This last line was directed at Axle who grabbed a flute off his belt. A few notes were fluted out. Wait. Was that right. Was it fluting, what was the verb. Was it tooting? I chuckled, amused by my own thoughts. This earned me an odd stare from Nicole.
The tirade of the screaming from the prisoner had stopped. While that fading noise was a welcome reprieve, there was a shrieking sound followed by a long roar of anger from further up the dungeon.
I was trying to see up the valley, but the dungeon trail curved in a bend. I leaned forward as I squinted. At the curve I saw a tiny dot fluttering around, well out of range. Even a spear would struggle to hit that tiny thing at this distance.
“It’s a small wyvern scout. You raised a whole lot of noise by throwing that spear,” Orion said, and Gemini scoffed, she was squinting too. “What? Don’t be jealous, we have superior eyesight. A horn is far more useful. You know, for things like ring toss.”
Giggles spurted from my lips and I slapped my thigh. I couldn’t help myself. Gemini pinched my ass for laughing at his joke. I let out a long exhale from the giggling. My face peered over the edge to see we were passing over the Wyvern Wrangler adventurers. A few sets of eyes peered up nervously.
The fun vanished when Orion’s face went aghast in an ashen white. “Signal all troops to the top deck, immediately.”
Axle looked at me for direction and I nodded emphatically. A small war horn on his side was pressed to his lips. He ran for his drum while blowing his horn. The damn instrument was so loud I couldn’t hear what Orion was saying. Finally the blasted thing blaring its signal went below decks to rouse the troops.
“You stirred the entire dungeon. This is going to be less fun, like a lot less fun. So much for me getting to show you up, now I need to keep everyone alive,” Orion grumbled. His hands swirled as he initiated some massive spell.
Groz came trotting up with a full honor guard bristling with pointy pikes. The sun glinted off their heavy armor with a distracting amount of reflections. Additional troops came rushing onto the top deck. While a few of the siege engines had operators at them before, every one of the weapons was getting a crew now.
“Duck!” A dvaren cried out and I crouched. An arrow hissed forward with an increasing volume, alerting me I was the likely target. The projectile clanked into the shield of the observant dvaren.
I followed the origins of the arrow to see a bearkin with a bow cast a portal. The bastard tooted a separate signal before he leaped off Gorilla and into the black creation that was quickly flowing down the side of the ship. My mind caught up to the reality of what was happening. The traitors in our midst were trying to capitalize on the fact I’d just roused the entire dungeon. Additional portals spawned and I gulped. We were outpacing their stationary creations, but driving right for a swarm of dragons.
“Increase the speed,” Gemini belted out to a trumpeter. She clearly feared the wyverns less than the Justicars.
I saw the swarm rounding the corner for us and groaned with frustration. My neck snapped back to see the desperate enemy troops jumping through the portals from unknown locations. They arrived here and quickly tried to board the Gorilla. They were having to pop gliders because we were outpacing their arrivals. That meant someone was relaying to a fleet exactly where we were.
My jaw twisted in a grimace. Things had gone from jovial to serious with the flip of a switch. Our betrayal by those we welcomed aboard was occurring with such a rapid turn of events I was shocked. The only saving grace was atmospheric orb travel was not instantaneous, but they sure as hell knew where we were. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that they were determined to get to us. The clang of metal striking metal from the back of the ship told me a few gliders had landed on board.
When I tried to shift through my guards to reach the fighting I was held back. My desire to fling them aside was abated when Nicole tapped my arm.
“You’re the key to everything. They can fight a few random borders. The ship is speeding up and their big plan is failing,” Nicole said trying to sooth me.
“Uh… Can you start lobbing spears into that swarm?” Gemini asked with a sense of urgency in her voice. “Slow the ship or we won’t make the curve.”
