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Shadow Sun Unification: Shadow Sun Book Five

Page 26

by Dave Willmarth


  They had taken out several adepts, but others had taken over the uncontrolled zombies almost immediately. Taking out more of the adepts was a priority. That would ease the pressure on the outer walls. They also needed to confirm who was casting those necrotic AoE spells and put a stop to them.

  The undead in the tunnels worried him even more. The subway tunnels and connected access tunnels, utility tunnels, sewers… they spread under more than half of his city. The lich could use them to attack almost anywhere, coming up through subway stations, building basements, or manhole covers. He didn’t have nearly enough people to cover all the ground within his walls, even if he emptied all his other holdings and left them unguarded.

  And now he had thirty of his citizens, along with a hundred droids, trying to hold back and contain an unknown number of undead. They had the advantage of tight spaces, and probably higher levels. But humans got tired, and droids needed to recharge, eventually. Their undead enemies didn’t have either problem.

  Allistor knew Prime would rotate out his droids when necessary without needing to be asked. His general was efficient and intuitive. A hundred droids could push back many times their number of zombies, and act as a bulwark for his people, allowing them to rest when needed.

  He could probably afford to pull some people from the wall to help out underground. The fighters and healers out here with him were handling the undead with relative ease, except for the necrotic attacks, which were taking out a few of his people here and there.

  That was what ultimately made his decision for him. He needed to locate and kill the adepts, and more importantly the lich. Without their control, the undead would just be a shambling mass, wandering aimlessly for his people to easily dispatch at their leisure. They would even make good training fodder for new raid recruits to use to level up. He’d heard no reports on what kind of loot they dropped, but if it was decent, he might even consider making his unaligned core into an undead dungeon.

  For now, though, he needed a plan to deal with the elites.

  “Nigel, please put me through to Ramon.” He waited a second, then said, “Hey buddy, where are you?”

  “I’m on the wall, north side.” Ramon’s voice was tense, his words clipped.

  “I’m guessing you already heard about Nancy. I’m looking at her right now. She’s alive, still unconscious.” Allistor paused, swallowing once and taking a calming breath. “I’m not gonna lie, man. We almost lost her. She fell and cracked her head, and there was a lot of blood.”

  “I know. I heard. She’ll be fine. That woman is too stubborn to die.” Ramon was tough. They’d all lost people since the world ended, and knew in the back of their minds that they might lose loved ones at any moment. Especially during a battle. “What can I do for you, boss?”

  “You can come here, grab Nancy, and go back to your library. I need as many of those Repel Undead scrolls as you can make.” He paused, his voice turning to a growl. “We’re gonna hunt down those adepts, and whoever cast that necrotic spell on Nancy.”

  “Roger that. I’ll get on it. Two of my people are now high enough in their Inscription skill to make that scroll as well. That means we can make three per hour. Also, after making all those scrolls I’m close to being able to teach the spell directly. When that happens I should be able to teach maybe four people per hour. It’s not a lot…”

  “It’ll be good enough. And I have a feeling this fight is going to last a while. Maybe days. So crank those things out. Another hundred or so people who can use that spell might make all the difference.”

  “I’m on my way.” Ramon was breathing hard now, probably sprinting along the wall toward him. “Anything else?”

  Allistor thought for a second, watching the healers at work. “Yeah, if any of your people know light magic healing spells, get them started making scrolls too.” He grinned and waved as he saw Ramon speeding along the top of the wall, citizens quickly moving out of his way. Ramon barely returned the wave before leaping off the top to land in a superhero pose on the ground near where Nancy still lay unconscious. Allistor shook his head at the landing, making a mental note to tease his friend later.

  One of the goblin ships landed in the street nearby as Ramon scooped up Nancy and jogged over to it. In half a minute, the ship was in the air and headed toward Ramon’s Citadel.

  “Nigel, please ask Harmon if he has a moment.” He only had to wait about ten seconds for his reply.

