Forec shouted something and magic once again rained down. Elves once again fell to the magic. Fire, stone, and darkness rained heavier than before. The first group of elves fell in droves, but the look on Forec’s face hadn’t changed. Fear.
Forec grimaced.
“Geomancers, raise a wall before the soldiers,” he shouted. “Now!”
There was a brief moment of hesitation, but they began to rise. The wall just after.
“Higher!” he shouted. “Higher, dammit.”
She could see the strain on the talents’ faces as the wall below rose. It was over twenty feet high and continued to grow before the first of them collapsed. They continued to struggle for another few feet before more began to collapse. The stone wall trembled but didn’t move.
“Dammit all,” Forec mumbled. Vyra looked up at him and invented a disappointed look. “Fuck it. It’s enough. Aquamancers, focus on making as much damned water as possible in front of that wall. You too mage-boy.”
Small orbs of water appeared and splashed at the base of the wall. Hundreds of them, then thousands. Water began to build and trickle toward the elves. Two among them grew more and more until they were nearly the same height as the wall and as wide as the chasm.
“Enough,” Forec said to the boy next to him. His voice labored “Let it go, then start another one.”
Water rushed from the two and began to cascade down the pass, talents—other than the aquamancers—cheered. Two more massive balls of water began to form at the wall. Forec and the mage boy strained.
The water rushed into the elves’ charge and overcame them completely. Some of the elves were swept away in an instant, while others dug their hands into the stone below. Thousands of them held steady beneath the whitewater. Vyra’s eyes widened as she watched.
“Again,”
Water once again drove through the pass, it reached up just before the top of the wall, barely ten feet from the tops of the cliff. It rushed through the pass and washed away some few of the elves. They must have drowned, she thought. But she knew it wouldn’t be enough to stop the attack. The elves were too strong to be defeated that easily.
Vyra’s mind wandered. If these elves weren’t the soldiers, what trouble was the world in? Even the mages struggled against the elves’ drunkards. What chance did the average human stand?
Freedic stood by idly. He watched the water rush through the pass, too clouded to see to the bottom. Forec yelled more orders to the talents. The water finally began to lower, though still rushed through the pass. Beneath the water, they stood. As the water reduced until there was nothing left but puddles on the stone ground below, the march began again.
Even the strength of the river they created hadn’t been enough to stop the elves. What chance did the men below have? Freedic felt helpless atop the cliffs as the elves marched forward. Each step they took felt like a stab into his gut. At least now the men he had condemned weren’t forced to watch as death marched forward. But, it was a sure thing that they could still hear it.
Guilt panged in him with each boom from their steps below. He could barely imagine the panic in the men below, never mind the chaos that had begun to unfold. As much as he told himself there was nothing he could do, he knew better. There was still something he could do. He just wanted nothing to do with it.
“Forec, I need to go down there,” he said. He shocked himself as the words came out.
“Do you see something?” Forec asked. “Something worth telling Sepherance?”
“No, I meant,” he paused. He took a deep breath and struggled to finish his thought. “I mean in the pass.”
“If you so much as try to get into that cluster fuck, I will personally see that the final moments of your life are spent in the most miserable state a human could possibly be,” Forec said. “By all means, try it.”
There wasn’t any ambiguity in Forec’s position. Nor was the threat something Freedic wanted to test. He stayed atop the cliffs and watched in silence as the elves continued forward.
Forec rested as the talents continued to attack in his place. Fire and stone continued to rain on the elves even as they reached the rock wall the talents had lifted. There was a massive risk to the soldiers below, but those men were bound to die regardless. He ordered the attack to continue.
Elves began to punch hand holds in the wall and scale it, while others below tore at the stone itself. Magic managed to send some of them to the ground below, but still, some managed to get to the top.
The elves who reached the top began to jump into the crowd of soldiers below. Some fell onto spears and died immediately, but still crushed whoever they fell on. Others landed in holes between the soldiers and began their attack.
The soldiers fought as best they could, but stood no chance against the elves. Spears splintered against the elven armor and bodies flew as if they were nothing but sacks. The elves swung their weapons broadly and took as many as ten men with every swing. The soldiers fought back as best they could, but they were little more than an inconvenience to the elves.
The wall began to splinter. Elves and humans alike were crushed beneath the chunks of stone that fell to the ground. From the fragments, it started to lean backward, toward the battle between the humans and elves. Pieces of the wall continued to fall until it was too much. The wall gave way. Dust raised from the rubble. For a moment the elves stopped, as did the humans. But as it the dust began to settle, the elves started to charge.
They crashed into the staggered front of the soldiers and broke into their ranks effortlessly. On the first impact the elves made, they caused more damage than the humans could have ever hoped to inflict on them. Forec knew if he didn’t do something, they would overwhelm the soldiers completely.
He aimed spikes of fire, careful to hit only the elves. But it wasn’t enough. For every elf, Forec managed to kill, at least a dozen soldiers fell. It was the time to do something drastic. The men would die no matter what he did, but he had a chance to at least let their deaths have a purpose. But it would be catastrophic.
