Evolution

by A R Chen

  They proceeded cautiously, looking around and sending out a recon squad. There was apparently nobody here in the outer village area.

  They must all be inside the inner walls, thought Lord Mottor. His mind was racing, analyzing every piece of information he had. He then gave the command to rush ahead, deciding that they would have to reach the inner walls while the dire wolves were still fighting. The Elder must have withdrawn their rear troops to focus on the front, against the wolves.

  It was then that all the mages sensed the mana pulse from near the front entrance of the inner walls.

  “Go, now!” Lord Mottor roared the command as they neared the inner walls. He didn’t care whether the trio of rogues survived or not, but he wouldn’t waste this opportunity. Judging by the size of that mana burst, whatever it was had just put an end to the distraction of the dire wolves.

  The villagers had barricaded the rear entrance, but they easily broke down the structure and burst in. The opening was just wide enough for the ten-man vanguard of the squad to pass through, shoulder-to-shoulder, with the rest following close behind and the mage providing support from the rear.

  They were instantly set upon as they cleared the breach, by Nitian men who had been hiding behind the walls. Having had plenty of time to prepare, they’d made sure they had the terrain and cover advantage when attacking.

  The vanguard was almost instantly locked down by the attacks of the Nitian militia. Though, as soon as that happened, the buff spells the rogue mages were holding were unleashed. A few great gusts of wind helped his squads press forward. The wind spells buffeted the defenders, making it harder for them to move, let alone fight.

  After the first three squads, Lord Mottor came through on horseback. He took in the situation instantly. There were rather few Nitian village fighters, desperately trying to hold the breach without sufficient support. He didn’t see Joffrey or Amon, the Right and Left of the village, though there were a few other magicians. At a single glance, he estimated ten mages and a hundred odd warriors at most.

  This meant that the diversion had worked as planned. The Nitians were unprepared for a simultaneous assault from the rear. The battle was going well; the mages ran away when it became clear that the fight here was hopeless. The Niti clansmen tried to hold but without proper command and organization, they had no chance. Lord Mottor’s forces quickly disposed of the hundred odd men. When it was done, he observed the blood-splattered ground around himself, it was a mix of Nitian and Mottor blood, with the greater portion of it being Nitian.

  At the end of the brief skirmish, some of the remaining defenders had run away. Probably retreating to regroup with the main force, thought Lord Mottor.

  When the last squad was within the inner walls, Lord Mottor thundered, “After them!” then led the charge himself. Lord Mottor currently had a total of sixteen squads, though most were somewhat short of the fifty men they should have by now. He led them through the inner village as the few people they encountered fled, heading toward the village center, conveniently leading the way for the Mottor clan.

  Lord Mottor’s Left was riding beside him now, on his black horse, but he had left his Right at home to watch over things while he was gone. They didn’t need him—not with the magical and manpower advantages he knew they had. Lord Mottor turned to his Left for analysis of the situation.

  “We can assume that either Joffrey, Amon, or Leffer have expended their entire mana pools. They are the top powers in Niti Village,” Lord Mottor stated. His Left was both a good mage and warrior, something quite rare in humans. He had done extensive research on the Nitian forces for Lord Mottor before the battle. “We’ll hold the advantage from now on, assuming nothing unexpected happens.”

  When the Left nodded his agreement, Lord Mottor turned to his men.

  “We take Niti tonight!” Lord Mottor roused his men into a battle frenzy. “Kill the warriors, take the women and children! Kill all who resist. Tonight, Mottor Village prevails again!”

  After he took those Crystals, he would have enough wealth and power to completely dominate his two villages as well as upgrade them to Town status. It would cost half the Crystals, but it would be worth it. Officially becoming a Town paved the way for more development and power for the Mottor clan later on.

