Nevan stood among the other non-sorcerers, watching the light of dawn appeared over the mountains. He stood in formation in the cave on one side of what would be the battleground, part of Commander Brian’s rotating force. A knight beside him retched, but nothing came out.

“I feel sick,” the knight said to Nevan, wiping his mouth with his sleeves.

“Me too,” Nevan replied.

“I never have been in a battle before. Have you?” the knight nervously asked.

“No,” Nevan answered. “Tell you what. If you watch my back out there, I’ll watch yours,” he smiled.

“Deal,” the knight replied, feeling a little better.

Elnor stood on the top of the wall, watching the snowy field. It would generally be senseless for an enemy to attack Ronan from the south, the mountains acting as a natural blockade. There was only one narrow path to pass the steep mountain range. And Fort Badai stood right at the center, blocking the way. The third army also had the natural advantage of high ground, the field in front of them sloping downwards. ‘Akar must have had high confidence in their new weapon to attack from the south during winter,’ Elnor thought. She believed it to be so, as Akar was able to take down the kingdom of Lakor in a matter of weeks. Lakor was tiny and militarily weaker when compared to Ronan, but they were not powerless.

Elnor heard the loud but slow triple beat of Akar’s war drums from a distance, growing slightly faster every second. The thundering sound was accompanied by the appearance of four large metal barrels with their openings aimed forward. The barrels’ length was short but stood ten meters high and fifteen meters wide. The fort’s bell rang, signaling that their adversary had arrived. The large weapons advanced slowly as Akar’s earth, and water elementalists work together to move it; the water elementalists cleared the ice, and the earth elementalists shifted the ground underneath.

The thrumming of Akar’s war drums reached its crescendo as their knights emerged from the horizon. “There are so many,” Elnor heard a knight said.

“Sadly, most of them are going to die,” Elnor muttered.

Akar’s foot soldiers, catapults, and siege towers came next. They moved much faster and not long later had overtaken the giant slow weapons. Elnor and her fellow Commanders knew that there would not be a siege as the fort could not be surrounded and had therefore prepared for an assault instead. The enemy drummers changed their rhythm to a fast but steady beat, and their siege towers and foot soldiers increased the speed of their advance. As their enemies’ first line of knights marched closer, Elnor heard Yenel’s voice in her mind.

“Shu, first line,” said Yenel.

Flame elementalists below in the outer courtyard lit the wicks of large ceramic bowls. Knights groaned as they pulled the trigger of the catapults as hard as they could, releasing the ceramic bowls into the air. The bowls landed and shattered on the incoming enemies. Flames erupted as the oil inside came into contact with the burning wick. Enemy knights burned to death, while those who had climbed onto the sides of the siege towers in search of safety suffocated as they inhaled the black smoke. Screams of the burning could be heard throughout the battlefield.

Enemy water and air elementalists transmuted tenaga to extinguish the flames while the siege towers pushed on, unfazed. Enemy catapults fired at the fort, but Fort Badai’s walls had been reinforced and were unperturbed. Commander Shu’s men kept releasing incendiaries, but the bowls were quickly shot down by enemy visioners and air elementalists who had taken flight. Arrows and daggers flew through the air shattering the bowls before they could reach the enemy lines.

“Elnor, aim for the flyers,” Elnor heard Yenel in her mind.

“Shoot them down!” Elnor ordered her augmenters.

The augmenters fired the large crossbows on top of the walls, aiming for the enemy knights in the air. Some of the flying sorcerers tried to divert the incoming bolts with their abilities but were quickly skewered as they realized the bolts were far too heavy to move. The impaled bodies slammed to the enemy lines, further killing whoever was unlucky enough to be in its path. Seeing their comrades failing, most of the enemy flyers chose to dodge instead. The augmenters on the walls transmuted tenaga as they lifted the heavy bolts and reloaded the crossbows, continuing to fire at will. Meanwhile, the four large enemy weapons that had been slowly moving forward stopped.

The enemy earth elementalists created a ramp underneath the large weapons, pivoting the hollow barrel to aim straight at the top of the walls. The enemy war drums changed their rhythms to single loud slams, and all the siege towers and enemy knights stopped marching. Elnor saw scripts glowing red on the metal pipes, and their inside began to emanate a blue light.

“They’re too far. Everyone take cover!” Yenel screamed in Elnor’s head.

“Everyone, get down!” Elnor yelled on the walls.

The augmenters on the battlements ducked. A loud explosion could be heard as the weapons fired four massive blue fireballs in their direction. The outer wall rattled as two balls of fire crashed in its center. Some of the augmenters fell as the force pushed them back, while others managed to hold on. The other two fireballs passed above the augmenters and fell into the inner courtyard, followed by the screams and coughs of knights burning and suffocating.

