Early morning on the same day…
The attack began at the docks, and the masses of knights ravaged through the village early morning as the sun began to rise. Sounds of alarms and warnings were too late, as the slaughter had already begun. The knights traveled in groups, led by a general. Each squad wandered throughout the island, burning down houses and leaving no survivors alive.
Women. Children. Dead. The island’s warriors and wizards fought valiantly, but to no avail. Their combined strength was no match for the sheer numbers that swept from the southern docks to the northern mountain range.
The quiet, peaceful and wooden village burned to the ground. Fires spread throughout homes from the docks all the way to the nomadic mountain ranges. It was finally then, that the enemy had made their retreat, leaving it to the clean-up battalions. The lowest ranks, and arguably the weakest forces in the Terragon Empire. Their battalions made up of criminals, outcasts, and exiled citizens seeking refuge back into the kingdoms. This deranged group only brought insanity along with them, as their minds had been corrupted by the world of conflict around them. They sought to give their lives purpose… One. Last. Time.
Present…
Nine wizards ran through the smoke, heading towards the fading flames. The fires that burned brightly in the distance were located amongst the mountain ranges in the north. It would take half a day’s walk to reach those distances. Fortunately, it would mean that the town center would be all but deserted.
“Hey guys, conserve your stamina. I know we’ve already made some distance, but the town center is still far off.” said Vega. He spoke hardly unfazed from maintaining his quick pace ahead of the others. The others replied with an affirming nod, with Apollo, Jin and Julius crafting complete replies.
“Got it Vega. Say, Julius, what exactly was this foe like? His attacks were mighty and powerful. The wind pressure alone from his blast spells was overwhelming!” said Apollo excitedly, fascinated by the general’s attacks.
“Ha! I don’t think you’ll be smiling after I tell ya! This guy you see, he has explosion magic. The size of his spells are huge!” Julius threw his arms upwards and extended them out, motioning the size of the explosions. “He’s able to cast them pretty fast too! Not to mention the explosion afterwards. I bet he could shit on us.”
“Without a good plan he would.” commented Kaladin, suddenly appearing beside Julius. “Just like how I shit on you in the game of Magic Tag the other day.”
Julius chuckled lightly. His eyes softened and narrowed. “Too bad the field we played in is probably burned to ashes now. The tall grass that Vega and Joyce could easily hide in, where tall guys like me and Asura would have to crouch…” Julius trailed on his sentence with another laugh, much weaker than his first. The whole group fell silent as they focused on running, and fixated their eyes on the path ahead of them.
“Well, going back to the original topic, this opponent seems mighty strong, but I’m sure we could beat him!” shouted Apollo. He smiled brightly at Julius. Julius scoffed off his smile and stared away from him. “Well I’m not sure man. Most of us faced off against him first hand. So we know just what this guy’s capable of. I’m sure the others can back me up.” Julius turned his head to face Kaleigh, Kaladin, Scarlett, Joyce and Asura.
“Actually, I might have to agree with Apollo,” said Asura. “Although you are right Julius, with our magics combined, we could easily defeat him.”
“Considering we have Kaladin, Joyce and Kaleigh, their magics are useful tools to change the environment around us, as well as inhibit the movement of our opponent. If we could slow down the general and maybe freeze him or trap him, it could buy us some time to conjure a massive blow” said Vega, his hand clasped to his chin, analyzing the possibilities. The others “Oooh’ed” at his detailed analysis. Asura smiled valiantly. “Precisely, Vega.”
“Hey guys, you know that fighting in the town center is a good idea too. It’s familiar ground so we’ll have a good idea of the landscape. We could set up traps, or create an ambush.” sputtered Jin, trying his best to pitch into the conversation. He refused to allow Vega to take all the spotlight. “Not a bad idea. But what if there’s still some knights left over?” asked Kaleigh.
