Deia and Induca shrugged and continued to look at the advancing army.
The aerial forces were now harassing the goblins, trying to divert them and pull them away from the main body.
Some followed, but the army coming out of the mountain exceeded one hundred and fifty thousand. Just that number alone was enough to raise eyebrows. To have that many goblins in one location without them fighting all the time spoke of the power of the goblin tribe leaders and the harshness of Ashal, where goblins would work together against the creatures of the continent.
The front of the army started to enter the various traps, from quicksand to quagmires and entangling vines or Stamina-burning hexes. These were all curses and area of effect traps that would slow down or weaken an opponent. Nearly five kilometers of ground had been filled with these traps.
The goblin momentum fell as they slugged through the traps.
The DCA ground forces and elves tried to kite groups away, to take them on a journey. The elves focused on the shamans, trying to take them out with their arrows. It worked in limited degrees.
Induca let out a bored sigh and leaned against the parapet.
Commanders went around telling people to relax; it seemed that the plan to slow down the goblin army was working. Goblins were territorial; if there was someone in their land, they’d attack. But if one appeared within their home, they would go crazy.
Using this logic, the alliance was slowing down the goblins instead of killing them. Killing them would be a waste of resources and they would be weakening the power they could use to fight whatever came out of the spawn point.
Four hours slowly passed, with wounded being brought in occasionally. The goblins were in disarray. A number of them were being taken on a trip by the elves and the DCA.
They were angry, tired, and their Stamina was at an all time low. With the shamans blessing that they had received, they were restoring their lost Stamina much faster than they would have done by themselves.
“They’ve passed through the last of the traps and are on their way to us,” Deia said, listening to the party leader channel.
“Nearly two hours to go and nothing lays in their way before they reach us,” Anna said.
“It seems that Kim has a plan for how to deal with the goblins if they get closer,” Deia said.
“How?” Dave asked.
“Turn the ground to mud,” Deia said.
“Muddy goblins. Maybe they’ll smell better—couldn’t be worse,” Steve said.
“Still don’t have a nose,” Lox muttered.
Under Kim’s control, the Earth and Water mages went to work, turning the land in front of the goblin army into a soupy, swampy mess.
It was hard to tell from just looking at it, but as soon as someone stepped onto the muddy area, they would get stuck up to their waist in the soupy and sticky mess.
“This could be funny,” Gurren said quietly.
Induca smiled slightly as the goblins yelled their war cries. The people within the castle looked slightly interested but not overly.
The goblin’s war cries died somewhat as they dejectedly rushed forward.
“They’re like children who get ignored,” Jung Lee said.
The goblin army ran forward and collapsed forward like someone running at massive waves and having their feet swept away.
The goblins’ war cries had a confused note to it as the ground gave way and they tumbled into the mud that lay underneath the thin ground. Goblins cursed and yelled at one another as the ones behind them started accidentally stepping over them, only to also fall into the mud as well.
Induca chuckled and shook her head at the angered goblins and blank-faced, confused trolls.
***
“Huh, looks like they’ve fallen into a mud fight.” Lox yawned before he put down a card on the makeshift table he, Gurren, Dave, and Deia sat at. Malsour was taking a nap on top of the battlements while Suzy and Induca were talking to Anna about what she should do with her hair and how she should expand her wardrobe a bit more, as well as different clothes she should get when going on a date with Alkao.
Steve looked up from sharpening his axe. “That doesn’t look like mud. It looks like the goblins are throwing other goblins.” Steve stood. “Hey, that’s my move, you bastards! Stop throwing the halflings!”
Dave, Lox, and Gurren looked to one another before looking to their cards.
“It’s not fair! I wanted to be the master halfling thrower!” Steve complained.
Suddenly the air distorted and Steve was thrown over the wall, falling down the inner castle wall.
Dave coughed and put a card down as there was a loud metal on stone impact.
“I’m okay!” Steve yelled back up.
“Seems like these floors are getting slippery,” Lox commented.
“Very slippery. One might fall once or twice on them,” Gurren agreed.
“Dave,” Deia said with a low voice, looking to her husband, who looked like a paragon of virtue.
“Those falls are dangerous,” Dave said.
“Yes, I hope that they don’t happen again,” Deia said.
Dave smiled awkwardly under Deia’s narrowed eyes.
“Steve was right. The goblins are throwing one another across the mud,” Induca said.
“Most progress they’ve made so far,” Anna mumbled.
“I’ve got to see this.” Dave held his cards to his chest and moved to the wall.
Indeed, the larger goblins were throwing the smaller goblins at one another as they brawled with each other.
“We’ve got another ten minutes before the spawn point opens,” Suzy said.
“We’ll finish up this hand and get armored up,” Lox said.
“Sure you’re ready for it?” Dave smiled.
“I’m sure.” Lox’s eyes narrowed in challenge.