“We’re fine,” Elnor heard Yenel, who had been on the fort’s keep, said. “Nada and Rion, send some elementalists to extinguish the flames in the inner ward. Elnor, report?”

Elnor’s ears rang, but she had managed to remain on the battlements. “The outer wall is cracked. I’m not sure if it could withstand another one of those attacks,” she said to Yenel as she eyed the damage.

“The weapons seems to require some time before it could fire again. The siege towers are on their way. Elnor, keep those towers off of us. Brian, Irun, Katas, and Ryuji prepare for a counter-attack when the siege towers drop.”

Elnor looked at the battlefield. The four large weapons were further away than where they needed them to be, especially after being pushed back down off the ramp due to their recoil. The weapons were glowing red like a metal ingot in a furnace and melted the surrounding snow. Meanwhile, the siege towers were coming towards the outer wall rapidly.

“Jumpers!” Elnor shouted. “Get ready!” She picked up one of the ropes that were on the battlements and tied it around her waist. The other more powerful augmenters did the same, some of them tying themselves in pairs. The rest of the augmenters tied the other end of the rope to their arms and stood by the crenelated walls. Four augmenters had bound their arms onto the end of Elnor’s rope. Elnor, along with the other jumpers, walked back to the inner edge of the walls, preparing for a run-up. The siege towers approached, now only a few feet away before they could release their trap doors.

“Elnor,” Elnor heard Yenel’s signal.

“Now!” Elnor shouted to the jumpers. She ran, transmuting tenaga into her legs, and jumped over the wall. She flew through the air and slammed her foot to the top of the incoming siege towers. As the siege towers began to lean backward, she felt a tug on her waist. The augmenters who were on the other end of the rope yanked as hard as they could, pulling her back into the battlements, and caught her. Elnor turned to look at the falling siege towers. The towers shattered as they crashed onto the ground.

“Ryuji,” Yenel said.

The outer gates opened, and knights flood out to eliminate the survivors of the crash. Enemy knights were slaughtered as they tried to free themselves from the debris. Commander Ryuji’s knights then prepared themselves to fight the incoming footsoldiers head-on.

“Nada and Rion reinforce Ryuji’s men.”

Flame and water elementalists rushed out of the gates to take a position behind Ryuji’s knights, firing ice shards and fireballs at the incoming enemies and deflected the incoming barrages of enemy sorcerers. Elnor and some of her men returned to the crossbows while the rest went to join the battle.

“Irun. Katas”

Nevan watched nervously from inside the cave, where Commander Brian’s men were positioned. He was at the front and had watched silently as the giant weapons fired massive fireballs into the Fort, the explosions deafening his ears. He saw black smoke rising from inside the inner wall and was relieved when he saw the outer wall had not crumbled from the impact. He had inwardly cheered when he saw Elnor kicked one of the siege towers into the ground. He continued to watch the battle taking place outside the fort where sorcery flew in every direction, burning or impaling their targets. He heard the cry of the fighting knights accompanying the sounds of clashing metals.

“On my signal,” Commander Brian said, his voice echoed on the walls of the cave.

Nevan rolled his shoulders, making sure the rope slung around him was correctly fastened. He looked to the knight at his side nervously, and they nodded to each other. The boom of Akar’s war drums continued to thunder, matching Nevan’s heartbeat.

Ronan’s air elementalists and visioners took to the air from the outer courtyard. They flew over the current battle to get as close as possible towards the four giant weapons further away. Ronan’s visioners fought the enemy flyers to cover the air elementalists who were transmuting tenaga. Knights fell from the sky into the snow-covered ground as flying daggers and arrows killed them. A massive gust of wind was conjured, and a blizzard flew towards the direction of Akar’s knights that were guarding the gigantic weapons.

“Now!” Commander Brian yelled.

Nevan roared and ran into the battlefield. He saw the battle in front of the fort to his left and the flyers fighting above him. He ran for the weapon that was furthest from the cave that was on the left. Some knights split to form a defensive line to hold back the enemy defenders in front of the weapons. He approached his target and fought with his comrades to push through the enemy knights. He tied the ropes on each side of the weapon as they reached it.

“Pull!” Nevan shouted as he finished tying the last knot. He ran to the defensive line to join the fight while the rest of the knights pulled on the rope, dragging the weapons further into the battlefield.

