by Marcus Sloss
Yrak was grinning like a young cyclops tossing rocks trying to knock a goblin to its death. Ilia passed on the trip to stand at my side.
“Why show him this?” She asked while gazing intently at me.
I could see Yrak getting settled and listening to our conversation.
“The old ways are dying. It is important we become one. That when I close the gate to the upper universe commerce still flows. Expansion still continues, more peacefully than before. There will come a day when the retreating four and advancing seven are simply the gods of the universe. I am amazed you have not looked up yet. It will be hard to recognize that planet. Virtue go get Glowvia real quick from my castle to meet our new friends. I think they are old friends.”
Virtue was gone moments later. I watched as Yrak went to tour the unique boat in the harbor. I really wished I could have toured the living vessel. A few circles and they headed back. I saw Lord Nova grinning as he decided to put on a show. A crippled ship in the water was his target. He froze the water around it. Raised it onto a pedestal out of the water. That one I knew was tough and he probably burned a few hearts to show it off. He spun a tornado with the air that lifted the boat higher and then blasted it with vole fire. It was a ruined mess when it hit the ground. New white catalysts were awesome. I needed to add tornado spells to my list.
“Lady Ilia, not in a billion years would I expect you here,” Glowvia said as she arrived.
She kissed my cheek in a social way. That was a reminder I needed to check on Gravin. Ugh… I hated doing this. I never figured out how to do it besides laying down. I reached for my core and when I had a firm grasp on it, I shot my being into the center of the planet. I was in shock at what I saw. Gravin was helping a ball with legs and arms walk. There was no head or torso but this was a significant improvement over the previous versions I saw. Gravin noticed me and waved. Then the Sion ball waved. Okay, I had seen enough.
When I returned to my body Yrak was hugging Glowvia. I was being ignored and I was fine with that as I collected myself off the balcony floor. There was no dust to remove from my tunic that had been gifted to me so I merely stood there.
“Well don’t make us wait, go get her,” Glowvia said to Ilia. A cyclops that doubled as a guard created a portal and they left. Yrak and I were confused. “All will be revealed soon enough. How was my Gravieboo? Did you tell him how much I missed him?”
You would think being married for so long would lead to strife. Not for those two, always the lovebirds.
“So in fair disclosure, I am not sure what I should reveal. I have been brutally honest since I arrived on Elvue. This may need to wait. Gravin or… your boo. Well, he is great and misses his wonderful wife. He phrases it differently… I will leave the banter of your lovers talk to basic interpretation.” I said knowing that this would placate Glowvia. It worked as she lit up with a smile. “What did you think of the elvath you saw on that ship Lord Yrak?”
“I suppose Lord works now. I only command defenses anymore. The elvath… who cares? Did you see what this magnificent… Uh, what is it called?” Yrak asked and I told him griffin. “This griffin is beyond impressive. They would slaughter dragons. I can think of a few ways to try to counter them, the general in me wants to war game how to defeat them the moment I saw one. Do not take offense mighty griffin?”
Hai waved until she got Yrak attention. “Lord Nova is not offended. Our species have come a long way since the start of the war. We are now far mightier than ever before. I heard why Emporer Gryff brought you here. I hope you can help us bridge a divide between friend and foe. Warg will continue to lose power and I have complete faith the upper universal portal will be closed.”
“An interpreter, how interesting. I am amenable to new business contracts. We can always start there and then go forward. It is more than many of my competitors would do. Then again not many of them know who Glowvia is. I was a friend of her champion Alexor, which was how I got started in keeping the elvath race alive. It has been a noble endeavor. We always rationalized somewhere out there, we would find more.” Yrak said while scratching his elbow with his clawed hand. “I am not as certain the upper universe will close. I also believe in Warg and his ability to get help if you are indeed winning. Gryff, I think you will lose, but that is billions of years of supporting Warg talking. I have no idea how it will play out.”
