by Jason Cheek
Finally, I managed to block out the feeling of riding on the Silver Dire Wolf’s back as the first cast of Holy Shield ripped out of me. The magic felt like it was searing through my mind. A quick check to verify that the spell had been successfully cast on Helgath and I went back to work on trying to cast it two more times. Once again, I managed to get Holy Shield cast, this time on Neysa as I panted in exhaustion. Feeling like I was on the brink of something incredible, I bowed my head to get one more cast of the spell off. This time, I managed to get the cast off on the third try as a system message suddenly popped open before my eyes.
Congratulations! You have learned the new Skill Focused Casting II.
Focus Casting II – (Passive) 50% chance to cast a spell while performing an action, moving, taking damage, or fighting. This allows even casting in situations where the base skill level to cast a spell has not been met. This can increase the cast time and mana requirements of the spell by double.
Holy shit, I excitedly thought while reading through the text. This was my first level II skill. Not only that, I now had a fifty percent chance on all future casts. That was huge! My focus was suddenly pulled back to what was happening around me when I felt Neysa slowing down. Looking around, I was surprised to see that we were stopping due to an impromptu meeting that was going on at the Royal Scout’s skirmishing line. Ignoring the exhaustion that washed over me, I was somehow able to clear my head enough to focus on the group waiting for me as Neysa came trotting to a stop.
Chapter Seven
(Star and friends assist the Royal Cavalry’s withdraw from the battlefield.)
“Overlord Ironwolf,” Lance Leader Warf said, offering me a respectful fist salute as all heads turned my way, “you have our thanks for the timely rescue. I thought we’d ridden our last charge against the gray skins.”
At his words, I saw a number of conflicting looks in the eyes of the Humans we’d rescued as they pointedly focused on the pointy ears of my Half-Elf heritage. Obviously, their normal condescending attitude towards Halflings was clashing with the fact that they owed us their lives. The internal conflict they were struggling with became even more apparent as they eyed Fylreh. Though, I’m sure the rest of our raid being nothing but Humanoids, or a Barbarian in Phoenix’s case, didn’t help either, especially when the Druids transformed back into their Moon Elf forms. That, or they hadn’t heard about the Dil-Hilth and the homeless Royal Forces being rehired, I silently thought, as I returned the salute.
“It was no problem,” I assured the man, trying to play it cool, “I’m just glad we were able to rescue everyone without any deaths. Besides, I didn’t really want to have to conduct this fighting retreat to the Western gate with just Scout Leader Tanner and Lance Sub-Leader Brewster’s help.” I gave both royal cavalry officers a crooked smile. “No disrespect intended.”
““None taken, Overlord Ironwolf,”” both chorused, as the four of us shared a laugh. I was glad to see the officers under my command seemed to be over whatever innate prejudices they might’ve had when we’d first met.
“Though, you’ll have to tell me how you planned that last bit of timing with the artillery barrage,” Lance Leader Warf said with an unbelieving shake of his head, “I thought we were finished when those fiery shots started coming in.”
“Yeah, Star,” Angie said, rolling her eyes as she traded a knowing look with Krishna and her fellow Druids while Phoenix choked back a laugh, “I’m sure the rest of us would like to hear about that too.”
“As long as you’re buying the rounds,” I shot back at my friends without even missing a beat. Before Angie could come back with a snarky retort, I looked back at the thunderous sound of hooves that was growing behind us, turning serious once again. “It looks like we need to start falling back.”
In the distance, I could see that Lance Sub-Leader Brewster was leading the remaining Heavy Cavalry units back towards the Scout Cavalry’s skirmisher line. While behind them, a solid mass of Orcs was chasing after them down the hill. Following my gaze, Lance Leader Warf gruffly explained the situation.
“We were able to hold them throughout the night because they couldn’t bring their numbers against us in the pass, but once they pushed out of the Plain of Atoll, there was no stopping them.” Warf’s face grew grim. “Most of our losses since have been from trying to slow down their spreading forces but,” he nodded towards the edges of the advancing horde, “as you can see, they are already starting to surround us as their main force continues to advance behind their vanguard.”
