Chapter 035:

The Kobolds stopped just before the bone-yard, spreading out like a great tide of brown and white. To Verona's surprise they did not attack straight away. As they spread out they started to build tents and one massive one at the center. They looked exactly like the same as the ones that they had destroyed at the lake.

Could these be the same ones, just another camp that we never destroyed and are now looking for revenge?

Verona leant against the top of the wall, watching and counting. She was adequate at mathematics, able to understand how numbers worked, mostly. Anton had no real trouble with counting to numbers in the thousands and beyond. She reasoned it had to do with how he was brought up in his other world.

After having to cut the sprawling Kobold camp up in her mind so she could get a rough number, she was shocked to know how many there probably were.

A little over six thousand...and we have one thousand. And not all of those can fight...we are seriously outnumbered.

She got off the wall and turned around. The villagers were still in a flurry of activity, preparing whatever they could; wooden spears and javelins, archers preparing as many arrows as they could and the rest finding large rocks to drop or throw.

In the distance the usual small trail of smoke from the new smithy was now thick and black. If she concentrated closely and hard enough she could just make out the clanging of the hammer. He, and anyone else he could recruit, would be working very hard.

Jeff, and to a lesser extent Avery, were doing their best to keep the mood up, but it was very difficult. Verona knew that she had no idea how to do that. Despite the massive enemy numbers she felt oddly calm at seeing the enemy. At first it was shocking but now she had calmed down somewhat. It was probably the knowledge that she had magic, a very odd and terrifying magic, but one that could kill many of the Kobolds.

Nowhere near as many as Anton could.

Sometimes she wished that she had gotten the fire or lightning magic instead, something that Anton could help her understand how to use properly.

This is no time to be thinking like that. I have been neglecting my training with my power...too late to do anything about it now. I'll just have to do the best I can.

She glanced towards the forest to the west.

I really hope I don't have to run that way.

She coughed loudly to distract herself from her slightly defeatist thoughts.

“Jeff?” she asked loudly.

She turned and saw him looking back towards the center. All of the villagers had an eerie calm about them. Just like when the Yellow Goblins attacked in force.

“Are they attacking?” he asked.

Verona shook her head.

“No. Not yet.” she replied.

He seemed glad to be distracted from the other villagers as he lent against the wall and looked out towards the Kobolds.

“What is that?” he said, pointing at the larger tent.

A giant stone pillar slowly started to rise. On top a large stone circle, two antlers surrounding a leaf. The sign of Nithroel.

This is an attack from a goddess. Although it's odd that she would announce that she was the one responsible. Is she extremely confident, arrogant or just stupid?

“Well, I guess we know what we are in for now.” he lamented, trying his best to laugh. But he could not.

Verona clapped her hands.

“Alright Jeff, Anton made sure that you are in charge of our armies.” she turned to him, puzzlement on his face, “So, what's the plan?”

“Well...we should use the walls, like last time, and hold them off.” Jeff replied.

Verona waited, wanting to hear the rest of it, but nothing came.

“And?”

“And what?”

“And the rest of the plan?” Verona asked somewhat angrily.

Jeff just shook his head.

“There really isn't much else of a plan,” he admitted. He was about to continue when Verona cut him off.

“Come on, you must.” she said, somewhat exasperated, “Anton basically put you in charge of all of our soldiers.”

He smiled awkwardly, rapping his fingers on the stone wall.

“I think he just picked me because he could trust me.” he said with a hint of sadness.

She knew exactly what that alluded to.

I'm sorry for having to use your name like this Anton. I hope you can forgive me.

“Well, Anton did.” Verona said as she put her hands on her hips. “So...don't let him down and figure something out!”

There was almost a smirk on his face as he turned and looked back out.

“True.” he said, “But with what we have there's not else that we can do. You could probably kill quite a few by yourself, out there but the rest of us really couldn't do much. We don't have your power and we don't have a lot of armour to protect us.”

He shook his head.

“We're going to have let them come to us and use our advantage of walls and defences to defeat them. Beat them back as many times as we need to.”

“That's better.” Verona smiled as she looked back out to the south.

I don't like that I had to use Anton's name to do that. I hope that he wouldn't mind, but I shouldn't have to. Oh well.

“How long do you think it will be before they attack?” Avery asked. He had stopped organising the villagers and turned his attention to them.

“Honestly, I have no idea why they have not attacked.” Jeff replied, “They could have just attacked, and we wouldn't have had all this.”

He nodded towards the growing pile of improvised weapons.

He's right. They should have.

“Last time they just climbed up each-other.” Verona said, breaking the silence.

The two looked at each-other, then back to her.

“Why build a camp like that then?”

“Waiting for more of them to arrive?” Jeff suggested.

“Perhaps getting ready for a siege?” Avery added.

Both were possible, though they could prove neither.

Verona sighed and looked back out. She knew that her impatience was clear on her face. It was the waiting that irked her the most, knowing that it could happen at any time and they had to wait behind their wall. It was maddening. They could attack at any time, as they were not strong enough to strike at them, yet.

“If we wait until night time, we could sneak a few of us over there and try and take some of them out.” Avery suggested. “Like with the Yellow Goblins.”

Verona shook her head.

“Kal said that they had a very good sense of smell. They'll know we're coming.”

“I'm just offering suggestions.” he said dryly back.

Verona sighed lightly and looked back out.

“I don't think we'll have to worry about that.” she said in a tone trying to mimic Avery's.

She pointed to the camp. It appeared they were not going to wait.

The mass of Kobolds were coming for them.

---[]---

The horn sounded again, the villagers invigorated with another burst of fearful energy. They began tripping over each-other as they began to run up to their position on the walls, Jeff shouting them into position.

