Soul Knight - Chapter 40 (Patreon)

As they traveled, there was already a low rumble from the sound of horses’ hooves filling the background. When they neared the battle, roars and shouts carried into the air, combined with the sounds of trees crashing and the ground shaking.

Nick stood atop the carriage, trying to get a good view of the battle ahead of them. The battle was not at Nagduros, but at a point between it and the volcano. It appeared Lothar had picked a spot to mount the defense, creating a palisade fence barrier at the edge of a clearing out of large logs.

The young drakes had trampled much of the forest in their approach, but the angled stakes provided a difficult barrier for them to cross–but not impossible. It appeared Lothar had used some method to split up the horde of drakes, or they did not precisely show up as one large group.

Nick saw trees toppling and dust being kicked up in three other sections of the forest, but a battle was being waged at the palisade. Lothar had created a funnel point in the valley, forcing the creatures to attack a narrow point.

Some time ago, Nick had sensed a few of his followers, some orc women, being killed. The drakes were clearly very dangerous, and he worried about putting his people back together.

Being in some drake’s stomach would mean he would have difficulty giving their body back to them, and he wondered what he would be able to do if this happened.

The many horses with orc scouts had arrived first, and they had joined Lothar in his defense. Their arrows bounced off the drake’s thick scales, but many sought the creature’s eyes, and some penetrated between the scales.

Nick saw that the carriages of children still headed toward Nagduros, so that particular disaster had been averted, for now. Nick’s party dismounted the carriage and entered the forest as they neared, the many wolflings and orc warriors having charged into battle ahead of them.

Finally closer, Nick got a good look at the drakes. Their scales were red, and the creatures looked a lot like large komodo dragons. They could stand on their hind legs and swipe almost standing upright, or dash and bite rapidly.

Joining the fight, Nick’s Aura washed over the drakes. They immediately slowed, and the monsters hissed in annoyance at the powerful effect.

One turned to him and immediately charged at him with hate, knowing he was the cause of the cold and slowness. It glowed red as an essence barrier surrounded its skin, protecting it even further, and the energy gathered around its jaws.

But the orcs were prepared, numerous glaives and spears dug into the ground as it impaled itself, and was slowed by three orc warriors locking their shields and getting in its way.

Ice began climbing up the drake’s features, Nick giving a feral smile as he charged with his soul blade. The large creatures had been dragged away from their warmer volcano, and they appeared particularly vulnerable to his frost.

The monster’s attacks were ponderous as it attempted to swipe its claws and bite at the orcs blocking them, and Nick backed and dodged as the numerous orcs and wolflings stabbed it with their spears.

Each slash of Nick’s blade removed scales as he danced between the orcs and found attacks of opportunity, until his cuts went deep into the drake’s flesh, the creature hissing in pain. Kaya had transformed, then she used Leap and slammed into its side, knocking the creature onto its side, and making it vulnerable as her axes carved deep into its flesh.

Nick then finished off the creature with his blade of white light, nearly cleaving the head completely off its elongated neck.

“Huh, that wasn’t so bad.”

Kaya growled in response, dashing to the next drake. While they had killed one, there were over a dozen in view.

Lothar was taking on his own, drawing three of them away from the rest. Several drakes climbed the palisade fence, and a group of orcs with glaives and spars did their best to, combined with the fence, deter them from flanking their allies.

Archers shot arrows from within the tree’s boughs, drawing the monster’s attention. Some drakes attempted climbing after them in annoyance, but the skilled scouts leapt from tree to tree.

Nick’s wolflings had joined in this, using their spears to be a general annoyance to the creatures. Many drakes had already lost eyes, stumbling as they had difficulty with their assaults.

Eirwen had taken to treating some orcs in the back lines, focusing on helping them return to the battle. A makeshift first aid section had been drawn, a second, smaller palisade protecting them from roaming drakes.

Rebecca and the two dozen clergy of Seraphara arrived next, quickly restoring the several wounded to the battle while others charged at the drakes. Their punches and kicks were filled with power, and Nick noticed they especially knocked the monsters off-balance, like Lothar’s Jab skill.

The effect of the reinforcement to the front lines was rapid. Nick and Kaya quickly downed several drakes, the creatures already weakened and distracted. Battle lines which had been scattered to divide the enemies up reformed, and eventually, Lothar was able to join Nick’s side.

Lothar laughed, as they finished off the last drake within the palisade. “Nice of you to join us, Princeling! The fighting has been tough, but I see we should have things well in hand here–for now.”

Nick and Lothar clasped wrists, while Nick looked over the defenses. “You did well making this camp so quickly. It’s hard for me to imagine only having an hour or two at most to set this up.”

Lothar smirked. “You’d be surprised how quickly you work when large monsters with teeth and claws are heading for you. My men and women are well-trained in establishing a war camp.”

Nick nodded. “It seems you had a great strategy for splitting them up. Do you know exactly how many we’re facing?”

“There are nearly two hundred of them, and we managed to split them into groups of roughly fifty. Truth be told, this was the smaller group. Our scouts have drawn them away, but it won’t work forever. Hearing these drake’s death wails, I think only the furthest group might already be on its way. Even with your reinforcements, if we’re not careful, we’ll be easily overwhelmed.”

“What brought them this way, anyway? I know the bandits likely set off something at the volcano, but–”

“The egg.”

“Huh?”

“The bandits snuck the alpha’s egg into the city. It was covered in the creature’s essence, which the monsters can follow the trail easily. We had no choice but to try setting up camp within their path, or they would inevitably arrive in our city. We might have been able to lead them in circles a bit using it, but I’d rather fight them here.”

“Huh, well alright. Anyway, I think we might be good now.”