Nevan fought at the front lines. He was unable to swing his arms properly, constantly squeezed by the knights beside him. He transmuted tenaga, making sure that every strike that connected would either kill or maim the enemies. He crushed an incoming knight’s helmet and dented another’s chest plate. A knight of Akar with a spear came at Nevan, but the allied knight at his side stabbed the incoming enemy’s face. Blood spattered into Nevan’s eyes, and while he was wiping it away, a shield slammed into him and threw him backward.

Nevan spat blood and blinked away the stars. He heard the loud horn sounding their retreat. “Retreat!” He heard allied knights shouting. The defensive line broke formation as the knights began to race towards the cave. The knight that Nevan had befriended came to his side and pulled him up.

“Come on! Run!” the knight shouted, and they both started dashing back towards the cave.

Elnor stood on the battlements, firing her large crossbow at the enemy knights down below. The horn sounding the retreat was blown, and the knights below began an orderly withdrawal back into the safety of the fort. The gates shut before the incoming enemy knights, who were trying to break it down.

“Brian, blow it.” Elnor heard Yenel’s voice. After a brief pause, Elnor heard Yenel again, “The enemy cavalries are coming, and they’ll reach the weapons soon. Blow it now!”

“Wait… Yenel, Wait!” Elnor shouted in her mind as she saw her squire still running towards the cave, carrying an injured knight on his back. An explosion sounded from the cliff of the two mountains on either side of the battlefield, and an avalanche began to descend. Elnor watched her squire ran as fast as he could, her heart thumping in her chest. He was already running swifter than many knights could, but she urged him to go faster.

Nevan ran, carrying the knight on his back, towards the cave. An enemy sorcerer had shot a fireball at them, hitting the knight’s legs. They were one of the last ones that had not reached safety. An explosion thundered above Nevan, and he looked up to see the snowslide that was coming towards them. “Leave me. Save yourself,” the knight weakly said to Nevan. Nevan did not answer, focusing all his energy on reaching the cave. He was transmuting as much tenaga as he could to his legs, and his nose had begun to bleed. ‘He needed to go faster,’ he told himself as he saw the incoming snow that threatened to bury them. He pushed even faster and transmuted more tenaga, and his vision began to blur.

The snow avalanche was coming too fast, and Nevan knew he would not make it. He ran as close as he could to the cave entrance and threw the knight as hard as he could inside, right before the snow avalanche dragged him away.

“Elnor, stop,” Elnor heard Yenel’s voice right before she was about to jump down in search of her squire. She said nothing, simply staring as the two avalanches collided and folded on top of one another. She saw the enemy’s large artillery, knights, cavalries, and her squire dragged underneath the snowslide.

“I need to find him,” Elnor replied.

“I understand, and we will, but not like this. Not while it's still dangerous.”

Nevan rolled as he was dragged underneath the snow. He saw a hand peeking through the waves of snow and grabbed it. He pulled the hand close and hugged the unconscious knight as the snow twisted above them. Nevan did not know how long he had rolled nor how deep he was buried. Once the snow had settled, he found himself cramped and unable to breathe. He was only able to tell that he was upside down from the blood that had begun to collect in his head.

Nevan used one of his hammers and transmuted tenaga, and dug a curved tunnel that allowed him to climb upright. His other hand clasped tight on the unconscious knight’s collar. He was quickly running out of breath, digging and climbing as fast as he could. His lungs burned, and he yearned for air. He saw the faint glow of light and swung his arms even more quickly. He needed to breathe badly. His vision began to turn crimson as he pushed himself to continue to transmute tenaga. Finally, the surface broke, and air rushed in. He took a deep breath and went into a coughing fit. He swung his hammer, widening the gap, and pulled himself out.

Once he was out, he reached down and grabbed the knight. She was bleeding from her thigh. He tore a strip off of his inner tunic and wrapped the wound tightly. Only after did he noticed that his left shoulder was dislocated. He used his other arm to push the bone back into its place, letting out a grunt as he did so. He wrapped the knight with his coat to keep her warm and lifted her on his back.

Elnor looked down onto the battlefield, where survivors had begun to emerge from the snow. Knights were being sent out to rescue the injured and detain the enemy knights. She saw her squire walking towards the fort, lifting an injured enemy knight on his back. She jumped down from the battlements and rushed towards him.

“Ishan!” she called out.

Her squire looked at her, and she noticed his eyes were not the grey that she usually saw. They were black, bloodshot, and filled with fatigue. Nevan noticed Elnor coming towards him, and he continued to walk towards her. His muscles gave out, and he dropped the knight on his back and fell. Elnor caught him, and he rested his forehead on the hollow of her shoulder. He breathed her ashy scent and smiled softly. She wrapped her arms around him to keep him from falling and searched for any injuries. “The knight,” he whispered. “She’s injured.”

