The second round, we were within bow range, and about half our group had bows. Many arrows shot out, all glowing with magic, as I sent another fire blast. They too had arrows and bolts, and they got their magic attacks off in exchange. We were the only ones in cover, the enemy charging out in the open, but that didn’t mean none of us were hit. My mana shield and the others as well, absorbed a lot of magical damage. Many of our group didn’t keep five thousand mana in a shield like I did, and as I restored it back I saw a lot of hurt people.
Wynn said, “One more, than cloak, scatter, and meet up at the rendezvous point.”
I thought we’d have time for one more.
Lara dropped a mass heal, while the rest of us sent that last barrage of death and destruction. At a quick glance, we’d taken down maybe three hundred of them in total, including our two initial attacks at the enemy’s staging point and the three in retreat.
Gwen cloaked the six of us, and three other soldiers that were on our cloaking team, we jumped up and ran away at an angle. Lara would handle cloaking Steve and seven other soldiers.
The enemy chased for a little bit, but we just kept changing the angle of retreat and they slowly lost us. I just had to hope the other four cloaked teams had similar luck, as we headed for the rendezvous location just a mile away.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
We were back in the elven city of Aladell just six days later.
The week had been hell. We’d repeated our two-stage sneak attack and ambush five or six times a day. We’d caught sleep where we could in the open under the stars, and we’d learned to eat our road rations quickly. While we’d been hunting the enemy, the enemy had scouts out hunting us as well.
In the end, our party of forty-three had been whittled down to twenty-six.
The most shocking thing of all, was halfway through the week we’d lost Wynn. It just… didn’t seem real, as we tossed back some mugs of ale in his memory. It didn’t feel like a celebration this time, it felt like a wake. I wasn’t as close to him as I was to Lyre and Anlyth, but it was still a hell of a blow, and I hadn’t had time to deal with it at all yet. We’d been in battle after all, and someone had to pick up the leadership of our group at the time.
Besides the sadness, there was a growing rage inside me toward Gaia and this new world she’d created. It was balanced by other things, good things, like Gwen, and the welcoming kindness of the elves of this city, and of course the others in my party. Still, I knew the only way through was forward, and I needed to find a better way to deal with it and find peace in it. Using my love for Gwen as a crutch wasn’t right, was it? I need to figure out how to accept it somehow, while still fighting against it to save as many as I could. I wasn’t sure how to strike that balance at all.
On the good side, I supposed it was good, but at the moment it felt kind of empty, I’d leveled twice and was now level twenty-eight. We’d gotten over five million experience for defeating the Eastern horde, and I hadn’t been far from level twenty-seven, so I’d rolled right past it into level twenty-eight and just less than halfway to level twenty-nine.
My mana shield was now ten thousand mana strong, and that still left me with five thousand five hundred and twenty-two mana to spend on spells, or to blast out as raw magic for that matter.
I still needed to work my spheres and skills, twice, once for the level twenty-seven gains, and once again when I’d earned the jumps for twenty-eight, but that could wait for the following day. I wasn’t one to sink in depression, but I think that moment was the closest I’d ever come to it in my life. There was so much light in this new life, but it was attended by an equally disturbing darkness and evil.
Wynn was dead.
Yet, I still got excited during battle, my heart pounded, adrenaline flooded my veins, and I enjoyed the challenge, just as much as I hated it. What was wrong with me?
Women were confusing too. I never did find out what that comment of Gwen’s had been about, and it was the first and last time she’d ever remarked on our sex life in public. I supposed that was normal though, women were a mystery.
A wonderful one, for the most part.
Gwen took my hand, “Bed.”
I looked around and nodded agreement. I hadn’t even seen Cassie and Dan leave, and Lara and Steve were getting up to leave. Anlyth and Lyre hadn’t been with us at all that night, I was pretty sure they’d gone to find Wynn’s family to share the bad news.
