Four
The gryphons were visible now clearly even to Nick’s eyes. They were easily in the ten’s of thousands.
Behind him was the entirety of the camp and the army that’d been moving over. It wasn’t the whole of his forces, but a large portion of them. The rest were still in transit from the old camp, to this one.
This was going to be somewhat ugly because not everyone here would be able to actually use weapons that could be used against an aerial target.
A clattering and banging from Nick’s laugh caused him to look over and find Delaney rushing up the stone steps. Her armor was loud because she wasn’t moving with grace or care, she was literally sprinting. Sara and Jessie were right behind her, moving at a bit of a more sedate pace, but they were also hurrying.
Nick looked back to the incoming gryphons.
Why don’t I have any of the horrible spells like tornado or whatever?
“Final promotion only, Sire,” Lucian answered easily. “You’re a Magician, not yet a Wizard. Those spells are restricted to the final promotion and high level requirements. Thankfully so, as well.
“Could you imagine how many incidents there would be if a large number of citizens could wipe out an entire city if they suddenly didn’t like the tax rates? There’s a reason those final promotions often come with a great deal of oversight by the King or the chain of vassalage.”
Nick clicked his tongue, then fired off a flurry of Wind-blades. Moving his arms forward with the attack, he watched as twenty-some-odd magical attacks were set-loose through the air.
He had expected maybe one or two since he’d leveled up so much.
This was outside of his expectations by a significant margin.
“Well that’s impressive,” Jessie said, fitting an arrow into her bow beside him. “I mean, I know you can unload it all in a go like that, you ruin all my underwear and my pants anymore after all with how much you stuff up me, but even then… that’s impressive.”
“You know, I thought you were just being vulgar about that,” Sara said, sounding somewhat defeated. “That you were just being you. I now regretfully understand. I understand and have given up on wearing cute underwear and now by cheap things in bulk. The leakage really does ruin them.”
“It does,” Harlowe added with a huff from the far right. “It also leaves a very tell-tale scent. I cannot go around my people, or those with sensitive noses, without them knowing I am indeed very much the King’s consort.”
Scent? Really?
I never really thought about that, but it makes sense.
Even as he had the thought, Nick threw out several more waves of Wind-blades. His pool of magic was depleting, but it wasn’t going down too fast that he couldn’t afford an attack or two more before they got close.
“Indeed my boy. Now, since you’ve provided them with a suitable distraction… watch this,” Lucian growled inside of his mind.
Before Nick’s Wind-blade’s reached the enemy, it was clear they were all shifting around to try and avoid the attack. There were more than a few areas where they’d grouped up close together, losing their aerial formation and spacing.
“Gramps is coming through,” Nick whispered.
“Lord Lucian is coming?” Delaney asked in a breathless whisper. “I shall pray to you, Dominic, and to your line as well!”
Pulling out her heavy long-sword, Delaney dropped down to one knee, put the tip down in front of her to the stone wall, and bowed her head to the hilt.
There was an immediate response from Dolphen.
A strange jumping motion that felt like a minuscule tremor that lasted all of a second.
Quest!
Separation? Combination!: Become the head of Church and State
Quest complete!
Separation? Combination!: Become the head of Church and State
Rewards Granted: Paladin Order created: Dragon-King’s Order
Guess Delaney got her class conversion like she said she wanted. She’s a paladin now but… she’s not praying to the generic ‘good’ that most paladins do, but me.
Me and my line.
I don’t even know how to take that.
Before Nick’s thoughts could continue, Lucian appeared like a red-lightning bolt. Slashing through the sky above at extremely high speeds to the point that Nick saw it, but only knew it was Lucian because there wasn’t anything else it could be.
He blew through the enemy gryphons and came out the bottom just as swiftly. Then began pulling away as his wings came out and he transferred his diving speed into climbing for altitude again and turning away from the enemy group.
A large number of gryphon bodies tumbled out of the sky. Spinning end over end, falling straight down, or losing altitude slowly and surely.
In the mad response to that, Nick’s Wind-blades entered the group.
Where originally he wasn’t going to hit anyone because they’d been moving out of the way, he now struck quite a number of them. They’d lost sigh of the Wind-blades due to Lucian’s attack.
A large portion of the gryphons broke away from the formation and began moving after Lucian.
Which was the entire point of why Lucian was being summoned for this. Every enemy he pulled off to deal with him was one Nick’s forces didn’t have to deal with.
It was one less possible risk of losing a soldier that wouldn’t be coming back, unlike Lucian.
The gryphons came onward.
“Nicky, honey, I’m not trying to question you in front of everyone, and maybe I’m just a coward, but uh… should we really be on the wall?” Jessie asked. “Nicky and Jessie forever and I think you’ve turned me inside more than my dad ever did my mom at this point, but-but uh… maybe we should go with the rest of the army?”
Blinking, Nick realized she was right. He was likely putting his Royal Guard and Nathaniel in a weird position. They couldn’t really be with him completely up here on the wall and he was making himself more of a target.