Lothar raised his brow. “What do you mean, we’re good?”

Nick smiled, as he pointed at the nearby drake. His soul essence surged, and an immense amount of mana left him, leaving him groaning.

Lights gathered around the drake, as he spoke the words, “Summon Soul Servant.”

Flesh re-knit itself, Nick’s mana and soul power being expended. It took a large percentage of it, but he managed to raise the simple, lower second stratum creature. It reserved a significant amount of his Soul Power, but he thought if he dispelled Jasper and weakened his soul blade significantly, even with his Frost Aura running, he could use a second one.

The drake’s tongue lashed out, as the creature stretched. It walked over to Nick, bowing. Nick patted its neck. “Nice to see you back, Jerome. Thanks for your help against the Bishop.”

Jerome gave a serpentine grin, as it looked around the battlefield.

Feeling his connection, he thought Jerome was happier within the drake, and he tried to understand why. The way Jerome fought was certainly that of a skilled, veteran warrior, and it seemed like that sort of body might be the closest to its original.

But Nick thought back to the moment Jerome tried to speak as the hobgoblin, and wondered if the restrictions were either painful or otherwise annoying. If that was the case, moving to the more monsterfolk creature like the wolfling, which he had a special connection to with his empathy, might have been even more limiting and restrictive.

A hobgoblin was a breed between a goblin and a human, and was not quite considered a monsterfolk unless they fed highly into the monstrosity attribute. At a low level like where Nick obtained Jerome, there was no real way to deviate that heavily.

Thus, the drake could be a lot more comfortable for Jerome. That, or it was merely a strength thing. The drake was stronger, and thus Jerome was happy inside of it. He really doubted Jerome’s original form, unless it was a humanoid dragon, was closer to this creature.

Lothar chuckled. “You’re full of surprises, young one. Let’s put some warpaint on the creature, so we can make it easier for our warriors to spot. I can feel that it’s a Pacter, but it’s likely challenging for our archers firing into the crowd.”

Nick received a Revitalize from Eirwen, and spent a time restoring his mana. He then desummoned Jasper, and grabbed another drake as a Soul Servant. Adding the black and dark green warpaint to their scales, the creatures stood out as allies.

Nick was somewhat surprised when Jasper joined as the second drake, but was happy about it.

They finished their preparations and recovery just in time for the next wave of drakes. The orc warriors slowed their assault with shields and spears, funneling the drakes into their encampment.

The shamans used their body enhancements on the soul servants, and they quickly tore into the drakes in the front.

Biting the slowed drakes with their powerful jaws, they quickly exposed vitals, and held them down for the orcs to finish them off with ease. Lothar and Kaya cleaved deep into their flesh, the two roaring their own battle cries as they fought the drakes climbing the sharpened barriers from the sides.

Nick’s soul blade was visibly dimmer, but he still managed to dash in and stab deeply when there was an opening, drawing out essence from the creatures and into his blade. His Frost Aura combined with the drakes was especially powerful, allowing them to control the battlefield and limit the monster’s frenzied assault.

Rebecca’s priests and priestesses prayed, creating an aura of protection around Nick’s soul servants, and provided healing for the damage done to them. It appeared that healing the powerful creatures required more effort, but the servants drew much of the enemy drake’s ire, allowing them to focus their efforts on it.

Things went well at first, Nick’s forces finding a rhythm in dealing with the monsters. But the corpses and death wails mounted, and the attacking drakes became more frenzied. Roars echoed through the forest, as another group arrived before they could finish dealing with the ones they were facing.

But the orcs of Nagduros and the people of Zura fought hard. Combined with Nick’s wolflings, they complimented each other well and dealt with the dumb, yet powerful creatures with tactics and skill.

The spiritual shouts, punches, and kicks of the people of Zura put the monsters off balance, and the orcs finished them with powerful blows with their polearm weapons.

The wolflings helped herd the drakes, darting in and out of their reach, and drawing their ire. Running the creatures in circles, they kept them busy while others were dealt with. Nick continued charging his soul blade, finding his essence contained within the blade building rapidly.

He noticed some of the essence from his blade was actually fed into Eirwen over their Pact. Now that his essence was full, he wondered what was next for him.

The count of dead drakes had easily exceeded a hundred when Nick heard Agatha’s shocked voice. “This is not good! The last pack is headed toward Nagduros!”

Lothar groaned. “They must have picked up the scent of the first path, again. I think the only way we can catch them is if someone takes horses, immediately. Still, dozens of drakes with no defenses is no small task.”

“I’ll take them on with Kaya, Eirwen, my soul servants and wolflings. You finish up here, and join me when you can, will you?”

Lothar smiled, as he shouldered his axe. “You can count on it.”

Nick called out, getting the wolfling’s attention. “Come on, wolfling tribe! We need to move!”

The effect was nearly immediate, the creatures backing off from their fights, and rejoining Nick. “Huh, guess I don’t really need Jasper’s body all that much anymore. They are really smarter already.”

Rebecca spoke up, “Let me come as well. I will aid you, Nicholas.”

Nick nodded, as he called Jerome and Jasper over, Eirwen and Kaya arriving at his sides.

“Glad to have you. We need to hurry.”

Nick hopped on his drake, sitting behind the monster’s shoulders and wrapping rope around it to hold on to. To Nick’s surprise, Kaya and Eirwen climbed the other.

Eirwen smiled and waggled her brows at Nick, just as Rebecca quickly climbed up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist to hold on to him. “E-Excuse me.”

“No problem, Becca. Let’s go!”

The soul servants ran through the forest at an impressive pace, the wolflings following. They would take on this last group of drakes, and Nick couldn’t help but be excited about the rewards coming his way.