Defenders of the Realm

by Dave Willmarth

  But Braxis was a veteran of the last demon war that had happened in this very place. He’d placed them well out of range of the dark magic. He roared in defiance and voided his bowels. From a creature his size, this made for an impressive quantity of shit falling upon demons with uplifted faces.

  Alexander couldn’t help it, he burst out laughing. Bodine joined him. Poop is funny, no matter how old you are. He patted the gryphon on the neck. “Good one, Braxis!” The angry noises from below increased dramatically as the rain of feces struck its targets, both demons and their dinners.

  Two winged demons took to the air. Braxis roared a challenge as he moved higher, forcing them to work to climb. A moment later he turned and dove at one of the approaching demons. Alexander began firing light magic bolts at the other as quickly as he could. The demon shouted in rage and began to try to dodge the bolts. This slowed him considerably, and his companion left him behind. Alexander took a moment to inspect the nearest.

  Acolyte Demon

  Level 60

  Health 33,000/33,000

  Alexander hit it with a sustained Ray of Light beam to the face just as it was closing with Braxis. The gryphon didn’t hesitate to take advantage of the distraction as the demon raised an arm to cover its face. Braxis flared his wings and took hold of the demon with his razor sharp foreclaws. His beak, which was large enough to swallow a pumpkin whole, clamped down on the demon’s shoulder. Alexander returned to shooting the second demon as Braxis savaged the first. His hind legs moved forward and began to shred the demon’s torso while he jerked his head back and forth. His sharp beak sawed into the demon’s shoulder, severing one of its wings. The gryphon immediately pushed the wounded demon away from him. It fell in a rapid spiral, the one remaining wing insufficient to save it.

  Bodine whooped in triumph as the falling demon slammed into the camp below, bursting like an overripe watermelon.

  The second demon, already injured from Alexander’s light magic, held back to keep Braxis from closing. He cast some magic of his own. A dark ball of fire sped toward them. Braxis squawked in contempt and banked to his left, the magic passing by several feet distant. Alexander returned fire with a sustained beam of light magic. Taking his cue from the gryphon, he focused the beam on the demon’s wing.

  Acolyte Demon

  Level 58

  Heath 20,000/26,000

  This one was slightly lower level than the other, and Alexander had already taken a significant portion of its health. As he channeled his light spell across the demon’s wing, its flesh smoked and separated. A moment later the beam crossed a vital juncture where the canvas-like wing material connected with cartilage. There was a pop, and the demon screamed in pain and fear as its wing separated into two pieces with a wide tear in between. It began to spiral downward like the previous demon, though more slowly. The wing was still partially working. Still, they were more than a thousand feet up, and even the decreased rate of descent was enough to kill the thing on impact.

  Braxis dove as he roared a challenge to any others who might wish to come up and fight him. There were no takers, though Alexander could see several more of the winged demons below. The gryphon leveled out well above the range of their spells and emptied his bladder this time. A parting gesture of contempt as they sped away. Bodine and Alexander tried to estimate the numbers, but there wasn’t much point as the steady stream of demons emerging from the mountain continued.

  Braxis turned westward, and they followed the tide of undead that shuffled in that direction. Again they spotted the creatures here and there through gaps in the treetops. Alexander estimated there must be at least a thousand of them, and still more were appearing ahead of him.

  A short time later Braxis pulled up and hovered, then slowly worked his way down into a small clearing. The opening was barely wider than his wingspan, but he expertly maneuvered them down to the grass below. He turned and faced back toward the east and pointed with his beak.

  Alexander and Bodine could now better see the scope of the advancing undead force. They were spread out wide in a rough line maybe two hundred yards wide. The lead element were coming into view, shuffling around the trunks of the great trees in no particular order, except that they were all moving in the direction of Geb’s mine. They moved singly or in clumps of two or three at a steady pace, about half the speed of a walking human. Alexander knew from their flyover that behind this lead line were hundreds more.

