They reached an impressive velocity before their speed started to slow. They landed on the castle that lay at the bottom of the tower. Here, multiple dwarven artillery cannons, casting platforms, and repeater batteries were located. They walked lightly into the castle and through to the central area that lay underneath the tower.
Anna activated the ono from a control panel. It took but a moment before the ono connected to Terra. They stepped through the ono, into Terra.
“Citadel One Goblin Mountain Group,” Anna called out to the teleport pad controllers.
“Dialing Goblin Mountain Group, Citadel One!” the controller confirmed as the event horizon closed. Runes started to move on the ground, changing into a new formation.
It had barely stopped when power surged through the teleport pad’s runes. As it reached the central runes, the teleport pad connected to the ono that was their destination.
Anna led them through the ono.
People were moving from their barracks to their ready positions. A tense feeling filled the air; few people talked as they moved.
Anna continued onward, out of the castle. She rose up into the air, propelled toward the walls that surrounded the inner castle.
Induca and Suzy followed.
They looked over the battlements. Instead of the sea, they now saw the foreboding mountains that made up the Densaou Ring of Fire.
There were dark clouds in the sky, even in the early morning sunlight. The clouds reflected the reds of the magma that flowed from the Densaou Ring of Fire and flashed with lightning occasionally.
This was a powerful place.
In the distance, another kind of light illuminated the sky. This was not a light born from nature, but the light and sounds of battle.
The flying citadels were moving in low and fast, the bottom of their soul gem islands just meters above the tree line.
Anna’s face was an unemotional mask as she heard the unnatural rolling thunder that was a dwarven artillery barrage, the impacts of soul and Mana fueled spells striking barriers and walls.
The misses left deep craters and gouges in the ground.
There was the sound of whistling wind as Deia, Dave, Malsour, Jung Lee, Jekoni, Steve, Lox, and Gurren all landed on the battlements. They didn’t need to say anything as they stepped forward, in line with Anna, Induca, and Suzy.
Lu Lu, sensing the oncoming battle, let out a cry to the heavens.
Other beasts roared, and let out their own war cries.
“Move to attack positions!” the group leader said.
The final safety measures were removed from different weapons as people moved to their ready positions. The citadels that had been acting as a rear guard at the bottom of the triangle now folded outward, lining up with the other two sides of the triangle.
Magical formations and runic lines started to glow as Mana surged through the citadels. In this desolate land, the citadels glowed with clean, pure, and untouched power. The soul gem islands beneath started to glow as their power increased dramatically.
“Raise to drop height!” the group leader commanded.
The citadels rose; as they did, they became visible to the Xelur forces.
Fighting seemed to stop for a moment.
“Ranged weaponry, prepare to fire on your preset targets!” the group leader barked. The distance from the oncoming castles decreased rapidly.
“Citadel One, your target is the southern citadel!” the captain of the citadel yelled.
Artillery cannons were dialed into their targets as aerial forces rushed out of the tower’s exits like a swarm of locusts. They turned, creating a cloud around the citadel.
Dragons let out their roars, shaking the sky as they soared above their citadels.
The Xelur, sensing the danger that these citadels represented, quickly changed their targets from the citadels on the ground to those in the sky. Arrays that they had been holding in reserve unleashed their attacks.
They slammed against the flying citadels, burning energy and making the Mana barriers shake as the attacks were blunted.
Grand Demon Lords that had been gathering more energy and preparing for the next Xelur assault now exited the areas they had been resting in. They used their own arrays or worked together. Massive beams tens of meters wide smashed against the citadels, slowing their speed as they took the damage.
The Mana barrier flared up with these impacts but it stayed solid in the face of this onslaught.
Energies clashed, the ripples strong enough to kill those below the level of a thousand. The citadels forged onward, the impacts smashing against the barriers, but they didn’t seem to care.
“Fire!” the group leader yelled.
Energy shockwaves appeared around the artillery cannons that were barely audible over the sounds of the Xelur’s attack against the barriers.
Hundreds of spells and artillery rounds filled the air like angry fireflies illuminating the sky. Some were caught up in those beams and detonated in the air. Some activated in the air and called down nature’s wrath upon the Xelur-controlled citadels.
The Xelur shield flashed into existence, defending against the massive onslaught of energy that was now brought down onto them.
Other spells and rounds ignited on the curved surface of these Xelur shields. The sound of the ranged battle shook the Densaou Ring of Fire. The expended energies excited the volcanoes, causing magma to bubble and shoot outward. The sky darkened with ash and debris that had been thrown up into the sky as the red light of the volcanoes illuminated that hellish scene.
Aerial forces that had swarmed out earlier used the Xelur’s attack as cover to get higher, coming over the Xelur citadels. Now they unleashed their own attacks; the sky was filled with Mana bombs and magical attacks.
