Esamael took his time in responding, which kept the trader’s guild chapter head bowed, an act that aggravated the old man’s back.
“I have heard that the Stone Raiders are charging less than a third as much for people to go through their teleport pad versus our own. It seems to have created a boom of trade within Verlun. I’ve also heard that because the banks did not accept their offers, they are working on making their own. Our taxable business has decreased by fifty percent and they are exporting and importing more materials than any other teleport pad in Emerilia. I’ve heard rumors that they are even starting to facilitate talks with the empires and kingdoms in Ashal for supplies.”
Esamael’s voice was calm; none of his inner rage showed through. However, Geswald knew the man enough to know that he was furious. One wrong word and he would have Geswald’s head.
“While this has been going on, you have levied taxes against them and tried to get the people they trade with to turn against them, with little progress.”
Geswald raised himself to standing. “My lord, the peasants believe that they can earn more coin from the Stone Raiders. They have banded together and are working to make more gold. I have heard that your tax collectors are getting more gold than ever before.”
“You think this is about gold? This is about power, Geswald! This upstart guild comes in here, places a teleport pad within my own territory and they dare to compete with me. Teleport pads are not just convenient ways to travel from one location to another; they are dominating power. With them, you can control your land completely. You decide and control who comes into your land and how much money you gain. Without our own people to guard the teleport pad, the king of Gudalo and other interests can move around my territory freely. I know there is a veritable flood of the king’s own spies now in my territory. We need to have control of that teleport pad now.” Esamael’s fist slammed into the table. The heavy wood creaked under his strength.
“Yes, my lord.” Geswald bowed once again.
“We are just months away from removing our beloved king from his high seat. We cannot let his spies learn of our actions. If they do, then the king will call for his army and sweep down here before we have time to put our plans into action. I heard you had a plan to attack the Stone Raiders before. I want that plan to be pushed forward. In one month, I want the Stone Raiders’ guild hall to be nothing but ashes and a bad memory. They were driven out of Selhi for having a war in the middle of a city. At the same time, target those who sided with the Stone Raiders instead of with us.”
Geswald’s body shook, not from his aching muscles but in fear. The dice had been rolled and the lines made. He had to pick a side. “I will see to it.” Geswald had too much invested with Lord Esamael, the future king of Gudalo.
Unseen to all in the room, a miniature scout automaton sent out an encoded message.
***
Shard shared the recorded video with Florence.
“Well, it was a matter of time until it happened.” She looked at her reports. She was currently within the Mirror of Communication guild hall, allowing the two of them to talk freely.
“Are you not going to do anything about this?” Shard asked.
A prompt appeared in Florence’s vision. “One second.” She read it over.
Quest: Coup in Gudalo
You have received information on a coup being planned by Lord Esamael to remove King Sigaird from power. Will you let Lord Esamael’s plans succeed and assist him or warn the king of the plot?
Failure: ???
Rewards: ???
“I will, but we have time and now is not the time to distract the other guild members who are at Devil’s Crater.”
“What will you do?” Shard asked.
“I will take this recording, share it with the people I have made friends with in this town. I will also send a personal message to the king with this video attached—in three weeks’ time.”
“Why wait so long? Even if the king was to call his army, it would take two weeks. Another week and a half to reach us…” Shard trailed off.
“When Esamael and Geswald’s forces come to us, we’ll bury them! We are the Stone Raiders; people have been thinking that we’re weak because most of the fighting forces have been gone for going on eight months game time. In Selhi, we were driven out. Here, this is our guild hall. We won’t let others push us around and try to bully us.” Florence’s kind face turned into hard lines. Attacking Lord Esamael would turn the population against them. Though if Lord Esamael made the first move and pushed his forces out for everyone to see, then the Stone Raiders would just be defending themselves and they could go full out on them.
I didn’t pick this fight, but we will end it, one way or another. By either defending our hall, or coming back again and again until there is none of them left. The Stone Raiders don’t give up, even if we die a hundred times.
***
Ela-Dorn looked at the portal that rested in front of her and her small army of researchers. They might have been asleep for a few hundred years but the light of curiosity shone bright in their eyes, from the oldest masters to the youngest novices.
The covering of the portal had been removed, something that the Aleph had never been capable of before. Every time they had tried, the power had surged within the portal and destroyed the runes and inner workings. Now, it was all laid bare. There was a ring with multiple breaks in it running around inside the portal’s protective outer layer.
Multiple metals ran around the portal’s length. Odd-looking boxes and all manner of components were at different lengths of the portal’s radius.
Saying that it was complex would be an understatement. It was the greatest puzzle known to the Aleph: the power to link across entire planets.
“Well, we’ve cracked the outer layer. It’s time that we start to find out the portal’s hidden secrets.” Ela-Dorn’s words broke the almost reverent atmosphere in the room, mobilizing people.
They had a lot of work to do, trying to compare the notes of the various mages who had gathered information from the portals to be used in teleport pads, with the actual information that they now had in front of them.
The future isn’t written in the codexes and textbooks. Those are just the stepping stones we might use in order to achieve even greater things in the future, creating a new path to follow and new textbooks to push our descendants forward with.
