“Starting tsunami!” Shouted a mage.
On the left side the bridge a mound of water was rising very slowly, gradually gaining mass. The water creatures that had been shooting at us were engulfed and moved out of range of us.
“Malice! Another wave! Hurry!”
“Working on it!”
“All! Whoever is able— methane explosion potions! One! Two! Three!”
As soon as the Black Baroness said three, I felt like a soldier in a great Patriotic War. Our unit persistently moved forwards, like an ugly armored beetle, over the shuddering bridge. And gunfire rattled in the air, hitting the monsters as they came at us. I didn’t see Malice, but saw that a second wave was beginning to rush upstream.
Charge. Reload. Fire. Charge. Reload. Fire…
The water in the range of the crossbow was boiling. On the waves were eyes, flesh, bones, scales, and struggling monsters, generated from an imagination that must have been sick to have given these monsters names and physiques. I couldn’t see their names, however, due to their huge number. All was happening too quickly… I had lost touch with such fast paced battles.
The water at the right of the bridge seemed to explode, and a long narrow body with many legs and tentacles, completely covered with eyes, flew out of the water. With a terrible roar, the blue scaled creature collapsed over the bridge— a few of the beams arced and snapped as its torso fell heavily in our path. The creature, flailing its claws and tentacles, left deep furrows in the durable metal. What the hell kind of monster was this?! It seemed to be made particularly for the destruction of bridges. It was a cross between a snake, a centipede and a fish all at the same time.
“Baron! Nyusha! Malice! Drass! Use ice!”
“Oh yes!” We heard a wild and crazy excitement,
There was a piercing otherworldly shriek. One smoking line after the other shot into the air, and the two divine projectiles hit the monster on the bridge. I managed to fire a charge of ice into the twitching monster. Ul shot right behind me, and two white beams struck into the seriously wounded creature. Ice began to cover its body. The following orders came as no surprise:
“Explosions! Axes! Swords!”
Several explosions echoed from all directions, and from somewhere over the bridge came the howling of the creature, already defeated. And then came the soldiers, moving forwards with aces and swords. Hits mercilessly rained over the fallen creature. A few hundred strokes managed to hit the carcass. Then there was a flash of blue, and the bridge was reinforced. The troops continued to walk forwards on the deck, going from one metallic plate to the next. Several soldiers instantly picked up trophies from the “smasher of bridges,” and I removed the experience notifications from my screen. As soon as the lines disappeared, we received our briefings from the Eye:
“Collision of waves!”
The gigantic mass of water fired by the Architects reared and met the much smaller wave of the Sleepless. It was like a collision of two tsunamis— a larger and a smaller one. Already the larger one had managed to accelerate to full speed. It sped forwards… and stumbled, meeting with its smaller counterpart. The top of the Architect’s wave collapsed down with a roar while the lower, most massive center stopped and swallowed the wave of the Sleepless. There was a visible result— the wave flying towards us slowed down and decreased in height significantly. At the same time, the second wave of the Sleepless was approaching. When it hit, the same effect was achieved.
“Baron! Go to the left! Malice and Drass! Frost over the bridge!”
A flash, gray zig zags of lightning, and another section of the steel bridge appeared a few meters in front of us. Having just barely reached the river bottom, the steel supports were enveloped in a thick white veil, forming a sort of powerful ice wall with steel reinforcements inside it.
“Everyone! Maximum acceleration! Explosive potions, all in! Focus on the right side! Keep up the freezing spell! Baron, form the next segment soon! How many “dwarven miracles” do we have in stock?”
“Seven!”
“What kind of “dwarven miracle?”” I shouted to Ul, unable to resist.
“That’s what it is! A miracle of construction! Upon activation the scroll materializes one of the four dwarven miracles! An assault tower, for example… or a drawbridge. Well, you see it there! Shoot, Ros, shoot for your life! Another wave is coming! It’s…”
Ba-a-a-a-am!
