17th Day of the Second Moon

Kiran

"Once you take a step forward, not a single step back!"

Archer's words had remained in the back of my mind this entire time. Not one step back, right, because that was totally reasonable for someone new to literally everything about the current situation! Not to mention a straight line through Hiroshima essentially put all of Shikoku behind it! She was dealing with the rear cleanup; I had to deal with the front line!

Archer basically saw some shit happening, turned to me, and told me to deal with it without bothering her!

And boy, were we really in the shit here!

"Incoming volley! Get back!"

Whoever had shouted the warning shouted it too late though. As I turned in the direction of the warning shout multiple boulders slammed into the castle wall. Two bounced off its face, and began rolling down the hill into some advancing enemy forces. The remaining three, however, landed direct hits on the wooden partitions giving cover to our archers. The sounds of wood splintering and guttural screams as bodies were knocked off the wall and crushed were only a couple of many such sounds that rang out all around me this night.

How mother had pushed all the way to Hiroshima Castle so quickly I had no idea. Nor was I sure how to repel this siege! Taking out the walls of a castle was not the norm in Japanese history, and their castles reflected this. The inner courtyards and multiple inner gates and walls wouldn't be of any use if mother planned on simply taking out every wall that stood in her way! Sallying out wasn't a realistic option either though; we were outnumbered here, and wouldn't be receiving reinforcements for at least a couple of weeks as Archer needed them for herself.

Honestly, our only saving grace was that mother, like myself, had decided to go with Japanese culture as the basis of her empire; just as our castles were not designed to take on such a tactic as a forceful siege, neither was conducting such an operation well understood by her forces. At least, not yet.

"Thunderstorm thorns!"

Taking aim, I launched a volley of electrical magical energy at a group of advancing enemy soldiers. The thorns embedded themselves within the enemy before exploding, frying the people directly hit alive and sending arcs of purple electricity outward, jumping from body to body. While not everyone hit by the arcs of electricity would die, they certainly wouldn't be getting up anytime soon either.

...Seconds…

…All this had occurred in mere seconds…

…How much death had I witnessed in just these past few seconds…?

In retaliation, a volley of arrows was launched into the air, barely visible in the darkness of the night. Taking cover, I allowed myself to heave out a couple of heavy breaths, and tried to silence my mind to the intrusive thoughts as the sound of arrows embedding themselves into wood and bouncing off rock began to ring out around me. Despite the numbing sensation at my neck, I found myself thankful for the armor; meant that no one could see my face.

…I'm not cut out for war…

"My lord! Are you-"

"I'm fine!" I shouted, waving away a couple of soldiers that were running towards me. "Hold your formation, and keep firing! Don't let them start scaling the walls!"

Readying another volley of thorns, I launched them towards where I remembered seeing the volley of arrows come from. There seemed to be no end to the onslaught though. The distance was being closed, slowly but surely. Our archers were losing effectiveness as both numbers dwindled, and the enemy moved forward under the cover of their own, mobile partitions. Another round of rocks slammed into the wall, causing the ground beneath my feet to shake, but fortunately falling short of doing any real damage, far as I could tell.

"Take out their cover" I shouted to a group of nearby archers. "Ready fire arrows and fire together! We need to-"

More screams and shouting, but not from our side. Looking up, I saw a lone boulder sail overhead and crash down onto the field below, crushing three people. A few seconds later I saw another. A roar of cheers rang out into the night from within the castle as a third boulder sailed overhead. The defensive trebuchets were finally operational.

""Now, while they're shaken!"

A wave of orange light lit the sky and began to descend upon the enemy. Most of the arrows hit nothing but dirt, but enough of them hit their marks to set two partitions on fire and the men behind them scattering. A volley of regular arrows followed swiftly behind, taking quite a few enemies with them.

I saw a fourth boulder from our own trebuchets sail overhead, and was finally starting to think things would work out, and that we could turn this siege around.

…Only for a streak of purple light to collide with the boulder in midair, smashing it to bits that began to rain down on our own heads.

A shout to watch your head came from somewhere behind me, but my focus swiftly switched to trying to trace the light back to its source. I felt the pit in my stomach swell in size as I saw, off in the distance, a set of armor that was exactly like mine.

Mother finally showed herself.

Horror spread through me as I saw not one, not two, but five purple orbs of magical energy, all the same size as a trebuchet round, get fired in rapid succession in a high arc, right towards the wall of the castle.

"Get away from the wall! Now!"

Most of the men nearby reacted fast enough to my shouts and backed a good distance away from the wall. The stragglers though… Entire sections of the wall arced with electricity in a brilliant series of purple flashes. The ground shook with a violent force that knocked me off my feet, and by the time I'd reoriented myself all that remained was splintered and crackling wood, the smell of charred corpses and scattered ash.

