The Fifth Realm

by Michael Chatfield

  He checked the action on his rifle, putting a bit of oil on it before he loaded a magazine into his rifle and chambering a round.

  His eyes found the mirror in his room. He looked at himself: the oddly patterned combats, the body armor, the knee pads, helmet, and gloves.

  He looked like a dominating figure, as if nothing could stand in his way. But as he found his eyes, he could see the anxiety in them; he could feel the churning in his stomach.

  If I fuck up, then people won’t be going home to their families.

  He didn’t even know how to respond to his own thought as he looked for the answer. I can’t promise I’ll bring them all home or any of that, because I know it would be a lie, to them and to me. I’ll do my job, and I’ll do it to the best of my ability.

  “Rugrat and Erik said that there would be times that I wouldn’t be able to give myself an answer, times when I would feel the weight of responsibility, the lives that rest on my shoulders.” Glosil let out a hollow laugh as he opened and closed his fist but there was no force behind it. He let out a shaky sigh.

  “Let’s get this done.”

  He didn’t look in the mirror again; he turned and left his living quarters before he could think about hesitating.

  He heard them before he saw them. The double-strength platoons were lined up in the parade square, checking on one another’s gear and making sure all of their key items were on their person or accessible through their storage ring.

  Some sat down, talking to one another; some section leaders briefed their people again.

  Others quietly carried out their tasks.

  Glosil walked out onto the parade square. Yui and Domonos saw him and met with him.

  “Sir!” Yui saluted.

  Glosil returned the salute. “Any issues?”

  “Nothing much. Fighting nerves. Once we get going, they’ll be okay,” Yui said.

  Domonos nodded with him.

  “Move out in ten,” Glosil said.

  Yui saluted and Domonos came to attention.

  Glosil saluted back.

  They turned and headed back to their platoons.

  “Grab your shit! Helmets on! Weapons ready! Section leaders, make sure all of your people are here and that they have the damn safety on their weapon!” Yui yelled.

  “Move it!” Domonos added.

  The two platoons quickly assembled, getting into their uniform ranks. The laughter and chitchat died down. Now it was time to go.

  They assembled in record time and Glosil looked out at them.

  “Let’s go take back the Earth floor. Left! Turn!”

  The platoons turned as one to the left and Glosil headed to the front.

  “By the left! Quick march!”

  Glosil led the company toward the barracks and the gates opened for them. The people of Alva waited on either side; they saw the army marching out of their barracks. Row upon row moved in sync, creating a powerful scene as they left the barracks and wove through the city to the teleportation pad. All incoming teleports had been stopped and the farmers had cleared out the forest around the totem.

  A first-aid post had been created off the totem. People could be directly teleported back and rushed to the first-aid post to be stabilized and even completely healed. If it was more serious, they could be rushed to the hospital that wasn’t far away to recover completely.

  Egbert waited there for them, wearing gear that had been found in Vuzgal.

  Niemm and Roska were there with their special teams.

  “Any issues?” Glosil asked them as they traded salutes.

  “Nothing to report. We’re all good to go,” Roska said.

  “Let’s do this then.”

  Glosil signaled to Yui, who sent up three sections.

  They all went into the middle of the teleportation pad.

  “Ready?” Egbert asked.

  “Ready,” Glosil said.

  Alva disappeared and they appeared on a new teleportation formation.

  Egbert cast a cleansing spell. A black wave spread out from him, removing all of the plants from the formation and for one hundred meters past it.

  The special teams split and took up position opposite one another. Two of the sections moved into the open areas between the special teams, giving them an all-around defense, twenty meters past the formation.

  The last section moved out and pulled out premade defenses from their storage rings.

  “Teleportation formation is clear.” Glosil knelt behind the defensive line, who were scanning the forest.

  The teleportation formation flashed with light again as the remainder of Dragon Platoon appeared.

  They quickly spread out as well, doing as they had trained—dropping off items to build a defensive structure around the teleportation formation.

  The mages among them fused the different parts together, creating one complete structure.

  “Movement!” someone called out and everyone looked over.

  “Watch your arcs,” Glosil said in a gruff voice.

  Everyone looked back to the area in front of them.

  “Beasts closing in!” Yui reported.

  “Eliminate anything that seems to have hostile intent. Only shoot if you can see the target!” Glosil said for the benefit of everyone.

  Glosil looked over to where the commotion came from.

  A repeater gunner fired, his friend bringing him onto target as the beast was taken down quickly.

  Other repeaters started firing at beasts that were moving in.

  The teleportation formation flashed again and half of Tiger Platoon appeared. Domonos saw the situation and moved his people out of the teleportation formation quickly, holding them back as a reserve to the north of the formation.

  As more of the beasts came, the rate of fire picked up.

  Sharpshooters’ rifles fired. The noise didn’t faze the others anymore as they continued to play their role.

  “Egbert, could you clear the east side a bit more?” Glosil said.

  Egbert used the black clearing spell; the forest was cleared back and more beasts were revealed.

  The sharpshooters, now with a clear shot, increased their rate of fire.