The bridge, overgrown with ice, shook from the blow. It seemed as though it had sustained a kick from a giant. The impact with the bridge slowed the rush of the muddy water with pieces of ice and creatures from the river floor. The mammoths were up to their bellies in the river water, and I saw Kira slaying something that was something armored and slimy at the same time. Others weren’t far behind, though the wave covered many above their heads. Several healing auras held above our heads, and we continued to walk through the heavy water. The water pressure had been extremely powerful, but no member of our squad was washed away. Even the lighter ones remained standing, moving steadily forwards.
It was all thanks to the spell that had been cast: “Web of Hegra” had allowed all the allies to remain standing. Now a thick, luminescent greenish thread extended from one player to another, connecting us all. The very heavy animals such as the mammoths were the focal points, keeping the steadiest and anchoring the smallest and lightest. The water continued to gush over the groaning bridge, but we had managed to advance a great distance ahead of the epicenter of the strike. And now the second bridge had almost finished crawling towards us… soon there would be a clash between the two steel segments, and the bridge would be complete. We resisted the water and kept walking. What was truly amazing—
nobody died! The group was truly an experienced one; I was truly impressed. A raiding squad as good as this was hard to find in Valdira.
“All clear!”
Flash! We were moving straight into the fog. There was the same familiar, terrible groan of metal. We stepped across a foot-long gap between the two sections of the bridge, and found ourselves on the second bridge, which was suspended over the center of the deadly river. After a few moments came sound— grinding, crunching, and the ringing cries of monsters being crushed. A huge wall of ice rose up behind us as soon as we passed, breaking through the metal of the flooring— another moment, and it collapsed. The path of retreat had been cut off. The monsters continued their melee in the river without our participation. An unusual calm came over us. As though the monsters had been impressed by our resistance, and had decided to give us a breather.
“Beautifully executed! Eye! Attention! the Architects managed to drive the river guardian away from the bridge, but he broke the flooring and divided them into two squads. Now he is downstream! But he continues to resist!”
“What kind of bridge do they have?”
“Enchanted wood! The Elven Rainbow! A rare thing. Stretches to any length. But far less durable than our dwarven one! Still useful, though… Too bad the snow elves are only friends with the Archi… Damn it! Oh! The river guardian is attacking again!”
“How are they responding?”
“They’re doing nothing! Continuing to reunite the troops, but no resistance to be seen! They seem to be waiting for something. Only the guardian is frozen into the river, in one place. But what’s the point? Or… could it be? CLOUD?” Said the observer, pronouncing the last word with genuine awe in his voice.
“CLOUD? Nonsense! The guardian isn’t worth it!” Snapped the Baroness. “Continue watching! Everyone! To close ranks! Do not unravel! Healers, use this opportunity! Archers, count your ammunition. What’s the number of remaining blast potions?”
“It is! It really is! Stupid or not, that’s what they’re doing! It’s CLOUD!”
“Have they lost their minds!? That’s completely insane! Accelerate your paces! Eye! We need more intelligence! Everything to the smallest detail! Permission granted to sacrifice a pterodactyl for this purpose! Everyone! Run! To hell with fatigue!
Depart from the Armageddon! Activate all remaining protection auras and to hell with the mana cost! Let’s move! Now!”
Having received the order, the Kolyvan began to run, as did the rest of our squad. Now fatigue was going to go straight up… not good. Above us, a few magical auras were entwined in a rainbow haze, and several mages could be seen swallowing mana potions on the run.
But I understand the Baroness’ concern.
CLOUD!
The clan’s collective attack!
A strike from the whole damn clan together!
This skill is different for all gaming clans of Valdira. Most of the time it’s destructive magic, if the clan has positioned itself as militant. But the skill isn’t given to all clans— only those who have a clan stronghold. Then, the stronghold acts as a battery and as the source of this magic.
And you can use the CLOUD very rarely— not every day, and not even once a week or once a month. As far as I know, you cannot use in more than once in a period of one hundred and eighty days. That is the policy. And in order to charge this collective magic, one has to perform very complex tasks and purchase special artifacts. Therefore, before using this skill, one has to first build a citadel…
But now, we were talking about the CLOUD of the Architects— the very first clan of the world of Valdira!
