AA3 49 - Pressure I

Verdan rushed through Dunkirn with his companions at his back, following the flow of thearns as they raced to the walls.

A rumbling roar that almost seemed to shake the ground came from somewhere beyond the walls, shortly followed by two or three more as they echoed the first.

Whatever had made those sounds was big, that was for sure, and Verdan was suddenly very grateful for Gwen’s presence. After all, a strong blast of lightning was an attack for which very few creatures were prepared.

Orders were shouted as the town’s defenders rallied. As they neared the wall, Verdan could see arrows being passed out and bows readied.

“Make way!” Jarn thundered as he sped ahead of their group, Captain Galstar barely inches behind him as they all but flew up the stairs to the wall.

To Verdan’s surprise, the Chosen took a moment to assess the situation before turning to the Captain and stepping in close to whisper into her ear.

A gauntlet slugged into Jarn’s ribs a moment later, but the Chosen laughed it off and gave the intimidating Captain an almost tender smile before turning and booming out orders to his thearns as they spread out along the wall.

Finally making it through the mass of Kranjir ascending the stairs, Verdan made for the Captain and studiously ignored the blush on her cheeks as he stepped up next to her.

“Where do you want us, Captain?”

The captain’s eyes widened momentarily when she realised that Verdan was coming to her for orders, but she quickly smoothed her expression.

“With respect, Wizard, I’d ask that you focus on the Bonecallers and any war beasts the Darjee have brought. Jarn told me of your capabilities, and that would be where we need the most aid.”

“Understood,” Verdan nodded, moving up to the edge of the wall to get a better look at what they were dealing with.

Currently, a few small bands of Thralls were rushing up the hill towards them, but they were too few in number to be anything more than a test.

Several larger shapes were visible in the tree line where the Thralls had emerged, which Verdan guessed were responsible for the roars he’d heard on his way over.

With each passing moment, more and more of the town’s defenders were reaching the walls and taking up position, making Verdan wonder why the Darjee had given away their attack so early.

Even now, those bands of Thralls were being cut down by flights of arrows, giving the Darjee no real benefit for the loss of those troops.

It just didn’t make tactical sense to Verdan.

“Captain, do the Darjee ever try to draw you into false positions?” Verdan asked, making sure his shielding spell was in place before he turned his attention away from the distant enemies. “This feels like a distraction, and I can’t help but notice that most of our forces are on this side of the town.”

“No, they are usually quite direct, but they usually don’t work with Thralls either,” Captain Galstar said, her eyes dark with thought before she beckoned over a pair of nearby shieldguards and sent them off with messages.

“I’ve sent word to reinforce the other sides of the town. It will leave the bulk of the defence here for the Chosen and their thearns, but it will protect against any flank attacks.”

“Thank you,” Verdan said, somewhat surprised by how quickly she’d gone along with his suspicions.

The Captain must have seen some of his surprise as her lips twitched into a slight smile. “Jarn spoke highly of you and your companion, Wizard. I will take all your suggestions into consideration.”

Verdan took a moment to make sure that there was no growing threat he needed to address before responding. “I don’t mean to pry into personal details, but the impression I had was that you and Jarn didn’t get along?”

Verdan’s understanding of the two’s attitude towards each other had been set during the meeting with Sebastian, where they’d seemed combative and at odds.

“Ah,” the Captain said, flushing a little as she cleared her throat and looked away. “Jarn and I are somewhat of a complex situation. We may burn hot, but we respect each other deeply despite our competitive nature.”

“I see,” Verdan said with a short nod, not quite understanding but knowing enough not to want to pry further.

Looking back out from the wall, Verdan saw another band of Thralls heading up to the town, which only reinforced his suspicions. Thralls were expendable. That much had been established, and the lack of any Darjee, or anything else for that matter, being sent was suspicious.

A few more minutes passed before an out-of-breath runner came along the wall to report to the Captain.

“It seems your concerns were just, Wizard,” Captain Galstar said, giving Verdan a vicious smile once she’d sent back a reply. “Small groups of Darjee were attempting to sneak up on our flanks with grappling hooks. That’s another new for them. Thankfully, they were spotted and driven off before too much damage was caused.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Verdan said, relieved that the other shoe had dropped. At least now they knew what the Darjee were trying to do. “That suggests that there is an actual assault force down there, though. They’d have to be ready to strike once we were disorganised.”

