Interlude The Siege of Accipitor (Patreon)

Day 14 Month 12 of the Year Eight Hundred and Seven, Third Era of Man; Inner Wall of Accipitor Day 42 of the Siege:

Ria surveyed the field, her forces had arrived to aid the floating kingdom of Sivia mere days before. It had taken time to gather knights and mages for this effort and march them to Sivia. Transporting them to the floating isle had required the use of gates, but thankfully there were a couple near Arcs. If not, it would have taken them far too long to get here, and she wasn’t sure how much longer the City of Accipitor would hold. The outer walls had already fallen when she’d arrived. Even from here she could see the broken gates, the great ironwood doors lay broken and splintered, their hinges shattered. The very stone they’d been anchored in cracked and crumbled. Elsewhere other sections of wall had been battered and broken. Hellspawn and fiends ran rampant in the outer city. Many houses had been burned down to their stones, leaving behind ruined shells where once families had lived.

The market district was one area that caught her eye, many shops lay in ruins, while the streets were protected by barricades made from whatever was handy. Town militia armed with bow and spear manned the barricades holding back the hordes of hellspawn streaming into town. It wasn’t the only area with barricades and militia holding back the hordes.

Ria addressed General Bell of the winged knights and father of the young lady who had requested her help. “When did they get past the gates?”

“Late yesterday evening. We managed to get most of the winged knights and militia to the fall back of the inner wall, but as you can see more than a few groups ended up bogged down protecting the civilians.”

“What about the drake?”

“We haven’t seen it or the rumored Devil. I wouldn’t worry about either, between the Mystic Fiends and the Spine Crawlers. We have enough trouble.”

“Spine Crawlers?”

He pointed out one of the odd beasts, a large hulking creature covered in thick barbed spines. It was serpentine in build, with menacing eyes and a wide maw filled with sharp twisted teeth. Three long tails emerged from its rear. Each tail ended in a thick bony bulb, covered in long twisting spines and the whole thing left a foul purple ooze that bubbled behind it.

“Hmm. I take it those things are toxic,” she replied while looking out further, noting the fiends arrayed around siege engines. Several of them operated a device just moments before it shot out a series of projectiles. They flew in a wide arc over the city’s breached outer wall before raining fire down on a concentration of defenders in the eastern quarter. Several barricades burst into flames, even as water mages rushed to put out the new flames. It was enough to answer her questions on the state of the outer city. They’d likely been bombarding the city for weeks before the walls fell. 

“Very toxic. If the ooze wasn’t bad enough, they have a poisonous breath and a bite that can crush armor. We’ve found them a challenge to deal with. Best we can do is bombard them with spells. Lightning and fire magic seems to work well. Ice didn’t seem to even slow them down”

A horn went off, “Take cover! Mages, standby anti-air spells!”

Ria didn’t have time to ask before the sky darkened, with flying forms. Dark birds, wings black and purple, vicious beaks of red and gold, eyes that blazed an evil green, and long tails that ended in a barb. Ria had seen such creatures in books. These were birds from hell, and their very nature was well known. Rylarks were one thing, but the Avia Maledictus, or Hell Bird as it was more commonly known, was far worse.

Hundreds of the foul birds flew through the air, going right over the walls. Too many for the famed flying knights of the celestials to deal with. Mages let loose with spells. Ria began channeling her own spell, “How often do these things attack?”

“Since they showed up? Two, sometimes three times a day, and it’s only getting worse. We can’t confirm, but that hell gate is likely fully open by now.”

She sighed, “And the damn fiends are bringing entire legions of these things through. We might be dealing with a nest of Avia Harpy, or worse an entire flock.”

Ria knew enough about hell creatures to know that the Avia Maledictus, as dangerous as it was, were often controlled by the larger and smarter Avia harpies. The Avia Harpy was clearly related to the Maledictus, they had the same black and purple feather patterns, red and gold facial markings, and a long prehensile tail ending in a vicious barb. She wasn’t looking forward to dealing with more creatures from hell.