  Everything hinged on being able to subdue all of the Nitians. If he couldn’t win this battle, it would be the end for him. They would surely report this incident to the Empire and they wouldn’t let him go with a warning; he would be publicly hanged. Even if he summoned his Right and another attack force, too much time would have passed. If Leffer and the other village mages had enough time, they would be able to teleport to the Capital and request assistance. He needed to take Niti Village tonight and it was already late afternoon, headed towards evening.

  It was all or nothing now: either he would bring the Mottor clan glory, or he would be the one to preside over its destruction. His clansmen knew the risks as well and trusted in his ability, since he had done this once before.

  It was time to make his ancestors proud.

  ***

  One second earlier, and… Leffer hesitated to contemplate how near death he’d just been. The mana blast from the implosion moments earlier had reached him and disrupted his flight, making him crash-land in a bush. He was wounded, though mostly from the fall. He was grateful and a little surprised he wasn’t dead. I wonder if Amon or Joffrey are back.

  He wouldn’t be able to do battle in his current state; he had used up most of his mana pool and would need to spend at least a couple of minutes meditating to recover enough to cast anything. He quickly assessed his injuries—only cuts and bruises, nothing too severe. He would be fine.

  Leffer sat down and meditated. After a few minutes, he had recovered enough to have his mana regenerate while he was on the move. It was stable, no longer in the chaotic post-casting state that it had been in. That spell always took a lot out of him.

  Leffer moved quickly towards the village center, in spite of the pain it caused him. Not moving wasn’t an option. He just hoped that his forces were somehow holding off the Mottor.

  The dire wolves were meant as a diversion for sure, Leffer decided. Considering that they attacked immediately after our ambush, and it wasn’t timed perfectly to coincide with another attack, Molke probably lost his temper and set it off prematurely…that guy was always a hothead.

  They knew each other from the bi-annual meeting of the villages that usually took place in the Capital. Attendance of these events was mandatory; if a village did not send a high-ranking village representative even once, that village would be cut off. There was some flexibility to the rules of course, as travel was often dangerous, so being late was acceptable. As a result, most village representatives arrived as late as possible—none wanted to be the first ones there.

  By village tradition, the first ones there would have to reveal what was happening in their village under truth magic. No village really trusted any other, since power struggles were frequent. There were at least several power-hungry clans like the Mottor who sought to control two or more villages. The Mottor were currently in control of both Mottor Village and Ekem Village. Leffer wasn’t sure what had happened to Ekem Village exactly, as the Mottor takeover had occurred since the last Village Conference. The next one would be soon, as it had been almost two years now.

  Assuming they survived this assault from the Mottor, Leffer would need to start planning for the next one soon. In the best-case scenario, they would win this battle and only have to attend one more Village Conference, as they would then become a Town.

  As Leffer reached the village center, he could hear the sounds of battle.

  We had around a hundred warriors stationed at the back entrance. I hope they’re alright, Leffer thought. He was saddened that there was little chance of that. Every loss weighed heavily on him as he knew most of the villagers personally and every loss was catastrophic to their families, who were huddled in the shelters near the
village center. If they failed to hold this last line, everyone would be at the mercy of the Mottor. Leffer would never let that come to pass, at least not while he was still alive.

  As he drew closer, the sounds of the battle, shouts, and agonized cries became clearer. He immediately spotted Joffrey in the air, rapidly firing icicles he had probably readied beforehand. It was a dangerous tactic, but Joffrey was probably forced to try picking off the enemy mages. Suddenly, a lightning bolt shot out from the crowd of enemies and struck Joffrey. Leffer watched helplessly as his oldest friend fell out of the sky, smoking.

  Leffer looked over at the area where the lightning had come from, where he assumed the higher-ranked enemy mages must be. There was a sea of people fighting on the somewhat flat ground, in between the inner village buildings. It was chaotic in the tight quarters. Though the Niti clansmen did hold the advantage in this kind of battle since they knew the territory, this advantage wasn’t enough to offset the sheer numbers advantage that the Mottor held.