Verona watched them in silence as the ran around her. Even now they were keeping some distance from her.

When we start fighting, you'll be thankful that I'm here...and you'll be even more afraid.

She wanted to sigh but found she could not. She watched as the horde spilled out of the bone-yard and began to form a half circle facing their wall.

Most of them were concentrated in the middle of their formation.

Verona found herself wondering if they had a commander or leader for this attack. If there was she would leap in and kill it, hopefully forcing the others to break.

Regardless, there would be fighting and very soon.

They were close enough to see the difference in their faces. All wore the same animal skin clothing and wielded stone tipped wooden spears. None of them had anything like a shield, she could not figure out why they would not have something so basic. Signs of fighting were evident on all of the. Some has massive scars while others had missing teeth, ears and eyes. Perhaps they revelled in the violence.

These were angry too.

But do they know why?

She lit the fire within herself. It was the best way to describe the warm sensation that travelled through her body, different to Anton's magic when he healed her.

Anton, and the others, said her eyes went completely red and glowed like the strange marks on her body. She could see nothing different through her eyes. How strange and scary it must have been for everyone around her.

Looking out the corner of her eye she could see that those closest, that she did not know well, had indeed taken a few steps to the side.

Again she wanted to make a noise, in annoyance, but held back.

She moved her hand over one of the small clay pots that she had on her hips. The ones that she used to store blood.

As she tried to bring it up there was something wrong.

She opened the lid of the pot, realising her colossal mistake.

There was no blood.

Shit. I always get it right before battle. It doesn't even last a day before going bad and then I can't use it.

She turned around and looked over the still moving villagers.

I'll need somebody to take a little from. Somebody that won't freak out.

“Jeff?” she asked, turning off the fire. She did not want to make what she was about to ask any more difficult. Looking straight into her blood red eyes would certainly be distracting.

“Hmm?” he did not look oddly at her, just throwing up a quizzical brow.

“I...um, need some blood to start with. I can't use my own.” Verona explained, as she pulled out a small knife.

On her back she felt the slight pang at the base, where Anton said the tear drop mark that showed what weapon she could use to harvest blood.

“Oh. I'm not really sur-”

“I'll do it.” Came a feminine voice behind him.

Verona peered around and saw Sam behind him. How she had managed to get so close without Verona noticing was something that was quite surprising to her.

“Are you sure?” Verona asked, “I will only need a little from you, the rest I'll take from the Kobolds.”

“Verona, it's fine.” Sam said with a warm smile as she held out her hand.

Jeff looked a little odd at the sight bit remained quiet.

“I'll make sure that Anton heal you completely both when he gets back.” she whimpered apologetically for what she was about to do.

She cut lightly into Sam's finger, just enough to cause some blood to leak out. Verona lit the fire within and drew up the tiny sliver of blood. It felt like somehow she was letting water run through her fingers, but in reverse.

Sam looked quite startled at the sight, Jeff more so.

Anton doesn't have a problem with this...I think that their reaction is normal.

She brought up a half pot full of blood, allowing it to form in a small ball before putting it into the pot. As she turned off the flame her control over the blood faded as well.

“Okay, that should be enough.” Verona said. “You may want to cover that, usually Anton would just heal himself.”

“I thought you might be able to do that, since you can control blood.”

Verona shook her head.

“I could use the blood to hold the wound together but the moment I stopped using my power it would just...”

Verona opened her hands, hoping that it conveyed the message that it would just begin to leak again.

“Ah, shame.” Sam pulled out a thin piece of cloth and wrapped it around her finger. The blood continued to leak out for a moment.

Verona smiled awkwardly as so did Jeff.

“What are they doing?” Verona asked.

She got up on the top of the box and looked out.

The Kobolds were waiting in their crescent moon formation. One moved forward. This one had a few extra pieces of skins on its muzzled face and what appeared to be human ears around its neck.

Before she could speak it pointed its spear towards them. Something in her heart told her it was looking straight at her.

It howled, over and over, louder each time. The howl carried down the ranks of the Kobolds. The sheer noise unsettled the villagers, she could see them start to shake.

The lead Kobold raised both its paws and the howling stopped. It pointed its spear at them again.

Here we go.

The Kobolds howled again and charged.

“Keep your heads everyone! We can win the day!” Jeff yelled. It seemed to help a little.

Avery shouted his archers forward. There were not that many but they would make a difference.

The Kobolds covered the distance faster than the last time they attacked. She did not want to be outside the walls right now.

As they reached the old range markers, Avery yelled at his archers to loose.

The first volley of arrows struck at the wildly charging Kobolds. Like the Yellow Goblins before them, their army was so thick it did not matter if the arrow was not aimed correctly, they found a target.

Shrieks and blood erupted from the brown and white horde.

As Verona feared, it did nothing to stop their ferocious charge. There were far too many.

But, most worryingly, she was not worried.

The sight of all that blood.

It made her excited. Disturbingly excited.

It had started to become very noticeable during the attack on the Kobold camp by the lake. She was not sure that Anton had seen it yet but it was only a matter of time. When she was manipulating the blood it was like she was playing with something so...so beautiful. It was another reason why she felt awkward when using the power.

The Kobolds were very close now, only thirty or forty feet away from the wall.

If I survive, I need to tell Anton.

She lit the fire within and drew up the blood, forming them into tiny daggers. She could easily control thirty of them.

The smaller they were the easier they were to control. These would not be able to cleave the Kobolds in two but they would be enough to tear them to shreds.

With a push of her mana the shards flew forward and smashed into the thickest area of Kobolds. They flew with such force that they punctured their skulls, many falling down only to be trampled on by those behind. The possibility of being impaled on their own poisoned spines as they charged forward seemed not to even arise.