  He consulted the map on his UI. Behind him was the river. In the direction the undead were headed, they would have to wade across the river. The closest bridge was to the north more than a mile. Undead did not need to breathe, and in theory they could simply walk across the riverbed. But the current was strong, and Alexander had visions of undead being scattered by the current, emerging on the other side over miles of forest. Or even being pushed over the falls to drop into the lake near the keep.

  “What could they be thinking?” He asked aloud, not really expecting an answer. But Bodine had been sharing similar thoughts.

  “The river will scatter them if they try to ford. Will they turn for the bridge? Maybe the demons’ plan to make one for them?” Bodine said.

  Braxis squawked at Bodine, who hopped down and went to stand by the gryphon’s head. He stared into Braxis’ eyes for a long moment, then nodded. “Braxis says the demons use the undead as fodder. It doesn’t matter if they scatter down the river. When they get out, they’ll head in for their original destination. There will be a constant press of undead pushing the defenders for hours or days.”

  Alexander needed to know how many there were. Before they reached the river and scattered. Thinking quickly, he hopped down off of the gryphon’s back and began to use his Earth Mover skill to pull stone from below. He quickly raised four walls, each twenty feet high and with a door opening in the fourth wall. Then pulled a roof over the compact structure. Stepping inside, he pulled yet more stone and created a narrow stairway climbing up to the top. Following it up, he made an opening in the roof and climbed atop the structure. He’d effectively made a basic lookout tower.

  He called for Braxis and Bodine to join him up top. As soon as Bodine had entered the doorway, Alexander pulled up more stone to seal it off. Soon all three stood twenty feet above the clearing looking down at the approaching enemy.

  Alexander called out “Jeeves, can you hear me?”

  “I can hear you, Alexander. Very clever tactic, I must say. This new ancillary building allows me to sense the enemy within 2,000 yards of this point. I can currently detect 832 individual enemies moving westward. More are still coming into range.”

  “Thank you, Jeeves. Please continue to monitor them as long as you can. I’m moving westward to make another tower. Any sign of an attack on the keep?”

  “No activity within range of my sensors anywhere but here, Alexander.”

  Alexander and Bodine hopped back aboard Braxis, and he shot into the sky. Alexander directed him westward and slightly north to a spot on the other side of the river, maybe halfway between it and the mine. “We’ll put another lookout tower here. Then maybe one to the south a bit. To try and keep track of the enemy if they scatter.”

  He quickly raised another tower, this one thirty feet high, as he didn’t have a horde of undead pressing down on him. The thing was tall and narrow, with a single door and several windows along the winding stair. When he finished the tower, he pulled up a twenty-foot high wall to encircle the tower about fifty feet out. He left no opening in the wall. Anybody manning this tower would need to teleport or be flown in.

  The entire thing took him about twenty minutes. While he’d been working, Braxis and Bodine were flying watch overhead. When he signaled for them to retrieve him, Bodine reported that they’d seen two flying demons to the east, but they’d kept their distance.

  The trio moved south about two miles and set up a third lookout tower. With Jeeves’ detection range of 2,000 yards, or just over a mile, this would give them an effective four
mile stretch between the river and the mine to detect incoming enemies.

  When Alexander was finished and had confirmed with Jeeves that he was able to connect with all three towers, he asked Braxis to take Bodine back to the garrison tower. “I’ve some things to check on, and it’s faster for me to teleport.” He explained.

  As soon as the gryphon was airborne, Alexander teleported himself to the mine. When he arrived near the node, he found Geb, a few dozen armed kobolds, and three of the dragons in human form that he recognized from Antalia. All were armed and had raised weapons at his arrival. When they recognized him, they lowered their arms and the dragons approached.

  Alexander raised a hand in greeting. “I take it you heard from Kai?”