A trumpet called out into the air alerting the crews on the bridges to slow our airspeed. I had a feeling the pilots were probably cursing us at this point. I turned away from the dying sounds of combat from the aft of the ship. A few lone soldiers were not going to defeat our large army that was swarming the top deck.
The catapults, ballista and even trebuchets were firing into a swarm of wyverns. The snap of taught lines releasing was continuous. I saw the projectiles zooming toward the enemy and I frowned at the results.
The legless lizards were forming battle lines, creating a lot of fantastic thoughts in my head to run rampant about how much trouble we were in. This was exactly what the briefing said they wouldn’t do. Of course, the magons were forming air shields for the bruisers that were deflecting our projectiles. The shoulder wyverns were stalking the outer edges of the main forces. The fire breathers were riding on the backs of the bruisers with snapping maws that belched flames.
“Well this is just peachy, at least the big ships are stuck and unable to join the fight,” I grumbled and Gemini shook her head.
“No!” Her and Nicole shouted as one. The taunting words I tempted fate with were already out though.
I hurled a spear over the three lines of dvaren protecting me. The weapon split the air and I grunted from the exertion.
“Where is that one going?” Nicole said with furled brows.
My aim was mediocre at best, mainly so I ensured I didn’t have friendly fire. Not that I needed some bullseye here, the goal was to get the damn magons to drop from exhaustion when I shattered their shields. I needed the first spear to land to throw the second and we were still a decent clip from the hovering enemy.
Hmm… Why had they stopped?
A rent in space and time itself opened up in front of us. My jaw dropped as a city sieging carrier slithered out of a portal. Impossible, or so it should have been. Except I saw the same aquatic species that James was, holding the doorway open. There were more ships behind the first but the universal manager saw me noticing him.
“James!” I cried out, hoping the little shit would be caught. Sure enough the moment the massive ship exited the portal, the black opening collapsed.
Guards ran up to relay information to Orion. I watched their elvath faces swap from shock to determination. It was more of a warning than Orion received since he was looking up at the sudden arrival.
The duo swiped their blades with precision. A spurt of blood shot out of Orion’s body as his head was removed. My front rank raced for the two elv who decided to retreat with their minor victory of killing a general of mine.
There was zero chance I was not getting revenge. I hurled a spear, the throw was so powerful that when the magical weapon embedded into the enemy, it lifted the first one off his feet. I summoned the weapon back into my hand before the first body hit the deck and chucked my spear again. The second elv tried to dive out of the way but his torso exploded from the impact that simply moved too quickly to dodge.
Blinding golden light crashed down from the heavens. A radiating aura of healing washed over me curing my dimming vision and bleeding ears. Without another thought I glanced up at the looming blimp that was at least five times our size.
“That’s the enemy flag, she’s running,” Groz cried out. His shield flicked up as arrows fell down from above.
This was it. The make or break decision of the war. The flagship had just jumped on top of us and was vulnerable, and we were too. I could order us to flee and we both could gain space to reassess, or I could try to end this war now. This could be a defining battle for the ages.
I grabbed Axle by the shoulder hard enough to bruise him. “Signal a hook and board. Do it!” I growled out with a yell.
The enemy f
lagship was fleeing toward the wyverns while gaining altitude. It was going to be one of those fights. Good, I thrived in chaos. The ship angled up even more than before, climbing in height rapidly. Orion stumbled into me.
“Your orders?” he asked, gaining his senses.
“Dying sucks right,” I said in a gruff voice and he merely nodded. “Will Joran be on that ship?”
He stared up at the big carrier that was spilling out fighters and bombers. “I doubt it, he never leaves the tech world. But if he loses that ship, it will be a crushing defeat. The worst the Justicars have had in eons. That is Admiral Uchina’s war blimp of the First Justicar Fleet. Legendary, quite literally been around for longer than some planets.”
“Groz, I need a glider,” I yelled, and runners were sent racing down into the blimp.