The Captain motioned for him to continue, so Verdan motioned down the wall to where Gwen and Hedda were standing. “Working together, we could strike amongst the trees and try to drive them out.”

“Oh, by all means, don’t let me stop you,” Captain Galstar said with a laugh. “It will be a nice change for us to have the superior magical support.”

Moving down the wall, Verdan explained his plan to Gwen and Hedda. The two Witches had some minor alterations, but they were reasonable suggestions to Verdan’s mind.

“Tymest,” Verdan said softly, sending Aether up into the clouds above them, which were already starting to draw together as Gwen drew on her power.

Acting alone, Gwen could slowly create a natural storm, which would give her the most flexibility with her powers, but with Verdan’s aid, it was much quicker.

Quicker didn’t mean instant, though, and Verdan spent the time while Gwen was working to cast the spell several more times, helping to draw more clouds into the burgeoning storm.

A fresh roar rang out from the trees as a much larger force began to emerge. It seemed that they’d realised their plan had failed and were going with a more direct resolution.

Mutters broke out along the wall as the size of the attacking force revealed itself. By Verdan’s eye, there must have been almost a hundred Thralls, supported by almost as many Darjee.

Five of the Bone Thralls, as Verdan was naming the larger variants, were present as well. These particular ones were all four-armed giants, each with two of the lower arms bearing grafted metal weapons.

The shortest stood at seven feet tall, with the largest cresting ten and having more reptilian features.

Reaching out with his Aether senses, Verdan couldn’t get an accurate read about whether they were protected from Aether or physical attacks; there was just too much abyssal energy concentrated down there.

The same roar came again as four huge creatures came stomping out of the trees. Powerfully built with four tree-trunk legs, the creatures had a large and imposing set of horns running down their face and a long tail that ended in a thick spiked ball.

The whole beast was half again as tall as a human and looked two or three times as long, giving it an imposing figure.

“Guzzgars!” The cry went up from the thearns on the wall, and Verdan saw the Chosen move to the front with grim expressions.

Verdan tried to imagine fighting one of those walking mountains of muscle in close combat and shuddered.

The Chosen kept the Clans safe and maintained the borders, but Verdan began to wonder just how many of them survived the experience.

“Verdan, I’m ready!” Gwen shouted, meeting his eyes with a strained expression as the clouds darkened and condensed overhead.

He nodded and took a steadying breath before forming the intent of the spell he wanted. There was tremendous power in those clouds, and he wanted to draw from them directly rather than create his own lightning.

He’d use Gwen’s storm and enhance the product with his own magic to create something greater.

Verdan focused, bringing it together before calling out the Words of Power and infusing them with as much Aether as he could. “Grym tymset fell thella!”

A blinding light flashed as thunder rolled, and what felt like the hammer of the gods slammed down into the Darjee formation.

Blinking away the light, Verdan heard thunder twice more as Gwen followed up with her own lightning strikes. While not as powerful as the first, they were still deadly to those nearby.

The impact kicked up dust and debris, but as it settled, the shocked silence on the wall was broken as a cheer rang out.

Two of the Guzzgars lay unmoving, their bodies charred and blackened from the first strike. Almost a score of the Thralls and Darjee joined them, with many more wounded from the aftermath of the strike.

Two of the Bone Thralls were injured as well, but it was hard to tell by how much from this distance.

“Thanr bel,” Verdan conjured a concentrated ball of flame and cast it down at the Bone Thralls, scorching them further and killing a few of the lesser Thralls who’d been nearby.

The burst of flames was enough to break the enemy from their stupor, and a long, haunting note rang out from a horn as they began to charge up the hill.

As they did, Verdan felt a growing surge of abyssal energy and spotted movement down at the trees as three of the Darjee Bonecallers stepped into view, each festooned with charms.

Magic began to swirl around the three Bonecallers, forming a mass of oily black energy with lines of sickly green running through it that the three of them shaped and expanded before sending it hurling towards the wall.