“Hey, I read reports. Skim reading is still reading,” I said defending myself. We reached our spot in the formation, slowing to the average step. It felt good to be surrounded by warriors. I returned to the papers handed to me finding the contents interesting. “Okay I see this. We're making siege engines now too. That’s great, and wow they sell for a lot.”
“Yup, highly engineered construction is time consuming. There is no automation so it costs money. I told Nicole to start a month ago, and we did. So thank me later because we're here,” Gemini said, gesturing to where the trees cleared and four settlements dotted the area around a huge city.
The trees had stopped and I saw the first of the bearkin. A bearfrii flew to a signal tower, ringing a bell at our arrival. The field workers tending to crops were humanoid in stature but brown bears with hands. None of them had human skin, every bit covered in different variations of fur.
I saw hulking white bears with swords and shields coming to inspect our arrival. Beside them were shorter mage bears that were black with long staves pacing wooden palisades.
The village was actually more of a town, about the same size of Riza Stronghold. My inspection noticed the shape was a big rectangle and we were on a long side.
Ten foot tall wooden walls encased only a few tall buildings. When I stood on my tippy toes the walls revealed thatched roofs on the interior. I tossed some ideas around for how I could siege this town.
The current plan was to just brute force our way to victory. There was the option to stick ladders against these walls if we night raided but I doubted we’d get the opportunity or needed to try such a tactic.
The clang of my army massing was loud. The troops were stationing across the farm fields, aligninng outside the city walls. Banners whipped against a moderate breeze from up high on unit flag poles. The right flank was marching into place while every step slamming down in unison.
There were a few places where irrigation ditches forced gaps but the formations were locking into a solid line. I stood on the only slight higher mound behind the left flank. I had a great vantage point, and could sling my spears in nicely. I had to repeatedly tell myself I was fine being in the back for this battle.
A signal erupted from a long curved horn, the noise reverberating over the tense scene. The dvaren backline walked between parted soldiers to reach the front. Catapults, ballistae, and a few trebuchets were spawned. The way I understood the weapons is that they were a mana sink, and now I knew they were inferior to the real deal. Another item to address that was added to an ever growing list.
At the village, additional troops went to the wall with the stupid tower ringing the bell. Mana poured from my troops into their siege weapons. Magical rocks arched into the sky after the snaps of the machines tight ropes releasing. The balls trailed brown aura behind them as they soared for the enemy fortification.
My jaw clenched as I waited for the rounds to hit. Crash, smash, and bang sounds reverberated through the air when the rounds smacked into the air shields.
“Awe, shucks,” I said, spawning a spear in my hand.
The crack of catapult arms unhinging told me the second volley launched. The balls of magic arched high into the air, when they hit their pinnacle and started to dive down I launched a running throw.
Healing washed over me as the weapon snapped the air. The twirling spear landed moments before the hundreds of catapulted rounds.
The shield burst in a sparkling of mana. The sheer power of my throw reducing it to nothing. Dozens of mages crumpled to the ground while new ones stepped forward.
“And so the siege of Bann One commences. You will need to repeat this cycle. Once the air mages hit mana exhaustion you can keep the volleys going. They’ll get enraged after a few of their children die and then charge. Relax Gryff, fake children,” Gemini said, seeing me tense. Nicole probably told her I was a fan of letting kids pick their destiny.
I grunted the feeling of doubt away. Instead of contemplating the demise of the fictional children, I hurled another spear. This time I aimed for the tower with the damn bell with its incessant racket. There was a simmering pop of the shield protecting the wall, the spear heading for the wide eyes of a white bear. The bear dove out of the tower, the screams heard across the battlefield. My spear went in one open section and out the next; missing everything.
“Ha! He’s not walking that one off,” Kata said with a chuckle.
“Right, he should have just ducked,” Zoey included snorting snicker.
