I pulled Ella into a turn before we reached the barrier, flying as close to it as I dared without slamming into it headfirst. My heart was racing, and I could barely hear the rushing wind over the blood rushing through my ears. My breath was coming hard and fast.
Don’t panic, I told myself. Focus. Clear your mind. For once, listen to Greystone.
I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again I was in control.
Looking back out across the horde of Shadows, I could see things weren’t as bad as I’d feared. In fact, there were probably less of the creatures here than we’d fought at the Battle of the Circle.
Of course, everyone at the Battle of the Circle had died. So, maybe that wasn’t the best unit to measure by.
But I saw no signs of defeat here. The creatures swarmed around the gate, and I saw several of them carrying battering rams. But the dull thunks I could hear down at the bottom sounded pathetic and tiny compared to the massive bulk of the gate. Archers on the ground fired arrows at the men in the towers high above, but the battlements did their job, protecting the humans from the flying projectiles. In response, the Morrowdust archers were wreaking a terrible toll on the creatures below them. The Shadows were simply pressed too closely together. You couldn’t miss if you fired an arrow into their midst. In addition, I saw four massive machines on the towers, the likes of which I’d never seen before. They reminded me of crossbows, but about ten times as big. They fired bolts that were the size of small spears. The bolts impaled multiple Shadows with every shot, and the men manning the machines then ratched them back to fire again. But despite the heavy losses they were taking, the Shadows weren’t retreating.
Then I heard a massive roar. It was gritty, like concrete blocks grinding against one another, but bigger. Like you took two asphalt roads, flipped one of them over, and slid it against the other one. It broke the air, deafening even through the muffling effect of the barrier.
I knew that roar. I’d heard one like it before on one of our first few days in Midrealm. A hellion.
“Crud,” I muttered.
Calvin was just arriving at the bottom of the barrier gate. Far away, I thought I saw more figures emerging from the gates of Morrowdust. Blade and the others. I dropped Ella into a dive, heading for the ground where Calvin was waiting.
Raven!
I started, almost jerking on my reins before I stopped myself. I looked wildly around, half expecting someone to be riding on the saddle behind me, but of course there was no one.
Greystone?
On the northern tower! he said. Quickly!
I sighed and pulled Ella out of the dive, wheeling her around to gain some altitude and swooping around to the tower. As we approached more slowly, I saw the wizened old figure standing there. Ella came in slow, but the wind from her wings still practically knocked the men off the other side of the tower. Only Greystone was unaffected, his robes as still as though there were no wind at all. Ella’s massive talons sank into the stone battlements.
“I can’t say I’m unhappy to see you,” Greystone said grudgingly. Coming from him, that was a huge compliment. “How many of the others are there?”
“Calvin’s at the bottom of the tower with Darren,” I told him. “Blade, Barius and Samuel are on their way. Should be a few minutes.”
Greystone shook his head. “I wish that all of you were here. But there was no way you could have known.”
“Greystone, what is this?”
He looked troubled as he turned to stare out at the lands beyond the barrier gate. “This is the first stroke in the siege. Terrence is attacking, just as Podric promised us he would. But we are ready this time.”
“Then why do you look worried?” I asked, concerned.
He glowered at me. “A wizard is never worried. But I do not understand the reasoning behind such an attack.”
“Hey, we know the guy’s crazy,” I said with a shrug.
“Mad, yes,” said Greystone, almost sounding as if he was talking to himself. “But foolish? Never.”
I heard the roar of the hellion again, and then a hideous gurgling noise that was all too familiar.
“Greystone! Get down!” I cried.
Greystone shook his head. There was a shouted command, and the archers on the walls yanked at a system of pulleys that hadn’t been there the last time I was on the gate. Metal plates sprang up, swinging into view from the front lip of the walls. I saw the metal plates jerk as a stream of corrupt Chaos splashed against them, but the iron held. The corruption splashed off, falling back down upon the army below the wall. I heard the hissing shrieks of Shadows.
