Guinevere and the champions gathered around the battle map they had drawn, displaying the town and surrounding areas. They had scouted the walls, but there were no evident weak points anywhere.
“What ideas do we have?” Helen asked.
“Could try digging under the walls,” Ishtor suggested.
“One of my abilities ties in with earth and stone,” Chritor said. “The walls extend another forty feet underground it’s like there merged with the earth itself.”
“What about an assault on the gate?” Jamis asked.
“The gate looks like it’s made of the same stuff as the wall,” Chritor said. “I can’t be sure, but I think it’s the same material as the bridge we crossed over. That means the walls and gate are hardness fourteen; regular siege equipment wouldn’t break them. Does anyone have any siege abilities?”
No one spoke up.
“That leaves trying to lure them out into open battle or going over the wall somehow,” Guinevere said.
“How could we lure him out?” Felrick asked.
“I’m not sure,” Guinevere said. “Felecia, you’ve interacted with him more than anyone else at this point. What is your assessment of him?”
“He was arrogant and cruel,” Felecia said. “There was another champion with me when we fought; at first, he wasn’t even fighting us, just toying and insulting like a cat with a mouse. He seemed to want something from us, but when he didn’t get it, he changed; one minute, he was toying with us laughing, and the next, he went cold and just killed us brutally.” Felecia shivered at the memory.
“I’m not sure how we could use that,” Jamis said. “But if he likes fighting those weaker than himself, perhaps my party could challenge him and duel him outside the gates to draw him out?”
“Too obvious,” Helen said. “And it puts us at too much of a risk.”
“I’ve been able to scout through the eyes of a nearby hawk,” Mira said. “Their numbers are roughly equal to our own. All our fighters are gifted; we could try a rapid assault and try and overwhelm them.”
“At this rate, that might be our only option,” Guinevere said. “What options do we have when it comes to scaling the wall?”
They continued their discussion, finally coming up with a plan. That night they crept across the meadows. With their attributes, only one person had to carry the seventy-foot ladders. An arrow thudded down by Torvin’s foot as someone on the wall spotted him.
“Charge!” he shouted.
With a cry, they rushed forward, stabbing the feet of the ladder into the earth and pushing forward, the top clattering onto the edge of the rampart. Scurrying up the ladder, the first knight was struck by a spear to the chest that punctured through his armor, and he fell back, knocking the knight behind him, the two falling into the trench below. Guinevere danced up the ladder, her hands never touching the runs, her party racing to follow her. She landed on the top of the parapet. Her sword turned aside the tip of a spear, and she lashed out with her sword slicing a line through her attacker’s throat.
A roar ripped over the crowd so loud it drowned out all other sounds in the battle. The clang of metal on metal rang out as a man eight feet tall leaped up onto the rampart. He swung a greatsword five inches thick at Guinevere’s legs. Guinevere leaped into the air, and her feet struck the air pushing off against nothing as she flipped over her attacker. Her sword struck at his back, but the sword only scratched the armor. She caught a foot in her chest, sending her off the wall into the town.
Guinevere’s party reached the top of the wall one of them was immediately shoved off over the edge by the massive, armored fighter. Guinevere hadn’t had time to analyze him and see if it was Mordred. She got to her feet and heard the clank of metal behind her. Turning, she saw eight other fighters in heavy plate armor like the one on the wall. She paused, her gaze running over each of them.
Hermias Dragonbreaker, Gifted- humanoid/human, Veteran, Rank: 245
Ulthris Dragonbreaker, Gifted- humanoid/human, Veteran, Rank: 247
Ormias Dragonbreaker, Gifted- humanoid/human, Veteran, Rank: 238
Rejiah Dragonbreaker, Gifted- humanoid/human, Veteran, Rank: 241
Normen Dragonbreaker, Gifted- humanoid/human, Veteran, Rank: 233
Madrid Dragonbreaker, Gifted- humanoid/human, Veteran, Rank: 221
Madris Dragonbreaker, Gifted- humanoid/human, Veteran, Rank: 215
Mordred, Champion of Kelesa; Gifted- humanoid/human, Veteran, Rank: 230
Guinevere looked back at the wall. She couldn’t analyze any more gifted as she looked over the fighters, but they weren’t being overwhelmed by hers and Helen’s knights. They moved with the speed of someone in Veteran rank, and their strength and toughness were letting them shrug off blows that would have obliterated a normal man.
