by Seth Ring
“We come in peace and bring many benefits. Consider well before you reject us.”
“Peace? Then why do I see an army?” Scoffing, the Captain laughed at the Crimson Snake commander. “You are not welcome here. Take your soldiers and leave.”
“You are making a huge mistake.” Veins in Angdrin’s neck bulged briefly as he struggled to keep his anger under control.
“Don’t worry about us. The valley is closed.”
Watching the captain disappear from the top of the wall, it was all that Angdrin could do to keep himself from rushing forward to smash the gate. With a visible effort he took deep breaths, calming himself.
“Was this part of your plan?” Despite all his restraint, he could not stop himself from snapping at the black armored figure as he walked back to the army. “A twenty-five-foot-high wall? Where did this castle come from?”
“I’m not sure, but it is certainly a mixed blessing.”
“A mixed blessing? Are you serious? How could having a massive fortress blocking me off from my land be considered a good thing?”
“Sure, it is in your way now. But what about after you conquer it? It won’t disappear, right? That means you will have a massive fortress. Imagine people’s faces when you speak to them from atop that wall.” Ouroboros’ voice drifted softly around Angdrin, cooling his anger and hardening his determination.
“That is true. Per our agreement, the land and everything on it is mine.” Angdrin looked at Ouroboros from the corner of his eyes. “That includes the fortress, right?”
“Of course it does. Like I said, I’m only here to prove myself trustworthy. The spoils will all go to you this time around.”
“If that is the case, then we attack.”
“You don’t want to try negotiating one more time?”
“No.” Angdrin was determined. “You know how stubborn natives are. The only way they will listen is with a sword through their gut.” Lifting his hand, he was about to command his army to advance when the hair on the back of his neck rose and a sense of danger swept over him. “[Blood Shie…]!”
*Whump*
Angdrin had almost finished summoning his [Blood Shield] when a massive bolt from a siege crossbow ripped through the air, glancing off the half formed red orb in front of him, sending him tumbling to the ground. The bolt smashed into the ground, showering the area in dirt. It had come without warning and would have skewered Angdrin through his chest if he had not been instinctively moving to the side.
Even with his defensive ability, the sheer force of the attack glancing off his shield knocked him from his feet. Rolling over, Angdrin scrambled to his feet, looking around wildly. For a moment, the only sound in the pass was his ragged panting.
*Creak*
The clear sound of a crossbow being reloaded drew all eyes to the top of the gate where Thorn stood, his arbalest loaded and leveled. Silent, he stood there, his armor glinting silver in the morning light.
At the sight of the giant, Angdrin took an instinctive step back, watching him warily. It took him a moment to realize that the bolt was not even pointed at him. Thorn’s arbalest never wavered, his large hands holding it as still as stone, fixed firmly on the player in black armor.
“The valley is closed.” Thorn’s deep voice brooked no argument.
“Thorn!” The fury that Angdrin had been trying so hard to restrain burst forth like a river through a breached dam, completely erasing any restraint he had possessed. “Charge! Kill them all!”
Responding with a roar, the Crimson Snakes surged forward into the pass, weapons drawn. A block of archers drew their bows, sending arrows flying toward the top of the wall to try and provide cover for the charging warriors. Behind them, healers began casting buffs on the warriors, trying to minimize as much damage as possible.
“Shields up!” Bellowed Captain Del’har, sending the top of the wall into a flurry of action. Lifting the large wooden shield, the soldiers rested one end in the slot cut in the wall and propped up the other end with the wooden poles that had been cut from the forest.
“Return fire!”
The Freemen archers stepped forward, their well-used bows drawn to the fullest. A sharp hiss rose as the arrows shot forward, falling on the charging warriors. Groups of four arrows targeted the same warrior, causing casualties immediately. Each group of archers contained four Freemen and two hunters. The leader of each group would call a target and all four archers would fire on the target, usually causing instant death. Next to them, the two hunters from Greymane Village would have arrows ready to hand them.
Wave after wave of concentrated fire poured from the wall, cutting down the Crimson Snake fighters. Ouroboros, seeing the shields go up, instantly knew that things were going to go poorly for the Crimson Snakes and called his forces back. Angdrin, oblivious to the damage being caused to his army, charged blindly forward, his elite squad surrounding him.
Seeing them run forward, Captain Del’har commanded four squads to focus fire on Angdrin’s group. Twelve arrows shot out with deadly accuracy, each aiming for one of the warriors around the Crimson Snake leader. Almost instinctively, the four targeted warriors lifted their shields, knocking aside the arrows with ease. Seeing that the arrows would have no effect, the Captain commanded the archers to resume firing at the regular soldiers.
Thorn had kept his arbalest aimed at the black armored enemy who had not moved a single step from his original position. The black armored warrior gave Thorn a dangerous feeling. Seeing that he was still standing there, Thorn swung his arbalest toward Angdrin, watching for movement. Still, the black armored man just stood in place, watching.
Tearing his eyes away, Thorn aimed at Angdrin’s advancing party and fired, sending the large bolt through the air. This time, Angdrin was ready and a quick chant raised a red swirling shield over the group. Splintering on the shield, the bolt exploded into shards, peppering the surrounding fighters with slivers of wood and steel. A second and third bolt soon followed the fate of the first, hardly slowing their advance.
