“Any weaknesses?” a man asked, rubbing his chin nervously.
“Yes, they’re vulnerable to cold, and their brain is in the middle of their body, just behind the bony section. It’s defended from attacks from the front but is relatively vulnerable to attacks from the rear,” Vinara chimed in, her voice brisk. “The problem is that it’s deep in the body, so hitting it is difficult, considering that it orients its front half between it and any significant threats. It also has multiple hearts, so don’t bother trying to target those, they’ll just heal.”
“Hells, that’s going to make it a beast to kill,” Hanrith swore, scowling deeply, then spun as he ordered. “Runners! I need you to relay a message to the ballista stations immediately! And someone message the spell towers to stop attacking!”
Kitania was a little nonplussed by the reaction, and how the elves had suddenly begun ignoring her and Vinara. She glanced over at the succubus in confusion, then caught a flash of green and gold from the corner of her eye. Turning her head more, Kitania’s eyes widened as she saw Alserah in full armor, the goddess standing nearby with a calm expression on her face.
“Your Grace, I didn’t realize you were there!” Kitania said, drawing Vinara’s attention to Alserah. The way Vinara jumped at the sight of the goddess was a bit satisfying as well, and Kitania resisted the urge to smile.
“I didn’t announce my presence, and you were speaking,” Alserah said, her voice surprisingly calm, considering the threat that was bearing down on the palace. Another scream shattered the night, and Kitania thought that any wildlife likely had long since fled.
“May I ask why you’re not intervening yourself, Your Grace?” Vinara asked, gesturing toward the inner wall as the elves around them began to move. “I would have expected you to already be trying to exterminate the monster.”
“If you hadn’t given Commander Northwind the information you did, I would have. However, with the information you’ve provided, I’m confident that the guards can defend the palace with only minimal damage,” Alserah replied, her voice grave. The sound of wingbeats drew Kitania’s gaze to the side, and she saw Eziel, Isalla, and Rose approaching. Isalla was wearing sky-blue armor with silver trim, while Rose was wearing her crimson and gold armor, Ember at her side. Conversely, Eziel wasn’t in armor and had a bow in hand, a grim look on her face. However, Alserah wasn’t finished. “Beyond that, unlike Northwind, I have heard of hellfire worms. I didn’t know precisely how to kill them, but I know that they shouldn’t be here. If one is attacking the palace, it’s entirely possible that this is a trap for me, or even a distraction. I must be prepared to act if that’s the case.”
“Ah, I see,” Vinara said, nodding in understanding, then frowned. “Might we go watch from the wall, then? If we need to help…”
“Of course,” Alserah said, smiling and nodding in the direction of the fire as she added, “Fortunately, all of you can fly, or this would be more difficult. I’ll go ahead and wait for you.”
It looked like Alserah only took two or three steps, but she blurred through the air, traveling dozens of feet in moments, and Kitania blinked, then smiled as she murmured softly, “I think she’s a little more concerned than she might claim.”
“Unsurprising,” Vinara said, then glanced at the others and smiled broadly as she added, “Welcome to the land of wakefulness, ladies! It looks like we’re seeing another attempt to pin an attack on the hells. Care to join us and Lady Alserah on the wall?”
“Ah, sure? I’d gathered some of that, but… can you tell us what’s going on?” Isalla asked, looking worried.
Kitania used magic to manifest her wings again, prompting looks of surprise from the others, but took flight as she began explaining. “It appears someone is sending a hellfire worm at the palace. We honestly don’t know much more than that, yet.”
“I’ve heard of hellfire worms. I lost a couple of ancestors to them,” Rose said, frowning as she began flying alongside Kitania, and all the others joined them. “It was during a foray into the hells, and they were lured into a nest.”
“Ooh, that’d be bad. I’m impressed that they didn’t notice it coming, or…” Vinara paused, then asked hesitantly, “The third invasion of Akarat?”