“Oh we won’t have to worry about that. It’s been hours since the knights arrived on the island,” said Scarlett. Also hours since we stayed hidden in our stupid little cave. If only we’d just left sooner… we could’ve, at least done something. Scarlett thought to herself. She frowned and clenched her fists. Naturally, her eyebrows narrowed as the anger grew inside her, followed by guilt and shame. Nobody else had spoken a word. Scarlett shook her head to cast aside the negativity. “These current knights are just cleanup groups. I’m sure that the knights from the original raid are long past the town center. There’s hardly any new fires in the distance.” said Scarlett, finalizing her sentence.
“Guess it’s settled then. Might as well come up with a plan along the way.” said Vega. All the wizards ran closer together, slowing down their pace and plotting their strategy.
Nearby the docks…
Six knights lined up, shoulder to shoulder. The general stood in front of them menacingly. Behind the helmets, sweat rolled down the faces of the knights. Each of them froze in place, as the general resumed from standing, and began to pace back and forth across the length of the line they had formed. A cold hard glare from the general made sure that the knights remained planted on the ground. Suddenly, the general cleared his throat and removed his gladiator helmet. It revealed a wrinkled face and bald head with a scruffy black beard. The man was easily over fifty. He had a missing right ear, and a long battle scar crossed over his right eye and to his nose.
“Six of you.” the general stated. He stopped pacing and faced towards them again. His eyebrows narrowed, and an angry frown appeared on his face. “I’m missing half of my men. Why?” The general stared deep into the ground, lost in thought. A knight stepped up to answer him. “Sir, it seems that the main fleet failed to account for these enemies-”
The general drew his sword faster than the knight could step back. With a single hand, he viciously slashed to the right, slicing the knight that spoke up. The rest of his comrades caught him as he fell on the ground. Blood seeped from his chestplate.
“WHO GAVE YOU PERMISSION TO SPEAK?!” screamed the general. “Each one of you are EACH ONE OF YOU ARE WORTHLESS FOOLS. CONVICTS WITH NO WILL! NO DRIVE! NO POWER! DO YOU NOT WANT TO LIVE?” screamed the general.
He held out his blade towards them. An invitation for redemption. The knights reluctantly drew their swords, as the general dashed forward. He had a crazed look on his face, smiling maniacally.
The first knight stood in front of him, too frightened to even swing. With a swift slash, he was cut in half at the torso. All the other knights stood in fear. The general stood there, breathing heavily upon his first kill. He slowly turned his head to face the rest of the knights. Out of instinct, the other knights charged towards him, as death stared back.
The first knight approached, charging with all his might. Two more came from the sides. Their blades tilted downwards. Obviously going for the legs. The other three were right behind them. The general dashed to the right, and with an overhead slash he cut down the first. He swung wide to the right, slashing the knight approaching from the front at the neck. He dropped to the ground, revealing the third. His longsword swung down. The general lifted up his blade just in time to guard. Then he moved forward, lightly gripping his own weapon. The knight fell forwards from the amount of force he applied to push his blade down. He stared up to see a gigantic double-edged sword, being driven into his stomach.
The rest of the knights attacked all at once, their blades aiming for various vital points. The head, neck, and heart. With a series of quick slashes, the general weaved around the incoming thrust and two slashes, returning the blow with successful heavy slices that cut down the soldiers instantaneously. “Pitiful.” murmured the general. He spit on one of the bisected bodies. “You worthless mutts will be replaced anyways.” All the smoke had nearly cleared away as the fires died down.
The sea was finally visible. Not far off, two caravels sat complacently in the middle of the water, now able to be seen. The positioning could not have been more perfect, as their small dispute had taken place near the docks of the island. The general raised his blade up high, aimed at the caravels in the distance. It glowed a bright orange. Receiving the signal the two boats began to move towards the docks, as the general headed down the hill and the winding path leading down to the shore of the island. “It’s time I had some real soldiers on my hands.”
