For a brief few seconds, everything appears silent, I can still hear the horrible screams and pain filled shouts echoing out from below and around me, yet it just feels quiet.

Then a sonic boom sounds out and breaks that false perception, just like with the absence of sound it’s fake but it still feels so real.

I can almost see the distortion in the air as a beam of nightmarish sound penetrates into the Rover lines.

It does nothing to the average soldier but it erects brutal wails out of the mages advancing behind the troops.

A solid hunk of the formation still advances forward for a few more steps, toO used to the screams I suppose, they only begin hesitating and turning back once they realise the people behind them aren’t following after them anymore.

In the confusion, a few sneaky arrows slip through the gaps this creates in the shield wall, piercing flesh and spilling blood.

And all the while the battlemage beside me prepares to cast his next spell, yet but again a counter attack comes flying at him in the form of a bolt fired by some crossbow sharpshooter on the wall.

And yet again I save his life, it’s ironic how these battlemages will likely prove to be one of my creator's greatest threats when we try and escape and here I am saving the life of one of these battlemages, not once but twice.

It costs me another bit of my flesh but it hardly matters, it’ll regenerate in just under half a minute naturally, no cause for concern.

I don’t think I can be poisoned either so there’s no need to worry about that.

Then something happens that I do need to worry about, a magical attack comes directly at us from one of the watch towers, it’s a series of icicles each as large as an Arthian spear.

Stretching myself out I try to protect the battlemage beside me from the attack and suffer greatly for it.

The icicles break apart upon hitting me, but the force of the impact carries the splinters and shaft of the icicles further into me, causing devastating wounds.

It effectively doubles the radius of damage I was expecting them to deal and easily makes it far more damaging since now I have to regenerate countless tiny wounds carved into my flesh rather than just one large hole.

My shielding tactic is effective though and the battlemage remains unharmed by these icicles, I on the other hand, am missing about a tenth of the total mass I had before this attack.

This isn’t too bad but it’s still quite concerning, only for me though, my battlemage comrade doesn’t look so much as a little phased.

I think that’s just because he’s too wrapped up in forming whatever spell it is he's casting.

Hopefully, he’s casting a defensive spell because I don’t think I’ll be able to take another hit like that without faltering, I got very lucky that the icicles didn’t make me lose a few limbs.

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

But maybe taking out the mages down below us is more important? I don’t know yet, what I do know is I need to be prepared for another attack because now that I’m focusing over there I can feel another spell being prepared.

Hurriedly I actively start regenerating my wounds, it’s probably less mana efficient but I need myself repaired now otherwise I might not be able to protect the battlemage.

Wait why am I even protecting him? That’s not my role?

But I can’t just leave him to die and besides, if he dies then this Rover group might be able to breach the keep and get at Coralet.

Unfortunately, I’m not too sure I’m going to be able to protect him from this next attack.

Because it looks like the battlemages over on the wall are performing a combination spell, or maybe both of them are firing individual spells at me.

Either way, this might be the end for me, I don’t have it in me to survive two attacks at an equal or higher intensity than the icicle one, nor am I going to be able to live through a combination attack.

Still, I need to at least keep him alive through this barrage since with all the effort he’s putting into that spell, the Rover advance should be either halted or repulsed entirely on this side.

Rather than stretch myself out like last time I try my hardest to compress myself into a roughly humanoid shape, to better act as a condensed shield for the battlemage.

It’s kind of humiliating but it is necessary so I stick with it.

It’s even more embarrassing because these Rover battlemages are taking their time with whatever spell or spells they’re casting, so I’m just sort of standing here looking like a fool.

Everything gets so much worse when I feel the magical aura of a spell being cast down below us.

There’s not a whole lot I can do about that particular spell so I just ignore it, what matters is making sure the battlemage is protected from this major attack rather than the minor one.

But once the two Rover battlemages are at last done casting their magic, I second guess everything.

Their spell is indeed a combination one, perhaps the first combination spell I’ve ever encountered, then again I haven’t dealt with a lot of magic.

It’s a giant spiral of pure force which is hurtling towards me and it just reeks of maliciousness and hatred, it feels cruel.

I don't know how it’s going to affect me once it impacts me but I am not looking forward to it all and I have zero hope that the battlemage will survive, even despite my best efforts.

I can’t tell if it feels like it’s going slow because I’m about to die, or if it’s because the spell is actually a slow moving one.

I wonder if this has all been worth it, I haven’t really accomplished anything at all, if my death saves the battlemage I suppose it will have been worthwhile but I just don’t think that’s going to happen.

Just as the spiral reaches the keep and zooms towards me I empty my mind, I don’t want to die thinking of something stupid, I want to take this chance to look around one last time.

It’s just a shame there’s not a lot of beauty around to admire.

So instead I look at the Rovers, desperate to breach the keep and slaughter everyone.

I look at the Empire soldiers standing firm and fanatically firing arrows from every part of this keep, we’ve been surrounded but that doesn’t look like its harmed their morale in the slightest.

I wonder if the other sides are doing better than my one?

Then at last, I look at the figure who suddenly strides forth in front of me to face the spiral of death, arms outstretched as she casts a spell.