So much blood had been released. So much that she could control.

So much.

She mentally giggled at the prospect as she drew up blood from the slain Kobolds. They glanced back at the streams of blood, from their former comrades, floating up into the air. There was nothing they could do as those behind, and those that did not understand, pushed them forward.

Those at the front crashed into the wall, the villagers throwing everything they could over the side. Rocks and wooden javelins killed many as they started their frantic climb. Their clawed hands easily found cracks and holds in the rough stone wall and they began to haul themselves up.

They really don't have a better plan...do they?

She did not know who she was asking in her mind, it might have been her blood goddess for all she knew.

With the blood under her control she reformed it into a dozen thin and short spears.

Kobolds looked up in utter disbelief. She could see it on their muzzle faces.

She held out one hand, that made it easier to control them with, and pushed them down.

They pierced right through them and into the ground, killing them nearly instantly. It did not matter where she attacked she always found something to hit. With the tiniest pull they freed themselves from the ground. Verona pushed them moved them sideways, up and down into the ground. There was always something to hit.

There was so much blood.

She found herself smiling at the sight of it all.

Another twang came from either side as another volley of arrows was released.

It really made no difference to their numbers. Any that fell were trampled over by the ones behind. Several times she felt her blood spears being trampled into the dirt, she broke them still in its crystal form and used the shards to attack.

As the Kobolds continued to get close to the top of wall Verona pulled all her blood spears back to her. The villagers either side looked very worried, she knew not what at.

I can easily control these things to about thirty or so feet. After that they require quite a bit more energy. I'll do my best to hold them off here.

She held the thin spears vertically, in a line just past the wall, covering nearly thirty feet either side. As the first Kobolds heads and paws made it to the top she threw them down with all her might.

Flesh tore and blood spurted as the spears dug in and pushed them off the wall and into the ground. Only a few Kobolds had managed to avoid it. As she glanced either side she could see the villagers having to start to fight the climbers back. Like a tide they started to pour over in some sections.

“Jeff!” Verona yelled.

He turned and looked, a little stunned by what she was doing.

“I can hold this section. The other parts need you guys more than I do here.” she ordered, “It won't take long before they try somewhere else.”

Jeff nodded. He probably knew that but hearing it from her, who was usually quiet on such things, spurned him into action.

“You and You,” Jeff said as he grabbed a few of the still villagers, “Help them over there!”

He pushed them towards the left. Quite a few Kobolds had made it over and more were coming.

As Jeff grabbed more villagers to help fill in the trouble spots another wave of Kobolds tried to climb at her position. The blood spears were still impaled into the ground. Did they not realise she could just pull them back up and attack again?

With another pull, the spears shot up along the wall and into the climbing Kobolds, this time goring them from beneath. They screamed, in a way that she had not heard before.

A shiver ran through her body. It was not terrible.

It felt good.

Very good.

Holy shit, am I enjoying this?

It was a disturbing thought to say the least, but the mark and the rest of her body burned hot. There was something coming from that mark, incredibly weak, that had been slowly gnawing at her mind ever since the lake.

She pushed it down in the hope that it would not distract her now.

The spears reached the top of the wall. With another burst of mana she shattered the spears into hundreds of tiny shards, effectively freeing them from the bodies. They fell down onto the now hesitant climbing Kobolds. Most ran either side, they would try somewhere else now.

There were more screams, from the Kobolds underneath and the villagers to the side.

On her right there were almost a hundred Kobolds on the wall and many more coming over. They had to be given so much room that some of the villagers were almost falling off the wall. One did, his arms flailing wildly as his feet slipped and his body fell off the edge, his body cracking as he landed on the hard dirt below.

He groaned, at least he was not dead.

“Jeff!” Verona said, finding him stabbing a Kobold in the face as it tried to lunge from the wall at him, “I'm going to help them.”

She was already moving before he could respond. He only gave a tiny nod before turning his attention back to another Kobold. Sam was at his side, looking equally distressed by the situation.

This whole this is not going well.

She ran between the fighting villagers, for once liking her small size. With her power she kept blood shards above their heads so they would not hurt the villagers as she moved through them. When she was close enough she stopped. Tiny puffs of dust came out from underneath her boots.

The blood spears flew forth into the side of the Kobolds. She paid extreme caution so they missed the villagers, some flying just past their heads as they were stunned in shock. Some Kobolds struggled but she pulled back the spears and threw them again.

The villagers looked at her and nodded out of respect. And fear.

There has to a better way.

Another louder set of shouts came from where she had just been standing. The Kobolds had given up where she was currently fighting and merely changed their attention to back there.

She could see them climbing over, no longer were the blood spears going to rain down on them.

Of course, they could see them floating above me! They knew exactly where I am. And where not to try to climb. I can be really stupid.

Jeff and the soldiers started to bunch up in an attempt to doge the Kobolds' spears. Very few of the Kobolds had ripped out their spines to fight, so it was just regular wounds they had to worry about. Not that a sharpened wooden stick to the throat would not kill somebody. Verona knew that to be true.

I need to think this better. To use these better.

In the few tiny and short breaths she took, she thought of nothing. The rush of battle, and the feeling coming from her mark, clouded her thinking into simple and uncomplicated thoughts.

Damn it. I still need to help.

She withdrew the blood spears from the dead Kobolds, allowing the villagers to retake their positions.

As she began to run towards her previous position her concentration dropped for an instant by a scream of a woman. One of the spears smashed into the stone wall base. The tip shattered but remained under her control.

She stopped and looked, a thought forming in her head.

