Monstergirl Quest Book Three

by Darknight, C. S.

  With just a bit of luck, this would throw the hostile Imperial forces into so much disarray that we could, hopefully, limit our casualties. In the back of my mind, I was beginning to hope that, in the chaos, certain fence-sitting legionnaires might turn their back on their loyalist officers and join us. Even if they simply turned tail and ran, that would work to our advantage.

  As we prepared for our journey to the mountain pass to link up with our allies, I decided to play with my custom spell making ability for a bit. After all, in using that revive ally spell on Pandora, I’d managed to master the restoration school.

  Given that we were going to be going up against a robust defensive force in Homehold, my first priority was to protect our own forces as best as I could. I scrolled through my restoration spells, only somewhat disappointed that I hadn’t unlocked any new ones when I’d reached the master-level in restoration.

  But hey, the spells I already knew were pretty expansive. It wasn’t like I had any shortage of spell effects to choose from. Also, I noted that since I reached the master-level, each spell, even powerful ones, would cost just a fraction of the mana that they would have cost me previously.

  I pulled up the spell creation tab.

  SPELL CREATION

  STEP ONE: CHOOSE EFFECTS

  FIRST EFFECT:

  SECOND EFFECT:

  I sat down, tapping my chin, trying to figure out what my top spell effect priorities would be.

  Well, we were about to make the decently long trek to Homehold. I figured that we’d run into at least a little resistance from the hostile Imperials. While we were busy marching and fighting off patrols sent to hassle our flanks, the main defensive force in Homehold would be nice and comfortable, resting up while they awaited our attack.

  “I’ll need to help strengthen our soldiers, all of them,” I said to myself as a grin spread across my face.

  FIRST EFFECT: FORTIFY STRENGTH

  SECOND EFFECT: ALL ALLIES WITHIN RANGE, LASTING ONE HOUR

  I shut my eyes, clenched the Soulguard tight, then the notification filtered through my eyes.

  SPELL CREATED!

  GAMELORD’S MASS FORTIFY STRENGTH

  EFFECT: FORTIFY STRENGTH ON ALL ALLIES WITHIN RANGE FOR ONE HOUR

  “Good shit,” I said to myself. This way, during the beginning of our attack, at least, our soldiers would have a significant strength boost over the enemy. The spell would still drain my mana, but not in a dramatically critical fashion. Unlike before, now that I was a master-level restoration mage, I didn’t have to worry about severely weakening myself physically when I cast a master-tier spell. All I’d have to do was wait for my mana to recharge.

  I had another idea.

  FIRST EFFECT: FORTIFY SPEED

  SECOND EFFECT: ALL ALLIES WITHIN RANGE, LASTING ONE HOUR

  SPELL CREATED!

  GAMELORD’S MASS FORTIFY SPEED

  EFFECT: FORTIFY SPEED ON ALL ALLIES WITHIN RANGE FOR ONE HOUR

  Now, on top of being physically stronger than the enemy forces, our soldiers would be far faster, as well. I imagined the fear in the Imperial loyalists’ hearts when they saw a raging, righteous army storming the city running at a furious, magically-fortified speed.

  This would be especially handy when the Imperial archers started firing on us. With their speed fortified, our forces would have a better chance of either dodging the arrows or, at least, raising their shields in time to block them. This spell in particular would likely save hundreds of lives right at the start of the battle.

  However, there was still another concern. Though we had a few magic users on our side, we’d still be outgunned when it came to spellcasters. Therena was a powerful mage. The Imperial war mages were some of the most efficient destruction magic users in the realm. Then there was the fact that I didn’t want us launching wide-range destruction spells into the city. There was too much of a risk of hitting innocent people, Homehold soldiers that had been taken prisoner, or even Red-Hand Legionnaires, who’d be grouped among the enemy, at least at the start.

  If our offensive magical capabilities were going to be hamstrung, the least I could do was protect our forces from the destruction magic onslaught that would surely be waiting for us.

  FIRST EFFECT: FORTIFY SPELL ABSORPTION

  SECOND EFFECT: ALL ALLIES WITHIN RANGE, LASTING ONE HOUR

  SPELL CREATED!