***
In the last twenty minutes before the spawn point opened, the goblin army seemed to be doing their best at goblin shot put. They threw one another forward; it seemed that they had gotten over their grudges now.
People were even placing bets on how far the goblins would go. It felt more like they were out at a picnic than watching a vicious army that was trying to attack them.
Everyone readied themselves and moved to the walls.
Malsour watched the feed from an Aleph automaton scout that was watching the spawn point. “The portal is activating!”
Dave opened his interface as well, switching to a feed that showed the portal. Mana covered it as a whirring noise could be heard.
Goblins that had remained within the village looked at the portal with interest.
As the spawn point hit zero, the portal activated and the ground began to shake.
“What’s going on?” Suzy yelled as the entire castle shook.
Malsour’s senses picked up something odd. His eyes thinned as he focused on the different oddities. “There’re castles rising from the ground!”
“What?” Dave yelled.
“That only happens when a species from beyond the portals makes it into Emerilia and only in certain locations,” Induca yelled back.
“Most of them have to make their own positions or they have to take over positions from the Emerilians. Only the stronger, more powerful races will actually have a castle system rise out of the ground around the exiting portal.”
Malsour focused on the portal, which had debris from the massive ceiling above falling down around it. A Mana barrier stopped anything from landing within twenty meters of the portal.
A line of spears came through the portal first. They were thrust forward and then pulled back, their actions no less refined than the dwarven warclans.
The spear line advanced before purple and green shields appeared. The creatures behind the shields and spears made Malsour suck in a cold breath of air.
They looked like lizards and were six foot tall and four wide. Their bodies were squat and powerful, and they had two arms, two large legs, and cl
awed feet. They had two long necks, with heads that bore a similarity to a vulture’s. Each head flickered back and forth, looking for threats.
All of them wore identical green and purple armor. The first group out slowed their pace.
A second group came out behind them and moved through openings in the first, reinforcing them. More and more came out of the portal as they formed a circle around the portal.
The goblins made aggressive noises. They might respect the portal but they didn’t want anything or anyone in their city.
These lizards didn’t care. They spread out, looking at the goblins with little interest. It was as if they detested the goblins’ very existence—as if not worthy of their interest.
“They’re Nalheim warriors,” Malsour said.
Event: Of Myths and Legends
You have figured out a race that have spawned in!
The Nalheim have once again returned to Emerilia. They aggressively attack anything near portals trying to forge their way through and establish colonies within Emerilia
Objectives:
Defeat the creatures that exit the spawn point
Failure:
Emerilia becomes overrun
Allow more than 80% of Emerilia’s population to die.
Rewards:
Experience
Unknown
“I thought that they were wiped out,” Induca said.
“So did I,” Anna said.
A horde of green lizard-looking creatures that had eight limbs and were ten feet long and five high walked out of the portal. On their backs there was a Nalheim warrior.
“Kill them.” One of the Nalheim waved their hand.
The amassed ground-based Nalheim moved forward as one.
Goblins charged forward.
Spears flashed and green blood colored the ground as the goblins were cut down mercilessly.
Anything living that got in the Nalheim’s way was cut down without a hint of regret.
More and more mounted Nalheims and their dismounted brethren swarmed through the portal, their numbers rapidly rising.
“Nalheim?” Deia asked.
“They have one powerful body but two heads that can work together so well that it’s as if they’re one single entity.
“One works the spear; the other uses the shield, never leaving holes in their defense. They’re strong creatures but many of them die before they mature and their birth rates are low. While there are a number of them that fight dismounted, their skills lay in their mastery of beast taming. They ride war lizards like what you’re seeing, as well as sky screams, and their generals ride atop golden gryphons,” Malsour informed those who were around him.
Suddenly, horns started to blare from the mountain.
The goblins looked to the mountain; their yattering and grunting fell away. Their eyes glowed red as they started to throw the smallest members out toward Goblin Mountain.
The goblins still on the mud lake’s shore yelled and charged toward the mountain.
“Reduce the water in the trap,” Kim said to the mages.
Fire mages increased the temperature while the Water mages pulled out the water and Earth mages firmed up the ground. The goblins started to move faster and faster, headed toward their mountain and ignoring the castle they had been intent on attacking beforehand.
Malsour looked to his map. Already the elves and DCA who were in the field started to lead those they had taken on a ride back to the mountain.
Others were scouting out the new castles that had appeared. They expanded outward from the mountain: each of them two kilometers away from the mountain, each of them arrayed around like the points of a compass. Five kilometers past the first castles, there were secondary castles.
“Emergency leader meeting.” Josh pointed out a marker on the largest building within the castle that extended above the defensive walls.
Leaders rushed toward the building. They had to figure out what to do with this new threat.