While her blood spear had broken the stone was undamaged. Anton had tried to hit her crystallised blood and found it to be quite fragile, but more than strong enough to puncture flesh.

With a few tidbits of ideas flowing through her mind, she reformed the spears and pushed them over the wall. A few struck vertically down and killed the few still attempting to climb where she fought.

The others, nearly twenty thin and short spears, she arranged horizontally like the rungs on a ladder.

This is going to be tough to keep them together.

She held out her hand, focusing her mental strength on keeping the horizontal spears in alignment.

She ran.

Screams followed.

The spears kept the same distance from her and ran along the outside.

The villagers infront of her had no idea why she was running towards them with an outstretched hand to the wall. When the Kobolds died and fell off, they understood. She hoped.

She could feel the Kobolds being struck through her connection, when she had to pull extra hard on one spear as it had gotten lodged in a climbing Kobold.

It was too hard to keep them hitting the wall.

Some did and broke. Instead of reforming them, she kept them as the small fragments and moved them along with the others as she ran.

Soon there were none left in the original from, all having been reduced to the tiny shards.

It mattered not to her. It was now a cloud of shards that tore through anything.

She kept running, dragging and throwing the shards forward, until she reached Jeff and Sam. They had survived but it was clear that a few of the villagers were badly wounded.

With all her concentration focused on the other side of the wall she could not bring more blood spears to help them. It was taking almost all of her mental concentration to hold the shards in a rough shape.

It was then she remembered what she had in her left hand as she tried to raise both/

Her spear. The one which had cut through an armour that even Anton's magic could not.

She just hoped that it would not distract her from controlling her blood shards. Both hands would have made the shards easier to control.

As she moved closer to the wall a Kobold, that had survived despite having most of its body torn open, lept at her.

She stopped and moved the spear tip at its head.

The Kobold could not change its path in flight. Instead it screamed as its body impaled itself on her weapon.

Driven crazy by the pain and battle, it lashed out with it's remaining clawed hand as it continued to scream at her, well out of reach.

Sorry, but you attacked us first!

Digging her right foot hard down, she swung the spear to her left. The body came loose and rolled onto the ground inside the village. Its spines stopped it from rolling like a person, finally stopping on it's back and almost suspended in the air by a foot.

Another idea like before began to form, but Verona knew it was not the time just yet to stop and think.

She lept in the fray, utilising her small size to duck through beside the taller villagers hips and dashed through. She used her surprisingly strong body to force an opening in the Kobold mass.

There was a push from behind. It was Sam and Jeff. They knew not what she was doing, only that it was important. She dropped the spear and dove down even lower to dive through all their legs.

They both gave a yell and those with shields moved forward to try and hold open the break.

Verona took her chance, getting as low as she could and still run, and dodged through the confused and scared Kobolds. Their attacks were working. The Kobolds swung and stabbed wildly at the villagers. Someone small running through their ranks was not a priority, especially when they were fending off a spear to the face.

As she cleared the Kobold mass she took one look back and saw that almost no Kobolds were attacking where she had been. There were even less climbing over infront of her.

They were afraid of her, and what she could do. Very afraid.

She held out her hand again and regained direct control of the shards on the other side, dragging them along. The sound of the shards hitting and cutting through the climbers sent even more shivers of joy down her spine.

Go away!

She screamed at the growing urge. It vanished almost immediately.

As she ran she heard more screams from the Kobolds but pushed it out as well.

She stopped when their were no more villagers infront of her.

No more Kobolds were trying to climb over, but they could be charging over again behind her.

She stopped and looked back. Her breath was ragged and her whole body trembled from the excitement and fear. To the others she must have looked like a wreck after having just killed untold numbers of Kobolds.

The villagers were looking around in a mixture of joy and disbelief. The Kobolds had stopped their attacks, the few on top of the wall, isolated and terrified, were quickly killed.

By the gods, did I actually do that? I survived, we all seem to have survived. So I guess I did alright.

She glanced over the wall as she made her way back to Jeff, Sam and Avery at the center of the villagers. It was horrific, and exciting.

Dead Kobolds, ripped and torn to bloody shreds, lay in great piles on the ground beneath the wall. Opposite of where Jeff stood, on the other side of the wall, was the thickest. She was unable to see the grass and dirt through the blood and bodies.

The wall itself looked like it had undergone quite a bit of the fighting. Blood and chunks of fur had been ingrained into the small cracks, droplets started to run down and pool on the outside. The cloud of blood shards must have forced them in as she dragged them along.

Beyond the piles of bodies at the wall the other Kobolds were running for their lives. There was no order to their retreat. Many looked worryingly over their shoulders, like she was about to launch herself from the wall and come after them. She could not see their leader. Perhaps he had been killed.

Right now she had no inclination. There was another pressing thought in her mind, taking away any joy she might have felt in this small victory.

The urge was back. The urge drink and bathe herself in the carnage. It had been there since the first day she had acquired the power, but now it was so powerful, seeing so much death. And Blood.

She pushed it back down, but it did not go away so quickly or completely. Seeing so much blood that she could control left it bubbling underneath her thoughts.

Some of the Kobolds at the base of the wall were still alive. Groans and pathetic whimpers filled the air as she walked through the silent villagers. They parted for her this time, not that she minded. She had to get back to the others.

Jeff and Sam looked at her in complete disbelief. Verona found herself smiling wildly, like she always did when she was happy, almost like she was waiting for someone to pat her on the head.

Come on, you're over twenty winters old. That's something that Anton does to me. I need to be better than this.

She reined in her wild smiling but found she could not stop it completely. As she stepped onto the box, still there despite the fighting, and leant onto the wall Jeff and Sam moved either side of her. She could hear the frantic breathing and the trembling hands, sure signs that they had just been through, and survived, quite an ordeal.