There was a crash that pulled me from their banter. The interior homes were catching on fire from fireballs lobbed behind the catapults. A few smaller shields tried to cover the village ineffectively. The pops and then additional crashes brought forth the reality that we were already winning.
“Not hard mode, and told you, this would be fine. These can be done with five hundred easily. Anyway, we will see -”
Gemini gave a confident gesture for the portcullis. When it raised, neatly aligned rows of white bears marched out singing cadence. Ha! While awesome, it was not what I wanted to hear or see.
My angle on the tunnel out of the village was poor. I lunged into a run to start mowing down those in the confined exit.
“You’re lucky I’m not pregnant!” Zoey shouted, keeping up. Kata slithered as fast as she could and Gemini was walking casually.
My feet found the farm fields I ran through soft. I tore across the left most of the army until I was behind the siege line. The fast pace I set carried me between stern warriors on my right, and catapult orb users on my left.
When I reached a good vantage point I halted a trebuchet that had just finished lobbing a heavy boulder. I patted the ogre on the back who glared down at me questioningly.
“Pack it up, head into formation,” I ordered. He answered with a grunt of understanding.
Zoey arrived first, her panting was followed by her hands on her hips. “I hate running,” she exclaimed.
When Kata slithered over, the ogre had vacated the spot I wanted. So much for fighting from the back. Not that it mattered much, Gemini’s prediction came true. A wailing cry from a distraught bear was all the signal the enemy needed.
There was a roar at the mother's anguish. The enemies’ eyes flared with anger, desperate for vengeance, rationality abandoned. The forming army broke ranks. A berserker charge burst forward, shaking the ground under my feet until it literally made me bounce.
Our siege line broke instantly, fleeing for safety. I watched them dodge between soldiers to get behind the main shield line. I was shocked by how fast the bears were closing the distance.
A signal rang from our side to open fire. I realized the turn of events left me flat footed. With a grunt I spawned a spear in my hand and empowered it down the town exit. The weapon cut a path through the advancing army and faltered on the eighth victim or so. I realized by the time my second spear left my hand I was going to be in melee. That and my spears were having less impact on these higher level bears.
Zoey spawned her mummy and skeletal rhinorc. I watched the enemy hurl an uncoordinated javelin volley. Kata’s shield flickered and she faltered. I tried to catch her but she smacked into the farm field heavily.
Damnit, she hadn’t linked into the others, which resulted in her taking the entire round of javelins on her own. I radiated a healing spell, standing over her.
A vanguard dvaren pulled her into the formation while I spawned Kor on the bears. There was a smush as his weight crashed to the dirt. My friend was furious when he saw he was about to be overwhelmed with no chance of making it to safety in time.
The magic that rained down on the enemy was devastating. Their reckless charge was keeping their forces clumped, allowing our mages to slam lightning down. I saw ice freeze feet as the backline catapults snapped rocks into the enraged bears. Firewalls and fireballs were highly effective against the enemy, the burning fur stalling charges, and eliciting ear splitting screams of agony.
The thousands that poured out of the village were being reduced to hundreds by the time they faced the sacrificial pets.
The clash of battle was nothing compared to the roaring anger of the foe. I saw Kor get swarmed, his five heads lashing out while they could but I spawned him too far out like an idiot. I flung spears into the irrational foe, only barely chipping at their numbers.
I watched Kor die, the swords sliding into his body caused a scream of agony heard over the field of battle. His death spurred me forward only to have Zoey drag me behind the battle lines. While I could have easily overpowered her, I realized I had indeed over extended.
The front row reformed, snapping our opening closed. The sound of battle rang through the farm fields when the surviving enemies arrived at our front lines.
I checked out Kor’s orb on cooldown for days while I shuffled through the formation. He was going to be as pissed off as I was upset. Damnit.
The sound of two rapid drum beats told me the front was building pressure. The formation went back by one step and had me pausing my exit. When the unit completed the maneuver, I exited for the rear guard where I saw Gemini.