All nine wizards stood before the gates of the town center, staring face down on the shattered and burnt wood. Tall wooden posts, meant to border the town center, had been reduced to ashes, or broken to pieces. Several of them remained and stood tall, higher than any building within the area. The town center was a central hub of all the necessities the town could need. It was a source of food, lodging and services of smithing, banking, alchemy, and even housed the only magic school on the island. Each building was built and used where it stood, not sorted by any districts or sectors. It was a pain to locate where you’d need to go on a busy day. Now, it was a barren land of fading memories.
The wizards slowly walked in, eyeing at whatever was left of structures. Most of which were reduced to piles of wood, and charred like the rest of the area. Destruction was clear to see no matter where you looked, with the occasional small remnants of a building or two just barely standing. The wizards split up in a small area, and began to collect any wooden planks that weren’t burnt or dead.
“So they really just set fire to the whole place.” said Julius, picking up a black wooden plank before throwing it away as hard as it could. The plank collided with several other pieces of wood, producing a sound that broke the stillness of blowing wind.
“Yeah no kidding. But they didn’t do a good job either.” said Vega, picking up a sign. He brushed off the initial debris off of it, before heavily blowing away the ash and dirt. It was decipherable. “Fish.” Vega read out, before placing the sign back down. I remember the angler would always sell his fish at the most ridiculous prices. Me, Jin and Apollo would accompany him to the sea, helping him with his catch for a discount. Vega looked over at Apollo and Jin. They were off in their own area, collecting wood alongside the others. Vega depressingly looked back at the sign on the ground, before getting back to work.
“If they were trying to just get rid of the town, then they would’ve used magic to destroy the place. Probably a big spell. These guys are from some kingdom right?” said Kaladin.
“It’s obvious. That crest that was on all of their armor pieces.” said Scarlett. “Can’t forget the fact that they’re all here fully armored and armed with all sorts of weapons, looking nearly identical to each other.” Scarlett with an annoyed tone as she stated the obvious.
“Alright, alright, turn down the sass.” said Kaladin. Scarlett laughed at his response. “Come collect some wood with me Kaladin. We need to turn this pile of junk into something that could hold off an invasion!” said Scarlett with determination. The two headed off into the distance, in the winding streets of the town center.
Suddenly, Apollo came right beside Vega and planted his hand on his shoulder. Vega looked up towards him with a blank expression. Apollo smiled brightly and unfazed as usual.
“Don’t look so down buddy!” said Apollo, giving Vega a firm slap on the back. “Ow! That one actually hurt man!” Vega rubbed the spot where Apollo had slapped him. Apollo laughed aloud. “I’m sure you’re okay! You’re tough after all! So, what’s on your mind?”
“It’s just that I’m now realizing, our lives won’t ever be the same after this.” Vega looked forward, eyeing the wasteland in front of him. “Even if we survive, what are we going to do?” Vega said softly. Apollo seemed perplexed at his words. He scratched his head in confusion. “You seriously forgot?” Vega turned towards him, sharing the same confusion. “Forgot what?”
“Tsk. Unfortunate!” shouted Apollo. “You said this a long time ago. We were so young then, but I could never forget that look on your face when we first sailed off the island. It was just for helping out that old angler, but it seemed to mean so much more to you. That smile and gleam in your eyes as you looked out onto the ocean.” Suddenly, the memories came flooding back to Vega.
“I said, that we’d go adventuring one day.” He looked at Apollo with a grin. “One day, we would adventure the rest of the War Seas once we were stronger, and become the strongest wizards the world had ever seen.” Apollo gave him a proud smile. They could both feel their hearts racing with excitement. “I guess it isn’t too late to pursue that dream!” said Apollo. “If we survive!” joked Vega. “Glad to see your spirits have been uplifted.” stated Apollo, having accomplished his side mission. The two laughed and went on to carry more clean planks. Thank you Apollo.