“So they're running.” Verona commented with a wave, doing her best to ignore the puddles of blood around her, “I suppose this is a really good thing.”

She waited for a response but none came.

There was some apprehension in her as she looked either side.

They both had the look. The look of fear, of her.

She sighed. She had thought that there could be at least a few people that did not judge her for what she had just done to save their lives.

“Did...How did...” Sam struggled to put the words together in a coherent sentence.

Verona glanced back out. The Kobolds were now beginning to slow down, now that they had reached the beginning of the bone-yard. Several were already starting to turn around. If they were going to attack again it would not be long before they tried again.

“How did you think to do that?” Sam asked, finally having regained her composure.

“Slice them as they came up?” Verona asked.

Sam nodded but she seemed uncomfortable at how Verona described it.

“Y...Yeah. Did Anton teach you that?”

While she did not want to speak ill of Anton, but always having anything new that she did automatically assumed that it came from him was quite annoying. It made her start to feel like she had no creative thoughts of her own.

“No,” Verona replied defiantly. “I thought it up myself. I had no idea if it would actually work though.”

She smiled and turned to them. They smiled back, not warmly as they could, but it was better than before.

“It was the sound of those things, that clinking, of them smashing into the Kobolds and the wall.” Jeff began. “That scared us a little.”

He nodded the other side of the wall. The hundreds of tiny shards of blood floated in the air above them. Verona realised she did not put any effort into making them move, she must have done it subconsciously.

After reforming the blood back into a liquid form and into the clay pots on her side, she extinguished the fire.

All the urges from the battle disappeared as well. That was certainly something she would have to remember, should she ever loose herself in the sensations.

“Are they about to attack again?” she asked Jeff.

Jeff nodded.

“It looks like they are regrouping and getting their order back together. Shouldn't be too long.”

He turned to look along the wall.

“Avery? How many on our side fell?”

Avery pushed his way through the bloodied villagers, still recovering with their arms supporting themselves on the wall. His eyes were darting around, looking at the few villagers lying on the ground.

“I think just a couple.” he replied. “We kept together, so there shouldn't be too many more.”

The way he could talk so indifferently about the deaths of the villagers felt odd. But what was more odd was that she felt nothing. Absolutely nothing about some of the people she knew were dead. Another disturbing thing, not related to her using her powers.

“We should get those that are too wounded to fight away from the wall,” Verona said, getting an odd look from the three, “They'll just be in the way if they aren't needed.”

“She's right.” Jeff turned to Sam. “Can you get as many as you can away from the wall? Make sure that they are not faking it so they don't have to fight.”

“On it.” came Sam's reply.

She whistled, three short and high pitched, and several women soldiers came up to her. With the orders issued they began to move through the wounded villagers.

Some did try to overstate their injuries. These received a hard slap to the head. There were less faking after the first few slaps.

From the center of the village came a stream of elderly villagers. In their arms were baskets of the dried healing herbs. Sybil and Bertram were at the front, quickly working with Sam to hydrate the herbs and apply them to the deepest and most grievous wounds. Some began to scream wildly, like they were being eviscerated like the Kobolds. Even from this distance Verona could see the light green tinge of the Kobold poison. She remembered what Kal had said, that getting it on the skin nearly convinced her to remover her own hand. She had no idea what it would feel like coursing through her body. Nor did she want to know.

While the cries began to subside, and the healing herbs did their work, Verona turned her attention back outside. She was worried about what was about to happen next.

She stayed back and kept an eye out to the south. All the Kobolds had stopped running and looked like they were about to come again.

“How many are wounded?” Verona asked.

“Out of nearly five hundred, fifty are heavily wounded with another hundred that are moderately wounded. Five dead.” Sam replied as she made her way back to them. Her hands were recently bloodied, wiping them off with a spare piece of cloth.

“I think that means we did well, considering what we've got.” Verona said.

“Without any real pieces of armour.” Jeff added.

“Or many ranged weapons.” Avery added as well. “If we had three or four times as many weapons, we could have cut down so many before they reached the walls, they may have decided to run before climbing.”

“Anton will bring more.” Verona began, “When we went to Maxill, to the Duchess we were unknown people from the east. Hopefully Anton will come back with twenty or maybe thirty crossbows and many bolts. Maybe even a few bows.”

Avery smiled, something that was very rare for him.

However Verona felt very uneasy about bringing him up right now. He was so far away when they needed him the most. It felt like it had been planned so they could not call upon him. Even if he got the message now that they needed his help it would still be another fifteen or so days before he returned.

Maybe his prayer power, or one of the other gods he has, has some way of communicating over large distances. Maybe even some way of moving very, very quickly between places. I'll ask next time.

The Kobold horde started to move towards them again.

If there is a next time.

There were a lot less now, most dead at the base of the wall, perhaps two thirds of the attackers remained. Still far too many for her to deal with, they would wear them down if they just kept attacking. And if another Kobold army attacked....

“Everyone, get ready!” Jeff yelled over the murmurs from the villagers. “We'll keep beating them back so long as we need to!”

She saw a definite change from the villagers. Just a few simple words could change how they stood, breathed, and even looked outwards. She had no idea how long it would last once the fighting started again.

Avery yelled and the ranged villagers took their positions again. Very few had taken injuries, a good thing as they needed all the strength to pull back the bows and reload the crossbows.

The Kobolds broke into a run. The few that were uninjured in some way moved out to the front of the attack.

The first volley of arrows and bolts flew forth, but Verona barely noticed them. She was thinking along the same lines. About not letting them even reach the walls. But her power had a very short range, compared to Anton's magic, probably not even a quarter of the distance.