She waved me back to the elevated knoll that I jogged for. Yeah, killing a few dozen bears seemed like a waste now. I grumbled to myself as I joined her side. When I turned to see the battle from an overview, I was shocked.
The entire infantry of the bears were dying left and right. The mages on the walls were not convinced of a charging suicide and too far to aid their brethren.
“They split forces,” I muttered and Gemini nodded. “Do they normally do this?”
“Sure, except for when we go over there,” she said, pointing to the city with gleaming stone walls fifty feet tall. White bears were seen in the far distance but were hard to define as more than blobs.
The battle had my army backpedaling as they exploited the irrational enemy. My forces were letting the foes trip on their dead, further extending the distance from their support. A dvaren was picked out of the formation and tossed into the thinning mass of bears.
“Shit!” I grumbled. My hand shot out, as if willing a wish to pull the poor sap to the friendly side. The other massive white bears saw this as a viable strategy. The next dvaren that was flung behind the white lines suddenly was yanked mid-flight back into his own troops. If I had to guess an air mage was waiting with a come hither.
The drums changed, the tune Groz signaling was clear. It was time to advance on the enemy. The battle was over. The other side merely was in denial. I always loved a good rout, so I left my perch running for the fight again. There were groans behind me but the ladies followed.
Angry roars turned to panic as the dvaren battle lines heaved the enemy down, halted to slay the fallen, and lunged to crash into the next victims. The process repeated. The enemy was knocked down, slain, and the wounded bypassed. Second and third rows executed the struggling bears. After three of these maneuvers the enemy infantry broke.
The charge sound blared across the battlefield and ten thousand plus Awesome Adjective Annihilators crashed into the enemy fortification. When the front lines hit the short walls they built shield ladders.
Not that it mattered much if we rushed in. The last mages on the wall were without air shields. If they peeked out to counter fire, crossbow bolts shot out with deadly accuracy.
I ran down a bear without weapons heading for the forest. My spear embedded into the spine, knocking him to the forest floor. He tried to turn off his belly, but another thrust to the neck ruined him. I yanked the weapon out with a sickening sucking sound. I lined up another fleeing bear only to have his body poof and orbs tumble out.
“Awe, I wanted to skin more of them,” Zoey said with a fake pout. I grinned. She gave me a funny look so I tussled her hair playfully, causing her to redden. “I guess these will have to do.”
I glanced to where Zoey pointed for me to look. About five hundred dead white bears littered the ground. Around the village walls there were black bear mages sprawled or draped against the palisades in death. I saw Axle running for me without his drums, his pointing led my eyes to find Groz; the general was standing over a dead dvaren.
My swift run carried me to the resting spot of the dead infantry dvaren. A second corpse was dumped by the first. The other defeated dvaren was missing two arms and his guts were trailing out of him. The other was missing his neck, a savage bite mark evident. I grimaced knowing he’d died having his throat ripped out.
“Can you save them?” Groz asked.
I shrugged. I planted the staff into the soft farm field and summoned the once a day revival mechanic. This was a first for me and something Nicole said would feel natural. Time slowed and the green spell hovered over both the bodies, the aura was dancing from one to the other.
I frowned. Well shit. I had to play full god and decide who lived. I closed my eyes, counted to seven, and selected with a thought.
Blasting torrents of golden magic shot down from the heavens. The force of the revival pushed those close back at least a few feet. There was a resounding boom… and then silence. I was surprised the revived dvaren was so quiet. I saw his mouth moving and understood that I’d gone deaf. I cast an area heal.
The armless defiled soldier was whole again and freaking out. A fellow dvaren I didn’t know was consoling the warrior. I sighed at the fact that two more bodies were brought to the pile.
Gemini came to my side while I glanced over at the dead. Zoey pressed her staff to their chests one at a time saying a prayer to the imagined dvaren god of old. To the others she was saying goodbye, I knew she somehow was ingesting the souls of those I couldn’t save. I was going to say something, but Gemini put a hand in mine.
