“There he is!” one archer yelled and pointed into the distance where the Torra had gathered.

Linea rushed to the edge of the wall like everyone else. At first, she didn’t see much as the sun had risen to a point, where it hurt her eyes.

“Evira? Do you have a veil or a bandage for me?” she asked slightly embarrassed that she had forgotten something so important.

“Of course, My Lady,” Evira answered and pulled a black bandage out of a poach on her belt.

“Thank you,” Linea said with a smile and put the bandage over her eyes. The world looked darker than before and it was soothing for her eyes.

She looked towards the enemy army again. It took her a moment and a few pointed fingers to find the dark mage, but when she found him, she gulped. It was not clearly visible on this range, but Linea noticed a staff in the hand of the dark mage. A black orb was on top.

‘That’s not good,’ she said to Sarah.

‘Don’t worry too much,’ Sarah answered. ‘We have seen what this thing can do. If I’m getting close, I’ll just stop him from touching that orb. It’s not like he can surprise us with that thing again.’

‘But be careful. We don’t know what else he can do with that.’

Sarah nodded mentally.

“Your Grace?” Lady Talura pulled her from her conversation with Sarah.

“Yes?”

“We have got a message from the other parts of the wall. There are no activities or even appearances of Torra. Should we shift the positioned militia to the main battlefield?”

“Not yet,” Linea said and looked back at the Torra army. The shimmering air behind the army still made her anxious. “I wouldn’t be surprised, if there would be a surprise attack while we’re engaged in battle here.”

Just as she said that, the enemy moved. At least one hundred wolf-type Torra advanced fast. As they closed the distance, Lady Talura gave orders.

“Archers to the front! Fire at will!” she yelled. “Crossbows be ready. Switch with archers at my command!”

‘Let me take control now,’ Sarah said. Linea sighed but complied. It was getting easier to give up control over her body, but it still was awkward.

‘Are you going to attack right away?’ she asked.

‘No, but I want to be ready, if something unforeseen happens.’

Sarah moved to the side into the gatehouse from where she had a better view on the wall and the field in front.

It took the Torra not even a minute to cross the distance between their army and the wall. But the archers were skilled. As soon as the Torra came in range, the first arrows flew right in their faces. The wolves were thinned fast, but most arrows couldn’t land a killing blow. The Torra seemed to be rather undisturbed by arrows sticking out of their bodies.

When they reached the moat, water slowed them down. This gave the archers a good opportunity to hit more precisely as the targets didn’t move as much. The remaining Torra climbed out of the water and with dark glowing claws, they embedded their paws into the wall. The sight of the wolves climbing the wall like that was a surprise for everyone, but now they had seen how the Torra had overcome the wall the first time.

“Crossbows!” Lady Talura yelled, and the archers pulled away from the battlement.

The first line of crossbowmen stepped forward.

“Fire!”

The crossbowmen fired their bolts, which slammed like a hailstorm into the Torra. Sarah saw the most forward wolves drop from the wall into the moat.

The crossbowmen from the first line stepped back and made space for the second line. While the first line reloaded their bolts, the second line fired their volley. Even more wolves fell.

After the third line had fired, only a handful of Torra remained. As they reached the top of the wall, they slammed into an invisible barrier. The Torra hadn’t expected that and fell down. Only one the wolves had the luck to land in the water-filled moat, unlike his brethren, who all died as they smashed into the ground.

A single arrow flew from the tower on the other side of this part of the wall and killed the last Torra.

‘That was effective,’ Linea noted.

‘Yes, but that was only a part of the army,’ Sarah said. ‘I would guess that was just a probing attack.’

Sarah left the gatehouse and joined Lady Talura. Evira and her guard were always on her heels.

“That was good work everyone!” she said to push the morale. The men on the wall saluted and had smiles on their faces.

“Where is Sir Lundir?” she asked Lady Talura.

“In the tower together with Sir Bilandir,” Lady Talura answered and pointed at the tower where the last arrow had come from. Sarah made her way there.

“Sir Lundir?” Sarah asked as she had entered the tower.

“Top room!” He yelled from above.

Sarah climbed the ladder up to the next level of the tower where Sir Lundir watched outside together with some people in robes. Sir Bilandir was there too, and he had still his bow in hands.

