《Foreststorm》Chapter 51 - Army
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I looked around me and couldn't help but shudder. Dead bodies all around me, every single one killed by my hand, and it only took me three spells. This had been my worst battle yet - a thousand had been sent to hunt me down, kill the hero that fled.
They had failed of course, there was a reason they summoned us to deal with their enemies, people that they spelled the moment they entered the world and people that would die in time. Die without anyone killing us, for that was the most insidious part - we were fated to die as our bodies, born in another universe, were slowly destroyed by existing.
I allowed myself a crazed grin - I searched for someone, something ancient and powerful. An evil so ancient the kingdom was filled with legends of its wars.
The lich.
An entity that forsook its body to live forevermore. I would fight my way to its tower if I had to, the knowledge how to release the soul from a body was hard found and I would not die!
Ves'ra coughed out the water that entered her mouth and left the tub she build for the purpose of exploring her memories. She shivered, could that person really kill a thousand people with three spells? She feared the answer.
She had been right though - things happening to her body would startle her out of the vision, so now she could start trying to control them, use knowledge of another world to fuel her magic.
She took control over her magic and filled the container again, before returning into the tub. The water would trickle down again, filling the tub until it forced her to be herself again.
Now, how did she control what she saw? She was wary to use her energy, so she'd try directing it without first.
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She sank in meditation once again, and could still feel the other's memories next to her own, they didn't change, like they did when she cast true magic for the first time. More importantly though, she felt the presence diminished ever so slightly - there was hope left, if she looked at all of them, perhaps they would vanish.
Now, what to look for? Perhaps the battle which's end she just saw? She didn't know anything other than two memories, so it was as good a start as any.
She focused on the bundle of memories next to her own, wondering what happened in the battle against the thousand and was no more.
I looked at the plains around me, grass everywhere. It would have been beautiful if not for the host of a thousand opposed to me. I smiled a bitter smile - the kingdom sent increasingly bigger hosts after me, ever since I escaped their captivity.
It would have been hard to escape from an army this big - for a normal mage of this world that is - but not for me. It was time for a statement I thought, even as the army's commanders approached me.
"There is no need to flee, hero. Whatever lies the demons told you, they are just that - lies." He yelled.
"What demons are you talking about? I caught your lies on my first day, leave me or die." I answered, magically loud voice echoing across the plains.
They flinched, and retreated behind their lines.
All better for me - never give a mage time to prepare. Even as the first line moved I stood still, focused on the work of magic done between us.
The soil surged upwards, long before the enemy had time to advance. I was now safe - four golems, hills made of soil and stone - stood between us. They would be killed in time, for I doubted they came without mages of their own, but I would get the time needed.
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I attracted more mana as my golems tore into my enemies. Normal people had no way to fight them - they were just swallowed, only to be spit at my enemies once they died. Weapons were useless, only magic would have a chance.
Even as the rank and file retreated the mages came forwards. They were veteran mages, older than me by decades, so they knew how to deal with golems, even if they were hills and not humanoids.
I could feel them tearing into my spells, steadily dismantling then even as my golems moved forwards.
It would have worked too - my spells lacked the finesse to withstand such attacks - but I had my own tricks. The golems surged forwards suddenly, their previous crawl a thing of the past.
The mages didn't panic - they were far enough, and would finish before they were reached.
Mistake.
The golems fell apart, but the mass kept moving. All the rocks that had been moved just under the grass broke free, flying at my enemies at breakneck speed.
The attack was largely ineffective - most enemies raised shields just in time - but they lost something.
I had nearly unlimited mana - so long as I could pull more from the atmosphere - and they didn't. I looked at the enemies before me - soldiers overtaking the mages once more.
I waited, gathering more mana even as my second spell vanished into the valley below. Would they see it coming I wondered, I hadn't seen any implication of the knowledge to warn them.
They didn't.
I could see confusion among the soldiers, they were breathing still, yet running out of air to breathe. It had been a gamble, trying to filter all breathable air out of the valley - I knew this world was different, but hoped some things stayed the same.
A third of my enemies managed to retreat before they suffocated, not that it would save them, I was done playing.
"You have been warned!" I yelled, before unleashing my third spell. It would be the last.
My enemies had bunched up, forming a protective circle around their commanders and mages, and that would be their death.
I looked at them one last time, grimace on my face as I unleashed hell. The clouds darkened above us, and my enemies fell in droves. Lighting fell, breaking the magical shields protecting them before water followed.
Needles of ice fell and pierced my enemies, propelled by both gravity and magic. They died screaming, dying for a kingdom that didn't care for them.
Ves'ra left the vision before the tub was fully filled. It was true, the other was a power so terrifying she couldn't even fathom them, for no human was capable of that.
A hero. A monster worse than anything she had heard about. A being with unlimited energy, yet fated to die because of that strength. She wouldn't be able to use those spells - she didn't have the energy for that - but using them as inspiration seemed smart.
She left the tub, shambling over to Arvog and lying against his side. She shuddered again, remembering the casual slaughter of all those beings.
Ves'ra would have to look into more memories tomorrow, but she didn't want to think now. Just rest.
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