“You mean, this is all just a distraction,” I heard Angie incredulously ask as all of us studied the horizon.
“It’s basic siege craft,” Scout Leader Tanner brusquely explained, “keep the defenders pinned while the rest of your forces move in to blook all avenues of escape from the city being attacked.” As the Uten Syn players took that in, Lance Leader Warf addressed me directly.
“With your approval, we’ll start the planned withdraw to the Western gate.”
“You may proceed,” I said without hesitation, as the cavalry officer immediately began calling out orders.
“Scout Leader Tanner, fallback with your troopers to the first Palnisdale defensive position,” as she saluted, Warf’s steel gaze turned to the trooper directly behind him. “Give Lance Sub-Leader Brewster the same orders and let him know he’ll be responsible for leading the charges from here on out.”
As the trooper whipped his horse around and galloped off for the head of the Heavy Cavalry columns, Scout Leader Tanner's shrill voice began bellowing out orders. Which were quickly repeated down the single column of skirmishers in either direction by individual squad leaders. The sound created a diminishing cascade that reminded me of the old westerns I used to watch as a kid. If this was how the people of The World issued orders to mounted units, then I was going to introduce bugle calls real fast.
Really, the most difficult part to create would probably be the mouthpiece, I silently contemplated, as I watched the cavalry troopers form up while summoning up a new pack of zombies. At least, that’s what I figured would be the most complicated part of the whole device as I mentally went over the old bugle I’d used when I was a Boy Scout. A design that should be sufficiently simple to pull up on the internet and transfer into the game. The technique itself was easy enough learn once you figured out how to buzz your lips. Though, I’d probably have to go over the old bugle calls to refresh my memory.
An excited chitter interrupted my thoughts as an angry Tengsly crawled out onto my shoulder. Cocking my head to see his ruffled fur standing on end, he began a loud barrage at what he thought about the idea. It took all of my willpower to keep a straight face as I caught Neysa laughing in the back of my mind. Although, the outrageous looks on the Humans’ faces as they eyed the furious Flying Squirrel chittering up a storm nearly made me lose it.
‘It’s all good, Tengsly,’ I mentally murmured, stroking the gray fur of his forehead. ‘Trust me, your responsibilities aren’t going anywhere and it’ll be a lot easier to communicate quickly with a large group of riders then sending you individually to each one.’
‘That’s true, even your new skill wouldn’t help if I needed you to quickly inform all of the Squad Leaders to move out in a situation like this,’ I responded as he sadly eyed the royal scouts heading off as a group. ‘Besides, if I save you for the important messages’ I innocently thought to him, ‘you’re less likely to get picked off while delivering your messages,’ That seemed to settle him down as I choked back the chuckle that tried to bubble up.
‘While we’re at it, do you mind carrying a message to Thomas and AJ?’ I asked, as his chittering turned happy at being needed and getting a chance to stretch his wings. ‘Let both of them know that we’re starting to fallback now and are bringing lots of friends. I figure, everyone should be ready to ride hard in half an hour. Oh, and someone needs to make sure the Western gate is ready for the retreating royal cavalry.’ Catching from our shared link
that I was finished, the Flying Squirrel took off into the air with an excited shriek and raced off towards the west as Lance Leader Warf gave me a questioning look.
“Tengsly was upset at an idea I had for a device to quickly give orders to cavalry units on the battlefield and thought his services would no longer be necessary after I developed it,” I explained, as everyone looked over at me in surprise. Though, only Phoenix seemed to understand where I was going with this, so I quickly laid out the general idea for using bugles, aka horns, to quickly issue specific pre-determined messages for troopers on the battle field. Coming to the end of my spiel, I grinned at Warf. “Though, I assured him that wasn’t the case.”
“I’d be interested in seeing how these bugles would work,” Warf thoughtfully said as we galloped along Palnisdale’s great outer wall.