  “Looks like they’re turning back,” Roska said.

  A few grenadiers took the opportunity to fire a few grenades into the forest, clearing out trees and killing any nearby animals.

  It only sped up their retreat.

  “Phase one complete!” Domonos, who was in charge of the defensive building, said.

  “Pull back to the defenses!” Glosil yelled.

  They pulled back in an orderly fashion, as they had practiced time and time again. There was no relaxed look on their faces anymore; now it was the real thing.

  They retreated into the defensive structure that was little more than a protective wall.

  “Get us eyes,” Glosil told Lucinda.

  She worked with the other beast tamers and the few summoners, sending out their companions to search the area and get intelligence on the area.

  “Move ahead with phase two,” Glosil ordered Domonos.

  He nodded and sent messages.

  Watchtowers were built with mana barrier formations above them, covering the walls and the teleportation formation.

  People moved out of the camp and threw up a second series of defenses. These were much stronger than the first and were laid out according to a defensive formation.

  Repeater gunners got up into these watchtowers with the sharpshooters.

  There were roars and noises in the distance. It seemed as though the Earth floor, which had recoiled from the new arrival of the First Army, now started to respond.

  “Sir! The different regional beasts are all leaving their holes. It seems that they’ve noticed intruders and are looking to increase their domains!” Lucinda said.

  “Ready yourselves!” Glosil barked.

  Domonos looked to him.

  “Continue with the second phase.”

  The sec
ond wall went up and beasts started to run toward the defenses. The First Army responded. The section leaders took over different sections of the wall, coordinating their fire and making sure nothing came close as they protected those working on the second phase of the defenses.

  There was a disturbance in the distance but it was too far for Glosil to see.

  “Lucinda?” He turned to the woman coordinating with the scouting forces.

  “Two of the regional beasts met one another and they’re fighting. They are beasts, after all,” she said.

  “I forgot that bit,” Glosil said. “Is there a way to get more of the beasts fighting one another?”

  “I’m not sure. I can ask those with summons to try to lure them toward each other.”

  “Do it.”

  Glosil moved to Yui, who was on the wall. “How are they?”

  “Good. Now that we’re actually fighting instead of waiting, they’re reacting well. We might have too many on the defenses. If you could pull four platoons back, we’d have more room to move with, could help with building the defenses of phase two?”

  “Pass the order,” Glosil said.

  Yui sent a sound transmission and the forces on the walls thinned out and Glosil got a reserve force back.

  He moved into a watchtower, standing at the back to give the team in there room to operate as he looked over the battlefield.

  The second defenses were a series of bunkers. The mages would shift the dirt and premade bunker sections were dropped into place, their design taken from Vuzgal. The bunkers were fused together, creating a large circular defense.

  The work largely happened underground, with holes appearing and bunkers being placed down and fused.

  The bunkers were laid out in a pentagram instead of a circle like the first phase.

  “Egbert, can you help the people with phase two?” Glosil asked.

  “I can create all of the trenches easily.”

  “Okay. I’ll have the reserve force get ready and then fill in the trenches with bunkers,” Glosil said.

  “I’m ready when you need it,” Egbert said.

  “Domonos, have your people pause on phase two. I’m going to have Egbert clear out the remaining dirt and then have the reserve force move to assist in laying the rest of the bunkers,” Glosil said.

  “I’ll get them to hold off.” Domonos’s channel went silent for a few minutes as work stopped outside of the first camp. The weapons fire was picking up more. The smaller beasts that were disturbed by the lords of the region were running away from the fight and now running away from the camp. The noise and destruction made them forget about even trying to attack the humans inside.

  “We’re ready,” Domonos said.

  “Egbert, do it,” Glosil said.

  Green lines appeared over the ground, trenches to the bunker system, leading in and out of the main camp so that they were never exposed completely when having to cover between the two.

  The green lines solidified and then started to sink quickly, until they were at the right depth and the green lines disappeared.

  “Done,” Egbert said.

  Domonos and all of his people got to work, erecting the second layer of defenses.

  They were halfway done when a six-limbed creature came into sight. It looked like it was made of wood. It lifted its log-like head and let out a screeching chittering noise that made everyone flinch.

  “Sharpshooters, alter your formation sockets!” Yui ordered.

  They used different formation sockets, seeing which ones were the most effective at inflicting damage on the large beast as it sped through the forest, moving forward or sideways erratically.

  Three more smaller versions appeared behind it.

  “Repeaters!”

  “As soon as it gets through the tree line, grenadiers,” Yui said. “Everyone, watch your arcs—don’t need more sneaking up from another side.”

  The creature rolled with the hits, but it was badly damaged. As it cleared the tree line, the grenadiers fired almost at the same time.

  It was torn apart by the grenades.

  The smaller versions were faster. Only one made it to the wall as pincers that lay along its back shot forward and stabbed at the defenders.

  The defenders on the wall didn’t panic. They attacked with their melee weapons. The beast’s softer underside was torn apart and it died on the wall. They tossed it back onto the ground.

  More beasts emerged from different sides but they dealt with it.