  GAMELORD’S MASS FORTIFY SPELL ABSORPTION

  EFFECT: FORTIFY SPELL ABSORPTION ON ALL ALLIES WITHIN RANGE FOR ONE HOUR

  While this last spell wouldn’t exactly make our forces totally resistant to magic, it would at least dampen the blow when the inevitable destruction spells started to rain down on us.

  But there was another problem. True, I could cast any one of these spells individually, but to cast all three in quick succession? That might prove to be a problem. Even with my naturally recharging mana and a slew of restore mana potions, it would be tough to cast all three of these powerful spells at once. I wanted to limit staggering the effects as much as I could. For instance, I didn’t want the fortify strength spell to wear off before the other spells ended.

  But the question was, how could I do this? Even for a master-level restoration user, these three spells were far too powerful for one mage to wield in such a short span of time.

  Then I smiled. Because I wasn’t the only powerful restoration user around here, was I?

  “Sephara!” I shouted. “The idiot Earthman needs your help!”

  Adorably as always, Sephara came bounding outside, down to the small clearing where I’d been working. She plopped right on my lap and kissed me on the cheek.

  “What does the idiot Earthman need from me now?” she giggled then locked her arms around my neck.

  My plan was this: If the Necromancer and the lich lords were able to siphon off the Mananymphs’ magical energies against their will, then the Mananymphs should be able to lend me their power on their own accord. After all, they’d pretty much done that already, hadn’t they? When they helped me revive Pandora?

  When I explained my plan to bolster our troops with master-level restoration magic, Sephara had intuited what I was thinking at once.

  “No mere Earthman could cast three spells like that in succession,” she said, then planted another kiss on me, this time on my lips. “I see what you’re thinking, Earthman. I’ll lend you my power, as much of it as you need.”

  Ah, but this was just the beginning of it.

  Next, I started to wonder if there were any destruction spells I might be able to create, ones that wouldn’t endanger the Red-Hand Legionnaires that would eventually fight by our side. Then I had an idea.

  I called out to Esmerelda next. She came swaggering up to me the moment Sephara left, and the sensual, horned Mananymph took her place on my lap.

  “How may I be of service, Champion?” Esmerelda whispered warmly into my ear as she took a sip of wine from her glass.

  “I’m going to teach you a new spell,” I told her. “Just give me a moment.”

  No, I wouldn’t create a destruction spell that could possibly harm the wrong people, but that didn’t mean destruction magic still couldn’t work to our advantage.

  EFFECT ONE: FREEZE TARGET (WIDE-RANGE) FOR TEN SECONDS

  EFFECT TWO: (DELAYED) HEAT UP TARGET (WIDE-RANGE) FOR TEN SECONDS

  SPELL CREATED!

  GAMELORD’S FOG

  EFFECT: ICE AND FIRE COMBINATION CREATES HEAVY MIST (UNTIL DISSIPATED)

  This spell would have a two-pronged effect, with a blast of ice magic that we could use to freeze the soil in front of us…or, more specifically, the soil right in front of the Homehold city gates. Next, the fire effect would instantly vaporize the ice, causing a sudden veil of mist that would effortlessly mask our approach.

  While casting this spell from a long distance would be a bit too much for my destruction skills, if Esmerelda cast the spell along with me, we’d have no trouble having the desired effect.

  She nibbled
on her bottom lip in that seductive way of hers, then ran her fingers through my hair. “Pandora told me the wood elf woman had said that you might make a great general one day,” Esmerelda said. She gave me a moist kiss on the lips. “Perhaps she was right.”

  Of course, kicking up a wall of mist to conceal our movements as we charged the city gates had one unfortunate effect. The Red-Hand soldiers who’d be awaiting us at the gates wouldn’t be able to see that coming.

  On that matter, too, I had more than enough help from the Mananymphs. I called Bella down, along with Erhoff, to explain what I needed.

  “Bella, I want you to create another eagle,” I told her. “Fly over to Homehold immediately, and tell the Red-Hand Legionnaires to wait for the wall of mist that arrives at the city gates. Tell them that, once they see the mist, our forces would be attacking the gate shortly.”