Twenty Minutes Later…
“Well, this better hold. Or else… we’re fucked!” exclaimed Julius. Hands on his hips, slowly stepping back to admire their construction in front of them. A brand new gate, held together with drying mud. New watchtowers, semi-rebuilt border posts that surrounded their flank. The town center seemed newly rebuilt from the outside. Spiked planks and spokes of wood stuck outwards from the ground. In front of the town center, two pitfall traps laced with wooden spikes below were laid out. Several wooden barricades and walls were constructed within the town center itself, made out of the largest planks, held together by dried up mud.
All of the wizards re-grouped together, to discuss the final steps of their plan. They sat on the ground, cross-legged. “Watchtowers, traps, barricades, it should hold them back for a couple of minutes,” said Vega.
“How long is a couple? Since depending on the length, we might not have enough time.” said Asura. He stared blankly at the ground, with his chin planted on his fist. “We’ll need at least ten minutes, anticipating there might be reinforcements.”
“Reinforcements just to take out a couple of kids? They’re crazy if they do that!” said Joyce.
“To be fair Marie, we did just kill several of them. Even though we’re just a ‘couple of kids’, we’re probably just as much of a threat as an average wizard.” said Scarlett. Joyce crossed her arms and pouted in frustration. Scarlett looked at Joyce-Marie for a while as Asura continued to think. Her lips quivered. Scarlett got on her knees and crawled towards Joyce. She whispered closely in her ear. “We’ll be okay. You can just stay by my side. Got it?” Joyce nodded back. Scarlett smiled at her, and returned to her original position.
“Perhaps we could try to slow down their approach? Joyce and I could be useful in that case.” proposed Kaleigh.
“Not a bad idea, but what if the general just charges in on us or shoots us down from afar? He’s our main issue. The rest of the knights should be a piece of cake for us. If it’s too much to handle for all of us, then just leave it to Julius and I.” said Asura.
“Hey what? Why out of all of us did you decide for ME to help you?” argued Julius.
Asura sighed in disappointment. “Our spells have the best synergy together. I douze them with blood, which helps conduct your lightning.”
“How exactly does that help anything?”
Kaladin grabbed a nearby plank of wood and bonked Julius in the head. “You dimwit. Blood magic practically has the same properties as water.”
Julius crossed his arms and scoffed. “I don’t see how that makes sense, but fine! As long as we have this all organized.”
“Alright, as you said Asura we have the regular knights covered, but the general. We have very limited options against him, and even if we try to trap him to charge an attack, it would take all of us working together. If he comes with knights to back him up, there’s no guarantee we’d be able to pull it off.” said Vega.
“We won’t need all of us to defeat him.” said Jin, smoothly and confidently. “Just me, Vega and one other person would be enough.” All the other wizards stared at him like he was crazy. Joyce chuckled, before Scarlett gave her a nudge to silence her. “All of you move in closer so you can hear better. Let me explain.” said Jin, with utmost confidence. He thoroughly explained his plan to the wizards. All of them leaned back in shock at the end of his explanation.
“You know, it’s a gamble, but it just might work,” said Asura.
Julius got up to stretch. “By the Gods you’re one crazy man Jin. I didn’t really expect something like that from you.”
The sound of clanging metal approached. Much louder than before, and louder than any of them had anticipated. Vega immediately ran to the gate, opening it slightly and casting a magic circle. “Fireball!” A blast of fire shot through the smoke, highlighting the bodies of what appeared to be dozens of armored knights, with the orange feather leading the march. Vega ran back anxiously. “There’s way too many! A lot more than we’d anticipated!” he shouted.
“Numbers?” asked Kaleigh. “Around thirty.” Vega replied. Asura gasped, but quickly reset his facial expression. “Doesn’t matter. We proceed with the plan. Apollo, if you may,” Apollo walked up to the middle of where the group sat. He took a large breath in. “POSITIONS!” he yelled at the top of his lungs. All the wizards excitingly and anxious burst up and broke off into different areas of the town center. Taking their posts behind barricades, at the watchtowers or at the front of the gate.
Preparing for the worst, they hold down the fort.
Chapter 3 next week. Expect releases to be on either a Friday, Saturday or Sunday.