Sean’s POV, 3 pm, second day of the wave

“How are you holding up? Hungry?” I opened my eyes to see Hides-in-Reeds standing next to me, holding out a small plate of food.

“I’m doing well, thanks. Though if that bit of food is for me I wouldn’t turn it down.” I answered with a smile.

“Here you go then. It’s just a simple meat pie, but it doesn’t have any turtle in it.”

“Oh, bless you that is wonderful.” I said, savoring the bite as the flavors practically exploded in my mouth. Rich gravy, tender meat and a parsnip like vegetable made it seem like it was a small pouch of beef stew. “Thank you.” I said after I had gotten my first bite down. “This. This is exactly what I was needing.”

I wasn’t lying either, a change of something was exactly what I needed. Holding two constellations was trivial with my gear on, and adding in the occasional Demon’s Hand Nebula as the western wall countered what was thrown at them. It was easy, but mind numbing after so long.

“So, how goes the battle? I know you see a lot of the reports.” I asked.

“Well, so far.” She said, taking a seat next to me. “Plenty of skirmishes, but only the southern area has actually gotten into physical melee range. We still haven’t seen anything above low C rank. That should change tonight or tomorrow.”

“Is that normal?”

“Pretty much.” She said. “The fighting has been reserved though, usually we are constantly in battle by now. Since they rushed things, there just aren’t the same amount of monsters. It’s been a blessing so far, but that luck will run out tomorrow.”

Before I could say anything else, the ground heaved as several things ripped down from the sky and slammed into the ground. Plumes of dust blocked our vision, as people started looking around for the cause.

“Clearing gust!” A mage yelled, using their magic to move the dust away from the command center.

“What the hell was that?”

“Where did it come from?”

“EVERYONE REMAIN CALM!” Brian’s voice cut through the panic, as he walked to the edge and looked at the cause. While he was doing that, I went ahead and summoned the Colossus for the added defense as well as the Twins to help with coordination. “Mages, defensive shields above us. Archers, there are steel harpies above us. Find them, and take them down!”

People scurried to obey, forming groups for better defense. I walked over to Brian’s side, looking at what he was slowly turning in his hand. “Is that a metal feather?” I asked, confused.

“Exactly.” He said. “Steel harpies have replaced their feathers with metal ones, and are able to imbue them with wind magic before they launch them. The wind explodes outward on impact, greatly increasing the damage potential.” He explained.

“Sir, we have a problem.”

“What is it Jarrod?”

“We can only get partial sightings. They are too high for our archers, and using the clouds-“

“INCOMING!” Someone shrieked, and I instinctively created an air vortex shield above us. We weren’t targeted, but this time the wave of incoming attacks were laced with flame magic as well.

“Water and fire mages, control those fires before they spread. Archers and any mages with a long range attack, I need you here to work out strategy. Now!” Brian ordered as people launched into motion. Most were battling the flames, and with that much magic it wasn’t hard. Only three people ended up heading our way.

“Thoughts?”

“Carla and I can possibly get an arrow or two up that high.” An archer said. “The only problem is what happens to that arrow when we miss. And we are far more likely to miss than not.”

“Damn.” Brian muttered. “You’re right. Hitting a target on the wing is hard enough, but at that range, and under cover? Alright. James?”

“I can try my summon, and possibly borrow some of their fire, but they are going to see it coming and likely outfly it. We don’t know how many they have, and harpies are a lot nimbler on the wing than Suzaku. With their numbers, he wouldn’t last long.”

“Fire?” I asked.

“Hmm? Oh, sorry. I can summon a phoenix. The stronger the flame I can use, the more powerful he will be.”

“Oh really?” I asked, feeling a cruel smile forming. “How powerful could he be if you had access to a flame that could melt steel?” I asked, creating a blue white flame by combining acetylene and oxygen in my hand.

“Seriously? If you could maintain that for the summoning, that would buy him a lot more time!”

“Do it Sean.” Brian ordered, and so I backed up and created a ball of flame the size of a large dog above my hand.

“Hurry up, this is draining a good bit of mana.” I said, having dropped two of the constellations I had up. We would have to make do with Gramash’s shield and the Colossus for now.

Born in the heart of a star

Majestic creature of flame

We call thee forth to our world,

A gift of fire to become your door.

Rise from the ashes once again and be reborn

Suzaku!

As the mage finished his chant, I felt his mana shoot through my flames and then off to somewhere else. At the other end it connected to something. Something that was very excited when it tasted the fire. It started to pull at the flames, and I let it have complete control.

CCCRRRRRAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

With a mighty scream, the orb of flame expanded to become a living bird, lazily flapping it’s wings as it stared at us. It’s been a while, James. Your flames have greatly improved. A deep voice thundered in our heads. It didn’t hurt, but it was so deep it seemed to rattle my chest.

“Welcome back Suzaku, but these aren’t my flames. They’re Sean’s.” He said, pointing me out.

“Hey, not to be a downer and all, but we are under attack.” I pointed out.

“Apologies, Suzaku. He doesn’t know the proper etiquette but he does have a point.”

What would you have me do?

“Enemies above us think they control the sky.” James said.

I will disabuse them of that notion.

I could almost hear the chuckle in the beast’s thoughts, and with a mighty flap he soared skyward. The summoning was right about one thing: the creature was majestic. Its heart was almost white, turning to blue as it moved outward. The blue extended through most of the wing bone and down to the thighs, as well as the neck, where it transitioned to reds and then oranges. The eyes were white ringed in blue flames, and trailing behind it were three long tails that had a white core with a series of blue flame bulges along the way. It caught sight of one of its enemies, and gave out a massive war cry.

SKREEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

“Brian, I know I said I wouldn’t attack, but this is one of those times where one of my skills is perfect.” I said. “Especially with Suzaku drawing all the attention.”

