Glory to the Brave (Ascend Online Book 4)
Page 86
“Lucky us,” I mumbled as we both charged up the stairs, my eyes looking towards the aforementioned stormfront to the northwest and landing on the dark, voluminous clouds that loomed in the distance.
“Past all of that, we’re more or less committed across the board now,” Freya continued as we climbed, the sounds of combat growing louder with each step we took. “Which includes our other plan as well. With us not knowing how long you were going to be out of commission, Drace and I decided to give it the go-ahead as soon as we saw the orcs getting ready to attack. We figured that between any other surprises the orcs might have in store for us and the coming storm we had a short window to work with.”
“Which is the same thing I would have suggested too,” I replied, quickly doing a bit of mental math in my head on how the timing of everything would work out. “So then we pretty much need to survive until the storm arrives, if not a bit longer.”
“Roughly,” Freya agreed, lunging out with her spear as she vaulted up the last few steps, its tip slicing through an unwary shadow that hadn’t seen her coming. “But that’s assuming if things go according to plan, which given our luck in the past…”
“Might be a long shot,” I finished, drawing Savagery as I reached the top of the wall behind her and scanned our surroundings, finding that the adventurers nearby were already in the process of placing a new ward to replace the one that had failed. Not that I really expected it to do much given the sea of shadows that were currently rushing towards Aldford from outside the wall, the distant orcs summoning rank after rank before throwing them at us. “But then again, that plan is already a longshot in itself.”
“You’re not kidding there,” Freya said with a snort as she motioned for me to follow her as we rushed along the ramparts, which were just wide enough for us to run shoulder to shoulder beside one another. “Anyway, though, past all of that, everything else is more or less the same as last night and going according to plan. The only major tweak is the deployment layout on the wall, in case you’re not recognizing the faces we’re passing.”
“It’s too soon on the faces, but the guild crest does help things along in the meantime,” I replied, absentmindedly nodding in greeting towards a pair of adventurers that belonged to the Legion guild who had glanced in our direction as we jogged past them. “What’s changed there?”
“Just some shifting around based on who I’ve noticed works best with whom after yesterday,” Freya answered as we ran headlong into a group of attacking shadows that had managed to scale the walls ahead of us. “We’re now in the center of the eastern wall with Legion and Lionheart on either side of us since they’re comparatively so much bigger member wise. We also have their overflow going to support the northern and southern gates, respectively.”
“So if anything goes wrong with either of them, they’ll be in a good position to shift and help out there or pull a reserve back onto the wall if needed,” I said, getting the general idea of the woman’s plans as I swept Savagery through a pair of shadows that had landed too close to me, the attack causing them both to writhe, then twist towards me. “Same with us helping them out.”
“You got it,” she replied while thrusting her spear towards the two creatures that I’d attacked, its tip piercing through one before darting to deliver a slice against the other. “Beyond that, we have Cassius and his guild on duty to defend the northern gate, and then Riggs and his group of adventurers to defend the southern one. After seeing him fight the last few days, and how well a good chunk of the other newcomers listen to him, I figured he was the best person for the job. We should maybe think about snatching him and a good core the other newcomers up after all this. Because if we don’t, one of the other guilds sure will.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” I agreed as I slashed out one last time towards the shadows and landed two quick cuts on each, the blows proving to be too much for them to take and causing their bodies to lose shape and disintegrate. “With all the new arrivals here now, we’re fairly outnumbered guild member wise.”
“More like horribly outnumbered,” Freya corrected as we resumed our trek along the wall, the other Legion adventurers having the attack well in hand. “But yeah, I think we could definitely use some new blood at this point.”
“Then we’ll make it happen,” I replied as I shifted to look farther down the ramparts, finally spotting a few familiar shapes and faces ahead, the least of which was Amaranth, the cat having gone his own way after I’d turned in the previous night. “Ah, I think I see the others ahead.”
“Same,” Freya said, her head turning to look out towards the orcs as something caught her eye. “And just in time too. Looks like the orcs are getting tired of sending in their minions to get killed in dribs and drabs.”
“Shit, I see it,” I replied as I glanced out over the wall and saw a massive cluster of Zhul’s shadows of corruption just standing and waiting as the heralds continued to summon more and more of them. “Just how many of those things can they make before they can’t anymore?”
“No idea, but I think we’re about to find out,” Freya stated with a shake of her head, glancing over towards me as she spoke. “Come on, let’s get ourselves buffed and ready while we still have time. The real fighting is about to start.”
Chapter 67
“They’re getting ready to send the constructs in!” I heard Constantine’s voice call out from farther down the rampart beside me at the same moment as I sliced through the arm of the corrupted wolverine I was fighting. “I can see them massing—ah, shit, check that! They’re all rushing forward now! They’ll be here in a few minutes! That includes the big one, too!”