By this point, the warriors had reached the wall and began to toss out grappling hooks, trying to gain purchase on the wall. As fast as they landed on the wall, the hunters would dash forward, severing the ropes under the cover of the archers. Back and forth, the two forces fought in a mad scramble to control the top of the wall. Near the front gate, Angdrin and his group stopped, the warriors keeping their shields up. Angdrin began to chant, his voice growing in power as the chant came to a climax.
“Velin, what is that?” Thorn asked, his voice carrying over the din of the battle.
“A movement spell, they’re coming up to the top of the gate.” Velin calmly pointed to a growing red dot in the air near them.
“Everyone retreat.” Thorn waved for the Wolfkin disciples that had crowded around to move away. “I don’t want to reveal any more strength than we need to. Mina, can you help me handle them?”
“Of course,” excited to be asked, Mina began to mutter under her breath, cold air beginning to surge around her.
The red dot expanded suddenly, sending out a rippling ring of burning heat. The area inside the ring rippled and Angdrin appeared, surrounded by his five guards with their shields up. Instead of the wall of weapons that they expected to see, they found themselves in a largely empty space, facing a charging giant and a metric ton of icy snow.
“[Avalanche!]” Mina’s spell created an abrupt snowfall over the group, slowing their movements and trapping them in three feet of snow. The burning temperature around them plummeted, reaching freezing in a matter of seconds, causing their weapons and armor to creak alarmingly as the temperature change strained the metal.
“[Burning Blood!]” Not to be outdone, Angdrin responded instantly, sending out a wave of heat to melt the snow, following it up by summoning three large fireballs, only for them to be pierced by a barrage of ice spikes. Seeing his fireballs fizzling out, Angdrin gritted his teeth. “Mina!”
“Hey, Angdrin? How
is it going? Enjoying yourself these days? I heard that Ouroboros has been walking all over you. That can’t be very comfortable.” Somehow, the Ice Witch managed to keep up a steady stream of small talk as she summoned endless waves of ice spikes, forcing the Blood Mage into a defensive position.
“Shut up!” Angdrin squeezed the words out from between his clenched jaws as he maintained his shield. About to call for assistance, he felt a movement at his side and looked over in time to see one of his elite guards being blown off his feet.
As Mina had engaged Angdrin, Thorn charged forward striking out with his metal club. The warrior in his path smashed his sword on his shield, creating a thick red barrier on his shield’s face. Tensing his muscles, he got ready to absorb the blow, planning on creating an opportunity for his teammates to counter-attack. Without needing to communicate verbally, the other warriors rushed forward, intending to strike as soon as Thorn’s momentum was halted.
Unfortunately for the Crimson Snake warriors, nothing went as planned. Thorn continued to charge forward, his blow connecting with the blood colored shield. With a sharp crack that rang over the battlefield, the shield shattered and the force of the blow continued forward, blasting the warrior off his feet and over the parapet. Flying straight backward, the warrior did not begin to fall to the ground for almost twenty feet, going straight over the heads of the Crimson Snake army. Smashing into the ground, his body cut a furrow in the battlefield, tumbling over and over before exploding into particles of light.
Awestruck, the army looked up toward the top of the wall and witnessed two more of the elite guards following the same fate as the first. The last two guards looked at Thorn with horror, their minds trying to catch up to the fact that he had completely obliterated three of them. Before they could react, he was on them, cutting them down with a single sharp swing. Turning his head, Thorn’s eyes landed on Angdrin, who flinched.
Taking advantage of the Blood Mage’s distraction, Mina summoned a larger ice spear that thrust forward, punching through the blood shield. Wincing in pain as the ice spear scraped along his ribs, Angdrin panicked at the sight of Thorn striding toward him.
“[Blood Escape!]” With a shrill yell, the commander of the Crimson Snakes disappeared in a bloody flash.
“[Sub Zero!]” A split second late, Mina tried to stun Angdrin, causing the temperature where he had stood a moment before plunge to arctic levels. A large blob of blood that had not yet disappeared froze instantly, dropping to the ground where it shattered into countless pieces.
On the battlefield below, Angdrin appeared, stumbling to the ground. A large wound formed in his stomach, caused by the blood he left behind. Groaning with pain, he struggled to get up, staggering toward Ouroboros who still stood calmly in the same place that he stood since the beginning of the attack.
Mina, rushing to the edge of the wall grumbled. She had hoped to kill Angdrin in one blow but had been a split second late. Still, forcing him to retreat was not a bad result. Turning to Thorn who was looking quite impressed, she beamed.
“Ha, see that? He did not stand a chance.”
“You were very impressive.” Thorn had to admit that he had underestimated the short witch. Up to this point, he had only seen her fight as supporting ranged damage. However, in this fight she had stepped up and acted as a direct combatant, dueling Angdrin directly.
“See that you remember it the next time you assign tasks.” Mina nodded smugly. “Hey, look over there. Something is happening with that armored guy.”