What the hell is that magecraft?!

More shouts and cries drowned out the thought as a hail of arrows began to rain down upon us, now exposed in the open courtyard ground.

"Get behind the cover of the wall" I barked out as I felt multiple arrows plink off my armor. "Stay away from the electrified sections! Fire when ready and keep the enemy back!"

"My lord, we can't stand against that level of destruction" an officer nearby ran up to me. "We need to fall back to the second wall!"

"We give up this wall here, we might as well open the gates and give up the entire castle! How is the second wall going to resist those blasts any better than the first?!"

"But my lord- I-Incoming!"

Turning around, the three orbs sailing towards us came into view. I knew in an instant that these were not meant for the wall, but the courtyard. With the confusion and disorganization, the damage this volley would inflict could be massive. To the morale of the soldiers nearby, perhaps even fatal.

"Thunderstorm thorns!"

Eight thorns, the absolute most I could conjure up at a time, fanned into an arc above my head. Taking only a fraction of a second to aim, I launched all eight at the first orb. The moment they impacted their target, I conjured up another eight and fired. The last of the orbs was maybe a couple of seconds away from impact when the volley of thorns collided with it, electrical energy exploding outward and causing my ears to crackle and pop, like Pop Rocks.

"I will deal with the enemy magecraft! Just keep firing" I huffed as the officer removed his hands from his ears. "Have someone get a message to the cavalry: sally forth and perform a quick sweep of the upper section of the hillside. Cut down any you can, but don't stop moving. Get some of the yari footmen on standby by the gate; don't let the enemy swarm through the open gate, and don't let the cavalry get stuck out there!"

"Right away, my lord" the officer hastily shouted before beginning to bark his own orders to the surrounding men.

Summoning eight thorns to deal with each orb would be taxing, but I wasn't going to start experimenting with how many thorns it took to take one down now. That mother would have some tricks of her own up her sleeve when it came to magecraft didn't surprise me, but the level of destructive power it had on stone and wood was something I honestly didn't think I could replicate. At least not with the magecraft I had on hand.

Rushing forward to a clear section of the wall, I looked out over the battlefield in an attempt to find her. It didn't take long; the armor was a dead give away, and she had her own bolt axe in hand at her side. A tingling sensation ran up my spine, and I could have sworn that, behind her helmet, she was smiling.

The sound of drums brought me back into focus, and turning my head to the side I could see the front of the cavalry formation coming around the bend. At the same time, multiple boulders of our own sailed overhead, followed by more fire arrows.

Enemy soldiers tried to run for the safety of the enemy cavalry, only now starting their countercharge up the hill. From the wall though, it was clear to see they'd never make it in time. Under an onslaught of fire, stone and swords, the enemy was swept away from the upper half of the hill. A cheer broke out along the wall as the cavalry swept by.

…It was only once the elation had just broken through the ever present dread that I spotted it. Snaking it's way up the hill, it's purple glow just barely visible in the night. Almost like the roots of a tree, burrowing their way through the ground…

The most violent display of electrical magecraft I'd ever witnessed exploded from the earth. Dirt, stone, man, and horse alike were sent flying up and outward across the battlefield. A deep, dark purple root shot straight up towards the night sky. Two more roots branched off it, and the roots only continued to branch, striking and shocking everything that had been sent flying. I couldn't escape the ringing sound of my ears as I was blown backward from the wall, rolling along the ground. It was only when I hit something that I came to a stop, not that I could make out what that even was.

Gasping for air and adrenalin surging, I forced myself to my feet. While I still couldn't hear anything, nor did I have any real comprehension as to the state of things within the castle, I forced myself, staggering forward, back to the wall. Chunks of dirt, stone, and flesh continued to rain down upon the battlefield as I stood at the edge of the now shattered and crumbling wall in a complete daze. The hillside had a massive crater blown into it, now serving as the only obstacle preventing the enemy from entering the first layer of the castle.

From across the battlefield, my gaze slowly shifted through the enemy until it landed on mother. Nothing about her look or posture had changed, but again I could have sworn she was smiling directly at me from behind her helmet. I could do nothing but stare right at her as she slowly took a step forward, dispelled her axe, and raised her arm. Conjuring a single thorn, she fired it straight up into the night sky, where it burst in a faint crackling of purple light.

I couldn't tell you what it was, but clearly something had been rung by the enemy, for their forces began to fall back from the battlefield. I watched on as I saw the enemy disappear into the night. Vaguely, I was aware that those who were still alive were rushing about, but I still found myself yet able to move.

The end of the first night of the siege. We had survived. Technically speaking, this was a victory. Deep down in my gut though, I knew the truth. This… this was no victory. This wasn't even a warning.

Mother was drawing this out. Mother was enjoying this.

Mother was... toying with me...