With an almost one-to-ten fight on their hands, it was clear that they were going to lose the castle. Pulling back was in their best interest to hold their strength in reserve. Losing people here in a battle that wasn’t decisive was a quick and easy way to reduce the strength of the Terra Alliance.
Dave distorted the gravity around the Nalheim who had entered the castle while Malsour insta-cast a curse over the entrance to the castle. Anyone who came through the breach would be slightly weakened and more vulnerable. At the same time, Suzy’s multiple Affinity creations rampaged through the open area.
Deia fired an arrow into the sky. It rose up, splitting as it did, turning and coming back down, speeding up as the arrows continued to split. They hammered down beyond the castle’s walls, cutting down a number of Nalheim and wounding many others.
This attack wasn’t meant to inflict massive casualties, but rather make it hard to enter the castle, giving the forces inside more time to get organized.
The sky screams and gryphons were becoming more bold as the majority of the repeater batteries had been destroyed. They came in, using their talons to cut people in half or knock them off walls as their beaks pierced through the defenders’ bodies with ease.
The POEs pulled backward, the players taking over their positions as best as they could.
“Back to the castle!” Esa called out.
The POEs ran into the circular building that made up the main building within the castle walls. Many players and POEs lept from the walls, pulling backward as Nalheim flooded over those walls as another section of wall crumbled down.
Two of the remaining three Nerhoun reached the castle’s Mana barrier. Their tentacles whipped against the barrier, quickly changing its color.
Party Zero all ran back toward the inner circular building from across the castle, throwing attacks behind them to slow down the Nerhoun who were following them.
Anna and Jung Lee floated above them, providing cover from the Nalheim in the sky.
Dave threw out hundreds of grenades as he formed a bow from his two conjuring rods. Gray arrows left a smoky trail behind as they threw dismounted Nalheim back with their force.
Lox and Gurren provided the rear-guard for POEs who were racing into the circular building, firing both of their armbands to at least slow the Nalheim’s speed.
“Fuck, I hate squids!” Steve yelled over the fighting. He, too, was shooting Mana spearheads at the Nalheim.
“Agreed!” Dave yelled, hitting a dismounted Nalheim who was about to cut through a fleeing POE.
“Oh well, at least they’re going to help with the destruction phase! I thought that the gray walls on glowing soul gems didn’t really jive. Really was time this place had a facelift. Maybe go with some nice, fierce black and warriors white with just a hint of noble gold,” Steve said.
“More running, less renovations talk!” Suzy yelled.
“You ever wonder who comes up with paint names? Like, how many ways are there to say white?” Steve continued.
“Seriously, that’s what you’re thinking about?” Induca let loose with a barrage of fireballs.
“Hate the paint game, not the painter!” Steve said.
Party Zero made it into the circular building. They were among the last. Already the POEs were rushing through the ono in orderly lines. None of them were happy with leaving Eastern Castle One, but this had been the plan of their leaders from the beginning.
Lox and Gurren took up the rear, covering Party Zero.
Once they made it into the castle proper, the Nalheim started to group together. But in the narrow halls it was hard for them to all fit. This meant that the Nalheim’s progress was slowed. Only a few of them could get through the door and into the hall at one given time. Although Party Zero could hold them back, the Nalheim were opening up holes within the walls of the circular building, with more of them entering every minute.
The defenders in other halls weren’t as strong as the Stone Raiders and couldn’t hold out as long.
Deia continued to guide the party backward, careful to make sure that no one fell behind. If they didn’t pull back, then the Nalheim from other halls and entrances could get in behind them and attack.
The POEs and players rushed through the ono in a flood, exiting and then heading right out and through a teleport pad, entering the second eastern castle.
The Stone Raiders held back the Nalheim as much as possible.
Dave ducked as the building shook. Using his senses, he was able to look through the castle and into the sky. “A Nerhoun is attacking the tower! Looks like it’s going to come apart!”