What if I used that 'Tethering' thing he talked about? No, I don't think so this time. It made my blood much stronger but slower and more difficult to move. That's...hang on.

She turned back, back towards the Kobold that had been thrown from the wall and had rolled about, landing on its back and not touching the ground. A quickly thought flashed through her mind relating to how the creatures slept.

Those spikes...maybe if I do something like that.

It was worth a try, if anything to stop her from running around and dragging the blood shards with her.

She activated her power and drew up all the blood from her vials.

With the blood forming a large ball infront of her, she closed her eyes to concentrate.

I don't know how detailed Anton speaks the words in his mind, but...I need it like a ball. A ball with spikes. Very long spikes.

Something happened, a slight change in the way her magic felt. She did not know if it was her goddess, Jira, interfering or helping, but there was a feeling of how to form the blood into the shape she wanted.

As she followed the feeling the ball began to harden and points began to emerge. The ten points, with one on the other side of another and evenly spaced, began to grow, taking away the blood from the center.

She could hear murmuring from those around her but she pushed it out of her mind. There was no room for distractions.

Finally it was done and she opened her eyes.

The ten spikes, all joined at a common point, floated infront of her. Each spike was longer than she was tall. They were perfectly smooth, with not a mark or deformation on them. That would make the next part easier, hopefully.

The Kobolds were very close, almost within range of her magic. Most seemed to be heading right for her.

Taking a quick glance either side it seemed that Jeff had moved most of the villagers away from her. He must have thought that they would have been enough in the centre of the wall. Either that or he was worried about what she was about to do. A quick glance back showed that he was far more concerned with what was happening out there.

The Kobolds finally reached her longest range, but she did nothing.

Jeff and Sam made a noise directed at her but she ignored them.

She wanted them to get closer. Much closer.

When she had been practising with her magic on the archery range it became harder to control the magic further away it was, but it did not just cut off. The only reason why she had cancelled the magic was that it was too hard and demanding to control.

They were almost at the wall now. She could see their angry muzzle faces, blood and saliva pouring out as they ran. It was like that in all their rage they could not see, or did not care about, the blood spikes infront of them.

Let's see how you like this.

She pushed the spikes down and onto the ground. One of the spikes gently pierced the ground as she brought it to a halt.

Then she spun it forward. The sensation was quite odd, like the connection and her own body was spinning, somehow. It was completely and utterly disorienting in her mind but she gritted her teeth and endured.

A look of disbelief overcame the Kobolds muzzled faces. Living in the wilderness, there was no way they could have seen something like this.

The first Kobold raised it hands to shield itself and turned its head away. As if it could have actually run away from her.

Blood spikes tore through its body like it was air. It screamed as its body was torn apart and forced into the ground. The spikes on the side sliced open those standing close it as well. As the spikes continued to roll through the panicking horde of Kobolds, the first Kobold, still spiked, began to rise as the spike dug into its body. Just as it started to move the spike slid out, the blood lubricated it free.

She grinned knowing that her power worked like she wanted it to.

Dozens had died in a few heartbeats. Dozens every one after that.

She dropped her spear against the wall and held out both hands.

She pushed it forward, then to the right, backwards and then to the left, directing the deadly spikes with a flick of both hands.

Always spinning. Always churning through bodies. Blood and torn limps began to fly into the air.

So much.

She could hear no sounds of arrows or bolts being loosed at them. Everyone and everything was looking at the spikes.

As the Kobold horde moved closer, despite their rapid losses, so too did the spinning spikes. Chunks of flesh and blood started to splatter the wall and those on top. In the flurry of screams and cries she only vaguely realised that she was smiling and laughing.

Laughing like a maniac.

It was like she was not even in her own body, like something had cut all the inhibitions away. Any tiny piece of joy that she felt at seeing them die was amplified a thousand fold and allowed out. Nothing was stopping her thoughts and emotions from running wild.

She paid it no mind until the blood splattered on her face. It snapped her out of her trance, one so vivid and exelirating that it did not feel unnatural until now.

As she tried to wipe it off her face a tiny bit entered her mouth.

At first there was just the familiar taste of blood. A thought flashed her head about the metallic taste before it was washed away by a surge at her nether region. It exploded in an instant, almost taking her breath away. It was strong enough that she grabbed the wall to stop herself from her legs buckling.

She knew the feeling of what just happened, she had experienced it more than enough with Anton or by herself. It was not as intense but the unexpected nature of it caused her to fumble.

Jeff and Sam moved forward to see what was wrong. She kept her head down to hide the sudden flush to her face and waved them away with one hand.

Why? Why the fuck now?

She looked at the tiny droplets of blood on the sleeve of her shirt then brought her still shaky hand to her mouth. To the side she could still feel the wetness of the blood.

Lester called me a 'Blood Beserker', and so did Kal. Is this is what they meant?

She could feel a slight dampness to her crotch.

Is this why we are called that? We get off on drinking blood? And they expect us to just go mad in an orgy of blood and death?

Somehow she was able to keep part of her mind on controlling the spikes, even if it did slow down drastically for a few moments. She started to push them through the faltering crowds of Kobolds.

That was only a drop...what would happen to me if it was more? How the hell am I meant to go into battle without going crazy?

Another thought arose in her head.

Is this what you want of me? To die in a orgy of blood and death? Fuck You Jira!

There was nothing to her cry against her goddess. Perhaps she had expected it and did not care.

She focused her attention away from the ebbing sensation and back onto the battlefield.

The Kobolds looked to be about to break.

A final push, like her summoning the dozens upon dozens of blood spears at the cumulation of the Yellow Goblin battle, would shatter them.