In reality, it was more like two-hundred yards out from the base, but due the height of the wall, it felt like the defensive structures were towering over us. As I explained to the Lance Leader about Tengsly’s unique abilities and the general concept behind bugle calls, we had traveled down a quarter of the wall’s length from the Eastern gate. While Warf was curious about the effectiveness of bugle calls, he was most impressed with the Flying Squirrel's capabilities and stunned to hear that all of my House of Kayden officers had their individual messengers.
Strangely enough, the conversation was a pleasant distraction from the worsening situation around us and the odd flow of combat. Even though I’d heard the moniker “hurry up and wait” repeated in nearly every Hollywood movie about soldiers and modern-day warfare, it had nothing on the medieval equivalent. Swords, lances, horse charges, and bows and arrows slowed combat down to a crawl. That didn’t mean it was boring when you were in the middle of it all. On the contrary, it was more personal than guns in an odd sort of visceral way … even when taking the magic of The World into consideration.
As we talked, Lance Leader Warf mostly ignored the massed Orcs nipping at hour heels. He’d already set the fallback plan into motion and was calmly waiting for the combat to resume. It made sense in an odd way. Ahead of us, I could see that the Royal Scouts were starting to reform their skirmishing line, while behind them, Lance Sub-Leader Brewster had the Heavy Cavalry divided up into multiple columns. As the riders got into position, I could see the men and women grimly watching the advancing Orcs as they were pelted by arrows and javelins from the royal forces along the city’s wall. The general feeling amongst the troopers seemed to be almost fatalistic. Our conversation came to a momentary stop as Tengsly came flittering back to land on my shoulder.
‘I’m glad to see that you promoted Dell to General, he’s a good man.’ Thomas's voice message clearly sounded in my head. ‘He’s already left with the House of Kayden troopers to get some distance ahead of the enemy. Oh, the Guard Leader for the Western gate say’s that he’s already been updated by Lance Leader Warf about the plan and is ready to seal the gates as soon as they ride through. Otherwise, we’re ready to get this show on the road.’ As soon as the message finished, AJ’s started up.
‘Why the hell are you dicking around with Flying Squirrels when you could’ve just messaged us directly?’ AJ’s annoyed voice rang in my head. ‘And hurry the fuck up already! I didn’t learn how to ride just so I could sit around with my dick in my hand.’
Rolling my eyes at the attitude, I looked over to see Warf intently watching me. Giving him a wry grin, I ordered Tengsly to repeat the same messages back to Warf. While I’d never tried doing that before, the Flying Squirrel didn’t even hesitate. Leaping off my shoulder with ease, he flittered over to the cavalry officer’s head. Delivering both messages in quick succession, he zipped back to my shoulder.
“That’s incredible,” Lance Leader Warf said, looking at Tengsly in amazement. “Do you have any idea how much a familiar like that could alter the battlefield?”
“I’m quite aware of the advantages it offers,” I assured the royal cavalry officer, as I nodded towards the Orcs, “that’s how they always seem to be able to coordinate their attacks.”
“You mean the Orcs have these Manifest Pets for delivering messages!” Warf exclaimed in consternation.
“No, but their Air Shamans have a similar ability. That’s also why I believe the bugle will revolutionize unit combat on the battlefield” My words made the Lance Leader pause in thought as we took up a position in the middle of the Scouts line with Scout Leader Tanner and her command group.
“What the hell are we waiting around for?” Krishna hissed to me under his breath, as the Uten Syn players around us began shifting uncomfortably at the sight of the advancing wall of Orcs heading directly for us.
“To kill Orcs,” I replied without hesitation, “what else?” Seeing Krishna frown at my words, I let out a heavy sigh and explained more about our true objective. “Think about it for a moment. This is our best chance to whittle down the Orc vanguard before we’re fighting against them on our own.” Seeing he still wasn’t getting it, I tried again. “The more we can take out here, the less we’ll have to kill on our own later.”
“At least, that’s the hope,” Phoenix added, understanding the part I’d left unsaid as Angie’s growl was translated in raid chat.
