Seventh Realm Part 1: A LitRPG Fantasy series (The Ten Realms Book 8)

by Michael Chatfield

  Nasreen saw movement. She drew her bow and aimed. Not seeing the army’s uniform, she released, the force of the arrow threw the fighter backward as it punched a hole in them.

  “You two, cover that area. You two, that area. You two, this.” Pan Kun smacked people on the shoulder, giving them arcs.

  The first enemy runners appeared. Nasreen killed one, but another ran ahead of them.

  They’re gaining ground!

  Mana gathered behind her. She didn’t have time to look. Targets appeared faster than she could shoot.

  The mounts started to complain as they got closer.

  “Lightning’s Descent!” Tenzin cast a spell.

  A bolt tore from the heavens, striking the ground. Nasreen covered her head against the dirt and stone.

  A crater lay where fighters had once been.

  “Radiant Pulse!” A blast of force struck another group of enemy fighters, throwing dozens of them and their fellows back into buildings.

  Nasreen fired into the fighters still coming down paths.

  “Ligh...” Pan Kun grunted. He breathed heavily. “Lightni...” He gasped in frustration before the area fluctuated madly. “Lightning Sphere!” Pan Kun screamed.

  A sphere no bigger than a marble shot out toward the intersection of three streets. Nasreen’s world turned white and loud. She ducked her head, squeezing her eyes shut, but she swore she could see through them.

  The noise died down as she blinked. Tears rolled down her face.

  The ground had been turned to glass. A smoking crater ate part of the ground and the surrounding buildings. Black markings like burnt vines stretched across the surrounding buildings as the smell of ozone mixed with the stench of cooked meat.

  Pan Kun looked exhausted, his body heaving up and down as Hajjar forced him to take a mana potion.

  “Holy shit, sir,” Nasreen said. He cracked a partial grin.

  “Where are my damn archers?”

  Nasreen looked out over the destruction. In either fear or because they were building their numbers back up, the enemy wasn’t pushing the square just yet.

  She saw movement among the buildings. She pointed at it, squinting. “Those are our uniforms!”

  The archers rushed over the buildings, haggard as they had to find their footing. They were carrying the wounded on their shoulders.

  Thank the gods for our partially tempered bodies.

  The archers jumped off the buildings and ran to their mounts as the first enemy fighters bold enough to walk through the destruction appeared. Two of Pan Kun’s guards fired, killing them.

  The archers rode their mounts out of the outpost as fast as they could.

  “Time we got going, Tenzin.” Pan Kun passed the woman a spell scroll. There were runes within the pages, altering the surrounding air with the dense mana contained within.

  It seemed he was using the last of his strength as he barely held himself upright.

  “Pull back!” Hajjar yelled for his Major General.

  Nasreen fired her last arrow, hitting a fighter in the neck as they turned and wheeled out of the outpost.

  The guards formed to the rear as they raced down the hill, gaining speed quickly. The forest spread out ahead of them. The last archer team was riding for all they were worth.

  Tenzin’s eyes were unfocused, watching something else.

  Nasreen felt a shiver run through her spine. How many others like her were in the Alvan Army? Would she have even noticed them subtly changing the battle if she hadn’t known know they were there?

  Her eyes dropped to the scroll in Tenzin’s hand and then to her bow. There was little you couldn’t do if you have the right gear and the proper knowledge.

  Arrows struck the road behind them as the fighters shot from the open gate.

  “Tenzin!” Nasreen yelled, to pull her out from whatever she was seeing.

  “Wait.” Tenzin’s voice was calm, as if removed from this world.

  Archers appeared on what was left of the walls.

  “Get low!”

  They hugged their mounts, trying to get them to go faster.

  Arrows landed closer. One guard hissed as they were struck.

  “Now.” Tenzin tore the spell scroll. Like the air itself had been drawn out of her lungs, so was the mana around them ripped from the area, pouring into the burning page of the spell scroll. Nasreen looked back, seeing the spell formation appear above the Hunter Frontier Outpost.