“That’s right,” Rose confirmed, and Kitania winced. She remembered the tales of that battle, where the demon king of Akarat had lured a nest of hellfire worms into the rearguard of an angel and mortal army that was besieging his capital. The results had been horrifying, as the army had been devastated and forced to retreat, while the demons had spent the next decade hunting down all the hellfire worms that nested in the country. It was considered something of a pyrrhic victory.
The sight of the forest as they climbed high enough to look over the second wall distracted all of them, though, and Kitania sucked in a breath at the sight of a long path of scorched forest, along with spreading flames in every direction. The hellfire worm was coming directly for the wall without any deviations, which confirmed her suspicion that it was being controlled. They were just fortunate that the creature couldn’t tunnel here without risking running into water, something that would cause extreme pain for the monster. It was a good half-mile away still, but moving toward them at a slow, steady pace as arrows bounced off its hide and embedded themselves around its maw. Sheets of fire, ice, and lightning were spraying from the spell towers in a torrent, but they weakened to almost nothing as they approached the hellfire worm.
“That’s a waste of arrows,” Rose commented as they soared toward Alserah, who was standing on the wall with her bow in hand.
“Yes, but the messengers haven’t had a chance to tell the archers to cease firing yet. As you can see, even the magi have only now instructed the towers to fall silent,” Alserah said, her ability to hear Rose surprising Kitania a little. They were rather far away, but Kitania did see the waves of magic from the spell towers begin dying off, then they fell silent one after another.
“You have sharp ears, Your Grace,” Isalla said, swooping in to land on the wall. “I wouldn’t have even realized Rose was talking from that distance.”
“I’m a goddess of archery, and I can only strike what I can sense. My senses are… incredibly heightened,” Alserah replied, a smile flickering across her lips as she glanced over to watch them land. “Except when that would harm me, of course. It’s part of the nature of my mantle of power.”
“Ah, much is explained,” Kitania said, smiling slightly, but a little worried at the sight of the hellfire worm moving toward them. It’d take it less than five minutes to reach the wall, at a guess. She hesitated, then asked, “Are you sure they can kill the worm? It’s not that far away.”
“If it were three months ago, I wouldn’t be confident. Two, it’d be possible if they had the information you provided. A month ago, though… that’s when the artillerists were trained with the new enchanted ballista,” Alserah replied, smiling broadly. “I’ve been curious to see them in action, and this is an excellent chance. If they can’t kill it, I’ll act myself.”
“As you wish,” Vinara said, frowning slightly as she glanced at Kitania and grinned. “It isn’t like you’d be much use against it, Kitania.”
“I could too, though it wouldn’t be fun,” Kitania retorted, her gaze fixed on one of the towers where she could see ballista being loaded, and the arrows were slowing to a trickle before stopping. “There are spells that can protect from fire, and I’d regenerate from the damage that made it through. I’d prefer not to go through that, though.”
“I’d prefer that you didn’t get yourself injured as well,” Alserah said, her tone surprisingly mild. “The worm does appear rather upset.”
“To be fair, Kitania’s also been eaten by a hellfire worm before,” Isalla added, and Kitania winced, glancing toward her.
“How do you know about that?” Kitania asked, somewhat plaintively. She’d rather that tale remained buried in the past.
“You what?” Alserah asked, her eyebrows rising
as she looked away from the worm.
“Queen Estalia told us,” Rose explained, her fingers drumming on the parapet nervously. “She mentioned it when we met her at the palace, as part of her assuring us you still lived.”
“I see,” Kitania said, almost squirming under Alserah’s regard. She hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly explained. “When I was young, I was severely depressed and decided to jump into a hellfire worm’s nest. It was how we learned I was immortal, since I regenerated after they cut it open.”
Alserah nodded, a flicker of surprise crossing her face as she spoke. “Ah, that would be a way to learn—”
At that moment, the worm inhaled, then let out a scream that shook even the stone walls they were on, and made everyone flinch as it unleashed a massive blast of fire through the forest ahead of it, swiveling its maw to set large swathes of forest on fire, though the trees ended well short of the wall.