She stopped the spikes and lifted it into the air. The sheer volume of blood that she could control was immense, even though she had nowhere near enough skill or mana to do so. She brought up us much as she could and formed them into smaller crystal spike balls, five small and one large.

There was the look of total fear on their faces. One had just become six, and they knew they would soon attack.

Verona leant against the wall, to allow her to focus on controlling the spikes, and held out both hands.

As she pushed them through and tore apart the Kobolds her control was pushed to the limit. Every movement, even maintaining them, was a colossal strain on her mind and body. The previous incident had done nothing to help with her measure of control.

The center of the Kobolds collapsed under her relentless and deadly magic, the sides quickly following.

A howl cried out from the rear, quickly repeated throughout the remaining few Kobolds.

They began to retreat in a bloodied and chaotic mess. She did not know if it was their leader, and she did not care.

Within a few heartbeats they were out of range of her blood spikes. She took a deep breath and released control of most of the blood, keeping enough to fill the clay pots on her hip. The blood liquefied and flowed like a stream through the air into the pots.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Nobody said anything for some time. She turned to look around, just to make sure something else was not happening.

Instead she was greeted by faces full of terror and fear, all directed at her. As she glanced back towards the south she understood why.

There were dead Kobolds on the wall and past her magical range. These were mostly intact; a few deep wounds, missing limbs and arrows and bolts sticking out of their bodies.

The others were nothing more than shredded meat and blood. It was so thick in some places that the grass was completely smothered. A few, somehow, were still alive. Their broken and eviscerated faces slowly gasped for wet and bloody breaths, each becoming weaker and more pathetic as they succumbed to their wounds. In the middle of the fighting she had not even noticed.

She had never seen something so horrific.

And she alone had done this. Alone.

She did not know why that, in the fighting, she had not even cared or noticed. Before the blood entered her mouth she would have called it beautiful.

The fire of her power disappeared with her next breath, so too did all the urges and desires that came with it. The warmth in her body quickly was replaced by a feeling of dread. She could feel the stares directed at her, ones which made her want to run away and hide.

“We are victorious!” Jeff yelled.

Cheers erupted from the villagers.

Verona tried her best to join in but she could not. The stares of fear still pierced the back of her skull, taking away any sense of elation of victory.

“Cheers to Verona!” came another cry.

It snapped her out of her mood and she looked around. It did not come from Jeff, Sam or even Avery. At the far end of the wall a woman had her weapon raised.

Even more people started raising their weapons, one after another, all shouting Verona's name. It was stunning for her to hear. Soon the cries of her name overcame the shouts of victory.

A tear came to her eye, one of relief. Sam patted her on the back energetically. There was a wide smile on her face. Verona returned it.

Soon the cries of victory calmed down.

Jeff shouted loudly to get their attention.

“Everybody that is wounded, get treatment. The rest of you, get some rest where you are.”

He looked back out to the south, so too did Verona. The Kobolds were regrouping at their camp but looked like they were not going to attack again, yet. Even from this distance she could see them caring for their wounded, in whatever form they could.

“They may try again soon.” Jeff finished.

Many villagers slumped down against the wall in a heap, all breathing loudly. Only a few had the strength to remain standing.

Verona found that she was still full of energy, despite her incident with the blood entering her mouth. That was something that she would have to investigate later when they were safe. She picked up her spear, still resting on the wall, and leant against it.

Sam and Jeff moved either side, she glanced around to see that Avery was helping with the wounded and his own archers.

“Jeff, what do we do now? Do we attack?” Verona asked.

Jeff stammered before he could respond to her.

“I...How are you feeling?” he asked, “You know, how much mana or magic or power or whatever, do you have left?”

Verona took a moment, searching within herself.

“I think about half.” she replied, “Using that magic took quite a bit out of me.”

She turned back and saw only a tiny hint of fear on his face. Somehow it was reassuring to see that he did not recoil, even though her eyes were no longer red.

“Do we have any more of that fruit that Anton keeps talking about? That Karak fruit from behind the Main Hall?”

Jeff scratched the back of his head.

“I think there are a few. Those things grow a lot slower than the usual plants, they've only just started to regrow.”

He turned to a villager and ordered him to get a few.

Verona turned her attention back to the south. Sam leant onto the wall next to her.

“Are you sure you're okay?” she asked in a lightest whisper. “When that blood splashed onto you, I thought that you...”

She nodded towards her legs. Thankfully there were no visible signs of what just transpired.

“I'm fine.” Verona replied, her face still low.

“Are you sure?”

“I am, I just need some time to figure out what happened.” She got off the wall and stretched out her body. “When Anton gets back we're going to need to have a long talk about this.”

She rolled up her shirt and looked at the red marks that ran along her body. They seemed brighter than before, even though she was not using the power. At first she thought they were impressive and made her more sexy, a sign that she was able to fight like a great warrior. Now she was starting to wonder what she had gotten herself into.

Verona rolled her sleeve back down and slapped her face hard. The sting broke her stupor, bringing her back to reality.

“Was that...” Sam began to ask.

“No.” Verona replied, turning and smiling at them both. “Just getting my head back together.”

Jeff and Sam glanced at each-other.

“So long as I don't need to use my power too much until Anton gets back and we can figure it out, I should be fine.”

They both smiled.

Jeff opened his mouth to speak when a horn cut him off. It came from very close by, just a few villagers down. Verona wondered why they could not have just said something.

He looked at the villager with the horn in a mixture of confusion and annoyance.

“What is it!?” he asked.

The villager held a shaky hand to the south.