  “Holy shit,” she said as the wind picked up. The outpost was largely gone.

  The air twisted as the flames within the city rose higher. The wind gathered, creating tornadoes that reached the ground, drawing up debris as they travelled through the outpost erratically. Flames ignited in some of the tornadoes, turning them red as lightning exacted vengeance upon the ground.

  A section of wall was hit, blowing out and scattering across the ground before a tornado slammed into it, tearing up the wall and flinging stone in every direction and drawing it up into the winds. Stone, wood, and people were sucked up and thrown, no longer able to control their fate.

  Are the gods that powerful?

  The spell formation moved toward the enemy, carrying its destruction with it.

  Nasreen looked ahead as they continued their mad dash into the welcoming cover of the Beast Mountain Range’s trees.

  47

  Occupy Hunter Frontier

  Lord Salyn watched his footing on the mound of stone and charred wood as he made his way toward Lord Knight Ikeda, Lords Aras and Fletcher. He arrived behind them, looked over what remained of the Hunter Frontier Outpost.

  Stone and wood shifted as fires broke some of the half-ruined buildings. Soldiers cursed as they picked their way through the rubble.

  Siege weapons and stores had been put to the flame, leaving the outpost wreathed in smoke.

  “So?” Ikeda asked, turning to Salyn with that imperious glare only aided by Salyn’s lower position on the rubble pile.

  “No one left behind, not even a body.”

  “Not even a body?” Fletcher was a tall man with greying hair and thick black eyebrows against his pale, almost sickly looking, skin.

  Salyn coughed. Damn all this smoke and dust.

  “No, Lord Fletcher, not a single body has been recovered from the outpost. We did find out how they counterattacked so well. They hid in reinforced cellars that connected under the houses.”

  Fletcher ground his teeth. He wanted someone to blame, someone to pin this to. He had just arrived and lost ten thousand in the attack, with thirty thousand wounded. With the sickness going around, not many of them would survive.

  “They probably took their dead and dying so we wouldn’t know how many we killed,” Ikeda said.

  Salyn looked over the outpost. If it can be called an outpost. It’s just mounds of stone and wood. There’s nothing here.

  Some sections of the wall remained, but nothing above one story remained standing.

  Salyn shivered, thinking about the spell scroll storm that had washed through the outpost and into the teeth of the unit.

  “Bring the camp forward. Have the soldiers and laborers clear the ground and stack the stones against the walls facing the Beast Mountain Range.”

  Explosions went off inside the outpost.

  They all ducked and looked over.

  “These fucking outpost lords! When I get them...” Fletcher’s threat ran off as veins appeared up his neck and on his hand gripping his sword.

  “Tomorrow the mounted forces will lead. We’ll push them from the rear all the way to King’s Hill,” Ikeda said.

  Salyn felt like he had just fallen asleep when he was awoken by one of his servants.

  “What is it?” he demanded.

  “There’s been a problem in the outpost, sir. Ikeda is demanding your presence.”

  It had taken all afternoon to get the ground cleared and get some tents thrown up. Then the damn peasants had complained about having to sleep near the pits where the
ir fellows died.

  “Is it about the towers where we sent the peasants so they’d stop complaining about being near the dead?”

  “No, sir, there’s an officer here.”

  “Show him in,” Ikeda said.

  The servant nodded and lit several lamps before leaving.

  Salyn rubbed the sleep from his eyes as the servant returned with an officer.

  He bowed, shaking as he cupped his hands.

  “What is it?” Salyn demanded.

  “A fight has broken out in the army camp, My Lord,” the officer reported nervously.

  “Why is that of any interest to me?”

  “It escalated and now there are a number of nobles involved.”

  “What would draw them into it?” Salyn demanded.

  “A weapon, My Lord.” The man was sweating as he stared at the ground, still bowing.

  “Instead of spitting out parts, why not tell me everything?” Salyn demanded.