***
“These castles look like the kind that you would find if you went through a portal. Each castle that you can control, the more land comes under your control. Once you control them, you can fix up the walls and add defensive Weapons of War. Assaulting them is a pain in the ass. If we can get control of them, then we will have a defensive wall around the mountain.” Kim, the leader from Portal Purge, pointed to the map in the middle of the command post.
“The DCA scouts report that when they entered the castles, they started to see a progress bar above their screens that showed that would allow them to capture the various castles,” Malkur said. Kala was leading the forces that were in the field while Malkur’s forces were ready to support at any moment.
Everyone looked to Josh.
“I propose that we take command of these different castles. If we can get artillery on them, then we can hopefully block the Nalheim from advancing out of the mountain,” Josh said.
The different leaders of the various races nodded.
“Malkur, get your DCA aerial forces to take your ground forces to the nearest castles. I want them to get a drop pad in every location. Once we have those drop pads down, we can put onos into every single one. As soon as they’re down, we’ll push people through so that we can get in there and capture these castles faster.
“We’ll split our forces into five: one to stay here and the others to move to the other four locations nearest the mountain. We’ll bring more through the onos at those other locations and move some of our forces here through our ono here and through Terra to the other castles. With the onos, we will be able to mutually support one another. We can move our forces from castles that aren’t under heavy attack to those that are, boosting our numbers.”
The cost of those onos was a heavy one, but if they could capture them all and make a defensive grid around Goblin Mountain and pin the Nalheim down, then they could stop them from spreading across Emerilia.
Problem is that we’ve got even more creatures coming through a spawn point in the orc swamps in the Gudalo republic.
With his orders, people started to move.
“I want each of those castles checked and reinforced. See if Malsour can take a look at that,” Josh said to Lucy, standing by his side.
She nodded and opened up a private chat on her interface.
Josh’s heart raced as energy built within him. He’d encountered another strong enemy as well as an exciting situation. Here it wasn’t just a battle; it was a conquest. He would have to take and hold the castles to keep them from the Nalheim.
Pitting his forces against the Nalheim made him feel alive! A smile spread across his face.
He and the Stone Raiders could die; the POE forces that backed him up could be hurt. But playing on this knife’s edge where victory and loss could go any way with just a small victory or a small mess-up—this was a gamer’s dream!
BAE Chapter 13: Conquest
As soon as a drop pad was placed, an ono would appear within the newly arrived castles in a flash of light. The DCA forces would wait before people started to come through the onos to continue capturing the castles.
Other aerial DCA groups raced toward the other castles, the ones that were directly around Goblin Mountain. Smaller groups headed for the second group of castles.
Party Zero had been called on to check the castles. They stepped out of the ono and into one of the new castles.
In the center, there was a circular building with multiple arrow slits and four massive doors to enter it. This rose two floors from the ground, with a wall framing it and positions for people to stand and fight anyone who made it inside the castle’s main walls.
Extending from the center of this circular building was a square tower that extended ten more floors above the circular keep. While the circular building was fifty meters in diameter, the tower was twenty-five meters by twenty-five meters.
At the last four floors, there were landing areas for flying beasts as well as casting positions fo
r mages or artillery. The top of the tower also had a raised wall around it, like the circular building below. Archers, mages, or other ranged people and weapons could be located on this rooftop.
Around the circular main building, there was a cobblestone area that extended fifty meters before it reached the inside of the massive main walls.
These were seventy-five-meter-tall monstrosities. They were laid out in a pentagram with massive fifteen-meter diameter towers on each corner. The walls were a meter thick, made of fused stone with a five-meter-wide passageway inside and an internal wall also made of a meter-thick fused stone.
Casting balconies were on the upper levels; arrow slits covered the second-story walls and up. From the towers, one could hit targets in the distance as well as those who were directly assaulting the walls.
The castles had an ancient and untouched aura to them. As if monoliths from a lost time. There was also a strength and sturdiness to every wall and door within those walls.
The castle could take a number of hits before its walls would be destroyed and an army could make its way inside that’s for sure, Dave and Malsour used their sensing abilities to look through the castle to search out points of weakness and their strong points. “We’re going to need to engrave those walls with defensive runes, or we’re going to have to get the soul gem construct to do it,” Dave commented.
“We’re also going to need to place Mana barrier runes or constructs on those walls, the keep, and tower. Interlinking them together for mutual defense would be for the best,” Malsour said.
“The ground also needs to be firmed up and we’re going to need to flatten the area around the castle so that people have clear lines of sight. There’s rock outcroppings everywhere and some trees in the way to the west that are going to give an advancing army some cover from us,” Dave said.
Next to them, dwarven engineers jotted down everything that they said.
Steve was listening with half an ear as he worked with a soul gem-covered Mana well in his hand.
Dave and Malsour opened their eyes and nodded to each other. They hadn’t found anything else that would need their immediate attention.
Beyond All Expectations (Emerilia Book 8) Page 14