The Nerhoun’s tentacles smashed into the tower’s walls. The impact took chunks out of the tower walls. Its disrupting attack only increased the damage that the Nerhoun did. The tower in the center of Eastern Castle Two shook; chunks of the tower came free, falling down and impacting on the circular building below. Holes started to appear on the upper floors. Rubble dust fell on those in the lower floors. Wounded were gathered up and rushed backward.
Lox, Gurren, and Steve threw up their hands. Spearheads in almost a solid line came from their hands. They hit the Nalheim disrupting attacks, and the Nalheim behind them, suppressing them fully.
The area they were in opened up. They were getting closer to the center of the castle. Here, all of the floors within the circular building were opened up in an interior courtyard that lay underneath the central tower.
In the middle of this courtyard, there was a Mana well on a pedestal of a soul gem construct, as well as an open ono that people were fleeing through. Most of the forces within the castle had already escaped, but now the fighting picked up in tempo with all of the last fighters at the entrances to this open area. They held their positions; they would all need to turn and run at the same time so that they weren’t picked off in small groups.
“Party Zero, move to the ono. We’ll cover the others’ retreat!” Deia yelled to the party chat as well as the general chat.
Dave’s Mana barrier orbs appeared once again, covering Party Zero as they moved back from their hallway. As they moved, the other members of Party Zero started to attack the Nalheim at the different entrances to the courtyard. They called out for different groups to pull back; they would rush backward as Party Zero held back the forces that they’d been fighting off.
Dave continuously threw out grenades as Malsour threw down hexes to weaken and slow the Nalheim. Induca and Deia hurled out Fire walls. These walls of flames covered over various entrances while Anna created air streams that increased the power of the flames and threw it back at those on the other side.
Jung Lee was by far the strongest of them all. He held off half of the corridors by himself, creating different walls made from every Affinity. Jekoni was next to him, assisting in the weaving of spells and looking out for his friend.
The castle shook as the tower was finally cut apart. Light streamed in from above as rubble fell down toward Party Zero and smashed into the soul gem-covered floor. Balconies and stone work were destroyed by the incoming rain of rubble. Dave’s Mana barrier shook with the impacts from the rubble.
“Malsour, get the Mana well and turn the soul gem into a grand working!” Dave yelled.
Malsour appeared next to the Mana well in a flash. The last of the Stone Raiders made it into the ono as Dave restricted his Mana barrier to only cover the ono, Mana well, and Party Zero.
“I’m going to need some time!” Malsour yelled. His hand grew a metal blade that cut through the pedestal around the Mana well with ease; with a flick of his hand, the Mana well disappeared into his spatial ring. He pressed both of his hands against the pedestal made of soul gem. It glowed brighter as a spell formation appeared around Malsour.
The Nalheim pushed forward. A gryphon tore through a wall, leading a herd of war lizards. The general riding the gryphon stabbed out at Party Zero. Dave’s Mana barrier took the impact.
An arrow tore through the air, breaking through the gryphon�
��s barrier and hitting the gryphon. The general leaped free of their mount as the fire within the arrow was released, burning the gryphon from the inside.
The general landed heavily. War lizards rushed in from behind. The general jumped with ease onto a war lizard that stood on its rump. There was a cold look in the Nalheim general’s eyes as it stared at the Party Zero Stone Raiders.
More generals on their gryphons broke through, leading the Nalheim forces. Sky screams rushed in through the tower that had been torn apart.
Lox, Steve, and Gurren pulled out their melee weapons. With a war cry, they met the Nalheim, their weapons flashing as they fought off war lizards and dismounted Nalheim.
A gryphon rushed into the Mana barrier.
The air shook as Anna took into the sky, an impact crater around where her feet had been. She deflected an attack made by the general at Malsour. She fought the general and the gryphon together in a fierce melee.
Dave was running low on grenades and he couldn’t use many of his trump cards; to do that would cause the Jukal to start watching him closer.