The big carrier was gaining altitude and airspeed rapidly as it pulled away from us. The wyverns were coming for my ship, a mass of greens, blacks, and reds flying for the closest target. Well, that just wouldn’t do.
My eyes focused on the big crossbeam at the center of the ship's length. I bunched my muscles, spawned a spear, and hurled the weapon into the underbelly of the retreating blimp. You could see where the planks were attached, binding the ship together. My aim was true and the spear drove into the vulnerable spot like a nail into soft pine. The tiniest of cracks became evident.
The next spear was aimed in the same spot with a touch more power. I watched it bend and crack the air as it shot into the sky. When it connected with the blimp above us there was a splintering tearing noise that grew in its own ferocity.
The splitting wood hemmed a blue glow filling the gaps. I realized I was seeing the pilots having to patch the damage and hold together the ship. A grin crossed my face with delight. I hurled a third spear for the weakening joint on the underbelly. The impact shook the entirety of the ship. The blimp began descending and a roaring cheer from my own troops was short lived.
The wyverns were here. The brawlers had latched onto our deck with mighty roars that demanded attention. Gouts of flame erupted from the smaller fire breathing wyverns that rode on the biggest variation. A brawler used its wing in an enraged punch to send a catapult tumbling across the deck and I yelled in frustration. There was so much happening at once I had been forced to ignore the dragons.
Magons slithered over the edge casting rapid fireballs and bringing down zaps of lightning. With the blimp above us sinking, I rapidly hurled into the exposed magons. They were my primary target to exhaust by bursting their shielding.
My weapons zoomed across the deck and over the smaller dvaren and elvath fighting to keep the wyverns at bay. There was a stalling engagement as both sides set for the battle. Only my throws were having a massive impact.
The looming shadow overhead of the enemy blimp peeled off, allowing the sun to crash down. The amount of wyverns assaulting our blimp was declining until they vanished, leaving me confused.
A dvaren handed me a glider carrier that I quickly slung over my back. Groz and a dozen other dvaren were equipping gliders to join me. I went to the edge of the Gorilla expecting to see the side of my ship swarming with wyverns.
Instead, I saw the flagship was a ball of chaotic battle. The wyverns had shifted to the closer target as that blimp had sunk ahead of us. Maybe it was a dungeon mechanic. Actually, seeing as how there wasn’t a single wyvern on our blimp alive, it had to be. I was about to go running off the deck and jump onto the sinking blimp when I heard.
“There he is, get that human!” the voice shouted from above me.
I dove as a shade producing object fell for me. One of those elephant humanoids crashed into the spot I had been. My spear tore his trunked head clear off without a second thought. I glanced up. A flight of fifty or so Justicars were gliding down.
“Freeze their wings!” Orion called out casting a blizzard spell.
The whipping frigid air enveloped our location. These idiots were dropping into an enemy with no distraction. Then it added up, they were expecting to land while we were balls deep fighting wyverns.
“Keep us above and behind that blimp!” I shouted, running for the falling troops.
I was a blur, a demigod of Prox unleashed upon the unsuspecting buffoons known as Justicars. My enhanced speed was too much for them to track. With my new levels, and the orb so powerful, it was nothing like before. I was a literal god among mice. The moment enemy feet hit the deck, I would slay the foes.
Ice encased my body twice in attempts to stun me but I burst through the confines with ease. A harpy touched down and I swung my spear like a bat, the impact was so severe his torso tore from his bottom half in a showering of gore.
I moved on to see a celestial prettier than Gemini landing, my spear was driven through her neck. My pace had me leaving her behind as she died clutching her wound.
I spun on a goblin, my hand clamping the back of his neck in slow motion to everyone besides me. My other meaty hand clamped onto his shoulder and I yanked his spine out of his body when I tore his head off.
The brutality and swiftness of my violence ended when the survivors surrendered. I didn’t accept their weapons, or negotiate the terms. I ran for the front of the ship. Orion shouted at me while cancelling his spell. With the blizzard clearing I saw the railing at the bow.