  “Phase two complete,” Domonos said.

  “Get your people into the fight,” Glosil raised his rifle to his shoulder and started firing at the creatures.

  “Penetrate formation sockets and fire spells on weapons!” Yui said.

  Different groups were using different formation sockets, it allowed the leadership to quickly see what was working and what wasn’t.

  People changed their formation sockets and the spells they were using. With the new combination, their lethality increased again.

  With the added firepower, nothing got within two hundred meters of the camp as they established their dominance and cleared more of the forest through sheer destruction.

  “Hold your fire,” Glosil said, not knowing how much time had passed. He reloaded his weapon. He was covered in sweat and dirt from the fighting.

  The beasts seemed to have enough of the fighting, having tested their strength. Those that survived turned and fled.

  “Check wounded and supplies! Leadership on me,” Glosil said.

  The different commanders checked on their people. Yui, Domonos, Roska, and Niemm met with Glosil.

  “Domonos, Yui—set up a watch. I want people in the outer and inner defenses, with some held back in reserve. Roska, Niemm—review the map. In three hours, if nothing happens, you’ll move out to scout the area and location for Camp Bravo. Have a plan drawn up in an hour,” Glosil said. “The reserve will act as a quick reaction force if needed. Issues? Questions?”

  “Can we take Egbert with us? Be good if we need close-in support. With all the plants and trees, we can’t use the grenade launchers effectively and we can’t see that far,” Niemm said.

  “Granted.” Glosil looked for anything else. “All right, see to it.”

  They broke apart and started to get to work.

  Day one on the Earth floor.

  Chapter: Plants vs. Alvans

  “Well, at least it’s quieter now,” Storbon said, as they advanced slowly through the forest.

  “Quiet makes me think that there’s something hiding out there,” Setsuko muttered back.

  “Keep focused. We need to scout the location for the second camp. Keep your eyes open,” Niemm said.

  They continued forward silently, looking for any beasts hiding in the forest.

  The farther we go, the greater weight on our bodies. It might be good to train in, but it only slows down our reaction time. The time delay and the extra force required is only slight, but in a fight, overestimating your own abilities can lead to problems.

  Deni let out a grunt and jumped to the side as she fired at the ground. The forest seemed to come alive as roots raised up and lashed out at Deni.

  “Shit!” Storbon fired his rifle and hit a root. It was torn apart but quickly started to regrow.

  Storbon pulled out his spear and attacked.

  “It’s not a beast—it’s a plant!” Deni yelled.

  “Shit,” Niemm hissed. “Start pulling back!”

  They didn’t question his orders and started to pull back in fireteams.

  Storbon was running back as a vine hanging between trees hardened and shot out.

  Storbon jumped to the side and blindly stabbed with his spear. His attack hit and cut the vine, but had failed to sever it.

  Damn this high Earth attribute!

  The vine started to regrow at a rate visible to the eye.

  “Keep moving! Don’t waste your time on the plants!” Niemm barked.

  Storbon ch
ecked on Yawen and they ran again.

  “Grenade!” Yawen yelled, tossing out a grenade behind them.

  A sea of moving vines covered it quickly as they ran full-out.

  The explosion cut the vines apart, leaving their dead lengths decaying.

  “Rear man, toss down a grenade or formation plate!”

  Storbon saw Yuli toss out a formation plate. A fire wall shot out. The trees let out creaking noises, trying to get away from the flames and cried out in anger. Those that hadn’t even attacking before now joined in.

  “Fuck!”

  Storbon’s world consisted of moving forward, checking on Yawen, and making sure everyone else kept up while tossing grenades and formation plates into the path of the plants’ vines and roots.

  Several vines came for him but he swept most back with his spear and used a Flame Burst spell, killing others to his rear.

  The vines hit him in the chest. He used the momentum to be pushed back in the direction of the camp.

  “Our strength increases the farther we go!” Tian Cui said.

  “The plants are weaker with the reduced Earth attribute,” Yuli added.

  Storbon continued to cut his way through the forest and the limbs got weaker. There were more of them as there were more younger plants standing together.

  “Egbert, we need some of that close-in support!” Niemm said.

  Storbon heard rushing water and he ducked under a branch that shot forward. He stepped forward as another plant opened its flowers with a puff of smoke.

  Storbon closed his mouth and held his breath. He shot forward, hoping he didn’t inhale much as he made to pull out an antidote from his storage ring.

  Several vines shot out at him.

  Storbon distanced himself. His spear shot out, piercing the vines and using their own momentum against them before he slashed off the wounded vines. “Yawen!” he barked.

  “I’m good!”

  Storbon didn’t even have time to look to his side as a small creature—blended in with the moss it was lying on—jumped forward, spitting acid.

  Storbon sidestepped. The acid fell on his armor and he saw spiked vines whipping toward him, hoping to use the opening the beast had created.

  Storbon smacked the beast with the butt of his spear. It turned into a moss cannonball, striking the spikes. The force pushed them back and the beast let out a squeal as it dissolved into the plant. The vine got larger as it absorbed its Earth mana like a tonic.