***
Leader Ulmash stood at a rise that overlooked the Northern Basin.
The entire basin teemed with Drafeng and chaotic beasts. Conversion towers created three rings, convert- ing the power of
Dena into chaotic power for easier consumption. Chaotic beasts were pulled from the conversion towers and thrown into sev- eral evo- lution pits. Drafeng queens rested underneath those con- version tow- ers, taking in the majority of power.
Several doorways were located at the center. On the other side, hundreds of Drafeng waited.
The power here is dense. But if we were to bring them all across, they would consume it all and we couldn’t increase our strength. Soon they will cross through to Dena and feast. Together we will head to the south, sweeping through the lands and reaching other teams, and take Dena.
He shook his body, moving his hooves against the ground. “Leader Ulmash,” Ija, one of his commanders, said.
He turned his head to acknowledge Ija.
“The preparations are complete and we have reached the re- quired strength.”
Ulmash surveyed his domain again, pleased with the progress. “Send word to those on the other side of the doorway. We ad- vance!” Ija lowered his head with Amle and Cama, the two other com- manders. “We hear and obey.” They turned and left to pass
the orders
on.
Ulmash watched as chaotic beasts that had gone through the evolution pits as well as Drafeng regulars and their elites started to move in units. At first, there was only a few, and then it seemed as if the basin was a river of bodies. The ground shook and trembled with their passing. The surrounding cliffs shook and stones were dis- lodged as they headed to the south, cramming together into the pass- es.
Ulmash saw the light come from chaotic blasts as it struck the stone and debris that filled the entrance into the Northern Basin.
The doorways that had been dormant now boiled over with chaotic beasts and Drafeng. They created snakes of people, twisting together, turning and charging to join the southern forces.
“Now it is time that Dena knew of our return.”
Chapter: Opening of the Northern Basin
“There are reports from our forward scouts that the blockages to the north have started to clear,” one of the aides said.
Claire’s eyes moved to a northern window. “Seems they’ve start- ed their advance. How is it going with the fortresses to the east and the west?” Claire asked, withdrawing her gaze and look- ing to Logan. “We used Guardian’s Judgement on them all, mov-
ing in the dark of night to gain entry and then reorganize them. Didn’t want
to put our people at risk if there was some kind of accident.” “Understandable. Will they be able to hold?”
“With the terrain, the Drafeng will need to go through us be- fore they are able to attack the other fortresses. Their passages are much harder to move through than the pass to us. They don’t have our strength but they shouldn’t need it.”
“Very well,” Claire said.
Gnock ran into the room. “Miss Claire, Miss Aila has sent a mes- sage. She says that she will be returning tomorrow. It should take her four days to reach Shivernsin.”
“Did you inform her about the Drafeng?” “Yes maam.” “How long do we estimate that it will take the Drafeng to reach
us?” Claire looked at the scouts.
“Could be anywhere from four days to two weeks. From what you’ve said, they’re fast, but there is a lot blocking their path from the basin to the stronghold.”
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“Cutting it closer than I would like,” Claire said. “What about the United Army and their support?”
“Tommie has reported they are a week and a half away at their current pace,” Gnock said.
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288 MICHAEL CHATFIELD
“See if they can speed that up. If we can get the United Army and the people of Shivernsin manning the fortresses to the east and west, I would feel better. Have we found out where that legion is that is looking to attack Shivernsin?”
“We have most of our forces deployed to destroy the doorways and scout the Northern Basin. We have some people surveying the east, but we just don’t have the people for it,” Logan reported.
“Gnock, make sure that there is a group of Guardians ready to move at a moment’s notice. Once the legion is found, we will strike out and attack them. We can use the people to take over defenses here and then push out more of our forces,” Claire said.
“Are you sure about having the people who are looking to at- tack us as our defenders?” Krosem said.
Logan shot him a look.
“It is a good question. Do I trust them? Not really, but with the Guardians here and them being watched by everyone, it will be hard- er for them to do something to mess up our plans. If we send them out to destroy doorways, or on another task, I’m not sure if I trust them to carry it out without issue,” Claire said.
Her eyes moved across the map to Cheon. I hope everything goes well there.
She couldn’t help but feel for the Epan and Ilsal allied military that were taking on Cheon. She had been the power between the two nations, watching from the shadows, allowing them to flourish as she made sure that there were no threats from the shadows.
She had never met the leadership, but she had followed their lives and their progress through the years.
***
Legion Commander Nedo looked over the rocks and through the falling snow at Shivernsin that stood in the distance. He looked at the defenses, the cannons, and the weaponry mounted on its walls.
eas-
ily.
Being a winter-wolf kin, he blended into the snow and rocks
“Something seems to have got them all stirred up,” sub-com-
man-
der Trea said.
