Derion and Nenvalur shared a glance and shook their heads just before darting off in different directions. "Thorsen, stay near Vyra; we'll cover you," Haldir shouted from somewhere far above the ground as a rain of arrows and spells began to strike the first line of Thran. Arrows sank into their skulls and spells charred, froze, or buried dozens of the massive creatures at a time. However, for each one that fell, another quickly took its place with a snarl.
Thorsen and Vyra dashed into the fray, each to their own clusters of creatures. Her speartip slashed across four of them at once, severing the hafts of their axes or arms that held their slab-like swords. Thorsen found himself quickly surrounded, but his experience in battle was devastating to those around him.
One of them tried to split him like a firewood log with its massive axe, but he quickly got the better of the creature and took up its weapon as his own. Dual-wielding a blade and an axe nearly as large as he was, he made quick, bloody work of those in his immediate vicinity with a combined spinning slash. Entrails soared through the air, as the screeching creatures fell to the earth in heaps.
Vyra, seeing the clearing he'd just made, used the base of her spear to launch herself over his head, jabbing her spear tip-first into the skull of an unsuspecting creature, only to leap off its shoulders and dive into a spinning attack that severed the heads of three others before she landed.
She's incredibly skilled, but how long can she fight like this? Thorsen wondered momentarily, ripping his newfound weapon out of the chest cavity of a fallen Thran.
As they left a trail of bodies in their wake, Derion and Nenvalur were fighting ferociously against the outer-lying formations, keeping as many stragglers from getting through as they could. In their wake lay not tens, but hundreds of corpses as they raced from side to side like a scythe to wheat.
They aren't as tough as I thought they would be, but they can certainly make up for it in numbers, Derion sent Nenvalur, carving his way through a trio of creatures with a rapid set of crossing slashes. These creatures are hunters; their specialty lies in trapping their prey, not so much fighting head-on like this, Nenvalur said, chaining a Kyr spell from the tip of his blade and forcing it to arc around him. Then why were they sent here? Surely there were better options to pick from, right? Derion asked, tossing a severed head at another creature, crushing its skull.
Whatever the case, Erumon has a plan and seems to know what's coming. We need to take care of these quickly if we're going to fight those large ones, Nenvalur added, spewing fire from his fingertips hot enough to melt right through a creature's chest.
Just as the corpse landed on the ground, a massive black hand smashed the ground before him, breaking the earth beneath his feet and sending him high into the air. "Son of a… Haldir!" Nenvalur shouted as more than a score of creatures raced beneath him.
Haldir leapt from branch to branch, sending arrows and spells at each of them, though there were too many for him to handle. Eirenne quickly took his spot in the tree, sending attacks at twice the speed she had earlier. "There are too many of them," Haldir shouted, already feeling frustrated at his own incompetence. However, he was immediately relieved when he saw Erumon leap down from the wall and dash at an incredible speed toward them.
Like a bolt of lightning, he moved from target to target, leaving little more than pink, static mist in his wake. The guardsmen, who remained behind a protective barrier he'd left behind, were utterly astonished at just how easily he defeated them. "That must have been over a hundred in the time it took me to blink," one of them said, his eyes wide and mouth agape.
"It's not for nothing that he bears the title of Warden," Ense said with a proud look on his fine features. His braided blonde hair swayed in the wind left in Erumon's wake as he returned to his post above the wall in a flash. "No harm will come to you while I'm here, but soon I will have to fight my own enemy, so reserve your strength for when I have to go," Erumon said, his hand steaming as the blood evaporated from his fists.
As he looked out onto the battlefield before him, he could tell his vanguard was starting their assault on the first obcasus, raining fire, arrows, and mana-infused slashes across its body.
Where are you? Erumon thought, sending a pulse of mana out beyond the reaches of their battle.
Suddenly, a violent pulse of Leech mana rippled through the land, causing his eyes to widen. As if heard from the bottom of the lake, a boom resonated through the forest, prompting him to look into the sky through the small gaps in the canopy far above.
Thank you, Lord Ryfon, Erumon dipped his head slightly as he saw the dragon's silhouette flying through the air at an incredible speed.
As he raised his head, he felt the presence of another whom he'd expected would arrive. "I see you wasted no time once your master revealed himself," Erumon said without looking to his right, where a woman roughly his height and pale skin stood. Immediately, the air surrounding them became incredibly dense with mana, so much so that the guardsmen below could feel it through his barrier. They staggered momentarily, prompting Erumon to pour more mana into the barrier he'd created to protect them from further harm.
Her bright green eyes flashed with delight beneath long, black bangs, as she put her hands behind her back, idly fiddling with the pale gray tunic she wore. "My sweet, caring Erumon. Do you think that barrier will protect them from my mission?" she asked, her voice calm and silky, while reaching her hand out to trace a finger along his shoulder. It was flicked away faster than it took her to blink, and her surprised look was met with one of pure, unadulterated hate.
"Don't you dare call me that again, Nevesh. You have long-since forsaken the right to do so," he said, his voice low and commanding. She raised an eyebrow doubtfully, then pursed her lower lip as if to show she didn't care. "But I think I will always have that right, won't I, sweetheart? Regardless of what I've done, or how many of our former comrades I've slain, you never could forget me, could you?" Nevesh asked coyly, placing her spread fingers across her ample, almost-bare chest.
Erumon held his glare and tilted his head forward. "If you're here to kill me next, I promise you won't find it an easy task," he growled, but she burst into a brief, manic fit of laughter. "No, no, no. I'm not here to fight you, though I am disappointed by the fact that you're here defending them," she gestured to the city beyond the wall.
"It's a shame, honestly. I thought that you would be in some far-off realm dealing with the others who walk the realms. Tell me, when was the last time you were able to stretch your wings, eh? Was it in Nayara that you failed to save those poor creatures from us? Or, could it have been that one time on E-..." her voice cut off the moment Erumon grabbed her by the throat.
"Do not speak of the fallen as if they are lost forever, Nevesh. You know just as well as I do that once he falls, so too will his control over them," he seethed, bringing his face closer to hers than he'd initially intended. She stuck out her long, forked tongue and licked his cheek, then smiled wickedly. "Ah, I've missed the taste of regret," she said wryly, placing both her hands on his wrist and slowly lowering his hand, prompting him to take a step back.
"Unfortunately, you're wrong about that. His plan is coming to fruition right before your eyes, and yet you still think killing him would be enough to stop that? Hah, you've grown even more delusional than when we spent that night together in Malfurst," she put a hand to the corner of her mouth in an attempt to stifle her laughter.
Erumon scowled at her, forcing himself not to take his eyes off her. "In any case, my dear, I've already told you that I'm not here to fight you, as I know I would likely die trying, but I do have a mission to complete. If you'd be so kind as to step aside," she said forcefully, causing the ones below her to drop to a knee. Erumon reinforced the barrier again, but noticed it wasn't doing much.