With a smile, Ela-Dorn walked toward the portal.
Chapter 9: Hold The Line
“Send our forces along the cliffs. Have them move to attack the other keeps and climb the cliffs into the crater. Concentrate our forces on the Demons’ formation outside the keep. We’ll force them to play their reserves outside the keep or start hitting them all across the cliffs. They can’t have as many forces at their disposal as us. What forces can we send to assist them?” the Dark Lord rattled off, looking to Boran-al.
“We have champions in the south but they’re days’ travel away. For Creatures of Power, we have some wraiths and spectres, but they’re hours away and they will be heavily weakened in the daylight.”
“Have our forces concentrate their attack at the weaker flanks near the base of the cliffs. Send the champions we have to those locations.” The Dark Lord’s eyes traced something racing across the sky. “Alkao, Malkur, and Vrexu.”
His eyes lit with malevolent light. They had been his most powerful creations at one time, the seven Demon Princes who stood over all of the Demon Horde. It looked as if they had retained their prince status but they eagerly ganged up on the Dark Lord’s Demon Champions. Their fighting abilities in the air and their ability to fight as one enabled them to quickly bring champion after champion to the ground.
The Dark Lord gnashed his teeth. He could feel their power growing from constantly fighting his champions.
“Target those three traitors.” The Dark Lord pointed to the three Demon Princes as their latest victim plummeted toward the ground.
Tens of t
housands of bodies littered the ground.
The Dark Lord looked down on the destruction with glee.
***
“Does my butt look big with these legs?” Steve asked, driving said foot through a Demon. “Ah, sonuva bitch!”
Dave looked over, seeing Steve shaking the Demon corpse off his foot.
“Suzy, did you have to soul bond with this one? I think it’s broken!” Dave yelled.
“Well, we can just melt him down for parts, right?” Suzy yelled back as she threw out a new creation core from her bag. Two Air creations acted like a pitching machine and sent the core flying. It landed in the middle of the Demon formation; five others followed it.
The earth—roots, trees, debris, and all—rose into three short centipede-looking creatures with vines sprouting from their top. The vines lashed out—growing, shortening, and tying down the Demons. The thorns on the vines tore the Demons’ bodies open.
“Hey, I was just asking if these legs make my butt look big. You two have been changing out my limbs so much I’m not sure which ones I’m wearing!” Steve complained as he backhanded a Demon across the battlefield.
“Forward!” Dwayne called.
“Hooah!” the Stone Raiders yelled back. All of them had been trained in the Dwarves’ way of fighting with the shield.
Dave didn’t miss the smiles on both Gurren and Lox’s faces. They had loved their time with the Dwarven Warclans. Out here, they were becoming stronger than they would have been in decades of being in the Warclans. They didn’t have to care about how they looked; they just had to be the best they could be.
Lox used his incredible strength and blocked a charging Demon. His shield stopped it as though it hit a metal wall. Lox let out a cry; his blade took the Demon’s leg off and then flashed out to stab into the Demon’s eye.
“Well? Opinions, people!” Steve demanded.
“I don’t know. It looks like they’re faster and you are more powerful. They definitely look better than that one time you went into battle wearing that thong!” Dave said.
“Hey, I was channeling my inner barbarian!” Steve said, sounding hurt.
“More like your inner lingerie model,” Suzy said.
Dave snorted, unable to hold his laughter, as he smashed in a Demon’s chest with his war hammer. He then dropped low to take another’s legs out and slammed the massive head of the weapon through the creature’s head as it hit the ground. Changing the hammer to a bow, he sent three arrows flying and took down three Demons.
“Dave, move right!” Malsour yelled.
Dave did so, giving Malsour an opening. From his hands, Dark bolts ripped free as fast as bullets from a machine gun.
Dave made a war axe, using it to support himself as he crossed his right foot over his left, looking completely relaxed.
“Hey, why does Dave get to relax?” Steve grumbled. “Fore!”
Steve twirled his axe, taking out several Demons before he took a half-step/jump forward, planted his feet, brought his axe low, and slammed into a Demon with a oh-shit-this-is-going-to-hurt expression on its face.
Dave put his hand over his eyes as he looked at the flying Demon. “Nice! Not that aerodynamic, though.”
“Dave!” Malsour said.
“Fine. I’ll get back to work.” Dave’s war axe turned into a shield and sword as he charged in behind the last bolt of Malsour’s Dark magic.
“The Demon Horde is pushing the DCA’s flanks, which are still weak since they haven’t got a firm hold on the cliffs. Therefore, the Demons are making it around them. We need to push up so that we can push our flanks out more and box the Demons in completely,” Josh said.
“Well, you heard the guildmaster. Forward!” Dwayne called out.
The Stone Raiders once again all stepped forward as one. With every step, they pushed back the Demons, who were thinning out. Their forces rushed back toward the cliffs and the weak flanks of the formation tried to box them in.
As the Stone Raiders moved, they were able to support more of the DCA, who also moved forward where they could.
