by Kyle Johnson
The creatures reacted instantly. The kerruk in back barked loudly, pointing directly at Aranos – as he’d thought, it could pierce his concealment somehow – while the warriors scrambled to their feet and began running swiftly toward the walls. While they were unable to see their attacker, thanks to the kerruk’s apparent directions, they seemed sure of his location. Two of the knights ran toward the space in the middle, while the remaining four peeled off, a pair going to each side around the edges of his magma wall, attempting to flank him. At the same time, the figure in back began gesturing, and several moments later, a gray glow surrounded the charging warriors. Instantly, the warriors sped up, their motions becoming even surer.
Okay, here we go, Aranos thought as he stepped back, allowing Saphielle to move into the center of the funnel created by his walls. We can do this; I just have to keep my focus on the caster.
As the first pair of creatures neared the wings of the walls, Geltheriel appeared behind the monsters, her blade flashing as she chopped into the exposed gaps in their armor. The dabruks whirled instantly, slashing at the elf, but she danced nimbly out of their way and returned their attacks with light, graceful slashes that found weak points in their battered armor. Each strike was followed by a shadowy copy of the blade that slid through their defenses with ease, opening deep wounds that bled freely.
The center pair closed with the Bright Avenger and lunged forward, one thrusting its shield toward her face while the other tried to move to her flank. The Warrior was having none of that, though, and met the creature’s shield with her own while jabbing her spear at the second creature. The first dabruk grunted and tried to resist the blow, bracing against its shield, but the elf was simply too strong for it. It held its ground for only an instant before hurtling backward and landing heavily on its back, allowing Saphielle to thrust her spear deep into the second creature’s side and twist, opening a jagged hole.
Silma blurred and appeared before the final pair of creatures, snarling. One of them lunged with its shield, attempting to bear her to the ground, while the other swept an axe at her side. The silver wolf danced to the side, though, grabbing the shield in her jaws and yanking hard, pulling the first dabruk off balance. As it struggled to right itself, she leaped forward, slamming her head into the shield, and the warrior fell backward. Silma whirled to face the second creature, dodging another axe blow and grabbing the warrior’s extended wrist in her jaws. She tore at the joint, shredding it and forcing the creature to drop its weapon.
The pink-skinned spellcaster was once more moving its hands in the passes of a Spell, but Aranos responded by firing a Composite Bullet at the creature. The bullet struck an invisible barrier and shattered, sending hairline cracks spidering through the magical shield but not penetrating. In the same moment, the caster finished its incantation. A sickly, grey light flowed from its hands and washed over Geltheriel. The elf woman shuddered and slowed noticeably as the grey light encased her. Aranos hurriedly reached out to her with his Sense Mana Skill, feeling the hostile Spell cloaking her, sapping the flexibility from her joints. He quickly drained the Spell away with his Mana Vampire Perk. Instantly, the woman’s movements became swift and agile once more, as she nimbly dodged a sword thrust.
Aranos narrowed his eyes at the distant caster, who was once again performing the motions of a casting. He held up his hand and unleashed a Light Mana Arrow; the incandescent arrow sped through the invisible barrier and impacted the smooth-skinned figure with a blast of radiance. The figure audibly hissed and turned its malevolent gaze toward Aranos, raising its hands menacingly.
Aranos gasped as he felt icy-cold energy wrapping around his body, trying to leech the strength from his limbs. Anger kindled inside him as he felt the invading Spell, the rage rushing through his veins, burning out the invading magic. He shook off the Spell and responded with another Light Arrow, cloning the projectile into three, gleaming bolts of energy that ripped into the enemy caster. The pink-skinned creature howled but cast another Spell, this time on Silma. The fenrin growled as her motions slowed and the axe-wielder managed to slice a line of red down her coat through her armor. Aranos quickly reached out mentally and drained the Spell from her, freeing her from the slowing effect, as a heal from Rhys closed her wound.
