The Wyvern puppet was still on fire as it smashed through the village gate, sending chunks of buring wood spraying out and hitting nearby homes and people alike. It had burned for over an hour and still, it was walking, the hardened scales of the beast kept it going along with its inability to feel pain.
It opened his maw and unleashed a gout of corrupted purple flame that sent a group of soldiers shrieking away as they dove down and rolled in a desperate attempt to put out the fire. Loud shouts of fear came from all who beheld it as the Forest Wyvern began to slowly push further into the town while glancing about.
And then it collapsed to the ground leaving it a burning heap of flesh as whatever was driving it seemed to have been spent. Heraclius could only sigh in relief at that, as that thing would have broken the morale of the defenders if it had been allowed to continue its assault.
However, he couldn't allow himself to do more than sigh because with the gate broken the battle was still going to be lost. Even if they retook the wall it would ultimately be meaningless as the enemy could just waltz in at their leisure. So he did what he had to do and shouted an order.
"To me! We must hold the gateway.!"
He lifted his mace and ran towards the opening while bellowing an order towards one of the younger soldiers.
"We need reinforcements! Run in and get us all the young men and women that we can!"
More than that couldn't be said as a horde of beasts made their way through the open gate and he met their charge with equal ferocity. His mace once again sang that night as it crushed flesh and chitin beneath it.
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Michel was running back to his home, the battle was over and he mourned the town but accepted the reality of the situation. All he could do was get his family out and thankfully he had prepared a contingency plan for just this occasion. The door to his cottage was closed but he could hear worried whimpers being badly from the inside and he rapidly knocked on the door.
"Malina, Abel, take the kids and whatever clothes you are wearing and what you can carry in your hands. We need to leave and we need to leave now."
He didn't even bother to enter the home because that was time wasted that could be used more productively. The moment his family was out he gave them a quick once over, Abel had his spear and a pack, Malina carried a pack, and the two children had a pouch with what he suspected was food each.
"We are going to Hans Reclis, we had a plan for just this."
A quick motion was all he needed to silence the questions that his family clearly longed to ask and he gestured for them to follow him as they rapidly moved through the street towards the home of the sole Sorcerer in Hor. He had to carry Jens while Malina carried Tyliria as the strong wind picked up even more and a loud clap could be heard.
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Henry looked up at the swirling currents of air and at the woman, he had just tried to attack and he felt regret. She clapped once and the finality of the motion sent shivers down his spine as he felt the flowing wind around the town build in strength as the attention of Elarma focused on him again. A voice as cold as the north wind and as alien as the Swarm spoke through the wind.
"Well then...I can be free to rage at you."
Her mouth didn't move as she spoke nor did she make any visible gestures, white fire engulfed her for a second and a loud scream came with it as a mortal voice fully gave way to the howling of a gale. And then Henry jumped up and started running for the wall. He had to get away, get back to where it was safe.
A predator was hunting him, he could feel it watching him through the wind and he did not want to be there when it stru-. Henry smashed into a house as he was sent flying by a blast of air. The pain was nothing compared to the fear he felt so the moment the wind stopped pushing him against the cracked wooden wall was when he acted. He swung his longsword wildly at the air but to no effect beyond being sent flying into another wall when the air blasted him from behind.
Even his enhanced bones cracked from the strain as his face went first into the hard wall and he almost went through it. He extracted himself from the wall only to be sent flying again and rolling down the hardpacked dirt until he came to a stop against a trough. And as he tried to shakingly rise up a fly swatter-like motion of air crushed him down flat against the ground as it kept pressing and pressing and pressing until several of his bones broke.
A miniature flurry of wind lifted up his limp body and sent him flying over the wall as he felt the alien presence pursue him through sky and knock him about with strategic bursts of air. It was akin to a child playing with a ball and trying to see how long it could keep it from touching the ground.
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Mariam had been covered in debris from the house that she and that monster had crashed through. Not that she had been complaining, the pain for her various minor injuries along with her strength-enhancing potion giving out was more than enough motivation to lie still beneath the shattered roof. And then someone had rudely shaken her out of her half stupor by blasting away the entire covering with a bone-chilling gale.
It was while blearily glancing about that she noticed something. The gargantuan puppet that once must have been an old woman was now freed as well, and she was casually rising up from where a loose wooden pillar had impaled her. It didn't even bother to rip out the plank sticking out through its back and simply started lumbering over to where Mariam lay. She didn't have to guess what was going to happen next and she did not have the endurance to keep going. So she laid still and accepted her fate as the light of Dawn could be seen coming from the horizon.
And then a chicken with gold and red plumage landed in front of the beast. It chirped once and then unleashed a fire that engulfed the creature just as it reached down and crushed it in its hands. The golden fire didn't stop with the death of the chicken, however, and Mariam saw the beast collapse to the ground while the holy fire consumed it.
"...Wha-what?"
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Heraclius was toppled off his feet as three sheep monsters tackled him to the ground and tried to bludgeon him to death with their hooves. It wasn't exactly a noble end to go out but he knew that it was the fatigue that brought him down and not these three specific puppets. He had fought like a young man with nothing held back, as he was one of the few warriors who could truly make difference here. Almost all of the adventurers were unaccounted for or dead, and his own men were busy enough with keeping themselves alive.
In spite of this realization, he struggled on and actively tried to shield his face with his arm as the three sheep tried to stomp him to death. He could feel the groan of despair that came from his men as they saw him being toppled and he knew that they would try to save him. But if they failed then their morale would break and the last line holding the gate would disappear.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The Wind Mage must have lost control because it was partially fighting against the wind that had caused him to be distracted enough that the sheep had managed to tackle him down. He could feel the wind blasting through the town and sending people and monsters alike sprawling to the ground.