Ilia stepped out from the portal her guard created earlier with a tall lady elvath in a sparkly dress of frozen blues. “Brother I would like to trade this elvath for the male Gryff sent us,” Ilia said and extended a contract. I immediately accepted.
“Okay, I am lost…” Yrak said. “Never has a single female been worth a single elv.”
“Welcome Icandria!” Glowvia said and kissed each cheek of the ice goddess. “Graviebear is trying to fix Sion. I am so glad you are here.”
I knelt, as did all those who revered the four.
“Ha! I am telling Gravin when he gets back. You kneeled for his sister, while you got in a fistfight with my husband.” Glowvia declared and Icandira let out a burst of laughter.
I rose to my feet. “I am sorry I have not rescued Koko yet…” I said and her face dropped. “I am too late?”
She nodded and gave me a hug. “Thank you for freeing me from my contract. Perception is always so amazing in his or her predictions. Funny how the god who figures everything out can never decide if they want to be male or female. I was told to hide in plain sight after we completed our work here. The only one who knew my true identity was Ilia and we are good friends. Thank you Yrak, your islands are indeed a paradise onto themselves. I do miss the cold though.”
“The Vartin Tundra is full of your creatures and dvaren. I can always build you a plain clay home there of any size.” I said and she snickered.
“I can make an ice home of grandeur. Thank you for the offer nephew…” Icandria sighed. “This means the end is near. Your big battle that was predicted will happen very soon. I was told to tell you to ready all your troops. Even hire mercenaries if you could.”
“I am not here on accident am I?” Yrak asked. He was a retired general after all with massive defensive armies at his beck and call. “Who will he be fighting?”
“It was deduced by Perception that a strike team of warring god from the upper universe would be sent. Warg has by now showcased lost elvath. That would entice enough upper gods to send forth a team of demigods with full gods to reestablish the planetary portal here. It will also elevate Warg’s status to never return to this verse.” Icandria said and I could see Yrak slump.
“She speaks of probable truths. There is a chance your god of war will not abandon you.” Glowvia said trying to ease the words that were visibly affecting the cyclops. “I am afraid you know the truth though. How many times did Warg let you and Alexor fight to what should have been a doomed defeat? He is petty and about himself.”
“I know… That is why I am here. I am an ancient tactician who still has his wits about him. I am standing among caring gods of both sides telling me that your home is about to be raided by uncaring overlord gods. Can you stop them?” Yrak asked as he turned to me.
“A few things will determine that. I have no idea is the short answer. If they are going to assault Castle Riza then I need to shift troops immediately…” I said and a portal opened. A shaman I did not know stumbled out.
“Castle Riza is under siege. The griffins are holding the assault back for now. There are a hundred gods and a full army of ogres and elvath exiting from portals. They arrived minutes ago.” The shaman said.
I saw the hundreds of griffins lift off from here with King Aves at the front. I muttered a thousand curses and wondered why perception had not timed it for me to prepare more.
“Virtue, go to Fernlan with Cora. Have Amber assemble our banners. Have Roz send shamans to every city we have and send troops into Castle Riza for now. Tell the griffins King Aves is summoning all warriors north to fight with haste. It was nice meeting you Ilia
and Yrak. Hopefully, we see each other later as allies.” I said and jumped into the portal the shaman had exited.
CHAPTER 17
The shaman had opened his portal in a high archer tower on the wall of Castle Riza. This gave me a fantastic view of the troops pouring out of eight enemy portals. I saw elvath riding salamanders in the thousands as they slithered on our flanks to clear room for the next waves. I saw ogres readying slings. Teams were digging holes while others slid the massive y contraptions into the dirt. Yakins hauled carts of rocks while ogres lined them up so they could get the ammo into the slings the quickest. There was a hybrid animal with a platform on its back from which shamans launched fireballs into our shield wall. The creature was a mix of an elephant and a stegosaurus. The warring universe had part dinosaurs, I had to visit that marketplace. These animals were faster than I would have ever imagined for something with that much mass. As awesome as I thought that was I was growing concerned. I did not see shamans controlling the portals on this side.