I just need to play support, here, Aranos reminded himself. Rhys can keep them healthy, and they can deal with their own enemies without me. I need to stop attacking the caster, just disrupt or undo its Spells, and help the fighters out where needed. That thing can wait until we’re done with the frontline fighters, if all it’s doing is buffs and debuffs.
For the next thirty seconds, Aranos focused entirely on nullifying the kerruk’s Spells. It tried to buff its warriors with a strength boost, but the Sorcerer grabbed hold of that construct immediately and unraveled it. When the kerruk attempted to sap Saphielle’s fighting power, Aranos managed to destructively disjoin the Spell, hitting the caster with a backlash and giving him a moment’s respite.
He used that moment to hit one of the two creatures in melee with Silma with Void Paralysis; one-on-one, the fenrin made short work of the other creature. He sent a mental signal for her to go assist Geltheriel, while he returned his focus to the spellcaster.
The creature had just unleashed a Spell, and Aranos felt a mental tugging at the Void Paralysis he had laid on the creature fighting Silma. He frowned and renewed his grip on the Spell, holding it firmly. It’s trying to disjoin my Spell, he realized, grinning. I wonder if I can disjoin the disjunction?
He stretched out with his Mana Vampire Perk, touching his own Spell, questing for the foreign tendrils of mana trying to undo it. He sensed the invading Spell easily; it was composed of tiny strands of void mana interwoven with other magics attempting to directly siphon the energy out of his construct, so far unsuccessfully. You think you can steal my energy? he thought grimly. How about you give me some of yours, instead?
Aranos grasped the foreign Spell with his mind, focusing his will on twisting the Spell free from his opponent’s grasp. He found the point of the Spell that was supposed to siphon away the Void Paralysis’ energy and shifted it, turning it until it linked back into itself. As the Spell began to draw in its own energy, Aranos connected to it and pulled, using the Spell’s natural drain against the caster.
Aranos hissed as icy mana poured into him, draining from the creature, slowly eating away at his LP. This thing is filled with void and death mana, he realized. That’s why it keeps casting debuffs, I guess. I would like to know how it used void mana to generate a Strength buff, though. The enemy caster began to struggle, and Aranos could feel it trying to let go of its Spell and break the connection, but he held it firmly in his will and pulled harder, draining the creature of magic.
He glanced to the side and saw that Geltheriel and Silma were having no trouble dispatching their opponents together; the wolf tanked the creatures, while Geltheriel shredded them from behind. Even as he watched, the last of the dabruks dropped, Geltheriel’s blade piercing the back of its neck and protruding from its mouth like a steely tongue. Immediately, the pair moved to flank the dabruks in front of Saphielle, and between the three of them, the Warriors felled the monsters with ease.
Aranos realized that he was taking in more energy from the creature than he had planned and hastily shifted some of the incoming flow into the void web encasing the remaining dabruk. At last, he felt the energy slowing to a trickle, and he looked back at the enemy caster. The creature had collapsed heavily to its knees, panting, struggling in the obvious signs of Mana Deprivation, its movements jerky and uncoordinated. Aranos quickly fired a Composite Bullet at it, striking the center of its chest. The kerruk shuddered once and dropped, motionless to the ground.
The others moved unhurriedly to stand near him, looking at the trapped warrior. “One wonders if you are saving this last one for some reason,” Rhys said offhandedly. “Although I shudder to think what such a reason might be.”
“Not particularly,” he gr
inned at the Druid. “Just haven’t finished them off, yet. It was a handy outlet for the SP I was draining from that kerruk, though.” He quickly dropped the paralysis and fired a pair of Composite Bullets into the trapped warrior’s skull, finishing the wounded creature.
He reached out with his Soulmending Skill, easing the passage of the nearby dabruks and gaining a scattering of Soul Points in return. They weren’t really that high of a level, he realized from the small number of Soul Points he received. Probably only two or three levels higher than most of the uruks we’ve fought, in fact. They were a lot tougher, though; one more example that level isn’t necessarily everything, I guess.