  “Allistor, how goes the battle?” The orcanin’s deep voice rang out from the wall, surprising a few of the nearest defenders.

  “We’ve lost a few people, killed a few hundred thousand zombies. But we’re having an issue with one or more of them casting a necrotic attack that is impossible to defend against, and hard to heal. It has killed a few of my people already.” He pictured the look that was about to appear on his friend’s face. “I was wondering if your orcanin wanted to join me in a little hunting? I plan to go over the wall and take out as many adepts as I can while I hunt for that lich.”

  Allistor could hear Harmon chuckling, and a roar of enthusiasm in the background. “We have been waiting for you to ask, my friend! I will send you an honor guard of one hundred warriors to deal with the undead fodder while you hunt. In addition, I will contact the Or’Dralon on your behalf. They have no shortage of light mages to assist your people. I’m sure they would appreciate the opportunity to slay thousands of mid to high level undead.”

  “Damn. I should have thought of that. I’m not used to having allies. Other than you, of course.” Allistor shook his head.

  “You have earned them, Allistor. Now you must learn when to use them. I’ll join you shortly with your escort.” Allistor let out a relieved breath as the link was severed.

  “Nigel, I need Andrea and Dean next.”

  “Go ahead, sire.”

  “Hey guys, everything quiet at the Citadel and Silo?”

  “All quiet everywhere but where you are, Allistor.” Andrea answered. “I’ve got Redd and the others in communications doing regular check-ins with every property. They’ve also alerted most of our allies on this continent.”

  “That’s good to hear. Listen, I need some help here. Dean, I need you and that fifty cal, along with as many snipers or sharpshooters as you can safely send me, Andrea. Pull them from wherever you need to. Load them up with ammo and send them to Battery Park as quick as you can. One of the goblin ships just took Ramon and Nancy to their island, and can pick up the shooters on the way back. They’re to spread out along the wall or other, higher ground within range, focus on taking down the adepts, and scan for any sign of the lich.”

  “On my way.” Dean replied. “Be there in two minutes.”

  It took a few seconds longer for Andrea to pass on orders to some of her airmen before she answered, “We’re on it. Ten minutes, tops. Those who don’t get there in time to hitch a ride can hoof it up to the wall. The exercise will do em good.” He could hear the wicked smile he knew so well.

  “Thanks guys. And be sure and let me know if anything new pops up. You’ll need to radio me through the droids, I’m taking some orcanin over the wall in a few minutes.”

  Andrea’s voice became concerned. “Be careful, Allistor. Don’t do anything stupid. I hear there might be a million of those things out there. If they start to hone in on you…”

  “The orcanin will have a lot to celebrate!” He imagined her rolling her eyes. “If you join them, whatever you do, don’t drink that stuff they make. Trust me.” He felt a pang of sorrow as he remembered the morning hangover he’d shared with Amanda. “I’ll be as careful as I can be. And don’t worry, I’ll make it back in one piece.”

  Any response was drowned out by the sound of more than a hundred orcanin roaring as they leapt from their ship’s loading ramp onto the wall. Half of them began jogging left and right down the length of the wall, spreading out to assist the defenders. The other half formed up and saluted as Harmon approached Allistor. The emperor took a moment to
lean out and observe the battle at the base of the wall, nodding with approval.

  “I see your people are mostly using magic, rather than technology. This is good.”

  Allistor hadn’t really noticed, but taking a quick look around he confirmed a distinct lack of plasma rifles, or even human rifles. Only the snipers were using them. He felt a swell of pride at his people using the opportunity to level up their spells and skills.

  Harmon held out a ring, which he dropped into Allistor’s hand when it was extended. “A small gift.”

  Allistor put the ring on and checked the inventory.

  Arsthenix model G740 x 500

  Having no idea what the item was, Allistor raised an eyebrow at Harmon. “Uh, thank you. What are they?”