“Then we better clear these things out before they get here!” I shouted back as I dodged under an ethereal claw and delivered a pair of cuts to the towering creature’s midsection, causing a spray of dark energy to burst free from the wounds. Dancing backward from the attack and out of the spirit’s range, I had a brief opportunity to glance along our line, finding everyone struggling to keep the tide of attackers at bay. “Hal! I think we’re going to need you guys to sweep the ramparts again! We need to ease the pressure before they get here!”
“Damn, Lyr, we’re still recovering from the last sweep!” the mage’s voice called back from behind me. “If we do it again, we’ll be completely burnt out when they get here!”
“Then drop another set of totems and a searing ward too!” I countered while side-stepping another swipe from my opponent and immediately riposting with a combined slash of Savagery and a point-blank Flameburst, the two attacks finally enough to cause it to lose shape and dissolve. “We need to buy ourselves some space before those things get here!”
Trusting that Halcyon and the other spellcasters would follow my orders, I allowed myself one quick look at the oncoming attackers before throwing myself back into the fighting. Costing me only a pair of seconds, the glance allowed me to spot the same onrushing wall that Constantine had as the orcs sent their abominations sprinting across the battlefield towards us, which, of course, included the massive siegebreaker. But as I shifted my focus past the advancing screen of constructs, I saw that several tribes of orcs were moving to follow behind them as they had during the battle at Valor’s Point.
They’re using them as trailblazers again, I noted, instantly recognizing what the orcs were trying to do as I saw that the constructs had been arrayed into widespread ranks that were anywhere between three to five rows deep depending on the section in question. With their ability to absorb an incredible amount of punishment, while also being somewhat disposable, they were likely hoping that the creatures triggered any traps that we might have left in wait.
Which, of course, they will. Just not all of them, I added as I pulled my attention away from the oncoming constructs and towards Amaranth a few feet away from me, who was busily fighting a pair of shadows that had just climbed over the wall.
Rushing to my familiar’s aid, I slashed Savagery through the closest of the two att
ackers, causing it to recoil in pain and twist towards me, which in turn, allowed the cat to swipe out with his claws at its partner. Landing high on the shadow’s body, the blow caused the creature to practically explode from the impact as if Amaranth had struck a particularly dense cloud, leaving only a streak of darkness in the air. During that time, I was far from idle myself, relentlessly attacking my shadow with all the strength and speed that I could bring to bear, slicing through the outmatched creature faster than it could react and sending it back to wherever Zhul’s followers had conjured it from.
Of course, though, that victory for Amaranth and me proved to be short-lived as it had been since I’d arrived on the wall little more than a half-hour earlier, the two shadows we’d dispatched being replaced by six more that were climbing over the wall’s edge.
I replied to the cat as we fought the half-dozen shadows, which, despite their numbers, proved to be little challenge to us thanks to both our gear and relatively higher level.
“Sweep incoming!” he shouted, his words accompanied by a crackle of building magic all around us. “Take cover!”
Reacting quickly to the mage’s words, Amaranth and I didn’t waste a second in moving, the two of us stepping back from the creatures we’d been fighting until we were nearly at the rampart’s edge. Diving close to my familiar, I did my best to shield him with my body, both of us steeling ourselves for what would come next.
“Here it comes!” Halcyon exclaimed a second before my world was filled with a blaze of both fire and lightning, the magic lancing along the length of the ramparts on either side of us for several dozen feet.
The blast cleared out every single spirit or shadow that had been standing on the wall, wiping them out as if they’d never been there, and giving us the space that we needed to breathe. Once done, the mages then stepped forward to the edge of the wall and continued their efforts down below where even more of the ethereal creatures waited, sending a torrent of destruction down into their massed ranks. Such a tactic, however, didn’t come without its price. First, in the complete exhaustion of our spellcasters once the sweep was completed, but also second, in the health of the defenders that were forced to endure the edges of the magic that cleared the wall.
Halcyon’s [Pyroclasm] hits you for 110 points of fire damage!
Caius’s [Demon Fire] hits you for 106 points of fire damage!
Donovan’s [Lightning Bolt] hits you for 103 points of lightning damage!
“Rah! I hate that part the most,” I growled to Amaranth as I felt the point-blank magic sear my skin and body, my newly learned shroud blunting its effects somewhat. “Friendly fire never feels friendly.”
“I suppose that’s fair,” I replied to the cat as the elemental storm continued to roll forward, its searing effects on us being replaced by twin cooling sensations flowing through my body. Recognizing them immediately for what they were, I glanced over towards my combat log, seeing a pair of new entries appear, along with the staple one from the tree I’d grown used to seeing over the last few weeks.
[Lesser Healing Totem] heals you for 200 hit points!
[Lesser Mana Totem] replenishes you for 150 mana points!
[Aldford’s Aura of Magic] replenishes you for 50 mana points!