Seconds later, two of the nearby ballistae fired, only barely audible from their location, and Kitania could see soldiers moving in their direction, likely to man the wall near where the worm would encounter it. However, she was distracted by the ballista bolts an instant later. Kitania couldn’t quite make out details with how fast they were moving, but they looked different than the bolts she was used to. Normal ballista bolts didn’t turn in midair, either.
The bolts started racing past the worm, then curved around in vicious arcs to slam into its midsection. They were a little too far back as they slammed deep into the beast, prompting the beginning of another roar… then the bolts exploded, causing eruptions of flaming gore to splatter through the sky as the roar of anger changed.
“What was that?” Rose asked, her mouth slightly agape. “The ballista bolts turned!”
“Yes. Our artificers have been working on improved ballista that can more easily target flying creatures such as dragons and some demons. This is their result, ballista that seek the point chosen by the crew leader, and armor-piercing bolts that explode once inside the target,” Alserah said, nodding and smiling as another pair of ballistae fired. “We deployed them just in time, it appears. They’re not perfect, but they’re far better than what we had before them.”
The bolts lanced out and into the wounds opened on the worm before, driving deeper into the closing injuries as they were closer to where the hellfire worm’s brain was, then detonated again. The worm began writhing, which would make targeting significantly harder, Kitania feared. She saw a frown on Vinara’s face, and the succubus began casting a spell. It looked like a detection spell of some type, based on what Kitania could understand, but she didn’t know more than that.
“I’m pretty sure the worm isn’t going to reach us, not with how it’s reacting,” Isalla said, and winced as a couple of the ballista fired, then their bolts went off-course.
One bolt missed the back, instead slamming into the front section of the hellfire worm, and it only penetrated a foot or so before exploding, spraying a shower of bone and a tiny amount of blood outward. The other hit behind the others, dealing a good deal of damage, but not where it needed to.
“No, but it might take them longer to kill it with how it’s thrashing about.” Alserah said, scowling. She put a hand to her bowstring, and a glittering arrow of pure magical energy formed as she spoke. “Perhaps I should—”
“Please wait a moment, Your Grace,” Vinara interrupted, her eyes narrowed and glittering with spectral light. “I can see the spell controlling the worm, and I think I can tell what direction the controller is in.”
“How can you do that?” Isalla asked, looking over at Vinara in surprise, and at the same time Alserah paused, her arrow still half-drawn.
“It isn’t easy, but I can see a faint trace of the magic. It looks like it’s going to the northeast… no, north by northeast,” Vinara said, her gaze flicking across the sky. “It’s hard to see with the aftermath of the spell towers and the ballista, but if you use more powerful magic, I’ll lose it entirely.”
“Ah, that makes more sense,” Alserah said, and the arrow on the string dissipated. “How long do you think it’ll take you to track them down?”
“I can’t, but I can guess how far away they are based on the reaction when the control snaps,” Vinara said, smiling, though her gaze was still fixed on the sky. “It’ll be rough, even so, but control spells like that aren’t something that work over any distance.”
“It looks like they’re going to fire another wave of bolts any second, so maybe you’ll have a chance to see,” Rose commented softly.
Kitania debated, then glanced at Eziel and asked softly, “Did you know anything about this?”
“No, I’ve never even heard of monsters like that, Lady Kitania,” Eziel replied instantly, shaking her head with her eyes wide. “This is new to me, and horrifying.”
The firing of the ballista drew Kitania’s attention, and this time the four fired in rapid succession. The bolts couldn’t target perfectly, but neither was the writhing a perfect defense, and one after another the bolts slammed home, bursting as they pierced deep into the creature.
Kitania wasn’t sure which of the strikes killed the hellfire worm. Their angle wasn’t good enough for that, but she saw the moment its spasms grew wilder, and Vinara’s reaction was striking.
“There it goes!” the succubus exclaimed, her gaze tracking across the sky as she continued. “Probably… between fifty and a hundred miles. What’s in that direction?”