Without an easy target to isolate, I reached into my core and dragged my black magic out. With the power of Vin aiding me I tried to do the opposite of stabilizing a portal. I gave my general portal spell wobble and distorted the cast by collapsing the field of power on itself. It really was merely forcing the magic to consume other threads instead of pulling form me. That was what I hypothesized would work to collapse the gateways. I reach in and flung a thin tendril at the nearest Horde portal. My first attempt failed.
I thought about my failure. The caster on the other side had poured more aura into the spell and canceled out my trick. I think I needed to add more black magic to the spell to overpower what the shaman or cyclops tried to balance out. I shot a wide thick beam into the portal with a collapsing spell of twisting consumption. This was far more successful. I saw the portal wobble and attempt to stabilize as some mage fought my spell. The portal rotated in its existence and then collapsed on itself. Ultimately I was successful and there was probably a shaman face first on the other side. I grinned knowing I could close a portal now. The wagon that was partway through was cut in half and I gave a fist pump in victory. Only seven more portals to close.
The enemy reacted instantly. Additional arrows, fireballs, and rocks were flung my way. The griffins in reserve raced to my position and buffered the shield. I could have helped them while I continued my task but I did not want to expose how powerful I was yet. My eyes scanned the remaining portals and I let black magic dart from my body to a portal one at a time. When my black magic felt a shield it would pass right through. I wondered if this was Maurta helping or some Horde rule that black magic could go through white. I let the thought drop as I intently focused on my task. The first portal was opened again this time much smaller. I played the wack a portal game for a few minutes until they were all closed.
I sent out an enslavement contract that was flung back my way. I glanced down to observe the enemy leadership with a solid look. They expected an easy victory. A viewing stand was setup where a hundred demigods and gods grouped together. A few shouted at me, others shouted at the people in charge. It was obvious the closing of more troops was a concern to a few of the wiser foes. I doubted they were expecting to get cut off from the use of portals. A few small portals opened quickly and a dozen or so enemy fled. I closed those portals quickly not to stop their retreat but to prove that I could. A few fools were lounging and being served by slaves. These ones were oblivious to the inherent danger the others saw. I could rationalize this somewhat. It would be like me going to goblin planet and relaxing while others fought. The reality was we were stronger and they had not accepted that fact yet.
“Who is in command of my griffins? Report please,” I said while watching a few more portals open. I focused and closed them one at a time. I wondered what it was like for the other caster who was trying to keep them up.
“I am Gryff,” Traz said. “They arrived and we went offensive. We burned a lot of ogres until the elvath showed up. When they had a good perimeter around where they were creating portals we backed off. They have some strong cyclops down there with powerful shields. We decided to play defensive until King Aves and you arrived. So… not to be ungrateful or snarky. When did you learn to close portals and could you have shown that to us? Or your shamans at least? Would have saved a lot of headaches.”
“Woah big fella, no need to guilt trip me. I always knew I could somehow. You are right though. It was never tested, confirmed, or practiced it and that was all on me. Let me focus on cutting off more reinforcements until King Aves gets here. Oh… Hey, they want to talk.” I said as I felt the white extended. Both armies turned white as I accepted. “Keep everyone behind shields. And for all that is holy to the creator, do not attack. Gaius, I see you back there with your red tips and white saddle. You are my escort.”
Gaius flew to the edge of the balcony to hover five feet away. I poured minimal aura into my legs as I hopped onto his back. The white saddle made sense, my hair did not turn white when I accepted peace talks. Somehow I had thought his feathers would go white. A few new portals spun and I killed them before anything could get through. This sent the assembled gods and demigods into a fit of anger. The relaxed deities were glancing nervously at the audacious man closing their reinforcement portals. There were less than a hundred thousand Horde and elvath on the field. This was not enough to sack Ooney Bay or Uharian Hold. Castle Riza could bet this army and I had reinforcements coming. They should be concerned. I also so no insane mages glowing or superheros flying. It looked like these gods were a threat yes, but not super. I would find out when the white dropped. I did feel a sucking void among them. A darkness that tugged at my magic. I decided to get no closer.