I nodded, “I love you,” I said a little wistfully. I was also a bit off-balance, I’d drank more than I’d thought.
Gwen smiled sadly and returned the words, and we cleaned up and headed off to bed, where I held her tightly, each of us comforting the other. There may have been tears, but I won’t go into that or the desperate coupling that followed. Eventually, we found sleep.
The next morning, I dove into my meditation to gain my skills, and got my spheres up to journeyman level eight. It took longer than usual, about twice as long. I was distracted by grief and anger, it was harder to empty my mind and focus on nothing but a magical sphere. Still, I was done by lunchtime, and so was Gwen and the others.
We met up at the tavern for lunch. Losing Wynn had been a blow, but there was another one coming. I knew it as soon as I saw their faces when Anlyth and Lyre walked in. Something I’d feared was coming, but that I’d been hoping wouldn’t happen at all.
Lyre actually looked nervous, and she gave us all a tight hug before she sat down. Lyre wasn’t normally a hugger, which was just more proof in my mind.
I didn’t mince words, “So, you’re not coming with us to the southern kingdom, to help fight off the southern horde.”
Lyre looked sad, but she nodded.
“You are family to me, and always will be. We joined you gladly, and we were grateful for the help in defending our home in this dark time that comes every two hundred years. But… our place is here with our people, to help them rebuild. You’ll go south and fight, and then you’ll leave the kingdoms forever to explore the world. We can’t follow, we’re going to rebuild, and start a family. Our place is here, with our people.”
Yup, that’s what I’d been afraid of. They’d gone south with us once, but only to ensure the Southern kingdom was ready and wouldn’t lose their part of the war. In other words, to protect their own kingdom, to protect their southern flank. Lyre and Anlyth were family, but they weren’t in it merely for the power, they’d been risking their lives in truth, and could never come back if they died like Wynn. They’d won their war, secured their peace for their children and several generations to come, and had become formidable warriors. I couldn’t blame them for wanting to put down roots. The elves would not only have to rebuild their villages, but also remove the dent in their population. Although, I’d imagine that was the last reason Lyre wanted to start a family with Anlyth.
“I understand, and I promise we’ll visit when we can.”
Gwen said fiercely, “Count on it,” and her eyes were moist. No matter how much this would hurt me, losing their presence in our day to day lives I mean, I knew Gwen’s friendship with Lyre was a lot tighter.
Lara and Steve looked upset as well, but grudgingly accepting. Cassie and Dan looked concerned, but they hadn’t been around long enough to build deep attachments to any of us yet. We all liked them, and they liked us, but they weren’t quite as close as the others, yet.
Anlyth nodded, “Thanks. You’ll always be welcome as Lyre said, and you’ll be missed if you don’t visit.”
“Have either of you heard anything on the south, going to have to find a new in with the Elven scouts.”
Lyre giggled, but it ended with teary eyes and she hugged Gwen again.
Anlyth answered after a moment.
“They’re still gathering, but from what I know they’ll have to march soon. A few days, a week at the most? Otherwise there’ll be too much infighting. As for an in, you know Rylla well enough, she’d tell you if you contacted her on the communicator. We might not be fighting in that part of the wa
r, but my people will be keeping a close eye on it. Just in case the worst happens.”
I laughed as a thought occurred.
Gwen tilted her head in question.
I shrugged, “Five hundred undying are headed south right now. Just remembering the registration process.”
Gwen snickered.
Cassie asked, “Registration?”
We reminisced about our adventures in the south for quite a while, including the registration and taxes. Too soon, far too soon, though in truth it was probably late afternoon by then, Anlyth and Lyre took their leave and left us for good. We’d see them again, share stories of our lives, and celebrate together in the future, but it wouldn’t be the same.
The party was six again.
I was reluctant, but it was time to move on. The elven city had suddenly lost its luster, too much to remind us of our losses, and we had one more horde to help deal with. I really hoped that would be decided at Stonefort, but that wasn’t a sure thing. Sometimes the horde would destroy them, and not be stopped until they attacked the capitol, Southmere.