  Grinning, Harmon replied, “A little something to help you track your foes. Nigel cannot detect the undead at his current level unless they are on the surface and moving within his sensor range. That ring is filled with remote sensor drones that can be placed in tunnels or junctures underground. Nigel can connect to them, and alert you to enemy movement if they wander close enough.”

  “That’s great!” Allistor looked at the ring with a whole new appreciation. “I upgraded Nigel this morning, but we still have one more upgrade before he can do this himself. Thank you, Harmon.”

  “It is nothing. Simple technology, very inexpensive. And I haven’t even told you the best part, yet. Instruct Nigel to connect with the sensors. You’ll need to give him access to the ring by placing it in direct contact with the wall.” The orcanin pointed to the flat surface atop the wall.

  “Nigel, go ahead and connect to these sensors.” Allistor ordered. He was already planning how to organize raid crews to distribute the sensor drones. A moment later, his AI answered.

  “Connection established with five hundred remote sensors, sire. These will be quite helpful. Shall I proceed with deployment?”

  “What? Deployment? Uhm, sure.” Allistor blinked at the ring as first one, then another, then another tiny disc appeared above the ring and hovered in the air in front of him. When the air was aswarm with five hundred tiny drones, they all bunched into a tight cluster and disappeared over the edge of the wall, heading toward a nearby subway entrance.

  Harmon explained. “Each sensor has a small power core that manipulates the planet’s ambient magnetic field to hover and move, along with a sensor array and transceiver that allows Nigel to control them. He’ll not only be able to distribute them throughout the tunnels and sewers underneath the city, but he’ll be able to use them to map the whole area for you. They’re small enough to fit into tight spaces, even under some doors. They can detect heat, motion, and sound while being virtually undetectable themselves.”

  “Awesome!” Allistor wanted to leap up and give the merchant a high-five. “I’m still not used to all the cool technology available to us now. Something like that hadn’t even occurred to me. I could have had the entire city mapped already.” Allistor shook his head. Then a thought occurred to him. “We could use these to search for the adepts out there.” He pointed beyond the wall.

  Harmon shook his head. “Nigel can only control them within his area of influence. Outside of that, you’d have to control them yourself, or use a portable AI with a significant range.”

  “Like… a ship’s AI?” Allistor looked up at the sky, searching for the Phoenix.

  Harmon nodded. “Yes, though you’d have to hover very low. The drones have a limited range. The ones Nigel now controls will only work approximately one hundred feet below ground level before he loses connection with them. As you map and claim more of the deeper underground structures, that range will naturally increase. But outside the walls, the ship carrying your controlling AI will need to remain within one hundred feet of the drones. Which makes them impractical for that purpose. They can easily and quickly search every room of every building below you, but any targets you see can easily spot and avoid the hovering ship.”

  Prime, who had been standing unobtrusively off to one side, as usual, offered a solution. “One of my communications droids could control as many as ten of the drones at a time. They could boost the signal, relaying the sensor data over a much greater distance.”

  Allistor did a little quick math. “Prime, please bring me four of your comms units. Harmon, can you sell me forty more of those drones? That would give us… a line of sensors eight hundred feet wide, or a tighter globe of about four hundred feet in diameter, that’ll reach as much as twenty stories high. That should let us sneak up on some unsuspecting adepts.”

  It took a few minutes for Prime to summon the droids, while Harmon simply accessed his inventory and produced the additional drones. The comms droids were each assigned their capacity of drones to control, and while they were establishing their links, a new visitor arrived.

  Its graceful curving lines clearly established it as an elven ship. Allistor assumed it was the Or’Dralon, which was confirmed as it hovered inside the wall level with Allistor. A ramp extended from the ship, and elves began walking down to step atop the wall. The lead elf was none other than Melise herself. Allistor tried not to stare at the beautiful elfess as she smiled up at him. Rather than the airy and revealing clothes she’d worn at their first meeting, she now wore tight-fitting armor that appeared to be fashioned from scaled reptile skin. It hugged her form, accentuating features that Allistor instantly felt guilty for admiring.

