by Jason Cheek
In truth, Oránn was embarrassed to admit that she, along with many of her peers, had thought the Red Coral Knights were an archaic and unneeded relic of their race’s violent past. She’d remembered ridiculing the Sea Elves that had chosen to join the guardian’s martial ranks as being the dregs of society. Not only that, she and her friends had openly spoken out against the building of defensive structures and barriers that many of the older generation wanted, complaining that such growths disrupted the city’s artistic flows and the natural access of the sea life that gave Auris Shaeras its picturesque cityscape.
They were all such fools, Oránn thought in anguish, sucking in deep breaths of water through her gills as she shot through the doorway of the Black Coral “Hanger” and took up a holding position on the other side. How many thousands of people did she watch die a horrific death due to their complete ignorance of the dangers around them? While she’d been brutalized in the Temple of Storms like the other females of their city, her father, brothers, male friends, and fiancé had been raped to death by the Meer-Lizards before her eyes … their bodies bursting from the implantation process.
Oránn squeezed her silver eyes closed as she tried to push the horrific images away from her thoughts. The guilt of her ignorance seemed to haunt her wherever she went. It wasn’t just the deaths of the males in her life, but the torment that she’d also endured. The screams of the survivors being brutalized over and over again intermixed with the agony of the dying from such an unimaginable death. Add to that the torment of being violated and filled with eggs while watching the earlier victims that had been implanted before her being eaten alive from the inside out from the Meer-Lizard’s young and knowing she was next, Oránn bowed her head, it was no surprise that she couldn’t sleep without night-terrors. Her body shook like seaweed caught in an underwater thermal as she clutched at her abdomen while reliving the harrowing memories, when she felt a callused hand grip her shoulder.
“It’s okay,” Lara said in a firm tone, as Oránn gazed into the Grimalkin’s determined green eyes, “we will work together to make sure none of our peoples endure such horrors again.”
“We’ll fight to the death before being enslaved again,” Honey said, as she swam up to grip both females’ shoulders with her clawed hands.
“Please excuse my moment of weakness,” Oránn apologetically said, embarrassingly flexing the fins along her forearms and ankles in the light current. Pressing her fingers against the corners of her inner eye-lids to remove the tears that had built up, she nodded for them to follow as she continued in a tight voice. “You know my people’s sorrow, but what brought the two of you here?”
To Oránn’s surprise, both female Beast Kin had similar stories to that of her own. As they talked about their various experiences, the main difference, she quickly realized, was that neither possessed the innate ignorance that she and many of her own people had towards violence in general. That was because most of the Sea Elves that lived in Auris Shaeras had grown accustomed to living in the safety provided by the Red Coral Knights. So much so, Oránn now realized, they’d taken their safety for granted. Those thoughts unfortunately brought to mind an old argument that she’d had with the ex-Commander of the Red Coral Knights about her ignorance to the dangers of The World.
As they swam back towards Auris Shaeras, Oránn listened to Honey’s story of her people’s flight from Blaidd Ogof Hold. Her clan had been brutalized at the hands of a group of high-level newfar. Half the clan had managed to escape into the woods while the Warriors and the elders fought to buy them the time they needed to escape. To the Badger Kin’s horror, they were captured and enslaved later that night on the coast by Orc Raiders after collapsing in exhaustion from their flight.
Lara’s story was similar in many ways. They’d been one of several coastal villages on the Beast Kin peninsula that had been raided by the Orc Raiders. The Warriors, the old, and those that were too young had been outright slaughtered while the rest of the villagers had been taken as slaves. While that was horrible, those that had been slaughtered had at least died quickly, Oránn privately thought, as she listened to the Grimalkin’s story. What the Orcs were doing so far South was a question that both females had no answer to, but both thought that the Humans and Dark Elves should’ve stopped the Orc Raiders long before they ever reached that deep into alliance territory.
At first, Oránn thought that was the extent of the horrors that the Beast Kin survivors had endured. Though, as she listened, she quickly discovered that was only the beginning of their trials suffered during their enslavement. Both females told horrific stories of friends and loved ones being beaten to death and then eaten or simply brutalized by the Orcs for entertainment.