If the normal “meteor” is similar to the explosion of a nuclear bomb, then the CLOUD strike of such a powerful clan… I do not know what I can compare that to. It’s certainly not worth using on a river monster— that’s like using a nuke to get rid of an earthworm. Why the hell would they activate it? It would be more logical to use the CLOUD against us, since they already sent the tsunami… and they sent only one, for that matter… damn! Nothing makes any sense!
“Eye! Attention! Barad-gadur has received a message from the head of the Archs! I quote! “Architects to the Sleepless! I officially declare that the water strike was executed by the achilots in our party, who turned out to be moles! They are responsible for the creation of the tsunami which struck members of your group and ours, as well. They killed three of ours! Now the moles are destroyed. Further aggression will not follow! Please do not start fighting. I understand the fault lies entirely in our clan. Ready to discuss compensation at any time convenient with the Black Baroness!”
“Accepted,” said the Baroness, after a moment’s pause. “Please pass on the following: the information is received. Military operations have been stopped. One of the conditions of compensation requires transfer of one ancient piece of knowledge from the Outland, in the case of its detection by the Architects. Further conditions to be discussed later.”
“Ok! And yes, Baroness— it’s begun!”
“Clear!”
Very high above the clouds, we saw a great spot of trembling sky. After a moment or two, its contours could be seen. Within five seconds, I saw a great conical rock soaring above the clouds, its sharp end directed down into the river. At the top of the rock was a white stone structure which seemed to be made of air and clouds, with high walls, round towers and gilded roofs. There was a thunderous blow of lightning to the gilded roof, and electricity bounced over the white walls and towards the tip of the rock, which was headed straight towards the river guardian. The sharp edge of the conical rock absorbed all of the energy and lit bright blue, but that wasn’t all. A deep crevice appeared in the blue, revealing a darkness spangled with billions of stars… and then, an enormous eye with a ferocious black gaze.
“Death magic!” Yelled Ul. “Electricity! Shit! I’ve finally seen the Architect’s CLOUD! What do you think, Ros?”
“I think… I think… Holy hell!” I confessed.
“And I think… they’re no longer gonna have the CLOUD in their arsenal! Bravo!”
And then… a punch in the form of a golden pillar of energy with black bursts of light inside it. A golden spear hitting exactly into the center of the river. There it was… the CLOUD of the Architects.
BA-A-A-A-M!
And then, silence… the mammoths, waving their trunks, and the merry baldheaded elf dancing of the head of the Kolyvan like a mad shaman… Kira was screaming something, turning her face towards me… Doc was opening his mouth… but around us spread only silence…
And then a black flash, and the now completely pitch black column of raging energy vanished into the ground, and the mirage of the white stone castle shattered into a million fragments and disappeared…
“Here we go…” I couldn’t hear Ul, but I read his lips.
The bald elf stood up cheerfully, swinging his arms and legs in the air, welcoming Armageddon…
And personally, I cringed, and, crouching, pressed my whole body to the crossbow. Because I had never had the pleasure of seeing a CLOUD strike up close before. I had only seen it in a video, and not from a clan as powerful as this one. Just one of the lesser clans showing off their toughness. And here we were, witnessing the CLOUD of one of the oldest clans in Valdira.
SH-H-H-A-A-A-AH! The silence became even more piercing— I could only hear the pounding of my heart.
From the place where the black and yellow beam of energy had disappeared, a black fountain of water penetrated by yellow lightening shot up. Then the fountain fell, and rushed outwards in all directions…
The bridge shook under our feet, and the sky rapidly scattered. It looked as if the clouds, unwilling to witness the horror that was going to occur below them, had scuttled away.
Here, in the sea of boiling black and yellow energy, reared the enormous hulk of the river monster. The flat armored body resembled a deformed plate of soup, and octopus-like tentacles stuck out from its sides. And there was the river daddy, who had provoked this strike by the CLOUD. The creature reared, and that was all that he could do— then, before our eyes, he shattered into a million pieces. Some trophies from him poured into the water, all of which instantly evaporated.