“That’s new,” I remarked.
“As are the ballistas. As I said, this time we are prepared,” Greystone said. “The gates have been spiked. The hellions will not find it as easy to break them down as they did the last time they were here.” He turned away again.
The archers lowered the metal plates and resumed their steady stream of arrows into the horde below. “Where do you need us?” I asked.
The door down into the tower opened suddenly, and Calvin clambered out. Darren was right behind him. “I’m here!” said Calvin breathlessly. “I’m ready!” He wheeled to look at the machines at the front corners of the tower. “Oh, holy crud! Bolt throwers! Awesome!”
“Shocked as I find myself to admit it, it is good to see you, Lord Calvin,” said Greystone. “Lady Raven, fly beyond the barrier. But not from here; their archers would make short work of you. Come through further down, and strike at them from the flank and the rear. Distract the hellion, if you can. Lord Calvin, as soon as you are able, fling the beast into the barrier.”
“Got it,” I said. I nudged Ella, and she leapt backward from the parapet. Calvin went rolling head over heels across the stone. Chuckling, I guided Ella away down the barrier.
Once we were far enough away, I unleashed a bolt of lightning at the blue energy before me. It tore a hole like a knife through fabric. With a firm tug on the reins, I guided Ella through it. The barrier resealed itself behind us with a sharp crack.
We wheeled wide around the rear of the Shadow army. I kept our altitude high to avoid their arrow fire. As soon as I was close enough, I unleashed bolt after bolt into the mass below me. If I concentrated, I could arc the bolt from Shadow to Shadow, frying many of them where they stood. But after the first couple of blasts, the ones with bows began to fire up at me. At this height, their aim was wide, but I had to keep swerving left and right to avoid the occasional near miss.
“Okay, enough with the small fry,” I muttered. I swung Ella wide from the press again, then whipped her around and into a dive.
Air screamed at my face, threatening to rip my hair from its leather tie. The pony tail slammed into the back of my neck like a devil on my shoulder screaming Slow down! I gritted my teeth, looping the reins around the saddle horn and sitting a bit straighter in my seat. I prayed to whoever might be listening that the Shadows would be too disoriented to shoot us as we passed right over their heads.
Then we were coasting above the army, and I saw black faces look up at us in shock and hatred. We were far too high for them to fling their weapons at us, but some of them tried anyway. Arrows went whizzing by, all of them miles behind us. We were moving too fast to hit.
We neared the hellion. I took a deep breath and put forth my hands. I cleared my mind as Greystone had taught me, suddenly finding the peace and clarity of thought that came with my meditations. And then I reached for the power deep within myself, and I unleashed it.
A massive column of electricity leapt from my outstretched palms, combining in midair to slam into the hellion’s back with the force of a freight train. A deafening thunderclap snapped through the air like an entire forest falling at once. The hellion was propelled forward to slam into the massive spikes that had been installed on the front of the barrier gate. It wasn’t enough force to impale the thing, but its roars of agony were like music.
I grabbed Ella’s reins and wheele
d her hard left and up, fleeing the vengeful wrath of the hellion as it spun and fired an ineffective blast of corruption. Instead, the black guck splashed through the ranks of Shadows, hissing as it ate away at their armor. The hellion took several steps away from the gate, roaring its defiance at us as we sped away.
Then suddenly the hellion jerked. Or at least, its arms did, as though they were on invisible puppet strings. They went straight up, lifting the creature a few feet off the ground. It thrashed against the sudden confinement, and the invisible bonds broke. The hellion crashed back into the ground, but almost immediately it regained its feet, its hateful attention still focused on me.
Its arms jerked up again, and this time Calvin managed to fling the thing almost a dozen feet toward the side of the barrier gate. But the hellion broke free again, this time landing among the Shadow army with a disgusting crunch. It fought to stand once more.