  In total, if they were counting everyone useful in battle, Niti had less than five hundred combatants. The Mottor easily had double that, if they’d brought them all; that meant that they were probably still outnumbered two-to-one, even with the success of the ambush.

  We’re going to lose this war to simple attrition, Leffer quickly analyzed the situation. He was a little confused about one thing, though. Where are Amon and god Steve?

  At this point, he had reached the fringes of the fight. He was on relatively higher ground and could see most of it unfolding before him. The Nitians were now losing badly. Joffrey seemed to be out of the fight and Amon was nowhere to be found. At a glance, he guessed they were down to about three hundred fighters in total, while the Mottor on the field were still too numerous and probably still had troops in reserve, waiting their chance to join in the action.

  Leffer saw the village’s best baker fall to the ground, a sword planted in his chest. He writhed in agony and clutched at the blade for a moment before he went still. Leffer was glad to be at a distance as people he knew fell all around; he didn’t want to see the light leave their eyes.

  Just then, Amon burst from one of the village buildings, with the Squad of Scoundrels in tow. He released the large area fire spell he had prepared beforehand, bathing the center of the enemy force in flames. The battle, which had already been chaotic, became a riot of death as Mottor soldiers burned and scattered in every direction.

  The Left then shouted extremely loudly, “For Niti!” Then he led the charge of all the warriors and prisoners under his command. They had set themselves up in the perfect position to flank the enemy, by going through one of the carpenter residences.

  It was at this moment a familiar ball of light came into Leffer’s view. From his elevated position, he was likely the only one who could see Steve on top of Joffrey’s house as he floated to the edge of the roof and hovered there.

  They were going to be saved by a god.

  ***

  Steve was on top of a building and channeling his magic into the crowd. He had arrived a couple minutes earlier with Azra. Thankfully, they hadn’t been noticed by the enemy forces, having come in behind them, from the Lake area. His gravity magic made symbols appear in the air as he simultaneously readied his Area Drain. It was a slow process, but with nobody attacking him, he was able to take his time.

  Steve floated to the edge of the building and cast his Large Anti-Gravity spell. The large group of Mottor he had targeted was suddenly lifted into the air. It was a full squad, along with the mage commander. They shouted and struggled, but being midair, there was nothing they could do. Steve quickly followed up with Area Energy Drain. As their energy was drained away, their struggling slowed and finally stopped. The mage that was leading them tried to cast, but was too slow—between the battle and the drain, his mana was already gone.

  Steve’s energy bar was fluctuating wildly as the energy he was absorbing warred with the cost of maintaining two spells. He couldn’t spare the focus to really monitor how it was going now; he needed to make sure no elemental spells hit him while he was channeling.

  Steve had worked on his Area Energy Drain while he was practicing his spells. He noticed that after a while of practicing, the effect would be stronger. It was just like with his Shock spell. The first time he had cast it, it was weak and barely scratched a tree. Now, the shock spell could easily annihilate half a person’s body, if he wanted it to. It seemed like, as with most things, practice made perfect with magic as well.

  He let the squad fall back to the ground. Steve hadn’t finished them off, but had come close. They weren’t going to be fighting anyone, at least for a while. Energy, like mana, took quite a while for humans to replenish.

  Steve repeated this process for another group of Mottor. By now, the battle had shifted to a somewhat even state. The Mottor were flanked by the Left’s ambush and also had to worry about their men randomly floating up and then winding up exhausted and devoid of energy. It was a strange magic, one they had never seen before.

  Steve then noticed a group of Mottor going into the building below him—he’d been spotted. Azra had blocked off the roof hatch with a slab of conjured stone, but it wasn’t going to last very long. At most, it would buy them a few more seconds. Steve finished with the group of men he’d been draining and turned his focus towards the roof hatch. The sound of pounding feet and movement came from the building below them already. He started charging up his Large Anti-Gravity spell, focusing on the hatch.

  Azra was hiding nearby, where she would be safe, but able to watch. Steve had told her to stay out of the fight unless he gave the command.