“Alright close enough Gaius,” I said and swirled a cone around my face. “Nice try. Today you become slaves or perish. I am canceling the white. In five minutes the war resumes. Good luck getting out alive!”
This of course was followed by my best evil laugh I could muster. Gaius was flying us back to the tower when the drums of war belted out. The front gate of Castle Riza opened and out poured my troops. It started with my ten companies of mounted cavalry. They established a half circle around the entryway when a dozen portals spawned. Humans, dvaren, and elvath marched in from all across my empire. Both armies were in white still. The canceled timer was still counting down as my troops were able to assemble without harassment. Out they came by the thousands. Then the tens of thousands, until we had far more troops than the enemy. The human cavalry was on elks with shiny lances. The southern tundra dvaren arrived on mammoths with pikes and crossbows. The elvath were on rels, elks, and many ran to the ramparts to join griffin backs. It was clear within a few minutes my troops were going to keep coming while the enemy was going to be surrounded.
This brought more chaos and panic among the enemy leadership. There were no more relaxed gods pretending this was another socialite event. I saw a few slaves feel their masters’ wrath as they cut down their own servants in hysteria. There was only a core dozen the others turned to for answers. This was no military unit. This was Warg telling the warring universe there was a ripe target here. He was feeding me, victims. These gods were on a field trip that had suddenly turned disastrous. I bet most of them became my slaves before this was all over.
On our right flank, I saw a cyclops leading a mounted elvath unit on salamanders – he panicked and created an exit portal to leave through. He was berated by the central command clump as his unit left the planet. I, of course, did not close that portal. More of my troops arrived as a few more audacious enemy fled from the shrinking army. The entire time my forces were still coming out. A few weak portals tried to open back into Vin but I slammed them shut with haste.
“That is what you get when they are not slaves!” I screamed out with air magic to amplify my voice. I continued to laugh at the enemy. They were going to be in trouble here soon when the white dropped. I doubted I could be heard over the drums beating and the song bei
ng belted out. I needed to fix that. “Gaius take us to the perch where our commanders are established.”
We flew to the large extended wall platform that hung over the main gates. It was designed to rain arrows down on foes trying to smash the gates. Or pour oil and burn siege engines. Right now it was a staging platform for the Vin leadership. I saw General Halsad, Nate, Lady Linzy, and a few other dvaren generals. When I looked down at the troops I saw General Snomer leading the mammoths. Colonel Prixal leading mixed cavalry with Victor and Janice at his side. General Trug was on the field leading his loose formation of desert dvaren. I saw Donnie in front of an all elk cavalry unit. When he spotted me he waved.
I recognized many faces and was glad to see them racing to our aid. This would not happen again. I would go straight for the universal portal after this. There would be no other option besides to cut off the flow of gods. I highly doubted they would be this ill prepared next time. So I had to not give them an opportunity. Gauis set down not too far from my leadership group. My first order was to silence the field of battle of songs and drums. The moment it quieted a silence fell over Vin. The only noise was of arriving troops shuffling into formations. My armies poured out until our numbers were ten to one and still we arrived.
“We have a few more minutes until the white wears off. Ensure the siege weapons are ready and our dvaren in turtle formation. I expect the enemy to volley the moment they can. I sense a void among those gods. A power to remove magic or to steal magic if I were to guess. I want to focus on the elvath first though as their shields will be the weakest. Take away the enemy's ability to sting from afar without magic.” I said as I destroyed a few portals that tried to spawn in front of me. It was a constant creation and disassembly by me. Over and over. A new portal opened beside me and I was shocked to see Maurta step through. I pointed to the enemy leadership. “Uh… Wrong side. I think you meant to go there.”