Warning! This chapter will contain violence and somewhat graphic scenes. Turn away if that disturbs you.
Chapter 39
The Horde Descends
The sky was grey, thick clouds filling it from horizon to horizon, a low rumbling of distant thunder growing ever closer, as the defenders of Mutopia steeled themselves for a different kind of storm.
Monalisa and Jake took up positions in one of the towers they had built, while Sephie and Devina did the same in the second, and around a dozen Nordlings readied their own bows behind the dirt wall.
Zaleria walked up to the front of their forces, clapped her hands together in front of her before throwing her arms into the air. Like the reflection on a body of water being disturbed by a pebble tossed into it, ripples coursed over the area, as if the very fabric of reality was changing.
Over the course of five minutes, the ripples grew in intensity, then they started to slow, and five minutes later they stopped, and the terrain had changed.
Gone were the moat, the wall, the wooden stakes, and the small holes, replaced by an untouched meadow, and the towers were now a pair of trees.
But it was nothing but an illusion, an image covering the truth in the hopes of deceiving the enemy, lulling them into a false sense of security.
"When the enemy arrives, show them no mercy!" Leonardo called out to everyone. "As none will be given to us!"
Being the last line of defence, all they could do now, was wait and see how many that got past their first line, and the wait could prove to be worse than the fight itself.
Soaring high above the lands, Tyroth soon found the horde again. While he was no stranger to killing his opponents should it be necessary, his blood still ran cold as he thought about the mass slaughter he had to commit. But he kept telling himself that he had no other choice, that gnolls were nothing more than a plague that needed to be eliminated for the good of the world.
Placing his hand on the hilt of his sword, he felt how Ryujin vibrated in response, as if trying to comfort or assure him. Whatever the case, Tyroth did not have the time to wait any longer, he had to engage the gnolls as soon as possible.
His mana coursed throughout his body, being shaped into what he needed, and a dozen fireballs formed on the membranes of his wings, while another concentration of magic formed in his mouth.
With a mighty flap of his wings, he sent the twelve concentrated balls of fire shooting through the air towards the gnolls, while he followed right behind, opening his mouth in a roar, a roar consisting of four Words of Power.
"Dov Rii Slen Las!"
Fire erupted from his mouth, fire that soon coalesced into two dragons, flames turning into flesh, one with wings for front legs and rough scales of a greyish olive green, and the other with two pair of legs and one pair of wings on its back, with scales green as emeralds.
They were Lokdrogyol, Fiery Skylord of Nirn, and Thaenia Gentleheart, last Guardian Dragon of Earth.
As the fireballs struck the gnolls and exploded, the three dragons swooped down and each unleashed a torrent of flames on the still recovering beasts. Hundreds died in the opening attacks alone, and more soon followed as the dragon trio made another pass, each breathing large amounts of fire.
Dozens of gnolls were panicking as flames clung to their fur, stumbling on their fallen comrades and into their still living ones as they themselves were still disoriented after being caught off guard by the sudden attack.
But that didn't last for as long as Tyroth would have hoped. A gnoll, far larger than the others, almost as tall as the trolls, barked and shrieked at the horde, and shortly after, a large portion of the gnolls were rallied and started attacking the trio with whatever they had at hand.
Arrows were fired, and javelins, axes, spears, knives and rocks were thrown and hurled through the air.
Whatever kind of control the larger gnoll possessed soon spread to more and more of the previously scattering gnolls, and in short order, despite their low quality weapons, they mounted an impressive anti-air defence.
Tyroth had to constantly dart from side to side while flying to avoid as much of the projectiles as possible. Unfortunately, his two allies, being quite a lot larger than him, could not do the same, and while their scales were tough enough to protect them from any serious injuries, the many cuts and stabs they received quickly started to add up. And that was not all, as for with every wound they got, the time they could remain in the mortal realm was shortened.
"Bothersome pests!" Lokdrogyol snarled before taking a quick breath.
"Fus Ro Dah!" he roared, and the roar was accompanied by a shockwave that sent dozens of gnolls in front of him flying like rag-dolls.
Then he landed, crushing a handful of gnolls under his feet, while he bit one in half and swatted away another group with his mighty tail, and more fell to him as he continued fighting on the ground.
Thaenia followed suit, as they exposed themselves to a much smaller number of the horde's ranged attackers while on the ground, even if they would be attacked on all sides by melee based foes now, though there were only so many that could engage them at a time.