  The closest of the dragons nodded “I am Barindalinus. And yes, we are aware of the incoming filth. Our fourth is on the surface now, scouting.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Alexander bowed his head briefly. It just felt right when greeting a being as imposing as a dragon. “As for scouting, I’ve just finished doing that myself.” He quickly filled them in. When he was done, he had each of them introduce themselves to Jeeves. Then he said “Jeeves, the dragons are honored guests. Please update them on the enemy numbers and positions as they ask.”

  “Of course, Alexander. And welcome to Elysia, honored dragons.”

  During the whole conversation, Geb had simply sat cross-legged near the node crystal with his eyes closed. He had apparently been listening, as he chose that moment to speak up. “You show much promise as a leader, Alexander. You do not let pride or insecurity keep you from accepting the help of allies. Will you listen to some advice as well?”

  “Of course, Guardian.” Alexander moved to sit across from the ancient being. “Any advice from one who destroyed most of a demon army would be most welcome” he grinned when Geb laughed at the word ‘most’.

  “The undead will present no serious threat to you and yours. You have the blessings of several gods of light, I’m told. But do not get bogged down or distracted by that fight. That is precisely what the demons desire. They hope to distract you and pull your forces into the forest to hunt the undead scattered about. Or failing that, keep you contained in some spot while the undead wear you down and deplete your resources.”

  Alexander had been working toward that same conclusion, though he hadn’t quite gotten there on his own yet. Geb continued.

  “The demons will use misdirection whenever they can. It is in their nature. And they will throw themselves into the battle with abandon. The commanders will sacrifice the lower level demons without thought or seeming purpose. Their only intent being to wear your forces down further, to make their victory easier when they themselves enter the battle. I assume they outnumber you considerably?”

  Alexander replied “We don’t know to what extent yet. But the undead alone outnumber us at least two to one. We saw hundreds of demons at their camp, and more were still emerging from the mountain. Conservatively, they will outnumber my forces by five to one. Likely more.”

  Geb asked. “And will you receive reinforcements from allies?”

  Alexander nodded his head. “Stormforge and Broken Mountain have been notified. They may offer reinforcements. Antalia lost many of her soldiers in a recent battle and has none to offer. But to be frank, I would prefer not to have any of them send soldiers.”

  Geb looked into Alexander’s eyes for a long while. “That is not pride speaking. You do not wish to put them in harm’s way.”

  Alexander sighed. “From what the dragons tell me, we are facing a formidable enemy in the drow wizards. My allies may need every soldier they have to defend their own kingdoms before this is over. I have a significant force of adventurers here with me. We can afford to throw our own lives away. Any soldiers lost to Stormforge or Broken Mountain are lost forever. I have already felt that loss myself after a recent battle.”

  Barindalinus spoke up then. “That is honorable of you, your Majesty. But consider that having a larger number of allied troops to engage the enemy might mean fewer losses on your side. Your own, or your allies. We dragons, for example, are not so easy to kill.”

  Alexander though carefully before replying “Thank you Barin—Barindalinus.” He stammered over the unfamiliar name.

  The dragon held up a hand “Please just call me Barin.”

  “Thank you, Barin. I am less worried about my dragon allies for exactly that reason. Though the demons will almost certainly be using the same dark magic that nearly killed Kai recently.” Barin grimaced at that. Alexander continued. “We lost dwarves and humans in the last battle. They sacrificed themselves to save others when the battle took an unexpected turn. And while I would try to position allied troops and my own citizens where they’ll be least likely to die, I cannot be confident that another unexpected turn might not lead to their deaths. My own people at least have a chance at redemption through their Undying pins. Allied troops won’t even have that.”

  Geb rose to his feet, and Alexander did the same. The ancient one motioned for Alexander to follow as he approached his small horde of kobolds. “Every day I must send these kobolds out into the forest to hunt. They are ill prepared, as the creatures above are for the most part much stronger. So they will go out in groups, in hopes that superior numbers will prevail. I accept that in some cases, that will not be. A clever creature may manage to kill some or all of them in a future encounter. I accept that this must be. You must do the same. It is simply the way of life on Io.”