The six of us jumped in the ship, and then headed south. Cassie and Dan were excited to see the mansion I’d described to them, that we’d built, and we’d get them registered the next day. It was also our turn to take them on a city tour, since they’d never been there. Who knew, maybe there were some quests to do where only our party would be in danger. In truth, I wasn’t all that eager to dive into another large-scale battle just yet. I was… sick of the death.
The sun was bright coming through the window. I was holding Gwen and watching her sleep. I’d finished up my morning meditation, a few minutes ago, and knew she’d be waking soon. The world felt so real, it was so real it might as well have been real, but the small things like automatically waking up exactly when we wanted without fail still pushed in that little bit of unreality.
Gwen’s lips slowly morphed into a smile, as she raised her arms and stretched her whole body extravagantly with her eyes closed, with cute satisfied sleepy sounds falling from slightly parted lips.
“I can feel you staring,” she said sleepily.
She obviously didn’t mind either, because I was fairly sure she’d just put on a show for me.
Her eye popped open.
“I might’ve been. How is it you get more beautiful every day?”
She grinned, and then claimed a soft mostly chaste kiss before rolling out of bed.
“I’ve got you well trained.”
I snickered, but at the same time that was probably true. I also continued to watch, as she got dressed in her tight body suit and armor.
She added, “And thank you love, you become dearer to me with every passing day as well. I love when you stare at me, I feel… warm and safe. So much better than waking up on the wet ground, wondering if the enemy would attack in the night. I love our bed.”
I asked, “How are you doing with all that’s happened? This fighting wars thing is so different from what we’ve done in the past.”
She tilted her head, “It’s hard, but rewarding at the same time. I keep my eyes on the ones we save, the small children running around in the streets, and the street vendors, the cities.”
“You’re not angry? I don’t know how to divorce myself from that, it’s what drives me to keep going.”
I was afraid I’d fall apart if I didn’t hold it and use it to drive me.
She frowned, “I am of course, but I don’t hold onto it, or fan its flames. I don’t make that my motivation to fight. My motivation to fight is to protect the ones I love, and the innocent. Not… to punish and stop the ones I hate. It’s a subtle difference in motivation that leads to the same place, but an important one. If you fan the anger and hate, it will make you hard.”
That… I wasn’t sure. It sounded right. I’d been afraid if I let go of the rage, I’d give up and choose to hide from it. Maybe all I had to do was embrace the ones I was protecting with fierceness, instead of embracing the rage toward the evil races, and Gaia.
Maybe it was the right way to maintain sanity without losing myself to the madness of war, but it sure as hell wasn’t simple. Easily said, and an easily understood shift of perspective, but one that was extremely difficult to put into practice. Still, I wished I’d talked to her about it two weeks ago.
She was almost done, so I rolled out of bed and pulled on my robes, then brushed my hair. I had it so much easier getting ready. Then as usual, I helped her with her vambraces, the one piece of armor she’d have to use one hand to secure since it went on the forearms.
“It’s going to be weird without them, should we let Annabelle know we’re back in town?”
She nodded, “After lunch, let’s get Cassie and Dan registered and give them a tour first. Breakfast wouldn’t go amiss either, we’ll have to hit a vendor or tavern, we haven’t been here in weeks and I’m sure any food left in the house is bad.”
“Good point, round them up? I’ll go out back and fix the garden.”
It probably wasn’t that bad in truth, we hadn’t been gone too long. Still, veggies and fruits a breakfast didn’t make, we needed eggs and bacon, or sausage.
She smiled and stole a kiss, and we split up for the moment. I just couldn’t imagine my life without her.
When I got downstairs, I saw that I was right. There wasn’t much to do with the garden. I pulled the weeds with a spell, and used a water spell where it was needed, but otherwise it was fine.