To Oránn’s surprise, the Beast Kin had suffered many of the same depredations that the Sea Elves had faced during the Meer-Lizards attack on the Orc ships. The only difference was that they’d been still chained to their oars with many of their people being unable to defend themselves as they were eaten alive. That must have come after the Meer-Lizards realized that the humanoid males couldn’t take their eggs without dying. Oránn shivered in spite of herself. It was during this horrific time that Lord Ironwolf and his people appeared and managed to save the Orc slaves that were still alive.
Their stories were quite intense, Oránn thought, as they swam the last quarter league in silence. Each of them was contemplating their own thoughts about the events that had brought them together. Maybe, that was the difference between them and Holly-Twat. Not that any of them knew how Lord Ironwolf had met the annoying magic weapon’s smith. As for herself, Oránn could still clearly remember the feeling of the Meer-Lizard eggs churning in her womb as they prepared to hatch. If not for Lord Ironwolf and his Half-Orc assistant, she would’ve suffered a nightmarish death. As they reached the edge of the city, she dismissed the horrifying memory to focus on the present.
“Before Lord Ironwolf left for the Kingdom of Kader to rescue his friend, he told us about building defensive towers based off of the Flame Spitters on the Wind Dancer,” Oránn said, as she floated to a stop, “The only concerns that he had was coming up with a better element than fire for the attacks and somehow finding a way to share the mana between the towers.”
“Otherwise, he warned that the defensive structures could be crushed if the Meer-Lizards or Sekolahian Empire attacked with overwhelming numbers from any one direction,” Oránn said, pointing out the Red Coral Towers that had been recently grown. “Still, if used in conjunction with the Red Coral Knights, he thought the towers could give us a decisive advantage against any invaders attacking Auris Shaeras. Though, it wasn’t until my work with Hollysharp yesterday that I learned how to imprint an attack spell into a rune and run the necessary runic lines to a mana accumulation crystal to power the spell.”
“So, the Holly-Twat at least knows her business of destruction,” Honey distastefully said, as she floated to a stop next to Oránn.
“That she does,” Oránn grudgingly agreed, “which is the only reason that I didn’t beat her to death.”
“Why aren’t all of the towers on the outer rim of the city?” Honey asked, as she drifted over their heads to get a better look at the full layout of the defensive towers.
“It’s to condense the defenses so that more towers can be used if the city is attacked,” Oránn explained as her companions gave her an odd look. Seeing their confusion, she led them higher above the city. “Lining up all of the defensive towers on the outer edge of the city would have taken forever to get built and engraved. Not only that, if the enemy attacked in one spot, it would severely limit the number of towers that could actually be used to combat the invaders.”
“Take this tower,” Oránn said, choosing the closest tower to them, “if a group of attackers tried to assault this tower, only the two or three towers to either side of it could give it support and that’s it.” She pointed to the inner concentric circle of towers next. “Any attackers that try closing with the outer to
wer will then come under support fire from these ten towers. Not only that, those same towers can cover any of these towers on the outer edge while also covering anyone attacking the center of the city.” Seeing the Beast Kin females silently nodding along in understanding, she continued. “Even if the outer ring fell on one side of the city, the defenders could fall back to one of these inner rings and still be covered in their defensive arcs.”
“Okay, that makes sense,” Lara agreed, following the logic, “but what’s up with the leagues of runic lines of power that you needed to be run?”
“From watching Holly-Twat run the runic power lines for the ship, I realized that we could do the same with the mana accumulators we purchased for Auris Shaeras,” Oránn said, pointing out the Red Coral spines running to the center of the city where the Hall of Storms stood. “Even if a tower is destroyed, the runic lines of power won’t be effected, we won’t lose the mana accumulation crystals powering the tower, and the design allows us to use all of our mana accumulation crystals to power whichever towers that are under attack.” She cocked her head to the side in embarrassment. “The only problem, is that it takes a lot of engraving.”
“Leagues worth,” Lara agreed, understanding why the Sea Elf had asked for their help.
