREASED TO 36
» WISDOM HAS INCREASED TO 27
» SANITY HAS INCREASED TO 16
» VITALITY HAS INCREASED TO 32
» ENDURANCE HAS INCREASED TO 22
» STAMINA HAS INCREASED TO 34
» RESOLVE HAS INCREASED TO 42
» DEXTERITY HAS INCREASED TO 37
» CLEVERNESS HAS INCREASED TO 35
» FINESSE HAS INCREASED TO 33
» INGENUITY HAS INCREASED TO 45
» YOU HAVE GAINED IN POWER, YOU HAVE LEARNED A NEW SKILL:
» NEW ACTION CLASS COMBAT SKILL: WILD STRIKE