Verona followed it past the Kobold camp, past the looming stone insignia of Nithroel, and into the distance. On the far edge of the horizon she could just make out something moving. She stared as hard as she could. A part of her wished that she had the prayer power that Anton had, it would allow her to easily see that far.

There was something grey and white moving like a tide towards them. Nobody spoke a word as they drew closer and closer to the Kobold camp.

They were Kobolds. Many more of them, seemingly a different variety.

The grey and white tide spilled over the few small hills to the side of the Thumper fields. She pushed the panicking voices behind her out of her mind and tired her best to count them. By the time she came to a reasonable number they were already halfway to the established Kobold camp.

"I count about four to five thousand." Verona said with some sadness in her voice.

They had done well in the last battle, but they had avoided many casualties thanks to Verona. It was basically the same number they had to fight as before, except now these new ones would know what they were up against. It would not be as easy, not that Verona was going to tell them how easy it had been.

All thoughts and hushed whispers amongst the villagers that the Kobolds might attack each other faded when the two groups began to mingle into their camp. The new grey Kobolds looked like they were speaking to the brown ones, every so often one one would look towards them. Towards her.

"For fuck's sake." Jeff said, Avery quickly repeating the same thing.

"What do we do?" Sam asked, a slight tinge of panic to her voice.

Jeff started shouting orders in response. Villagers moved about with frightened steps as they readied themselves for another fight. She could hear arrows being prepared into quivers against the wall and crossbows readied. Verona kept looking out at the camp. Waiting for them to attack.

A villager ran up behind them and handed over a small basket, filled with the Karak fruit. There were eight in total. Verona shot the man a look, he could only shrug while his face screamed with an apology. This must have been it. Jeff was right about them growing very slow. They would need to grow more of those trees, should they survive.

She took one and bit into it. The flesh and juice was amazingly sweet but that did not interest Verona. With each bite she could feel her magic returning, bit by bit. She knew that she could not have too many otherwise she would be sick, just like Anton when he tried to restore his magic too much.

When she had finished half of the fruit she felt that almost all of her magic had returned.

Why does Anton need so many of these things to get back his magic? I don't think he's just being greedy. Is he that low on mana, or does using his magic the way he does burn through so much?

She had no way to answer, she had not asked before and he was not here now.

The new kobolds took no time to get themselves established. A few more tents emerged either side of the existing camp and another totem was being raised beside the previous one. It looked the same, right down to the details of the horns surrounding the leaf.

Nithroel is going to pay for what happens here.

Now the grey, and a few brown, kobolds started marching towards them. They spread out much further this time in an attempt to limit the effectiveness of Verona's magic. The greys had the same wooden weapons and skin clothing. At least they should be as easy to kill as the browns.

Regardless of her new and confusing thoughts on her power, she knew that she would have to use it nearly continuously if they were going to survive until Anton got back. She just had no idea as to what would happen to her if she kept her power going for days at a time. The longest she had kept it going was when the final Yellow Goblin attack and she had been rather distracted to notice any changes.

Not knowing the answer, she prepared herself mentally for the task ahead.

There was one problem that stood out.

If she was going to be of use she could not let any blood enter her mouth. She would be a serious detriment to their cause if she climaxed again and could not properly control her power. They would likely kill her while her legs failed to respond, just like it had occurred to her on so many nights in bed.

She turned to Sam, who looked like she was becoming very pale with fear, and coughed to get her attention.

"Sam, do we have any pieces of spare cloth that I can use? Ones without any blood on them?"

Sam did not answer but ran down the wall, returning a few moments later with a lightly coloured piece of cloth.

"Thanks." Verona mumbled as she took it.

She lent her spear against the wall and tied the cloth tight around her head so it covered her mouth. There was more than enough movement in it for her to talk and breath, but hopefully enough cloth to prevent any droplets of blood entering her mouth. The villagers around her looked confusingly at one another, shrugging as Verona was not willing to give up the reason.

Jeff was about to ask when Sam tapped him on the shoulder and told him that she would explain later.

If there is a later.

The kobolds had fanned out and were slowly marching towards them. The greys did not seem as angry but looked far more determined. They kept their spears low as they moved. Always keeping an eye on the villagers.

It would not be long before they broke into a charge.

As if they could read her thoughts they howled and ran towards them.

"Sam. Before you asked what should we do?"

Verona turned around and saw that both of them looked a little frightened.

The fire within burst into life, the familiar sensation ran throughout her body, letting her know that she could control the blood. With a hand over both sides her hips she drew the blood up and formed the tiny shards. The urge was back, infinitesimally stronger than before, and no simple attempt at pushing it away could get rid of it. She could only hope that she was still sane at the end of the day.

"I'll tell you what we are going to do."

She leant back and raised her voice as loud as she could without it breaking.

"I'll tell you all what we will do!"

The kobolds were almost in range of her magic, the few arrows and bolts the villagers could release did nothing to stop them.

She raised the shards above her head.

The first Kobold was within range.

"We fight for lives!"

------------

Hello Again.

I had both of these chapters done at the same time so I thought i should release them both.

This one is a combat chapter. So Verona is experimenting more with her power, seeing what can be done with it. Also the others talking about the lack of good ranged weapons and the consequences of that, such as the Kobolds having to be fought off in melee and on the wall.

Why she has been called a blood beserker has been revealed, and it's the getting off on combat sort of thing. That's why Lester, the merchant in Maxill, was quite afraid of her, Kal was quite surprised as well. Neither really had the heart to tell her what could happen.

So, Nithroel, the elven goddess that is at war with his own gods, is making her move. So things are probably going to get worse before they get better.

For now, they need to hang on until Anton and co. get back.

That's it for this chapter.

I hope you enjoyed it and as always, please go easy on me.

Thanks!