The Architects CLOUD had taken a long time to “mature,” and the strike itself was beautiful. The earth itself had shaken, the clouds had run in horror to the side, and land and water were still covered with a sizzling energy field fatal to all but to members of the Architects clan. The River guardian didn’t really portray any agony— he just jumped and died like a squashed cockroach under a sneaker. And that’s precisely what the Architects had done. They had crushed the river monster, who could have just as easily been dealt with by a lesser bomb. But the clan strike had erased all enemies within a large radius of the action. One could not hope for any trophies. All had evaporated to hell.
The expanded energy field had begun to reluctantly decline only twenty meters away from us. We watched it with horror. A noxious yellow fog seemed to be quivering above the water. A surreal sight, considering the water had been filled with monsters not a moment ago.
“Eye, over! Wow!” The voice from the center cut through with difficulty through the interference. “The prehistoric hunters threw aside their axes, pulled out their nuke and showed the ancient relic who’s boss!... The Eye is in shock! Everyone! This is important… the CLOUD has been used. There is a depth of three hundred meters at the point of impact! I’m not kidding! Now, it’s quickly filling up with river water. Therefore, the current isn’t moving. But once the crater is full, the water will continue downstream. Hurry! The Architects clan is continuing down the bridge, using the guise of the collective blow to make a run for it. They are two hundred and fifty meters ahead of you. As for the monsters— they all ran away! It was a river guardian, after all. And as soon as he was overwhelmed, the monsters ran away in any which direction. So, hurry up double!”
“Hurry up double,” snorted Ul. “The mammoths aren’t racehorses.”
“Ok, Eye. Got it. Thank you. Everyone. Slow to a quick advancement! Baron, prepare the next bridge. Gills… time to swim!”
There was a gurgle, and two achilots simply jumped from the back of their beast and flopped into the water. The reason was obvious. There could easily have been a stronghold in the river.
But I wouldn’t have counted on it— the river was too wide and too long. The search would take up time not available to us, and right now, we could only hope for luck…
One of the land-dwellers of the clan immediately dropped a thick rope into the water— a return option for the achilots on their way back. They really thought of everything— I managed to catch a glimpse of two loops on the rope. Almost like fishing, except the fish willingly throws itself on the hook.
Orders from the Baroness were heard dimly in the ether. I looked around briefly, searching for my comrades.
The elf continued to laugh happily, reveling in the moment, slapping his hand on the back of the Kolyvan’s head. Well, one thing was certain. If you want to cheer up a bald elf— arrange the Armageddon. Just look at his little eyes, shining with delight. Obviously, the elf loved everything that was that “inte-e-er-r-resting.” Fine, whatever floats his boat, as long as he himself isn’t wrecking anything.
Doc was a picture of a doctor in awe to the core of his being. I realized, perhaps, that it’s because after such a shock, doctors aren’t really needed— and neither are gravediggers, since there isn’t anything to bury.
Kaylen, on the back of a mammoth, could serve as a model for the state of “ecstatic rapture.” Her eyes like saucers, lips trembling, an expression of indescribable happiness. She was so delighted that she could’ve been a sister to Orbit.
The faces of the warriors walking on the ground revealed much less expression. I was even offended for some reason, as though it was I who had had the brilliant idea of activating CLOUD and directing it towards the river. Right— I, as a true magician, was offended by an unresponsive audience. Kira was shaking her head, dumbfounded, feeding her pet a wad of some suspiciously orange grass with blue highlights. My Tyrant was cheerfully running on her other side, showing the world his fanged smile. Bom was gloomy, his lips moving— I was certain that if I managed to hear his comments, they would have been full of curses directed towards the Architect idiots, who had managed to destroy all the trophies. For Bom, this was the superior stupidity. To destroy trophies… Bom wouldn’t mess with these kinds of idiots…
The Way of the Clan 6: World of Valdira Page 6