“Four dead is not bad. Your air mages learned a valuable lesson today. Save some power for when troops are flung out of position, also events like these, let them know it happens. I saw a dozen get tossed and only four died, that is pretty good, Gryff,” Gemini said to me.
My somber thoughts drifted. A hand went to my belt knife, extracting the blade. I decided to start carving some bears. I want a really big rug for my kids to play on. That was what drove me as I set about my bloody task.
Victory songs were sung, loot was collected, and the mood was joyful, yet somber. I rejoiced in the fact we had a fairly easy go of it. These were six hundred level mobs. My spears stopped quicker and the spells of our mages did less damage. My sawing motion down the center of a huge white bear was paused. I flipped my arm to bring up my level. 3259 illuminated and I sighed. Eight levels in a single battle was like a week of grinding in the caverns under Thur. Nothing to complain about.
I just hoped the rest of this dungeon went with less deaths and more easy wins. One can only place so much faith in hope.
CHAPTER 6
“Open fire!” I bellowed across the landscape.
The twang, snap, and crackle of our volley drowned out my voice. I hurled a spear at the largest remaining white bear. My target commanded his forces with a determined snarl. Most of his white fur was hidden behind the shiny heavy metal he encased himself in. He roared a charge with a brandished greatsword leveled at my forces.
My spear stayed at a lower speed to avoid the telling sign of an air snap. The enemy, well, they had wised up to my throws. Which was great; because this bear’s face ate my spear and he never saw it coming, causing his head to explode in a gory mess. When your leader dies like that suddenly, you tend to deflate, that and the three other villages we had massacred already. The fourth village surrendered in a poof without much of a fight.
“Well done,” Gemini said from my side.
We had been methodical and patient with our assaults moving forward. I hated the fact good dvaren would never make it home and when I let my battle rage simmer, we avoided casualties going forward. This loot was great in value from the blue and purple orbs. Even if they were mostly useless to us, we were generating decent revenue.
My glee at winning the battle subsided when there was a rumbling from the bear capital. The walls crumbled down from their mighty perch up high. The collapse caused a large billowing dust cloud to envelop the city. Well, that was a good sign.
“Excellent work everyone. Well done indeed. Loot up!” I hollered energetically from between my cupped hands. The formations broke apart to start the gory task of removing the hearts. I walked over to find Groz with his colonels gathering, the normally sour faces held smiles.
“A swift victory,” the dvaren general grumbled proudly. “No casualties this round and most of the lads say they’ve added another hundred levels.”
“Excellent,” I replied with a wide grin. “Coming here was exactly what we needed. Now I guess I can try to challenge the boss.” A tap on my shoulder had me spinning to look down on Gemini. She smiled, her hands folded against her belly. While she was pretty to look at and clearly glowing with happiness, she wasn’t indicating why she’d tapped me. “Yes?”
“He will send his lieutenants unless you’re mighty convincing. And if you break protocol during your word sparring, all direct challenges are forfeit, and you better run. Faster than whomever you bring with you. So take a bunch of dwarves. Or dvaren as I hear they prefer,” she said.
“Hey!” Groz said with an unusual smile. “I can run fast. Faster than the others.”
The dvaren leadership found this hilarious, sharing a long and loud round of laughter.
“I guess this is where a real mount would come in handy,” I muttered. “What are the protocols?”
“Stick to ‘I challenge’. Don’t threaten others or provoke the literal bear. Just get in, and focus on the challenge,” Gemini said with a positive smile.
I saw Zoey stroking her staff, deep in thought. “What’s on your mind?”
Zoey leaned into me and said, “Not sure you could glider a horse. Maybe stick them in the little blimp.”
When she pointed up to the blimp I saw yellow flags dangling under the belly of the scouting airship. Uh… Okay. Where is the cautionary threat? I saw storms on the horizon but that was it.
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