“I guess you are the free mages?” Sarah asked and examined them. They all looked wealthy and pompous with all their jewelry. It stood in stark contrast to Linea rather humble appearance.

“Yes, Your Grace,” a woman in a yellow robe answered. “We are happy to serve you!”

‘Doesn’t look like it though,’ Sarah noticed as she examined the mages and their expressions.

‘I guess they don’t like to be on the front. Free mages are elitists to the bone. They’d rather let others die for them,’ Linea explained.

“Any ideas what is shimmering there in the background?” Sarah asked.

“We can’t say for sure,” Sir Lundir answered. “But we suspect it to be an illusion spell to hide something behind it.

“If he doesn’t want us to know that he has something to hide, why the shimmering?” Sarah asked further.

“Maybe, he isn’t proficient with this concealment spell,” the yellow robbed woman guessed. “But perhaps it is enough for him. We still have no idea what’s behind that illusion.”

“Guessing by the size it probably is some sort of siege engine,” Sir Bilandir threw in. “We could try to throw some spell against it. Just to see what happens.”

“No, I want to preserve our power as much as possible,” Sarah countered. “I suspect the dark mage to have some kind of magic canceling ability like the orc we met in the forest. Only attack with magic if I’m in combat with the dark mage or if he is otherwise preoccupied.”

Before they could discuss further, someone yelled below them.

“Here they come!”

Everyone rushed to the windows of the tower and they saw a large chunk of the Torra army charging at the wall.

“I count around four thousand evenly split into wolves and goats,” a mage in a gray robe said.

“Where did he find so many wolves?” Sir Bilundir said. “The enemy army hasn’t much of them left, but still. Over two thousand wolves…”

“I care little about the wolves,” Sarah replied. “What are those goats? Do you know anything about them? What are they capable of?”

“Well, I’ve encountered them rarely. The Void manifests mostly in predators or other animals that can be dangerous. So many goats are strange. I can't imagine how they are supposed to climb the wall,” Sir Bilandir said.

Sarah cursed internally.

She hated not knowing her enemy.

“All right, get ready,” she said. “Sir Bilandir, keep assisting the archers! Sir Lundir, you and your mages keep an eye on that illusion. Only interfere in the fight at the wall if we’re being overrun. As soon as that siege weapon or whatever is under this illusion pops out, I want you to neutralize it if possible. If not possible, block its attacks.”

“Yes, My Lady!” both men said.

Sarah left them and climbed down again. As she reached the wall again, the archers already shot.

“Stay focused!” Lady Talura yelled. “Don’t aim as much. There are too much enemies! You can't miss! Increase your rate of fire!”

At the same time for of Evira’s guardsmen came through the door to the gatehouse on the other side of this part of the wall. They were huffing and sweating, but to Sarah’s delight they had two wooden boxes with them.

“My weapons!” she said and opened the lid of one of the boxes. Neatly stacked on weapon holders lay twenty-four claymores. They had been changed to fit Sarah’s needs and didn’t look like claymore anymore. The blades were considerable wider, which gave the sword more weight. Such a sword was too heavy in the hand of a normal soldier, but for Sarah’s psionic powers they were perfect.

Just as she was infusing the weapons with her Psy-Energy, the wall rumbled.

“What was that?” Sarah asked confused.

“The goats! They’re exploding down there!” a crossbowman yelled.

“The rest of the Torra are coming!” someone else cried out.

Sarah rushed to the battlement of the wall and looked down.

The goats reaching the wall suddenly exploded in a Void eruption taking chunks of the wall with them.

Sarah’s thoughts raced. The enemy was breaking through the wall by suicide attacks. She had to stop the goats.

“Talura!” She yelled over the heads of the crossbowmen. “We need the spearmen down there on the inside. If they breach the wall, we need to have them contained at the chokepoint!”

“Yes, My Lady!” Lady Talura yelled back and ran to the gatehouse to give orders to the infantry.

Sarah got back to her swords. Fusing all of them to her telekinetic grip was challenging, but as soon as she had completed it, she was ready for war.

“All right,” she said to Evira. “I’m going down there!”

“What?” Evira said flabbergasted. “What do you mean by ‘going down there’?”

Sarah raised a brow.

“I came to fight Torra and dark mages,” Sarah said. “And that’s what I shall do. Keep an eye on Senia, yes?”

‘She is going to be so pissed at you that I left her here,’ Sarah said to Linea.