Guinevere took a running start and leaped back onto the wall. Her sword interposed itself between her party’s healer and the armored gifted fighter. Guinevere shoved her hand out.
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“Winter’s Retribution!” she shouted, and a blast of icy wind took the man off his feet, flinging him off the wall the same way he had done to her.
“We need to retreat,” Guinevere said, running her sword through a guard on the wall. “We’ve got eight more gifted just like coming our way. This attack isn’t going to work this time. Tell everyone to pull back!”
Guinevere kept fighting, holding back the guards and running along the parapet, aiding whomever she could as the champions and knights slid down the ladders and pulled their wounded out of the trench, dragging them back towards the forest and to safety. Guinevere slid down the ladder, her feet on both sides of the rungs, gliding down like it was a slide.
Once she was on the ground, she took off running till she was three-hundred feet away. Turning, she looked back, seeing nine massive figures silhouetted against the light of the town looking out over the wall towards her retreating army.
“You haven’t seen the last of me, Mordred,” Guinevere said. “I can promise you that.”
---
I watched a stone shake; it jumped up into the air and fell quivering before jumping into the air again as the earth shook. A massive, spiked carapace spike slammed into the ground by the rock I was watching. It was glossy black with glowing purple lines across it. My vision switched, and I saw a caravan filled with mushrooms going from the size of my fist to the size of a tree in various types and colors, a river, a magma splitting the cavern. A shadow of something moved across the wall of the cave, but I couldn't tell what it was other than it was massive and moved on at least four legs, if not more.
I woke from my vision, not having really understood anything I’d seen; I got up and took breakfast. I watched my vassals leave, Syvia guiding them back to my castle. I returned to Elgen to practice enchanting again, I showed him the emeralds I had gathered, and he began showing me the proper way to grind them into the ink and explaining the differences and uses for different gemstones. Diamonds would create the most powerful enchantments. Sapphires created powerful healing enchantments, emeralds were used for nature enchantments such as fertility and growth, ruby was used for fire enchantments, and jasper was used for blood-related enchantments; he showed me a stone I wasn’t familiar with; it was a light pale green with dark patches.
“This is chrysoprase,” he was explaining to me. “It is used for weakening enchantments, poisons, diseases, debilitations, and the like.”
“I’m not a rock expert, but I know there are lots more precious stones than those,” I said. “What does something like amethyst do?”
“No idea,” Elgen said, shrugging. “As I told you yesterday, this is an art, and those who practice it hoard its secrets, keeping their most powerful enchantments hidden. It’s why enchantments are usually inscribed on the inside of the armor or hidden in other ways.”
“So, I’ll need to experiment on my own or find others to teach me?” I asked.
“Just so, but be careful with either option; I am teaching you because you are the Warlord, and for you, I don’t need competition for my trade, but others will not be so ready to teach you.”
I spent a few more hours at work helping Elgen by improving the qualities of the weapons he finished increasing their strength. I kept at it, stopping an hour before midday for lunch and then heading to the training area.
Heldrad was waiting and tossed me a wooden practice spear. “We’re working on your spearmanship, no abilities, and try to suppress your passives for now.”
“I thought you would have been teaching me with a sword,” I said, catching the wooden practice weapon. Despite their materials, these weapons were harder than steel, probably some ability in the clan used to make them.
“A sword requires focus, grace, and thousands of hours to master,” Heldrad said. “I’ve seen you fight, and you lack the first two, and we don’t have time for the third. The spear is a simple weapon to learn, but it can be used in a myriad of ways and mastered in a much shorter period of time.”
He showed me how to strike properly with my spear using my wrist to snap forward and my fingers to help direct the tip instead of just ramming forward and using the strength of my arm alone. He had me practice over and over again, showing me a series of movements to complete as he circled around me to critique and improve my posture.
