Chapter 358 - A Perfect Plan (Patreon)

This chapter is a big one and particularly complicated! My beta reader hasn't have a chance to go over it yet. I've done many thorough edits myself so hopefully I've fixed any logic issues!

Just a heads up, I'm on holiday from the 11th - 18th. I am planning to write while away, so chapters should come out at the normal rate, but I'll update on the community chat if there will be any delays.

The riders were silent as they emerged from the trees, shadows moving over the flat ground. There were twelve of them mounted atop demonic horses with fanged teeth and smouldering eyes. Shadows of demons ran behind them, that had to be more than triple their number. Strange, skinny humanoid demons ran with them, carrying brutish curved axes, and with hellhounds racing at their sides. Their shouts and war cries filled the air in a haunting symphony. Ordinary wagon guards wouldn’t have stood a chance.

A dozen riders emerged silently from the trees, like shadows moving over flat ground. With them were more than triple their number in strange, skinny humanoid demons that carried brutish curved axes, and had hellhounds racing at their sides. Their shouts and war cries filled the air in a haunting symphony. Ordinary wagon guards wouldn’t have stood a chance against such foes.

“Here they come,” Hump murmured. “Isn’t it nice when plans come together?”

The faces of the riders became clearer as they came closer. They were human, traitors to their own kind, and certainly the warlocks Hump was looking for.

“It’ll be nice once we’re through the battle without any casualties,” Bud said.

“Yeah.” Hump had almost let himself fall into a state of ease. Things were running too perfectly, and that was when mistakes happened.

The alarmed shouts of Bert’s adventurers went up along the wagon train, but there was no such fear from the Blackthorne company.

“Positions!” Henrietta roared toward the centre of the train, Bud’s sister knight taking easy command.

From all along the wagon train, the troops moved with practiced efficiency. They formed four groups, spread out between the middle and rear of the convoy. Ranged combatants climbed atop the wagons for a vantage point, while melee infantry drew their weapons and stepped out in front of the wagons, adopting defensive stances as the demons drew closer. Bert’s adventurers wouldn’t participate in the battle, instead sheltering in one of the central wagons where they would be best protected.

Hump reached from the driver’s perch to the open wagon behind him, grabbing his Staff of Damnation and discarding the alternative weapon Wizard Aldric had provided him for his disguise. He took his time. The company had been instructed not to react too quickly. They wanted the warlocks to commit to the attack so that they couldn’t flee once they realised that they had bitten of more than they could chew.

Nisha poked her head out from beneath a large blanket, her purple eyes swimming with essence. He sensed her desire to come with him.

“Not this time, sweetie,” Hump said. “You stay here.”

She huffed, but he sensed her reluctant obedience.

Turning back to the front with his staff, Hump hopped from the wagon, boots thudding to the road. “Right. We’d best get moving.”

Bud’s armour clinked as he dropped down beside him.

The demons were nearer now. The humanoid ones hardly looked demon at all, but for the pale pink tone of their skin. They wore trousers around their waist, but left their upper body bare, revealing tattooed red runes that covered them all over. They were bald, but for the brightly coloured hair that protruded from the back of their heads like the hackle of a rooster.

“Those look like runeslayers,” Bud said. “Physically strong, with some resistance to magic. Hump… they like to steal children to sacrifice to their demon gods.”

Anger flared in Hump. “I see.”

Hump jogged up to Bert’s wagon, Bud close behind. The bronze ranked adventurer was still on the driver’s perch, Dylan and Emilia standing guard on either side of the wagon, both in guardsman gear. In seconds, Celaine caught up, positioning herself on the roof of the wagon. The horses kicked at the ground nervously, the whites of their eyes showing. Dylan lay a hand against one and spoke to it gently.

“That’s a lot more than I expected,” Bert said, his hands white around the reins.

“Go, Bert!” Hump said. “Get to your adventurers. We’ll handle this from here.”

“You got it, boss. Gods be with you.” Bert raced through the wagon and hopped out the back, jogging over to where Henrietta was stationed.

As the warlocks closed in Hump met the eyes of one of the riders—a woman that appeared to be about thirty. She seemed to be directing the other warlocks. Her eyes found Hump and his companions, and she levelled her staff toward them. Darkness stirred around it. Five other wizards amongst their ranks took aim too, until the air was thick with essence. Bolts of fire and shadow leapt forward.

Hump stepped ahead of his party and hammered the ground with his staff. “Shield.”

Blue essence streaked from his staff, splitting off in four directions and forming a barrier before him that was wide enough to block all of their attacks. Colour and heat broke across his barrier, a thunderous crack shaking the air. At least a few of these wizards were powerful, but they were warlocks. Their strength was not earned through training and practice—it was not their own. Just as Prince Kassius’ had lacked the skill to properly utilise his strength, so too did these. The wagon horses were frantic at Hump’s side.