Good, the totems are down. That should keep us standing for a while, I thought as I stood from my crouched position with Amaranth, using the lull in fighting to step forward to the wall’s edge and inspect both the casters’ efforts, as well as the oncoming wave of constructs and orcs. Focusing on the magical onslaught first, I saw that it had succeeded perfectly in clearing the bulk of the spirits and shadows that had been either on the wall or on the immediate field beyond it. What few remained were in the process of being easily finished off by the majority of our ranks, those who were not fighting enjoying the few seconds they had to catch their breaths.
Satisfied with what I was seeing there, I turned my attention towards the onrushing constructs and orcs just in time to see their ranks begin to separate into three distinct groups, each of them heading in their own direction. Two of the groups, the ones that belonged to either flank of their advance, split on an angle that I saw would lead to the two eastern facing gates that Aldford had, one on the northern end of the city, and the other on the south. Natural weak points to any fortification, we’d known that both of the locations would likely end up as prime targets for the orcs’ assault and had done our best to prepare for their inevitable attack. The gates had been barred and reinforced, the bridge that spanned the river had been removed, and the trench ringing the town had been expanded until no easy path remained. If the orcs wanted to find a way through either of the two entrances, then they would have to pay for it with rivers of blood and sweat.
That was, of course, if the third group didn’t end up taking the town in their own right.
Easily larger than the other two groups put together, the oncoming wave of constructs consisted entirely of dervishes, their light stature and smaller forms allowing them to sprint across the battlefield at near blinding speed, enough so that our ballistae had a hard time hitting them. Dogging their steps behind them was also the massive shape that was the siegebreaker, which was then, followed by several orc tribes that had split away from the main horde. It didn’t take a genius tactician to divine what the orcs’—or, more specifically, Zhul’s—strategy was with this particular force, the enemy leader clearly signaling his intent to have the massive creature simply bulldoze its way through the palisade and into the town.
Hence its namesake: siegebreaker, I thought as I stared at the distant monstrosity while clenching my teeth, hoping once again that all our plans and preparations to deal with the thing would be enough. Because if they weren’t, we had little illusion of how the battle would end up going if we simply allowed the creature to run lose through Aldford’s heart. At this point, though, there’s nothing left for us to do but fight onwards and see what fate has in store for us.
Ending abruptly, the lull in the battle that I’d been able to enjoy and catch my breath during was interrupted by the sudden arrival of three more shadows of corruption along with a rather large looking anaconda spirit climbing over the wall ahead. Leaping forward with Amaranth by my side, we promptly fell back into the battle, the next couple minutes flying by in what felt like the blink of an eye. It was only when I heard several loud cracks of firing siege weapons along with Drace’s voice that I was drawn back into the moment.
“Caltrop bombs out!” he shouted in a loud voice that carried over the battlefield despite the renewed fighting. “Gunners focus on the dervishes until the siegebreaker comes into range! Once it does, I want you all to focus on nothing else! We need to take that thing down before it can do too much damage!”
Glancing upwards as I clued into what stage of the battle we’d entered, I managed to catch sight of several dozen metal balls sailing through the air and towards the oncoming constructs. Practically identical to the ones that we’d used during the battle of Valor’s Point, the
balls would spray the ground and anything around them with razor-sharp pieces of metal after landing, forcing anyone running over them to slow, lest they wound their feet. The only difference this time, however, with the bombs, was that we had opted to use æthertouched iron caltrops for their payload after seeing just how much even the barest touch of the metal afflicted the constructs.
Forced to abandon following their trajectory as I turned my attention back towards the fighting, I lost the next few seconds in the flurry of melee combat, both Amaranth and I cutting through another complement of shadows that had survived the mages’ sweep. But once the last of them fell, I had a chance to see the havoc that our attack had wreaked on the charging dervishes, their agonized screams reaching our ears from even this distance. Flailing and staggering, our attack had cost them a good portion of the momentum from their charge, nearly half of them writhing and screaming in pain as they tried to use their ill-designed blade arms to sweep away the shards of iron that had pierced their bodies. This made them perfect targets for the barrage that followed afterward, the thunderous snap of over two dozen ballistae, and the even more massive crack that belonged to the Beast, sending out volleys of deadly bolts towards them. Feeling the ramparts shake beneath my feet as they all fired, I was able to follow the wall of bolts as they crossed the battlefield in the blink of an eye before falling upon the line of dervishes—and lancing through them with fury.
Having been distracted by the spraying caltrops, the dervishes had given up their best defense against being attacked, having slowed just enough for our ballistae gunners to gain a bead on them before firing. The result had the leading edge of their charge melt away as the volley of bolts scythed through them, wounding, if not killing, several outright.
“That was a great start, gunners!” Drace’s voice boomed out once again. “Now let’s do it again! Casters, get ready, or drink a potion if you’re not! You’re up next!”