Wizard's Tower - Arc 3 - Chapter 57

My spell didn’t fizzle out, though it was a close thing. Seeing three large gateways open on the other three plateaus that surrounded the monster was a surprise. Even more so, when soldiers and mages began to emerge from those gateways in quickly-marching formations. Catapults, trebuchets, and mana cannons as well. 

To the west of the Heroes, Queen Eistoni’s forces were the first to form up for battle. Knights and soldiers from western nobles with familiar heraldry seemed eager to do battle. Queen Eistoni herself was at the back of the formation with Count Wilchrest and Countess Nix. The vanguard was a host of armored bulls carrying [Paladins] of Bi, with the familiar face of the former adventurer’s guild leader leading the troop. 

On the eastern plateau, the armies of Sena poured forth like ants from a hill. The mage corp was in rare form, marching in lockstep with the rest of the forces. Catapults and trebuchets were pulled by teams of oxen, and my daughter Lilly came last, riding a stallion so fine it was fit for a king. An entire battalion of freed slave soldiers joined them, still wearing Mirktallean armor and weapons.

Opposite of the Heroes, the forces were less orderly. The mages of Sena City, under the direction of Froom’s disciples, went for a more haphazard placement with little unity. They stood together in clumps, like crowds at a festival. Next came adventurers from across the kingdom—and perhaps beyond that began to fill in the gaps between the groups, many at the fore. Froom’s mages and druids followed, as well as golems and three great mana cannons.

I looked down on them all, four forces standing proudly facing an enemy from four directions. Had it been any other foe, they may have surrendered, but this monster—a monster in the truest sense of the word—wasn’t the kind to acknowledge such a thing, if it even understood it. I doubt it was even aware, given the intensity of its current battle.

The bird of light, with its iridescent feathers and hooked beak, screeched in pain as the enormous head of the former snake god bit onto its leg--the live one from the center of the hydra necks. Shaelra screamed with it as if the injury were shared. The bull charged again, valiantly ramming into the hydra even as its body faded. My spell whisked Meathead away even as he tried a leaping overhanded swing at our enemy. 

I outstretched a finger and pointed, altering the spellcraft to strike more directly—even at the cost of some of its strength. A blast like the last time I cast it would send arcing strikes of lighting into the armies, and I couldn’t risk it. Tiny arcs of electricity buzzed along my hand, stinging reminders that changing the spell after it charged comes at a cost.  Still, I held, waiting and watching. 

Elora’s wings flapped in panic as more heads latched onto its leg, their bites climbing upwards. Its beak pierced one eye of the snake gods’ head. Boiling black blood gushed from the wound. It didn’t let go. I floated around the battle, trying to reach a side away from the bird, but they were too entangled. Then—then one of Froom’s mages cast a spell. A familiar spell that brought spikes of stone up from where the hydra twisted. 

That genius mage was but the first. Two breaths later, more mages cast. [Field of Spikes] struck the monster again and again. Another mage cast their own unique version, one that left the spikes twisting. That was only the beginning of the onslaught. A mana cannon blasted against the tail. Groups of mages called down carefully aimed blades of fire. Ice crashed against its scales. The monster let go and twisted to look southward at the new enemy.

The attacks slowed to a stop, and I knew what it was like to be transfixed by under a predatory eye. Yet, this was the moment I wanted. The bird of light flew high and circled, looking for its moment to attack. I didn’t wait for it. I infused my voice with mana so the words I shouted echoed across the canyons and ravines between the four plateaus. I wanted them all prepared should my efforts to limit the area of destruction be insufficient. 

“[Finger of the gods]!”

Mana from myself and the artifacts hanging from my belt poured like a river into the spell. Clouds overhead formed in a twisting spiral. Lightning arced towards the center, building a glowing light in the sky above. The circling bird summoned by the [High Priestess] let out a screech of triumph and shot towards that growing light. In a mixture of magic I wasn’t certain I understood myself, the avatar of Elora joined with my spell and with a bright flash, a column of holy lightning struck down. Thunder cracked.

Dust flew in great clouds up from the strike. The image of the bolt of lightning felt burnt into my eyes. I turned my gaze away from where it had fallen and saw the bolt there as if it were still striking. With heavy blinks, my vision came back. The dust began to settle, and I could hear cheers rising from the armies around us. I allowed myself a smile, but that smile fell away. 

As that dust settled, I could see the hydra still there. Half its body was charred and black. Its tail was missing, and the wings were naught but bones. Yet it still moved. Its body twisted in a knot. 

The cheers fell away, and if I was feeling the gnawing growth of fear in my stomach, I was certain I wasn’t alone. An utter silence bore down on me, on us. A low his could be heard from somewhere inside that ball, and I grit my teeth. Of course, it wouldn’t be that easy! Whatever this monster was called, it had killed and eaten a god. 

Perhaps I had been wrong to come here. Perhaps I had doomed all of us. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply, feeling resigned. No, I wasn’t giving up. I would fight with everything I had to make sure the men and women around me escaped. I wasn’t certain this monster could find a way into the crystal plane, but I doubted it. They would be safe there. 

I opened my eyes and began to reform the spellwork for another cast of the same spell. Without Elora’s contribution, I wasn’t certain it would be nearly as powerful. Yet, it was my most powerful magic. That was when I heard the words of a dear friend.

“Kill it, you fools!” Alred’s voice whipped across the air, and struck the armies. Where before, it was simply his mages that had cast spells against the monster, now every spellcaster in all armies struck. Volleys of arrows and boulders flew. Beams of mana blasted. Each strike chipped away a little more, bit by bit. Somehow, [Paladin] Adam had led his bull-riders down the steep slope of a cliff and crashed into the monster—most doing more harm to themselves than to it. Golems ran off the edge of the cliffs, turning themselves into an attack.

The hydra twirled about, snapping at the air around it in a futile defense. There were just too many attacks coming from too many places for it to decide. Leslie and Diedre attacked just as much, no longer needing to worry about defense. Their spells wove in patterns around an arrow that Tond let fly, and it pierced deep into the monster and its head cracked like a stone.

An hour I watched them whittle it down, sometimes flinging my own spells when it grew too close to one plateau or another. When it finally fell, letting out a defeated hiss that was loud enough to be heard from miles away, they didn’t stop. No one wanted to risk it moving again. More than that, I didn’t want to see a piece of its body be turned into a weapon. I struck it again and again until there was naught but ash.

By the time night fell, the single day’s battle was something no one here would forget. I flew to meet with Alred, Lilly, and Queen Eistoni. The three had moved onto the northern plateau the Heroes had fought from, and now stone arches connect all four pillars. The armies rested and feasted, with campfires and song floating out into the bright starry night.

As I floated down to stand amongst them all, I smiled at the three army leaders and bowed my head.

I had prepared in my mind when the battle had been won and we were destroying the corpse. I wasn’t interested in celebrating the victory, and the thought of being forced to shake hands with each soldier and mage to thank them was a worry heavy on my mind. I took a breath, and began with a dignified air, “Thank you for coming to save the Heroes, I don’t think—"

Alred’s voice cut me off. “Nemon, you fool, we didn’t come for them.”

I started and my brow creased. “What?”

“We came for you!” His face was more than a little exasperated.

Queen Eistoni gave me a humoring smile, “How could I let my most loyal vassal fight without me?”

Lilly was looking off into the sky as she spoke next. “You’re the only family I have left…” Her hand then moved to her stomach, and—in a whisper under her breath that I don’t think she meant for anyone to hear—she added, “For now.”