He waved his hand. His two conjuring rods glowed with gray smoke as they combined with one another and landed in Dave’s hand to reveal a monstrous two-handed blade. Dave held his blade and looked to his side.
Jung Lee had a small smile on his face as they looked to each other, Jung Lee with his hand on the hilt of his sword. Slowly his hands clasped over the blade.
Dave looked away; a cold smile appeared on his face.
Dave and Jung Lee shot forward at incredible speed.
Jung Lee was covered in gray smoke. Flashes of different colors appeared like lightning across his body. His sword came out with a piercing gray light that cut across the Nalheim in front of him. Dismounted were torn apart by the immaterial blade that passed through the air that Jung Lee’s sword had cut through.
They supported Lox, Gurren, and Steve, holding back the Nalheim. All of the melee fighters were in a fierce melee. The Nalheim trained with a spear and shield to keep their enemy at range; all of the melee fighters with Party Zero liked to get up close and personal for close combat. Once they were able to get close to the Nalheim, they were able to use their greater strength and weapons to take them down.
In the corner of Dave’s vision, he started to see a bar decreasing at a faster rate. A glowing circle appeared in the ground. The Nalheim were capturing the eastern castle!
“Malsour!” Deia yelled out. All of Party Zero did everything they could to make more time for Malsour.
“Nearly there! Ten more seconds!” Malsour called out. The spell formations around him moved faster and faster as more symbols were added to the glowing creation.
Dave switched from his two-handed claymore, tearing the blade apart as gray smoke covered the two conjuring poles and turned into twin wicked swords.
“Done!” Malsour said. The spell formation that was around him compressed and spread over the broken pedestal instead. A darkness spread out from the pedestal, spreading through the soul gem construct as if it were a virus.
“Pull back!” Deia yelled to Party Zero. Everyone moved backward to the ono.
A Fire wall erupted around the party.
They rushed through the ono as an unholy screeching came from within the castle. Malsour’s spell that he had implanted into the castle’s soul gem was being activated.
Dave waited at the ono, maintaining the Mana barrier. Suzy, Anna, Induca, Jung Lee, Malsour, and Lox made it through the ono when ten gryphons smashed through the magical defenses and passed through the Mana barrier.
A gryphon’s claws reached out and latched onto Gurren in his Devastator armor.
“Yer not getting my friend!” Steve yelled, leaping into the air.
The general atop the gryphon hit him in the chest with a disrupting blast, opening up his armor and revealing the Mithril that lay underneath.
Steve swung his axe down, putting all of his strength in it. He left a deep groove in the general’s shield. His deflected axe missed the general’s leg but cut deep into the gryphon.
The gryphon let out a cry of pain and dropped Gurren in its efforts to try to escape the metal madman.
Gurren dropped to the ground and quickly got to his feet.
“Move!” Steve yelled, fighting two other gryphons as he tried to back up.
Gurren ran through the ono.
Dave altered the Mana barrier. Steve was getting hit with multiple high-powered disrupting attacks, taking apart his body. The gryphons were so close, it was hard for Dave to erect a Mana barrier between them.
“Lox! Grab them!” Steve yelled.
Lox reached through the ono, grabbing Dave and Deia and hauling them through the ono.
“What are you doing!” Deia yelled angrily.
Lox didn’t say anything as he watched Steve swinging his axe and fighting.
“All right, now that the kids are out of the way, let’s see what you’ve got!” Steve yelled at the Nalheim.
They surged forward from every direction. A shield covered the ono, not allowing them through and into the Terra as Steve fought them off. There was no way that he was going to make it to the ono. Still, Dave hoped for something—anything—to let Steve make it to the ono and escape.
Steve took hit after hit. Still, he continued to fight as his body started to fail him. His limbs came apart from the disrupting attacks; holes showed the gears and glowing runes underneath his metal armor.
