Even with the new arrows, it seemed like the blunt impact was killing people more than the arrows were. It would go through infantry armor, but everyone higher ranked, including the mounts, had enchanted armor… That didn't stop my brothers, and a few other bows from going through it, but we had a limited supply that was quickly running low.
"Mo, you're heart's racing. I thought you always stayed calm."
"Please don't… I feel like it's going to explode…"
"Different from an assassination… That's for sure… I know you don't like killing… Are you really ok with this?"
"I'll let you know afterwards…"
'Good enough for now… I'm still not sure myself… Although… I'm getting there… With how little I'm reacting to so many people dying around me already… I don't know if it's just that I'm in this body or what…''
Philly rode up next to me. "Siya, the war beasts are in position, On your mark."
I turned to see a terrifying beast snort, marching up the ramp behind the wall, staying just low enough it couldn't be seen from the outside. "He's a big cutey isn't he?"
"I'm… Not sure I'd agree… But I love him all the same."
"You're a sweet girl… I don't get what you see in my brother…"
"I feel like we should wait till after the battle to talk about this…"
I took a deep breath, and she steadied my hands as the giant spider approached. "You… Don't you think spiders are cute too? Do you?"
I jerked away as she started taping my skin, mimicking a spider's crawl. "NO! Of course not!"
She laughed. "I guess we can't agree on anything… Well… To be fair, I think most are gross. But the ones they ride are sweet and loveable… When they aren't trying to bite your head off at least…"
"Noted…" I turned my attention back to the battlefield and closed my eyes, viewing it from above. "It's almost time… We ran out of armor piercing arrows and now they are getting braver. They are climbing the ramps…"
As I waited to give the signal it seemed like everything stopped except the movement of the enemy foot soldiers… I couldn't hear, taste, or even smell anything until all 8 ramps were full, and it was time to engage.
'Mark…' I roared as loud and as strong as I could and the war beasts trampled their way through the cleared paths, taking the ramp and obliterating anyone that was on it. The sound of Grinding stone melded with the scent of blood and tremors of the earth as the dam ruptured and waters raged underneath, sweeping away everyone in the mote, crushing them under the rapid current. On the inside I was still shaking, a tear bleeding through the facade the dragon was letting me wear as the havoc unfolded before me.
"Siya…"
"Not yet…" I muttered, keeping my ears sharp as I viewed the battlefield from above and again waited in a deafening silence until the war beasts reached the end of the ramp.
"ON ME!" I shouted as Fritz leapt into a run and began to dash down the ramp. Without even thinking I slammed a man clean off with my sheathed greatsword before relatching it to my back. 'There's no turning back… There's no… Ugh. I know that… So why do I still want to?'
Philly rode up next to me on her mournclaw, somehow keeping pace with Fritz, running on all six legs. "Bhaltair has peeled off behind us and is leading the war beasts after the fourth star. It's all up to us now!"
'All up to us… The moment we left the wall, do you have any idea what statistical probability we have of making it back up there? I'm riding a god-beast… And fighting a wizard… I sure don't…'
I felt a sharp pinch on my cheek. "Eyes up," Mo whispered.
'Right…' I looked up and we began to dash through the enemy's panicked masses, violently tearing them apart between the war beast's claws, my greatsword and… My horse's teeth… It was so unreal that instead of nerves, excitement, or regret, in the moment I felt nothing at all, not even the adrenaline spiking my heart till it was so fast it reminded me I wasn't human anymore…
"There she is! Mo, The girl without a helmet! Short blond hair, you see her?"
"On it."
As we rushed past her, I swung my sword, breathing fire across my blade, as Mo leapt off while throwing knives, drawing her daggers in the same swipe, and slashing at her mid-air.
She didn't move a muscle, instead ice enveloped her and spiked out, catching my sword, the knives, and Mo's daggers, even spiking to impale her, though her armor stood up against it. As for my fire… It wasn't so strong after how much I had used to melt the stone, and what I sent at her was extinguished with a block of ice that instantly turned to steam. 'That's just so unfair…'
"You… It's your fault… You're the one!"
'Ok… so she's unstable…' "Mo!" I shouted her name and she threw more knives, once again getting blocked by ice, and while she managed to dodge the ice the second time around she still didn't manage to land a hit.
I attacked her… But even though my sword cleaved through three layers, the fourth was still enough to stop me…
"You're starting to piss me off!" She shouted.
"Funny… I was about to say the same thing!" I roared back, breathing fire as intensely as I could until all that was left was smoke. Even though none of it reached her, she was still starting to turn red from the sheer heat of the steam burning her skin.
We attacked again, but again she blocked. 'Are you seriously trying to tell me she refilled her manna again after using those spells? Well fine…' I grabbed her ice and surged my own manna into it, making it go wild until it spiked out randomly and stabbed her left leg, shattering the bone as it stuck straight through. Somehow she hardly even flinched, as if she didn't feel it at all.
"Now…" I wheezed out through my dried up voice as Mo attacked, this time being hit in the chin with a pillar of earth from the ground.
'Fairy dust.'
"I don't know how you did that… BUT YOUR GONNA PAY!" Her voice became deeper as she shouted even louder. Ice spiralled out into hundreds of jagged spikes that froze everything within 20 feet of us. I quickly wrapped up Mo to shield her, and because of my quick switch to enhancing my body with magic, all I got were bruises… But the impact of so many pointed blows slowed me down for a moment.
'That hurt…' "You really are a piece of work…" I coughed, my voice coming back as mucus covered the inside of my throat and my body began to heat until my clothes were nearly catching fire.
She started to laugh as she took several panicked steps back. "I'm the piece of work? What even are you?"
"You expect me to know?" My face scrunched up as I nearly gagged my insides catching fire again and only further heating my body.
"So you're just a monster then…" She said with a shaky voice before stopping again and chilling the air around her.
"Something like that…" I grumbled, sensing the shift of manna in the air as sheet walls of ice sprung up in domes around her.
'How much manna does she have?' At this rate I'll run out first…' As a wave of manna surged through me, I punched through the ice, slamming my fists through each one. Taking more blows to shatter them as I got closer until I reached the one wrapped around her and once again made the magic go crazy, spiking out in every direction… Inside and out.
As the ice dispersed, she was left with several holes, though not through anything vital. Two through her right arm, one through her left shoulder, and another scraping her left side. "ROKAI!" She screamed, her voice breaking. And suddenly I felt a surge of power, not stronger necessarily, but unlike anything I had ever known. It rose up from the other side of the battlefield as the fourth star went head to head with Bhaltair and the war beasts…
'I'm running out of time…' I roared again, trying to punch her, and getting my hand trapped entirely in ice, this time a constant stream of manna began reforming it as it melted, keeping me stuck as it started to spread, inching across the ground and covering my whole body.
'What even is this!' I tried to flood my manna into hers, but she somehow figured out my trick and was stopping me.
"I've got you now!"
'I still have one more trick left…' I quickly turned to check on Mo, and finally she was waking up. "YOU BETTER CARRY ME BACK!" I shouted.
Fritz shattered her ice, taking her focus for just a second, in that time I reverted forms and took over all of the ice with my dark magic, turning it black as demon's blood, crystallized with moonlight. I spiked it all towards her… But before it pierced her skin she fainted… And I froze. I was ready to kill her… But… Seeing her helplessly lie on the ground… Maybe she reminded me of myself, either way there was nothing wrong with having a hostage. I fell to the ground and drained her manna until she was nearly dry, leaving only enough for her to stay alive, although asleep.
'Now… For the hard part… I have to make it back…'