There wasn’t a massive melee fight at the end, but he made me create a practice and hefty spear with Compress Earth to force me to struggle to hold my spear. I left the training field drenched in sweat. I bathed in the river again before returning to my tent, wiping off the water with my cleansing cloth. I didn’t need to actually bathe but found the cold water refreshing. I was alone in the hut this time and fell into bed, almost instantly falling asleep.
I was fighting in a massive battle in the camp of the Wolf Clan. All around me, the Gifted tore into each other, and the air was filled with howls and roars. Warrior in half plate fell from the sky with scaled bat wings as men in leather and hide sprung from the trees on them, and they rolled across the ground cutting at each other with teeth, claws, swords, and spears in a mad, desperate struggle for survival.
Korsis, the Chief of the Wolf Clan, fought on a platform against four men whose bodies were covered in overlapping scales and who wielded two broad single-edged swords. Korsis fought them off, but they overwhelmed him spamming abilities faster than he could defend against or counter. The blade took off his leg at the knee, and as he fell, another blade cut through his neck.
I awoke from the vision going over its details in my mind.
I recognized many of the places in my vision. The marketplace, the training grounds, and the wooden platforms were built into the trees around the village. I wondered if I should say anything to anyone, but I couldn’t find a good way to say it.
Oh, hey, I had a vision last night where your head got cut off pretty wild, right? Yeah, that wouldn’t go over well; I would have to use the information on my own. I went back to Elgen to practice more enchantments and help him improve the weapons he made. I ate lunch and went to weapons training. I bathed, ate went to bed.
You’re not afraid this time, the voidling noted.
“That’s cause this time it wasn’t me dying this time,” I said.
You’re afraid of death? The voidling asked.
“I’ve seen where you were born, so yeah, kind of,” I grunted.
I was born when a sun died, killing all life on the planets circling it, the voidling said.
“Was that supposed to make me feel better?” I asked. “Because it didn’t; you were born from the death of entire worlds. Why are you here now?”
I need to grow; I need to absorb the energy of life, the voidling said. Such energy doesn’t exist in the void we have to pull it in when a creature dies. My creators require most of the energy that comes in, so there isn’t enough energy for them and my siblings.
“Siblings? There are more of you out there?” I asked.
Of course, the voidling said. Now, are you going to feed me?
“No, you’re not a person,” I said.
I am too! The voidling protested.
“People have names and their own bodies,” I said.
What good is a name? The voidling sighed.
“Well, I could stop referring to you as the voidling in my head,” I said. “And apparently, there is more than one of you out there, so I could differentiate you from them in a conversation.”
I don’t know what kind of name I want, she pouted.
“Well, I don’t care enough about you to give you a name, so you’re going to have to do it yourself,” I said and blocked her voice out of my head.
I continued to have more and more visions of the upcoming battle for the next five days. I didn’t master the spear in that time, but I learned to hold it and swing, thrust it in the proper manner, and use my enhanced body to more significant effect. It wasn’t till the next day that I’d have to put my lessons to the real test.
---
Arthur’s feet crunched into the sand as they touched down on the beach opposite the isle of Avalon. He looked about at the wide stretch of white sandy beach. More and more ships crunched up against the sand, knights, and sailors splashing down and hauling the ships on shore. Soon horses, cargo, weapons, armor, and food were all being unloaded. Arthur caught sight of Lionor shooting her a wink before turning to survey his army.
“How are we looking?” Lancelot asked.
“No monster attacks while we were at sea,” Arthur said. “So, we’re doing pretty well, I’d say.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t want to fight on a boat either,” Lancelot agreed. “Even if you kill the beast if it puts a hole in the boat, you’ve still lost.”
“Nothing but land battles for now,” Arthur laughed. “We’ll be riding close to the Cursed Forest, so there will be opportunities for you, me, and Kay to do some proper hunting and get some rank points and abilities.”
“That should help ease his feelings about all this,” Lancelot agreed. “How long do you accept this war to take?”
“You can never tell with these things, but I hope to capture the royal family within four months and put an end to all this.”
“I pray the gods to aid us then,” Lancelot said.
“We are champions,” Arthur said, his tone joyous as he walked away, turning and walking backwards, spreading his arms as if to display the whole battlefield. “The gods are always with us!”