“Are you done easing their souls, Oathbinder?” Geltheriel asked, breaking him from his reverie.
Aranos blinked and nodded. “Yeah,” he told her. “Hopefully, that kerruk didn’t manage to get out a magical warning or anything. Still, I’m wondering why this group was even here; this doesn’t seem like a logical place for such a strong patrol. I’m worried that they know we’re coming, somehow, after all.”
“Then we must hurry forward,” Geltheriel replied, “and give them as little time as possible to prepare for our arrival. Speed may aid us more than Stealth, if they truly expect us.”
Should I scout farther ahead? Silma’s voice spoke in his mind inquisitively, and he nodded.
Yes, he told her grimly. Stay Stealthy but move quickly. We need to know what’s waiting for us.
“Okay, let’s move,” he told the others. “I think we’re going to run for a bit.”
The party sped down the Roads, eschewing Stealth. Silma ranged ahead of them freely, running back to warn them of potential ambushes. They encountered no more of the dabruks, although they did run into another pack of gorruks. After facing the armored warriors, the ravenous beasts held little challenge for them, though, and they put the creatures down quickly. Aranos still took the precaution of burning the creatures under a shroud of darkness, but they didn’t wait around for the fire to finish burning this time before heading out. Aranos simply tied the Spell to a Spell Anchor and left it there, knowing that it would dissolve in an hour or so.
Aranos kept his Sense Mana Skill active the entire time and scanned the area constantly with his Tracking Skill. He spotted numerous tracks, but he noted that most of them were heading in the same direction the trio was. Almost as if they were being gathered together, he realized grimly. We might be heading into a bigger battle than we want, here. So, what am I going to do if there’s another tower ahead, but this one is held by creatures like those dabruks supported by strong casters like the kerruks?
Ideas ran through his head as they hurried through the failing sunlight. I’ll have to assume that their leader is intelligent, he mused. They’re holed up in a defensive fortification; and they probably have a combination of all the monster types we’ve seen so far, plus maybe those flying things above the citadel.
He tried to envision what he would do if he were in charge of those forces. He imagined the battle, seeing it in his head, picturing ways he could counter the tactics he considered most likely for the enemy commander to employ. It’s doable, he decided, but it’ll take a lot of SP.
A flash of silver interrupted his thoughts, and he took a deep breath in anticipation as Silma swiftly returned. I’ve found the tower, the fenrin spoke to him silently. It’s surrounded by bodies, pack leader, but I don’t see any signs of an ambush.
A mental image appeared in Aranos’ head of a tower similar to the one they’d stayed in the night before – scratch that, he realized, it’s completely identical – surrounded by piles of corpses, all looking as if they had been brutally torn limb from limb. Aranos blinked as he examined the mental image, surprised. In all the tracks I’ve seen, he thought nervously, I haven’t seen a trace of anything that could rip apart a bunch of creatures like that. Maybe the leader there is a necromancer; the bodies will probably all join together and rise the moment we get close.
The others had stopped, looking at him curiously, and he quickly passed on Silma’s report. The elves’ faces grew grimmer as they listened to his words.
“You think this a trick, Oathbinder?” Geltheriel asked concernedly.
“I think that we need to get a closer look,” he replied grimly. “Then we’ll have a better idea.”
The approach to the tower was, to Aranos’ dismay, completely open. Anyone in that tower has a fantastic view of the road for quite a way, he realized as they made their way in Stealth down the High Road. Especially if they have magical ways to see things; I don’t even know if there is something like scrying magic, to be honest, or if it would see through Stealth. Probably something I need to look into.
The smell of death wafted into his sensitive nostrils long before the base of the tower was in sight, the stench almost overpowering his Scent Ability. When the ground about the tower finally curved into view, they all paused, slightly stunned by the carnage laid out before them. The image hadn’t done it justice; the bodies hadn’t just been torn open. They’d been crushed and mutilated, as well, as if something had been playing with them.