“Several towns and cities,” Alserah said, turning as her eyes flickered with anger. “Come with me, please. I have some maps, and we can track down who’s responsible for this. I doubt this is the end.”
“As you say,” Kitania said, glancing back as the thrashing of the hellfire worm began to slow, and oozing, flaming blood slowly seeped across the earth. The forest was on fire, which she considered a horrific shame, considering how beautiful it was.
On the other hand, she also saw storm clouds forming above the forest, so maybe the elves were going to be dealing with that shortly. She hoped so, and that this didn’t bode too poorly for the kingdom. The sinking feeling in her stomach didn’t give Kitania high hopes, though.
Chapter 42
“Your Grace, we have a major problem!” Hanrith exclaimed as he burst into the conference room. Kitania and the others hadn’t even had a chance to finish rolling out the map, and Alserah looked up sharply, frowning at the man.
“What is it, Commander?” Alserah asked, her voice calmer than Kitania would have been able to manage.
“Reports are coming in from across the country; at least six more hellfire worms have been sighted, along with five titanic birds that seem to be controlling storms!” the man explained, practically breathless as he swallowed hard, glancing at the others nervously as he continued. “Naer is being flooded by waves unleashed by the bird, and Mist is under attack by one of them and a hellfire worm as well. Multiple cities and forts across the country are under attack, and losses are mounting, though the new ballista and magi are doing what they can.”
“Oh, tears of the heavens… what do they think they’re doing?” Isalla said, her voice filled with disbelief, and Kitania winced as she saw the horror on the young angel’s face. She hesitated, then reached out to squeeze Isalla’s hand gently, even though they both were wearing gauntlets. Isalla squeezed it back, her horror easing slightly, which reassured Kitania.
“Assuming it’s the angels who’re behind all the other events we’ve heard about, they’re obviously trying to hit my weaknesses. I have to protect my people, and I can only be in one place at a time,” Alserah said, her voice taut now, and she looked at Hanrith. “What do these birds look like?”
“Gigantic, purple, and they control wind and lightning, from what the reports said. The new ballista are of limited use against them, as the wind blows most projectiles away,” Hanrith reported, and Kitania couldn’t help cursing in disbelief.
“Hellfire and brimstone, where’d they find five stor
m phoenixes?” she demanded angrily, looking at Vinara in disbelief. “I haven’t heard of any of those rampaging in over a century, and they’re native to the hells, too!”
“This might be why you haven’t heard of them rampaging in so long,” Rose interjected, scowling deeply as she leaned over the map. “If someone’s been capturing them for use in a situation like this…”
“Speculation on why can wait. Commander, mark the cities that are under attack. Use cavalry for the worms, and infantry for the birds,” Alserah ordered. Hanrith nodded and quickly opened a cabinet, pulling out small figures in the shape of infantry and mounted soldiers. While he worked, the goddess glanced at Vinara as she added, “Lady Vinara, would you please try to approximate where you believe the source of the magical control you detected is?”
“Certainly. Looking at the area, and direction…” Vinara murmured, examining the map closely as she frowned, considering the matter. While she did, Hanrith was quickly placing both types of figures at various points around the map, and the sight made Kitania’s stomach tighten. The sheer area the monsters were spread over meant that even if Alserah acted instantly, it’d take far too long to respond to each in turn. By the time she did, multiple areas would be devastated.
Vinara distracted everyone when she tapped the map, though, her finger touching a city near the north edge of the kingdom. Kitania couldn’t see the name of the city, but the succubus spoke softly. “Near here. I can’t be precise, since I’ve only seen one of the creatures from a long distance, but based on where the other monsters are, the person controlling them can’t be beyond your northern border and should be within ten miles of this city, based on my estimates.”
“Eldsyr? It is where Corram was supposedly based, and there was some additional activity the knights were investigating around it,” Alserah said, her gaze hardening. “I think—”
Mortal Gods (Mantles of Power Book 2) Page 36