  “Indeed I will, Champion,” Bella said. “I just need to know which legionnaire I should speak with.”

  I nodded to Erhoff. “Erhoff, help Bella with that, if you don’t mind. This way, your men behind the gates will be on the same page as us.”

  Erhoff responded with his customary grizzled smile. “Aye, Gamelord. Your plan is a fine one!”

  Now, onto the battle plan.

  My initial instinct was to use the secret entrance into Homehold, located within the city walls on the north-facing side of the city, but Robbin and Piper had already explained to me that Therena had sealed off the entrance. She knew I’d be coming for her eventually, and she was well aware that I knew about the secret entrance.

  No matter.

  A frontal assault was winnable. My main concern was, again, to limit casualties.

  I’d have to hold back with the wood elf archers. Having them launch volleys of arrows into the city would risk hurting people that would eventually fight on our side. Luckily, I knew that wood elf archers were nearly as deadly in close combat; they could fire off arrows at an incredible rate, even at a close distance, so it wasn’t like they’d be at a total disadvantage. Plus, the wood elves were no slouches in melee combat, especially not with their Darkwood amber weapons.

  Of course, without archers firing upon the Homehold battlements, that meant the Imperial archers would have free reign to fire arrows at us. That was what made our assault on the city gates all the more important.

  Once again, Bella would be crucial to our war effort. I’d considered having her cast a wide-range invisibility spell on some of our forces, but that was too risky. No, her powers would be put to better use by creating another small legion of seraphs that would fall under her control.

  Just as she’d used the illusory seraphs to smash that undead horde back when we were defending Homehold, she could use those illusory seraphs to lead the charge against the city gates. Once inside, they could storm up the battlements, which would throw the Imperial archers into disarray, giving our main forces plenty of time to breach the city without being turned into pincushions.

  Of course, being mere products of illusion magic, the seraphs wouldn’t last all that long. Even a powerful illusionist like Bella could only control them for a few minutes, but that would be more than enough time to get our forces into the city.

  Then, once we were inside the city walls, the Imperial defense would, I assumed, fall in short order. There were lots of them, yeah, but between the Woodhaven elves, Gorrok’s orcs, and the Red-Hand insurgents, we’d easily outnumber them. For a rough count, I put our manpower at fifteen-thousand, at the very least. And that wasn’t even counting Greenbeard’s forces, who’d be linking up with us from the north.

  Plus, the decent number of Imperial loyalists within the city wouldn’t have any advantages when it came to melee in the streets of Homehold, considering that Gorrok’s orcs were unmatched in melee combat.

  “Holy shit, we’re going to crush them,” I said to myself.

  “Is that so?” Erhoff said. He must have already finished assisting Bella.

  I nodded. “Yeah, I really think so,” I said.

  The old war mage chuckled. “I have to say, I agree with you, Earthman,” Erhoff said. “Aye, and I’ve brought you a gift as well. One of my men is an armorer. He’s worked with Darkwood amber before, so he was able to mend your weapon.”

  Erhoff had the Darkwood amber longsword on his shoulder. He unclasped it and handed it to me, in perfect condition once again.

  “Thank you very much,” I said as I inspected the weapon.

  “No thanks necessary,” Erhoff said, then sat down on a tree stump across from me.

  “Now that I’ve got you alone, let me ask you a question,” I said, because there had been something on my mind. “I have no doubt that we’re going to win this battle. But I’m wondering, how many of the Red-Hands do you think will remain at our side once this first battle is done?”

  He smiled, making his wrinkled face crumple up. “A question I’ve been mulling myself, lad,” Erhoff said. “Of course, I can only truly speak for the Red-Hands within Homehold. Those, that had witnessed the persecution of Pernicus first hand? I believe those men will stay by your side, Earthman. However, the others? The ones who slap their bloody palms across the Empire? I can’t speak for those boys.”

  “You’re respected among your men,” I said. “And you’ve been in the Imperial Legion a long time, so that means plenty more men must respect you throughout the legion.”

  “You might say that,” Erhoff said.