“What do you mean we have to fight them on our own?”
Before anyone could answer the angry Druid, Lance Leader Warf bellowed to his subordinate to signal the start of the attack. As soon as the trooper began waving the large flag over his head, there was a series of heavy thuds as catapults all along the city’s wall let loose with a volley of fiery shots. It suddenly made sense why we were so far out from the base of the city’s wall as the flaming rounds shot over our heads with only a few yards to spare. If we’d been any closer, the enemy would’ve been too close for the bombardment to effectively target the enemy.
I didn’t hesitate. Slipping from my saddle, I triggered my Extended magic skill. Pushing the width of the spell to be thirty-five yards wide and twenty deep, I cast Magnify Damage as three thousand and two hundred points of mana was instantly sucked from my body. Before I crashed to my knees, I saw an evil-looking purplish-red haze cover the front of the Orcs lines just as the first fiery rounds came crashing in.
In less than a minute, a swath of destruction fifty-yards-wide ran down the entire length of the wall to the Eastern gate, blasting all of the Orcs within off their clawed feet. Though, in front where I’d targeted my spell, the explosions were on another level altogether. Instead of frozen chunks of earth filling the air and knocking the enemy down, the Orcs within the fiery impacts exploded into bloody chunks of gore that pelted everything within the area of effect. While the debris was still raining down, Lance Leader Warf’s voice bellowed out.
“Heavy Cavalry advance!”
The command echoed in a cascade as Team and Squad Leaders repeated the order. Within a handful of seconds, Lance Sub-Leader Brewster was guiding his mount past the Royal Scouts ranks with multiple columns of troopers at his back. Picking up speed, they lowered their iron-tipped lances as they began charging through the Orcs slaughtering everything in their path. As I got a grip on the nauseating feeling leftover from using so much mana all at once, I climbed back to my feet only to hear Krishna let out an incredulous whistle.
“Holy crap, I just got a shit-ton of experience,” Krishna exclaimed, “How did that happen?”
“It was Star’s spell,” Phoenix explained as he scanned his HUD, “all of us must’ve gotten a portion of the experience he earned from assisting with the kills.”
“What in the world did he cast?” Angie asked as everyone began looking at their experience bar.
“Magnify Damage,” Lyeneru answered as her growl was translated in raid chat.
“Well damn,” Krishna said, looking around questioningly as I remounted Neysa, “should we be going out and getting some more experience then?”
“No need,” Fylreh said, as her bow began twanging like a metronome, “we have Orcs incoming.”
&nbs
p; As everyone turned to look at the filly in surprise, Scout Leader Tanner’s voice began calling out orders for her troopers to reorient on the new vector of attack as the Human’s short bows began sending flights of arrows at Orcs that had been outside the catapults’ bombardment. It was obvious that they were too far away to do much of anything as long as we didn’t hang around. I was just laying down a few Magnify Damage spells as everyone else in the raid began blasting Orcs with Nature and Dark magic spells when I heard Lance Leader Warf call out.
“Scout Leader Tanner, have your Scouts start pulling back by sections.” Warf scanned the northern horizon, before continuing resolutely. “We’ll reform at the last fallback position, before making a run for the Western gate.”
“Why the last fallback position?” I asked in confusion, trying to understand his reasoning.
“They moved their forces up quicker than I’d thought possible without any cavalry. As far as I see it, we’ll only get one more chance to really hurt them,” Warf grimly said, pointing towards the line of Orcs coming from the northeast and the massing forces further north. “If I’m reading this right, they’ll swing the rest of their forces out ahead of us before charging in for the kill.” Dropping his arm, he nodded towards the Orcs charging in for the attack. “The fresh meat they’re sending in now is just to slow us while they get into position to cut off our escape.”
“Why are the rest of us pulling out,” Krishna asked, stopping his barrage of Homing Zap on the Orcs as he tried to understand what Warf was saying, “Does that mean you’re leaving the rest of the cavalry to be slaughtered?”