“Still, that’s mighty ingenious for a Fish-Elf,” Honey laughingly said as Oránn rolled her eyes. In truth, she was surprised to discover that she wasn’t offended in the least by the Badger Kin’s comment.
“Hmmm,” Lara said, after a moment of thought, “didn’t Holly-Twat say that she was going to have to run another crystal to power the Air Shield?”
“Hold up a moment,” Honey said, instantly understanding what her girlfriend was getting at as she gave Oránn an accusing look, “You didn’t tell Holly-Twat about your discovery of combining mana accumulation crystals to work together in a group, did you?”
“Are you kidding me,” Oránn exclaimed, giving both female Beast Kin an incredulous look, “You saw for yourselves how bad she was about needing the secondary Air Shield design. Can you imagine how nasty she’d be if we told her of a better way to design her runic power lines to work together in a group?”
“We don’t have to tell her anything,” Lara said, a wicked grin crossing her face as her ears flattened against her skull, “all that we have to do is be discussing the design when she swims up to us tomorrow and wait to see her head explode.”
“Are you in?” Honey asked, turning to face Oránn head-on as the tips of her fangs peeked out from her thick black lips.
“By the Dark,” Oránn said, shaking her head as she pictured Holly-Twat’s conniption, “why not.”
Chapter Twenty-One
(Alanah Valadhiel standing in front of the main gates to the city of Darom.)
CRACK-KABOOM … KABOOM … KABOOM
Alanah's ears rang from the terrible destruction raining down upon the gatehouse as massive lightning strikes repeatedly struck the stone battlements and towers one after another. The intensity of the thunderous reports was so close together that she found it difficult to breath. It was almost like the air itself was being sucked from her lungs. As she stood her ground against the overwhelming assault, a particularly massive lightning bolt blasted through the destroyed gate in front of her as she unconsciously flung a protective arm up to protect her face.
“Gah!” Alanah grunted as she bashed herself in the head with her new metal arm. Momentarily blinded from the intense actinic glare and the stars dancing before her eyes, she couldn’t stop herself from falling backwards from the heavy blow, when a pair of powerful hands snagged her by the waist.
“Are you alright?” Tavon’s worried voice sounded in her ear as she crashed against his broad leather-clad chest.
“By the Dark, this thing will be the death of me,” Alanah swore in exasperation as her metallic arm flailed about out of control. She still hadn’t gotten used to having her arm back, let alone controlling the dark-be-damn thing when she was excited or under pressure. It was extremely difficult to use because she couldn’t really feel where the magic limb was like she could with her real arm. As she concentrated on the control runes, Alanah felt Tavon’s strong grip catch the traitorous limb by the wrist just as she reestablished mental control over the damnable thing, “Thanks, Tavon, I’ve got it.”
“What?” Tavon shouted, unable to hear her over the cacophony going on around them.
“I’m good,” Alanah shouted again, this time loud enough to be heard over the beating of the nearby drums and the nearly constant crash of thunderous reports echoing across the killing grounds in front of the gate. As Tavon set her back onto her feet and released her wrist, Alanah lowered the metallic arm back to her side as her eyes went to the still smoking iron poles that had stopped the lightning bolts from striking the defensive line that was formed up to either side of her.
How had Töten figured out something so simple as iron spikes to stop such terrible attacks? Alanah wondered for what had to be the hundredth time that day. Sub-Leader Tericius had thought the halfling crazy when the immense giant had first suggested such a simple fix earlier that morning to stop Cristiane Sekhmet and her Chaos Storm guild’s powerful magics. Thankfully, after hearing that it was Lord Ironwolf’s friend, Lord Burnslinger, who’d figured the trick out, Sub-Leader Butcher had commanded that the iron spikes be installed as the Half-Oni had suggested. Not that there hadn’t been a lot of grumbling from the surviving Royal Forces that had arrived from Telrain when they’d seen the halfling’s mount.
