Attention

Nayra beat her wings, moving in front of the group. Their arrival had triggered the alarm and their defenses had responded quickly. She raised her left hand, and pointed her buckler toward the enemy attacks. Her Qi flowed through her body as she activated her {Mantle of the Rising Mist}, increasing her stats. She snap triggered her active boosting perks; Valkyrie’s Strength—to increase her own strength, Lady of Battle—an inspiring boost that raised the all stats but intelligence and wisdom of her allies by 10%. The rest of her boosting perks were mostly passive, things that increased her stats in battle, and she felt those taking effect as she grew stronger.

Then, she triggered her Greater Aegis, one of the perks she had gained from a Soul she escorted to the afterlife. An ethereal shield manifested in the air in front of her, protecting them from attacks. An explosion rocked her shield as something smashed into it, but it held. Its power came from her buckler and was improved by her stats which rose with her perks and technique.

The enemy continued to attack, and she held the line as the others behind her focused and prepared for the fight.

Eratemus dropped to the ground and the rest of them followed. They landed on a grassy hill overlooking the town. He then raised his hand and a part of his armor glowed. A rip in Space appeared, leading to spatial storage and undead spilled through, flying skeletons with bones carved in formations. Immediately, the Death Essence in the air increased, and Nayra felt her power rising.

Eratemus gestured, and the world around them shimmered, the field of grass turned to dirt covered in bones. His Domain entered the real world, and Nayra’s might soared. He started animating the bones, raising his undead to fight for them and sent them marching toward the walls.

Her shield brightened with Death Essence filling the area around them, and the attacks of the enemy stopped having any effect. Her Aegis of Death activated, the perk that drew Essence of Death around her and created a personal shield that protected her from all harm as long as that Death Essence remained.

Their planning had been extensive, and her and Eratemus had come up with a good way to use their powers together. Her job was to be their front line, to protect them from everything, and right now, as long as that Death Remained, she was invincible.

Groups of defenders had climbed on the walls of the town, they were firing in their direction. The turrets were turned and started firing. Most of the defensive fire was beams of light, speckled in were bolts of fire and other elements. The defenders on the walls started throwing in their attacks, some shot arrows, others raised their weapons and fired abilities. They were too weak to cause any damage. But there was a lot of them, and that mattered too.

Their plan was to cause enough of a distraction to allow time for Ryun and Nahamassa to find Tali. That meant that they couldn’t just level the town or the fortress to the ground.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Selia moved forward as Erdania jumped down from the platform. Still floating on her construct, she raised her arms and six spears made out of black and green Qi manifested in the air, looking as if they were made out of volcanic glass.

The six spear constructs flashed in rapid succession as perks were layered into them. Then the sky shimmered as tens of thousands of their copies appeared in the air.

Selia glanced at Nayra, then gave her the sign. Nayra dropped her ethereal shield, and in that instant the thousands of spears flew out. They crossed the distance toward the town and high up toward the fortress.

Some were shot down by their defenses, but there were too many of them. Spears impaled the defenders and exploded, sending gore and blood flying in all directions. The spears that missed, hit the stone wall and their explosions damaged the defenses, sending debris flying in all directions.

The effects were immediate; screaming filled the air, confusion and horror spread through the defenders. It told her that they hadn’t faced anything like this before, or rarely. Their fear was evident, and it almost made her feel bad. These people had the bad luck of living in the place ruled by their enemies. They made the decision to serve those who murdered and kidnapped, who pit themselves against those that were powerful.

They had to have known that this was coming, that the actions of their rulers would catch up to them.

She felt pity, but she didn’t allow it to impact her actions. They would try not to kill those who weren’t fighting against them, but that was all the consideration that they could allow their enemies. To do anything else would mean putting themselves in more danger.

As the aftermath of Selia’s attack settled, the sky darkened a ball of red fire appeared directly above them. It rapidly grew until it reached the size of a large house. And then a wave of heat and something else exploded out of it.

Nayra found herself feeling incredibly angry. For a moment, she almost flew at the ball of fire, intent on tearing it apart. She caught herself as she bent her knees for a leap.

The others around were affected the same way, most of them at least. Eratemus gestured, and a formation plate appeared in his hand, and triggered immediately. A wave of relief washed over everyone, banishing the mental effects of the fire.

Before they could react, the ball of flames dropped, heading straight for them. Nayra beat her wings and flew up, raising her shield and aegis up again.

The ball struck her ethereal shield and demolished it. The fire poured down onto her, hitting her small buckler. Flames washed over her armor, but Nayra’s Aegis of Death was in effect. The Death Essence around her surged into her body. Eratemus’ flying skeletons near her crumbled to dust as her perk drew the Essence straight out of them. Death Essence dipped in all around her as she drained it to protect herself. Eratemus’s Domain trembled and broke, as she drew all of its Death Essence. His undead withered, those that were near, though some that had charged ahead at the wall were still whole.

Nayra grimaced as the fire attack lost its power and dissipated. Her armor was scorching hot, but there was still enough Death Essence around to protect her from all damage, not that just that much heat would do a lot to her.

Before she could recover and reorient herself, something crashed into Nayra. She saw a glimpse of red eyes and black scales, large wings covered in molten feathers, and black antlers rising from an armored helmet.

The world bent, she got a sense of a great willpower, and a mental image of a great mountain flashed inside her mind. And then a fist connected with her chest with the weight of the mountain in her mind.

She blasted through the air, and smashed into the ground, cratering it. Her breath exploded out of her as her armor caved in, and she had to reach to her chest and pull it back into place.

She shook her head and pushed herself up, then looked up at the enemy.

Kaeliss Cloudwrought floated above them, his allies coming in behind him. They all wore black and silver armor of similar make, glowing with symbols carved on their surface. Their enemies had finally shown their faces.

Nayra readied herself for the real battle.