“This is the second wave and while it shouldn’t be too difficult to fend off this attack, it’s necessary to conserve our strength for the later stages of the siege. So you're going to get over there and push back the Rovers, then head over the wall to cause chaos amongst their ranks” She says, gesturing towards one of the watchtowers that’s partly crumbled and currently being assailed by a few dozen rabid Rovers.

I can still feel her pain but it's less distinct now that she’s gathered herself better, without the overwhelming amount of pain and exhaustion though I can sense fainter emotions, like fear.

And before I can stop myself I ask her “Is this what you want?”

It’s a very broad question but the great thing about being linked is that I don’t need to be very good at articulating my thoughts since the emotions and ideas transmitted through the link make up for any poorly constructed questions and answers.

“No, it’s not but we don’t really have a choice Phaeraxion.” She replies sadly.

If I had a heart it would have just frozen, she’s against this conflict but that’s not what really matters, what matters is that she says we don’t have a choice.

I almost react immediately but hold myself back at the last possible moment from lashing out at her guards.

We’re in the middle of a siege and there’s no way we can fight our way out of here together against two rival armies.

I also still don’t know what it is she truly desires, I voiced my question a bit poorly.

Her guards are beginning to fidget a little but I still have time to ask the most important question “What do you want?”

“I don’t know but I know it’s not this.”

Before I can try to seek further clarification about what it is I can do and how it is I can help her, one of her guards starts to bark at her and she sorrowfully tells me to “Go now.”

I hate to leave her alone with them but I hate the thought of disobeying her even more and logically there’s nothing I can do yet.

It’s better to be obedient until an opportunity presents itself where I can better serve her actual wishes.

Striding towards the wall I pick up speed until I’m sprinting directly at it, then before I hit it, I leap.

Slamming into the wall with a loud thud, I begin digging my tendrils into cracks and crevices and hurling myself upwards, using my momentum to keep myself going more so than any good leverage points.

A Rover looks down at me with wide eyes just as I claw my way onto the walkway, she doesn’t even get a chance to scream before I spear her and throw her behind me.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

With the disappearance of their comrade and the appearance of a monster, the Rovers momentarily stall, giving my ‘allies’ and me enough time to gather ourselves.

Then, almost like we had previously rehearsed it, I shoulder my way into the centre of the Rovers, ignoring their pitiful weaponry as I disrupt their entire formation.

While I disrupt and knock over the Rovers, the Arthian soldiers take advantage of the opportunities I’m giving them and begin decimating the Rovers.

I barely have to do anything offensive, just a whip here and a shove there and the soldiers take care of everything else.

It’s beyond anti climatic how easily this particular offensive was routed.

How did they even get over here if they’re this weak?

Actually, now that I look around myself I can’t really see that many knights or squires, it’s mostly just the grunts that are holding this wall.

There’s not even a single squire near me and it’s not just the Arthians that are lacking in quality, I don’t think a single one of the Rovers up here had anything other than a sword and some scrappy armour.

Just as I get ready to jump down and start terrorising the besiegers, a giant explosion annihilates an entire contingent of Rovers, they could have been either crossbowmen or archers, I can’t tell now because all that’s left of them is charred corpses and scraps of fabric.

So much for there being no high level fighters actively participating in this round of combat.

Letting gravity drag me down, I smack into the ground like a downed bird.

The blunt force hardly damages me so I don’t have to waste any of my precious mana on regenerating wounds.

I still do have a handful of injuries but I’ll leave that to my natural regeneration to repair, I haven’t had enough time to experiment with magic but I think my natural regeneration uses less mana than when I regenerate my body consciously.

Now then, what should I target?

Those Rovers that were up on the wall got there by using ladders so I suppose I should knock and shatter those siege tools first.

Moving over to my left I grab a hold of the ladder, then I lift up a tentacle and slam it right down the middle, getting rid of most of the bottom ladder rungs, effectively ruining this ladder.

Then I just shove it over and watch it fall to the ground, despite causing quite a large dust cloud to arise the ladder still remains relatively unharmed, though I’m sure the impact would have further weakened it.

Looking left and right I choose my right side to continue my crusade against these ladders.

Darting over towards a small cluster of them, I repeat my destruction process, my demolition efforts are made far easier by the complete lack of any defenders.

This wave of Rovers seem to have just been sent to their deaths, maybe they were from a rebelling tribe or something?

Hopefully, the Rover commanders are just being stupid, that would make my life substantially less stressful.

Or would it actually make things worse?

I think the best case scenario for me is if both the Rovers and Empire both end up severely damaged, then maybe we can make our escape?

She’s a hydromancer after all, water is the most important resource in a desert, I’m sure that she’ll be capable of surviving with my help.

The sudden thud caused by a Rover’s headless body hitting the ground just beside me snaps me out of my mild musing.

It also means that I hurriedly check out the battlefield again and of course, once I do that I spot a plethora of threats to face.

Honestly, it’s like the moment I let my guard down these dangerous situations are just willed into existence.