As the attacks cleared, the warlock wizards appeared surprised. The five of them remained in place, while seven with swords and speared closed the distance behind the demon tide.

“Kill the wizard!” the woman shouted. Hump’s eye went to her staff, crowned with a black crystal. She wore grey robes covered in black runes. Her horse stamped the ground. Smoking breath escaped from its mouth in a huff, revealing fangs within.

The demons charged faster, surging forward, the war cries shrill and terrifying. The hellhounds drooled and snarled with eagerness, while the more human looking demons stood with manic grins on their face.

“Blessings!” Hump roared. “Celaine, bring down the horses. Start with that woman’s, then stop any that try to flee.”

Around Hump, Bud and Dylan released their aura, ice and nature meeting in the air to form a cloud over them. Behind, Henrietta echoed his aura. Essence and divinity suddenly illuminated the wagon train. The demons shrieked in terror, slowing in their charge. Bud and Emilia surged forward, carving through those that were closest in single swings, before meeting the rush of the warlocks.

***

Celaine stood veiled in shadow atop the wagon roof, poised lightly on her feet, an arrow already on her string. Relentless Pursuit revealed the weaknesses of all before her. These demons were so full of them. They were weak. She could bring down any one of them with a single arrow to the throat, eyes, hearts—but their job was to capture the warlocks.

Instead, her mark was the eye of the demonic horse that belonged to the leader of the warlocks—large, burning, and vulnerable.

She took aim, veiling her arrow in Eclipse Shot, infusing the arrow with Predator’s Intent and the affliction of her shadow.

Before her, Bud, Dylan, and Emilia strode forward to meet the charging riders. Bud’s blade pierced the chest of the closest rider’s horse, ice crystalising from the wound and killing the beast instantly. The warlock on its back—a youngish looking man—a fell gracefully, swinging his sword with the motion. Bud dodged the blow and slammed his gauntleted fist into the man’s face. He crashed to the ground with a thud. At his side, Emilia had felled another of the warlocks with a stab through the throat, too fast for Hump to follow.

The five that remained reared back.

“Chosen!” one of the warlocks roared. “It’s a trap!”

“No!” the warlock woman roared. “This is no trap!” Celaine loosed her arrow. “Slay the Chosen dogs. Hold your—”

The woman’s words were cut short as her demonic horse was dropped to the ground and she was tossed from its back. Celaine’s arrow had found its mark perfectly. The creature snarled in pain, kicking frantically in its death throes. The woman landed hard on the ground nearby and scrambled for her staff. As Celaine prepared second arrow, one of the other warlock wizards had the foresight to form a Shield over the five of them before she could bring down another.

“Titan’s Wrath,” came Hump’s voice from below. A black shard shot forward, striking the warlock’s Shield and lodging itself against it. Bronze light pulsed from the shard, and the Shield dissipated into nothing.

Celaine smiled as she loosed her second arrow, then her third. One by one, she felled the horses. The riders tried to flee, but her aim was true. Ten targets, twelve arrows. In seconds they were brought to the ground, scrambling to get their weapons and prepare for the fight that would follow. With the warlocks dealt with, she turned her attention to the quickly dwindling number of demons, loosing arrows into their ranks.

Her actions quickly drew the attention of the enemy. One of the rune covered demons hurled an axe at her that she dodged with a quick step to the side, responding with own arrow. A warlock levelled his wand in her direction, a dozen flaming arrows curling from the tip and straight at her. She sprung into the air and to the side, dodging the attack and landing on the wagon roof next to her. Another arrow left her bow, shadows filling the air around it as they all surged forth, two or three hitting each of her targets in a weak point.

They went down as easily as pigeons.

***

Despite the peril of the warlocks, the demons relentlessly hurled themselves into the fray. Hump raised his staff, the focus crystal glowing with bronze and red light. “Lava Coils.”

At his command, four tendrils of molten heat erupted, lashing through the air. The sliced through the flesh and bones of demons as far as twenty paces away, dismembering them. Those that survived writhed on the ground, screaming in agony as their stinking blood poured from horrific wounds. Before him, the rest of his party efficiently dispatched others that came close.

Emilia was a blur of red on the battlefield, moving through the demon ranks with the grace of a dancer. Her blade found each target before they could react. Dylan, using Aspect of the Ape, manoeuvred through the enemy with agile leaps and aided by his quarterstaff. He manipulated its size, elongating and thickening through his Growth blessing, alternating between smashing bodies with a tree trunk sized weapon, or sending them flying by suddenly sprouting the staff.