“They have sent forces out to the south, east, and west, though their scouts are lacking. They usually have a lot more patrolling the area. Look at their forces—they have more facing the north, not the south where we or the humans could attack from,” Nedo said.
“What do you think that means?” Trea asked.
“It means that something is different. The fact that they have sent out people is strange. I haven’t heard of them sending out their force before.”
“With their army gone, isn’t that better for us?”
“It is just a small outpost, a few hundred soldiers and a few thou- sand people. Though their walls and weapons are powerful. Even with a few hundred, it is still a threat to our five-thousand- strong le- gion,” Nedo said. “We have our orders. Have the legion advance un- der the cover of the snow. Then, tomorrow morning, we will attack at dawn after they change their shifts.”
“I’ll see to it, and make sure that none of them answer the call of their clan spirits so as to not create noise,” Trea said.
Nedo let out a grunt, studying Shivernsin. Trea backed down the rise, passing orders.
“What are you hiding?” Nedo asked the falling snow as he tried to find out what secrets were hidden within the mountain strong- hold.
Chapter: In the Darkness
General Axion walked the wall. All of the fires had been doused. The purple Guardian Flames had been hidden underneath cover- ings. Thankfully, they wouldn’t burn paper, even if it was thrown in.
The day had turned into night. He had ordered for them to go dark. Even the fleets couldn’t be seen; the ships moving supplies had to use line of sight lamps as reference points and their night vi- sion to pilot the waters.
Axion was a gnome. He might be small in stature but that didn’t mean his ideas were. He rode on his mount, Clea. She had a power- ful, dark-blue and black scaled body. Dragon’s blood ran in her veins. She was one of the strongest beasts that Axion had ever met. When he was younger, he looked after and cared for her, becoming allies and friends as they crossed the seas and defended their home.
“That damn sea is cold as hell.” General Edith
Mora rubbed her hands together. She was human, and a close friend of Axion.
“Shouldn’t you be off with your army?” Axion asked. “You’re at the border,” Edith said.
Axion looked around. “Huh, damn long wall,” Axion mut- tered. Edith chuckled and pulled her coat around her more.
The wall was still being altered and grown in places. With each passing minute, it was reinforced more.
There were people watching along the wall, moving supplies up from the docks as the fleet rested in the harbor. They had sent up their gunners to command the cannons, leaving more of the sol- diers free to fight the enemy face-to-face.
“The divination mages say that they should arrive within the hour. I don’t know if they know that the forces they sent out to stop us have been defeated,” Edith said.
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“They are less than an hour out, General,” the divination mage following along with Axion said.
80
“Looks like we will find out soon enough.” “See you af- terward,” Edith said.
“Look after yourself,” Axion said.
The two shared a smile and headed in their own direc- tions. “Send runners. Wake up the people on the wall. Pass word to Ad-
miral Raye.”
The command group around him started to get to work. In the darkness, the men and women of the First and Second Army start- ed to move into their positions.
Bows were strung; cannons were checked, their coverings re- moved and barrels cleaned before they added powder charges, check- ing their ranges and distance.
Mages started to circulate their mana and check with their squads. Their squad leaders organized what spells they would use so they could easily change from one to the next.
***
Enya charged across the snow of Cheon. The cold felt good for the Drafeng whose planet was nothing more than a sand-covered waste- land, its high temperatures annoying them all.
She felt free as she looked at the army with her.
She had just become a commander and this was her first oppor- tunity to prove herself.
With the camp there and with our numbers, we can hold off the De- na people.
She remembered Commander Oru’s orders:
“Hold your position and make sure that they don’t advance. We cannot travel across the water right now. We need to just stop them from making an advance and increase our strength. Hold them off for the longest time while commanding the greatest strength. Once we have our moving land, then their floating trees will fall before us.”
She looked over the force with her.
The chaotic beasts were in the front, the Drafeng all in their ranged shapes as they galloped in formation.
Seeing their dominating strength, she felt nothing could stand in their path.
She could hear the sounds of the sea in the distance.
Her eyes fell on crystals from what must be the defensive wall.
They were spaced out and broken, like the platforms she had seen.
She let out a noise in greeting. The Drafeng repeated it.
Spell formations appeared in the sky, creating balls of illumina- tion that turned the area around the Drafeng from night into day.
A foreign wall greeted the Drafeng. Enya was confused. En- chantments glowed on cannons and they fired as one, creating small suns along the wall. The cannonballs soared across the snow and landed among the Drafeng force that was still charging for- ward.
The cannonballs’ enchantments activated, killing dozens. “At- tack!” Enya ordered. She fired on the wall as the other
Drafeng and their beasts attacked as well.