“I hope it’s in time before those flanks give way,” Lox said.
Dave and Gurren grunted their agreement.
***
“Damned Dark Lord’s champions!” Lezar barked as he ducked under a wild slash by a Demon. He punched it in the chest, winding it before his sword opened its stomach and chest.
Small cuts covered his body as he held the line with his soldiers on either side. His left wing shot out, turning him fast out of the way of a rock flung at his head. His right wing shot out; the spikes on the end of the bones stabbed through the rock chucker.
Lezar jumped; his wings flapped to raise him up before they collapsed back into his sides. He landed on another one of the Demon Horde, dropping his full weight to knock them to the ground. He drove his sword through them and back out.
Standing up, he flared out his wings, using his wing spikes to impale a running Demon, once again coating them in blood.
“Move it! It’s time we removed the Dark One’s blight from our lands!” His brigade took heart in their general’s words, pushing forward as he fought a fierce battle among the Demon Horde.
We need to push them faster. Our flanks don’t even reach the cliffs; we’re too far away and the Demon Horde is getting around us.
Lezar switched to the command party chat. “We need reinforcements.” Lezar would have never made such a request before training with the Beast Kin. “Our flanks are open and the Demon Horde is leaking through. Either they’re going to hit us in the back or they’re going to head for the cliffs. If they get us in the back, then I’m going to need to collapse my lines to watch both directions. If they go to the cliffs, we’re going to be fighting on so many different sides that it’s going to be a mess.”
“Very well.” Alkao sounded as if he was deep in thought. “Vrexu, you will support Lezar. Malkur, move your forces to assist Efri. Close the holes in our flanks. Spread scouts out to look for the Demons who made it past our lines. Once we have the Demon Horde boxed in, we’ll create fortifications around them and move forces to search and destroy the Demons who escaped.”
“Understood,” Malkur said.
“On my way, Lezar,” Vrexu said.
“Be quick. The longer we wait, the more of those creatures get through,” Lezar said.
“Use the support of the Dwarven Mana cannons; they’re much more powerful than I thought. I will give half to you and Efri to command. I’ll move the Stone Raider forces in the keep who are Players to search the cliffs for any of the Demon Horde trying to get into Devil’s Crater,” Alkao said.
“A battle plan never survives contact with the enemy,” Lezar said.
“Couldn’t have said truer words.”
Lezar changed to the support channel, beheading a Demon while dodging another’s fists and claws. His wing snapped out again, making the Demon reel back with the hit. Lezar stabbed his claws into the Demon’s chest and ripped its heart out. He tossed it and jumped backward from a vicious swipe aimed at his head. He took a rock to the shoulder.
Lezar felt his inner anger surge, a hunger to bring pain upon his enemies well up inside him. He let out a shout. His voice turned into an elemental force as Demons were thrown away.
New Spell Learned: Siren’s scream
Your very voice commands the powers of Air into a physical form.
“Lezar?” Lucy asked.
Lezar wiped away the notification. Looks like I have an Affinity to Air.
“I need those Mana cannons support!” Lezar’s sword finished off those who had fallen from his shout. Slowly but surely, his lines to either side were moving forward.
“Change out lines!” Lezar said, seeing the fatigue in the front line’s movements. Although they had a massive Endurance and Willpower after the Beast Kins’ training, they had been in battle for hours.
The lines switched; the second line fought through the first, their blades and spears taking down De
mons from the Horde. It was not without losses. Many of the DCA had laid down their lives in service, giving their lives so that they might hold the lines.
The DCA had brought nearly two hundred thousand into the fight, with another fifty thousand on top of the keep. They might have better training and some of them had weapons and armor, but most were fighting with their hands and in rough clothes. Barely better than the Demon Horde.
They could take down a Demon from the Horde easily, but they were outnumbered nearly four to one. Without armor, they were being cut up by the Demon Horde’s claws and teeth.
Fifteen thousand had already fallen. As they got tired, they were falling faster and faster; the Demon Horde pushed forward, without care for their well-being. Many stopped, eating the fallen and letting out their war cries before charging forward.
It wasn’t a battle; it was a fight for survival.
Without weapons and armor, it was turning into a fight of who had the more fighters, something that the DCA couldn’t win.
His anger pushed him forward as wind gathered around him; a veritable maelstrom rose around him, cutting at his opponents. He moved; his image blurred with speed and he pulled power from his Affinity as he moved through the fray. His eyes searched for the Dark Lord’s champions.
Lezar looked around. His lines were falling apart. They might be better trained, but his DCA troopers were fighting with mostly crude sticks, their own claws, teeth, feet, and wings.
The Demon Horde overwhelmed them with numbers and now with the Demons turned Dark Champions, they were no longer the strongest on the field of battle.
Lezar looked to his blood-sworn. They were his most loyal supporters. They had followed him when he had been nothing but a Demon Prince. They were some of the strongest within the DCA and would lay down their lives for him.
He looked to Yorai, the leader of his blood-sworn. He didn’t need to say anything as Yorai smiled.
This is Our Land (Emerilia Book 5) Page 10