I leaped over the edge without even looking to see where the enemy flagship was. Which was probably an oversight, well, it clearly was. My battle rage had gotten the better of me and I was forced to instantly trigger my glider. That damn enemy blimp had descended so rapidly it had almost crashed into the mountain below.
The swarm of dungeon wyverns were still thick, but a lot thinner than before. The tide was clearly in the Justicar’s favor. As I glided down the hundreds of feet I knew just the perfect way to equal out the equation. By killing a whole lot of fancy pants mages.
While I descended from above in a controlled flight, one thing was certain. I was going to find this Admiral and stick his head on a pike. Hopefully whatever bullshit that transpired to let them instantly arrive above the dungeon had not gone unnoticed.
Which left me wondering. Would this be the climactic battle? Was this victory going to be big enough that I could go home to Vin, and focus on my own problem. There was only one way to find out. I grinned, increasing the speed of my dive for the enemy flight deck that seemed just shy of the right amount of blood.
CHAPTER 19
My feet hit the textured deck in a running motion. I tucked the glider in, speeding my feet to keep my momentum going. If I thought the Gorilla was a big blimp, I was mistaken when I ingested the sight around me.
The admiral's flagship was a monster in size. Hundreds of wyverns were combating black robed Justicars in a pitched battle of spells and intense violence. When I landed maybe a half dozen of the defenders finally noticed the dvaren above us. There was no special notice of my landing somehow, the chaos of the battle consumed my arrival. Of the hundreds of warriors fighting on the deck, I was just another body.
I saw Groz and his team trying to keep up with me, they were in a whole different situation as units peeled off to greet them. Unfortunately they were in for a nasty fight. I hastily ditched my pack and started searching for a robe so I could blend in.
Hmm… I raced to the nearest hobbling Justicar. The hooded mage went down a stairwell to exit the fight. Well, going into the belly of the beast wasn’t my initial plan but it might work. Which led me to getting the wise idea that maybe I shouldn't be fighting all these soldiers.
They would defeat these wyverns in due time. While the blimp was about to crash in a minute or two, this was the ideal time to maybe be stealthy. Making up my mind, I followed the limping mage into the narrow corridor. I saw black locks of long hair, and small tusks jutting in a painful smile.
A female shaman paused on the landing, grimacing from her injuries. Her abdomen had a massive tooth lodged into her guts, something healing hadn’t pushed out ye
t. She was big for her species, a gym nut for sure.
I paid her no mind as if I was heading for the next floor down. When I neared my spear spawned in my hand before piercing into her chest. My healing staff was let go so I could clamp her mouth shut. She tried to scream, I glared into her eyes as she realized the end was near. She kicked, punched, and then tried to bite me. The problem was her strength mattered little because her heart was not working with a spear tip in it.
Her eyes fluttered then flickered in shocked understanding. Her body quit and her eyes remained open in death. Thankfully, she didn't soil herself. I stole her robes quickly. It fit, barely, and a close inspection would probably make me stand out.
I flipped the hood over my head before proceeding deeper into the blimp. I was another black and gold soldier among a sea of Justicars.
As I was heading down an empty hallway I hoped to find the bridge. Suddenly I heard a bell ringing. “Dvaren invaders, on the top deck!” A shout was echoed down the main passageway a floor down. I decided to head the opposite way all the troops were running. I hid my face the best I could while trying to stay unnoticed as defenders rushed beyond me.
My rational mind said the admiral would be on the bridge, and that command area should be at the front of the ship. The downside was that the nose of the blimp was going to crash first. Even though I was thinking about the impending crash, the darn thing came as a complete surprise to me.
I flew forward suddenly as the entirety of the flagship went vertical from the tremendous impact. The tilted hallways were instantly transformed into a straight drop down. I held in my scream and healed the area, knowing I was about to break legs or something worse.
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