  The stone barrier was thrust aside and a man quickly scrambled up, followed by more. Before the first two could gain their footing, Steve blasted the upper half of their bodies off with his Shock spell. They didn’t even have time to cry out.

  Unfortunately, there was no way Steve could completely ignore cast times, cooldowns, and his own ability. If he pushed himself too far, the energy costs would multiply out of control until he was depleted, or he would lose control of the spell. He had used up a lot of energy coming from the Lake that fast, so he couldn’t afford to keep dealing with these men one at a time. If too many came up, he would be left with no choice but to leave Azra and Blink. He wasn’t sure how many there were in total.

  He let the third and fourth man come up and gain their footing. Then, with his cast times and cooldowns reset he fired Shocks at each of them. Only, this time they were prepared.

  One of the men was a mage and had cast a barrier beforehand; it absorbed the two spells but fizzled out immediately afterward. Unfortunately, that was enough to allow more men to climb up onto the roof.

  Steve activated his Large Anti-Gravity spell and all the men before him floated upwards. He fired another Shock at the mage, but he escaped somehow. The man reappeared near Steve and was already gesturing, undoubtedly casting a spell.

  “Azra! At the mage, now!” Steve commanded instantly. As he said that, he shot more Shock spells at the men floating in the air. They went down screaming as lightning seared random parts of their bodies. Aiming for their heads would take more concentration than he could spare now.

  Azra had prepared her spell beforehand; now the two-foot-long flame spear tore through the air, towards the man who had just Blinked. It hit him in the back and he screamed, grasping at the wound as he fell.

  By now, there weren’t any more men coming through the hatch. Aside from the pained moans of the men on the ground and the sounds of battle outside, it was quiet on the roof.

  Steve finished off the wounded men, then turned his attention back to the battle below. As he took it all in, he noticed that the battle was quieting down. The Mottor were surrendering, but so many Nitians had died that it was something of a pyrrhic victory.

  After the last of the enemy had laid down their weapons, a cheer went up from the remaining Niti clansmen. Their god had come through for them.
>
  The aftermath of the fight might have gone smoothly, if not for a few things that happened all at once. Steve was watching the Mottor being taken into custody from the rooftop, when a young man ran out from behind a nearby building. From the direction he was coming, Steve guessed he was a lookout. As he got within earshot of the main forces, he shouted, “Ant army invading from the rear entrance! They’re already inside the village!”

  Everyone turned their attention towards the unexpected, loud cry. That was when one of the surrendering Mottor lashed out at his captor with a surprise attack, stabbing him through the chest with a hidden dagger.

  It was unclear from this distance if the attack was fatal, but apparently some of the Mottor forces weren’t interested in surrendering. Following the first man’s lead, many of the Mottor erupted into renewed violence, taking the Niti off guard with their sudden rebellion.

  Steve acted immediately; he Blinked rapidly from roof to roof and once in range he shot a Shock spell at the first perpetrator, killing him instantly but it was already too late. The battle was in full swing again. This time there were no clear lines, the opposing forces having mixed during the brief ceasefire and attempt to secure the prisoners. The fighting was more chaotic than ever.

  Before either side sustained many casualties, thunder shook the sky. Clouds gathered overhead, concentrated above the Niti Village center. Everyone paused for a moment, expecting a devastating spell. A random soldier took this opportunity to strike his opponent down, and the fighting once more resumed. Even accounting for all their losses, the Mottor still outnumbered the Niti by a wide margin.

  It was at this point that Steve noticed something in his peripheral vision. Buildings in the inner village were taller than those in the rest of the village and that meant from his vantage point he could see almost the entire village. It looked like there was a line of brown coming into the village from the back entrance. The brown creatures looked somewhat familiar. As they drew nearer, Steve saw that they were kind of like a centipede, but smaller and with far fewer legs. Still, Steve guessed they were around nine inches wide and a foot long, easily. They were marching towards the fighting at the village center, in two neat columns.