Tyroth drew his sword, the blade erupting into flames, and dived towards the ground, slamming into the first gnoll within reach as he landed, swinging his burning blade in wide angle, cutting down dozens with a single slash. The attack then flowed into him raising the blade above his head, the flames extending to five times the length, and was brought down upon the gnolls, burning, crushing and cutting all that were hit.
But even though he was occupied slaughtering his foes, Tyroth still noticed that a significant portion of the horde broke off and continued their path towards the village at a high pace. There was nothing he could do about it, however, as he was constantly assailed from all sides. If he tried to go after the others, he would expose himself to the rest, which could cost him his life.
All he could do was to continue fighting the ones that were left, and hope that the others could handle themselves.
In the village, the sounds of battle could be heard, even if it was faint, and before long, the ones in the towers spotted the first of the attackers approaching across the fields.
Some three hundred gnolls, with about fifty hyenas mixed in, and as many of the undead witherlings, and four trolls.
They stopped for a moment, seemingly observing the village and its defenders in front them.
Snarls, growls, howls and barks echoed among the beasts as they worked themselves into a frenzy, their unnatural hunger for the flesh of thinking beings spurring them on as they descended upon their next meal.
Or so they thought.
As the fragment of the horde rushed over the field, they soon met the first of the defences, as suddenly several tripped and fell, their feet getting trapped in the hidden holes. Bones broke, ligaments and tendons were torn, and sharp cries of pain could be heard over the furious, beastly sounds, but were quickly drowned out by the cacophony.
In the end, only some thirty gnolls, hyenas and witherlings fell to the traps, and the rest kept rushing towards the village without even slowing down.
That all changed when the ones in the front ran straight into the raised pikes before the moat and wall, all hidden by Zaleria's magic.
Nearly a hundred gnolls lost their lives as they were impaled on the invisible wooded stakes, some dying instantly while others were sentenced to a slow and painful death choking on their own blood or through severe blood loss.
Finally, the horde gave pause, and the remaining gnolls and their allies backed away a bit, investigating what was in front of them, and a few of them quickly understood that it was an illusion, which they relayed to the others.
But before they could resume their attack, they themselves came under attack, as arrows, bolts and icicles started sniping them, coming from what used to look like a pair of trees, but were in fact the towers housing Sephie, Devina, Monalisa and Jake, each who continued to shoot with their respective weapons as a shower of more arrows came from the other side of the wall.
Dozens of gnolls died before they reached the wall of spikes, pushing past the fresh corpses on them, and more fell as they were forced to climb their way up out of the moat and over the wall, only for the first ones to cross the wall to impale themselves on the second row of stakes.
One final volley of arrows were fired at the gnolls on the wall, before they finally breached the defences, and engaged the defenders in close combat. The ones in the towers kept firing a little while longer before being forced to join the others on the ground, lest they be surrounded by the gnolls.
As the gnolls were almost on top of them all, Erica closed her eyes and whispered a short phrase in Druidic. Her eyes then snapped open, and she stomped the ground with one foot at the same time as she clapped her hands together, the powers granted to her as a member of the Circle of Shepherd flaring up, causing her hair to rise in the currents, as she summoned a Spirit Totem, in the form of a great spectral bear, among those in the front.
While the bear spirit couldn't physically fight, it did bolster those within a certain radius of it, magically filling them with extra vitality and strength just as they needed it.
Devina transformed into her vampire/werewolf form and with a couple of flaps with her leathery wings, she swooped in and started slashing with her claws, tearing out the throat of one gnoll with one clawed hand while spilling the innards of a hyena with the other.
Before Sephie leaped from the tower, she took aim at one of the trolls that had yet to reach the wall, and let loose one of her explosive arrows. The red projectile struck its mark in the chest, and a nearly deafening explosion shook the battlefield, as the upper part of the troll was turned into charred pieces of flesh and bone.
The sudden explosion surprised the gnolls and their allies, while the defenders were prepared for such things, having gone over it beforehand, and pressed the advantage. Ragnir was one of them, having come face to face with a larger than average gnoll, and while it was distracted, Ragnir attacked with his two hammers, striking first the left knee of the gnoll and then the right one in quick succession, and as the gnoll fell forward, the dwarf took a step backwards and slammed both hammers into the sides of the gnolls head, crushing it.