A ball stone began to grow in the sky above the pass, small at first, but it doubled on itself time after time until it was nearly the same width as the pass. Every muscle in his body strained. Blood began to fill his mouth. Forec let the stone fall from its point high in the sky. But he wasn’t done yet. He switched his focus and set the ball of stone on fire. It hurdled toward the ground, in a streak of brilliant white. Small pieces of fiery rock broke off and popped in the sky overhead.
It landed. Bodies flew, both man and elf. Molten stone rained from the sky, onto the cliffs and into the pass. Smoke, dust, and ash rose into the air. The crater below burned.
Forec knew he had destroyed hundreds of years of trust. But what other choice did he have? Insmith would understand, he told himself. Sepherance would have to, as well. There was no other option left to him.
Chunks of armor, stone, and flesh littered the tops of the cliffs and continued to fall from the sky above. Below, thousands of bodies were splayed in all sorts of unnatural positions. Dead, at least she hoped they were for their own sake. If they were alive, it would be incredibly painful. The dust settled onto puddles of blood and made an awful mud.
She kicked some pieces of armor that landed nearby. The body parts they were meant to protect still filled them. All of them were entirely black with no colored trim to be found. Maybe she should tell Forec, she thought. But it didn’t seem like the right time, still.
The calm from the explosive attack continued even as the cloud of debris cleared. Men, carried only by adrenaline, struggled around the crater. Many would collapse dead soon after, as the damage their bodies had taken set in. A soldier attempted to stand but found that his body below the waist was gone. He reached down and tried to coax his non-existent legs into motion. Another soldier tried to attach a mangled arm to himself. Neither of them succeeded
Many of the elves that had seemed to be dead began to stand. Their twisted and mangled limbs not enough to stop th
em. She watched as they twisted broken arms and legs back into position or cut off ones they deemed useless. She was amazed but disgusted.
The elves began to charge again. Thousands of unaffected elves trampled over the dead or otherwise damaged. The soldiers attempted to hold back against the elves, but it was useless. As the elves collided with them, the soldiers buckled. They weren't even able to slow the attack. The soldiers screamed and begged. The elves continued to cull them.
She could hardly call what she watched a battle. But she watched nonetheless.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Chapter 22
Freedic wiped his mouth clean of the bile he had thrown up. His stomach rumbled, both in disgust and terror. Had it been his way, he would have been down there. Had Forec planned that attack all along and didn’t want to kill him? It would make sense why he had been so adamant that Freedic stay atop the cliffs. But to kill that many people.
He threw up again. So many dead, he thought. Forec stood still with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. Even after all the deaths the mage had caused, the mage wasn’t happy. Freedic knew the mages were monsters, but the depth of Forec’s evil shocked him. Only days ago he had begun to feel as if he could respect the mage.
He had no reason to stand atop the cliffs any longer. If the elves did attack, he questioned if he would defend the mages. No, he knew better than that. If anything, he would attack with the elves. The back lines, with Ruephen and the other weaponmasters. Not only would he blend in there, but he could be useful.
The walk to the end of the cliff was uninterrupted. The talents and mages had stopped their attacks. They only watched as the slaughter took place below. Freedic kept his head down and continued past. No one bothered to stop him.
The carnage Forec had caused barely scratched that of what the elves inflicted. They were ruthless, methodical, and powerful. Whole bodies were cleaved apart with just the flick of one of their wrists. Blood splattered the walls and puddled on the ground of the pass.
As more elves charged through, they trampled the already dead bodies until they were nothing but disfigured chunks of flesh, bone, and metal. Those who were unlucky enough to survive and not have the sense to play dead soon regret it. One of the soldiers had his body torn to pieces by the hands of two elves who seemed to revel in the bloody mess. His screams echoed in Forec’s head. Would he have been better off if Forec had killed him too?
The elves were halfway through the ranks of the soldiers. At that rate, it would be less than an hour. He questioned how much the talents and soldiers could watch before they gave up hope altogether. Not that there was much hope to go around, he wondered how he still any himself.
A horn blared, and the elves charge stopped. A chant began in the horrible language the elves used. If the contents of it were as horrific as it sounded, Forec was happy not to understand it.
The chant came to an end. The elves let out a roar that echoed through the mountains and began to charge again. Somehow, they ran faster, and their attacks were even more calamitous.
“Freedic left,” Vyra said.
“He left?” Forec asked.
“Yes,” she said. “He started walking to the back lines.”
“That would make sense,” he said. “Not much for him to be doing up here.”
“I thought so too,” she said. “But I thought he should have told you first.”
“Probably,”
“Do you think he’s trying to escape?” she asked.
“No,” he said. “But if he is…”
“Should I follow him?” she asked. She couldn’t help but grin. “I’ve got nothing else to do, and can just veil so he won’t see me.”
“Is that what you’d like to do?” he asked. “It’s not like you’ll listen if I tell you not to.”
She responded silently and put up her veil, then began to run to catch up with Freedic. He hadn’t gotten far. He was doubled, stood over a puddle of vomit. He still spat out bile. It was horrible to watch him vomit, so she turned her focus to the mountain pass below. The elves had crashed through over half of the soldiers so far. And those soldiers who did remain were nothing more than a paper wall to the elves.