“Just don’t destroy the city Sean.” He said with a sigh. “I have a few mana potions if we need it.”

Let those who dare the skies face the tribulation of the heavens!

A hundred motes of light become a thousand burning arrows,

Streaking forth with your doom

Meteor Shower!

A wave of weakness struck me as I lost 5,000 mana in one second, but the results. Oh, they were spectacular! As I was chanting, I had picked the largest cloud as the area of my target, and off to the south of the cloud I could barely see the shine of a magic circle. It started slow, a streak of flame seemed to shoot out of it every other second or so. After the first five seconds, it rapidly ramped up until it was shooting several blasts every second. There seemed to be six origin points on the circle, and each one had a cone of direction that they would fire the meteorites through.

The surprise assault was devastating. The cloud withered and blasted apart, revealing a flock of bird like creatures that were dropping like flies as they were hit. Between Suzaku distracting them, and their own cloud cover limiting visibility, it took far too long for them to organize a defense. Several tried to summon shields, or to use their own wings to block the attack. Those with strong enough magic managed to stop the projectiles, but the resulting explosion often knocked them out, and Suzaku was more than happy to finish off the easy prey. Those that used their wings fared even worse. The meteorite was so hot and moving so swiftly that it often just burned a hole straight through the wings and the body behind it. By the time they realized that escape was their only option, half the flock was gone. Once they were out of range, another third of those remaining had fallen.

“Archers and mages with magical bolt attacks! Kill them when they get in range!” Brian ordered.

“Sir!” Carla said. “I think I see someone riding on one of the harpies! They are covered in black armor of a type I have never seen before.

“New priority target! Hit the armored bastard in black!” Brian ordered, and several people leapt to obey.

“Hunter’s Mark! Target beacon!” The partner that had walked over with Carla earlier called out several skills, and I could see a red target on the back of one of the harpies. It had erected a magical shield that was doing rather well at blocking all incoming attacks. But like many people, it just wasn’t suited for fighting mid-air.

As its attention was on us below, Suzaku swooped up behind it. Hovering for the briefest of moments, the phoenix unleashed a torrent of flames that smashed into the backside of the barrier. “That’s it! Way to go Suzaku! SUZAKU!” James’ yells changed from confidence to fear as soon as a black lance shot out and pierced the heart of the phoenix. Though he managed to escape, it was obvious the bird was hurting. He had shrunk noticeably, and his flames had dropped to mostly reds and oranges.

“Alright bastard, let’s see how you handle this.” I growled out, deciding I needed to enter the fray. “Gravity boost times three. Times five. Times ten!” My mana started dropping again, and I could feel what had to be one of Apophis’s Vipers fighting against me, but it was working. He couldn’t counter my magic and maintain the shield at the same time, and his ride was lowering at a rapid pace.

“Keep it up gravity guy! I’ll corral him!” An air mage shouted, and I watched as six tornadoes erupted out of his hands and surrounded the harpy and its rider.

“Curse the winds and deny them the sky. Turbulent air!” Another mage joined in, sending cascades of differing pressure to disrupt the beating of the harpy’s wings. Without the ability to fly, it dropped like a stone.

“Cut the gravity before it hits the ground.” Brian ordered me, and I let them get within twenty feet of our elevated position before I cut the mana. The turbulent air guy dropped his spell, allowing them to get their bearings, but the tornado guy only dropped the closest two tornadoes, giving us a clear shot while keeping the Viper effectively pinned in.

“Mage breaker.”

“Piercing shot.”

“Shield eater.”

“Ebon flame burst.”

“Thundering bolt.”

Spells and skills erupted forth with a fury, each timed so that it wouldn’t interfere with the preceding spell. The viper struggled, but it was useless. Nobody could have their personal shield cover everything, and it was impossible to switch between all the varied attacks. Physical, magical, combination, you name it and someone was using it. It took three seconds before the first cracks appeared, and at five seconds the shield shattered completely. Stunned by the backlash, the viper and his mount were swiftly impaled by several arrows while blasts of elements and acids charred his skin and corroded armor.

“Enough.” Brian called out as the corpse fell to the ground. “Carla, head down there and make sure this bastard is dead. Preferably by removing his head from his shoulders.”

“Yes sir.” The archer said, launching into action. Her partner moved with her, and I collapsed into the nearest chair.

“How are you doing Sean?”

“I’m ok. I’m ok.” I said, nodding my head. “Little low on mana, but ok.”

“Right, I didn’t notice any flares, so drop the Colossus and just hold Gramash’s Shield if you can. Night should fall in a few hours, think you can hold on ‘til then?”

“Probably.” I said. “Though I think I should have a preemptive cup of that willow bark tea.”

“I’ll have Hides-in-Reeds bring you some then. Nicely done. That goes for all of you.” He said, turning to everyone. “Perfectly spaced attacks, switching things up. You can all hold your heads a little higher, for today you took down one of the enemy generals. Not only that, but you managed to take down the one they were trying their best to hide from me.” That got cheers from everyone.

“We do have an issue though. I need volunteers to head around and check damaged buildings, maybe a third of you. Find any injured and bring them back here. If a building is too damaged to keep standing, wall off the door somehow. If you need help, call out. Go, make sure we save as many as we can. And make sure to keep your guards up! If the birds were launching attacks, there’s a chance they could have dropped another kind of surprise as well!”

Small groups of three to five were formed, and rapidly moved out to check the city. Those that were left found some place to relax and recharge, most of them were probably mages that had spent a good bit of mana. I spent the rest of the afternoon fighting off the beginnings of a headache, and I knew tomorrow was going to be horrible. I was also glad that Brian hadn’t told everyone the full truth. While we had taken out a general, there were still four more remaining.