With Michelangelo at her side, Kate let her whip lash out against any and all enemies that came within reach, aside from the undead witherlings, those she left to her boyfriend and his blunt nunchucks, quickly breaking apart the skeletons. The living gnolls and hyenas suffered with every hit from Kate's enchanted whip, every strike leaving a nasty wound dripping with green poison that quickly spread throughout the bloodstream. A single 'dose' was enough to turn the victim sluggish, and no more than four was enough to inflict a fatal dose of poison, but even just a single hit was more than enough to give the defenders another edge.
Another member that attacked a lot was Pandora, whose combined meteor-hammer/rope-dart, Mr Swinger, found prey after prey within a large area. The dart stabbed into torsos, disrupting attacks and leaving bleeding wounds, while the metal ball broke jaws, crushed feet and cracked ribs.
During the fighting, Pandora had however become separated from her parents, but she had to worry about that later, as there was already way more going on all around her, and she had proven herself capable to take care of herself.
But then she saw it, a tall and lanky figure with greasy dreadlocks for hair, green skin and long claws. A troll.
And it saw her.
"Jeez! You're one ugly dude! Hey! You got claws too?" The hybrid put away Mr Swinger, crouched and produced her own metal claws. "So have I! Let's dance!"
Almost as if it accepted her challenge, the troll snarled loudly at her and clawed its own hands, showing Pandora just how long the black claws really were.
'Crud!' Pandora thought when she saw that the claws were almost the length of her own hands, but she didn't let her nervousness show.
"Ain't the size that counts ugly, it's what you do with it!" she spat as she dashed towards the troll.
The troll swung its long arms, flailing about as Pandora deftly sidestepped each and every attack, though a few came dangerously close as she tried to find an opening. Her luck stayed with her, as every opening she did find allowed her to get in several cuts and stabs with both her claws and her tail blade.
Doing a backwards somersault to avoid another swing from the troll's arms, she even managed to stab her tail blade into one of its eyes, the troll shrieking as the pierced organ was pull along and left hanging from the socket.
Pandora grinned in triumph as she landed on her feet and crouched in preparation to attack again, but her grin faded quickly. Nearly all of the injuries she had inflicted had already healed, and those that were left were closing before her very eyes. Even the dangling eyeball regenerated as it was pulled back into its socket.
"Bloody shell…" she half gasped, memories of her beating at the hands of Vulstrun flooding her mind, how she couldn't inflict any lasting damage to him, but she pushed those away, she needed to focus on the fight. But that brief moment was all that it took to turn the tide against her.
Long claws raked across her stomach, only her quick reflexes saving her from more serious injuries than the still deep gashes. Still reeling from the pain, she gritted her teeth trying to push through it and keep fighting, even though she wasn't sure how to beat this foe.
Luckily, she wasn't alone.
As the troll did another swipe at Pandora, the attack was parried by the longsword wielded by Sonia, who had just dashed in when she saw that her cousin was in peril. With several quick slashes and stabs, she gave the troll new, fresh wounds, but more importantly, she gave Pandora the time she needed to get back in the fight.
Grabbing Mr Swinger, she spun it to gather some momentum, and then launched it at the troll's face, the impact causing it to recoil in shock and pain for a brief moment. That was all Sonia needed, jabbing her blade deep into the chest of the troll, spilling blood dark as sin, before pulling it out and with a single swing, she decapitated the large beast.
As the head fell to the ground, the body slumped and dropped onto its knees, and the two girls both breathed a sigh of relief before rejoining the rest of the battle, as there were still plenty of foes to deal with.
Then Pandora spotted something.
"Look out!" she yelled to Sonia.
The chameleon quickly turned around, but it was too late. A large clawed hand struck her, sending her flying and ripping off half of her face.
Whimpering in pain as she landed in front of Pandora, her colour turned a dark blue, nearly black as blood dripped from what remained of her face.
Meanwhile, Pandora could only stare in horror, first at her injured friend and then at the headless body of the troll, as it stood back up, and with one bloody hand, it picked up its head and placed it back on its neck. After cracking its neck, it uttered a loud and guttural growl and started walking towards them.
The battle has begun in earnest and everyone is giving it their all, while Pandora might have bitten off more than she can chew at the moment.
Everything will continue in the next chapter, coming soon. Hopefully.
Oh, and Erica has, in case you missed it, chosen the Circle of the Shepherd as her Druidic specialization.