Just as the hellion looked as though it would stand, a roaring gout of flame sprang to life from the top of the tower. It bathed the hellion in white hot death, and I heard the sizzling hiss of roasting flesh. The hellion’s screams were a whole new level of loud. But still it fought to stand, ignoring the agony of its roasting as it turned baleful eyes toward the top of the tower.
But this time, Calvin was ready. I watched as the hellion’s whole body raised up into the air, jerkily, as though it had been yanked. Then the creature flew through the air toward the barrier at the side of the tower.
But it missed at the last second, slamming instead into the stone wall of the tower. It spun in midair, crashing into the ground while one of its arms fell into the barrier. With a flash, a crackle and a gush of black smoke, the arm disappeared. The wound was instantly cauterized.
But the hellion was getting up yet again. And as I watched, from the blackened stump of where its arm had once been, four stubby fingers emerged. Slowly, I watched a hand follow. The arm was regrowing, the hellion regenerating its entire lost limb.
Only I didn’t let it.
I swooped low once again, flying directly at the hellion. And when I was close, I unleashed another blast of lightning that pitched it headfirst into the barrier. Its roar of pain was cut short as its top half vaporized, and the bottom of its torso and legs slumped to the ground, twitching. At long last, they lay still.
The Shadow army howled in dismay as they saw the creature fall, and one by one they turned to retreat. Their panicked feet carried them away from the barrier gate as fast as they could possibly go.
Feeling the adrenaline beginning to wear off, I waved my hand and tore another gap in the barrier. Ella and I soared through, and I heard it snap close behind us.
I guided her gently to the top of the tower once more, and once again her gust of wind caused everyone to sway like wheat before a storm. Greystone, Calvin and Blade stood there. Greystone looked satisfied, and Blade looked smug, but Calvin looked exhausted.
“Not bad, little guy,” I said, smiling. “Even though I had to mop up after you.”
Calvin was slumped to the side, clinging to the battlements as though he’d fall to the ground without their support. “You try lifting one of those things. I can’t even imagine how much they must weigh. As much as an elephant. Or ten.”
“Well, it’s done now,” I said. “So take a rest.”
“I could do another round,” said Blade with a smirk, cracking his knuckles. “I say bring it on.”
Bwooooo
The long, solemn note of a war horn filled the air. Blade’s smile melted away like an ice cream cone in summer. We turned to look to the west.
The Shadows from the gate were still fleeing for their lives. But far beyond them, above the edges of the hills that marked the edge of vision, we saw more Shadows. Thousands more. They poured over the top of the hill like a plague, slow like molasses but unstoppable like a glacier. And stalking hungrily in their midst, I saw the hulking, brutish form of hellions.
Six of them.
I looked at Blade and shook my head disdainfully. “You couldn’t keep your mouth shut, could you?”
CALVIN
BLADE SIGHED. “UM, I’M SORRY?” he said. He cracked his knuckles again. “But seriously, we’ve got this. They can’t touch the gate with us on it. I’m ready to torch some more of those bad boys.”
I used a little jet of air to help me get back on my feet. My arms felt nearly numb from the strain of airlifting that hellion, but I wasn’t about to let that get the better of me. I shook out my arms, trying to get them into working order again.
“I suppose that I must acknowledge your enthusiasm,” said Greystone irritably. “Although, of course, your flames have little to no effect on the hellions.”
Blade simply shrugged.
“Okay, so what do we do then?” asked Raven, looking around for an answer.
I didn’t have one. I was starting to feel a little better though. Still, I wasn’t looking forward to the thought of having to fight another few hellions. I doubted if I could pick one up again.
“I never thought I’d say this,” I admitted, “but I wish Sarah was here.”
“And I never thought I’d say this to you,” came a voice from behind me, “but your wish is my command.”
I spun to find Sarah standing at the tower entrance, Miles and Tess at her side. I gave her an excited hug and turned to Raven, smiling.
“You saw that, right? You’re a witness. I’m freaking magic.” I looked up at the sky. “I wish I had a General Sherman tank.”