‘Great,’ Linea answered peeved. ‘And I can face the music afterwards? Thanks a lot.’

Sarah just grinned. She let the swords float out of the two boxes and arranged them like wings behind her. The soldiers looked at her with wide eyes.

“Glory or death!” Sarah roared and with a few steps on invisible treads over the heads of the firing crossbowmen she jumped down. In the middle of her fall she opened her sword-wings to slow her down. Before impact, she caught herself with her telekinesis and slammed the blades into the nearest enemies.

Adrenaline rushed through her body as she retracted her swords from the surrounding corpses. The Torra noticed her and the wolves, who tried to climb the wall again, stopped in their tracks. The goats gave her a wide berth and rushed towards the hole in the wall. Sarah saw she had failed to protect the wall as she could see a few goats blowing up and breaching the wall. The remaining goats maneuvered towards the left part of the wall.

“Oh no, you don’t,” Sarah yelled and jumped towards the goats. Her blade wings helped her in gliding over the masses of wolves separating her from her targets. When she landed in the midst of the goat herd, some of them bloated and Sarah could feel Void-Energy gathering for an explosion.

She hurled those goats away from her with telekinesis. Some of them splashed against the wall leaving little holes here and there, but most of the goats landed in the Torra army annihilating a bunch.

Sarah took a quick breath and let the sword circle around her like a disk saw. She sliced through the incoming goats as if they were butter. A few slipped by her, but she noticed that precise arrows fired from the gatehouse killed them before they reached the wall.

As soon as the dark mage noticed her tactic, he sent suicide goats in jumping attacks over her defensive blade perimeter. Linea pushed them away with her telekinesis. That pulled more power from her than she liked.

She knew she had to be more offensive with her swords.

What followed was a massacre. It took her at least fifteen minutes to cut through all the goats even with her efficiency.

Sarah charged into the enemy with abandon and while keeping her distance to the goat-like monsters she cut them down without mercy.

Only when one goat came from behind, Sarah was caught off-guard. She slipped on what she guessed was a mixture of blood and mud. Her foot got entangled in goat entrails and she fell face down on the ground. She turned around and saw the goat landing on top of her and it inflated. She shot two swords at the Torra sending it flying. It exploded above her but luckily out of range to hurt. The explosion took both swords with it, however.

Sarah spat some blood-mud-mix she had caught in her mouth. Some wolves tried to attack her, but her swords flew defensively around her swatting them away.

‘No more goats!’ Linea said triumphantly.

‘Good,’ Sarah said. ‘I need a break.’

She gathered her twenty-two swords into her wing form and flew back on top of the wall.

The soldiers greeted her with loud cheers.

“Thanks, but stay focused!” Sarah yelled. “Keep on firing!”

Evira and Talura rushed to her.

“Linea! Are you hurt?” Evira asked and tried to wipe the dirt from her face.

“Yeah, it’s all right. It’s not my blood.”

“I have never seen someone fighting like that!” Lady Talura said with glee in her eyes. “You were like a goddess of war!”

“Well, I had to do something about those goat-thingies,” Sarah tried to explain. “But to be honest, it took more power from me than I had hoped. I need to leave the rest of the Torra to you. And I need water to clean myself. I stink!”

Lady Talura chuckled and let Evira take Sarah into the gatehouse.

Sarah didn’t waste much time as she took a bucket of water and poured it over herself. She wiped dirt out of her face.

“Please, never do that again!” Evira said and pulled Sarah into a hug. Surprised by Evira’s sudden intimacy, Sarah just patted her back.

“Can’t promise that, but I need to conserve strength for now,” Sarah said. “How is the situation?”

“The Torra lost a fair amount of their troops against our range fighters but they are pushing into the breach with sheer numbers,” Evira explained. “They pushed us back into the city, but the small alleyways are not in their favor. Part of our cavalry has dismounted to secure the main road. We forced the Torra to fight in chokepoints.”

“So far so good,” Sarah said. That the Torra had breached the wall was a setback, but they had expected it to happen at some point and had prepared for it.

“What about casualties?”

“We don’t know, but not that high yet. I guess we have lost one hundred infantrymen while the enemy has already lost around four thousand Torra. A third of them killed by you I might add.

“Good,” Sarah said with a smile. “Let’s get down there and see, if we can support them somehow.”