“I do not believe this is a trap, Oathbinder,” Geltheriel whispered. “If this is indeed an undead ambush, why would their summoner not leave the corpses hidden within the tower, provoking us to be incautious?”
“The necromancer may be able to raise those bodies instantly,” Saphielle pointed out. “Perhaps they will wait until we are among them, so we find ourselves surrounded.”
“Those are good points,” Aranos admitted, “but neither of those seem like a good strategy, really. I mean, unless they thought we were a massive force and they were holing up in the tower for defense, it would make more sense for them to meet us outside the tower where they can use their numbers more effectively. Once we’re inside, the narrow stairways negate a lot of their numbers advantage.
“As far as the bodies are concerned, I would think the caster would rather have the corpses already animated; doing it right before the battle would use a lot of SP that it wouldn’t be able to use for the rest of combat. If the corpses were whole, I’d say that maybe they were already undead and were only pretending to be corpses, but shredded like that, I don’t think that’s possible.
“What I really don’t understand is why, if they know we’re here, their commander wouldn’t just form them up in advance and wait for us. I’m assuming they’ve got a bit of everything we’ve seen, plus some of those flying things we saw over Cendarta. If it were me, I’d have the dabruks holding the doorway and keep the gorruks outside the tower, hidden on the flanks, with the larger group of uruks massed on the stairs behind the main line. I’d hit with the flyers first, with magical support from the kerruks, then when the attackers pushed forward to engage and escape the flyers, I’d have the dabruks lock them up in melee, bring the gorruks around on the sides, and, once they were committed, send the uruks down the stairs to punch through their middle and hit them from behind. It’d be like a meat grinder…and the results would kind of look like what we’re seeing, only it would be the urukkai’s enemies torn up like this.
“Even if there’s a necromancer there who can raise the bodies,” he finished, “piling them up like that is just asking for them to be burned from a distance, before they can possibly be raised or muster an attack. No, I’d say that the commander had them all organized like I said, and it attracted too much attention from something that could rip those things apart like that. I’ll bet we’re seeing the aftermath of a battle, here. I can even tell you more or less what happened, just from the tracks I’m seeing.
“Something attacked the tower. Something big and very, very strong. You can see what happened; the defenders formed up just like I thought they would, but the dabruks couldn’t hold it in check and keep it engaged. It snatched the fliers out of the sky and crushed them, so it wasn’t being driven forward, and the shield line didn’t hold. Whoever’s in charge must have panicked, because it looks like the uruks charged out an
d the gorruks flanked the creature, but instead of being penned in, it literally tore them all to pieces. This wasn’t a battle; it was a slaughter.”
He turned to see the others staring at him in a bit of awe. “You sound like an elven Battlemaster, Redeemer,” Saphielle said slowly. “I cannot fathom that you could read so much from simply seeing the ground, as if you had experienced many such battles. I am awed, but at the same time, I find myself strangely drawn to you and wish we were currently alone.”
Rhys snorted, and Aranos blushed at the woman’s words. Fortunately, Geltheriel saved him.
“I understand that you now have a Battlesense Skill that aids you in combat, Oathbinder,” she said, a smile dancing in her eyes at Aranos’ discomfiture. “I would ask, though: does your Battlesense Skill tell you this, or is this your own knowledge?”
Aranos blinked for a moment, stunned. That’s a great question, he realized. I mean, I’ve played strategy war games before, but I’ve never really been that kind of a tactician. I’ll have to ask Veronica about that later.
“I’m not really sure,” he admitted. “But there’s one more option, and that’s that this whole thing is some kind of illusion. I don’t sense anything, but then, if there’s such a thing as illusion mana, I don’t know how to see it, yet. But even if that’s true, I’m with you: why not make the place look deserted if you were going to waste a Spell on it? No, I’ll bet that there was a battle here. The real question is, how many survived, and what kind of shape are they in?”
“You assume any survived,” Rhys spoke up. “From the state of those bodies, Liberator, I would say that is perhaps a presumption. The tower may very well lie open for us to claim it even now.”