Bud stood as an impenetrable wall against any who came close. His Heart of Frostfire and Eternal Winter created an icy aura around him, freezing and slowing enemies within reach. Moments later, his blade would find them, ending their misery.

Hump’s attention shifted back to the warlock wizards, sensing essence. The air hissed as the woman in command hurled a volley of dark projectiles at him. He quickly used Parry Shield to deflect the attack. Seeing it fail, she moved on to another spell, whispering into the black focus of her staff until a thin ribbon of fire snaked from it, flying slowly through the air toward him. Despite its speed, Hump felt an intense heat within. He aimed at it. “Fire Blast.”

His spell engulfed it, overpowering her intent and sending the ribbon flying back toward her. She shouted desperately as she summoned a Shield, deflecting the spell but it shattered the ground beside her. Fire swept through the demonic trees, setting them ablaze and sending thick wafts of smoke into the air.

The woman stabbed at him with her staff, essence blooming as a powerful spell built. “Die!”

Hump didn’t wait for her spell to complete. He aimed at the ground beneath her feet, using Transform Earth and envisioning a hole opening. Bronze light swept through the earth, disinitegrating stone and soil until a pit formed. She tumbled, her spell collapsing in dissipating essence. Struggling to stand, she was quickly ensnared by a stone hand that enveloped her at Hump’s command. “Grasping Earth.”

The three remaining warlocks appeared beside the woman. One attempted to free her, while the others engaged Hump. He raised his Shield again, pumping it full of essence as their spell poured over him. Light and power consumed his vision, but his barrier wouldn’t break to such attacks.

When a break in the attacks came, it gave Hump the opportunity he needed. “My turn.” His soul manifested, the aura of a dragon filling the air around him. Whatever spells the warlocks were preparing were shattered as his intent shook the very air, all the essence nearby overwhelmed by it. His cloak whipped back as the violent aura generated a wind.

“Shatter Shield,” he barked, the Shield exploding forward and knocking the warlocks from their feet. The woman groaned and snarled as she struggled to break free of the stone hand. The man assisting her took aim with his wand at Hump, but Hump lashed out with a Focused Beam before he could strike. It struck him in the chest. Blue light exploded and he flew backward, his wand falling from his hand. He struck the ground hard yet was still conscious enough to try and push himself up, only to collapse entirely a moment later.

Good, Hump thought. Stay there for a bit.

Hump strode toward the warlock woman, the rest of his party advancing with him, other than Celaine who remained atop the wagons. The rest of the enemy had fallen now—the warlocks captured or dead, and the demons slain.

Standing over her, Hump levelled his staff toward her. “Your staff is lost.” His voice boomed, enhanced by essence. “Surrender and your lives may yet be spared.

The woman and the remaining warlocks looked around, seeing the demons defeated. Her eyes returned to him, lingering his battle robes now visible beneath his cloak. “I recognise you. Who are you?”

All eyes were on Hump, when one of the warlocks said, “That’s the White Flame!”

“Impossible,” another said. “Why would he be here?”

“Because you traitorous bastards walked right into our trap,” Hump said. “Dylan, bind them.”

The druid moved between them, using Grasping Vines to bind their wrists and ankles. With the warlocks defeated, they gathered the twelve of them together. Only one had died. It had been an accident—the woman’s neck had broken when she fell from her horse.

“Gods above,” Bud muttered. Hump turned to see him looking at the leader. “You’re Fiona Heinlock. I didn’t recognise you in that… attire.”

The woman’s eyes whipped to him, suddenly wide and alert with panic. “I’ll kill you,” she snarled.

“Who?” Hump asked.

“She’s the sister of Count Islenton, who rules the city of Garna.”

“She’s important then?” Hump asked.

“Very.” Bud’s face darkened. “She’s been integral to the defence of Fort Nordric.”

Hump raised an eyebrow. “Seems she may not have been as good at the job as she was letting on.”

He stepped closer, squatting down and glaring at the woman. “Were you involved in the siege on Fort Nordric?” He raised his voice. “Was it you that let the demons in?”

A grin spread across her face. She laughed. “You will all die. Not one of you will leave the Infernal Halls alive. You do not know what you are facing.”

“Save your breath,” Bud said. “You will have plenty of time to speak with the Inquisition.”

Her grin vanished. She shook her head fiercely. “No. No, please. I’m sorry. I’ve been manipulated—I was forced to be here.”

“She made us do this!” one of the other warlocks said. “She threatened to kill us if we didn’t go with her. To kill our families!”

Suddenly, all those still concious were blaming each other. Hump saw the fear in them, and it only worsened as the sound of horses came from the distance. It wasn’t long before Wizard Aldric and the Inquisition arrived. Their mission was complete.