  “Then going forward, if you’d give me the honor, you’d be a great help if you spoke for me,” I said. “You know, among the legionnaires who might be wary of taking up arms with rebels.”

  Erhoff grunted, though not without smiling. “So I get to become your bloody mouthpiece then, is that it, lad?” he barked.

  I laughed. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

  “It don’t matter how you meant it,” he said, then extended his hand to me. “Because I’d be honored to take the job, either way.” We shook hands on that. “Of course, that presupposes that I survive the coming battle!”

  Chapter Sixteen

  As the evening wore on, Robbin and Piper volunteered to make dinner for us. Esmerelda helped them out – her fire magic made roasting the fresh venison a cinch – but the best part was watching her mock-flirt with the squires. She had them both red in the face within seconds.

  I spoke with Pandora. I told her to telepathically contact Layla.

  Pandora sat down cross-legged and did as I asked. Her eyelids fluttered rapidly as they spoke through their minds. When she opened her dark eyes, she smiled. “Layla and Hingar have already begun mobilizing their troops. Their siege weapons will reach the southern mountain pass by dawn, along with a small division of warriors to protect the siege machines. The bulk of their forces will catch up shortly thereafter.”

  I grabbed Pandora by the waist and kissed her. “God, I’m itching to start this battle,” I said.

  “Me as well, Earthman,” she said, kissing me right back.

  Next, I found Bella again. She’d been busy spreading the particulars of our plan to our Red-Hand allies in Homehold, but I needed her powers one more time before the end of the night.

  She put her hands on her hips, eyes beaming, smiling from ear-to-ear. And no wonder.

  After spending all those long years locked up by the lich Lord Ephemera, Bella was finally back to feeling like the powerful Mananymph that she’d always been. No longer was she tortured and mocked by the undead legions, or being toyed with by Lord Ephemera himself.

  She’d been our linchpin during the Siege of Homehold, when Lord Blackfyre’s undead hordes had threatened to overwhelm the city. If not for her illusory legion of seraphs, we certainly would have fallen to their greater numbers.

  Now, just as importantly, if not even more so, she was fanning the flames of the rebellion with her illusion magic. Truly, she was doing more to bolster the rebellion than anyone else, but now, I had one more task for her.

  “Take one of your eagles sou
th, toward the Southern Mountains,” I said. Corvus Gavrus had been the one to initially contact Gorrok and the orcs. Unfortunately, he died before telling anyone else their exact location. “Find Gorrok, then tell him the particulars of our plan.”

  She smiled adorably at me, with the confidence in her formerly tender gaze growing by the hour. “’Our’ plan?” she asked curiously. “But Champion, you’ve concocted this battle strategy all on your own.”

  I slipped my arm around her and kissed her. “And I never would have been able to if it hadn’t been for all of you,” I answered. “So no, it’s not my plan. It’s our plan, just as the coming battle will end with our victory.”

  Then, there was only one part of the force left to put in motion. I pulled the amber leaf amulet from around my neck and closed the Soulguard around it.

  All around me, the world rippled in various shades of natural green, as if the aura of all living trees itself was now filtering itself through my eyes. Suddenly, a vaguely solid vision of the spriggan elder Greenbeard appeared before me.

  The leaves on his head rustled and fell loose as he smiled when he saw me. “Tiny Champion! I was beginning to think that the attack would never come!”

  “So was I,” I said, laughing. “I’m so eager to take it to the Emperor that every second feels like an hour.”

  “Well then, little Earthman, that’s good news to these old, green, ancient ears,” he said. “But the even better news is this: My forest kinfolk have all agreed to join you in the coming battle! You’ll have spriggan elders, spriggan sprites, and even a few fairies that have been freed from the Fairy Mother’s corrupting influence!”

  “Hell yeah,” I responded, then went about informing the spriggan leader about my plan. Luckily, Greenbeard had already gathered most of his forces just south of Silverton, yet still hidden off to the side in the edges of Darkwood forest. Tonight, under the cover of darkness, Greenbeard’s forces would sneak right under the Imperials’ noses, situating themselves in Silverhome Woods. From there, half would hold the line to prevent Imperial reinforcements from reaching Homehold, while the other half would join us in the siege.