  “I am sorry, My Lord. There was a spear. Someone took it from the Hunter Frontier outpost and used it. The weapon was powerful, and he bragged about it to others. They doubted him and he showed off its abilities. Others learned about it and a fight broke out. Then a passing noble took the weapon and was about to leave with it when the noble of the man who had found the spear arrived. They got into a fight with one another.”

  “Over a simple spear?”

  “It is supposed that the spear is of the high apprentice grade.”

  Salyn snorted and stood up.

  “Send word to Ikeda,” Salyn said. He was on thin ice with him, and this could be a test. “Bring me my armor.”

  The servant hurried out and several others appeared quickly, dressing Salyn in his armor.

  They headed off to meet Ikeda, who had been going over reports instead of requiring anything so mundane as sleep. Salyn could only curse him as Four Red Falcon Knights came over with mounts while the officer waited off to the side.

  Ikeda mounted up; the others followed suit. The officer moved ahead.

  “Move faster than that. I have other things to deal with.”

  “Uh, ah yes, sir!” The officer stumbled and regained his footing, taking off at a jog.

  They followed him through the camp that took up the interior of the Hunter Frontier outpost.

  Salyn could hear the fighting, the clash of metal on metal before they saw the flames. One tent had caught fire, others that had been smashed over lay flat on the ground as fighters yelled. Allies this morning were at one another’s throats barely hours later.

  “Halt! In the name of Lord Knight Ikeda!” one of the knights yelled from his mount.

  Salyn wished dearly he was back in his bed instead of dealing with this mess.

  They must not have heard, as Ikeda indicated to one of his falcons.

  With a hellion scream, Hiraga charged forward.

  That caused heads to turn. Her blade slashed through several men, her horse crashing through others that were too slow to move.

  She came out the other side, expressionless as she flicked her blade clean and wheeled to the side, slowing her mount, ready for the next charge.

  The fighting stalled as the groups looked at Ikeda’s knights and Salyn’s ragtag group of guards.

  “Whoever has this spear, bring it to me.” Ikeda’s dark eyes looked over the groups.

  A woman shivered as she walked forward, holding the spear out with both hands.

  Ikeda motioned to a knight. They took the spear from her and presented it to Ikeda. It wasn’t much to look at, just a strong piece of wood with a metal spearhead. Ikeda’s eyes widened as he held the spear. “Salyn!”

  Salyn obeyed and took the weapon.

  It was well-balanced, and the wood had been treated against the elements. The wood was supple, allowing for some flexibility without snapping. The spear head was finely made. The smith working on it had sharpened it to a razor point.

  He moved the spear around in his hands and studied it again. No markings, no decoration, just a simple looking spear. But how was a lord expecting to get this back if he lost it?

  He looked at the hardened butt of the spear, fixed with an iron cap. A name had been scrawled near the bottom, barely legible from their writing. It had been burned into the spear.

  What lord would scar such a weapon with an ugly brand? It looked like writing from a child.

  “I will not have fighting in my camps,” Ikeda said, looking at the groups of ten to fifteen men. “Leave the nobles.”

  The fighters yelled, trying to put up a fight. The Red Falcons cut them down easily.

  Salyn waited as Ikeda held court.

  “Each of you will pay ten gold coins in compensation.” Ikeda looked at the nobles, taking the spear with him as he turned, his knights following.

  Salyn hissed as a splinter from the spear caught his hand. He plucked out the dark wood and shook his hand.

  “Salyn?”

  “It is a fine weapon. I’m not sure who owned it. Looks simple in make, but no denying its quality.”

  Ikeda reached out and Salyn passed it back. Salyn thought he saw something in his eyes. Recognition?

  “Hiraga, the other spears. Where are they?”

  “With the loot train.”

  “Take us.”

  She led them to the most guarded part of the camp, several open areas with treated leather covered crates filled with loot. Guards from different armies and noble houses patrolled, keeping one another honest.

  Hiraga led them to a stack of boxes. She undid the ties on the leather tarp with one of the knights and pulled out a long crate. They cracked open the top with their swords, showing several spears.

  Ikeda dropped down from his horse and compared the spears. He waved Salyn forward.