They pushed through effortlessly, despite the best efforts of those men. She wondered if those that had been called more capable would have put up much more of a fight. Probably not, she decided. The soldiers at the end of the pass wouldn’t stand much of a chance either, she thought.
By the time she looked back up, Freedic was already gone. She began to run once again but faced a wall of bodies that was near impossible to get through. Thousands of soldiers from Auverance stood atop the cliffs and watched their allies fight below. She pushed her way in and began to search for Freedic among them. It was better than nothing, she thought.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Chapter 23
Freedic stood with Ruephen’s weaponmasters in silence. The mage had looked at him but hadn’t said anything. It felt to him like acceptance, but there was no need to bring any extra attention to himself. There was a chance Ruephen didn’t recognize him. That was fine by him.
He could see movement from where he stood, but couldn’t make out anything distinct over the rows of soldiers who still packed the pass. The sounds were enough. He didn’t want to see what caused them. Men begged and pleaded. Some wanted to live. Most asked to die.
Beside the weaponmasters, the orcs stood impatiently. They raised their weapons and shouted out chants in a guttural language. Freedic wondered if it was a language at all. He could tell for sure that the orcs were eager for their fight to begin. He couldn’t blame them, in fact, he felt the same. The anxiety in his guts wasn’t from the battle that came, but because he wasn’t a part of the fight already.
The first elf pushed through the last of the soldiers and reached the end of the narrow pass. The orcs bellowed a final roar and charged. The soldiers on the
His legs carried him forward. His mind emptied.
He watched the two men in front of him die to the same attack, both their heads flew from their bodies. Freedic ducked under it and began to call his sword. It materialized straight through the heart of the elf. He dismissed it, and the body collapsed.
An elf swung a massive pole—too big even for the giant—in an arc, with his back to Freedic. The talents it hit were flung into the air and splattered against the wall. He rushed at it and called a sword to each hand. The first stabbed through the back of the elf's armor. Blood sprayed forward. The second stabbed through the back of its neck. The elf went limp. Another massive pole swung down at him and crunched into the armor of the dead elf. Freedic rolled out of the way. Ruephen slammed his glaive through the elf’s chest and slashed it upward. The torso split in two, and the elf fell back in a pool of gore.
He flashed a smile at Freedic and continued to run, a group of four elves behind him gave chase. They ignored Freedic as they ran by. They focused entirely by Ruephen. Freedic grinned, he knew what to do the next time the mage passed.
They were fast, too fast for him to keep up with, at least. But Ruephen managed to keep them at a distance with little effort. The mage bounced around the battle. Every elf that he came near died to his glaive. When he saw a talent become overwhelmed, he would appear, and the same for the orcs. But he was only one man, and the elves conquered everything they attacked.
It wasn’t long before Ruephen made his way back to Freedic. Ruephen almost landed on top of him as from what should have been an impossibly high jump. The elves who chased him were not far behind. Freedic called a sword and extended it to the side, at leg level. The elves ran right through it.
The first elf twisted and crashed into the ground, the one behind him tripped over the first and fell on top of him. The other two continued their chase and paid no mind to their two fallen allies. Before the two fallen elves could realize what happened, Freedic leaped onto them and called two swords, one through each of their throats.
The elves continu
ed to pour from the narrow point of the pass and into the orcs and talents who waited. There was little left for Forec to do, and little that the soldiers on either side of the pass would. He had no strength left. The giant stone had taken the last bits of his will with it.
He looked down the cliff and toward Sepherance. His mouth was agape and eyes wide. He only watched as the battle took place. Forec knew he was a coward, but this was pathetic. At least order the men to fight. But he couldn’t. Forec knew as much. Sepherance probably couldn’t even talk right now.
The battle at the end of the pass was bloody and brutal. Orcs and elves fought even after they lost limbs. Neither side would give the other an inch. It was bizarre to see two things so alien and yet so familiar fight. They used same weapons as the humans, the same techniques, and even the same sounds.
There was a mage in the battle below. Ruephen, of course. He leaped and dodged around the action. He would appear for a moment, then disappear the next. Only the body of an elf was left behind. Forec watched, fascinated his prowess and wondered if he could do it himself. His joints ached at the thought of it. It was nice to know there was someone on the same side as him that could do it.
Compared to the orcs, the weaponmasters were in trouble. Any ground they managed to take was the work of Ruephen. When he moved on to the next group, the land was immediately gained back by the elves. And unless Ruephen could keep the pace he fought at for the next few days, there was little chance the battle would end well for the talents.
He saw Freedic among the talents. He fought valiantly, better than most of the talents. As well as some of the orcs, even. But he struggled still. And just when Forec thought he had gotten over the suicidal tendencies he had shown.
Forec took a deep breath and composed himself. It would do no good if he killed Freedic himself. He summoned the little reservoirs of strength he had left and opened a rift near the battle. He stepped through it and entered the fray.
Homecoming (Homecoming Chonicles Book 1) Page 16