It didn’t take long, and neither did Gwen. She came out with the others a short time later, and we started for the city to run our errands. It didn’t take long to down a breakfast roll, and it took longer to walk to the registration office than it took to register. Marquise Nevins was pleased to see us, but he didn’t have any journeyman level quests available. Cassie and Dan took time to read over all the listed laws that were broken by the undying, and we all got a few good laughs out of it.
We spent the morning showing them the market district and what was available. Lastly, we also showed off a bit and gave them a tour of the champion’s wing and quarters in the castle we could be staying in. Except, Cassie and Dan couldn’t, because they weren’t champions, but the mansion really was just as nice, just not centrally located in the city.
When we ran into Gorlick and Naleada, we decided to stay there for lunch in the champions’ dining area and introduced them to Dan and Cassie. I also figured it was a good time to send Annabelle a message, if she did have something for us we’d already be in the castle, so I did that before we sat down to eat.
Gorlick was just as much a curmudgeon as ever, but Naleada’s exuberance and welcome more than made up for it. Plus, she made sure he didn’t get out of hand. To be honest, I was a little surprised they were still there. Apparently, they were going to continue to forge weapons and arrow heads for the kingdom’s military until the very last minute.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Will you be staying for the battle itself?”
Naleada replied, “Inside, yes. What news do you have of our people?”
“All I know is the forces where we fought, we lost over two thousand while killing and distracting the enemy from behind. Not including the undying who came back time and again. The horde did not make it past the dwarven gates in any of the cities. I did see the entrance to one, the enemy managed to dig it out wider like a huge pit to get more angles of attack, but the enchantment on the gate itself and the walls of the city held. I hadn’t been told how many casualties there were on the defending side.”
Gorlick grunted.
Naleada looked relieved, and a little worried at the same time. I couldn’t blame her, I had no idea how many of the defenders fell at the gate. It was an excellent choke point, but also the focus of a hell of a lot of attacking enemies.
We all turned toward the entrance of the room as Annabelle swept in with two royal guards in her wake. She looked fantastic in armor, as always, and had a welcoming smile on her face as she held her hand up
. She had curly golden blonde hair, icy blue eyes, and looked glad to see us. She had high cheekbones, and full lips, her nose just a little too big for her face but not enough to detract from her beauty. She looked aristocratic.
“Don’t get up,” she said as she moved over to the table and sat down, “Welcome back to my kingdom. I’d wondered if we’d see you again for the battle.”
“It’s good to see you as well, princess. This is Dan and Cassie, who recently joined our party.”
Annabelle nodded at both, who nodded back.
I said, “As far as the battle, wouldn’t have missed it, we just had a few tasks up north.”
She snorted, “Tasks?”
Gwen said, “Nothing major, two hordes, recovering the dwarven royal weapons in the heart of a gray dwarf stronghold. You know.”
Annabelle chuckled.
“There is something I need your help with, if you’re willing. They’re up to something at the border, by Stonefort.”
I nodded, “What’s the deal?”
Annabelle said, “That’s the problem, we’re not sure. We had scouts along the border searching for newly created tunnels below the surface. They’ve found three of them in the last few days. When we sent our groups south in the tunnels into enemy territory, they exited a short distance into the mountains, just dead ends leading to the surface without anything around. But… when we sent teams north into the tunnels, they didn’t come back. A second set of teams were sent to investigate, and they too disappeared without a trace. Not even one of them escaped to report or managed to send a message. I fear if we don’t discover the reason soon, it will be Stonefort’s undoing in some way when the horde moves across the border.”
I looked around, and no one had reservations about it. Mysterious tunnels of death, well why not?
“Alright, we’ll be happy to take a look.”
Worst case, she’d have to wait twenty-six hours for a report, when we respawned. Unless, they’re not dead but captured. We’d find out soon enough, and in any case, I had no plans to die.
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