"Pure curiosity, Captain," Jay said, addressing the NPC. He didn't turn his gaze away from the enemy encirclement but raised one eyebrow. "How long could we hold this wall against a thousand strong?"
The Captain chuckled ominously. "Kid, you want that in minutes or seconds?"
Without real consideration, Jay responded, "Seconds."
"One hundred and eighty-six."
"What are you basing that on?"
"Intuition."
Jay groaned at the assembled foes in the distance. They would be dragging siege weapons from the rear lines as he dawdled. "So, what's the plan, Captain?"
"As a guard, we're working on funneling the city officials through a teleportation node inside the mansion," the Captain explained. "There's only one Mage with the proper magic to run it, so the time investment is high."
"What about you?" Jay wondered, half to himself.
"We need to hold here. I plan to stand here and die to buy the rescue efforts as much time as possible," he said solemnly. "So will every other soldier on the wall."
It was an impressive conviction. While Jay was glad to have competent sentries, it was hard to feel bad for a video game character. Still, it felt strange that he'd never see that captain again.
"I thought you were guards?" Jay challenged, though arguing with an NPC would be silly.
"Not today, son," he clarified grimly. "Not today."
Leaving him to his vigil, Jay returned to the others. Everyone waited, whatever members of the guild remained, ready to fight. Deep in conversation with Kylar and Lurian, Taylor Lynn turned to me on my arrival.
"What's the plan?"
I shook my head, indicating there wasn't any good news.
Along the lines of Elvish Alliance players, the enemy started their advance. They crept forward in a single file line. That wasn't surprising. In terms of small blessings, no further war elephants were in sight. The creatures were large enough for their riders to jump over the wall. One Demon player stood out in the line by the name of Andrius—no surprises there.
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Waving hands together, chopping them through the air, the Demon Malice Wielder began pulling strands of dark energy to him. A storm of chaotic energy tore through the area around him as a tornado of dark energy built. Ripples of the crackling, poisonous energy radiated from the spell as it crawled toward the defensive wall.
As murmurs of fear rippled through the surrounding lines, Taylor Lynn began pulling together a massive spell of her own. Bidden by her will, slicing winds drew together in the space before the wall. With a push of her hand, the tornado of energy rolled out to meet the demonic spell.
Magical energy clashed.
The two spells fought with each other like the old hobby of spinning tops warring with each other, and like the old tops, neither could achieve dominance smoothly. The energies pushed each other back and forth. Neither spell won; the power dissipated as the magical energy charged into the attacks ran out. Cheers erupted through the Red Player's Society guild as the abilities dissolved ineffectively.
Taylor Lynn grinned, more than pleased with the outcome. "I truly didn't know if that would work."
Anduril stood undaunted, pulling together threads of a new spell, this time made from rolling waves of darkness. A hush fell over the crowd as Taylor Lynn returned to her task of foiling the Demon player. For their part, the Elvish Alliance waited in silence, awaiting some order to descend on the inner walls of Ilra.
The mages fought against each other, throwing spell after spell. Taylor Lynn summoned her meteors, but they crashed into the enemy’s conjured wall of skeletons, grasping at each other. Lashes of dark, poisonous demon energy slammed against webs of lightning. Their magical duel became an extended deadly clash as the assembled fighters looked on in awe.
It became clear that neither could break the stalemate. Jay took matters into his own hands. Quick drawing out both his crossbows, Jay narrowed his vision and switched on Rapid Fire. Without a moment’s hesitation, he put Anduril into the crosshairs and fired.
The first magically charged bolt froze with a flick of the Demon’s wrist, falling to the ground, but the plain bolt, charged with necrotic energy, struck home. The bolt hit Anduril in the chest.
Jay, foolhardy enough to believe that marked the end, smiled slightly. Anduril fought on, though rustling and murmurs could be heard through the Elvish Alliance ranks.
Jay fired again. And again.
The bolts sailed through the air. This time, Anduril’s attention being split, the bolts mostly found their target. He couldn't keep both players at bay, since his magic wasn’t suited to defending against Jay. Anduril fell, leading a chorus of cheers through the defending ranks. Jay’s attacks happened so quickly no one could stop him, but his allies certainly noticed.
At first the enemy Elves remained fully silent. “Are they rethinking their side?” Taylor Lynn asked.
“I doubt it,” Jay said. “They’re waiting for…” He trailed off as the enemy ranks started to move. Emerging from through the lines were people caring familiar packages. The bombs had been used to blow through the siege defenses earlier that day.
“Orders,” Jay started, finishing his thought. “Everyone look out for the bombs. Spread the word, all ranged must take them out before they hit the wall. Think of it like a boss battle.”
For good measure, he tossed the same message into the guild chat. Then, he passed it through guards, hoping they would reiterate the commands to their fellow NPC soldiers.
Jay took the nearest bomb carrier into his crosshairs.