Maybe it was because of his own musings or the defeating gale, but he didn't hear or feel the approach before they were already there. Reinforcements but not reinforcements that he would have ever expected.
Heralded by a large moo, 36 glowing farm animals smashed into the horde of monsters and drove them like a tidal wave of domesticated meat. The cows were the ones leading the charge and their glowing horns gored through several puppets as they functioned like a cavalry charge. Sheep were the quick skirmishers that aided beleaguered defenders and broke up enemy formations. And large hogs rushed in like frenzied berserkers.
On the wall, 11 chickens took on the duty of clearing out the monsters that held it. In spite of the horrific wind, they flew over and unleashed golden flames down on them, which caused the monsters to scream and flee. Monsters that had previously not even made a sound when pierced with spears or gutted by axes.
A little man made his way down the street followed by Yorich and the Acolytes of Old Yoss. He was a scrawny-looking one, with a long white beard and a red cap and grey farmers' clothing. In spite of him being only about as short as a barrel he carried with him an air of power and dignity that made him seem far larger.
"So, this is what is assailing mah home. Well then I am going to clear my fields of these darned beetles!"
It spoke with a grouchy and world weary voice but it exploded into motion as it ran and jumped up on top of the wall in a single bound and raised its arms. Wheat and barley grew in stalks around the walls to heights that no man in Hor had ever seen and the grass began to choke and grapple with all the monsters left outside.
The little man had a smug and toothless grin appear on his face at that sight and it turned to wink down at the stunned townsfolk before spinning around and clapping. With the clap the wind stilled and all that could be heard was the sounds of monsters being slain and the whimpers of pain coming from the injured. That was until the sound of buzzing filled the air as swarms of insects and birds descended down towards Hor.
He didn't seem bothered by this at all the little man as he casually snapped his fingers and a golden magical field extended over the entire town and all the bugs who touched the glowing dome burned away into ash flakes.
"Aum protecting my property. Get off mah fields and get out of my town! BEGONE!"
The little man shouted angrily at the air as he stared daggers down at the retreating monsters and just as he was about to turn he suddenly shrieked as purple light enveloped him for a second and he fell off the wall and to the street.
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"WHAT IS THAT?"
Mar had almost forgotten about the plans that had been made or the battle for the town itself. All that mattered was that little man that had appeared. Henry was still being knocked about through the sky by that being of wind and magic, it was beyond the reach of the Swarm so Mar had ignored it. But this was much more interesting.
The Units that had been fighting had almost been contemptuously slaughtered by the sudden arrival of the mysterious farm animals. Like the girl that had once helped kill one of the soldiers they carried a power that Mar didn't fully understand. As they sent their forces on the run it had been observed that the power ate up the animals and destroyed, which indicated that they couldn't handle that kind of energy for long.
But this little man seemed to be embodying the power in a way that Mar simply wasn't able to comprehend. The why and what didn't matter really, all that she knew was that she wanted it. Mar wanted that little man more than any other creature that had ever stumbled into the path of the Sovereign Swarm before. More than humans, or the Briar Bear, or the Earther Adventurer. This one was going to be theirs and they would not stop at anything.
Mar ordered all of the nearby airforces to descend on the town and do all they could to infect it, but it simply conjured a golden field that burned and repelled them all. He gave an infuriating grin in response to the attack and bellowed at her while clearly holding a triumphant cackle back.
"Aum protecting my property. Get off mah fields and get out of my town! BEGONE!"
The Swarm saw red then, not only was this...creature defying her. It had the gall to taunt her and declare what was and wasn't hers? Well then two could play at that game, and Mar was more than merely TWO. He reached for the wounded and injured units and unleashed a power on the deliciously infuriating little man as he marked it!
* Warning: You are attempting to use Mark of the Swarm on an entity more powerful than yourself. This might have unintended consequences and will require more energy than normal to succeed.
* Power: Unit Sacrifice automatically activated to compensate. 200 000 Infected Insects are sacrificed to fuel this Power.
Mar felt the insects die and the fragments that had been in them being channeled through the Swarm but at that moment they truly didn't care. All that mattered was marking this delicious morsel so that it could never disappear! Energy and thousands of lives were unleashed at the smug little git and it hit him like a truck.
The Sovereign Swarm sensed that the sacrifices were enough as the power branded the creature and it fell off the wall as her will triumphed over his at that moment.
* Mark of the Swarm has been successfully placed
* Lesser Local Agricultural Deity has been marked.
* Effects: The marked creature cannot escape into another plane of existence, everybody who sees the mark will instinctively know what it means, its general location and state of being will always be sensed by The Sovereign Swarm and its minions, they are now more vulnerable to other powers and attacks from the Sovereign Swarm.
It took Mar a moment to calm down as the notification flowed past them and they could finally focus on their original goal. The golden barrier was an unexpected issue but in the end, it changed little. Phase 2 could now be commenced, and Mar ordered the troops to begin the siege around the fortress and the town.
The Juggernaut Spider led a force of 40 soldiers and 20 Fungal Champions along with 300 larger animals to start surrounding the town while giving them their space. A smaller force was doing the same around the Fortress along with several thousand insects that could work more freely there than in the town. Ysandra had to place a protecting enchantment on the insects that had infiltrated the town before the battle started, and sill several of them had perished against the wards.
Patience was all that Mar required...patience and for the townsfolk to realize that their only hope lay in the mercy of the Sovereign Swarm. It shouldn't take too long for that to happen. Hunger, thirst, and desperation were remarkable tools to bring about a change in perspective.