Elnor turned to look at the fallen enemy knight. The knight was not breathing, and her skin had turned blue. “She’s dead,” Elnor said.

“Oh. I see,” Nevan answered tiredly as he continued to rest on her shoulder.

“Are you injured?”

“No,” he answered assuringly and yawned. “Just tired and a little cold.”

Elnor smirked at her squire. “Let’s go somewhere warm then,” she said as she helped him walk back into the fort.

Nevan sat in Elnor’s office with her a few hours later, a cup of hot water in both of their hands. A healer had come to check on him and had found no injuries besides a few bruises.

“Did we win?” Nevan asked Elnor.

“We won today’s battle,” Elnor answered. “But not the war.”

Nevan sat back on the chair, relaxing his tired muscles. “When are they going to attack again?”

“After that,” Elnor pointed out the window with her thumb from behind her desk. “Not for a while. They lost three of their large weapons, and the last one was damaged. Most of their knights survive, but without the large artilleries, even they know when it’s impossible.”

“Phew,” Nevan let out an exhale with an easy smile.

They sat opposite each other, enjoying the silence for a while.

“Ishan?” Elnor asked.

“Yes, ma’am?”

Nevan saw Elnor looked at him contemplatingly, and he raised his eyebrows at her.

“The healer that came by told me that besides a few bruises, you suffered from transmutation exhaustion.” Nevan looked at her as if she was crazy. “I thought so too myself. But when I saw you out there, you ran faster than a non-sorcerer had any right to be, and you were carrying a knight while doing so.” Elnor looked at her squire seriously. “Is there something you would like to explain to me?”

Nevan frowned at Elnor. “Promise me you won’t say a word to anyone?”

“I promise.”

Nevan nodded. “I will not say much, but I can transmute tenaga into my body. Not to the extent that regular augmenters can, but enough to make me more than just a non-sorcerer.”

Elnor leaned back on her chair, surprised by her squire’s answer. “But we tested you for a core? And you came out negative.”

“I have no core,” Nevan replied. “I transmute tenaga through my veins.”

Elnor thought her squire must be joking, but she saw that he was serious. “You’re not lying, are you?”

Nevan shooked his head.

“How have no one heard about this?” she asked.

“Only people very high up in the kingdom might know. We are a pretty well-kept secret.”

“We?”

“People with abilities similar to mine. But please,” Nevan said. “You can’t tell anyone. People like me aren’t on good terms with those who know of our existence.”

“Don’t worry,” Elnor said sincerely. “I won’t tell anyone. Thank you, Ishan. For telling this to me.”

“I trust you, Commander.”

A knock rapped on the door, stopping any further conversation. Elnor and Nevan both shifted their gaze away from each other and towards the door. “Come in,” Elnor said.

“Commander Elnor,” the knight who had knocked entered and saluted. “The General has requested of your presence in her office.”

“I’m on my way,” Elnor told the knight, standing up from her chair.

“Yes, ma’am,” the knight saluted and left.

“Stay here, Ishan. You can rest here for a while,” Elnor said to Nevan.

“Thank you, ma’am.” He closed his tired eyes and placed a hand inside his pocket.

Elnor made her way towards General Ahri’s office. The door was open, so Elnor simply knocked and entered. “General Ahri,” Elnor saluted. “You wanted to see me.” Elnor eyed the room, only finding Commander Yenel and the General inside.

“Commander Elnor,” Ahri said. “Please close the door behind you.”

Elnor closed the door and took a seat next to Commander Yenel.

“Our scouts have returned. They confirmed that only one of Akar’s large weapons was successfully retrieved by them, albeit damaged.”

“That’s good news,” Elnor replied.

“It is,” Ahri concurred. “Even better is that they had started preparation to retreat. Our scouts reported that they had also begun repairing the damaged weapon they call ‘cannons.’ According to the report, Akar’s engineers and architects use a scroll as a manual with instructions when constructing these cannons.”

“Why haven’t they stolen these instructions?” Elnor asked.

“That’s why you are here, Commander,” Ahri answered. “The scroll is placed in a tent with two guards in front of it at all times. Removing the scroll from its place will automatically sound an alarm. We don’t know how the alarm is triggered, but one of our scouts was immediately caught when they took the scroll. Once the alarm is triggered, enemy knights will immediately run to your position.”

“I understand,” Elnor nodded.

“Good,” Ahri said. “You, Commander Yenel, and your squire will leave at midnight; we can’t wait any longer as Akar would be leaving soon. I will give a copy of our scouts' report to Yenel.”

“Yes, General,” Elnor saluted.

Ahri closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Come back as quickly as possible, you two. This scroll may shift the tide of this war for us.”