  “Greetings, Emperor Harmon, Emperor Allistor. Or’Dralon has come to offer our assistance in your time of need. I hope we are not too late?” She bowed at the waist while speaking, first to Harmon, then to Allistor.

  “Right on time, thank you Lady Melise.” Allistor bowed his head slightly in return. “You and your people are most welcome.”

  She flashed him another bright smile that caused his heart to thump a few extra beats. “This is but our first contribution.” She waved at the roughly one hundred elves who immediately began to fan out down the wall in both directions. “We have summoned others who will arrive in a few hours. Necromancers are the natural enemy of light mages, and we have many who wish to embrace this opportunity.”

  Unsure of the protocols involved, Allistor just took a chance. “Would you like me to share the City Defense quest with you, so that you might in turn share it with your people? It might significantly increase their rewards for coming to our aid today.”

  Melise simply smiled and bowed her head in acceptance. Allistor quickly pulled up the quest on his UI and gave a mental nudge to share it with both Melise and Harmon. The orcanin snorted in acknowledgement. Melise’s eyes went blank as she took a moment to read, and then share, the quest. “That is most gracious of you, Emperor Allistor.”

  “Please, just Allistor.” He smiled at the graceful and gracious elfess. “Titles make me uncomfortable, still.”

  “As you wish, Allistor.” She took in the orcanin and droids gathered nearby, as well as the drones hovering around each droid. “You are planning a scouting mission?”

  Allistor was surprised by how quickly she had ascertained that from the available information. “Yes. We were just about to leave. There are adepts out there controlling the masses, and someone is hitting our people up here with a nasty dark magic spell that has killed several already. That is why we requested light mages, to help us counteract that spell. I’m taking this group outside the wall to eliminate as many adepts as we can find, and hopefully the lich as well.”

  “I will accompany you.” She stated, eyes flashing and her tone making it clear it wasn’t a question.

  “I… am not sure that’s wise.” Allistor blustered a bit. He didn’t want to risk the elfess’ life on such a risky mission. And by extension risk alienating her clan, again.

  “You do not wish my company?” She asked, her lower lip extending into the most adorable pout.

  “I do not wish you to come to harm.” Allistor corrected. Beside him, Harmon cleared his throat. When Allistor looked over, the orcanin smiled at Melise
before turning his gaze to Allistor.

  “Lady Melise is an experienced warrior, in addition to being a light mage. She is currently level thirty five, and wearing armor that would easily protect her from any attack she is likely to suffer here today.” He paused and favored the elf with a smile. “I should know, I sold it to her myself. With my warriors, and you yourself to protect her, she should be quite safe. And I believe you’ll find her skills useful.”

  Allistor wanted to shoot the orcanin a dirty look for totally throwing him under the bus. He could tell the giant was struggling to contain a grin as Allistor stared. But Melise was watching Allistor quite intently, and he couldn’t afford to indulge that urge.

  “In that case, you are most welcome to join us, Lady Melise.” He nodded her way.

  “Wonderful! I shall bring one of my house guards along, so that my father does not lecture me later for being careless or impetuous.” The moment she turned away to speak to her guard, Allistor elbowed Harmon in the ribs, causing the merchant to chuckle. Allistor glared up at him, only causing his friend’s tusk-filled grin to widen. Harmon gave him a quick wink before he covertly and effortlessly nudged Allistor closer to the elfess.

  The elven bodyguard, seeing Allistor stumble closer over Melise’s shoulder, bowed and took a step back, thinking the Emperor wanted a private word. Allistor threw him a curveball, asking, “What is your name, honorable guard?”

  The surprised elf’s mouth opened and closed once before he answered. “I am Rekon, of the Or’Dralon Royal Guard, Emperor Allistor.” He bowed again from the waist.

  “Glad to meet you, Rekon. I will do my best to ensure Lady Melise’s safety during this trip, but I’m counting on your help. I want your promise that you will protect her no matter what, even at the expense of my own life.”

 

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