To Alanah’s embarrassment, she couldn’t blame the ruckus that Töten’s mount had caused when he summoned it before the city’s gates. The summoned stead was unlike any horse that she’d ever seen before. In truth, it was more Fire Elemental than horse, Alanah thought, as she visualized the mount’s fiery mane and tail. Even its hooves were made from flames and left smoking imprints wherever it went.
When Töten Feinde had ridden off promising to return with help, Sub-Leader Tericius was furious, saying that this was more newfar games and that the halfling couldn’t be trusted. The only thing that kept him from being in Sub-Leader Butcher’s face was that the suggestions that the Half-Oni had given for the city of Darom’s defense had been well-thought-out. Even now, the only reason the defenders on the wall hadn’t been annihilated by the overwhelming magic attacks raining down on the walls was due to the advice that he’d given them on how best to use the Bards’ illusionary magics for the defense of Darom.
Even after nearly a day of the magical bombardment, Alanah still couldn’t believe just how effective the Half-Oni’s advice had been as she looked over to where both Bards were playing their hearts out. Captain Windcoat had let the Dwarven Bard, Norrid Silvercoat, use the Orc’s Taiko Drums of Despair that had been taken as loot from the Sea Orc’s triremes for this endeavor. So far, the results were like nothing that she’d ever heard of before, Alanah thought, as she remembered back to the stats for the drums that Zinn had explained to her.
Taiko Drums of Despair
Item Quality: Uncommon
Item Type: Crafted
Durability: 212/250
Weight: 120 kg
* Effects inflicted to all enemies within one mile of the beating drums.
-Reduces all stats by five percent.
-Greatly reduces the morale by five percent. The deep feelings of despair and helplessness can result in the following effects:
-Greatly increases the chance that the enemy will be routed upon an attack if a third of their numbers are lost.
-Greatly decreases the enemy’s ability for logical thought, judgement, and planning.
-Greatly increases the enemy’s emotional despair and feelings of defeat.
-Greatly decreases the aggressiveness and will of the enemy to fight.
* Effects inflicted to all enemies within two miles of the beating drums.
-Reduces all stats by three percent.
-Reduces the morale by three percent. The feelings of despair
and helplessness can result in the following effects:
-Increases the chance that the enemy will be routed upon an attack if half of their numbers are lost.
-Decreases the enemy’s ability for logical thought, judgment, and planning.
-Increases the enemy’s emotional despair and feelings of defeat.
-Decreases the aggressiveness and will of the enemy to fight.
* Effects inflicted to all enemies within three miles of the beating drums.
-Reduces all stats by 1 percent.
-Reduces the morale by one percent. The feeling of unease can result in the following effects:
-A feeling of unease at fighting.
-General feelings of pessimism that slightly affect the enemy’s ability for logical thought, judgment, and planning.
-Creates concern in the enemy the battle is hopeless.
-Makes the enemy less willing to initiate attacks.
*The Taiko Drums of Despair were crafted to be played by Orcs and Half-Orcs. It could be dangerous for any other race to attempt to play or even to carry the drums. This restriction is removed only for those with the Bard Class. Due to the enchantments being crafted within the musical instruments, in the hands of a Bard these musical instruments become immensely more powerful, depending upon the Bards' level, race, and skill. The increase in the drums enchantment by Bards are as follows:
-Basic Class - Doubles the effectiveness of the enchantment.
-Journeyman Class - Triples the effectiveness of the enchantment. Also adds one additional magical effect base on the Bards' known songs.
-Advance Class - Quadruples the effectiveness of the enchantment. Also adds two additional magical effects based on the Bards' known songs.
*Due to the uncommon quality of the drums, the effects from a Bard playing them cannot be increased further.
While Alanah couldn’t see the attributes for the Taiko Drums of Despair on her own, Zinn and Norrid could because they were Bards. That was because the drums weren’t meant to be played by any race other than an Orc or a Half-Orc. Only a Bard could get past those restrictions due to their expertise with musical instruments, and only then if they were specialized in the instrument in question. Zinn told her that there were stories of Orc enchanted musical instruments having other negative effects that only were discovered after being played by a Bard. Nonetheless, Norrid had been willing to take the risk to hold back the newfar invaders.