  The brands were all badly made but in the same spot. They were adjusted a bit higher or shorter with more or less metal bands around the spear head or cap to maintain balance.

  Salyn hefted two spears and checked them against one another, then laid them side by side.

  These spear heads.

  He pulled out another spear and laid it down next to them.

  “What do you think?”

  “The spear heads, they’re almost identical; same shape, same sizes. These were crafted by the same person.” He looked at the sheer number of spears. “Or his apprentices.”

  “Aoki, I want a bounty put up. I will buy any weapons found for five silvers.”

  “Yes, my lord.” Aoki bowed his head from his mount.

  “Go pass the word now.”

  Aoki turned and brought his mount up to speed, racing back to Ikeda’s tent.

  The spears were higher than mid apprentice, much higher.

  “Do you think these weapons were used by the nobles?” Ikeda asked.

  “No, the markings are crude, and these weapons show signs of wear. They are well cared for, but they have been used repeatedly.”

  “Do you think...? No, that would bankrupt them.” Ikeda shook his head and waved the thought away.

  “Low-apprentice level gear would be a low noble’s family heirloom. Even powerful nobles might only give out a few pieces to their personal guards.”

  “There are few able to create such items. All come from higher realms that rarely come down here,” Salyn agreed, but he felt uneasy.

  “There are many that come from the higher realms to trade with the Beast Mountain Range.” Ikeda looked toward the Beast Mountain Range. “With their treasures and the Willful Institute’s backing, we could enter a new age.”

  Salyn’s heart beat faster as he saw the outline of that future.

  “I want to ride at first light. We can catch up to their foot soldiers and cut them down. Gather all the weapons you can and pass them out first to the rest of the Falcons then to the army commanders and mounted forces of the Kingdom,” Ikeda said.

  “Salyn, make sure you get some sleep. We have a long road ahead of us.”

  “Yes, sir.” Salyn half
bowed as Ikeda mounted up and Salyn quickly left with his guards, his mind far from thoughts of sleep.

  48

  Home Ground

  “We have withdrawn from Hunter Frontier, completing phase one of our plan.”

  “Dryfall and Vermire?” Erik asked.

  “We’re bleeding the enemy, but Veli and Donner have reduced the number of troops in their outposts. They don’t need them all. The Willful Institute people have been getting reports on what is happening, but they remain in the main camps and send people to report to the higher realms every day.”

  “Anything on what’s happening there?” Erik looked at Evernight.

  “They are talking to the leader of Mistress Mercy’s army, Niklaus. He is leading a campaign in the other realms to recover their lost cities and take the cities of other sects. Right now, he is wrapped up there. There are more rewards to be earned.”

  “Hmm, I don’t like having that particular sword hanging over our heads. Sorry, Colonel.”

  Yui gestured that he wasn’t bothered.

  “The army sent to attack Vermire has about one hundred and twenty thousand effectives. Another forty-ish thousand are wounded or so sick that they cannot move. Those are the estimates from yesterday. Today the numbers will definitely increase.”

  “They’ve been fighting through it so far,” Lord Quan said.

  “The poison doesn’t take effect for twelve hours. It’s a powder, so it gets into people’s faces and clothes. They’re spreading it right now—or contracting it. The poison on the weapons and spears you left behind will cause in-fighting and poison the strongest people who touch them.” Erik muttered as he looked at the map. “Okay, so while we’ve lost ground. Situationally we’re doing damn well.”

  “Yes, sir. We just need to make sure that we don’t get too cocky. We’ve got them charging toward us. They don’t know how bad their situation is. We need to maintain discipline; no stupid shit, just a slow, grinding withdrawal.”

  “Agreed, Colonel. Any changes in the higher realms?” Erik said.

  “Testing fights. The Associations are stepping up the pressure to have talks. They’re gathering a lot of aerial forces and resources to lead an all-out attack. Numbers at Vuzgal have swelled on both sides.” Yui pulled out a piece of paper and passed it over. Erik took it and scanned quickly.