Spells rained down on Enya’s force as they advanced.
“Have the chaotic beasts charge in. They will cover the Drafeng who will break to the left and right. Have them spread out to not get hit by the Dena’s spells. We will pull back out of the range of the De- na weapons and study the situation,” Enya said.
She was a new commander but she had been Drafeng in the last war; she knew about the Dena people and their tricks.
Arrows cut through the night. The chaotic beasts and Drafeng fell to their silent rain.
Enchanted arrows discharged their attacks.
Mana barriers flashed into reality, protecting the Dena wall from Drafeng attacks that flared across them, the attack force col- oring the mana barriers.
Cannons fired as fast as they could be reloaded, covering the wall in smoke that was cleared away quickly by the winds rolling off the cold sea at the Dena’s backs.
The chaotic beasts advanced through the darkness but they left bodies trailing behind them. The Drafeng force split into two and turned. The Dena army targeted them specifically, letting the chaotic beasts close as they dropped cannonballs and spells into the true Drafeng’s midst.
As they turned and fled, their casualties only increased and they raced to exit the Dena’s range.
Enya watched them spreading out, but they were all riding to- gether to get to the defenses faster. So, although the edges were spread out, the interior was still packed in tightly, becoming the tar- gets of the Dena army.
She turned with them, her breath coming out hot and heavy as anger filled her eyes.
***
Admiral Raye had gotten word from General Axion and watched the night filled with destruction. The mana barriers staved off at- tacks as attacks lit up the wall with light.
Cannons rolled like thunder as the mages, from their casting nests, launched long-range attacks as the signal officer got orders from the forces on the beach, using a series of light flashes.
Sitting back didn’t sit well with him as he and the divination mage surveyed the battlefield. The enemy used their chaotic beasts to distract the wall as their Drafeng peeled away and started to gain distance. He watched with cold eyes as attacks landed among them, leaving bodies behind.
The chaotic beasts reached the walls—a few to start, then more. The army dropped stones and used their spears and melee weapons,
attacking them as the chaotic beasts tried to climb up the defenses. A
signal came from the Drafeng as those on the wall kept on go- ing and those behind them turned and fled.
The casting nests rained down attacks and mages behind the wall continued to attack. As cannons were cleared, the gunners rammed them forward and fired.
The First and Second Army operated like a well-oiled machine. The chaotic beasts were chased off and out of the range of the spells and attacks from the wall.
The wall went silent as the last thunder rolled across the stained snow and across the shore.
Cannons started to cool. The water spray from the waves crash- ing against the beach sizzled on the black behemoths that were pulled back. Crews cleared them and readied them. Wounded were pulled back to the healers.
Chaotic beasts were thrown back over the wall.
Mages cast dissolving spells. The mounds of chaotic beasts melt- ed, removing the blockages from in front of the wall.
Mages drank mana potions; firing positions were resupplied as the spells above the wall were canceled. Lights filled the position as the army’s position was brought back to full readiness, as if nothing had happened.
Admiral Raye pulled back his vision and looked over his ship. “There has to be a commander among them. There are plenty of
Drafeng with them, too—nearly five hundred regulars and one hun- dred elites,” Thunderwing said.
“We’ve only made it to the shore,” Raye said. “I think we’re go- ing to need more support.”
“Send a report to the high judge and the protector,” Raye said.
***
Anthony put down yet another Guardian Flame. He stood and stretched as he waited for it to activate.
Which town is this? Any city he had seen on his path he’d de- ployed a guardian flame. Taking off before he could figure out even the name of the place.
People were looking over at him. It was late afternoon, with night coming s
oon.
He waited for the flame to activate and used it to contact Shiv- ernsin.
“Guardian Anthony.” A gnome appeared in the flame, facing him.
“Hello. What’s your name?”
“I’m Guardian, uh, new Guardian Gnock,” the gnome said. “Ah, is Claire there?” Anthony asked.
Gnock turned to the side and a few minutes later, Claire ap- peared in the flames as well.
“Hey.” Anthony’s voice softened. He felt better just seeing her. Though his relaxed feeling was offset by feeling her heart tighten- ing in his chest.
Chapter: Wrath of the Protector
While it was nighttime in Cheon, it was early night in Shivernsin. Claire had gotten the message from Thunderwing, with the reports from the army, through Gnock.
She didn’t need to sleep and had been thinking on it all night. As the morning arrived, she headed up to see the rising of the sun. She didn’t feel the cold anymore as she looked at the new dawn.
She heard a familiar noise. Acting more out of reaction than con- scious thought, she sent out a blast of mage fire. A wave of green flames appeared from her right hand, covering an area fifty feet wide and expanding as it shot out into the sky. With her left hand, a mana barrier covered Shivernsin.
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