“I would like you to stay up here.”

Sarah rolled her eyes.

“I can’t, but this time you can escort me. How about that?”

“Fine.”

The fight in the city was bloody. Not for the Moon Elves but for the Torra. Corpses of boars and wolves lay scattered in the alleys. Some goats had slipped through the defenses earlier as Sarah noticed houses with circular parts missing.

The fight had raged for an additional two hours and Sarah had only interfered when the Torra were breaking through a defensive line. Sarah couldn’t help herself even though she knew she should have saved her powers. She balanced her Psy-Energy based on the number of enemies left. She expected the dark mage to have a trump card, like what they suspected to be a siege weapon.

But Sarah wasn’t convinced anymore about that. The enemy had already breached the wall. But what else could it be.

“I killed thirty Torra!” Lady Lalana boasted. “How close am I regarding that date?”

“I didn’t count, but I guess you need roughly two thousand more,” Sarah answered with a grin. Lady Lalana hadn’t seen her rampage on the other side of the wall and so she was shocked.

“What? How am I supposed to catch up to that?”

Sarah laughed and floated with her blade wings towards her, but a runner interrupted them.

“My Lady, a message from Sir Bilandir,” he said out of breath. “The eastern groups have been overrun. I barely made it through. The Torra found a tunnel and ambushed our troops from behind. They have pulled back into a walled mansion, but it will be a matter of time before they are wiped out. Princess Senia is with them and she is injured.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Sarah cursed. “Why can’t she just do what she is told? Lady Lalana, take the remaining cavalry reserve and swing over to the east. Take the main streets and ride fast. We can’t have the Torra breaking through any further. Reinforce the troops that hold the position.”

“Yes, My Lady,” Lady Lalana answered and signaled her troops to follow her.

“Evira, find someone who knows more about the city. We need to make sure that there aren’t more of those tunnels,” Sarah ordered. “I’ll save my stupid sister. We’ll meet at the inn where Aruna is.”

Before Evira could protest, Sarah had already taken off and flew eastwards.

It didn’t take long for her to find the mansion as it was surrounded by boars. It was luck for those trapped inside the walls of the mansion that the Torra had ran out of wolves or else those walls wouldn’t have been all that helpful.

Linea landed in the middle of the court yard where Sir Bilundir was waving at her.

“Your sister…” he greeted her, but she interrupted him.

“I know. Where is she?”

Sarah was led into the mansion. In one of the bigger rooms, Senia laid on a bed. Her wounds were patched-up with bandages but those were already blood soaked. Senia was missing her left hand, her guts were ripped open and a chunk of her right thigh had been bitten off. Senia already looked like dead.

Sarah rushed to Senia and let the swords land to her side.

‘Your turn,’ she said and gave Linea her body back.

Linea instantly undid the bandage on Senia belly. Even though the wound was deep, it wasn’t as bad as Nora’s had been.

Linea chanted her only healing spell and saw how the wound was closing. The next wound was the hand, which took more concentration from Linea.

But after that Senia came back to her senses.

“Where… where am I?” She asked.

“In the world of the living, you idiot!” Linea replied, and tears dropped onto Senia. Linea pressed her face against her sister’s chest and felt better as she felt her heartbeat. “You scared me.”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to,” Senia said. “I just thought I could be as heroic as you are.”

“It doesn’t help to be brave and glorious, if you’re dead!” Linea scolded her.

“Yeah, I know…” Senia admitted. “I’m sorry.”

“My Ladies?” Sir Bilandir interrupted carefully. “Could you discuss this problem at a later point, we’re losing ground out there.”

“Of course!” Linea said and pushed control back to Sarah.

“Can you carry her?” Sarah said to Sir Bilundir. The Hunter nodded and lifted Senia onto his shoulder.

“Ouch!” Senia protested. “Is that how you treat a princess?”

“No, but a stupid novice who can’t follow orders,” the man replied annoyed. “I told you to stay behind and give support from the back.”

Senia went silent and decided not to answer.

It didn’t take Sarah all that long to fight off the encircling Torra and after fifteen minutes they had joined the main defense line. Lady Lalana had pushed back the Torra advance and greeted them only two streets away.

Sarah was about to bring Senia over to Aruna, when she heard a deep, loud roar on the other side of the wall.

“What the hell was that?” she asked and looked into baffled faces.