  Alexander nodded quietly, accepting the advice. His thoughts were screaming that he could change things, keep his people alive. Avoid losing allied troops. If only he had time to prepare and create a foolproof plan.

  Geb offered some different advice then. “One sure way to limit your losses is to control the field of battle. Chasing undead creatures through the forest, thus scattering your forces, is letting the demon commander choose. Deny them this strategy. Let them approach and even enter the mine. Restricted spaces you can control and use to limit the exposure of your soldiers. Only so many foes can approach through a tunnel at once. Traps can be set.”

  Alexander had considered that, but was nervous about risking Geb and the node. “And if they overwhelm us?”

  Geb laughed darkly. “I do not believe they will, Alexander. But any who do manage to get past you must deal with me. And I doubt they’ve brought sufficient forces to overcome both of us.”

  The dragons in the chamber all roared in unison, causing the kobolds to shrink back into a corner. When Geb looked questioningly at them, Barin explained. “One of our kind who was hunting drow in Antalia has just fallen.” He cocked his head as if listening. “The other wing discovered a nest of them. There were no drow survivors.”

  Alexander whispered, “I’m so sorry.” The idea of a dragon, a being of such power that left on its own would be immortal, losing its life to a drow… he didn’t have the words.

  Geb asked “What was this dragon’s name?”

  Barin answered. “Daginalistros. He was the youngest of us sent by the King. A cousin to us all.”

  “My people shall sing his passing.” Geb replied. He returned to the node and knelt. Placing a hand on the stone, he began a long, mournful song. The stone beneath his hand pulsed along with the rhythm of the song.

  Though Alexander could not hear it, all over Io the song was echoed by other Althugr. The very stone of the moon vibrated with the mourning of Daginalistros. Those who heard the song were moved to tears. The dragons of Io joined in with a song of their own, deep voices blending into the Guardians’ song. Alexander hoped that wherever the drow wizards were hiding, the song struck fear in their hearts.

  Brick’s voice came through guild chat, quiet and astonished. “By Durin’s beard, what was that?”

  Alexander said “Jeeves, please put me on loudspeaker” then replied. “The Althugr and the dragons are mourning the death of a young dragon killed by the drow today. I ask every citizen of Elysia to take a mom
ent and pray for the soul of Daginalistros. The dragon who gave his life in our battle against the ancient enemy.”

  Alexander bowed his head, though he couldn’t see it, he was sure all his people joined him in paying their respects to the fallen dragon. He listened to the heart-rending song until it faded away, leaving him with tears in his own eyes. He said his goodbyes to the Guardian and the dragons, promising to return or send someone to plan any battle that might happen within the mine. In a somber mood, he teleported himself back to the keep.

  The citizens were bustling about, making their preparation for the upcoming battle. Weapons were being taken to the chapel for blessings. Healing potions and bandages were gathered, and stretchers were stacked near the teleportation mirror. The smiths at the dragon forge were hard at work producing shields for as many fighters as they could.

  Brick waved to Alexander from the dining area. When Alexander joined him at his table, he saw six light cannons already shaped with triggers sitting side by side. Brick said “We be goin ta fight demons. Be needin’ these. I thought I’d save ye some time n shape em for ye.”

  Alexander picked up the first of them and began to channel the Ray of Light spell into it. When it was full, he added in the trigger word and handed the cannon to Brick before picking up another. For the next thirty minutes he sat and worked on the vital weapons. With these plus the ones they already had, they could create a devastating crossfire that would mow down the dark forces. Or clear a small forest.

  Passing the last of the cannons to Brick, Alexander’s attention was pulled toward the courtyard near the portal. Braxis had just landed and was squawking loudly. His gaze was shifting back and forth, seeking someone or something. Alexander rose and trotted over to the gryphon. “Be calm, Braxis. Is something wrong?”