The Dragon groups worked together, their attacks combining to create attacks that made the Xelur shields buckle.
The citadels were fighting with everything they had. Their battle lit up the sky, an awe-inspiring display of power.
The Terra Alliance citadels on the ground let out a cheer as they fired their own artillery and ranged attacks. Their morale soared to new heights as the three Xelur citadels now came under the attack of thirteen citadels.
The flying citadels continued forward, only now crossing the outer citadels. With every meter they crossed, the power of the Xelur citadel’s attacks increased. Their attacks also increased in power.
The Xelur under that barrage could only turtle up, more and more of their attacks turning to defense.
“Rotate citadels!” the group leader called out.
The citadels, like doing some complicated dance, turned their faces. This distributed the attack force of the Xelur over a larger area, allowing the first Mana barrier runic lines time to cool down, charge and repair itself.
Anna looked to Party Zero on either side of her. The wind rushed past them, their eyes alight with the sights of battle, cold looks on their faces, and their hands resting on their various weapons.
She turned to look at the Xelur citadels once again.
The citadel formation continued onward, ranged attacks flashing through the air, igniting upon the Xelur’s and Terra Alliance’s shields and barriers.
***
Esa looked up at the flying citadels in awe. They were still crossing the sky, passing over the Alliance citadels.
They had split into two groups: one headed for the western inner castle, the other larger group headed for the two southern-controlled citadels.
Kim was coordinating the mages of the ground-based citadels while Josh was in the western outer castle, unable to keep away from the battle and seeing the flying citadels finally in action.
Hope filled Esa’s heart.
These citadels had been described as the way that they would win the war. However, it was only now that she was seeing them in action that she agreed with that assessment. She still had to see how capable they were in taking the Xelur citadels but hope had infected her now.
Esa hissed, her face turning ugly. The Aleph automatons could use the size of the Xelur to figure out what class they fell into, but telling their possible level could only be done by someone who was of Emerilia.
“How many?” she demanded.
“Looks like dozens,” the aide replied. The room went quiet as others tried to listen in on the new development. The Grand Demon Lords had been a pain in their ass for this entire campaign. Now that so many more of them had appeared, it would only make their lives that much more difficult.
“There’s nothing that we can do but endure.” Esa looked to those in the command center. “Warn the flying citadels as well as our forces closest to the Xelur portal.”
The Flying Citadels glowed with power, lances shot out from the Flying Citadels as Dwarven Artillery fired into the heavens.
Runic lines glowed on the flying Citadels soul gem islands, spell formations appeared in front of the Flying Citadels as spell after spell was formed.
The concentrated fire of the Citadels battered the Xelur reinforcements, without shields or barriers they were washed away in the unending sea of fire.
Light illuminated the area around the portal, the Flying Citadels turning the area around the portals into nothing more than a killing zone.
Esa’s eyes went wide as artillery started falling from the skies. This was the Flying Citadels first action, but it could only be called dominating. There was no mercy or pause in their actions.
***
“Moving to drop positions,” the captain of Goblin Mountain Citadel One said while the flying Citadels rumbled with artillery cannon fire and spell formations activating.
“Follow me,” Deia said. They entered one of the defensive towers, heading down to its base. There an elevator departed, taking a group down with it.
They waited for another elevator to appear. They stepped on it and shot downward.
The elevator was clear around the sides. They passed through the foundations of the citadel that was integrated into the soul gem island beneath it.
They passed through that for a while before passing multiple areas hidden within the island. There were ammunition lockers for the different weapons inside the castle; there were stables for the aerial creatures and those that were ridden into battle. Next were the barracks for the drop forces as well as those on the surface.
Finally, they started passing the drop bays and drop tubes. The island underneath the citadel wasn’t symmetrical but rather looked like an upside-down mountain.
The drop tubes and drop bays exited at different points for the most part. Some areas, there were groups no larger than ten warbands waiting to drop. In other places, there were mounted forces and War Clans waiting on platforms, ready to go.
Hidden down here was the true threat of the flying castle.
They stopped at a drop tube.
Mages and fighters from across Emerilia waited silently in lines that led to the drop tubes. There was a red light off to the side.
The leaders were talking to their people, repeating the plan that had been laid out weeks ago.
People glanced to Party Zero. Quickly, the word passed that Party Zero would be joining them in this battle. It gave the nervous and tense drop forces something else to think about and raised their spirits as they ran final checks on their gear.
None of Party Zero needed drop packs and stood, ready and waiting behind those who were ready.
“Our target is the western castle. We will drop as close as possible under the supporting fire of the citadels, as well as the aerial units. This is going to be one hell of a ride down. Make sure to stick to the way point circles you see unless you’ve got incoming—in that case, evade as you can! As soon as you’re clear of enemy-ranged attacks, continue to follow the way points! Otherwise you might hit someone else on the way down, or you could be separated from everyone else,” Deia said, for the benefit of those who hadn’t been part of the training group.