At the entrance to the pass, Ouroboros finally moved. Stepping forward, he supported Angdrin who was about to collapse, while waving for a healer. Putting his arm around Angdrin’s shoulders to steady him, Ouroboros led him away from the castle wall.
“A healer is coming. Rest up for a moment and you will be good as new.” Ouroboros’ voice was calming, causing Angdrin’s tension to bleed out of him. Opening his mouth to speak, he suddenly choked, coughing up a mouthful of blood. Unable to see the smile on Ouroboros’ face because of his helmet, Angdrin struggled to speak, his hand landing powerlessly on Ouroboros’ chest plate. Losing strength, his hand dropped, leaving a bloody streak as it fell.
“His wounds are too grievous. It looks like they used a powerful poison.” Ouroboros spoke with sorrow in his voice as he laid the now powerless Blood Mage on the ground. The approaching healer cast her spell, but to no avail. She could only watch, helpless, as her leader disappeared into particles of light.
“Collect his belongings and sound the retreat. We need to regroup.” Ouroboros looked at the citadel blocking the entrance to the valley as he slipped the dagger in his hand back into his inventory. “But fear not, I will lead us to victory on Angdrin’s behalf.”
CHAPTER FOURTY-FIVE
Like a crimson wave, the attacking army pulled back, retreating out of range of the arrows that continued to rain down on them. Watching them go, Captain Del’har began organizing the defenders, taking stock of the wounded and ordering more arrows brought up onto the wall. After settling everything, the tall Wolfkin met with Thorn and the girls in the gatehouse where they were watching the remains of the Crimson Snake army.
“My lord,” the captain saluted, “we eliminated approximately two hundred of the enemy. We also managed to kill the Crimson Snake leader and a group of five elite guards.”
“What were our losses?” Velin asked from the side, ready to jot down the numbers.
“Two dead, fifteen wounded, Lady Velin.”
“Hmmm, that's not bad.” Thorn turned around to look at Mina. “It seems that you took a bigger chunk out of Angdrin than you realized.”
“No, I don’t think so.” Surprisingly, Mina did not take the credit like she normally would. Her eyes remained fixed on the tent that had been set up outside the pass for the black-armored figure. “My spell did not hit enough of him to be lethal. He should have gotten healing before he died. That black-armored guy must have done something.”
Taken aback by the uncharacteristic seriousness in Mina’s voice, Thorn followed her gaze to the tent.
“Why would someone harm their team…” Thorn’s voice stopped abruptly, but he couldn’t stop his last words from echoing. As the deep voice faded away the gatehouse grew quiet. “It was a stupid question.” After an awkward moment Thorn chuckled. He knew exactly why someone would conspire to harm their teammate.
“It is not a stupid question, though it is a bit silly.” Velin walked up next to Thorn, pushing her hair behind her ear. “Rather than ask why, we should ask, ‘for what’ would someone harm an ally. That would undoubtedly depend on who their ally is.”
“Point taken. If Angdrin is a member of Ragnarok, the only person who would be willing to betray him would be someone of equal standing. And, given his pretentious nature, the only people that he would consider of equal standing with him would be the other leaders of Ragnarok. That is Ouroboros, isn’t it?”
Hardly able to breathe because of the stifling air that had settled over the gatehouse, Mina poked Thorn in the side with an ice spike.
“We are not your enemies, big guy. You don’t have to crush us.” She complained.
“Hmm? Oh, sorry.” Thorn took a deep breath and the atmosphere lightened considerably. “I’m not sure why that keeps happening.”
“What are you going to do if it is Ouroboros?” Velin asked, her eyes carefully watching Thorn’s face.
“You know? I don’t know yet. Probably hit him. Maybe a couple times. But I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out when we confirm who that is. Until then, let’s keep defending.”
“Speaking of defending, I have some bad news.” Velin flipped closed her notebook, storing it in her inventory. “It is highly unlikely that we will be able to maintain this sort of kill to death ratio moving forward.”
“Yeah, I’m aware.” Thorn nodded.
“Well I’m not,” Mina pouted, glaring at Velin and Thorn. “I hate it when you talk in code.”
“No problem,
we can dumb it down for you.” Thorn grinned at her and then immediately ducked to avoid an ice spike. Laughing, he explained, “That was an anger fueled attack. No plan, no purpose other than grinding us away. Add to that their lack of ability to get up the wall and it makes sense that it was so one sided. Maybe if Angdrin and his squad had been able to break through and open the gate it could have worked.”
“Correct. That is the primary method that the Crimson Snakes employ. Angdrin and his team do the heavy lifting while the rest of their forces act as slightly above average fodder.” Velin chipped in.
“Too bad for them, they met us.” Mina gloated, giving Thorn a high five. “But what does that change? We still have a really defensive position.”
“That is true, but if you look out past their camp you can see they are starting to clear trees.” Thorn pointed toward the entrance to the pass. “Chances are that they are building ladders as we speak. Possibly even siege towers. The next time, their goal will be to move the fight from the bottom of the wall to the top of the wall. Our defenses will not allow them to achieve that goal easily, but if they do, they will have an absolute advantage.