His one arm dangled from his body. “’Tis but a scratch!” Steve laughed, fighting on with one arm. He got hit badly in the leg, making him limp. “Just a flesh wound!”
He took on war lizards, dismounted Nalheim, and gryphon generals. He couldn’t fight them all at the same time; they were too strong.
Finally, he collapsed to the ground as his legs failed. A general hit him in the shoulder with a disrupting blast.
Steve hurled his axe through the ono. “Don’t lose that!” Steve yelled and looked at the gryphon that now stood over him. Its head darted forward and into his head.
There was a screeching noise of metal on metal as the gryphon shook its head, turning Steve’s head into nothing but warped metal.
Steve’s runes across his body started to pulse with power, faster and faster, before everyone’s vision went white.
The ono and the teleport it was connected to shut down their connection as everyone within Terra recovered their eyesight.
No one said anything, instead looking to the teleport pad opened to the second eastern castle. They ran forward and Gurren grabbed Steve’s axe.
They exited the ono, quickly flying up the tower and onto the roof. Suzy’s Air creations carried those who couldn’t fly. They rushed to the wall that was closest to the first castle.
An explosion rocked the first eastern castle. The tower and inner castle exploded outward; half of the remaining tower turned into flying debris as the rest collapsed. Dust and debris covered the castle while Nerhouns moved to the area of the explosion.
Dave could make out massive groups of shadows that seemed to be moving within the leftovers from the explosion. “Are those darklings?”
“That was my spell, continuous darkling conjuration,” Malsour said, his voice dead as they all stood there, looking at the castle.
“I don’t feel his connection anymore,” Suzy said in a small voice. The atmosphere seemed to darken as she confirmed their worst fears.
BAE Chapter 17: Pulling Together
They watched as the Nerhoun started to fight against the darklings that Malsour had imprinted upon the soul gem construct within the castle.
The Nalheim had seen the end of the fight for the castle and had started to celebrate when Steve had ignited his soul gem and the power runes that led to it.
Then, as the shock of that was dimming, the darklings had crept out of the shadows, pooling together into beasts of darkness to pull down sky screams and cut through the Nalheim ranks before they broke apart, turning into shadows o
nce again to avoid the Nalheim and attack from another direction. They were a fierce opponent and one that couldn’t be pinned down by the Nalheim.
Still, the soul gem construct had its power reserves depleted with the castle’s Mana barrier collapsing. There was only a limited time in which the darklings could act.
Slowly the darklings’ actions decreased. The Nalheims and their beasts recovered from the initial shock and fought back against the darklings.
“I want all ranged defenders to report in by party within five minutes!” Esa demanded. Her voice made the members of Party Zero snap back into reality.
They looked to one another with hurt and somber faces. A hard edge started to fill them as they looked to Deia.
“Let’s move to the front wall. Best we’re ready for the Nalheim when they come,” Deia said.
***
Josh looked away from the casualty lists. They might be playing in a fantasy world but there was a live updating stream on all of those who had died, from player to POE.
Later I can look at that. Right now I have an enemy to defeat.
He looked at the two new prompts in his vision.
Castle Conquest
You currently control (7/8) Castles
Earning: (7) conquest points per minute
Bonus: For controlling four of the Castles, you earn an additional (1) conquest point(s) per minute.
Total points: 30,067
Rights: Administrative (Can spend conquest points to upgrade Castle infrastructure and repair castles. Can also delete Castle infrastructure)
Eastern Castle 1
Status: Under Control by Nalheim Race
Earn: 1 conquest point per minute
Evolution: 1 (Second evolution 0%). Can increase evolution to Level 2 by paying (100,000) Conquest points.
Upgrades: Trebuchet, Increased combat abilities for defenders (Damaged), Soul Gem construct defenses (destroyed), Dwarven Artillery batteries (3/40), Aleph Repeater batteries (0/12)
Durability: 12,234/ 60,000
Beyond All Expectations (Emerilia Book 8) Page 22