“Three minutes out!” the captain yelled out to everyone on the citadel.
“Up!” the drop leader said. Everyone stood from their seats.
“Check the person in front of you!” the drop leader said. Everyone checked the person in front of them, making sure that their gear was secured and that their drop packs were functional. Afterward, they tapped the person in front of them on the head.
“One minute!” the drop leader said. Everyone looked to the red light. The drop doors opened, showing the ground racing below the citadel.
Here and there, spells and attacks would hit the ground, throwing up a plume of dirt and rock shards into the air. The rounds streaked through the air like rockets. Xelur soul beams impacted the Mana barriers, causing them to shake from the hits.
The red light snapped green.
“Go, go, go!” the drop leader yelled over the noise of the attacks and wind.
Before they could think on what they were doing, the first people rushed forward, pencil diving out of the drop doors.
Quickly, the sky filled with people dropping out of the citadel.
The lines moved forward quickly. Soon it was Party Zero’s turn.
Dave quickly squeezed Deia’s hand. He smiled to her before he pulled up his hood.
Deia calmed the jittery feeling in her chest as she stepped forward and jumped through the drop doors. The runes on the side made sure she didn’t hit the sides of the soul gem construct before she was spat out the bottom of the drop door.
The sky darkened with the sheer number of people dropping from the citadels. Bay doors had snapped open and the platforms hurled toward the ground. The groups on them had stony faces; the gravity magical coding kept them from feeling the drop as they watched the sky and focused on their target.
Repeaters that had been mounted to the citadel’s underside unleashed their bolts. Dwarven artillery cannons that had been placed into swivel mounts inside the soul gem construct fired as well, working to give the drop forces cover.
The Xelur, seeing the descending groups, fired out beams at the drop forces, cutting down people here and there. But they were moving too fast and erratically for them to inflict meaningful casualties.
Deia felt pain in her heart as she saw people she’d trained dying, but she knew it was better than what it could have been.
Blue flames ignited around her, making her look like a meteorite. The white runic lines of the drop packs were visible as the different drop forces weaved through the sky.
Platforms howled through the sky, dropping through corridors created in the individual drop forces’ lines. They couldn’t dodge very well but they could drop faster than anything else.
The first of the platforms flared its runic lines; the ground illuminated beneath it. It hit the ground, the walls falling to the side allowing those on the platform to dismount.
Xelur fired at the newly arrived platforms, trying to kill those who had landed.
Powerful Mana barriers covered the forces as they charged off, forming up into their groups as they jogged forward. The dwarven warbands formed up in blocks of one hundred people, with mages supporting them. Mounted forces landed, the mounts racing off the platforms under the heed of their riders.
More and more platforms came down, those with individual drop packs not far behind.
All manner of creatures swarmed forward, gathering together. The Xelur focused their attacks on the mounted forces. The Mana barriers held for a while but there were simply too many incoming beams.
Xelur soul beams cut through the openings in the Mana barrier. Here and there, riders and their mounts were thrown backward or pierced through. Some were able to blunt the attacks with their own magic and shields as they spread outward, the ground rumbling with the charge of thousands.
It was a force of mounted riders that tore through the ground.
The mounted forces weren’t without their own attacks. A furious battle of ranged magical attacks was hurled between the two forces.
“Dwarves, ranged!” the dwarven War Clan commander bellowed. From the dwarves on the ground, their creatures that had been riding on their backs now took to the sky, expanding in size. They unleashed their own attacks.
A smoke spell went up in front of the Xelur, blocking them from seeing the advancing mounted forces, who continued to charge forward to get every bit of speed from their mounts as possible.
The Xelur had been saving up their forces for weeks. Now all of those forces were surging out of the citadel, ready to fight. They didn’t place the smoke screen in their eyes, blindly shooting out their soul beams.
The repeaters and swivel artillery cannons fired down on the Xelur forces, able to easily see the forces on either side of the smoke screen.
The artillery cannon’s shells exploded above the Xelur, killing tens of them with every blast. The repeaters tracked across the Xelur lines, killing many of them.
The Xelur used that power, pulling it into themselves to get stronger faster, throwing up shields and not slowing their pace in the slightest.
Deia didn’t land but instead the flames around her flared, reducing her speed and leveling her out. The rest of Party Zero was in a line off her.
From the sides, mages grouped together, creating artillery spells to give the forces up front cover.
The dwarven formations were getting stronger and stronger. As more of them came together, their creatures were in the air above them, unleashing their attacks.
Platforms landed with thuds as drop packs lit with their runic lines, bringing those using them to a halt. A week or two ago, they might have paused but now they had trained for so long that their reactions were automatic, putting away their packs and rushing to meet their groups that were moving forward already.
Emerilia Series Box Set 4 Page 74