Spell formula finished around her, as she cast her first spell in this battle. The sky grew brighter, thunder cracked and the battlefield seemed to freeze as all took notice. “Skyshock Inferno, Thunder of the End!” she called out in a booming voice letting all know what was coming. Fiends, knights and mages alike all dove for cover, even as others merely stood there stunned, not quite comprehending the spell she’d unleashed. Few were the mortals who could cast spells that could even rival what a dragon could do, but the Skyshock Inferno was Zeta Class Magic, barely but it was. A step into the realm of the gods, the realm of dragons. It was her most powerful spell and she already felt winded, as her mana pool vanished. Leaving her with mere dregs in the tank, while nature itself began to supply the missing points. Millions of units of mana gathered in the sky.

Time seemed to stretch on endlessly as the sky kept growing brighter and brighter, the air grew heavy and warm and thunder boomed over the land. Sound alone pummeled many into submission before the first bolt fell. In the distance, a Hell Fiend Siege Engine was struck, a bolt of lightning splitting the wood in two. Fire erupted and debris was sprayed over the fiends manning the engine.

That was merely the start, as the next bolt fell. This time hitting a Spine Crawler as it slithered down a street, several celestial militia men fleeing before the thing. The creature let out a baleful cry as the lightning tore through its form, leaving only a writhing husk where it had once been a menacing beast. More fell faster this time, as the hell birds panicked. Entire flocks of them falling from the sky as charged bolts tore into them. Others burned as the sky itself caught fire. This was merely the prelude to what was coming.

Already she could feel enemy mages trying to stop her spell. She was too drained to do anything about it, but friendly mages were running interference.

Then fire began to rain from the sky and not just lightning. Every strike sent earth and rock into the sky, as entire formations of hellspawn simply vanished. Only the inner walls and the few places where troops remained protected by their barricades remained safe from the spell.

General Bell whistled, “By the gods, I’ve never seen a spell like this.”

Ria let out a breath, “It takes everything I have to cast. I’m going to need a week to recharge.”

Bell just stared for a moment, “Even so...”

Ria merely watched the devastation as her spell unfolded, leaving naught but devastation in its wake. Yet that didn’t last, as the enemy mages began to erect barriers and wards to shield the troops and siege weapons from the storm. Several wards buckled as soon as they went up but the Mystic Fiends were numerous, and they managed to put up new ones to replace those that failed. Even as new hellspawn rushed into view to replace the hordes that had fallen. Elsewhere the birds had gone to ground, sheltering in the ruins of the battlefield, while the storm raged.

Suddenly a roar sent her to her knees, her heart beating. Only one thing had a roar like that, and she couldn’t help feeling powerless as a figure emerged from the burning sky, lightning raining around it. A massive body covered in thick gold and purple scales, a crown of horns, deep set eyes of burning crimson, wings that beat with thunder, claws that could rend stone, and a tail that was a weapon in and off itself, wicked blades projecting off the end. “It’s the Hell Drake!”

Ria knew it wasn’t, the damn thing had evolved. It wasn’t yet a full dragon but the damn beast was well on the way. It was an Elder Drake. “You didn’t tell me we were dealing with an Elder!”

Bell commented, “It wasn’t one when we last saw it!”

A second roar split the sky in answer. Suddenly Ria felt quite glad that she’d had the foresight to request Aurora’s aid. Even if she knew the personal cost would be high, and she wasn’t looking forward to it.

She appeared in the skies over the city, just as majestically as the Hell Drake had. Her silvery scales shimmered under the burning sky as she weaved between bolts of fire. The two dragons roared again with a force that left her reeling where she stood.

That was merely the prelude before they breathed fire at each other. Raw elemental fury met raw elemental fury with explosive results. Fire and death rained on the devastated battlefield as the dragons clashed. Below all fighting ceased as every man sheltered in place. In a battle of giants, mere mortals could only cower before these forces of nature itself.