Sarah’s eyebrows shot up. “Calvin, we’re all magic. We’re wizards, remember?”
I shrugged. “It was worth a shot. But since there’s no tank, I’ll acknowledge that my wish might have been a coincidence. Blade, on the other hand, wished for the invading army, so we can still blame him for that one.”
“If we’re blaming people for wishes coming true, I say tape you to a flagpole,” said Blade. “This whole world is your little nerd dream.”
“Okay, guys, rein it in,” said Sarah. But I saw the corner of her mouth twitching. “I need to know what we’re dealing with.”
I pointed. “You see those Shadows? The ones running like they’re on fire?”
“Some of them are on fire,” Miles pointed out.
I nodded. “Just a minute ago, they were here at the gate trying to bring it down. And they had three hellions with them. I took one of them out using the barrier. The other two got taken down by the bolt throwers.” I pointed out the bodies of the hellions in the fields. They looked like boulders, huge, black and looming. “There, and there.”
“Wow,” said Tess quietly. “These machines did that?”
I nodded proudly. “Yep. Heck of a defensive weapon, a ballista. It can take out enemy siege weapons, or skewer a whole bunch of troops at once. I figure if we can hold the hellions away for a bit inside their firing range, they should be able to take them out for us.”
“An excellent suggestion,” said Greystone, “save only for the fact that they are nearly out of bolts.”
My face dropped. “Oh.”
“Okay, what other ideas do we have?” asked Sarah.
I turned to Greystone. “You tell us, man. What hurts these things?”
Greystone thought hard. “They can withstand nearly any damage to their bodies and regenerate it. But their heads are vulnerable. If the head is removed, the beast dies.”
“Okay, so aim for the head,” Miles said. “But with what?”
“Anything you can,” Greystone said. “Piercing the brain is best. But any sufficiently strong attack will destroy them.”
“Okay, guys,” Sarah said. “Let’s split up, three on each tower. Blade, take Raven and Calvin over to the other side. Calvin and Tess, do what you can, but I mostly want you on defense. Put up fields to protect us and the archers. Raven, I’d feel better if you were here on solid ground with the rest of us.”
Raven nodded. “No problem there. Some of those arrows were way too close for comfort.”
“If they manage to get through the gate, we pour everything we have into throwing them back,” Sarah continued. “Greystone, is there any way we can get more troops on the ground?”
Greystone looked distracted, as though his mind was somewhere else. He looked at Sarah as though startled and shook his head. “Every man in Morrowdust who can hold a spear and shield has been summoned.”
“The Runegard are mobilizing,” Cara said. “They held their position in the Runehold while you were still sleeping, but now they will march to us. We can expect them within the hour.”
“Awesome,” said Sarah. “Okay, you know what to do. Let’s get to it.”
I looked to Raven and Blade and grinned. “Team Fire, back again.”
Blade shook my head. “If that’s going to be a thing, we need a better name. You’re not allowed to say Team Fire again until you think of one.”
I tried to hide my disappointment. I thought Team Fire was an awesome name.
We leapt down the stairs to the wall two at a time, double-timing it to the other tower and taking a position in the middle of the front parapets. An archer standing there glanced up as we approached, then did a double take as he realized who we were. He stepped quickly to the side, giving me plenty of room.
“Greetings, Realm Keeper,” he said nervously. I heard his voice crack and gave him another look. The kid couldn’t have been any older than Blade. Then I realized how ironic it was to think of him as a “kid” if that was the case.
“Hey, man,” I said. “How have things been going up here?”
“The first assault was not too much trouble,” he said. “Though dealing with that last hellion became much easier once you arrived.”
“That’s what we do,” I said with a smile. “Chaos exterminators extraordinaire.” I saw a smile ghost across his face. I wondered what that translated to in Midrealm-ian, or whatever they spoke over here.
I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Greystone standing behind us, his face still troubled. “Remember,” he told us. “Your lives have the highest priority. Hold the forces of Chaos at bay, but stay alive.”
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