“As my queen says, time to climb down,” Nick said, picked up his poleaxe, got Delaney to her feet, and started toward the stairs to get down.
He didn’t miss it when Nathaniel clearly dipped his head to Jessie in thanks. Clearly he had been trying to figure out how to ask him to do the same thing.
“Ah, Lord Dragon King, you shouldn’t touch me,” whined Delaney, but didn’t pull herself out of his grasp. “I’m lesser and—”
“And I’m tired of hearing it,” Nick grunted out as he escorted Delaney down the stairs. “Effectively immediately, you will no longer speak like that. It’s demeaning, ridiculous, and embarrassing to listen to. If I’m the head of the Dragon-King’s Order, then I expect you to listen to me. It’s a Royal command and a Religious command.
“Going forward, you will speak as if you treasure yourself, that you’re worthy, and you’re a consort of equal worth. Tired of it. It’s done. Never again.”
“Dragon-King’s Order?” Nathaniel asked sharply.
“I formed a Paladin’s Order!” Delaney gushed, turning her helmeted head toward Nathaniel. “I’m a Paladin. The Order allows for Great-Knight’s and Axe-Lord’s to join as well. Axe-Knight’s of course but that’s different.
“Nathaniel, I assume you would wish to join? I’m the leader of the Order but I will need another to preach the word of the Dragon King and Dolphen.”
“Yes. Yes, I will. Thank you for the invite,” Nathaniel stated with clear eagerness. “I’ll make a short list of the devout who we should recruit.”
“Yes! Thank you, Nathaniel,” Delaney stated even as Nick got everyone into the army grouping. He noted that more than a few shields were up and when he crossed over them, he felt them all strengthen immediately.
It felt like there had been others who were holding shields at the ready in case he didn’t come off the wall.
Plunking Delaney down on his right, Nick grabbed Sara and put her on his left. Then he pointed behind himself for Harlowe and Jessie.
“I met Lorelai,” Jessie grumbled. “I don’t think it’d matter if you put a bag over her head. The bag would probably just morph into something beautiful. She’s not as good looking as Cordelia but… I’ve never seen a better looking Dark Elf.”
“She said she’s been bred to breed,” Harlowe offered up. “I suspect that it isn’t casual speak. I think maybe they were attempting to breed someone that could be a binding point to all Dark Elf cities. I spoke with her briefly. Earlier. When I spoke to the Werewolf envoy.
“She is of high nobility in nearly every single Dark Elf city, through one family member or another. A genetic weapon they were preparing. Our Dragon King just happened to be a uniting factor for them.”
Jessie clicked her tongue, huffed, then grunted.
“Cordelia defers to you. The Royal Guard give you just as many guards when you go out as they do Cordelia. Everyone in our consort-circle looks to you as the leader,” Sara interjected. “You’re the queen in everything but name, Jessie. I wouldn’t lie to my best friend.
“The Breeder Dark Elf is gorgeous, that doesn’t demean you. It doesn’t take away from you as Jessie.”
“Lorelai mentioned she liked you, it’s just that you’re not a representative of more than your own city,” Harlowe offered.
Then the riders atop the gryphons began attacking. Magical spells, arrows, bolts, sling thrown rocks, all of them began descending upon Nick and his army.
“Honestly, this is somewhat of low intelligence,” Delaney put in, sounding torn. “Its not as if we wouldn’t be able to shield ourselves and protect our people. There is nothing they can do that would work as a hammer-and-anvil type of attack if they’re only in the air.
“Their people are too far away to assist with this at all. They are either deeply inexperienced or just looking to keep us bottled up, annoyed, or… I don’t know. It’s just not something I’d do as a commander.”
“Perhaps it’s scouting and testing,” Nick murmured aloud as spells and physical projectiles detonated, boomed, struck, and bounced off the large number of shields over the encampment. “We ourselves did something similar, did we not? Admittedly ours was impromptu in a way, but they likely have little in the way of information either.
“We’ve done a fair job of rooting out all their spies. They all have that smell Harlowe noted and Ker confirmed. Now that we’ve got people damn near at every crucial location, or just patrolling, and looking for it… well… we’ve pulled out enough people that I’d be shocked if they didn’t lose ninety-percent of their intelligence in Dolphen.”
“What was it in the end? The smell that is,” Jessie asked. “I never asked. We all kinda got busy and I never remembered long enough to ask. Too many more important things. Like getting the King of my bit’s stuffing me with his rod.”
“Their faith,” Harlowe answered as they gazed up at the gryphon’s, then let loose with an arrow. It didn’t quite reach the gryphons and began falling back to the earth.
Nick planted his poleaxe into the ground, lifted his arms up, and threw out a wave of Wind-blades.
The vast majority of them went wide, but several actually struck enemies.
None were knocked out of the sky, but more than a few shifted away from the front of the aerial formation for the back of it. He’d done enough damage to force them to shift out of the line of fire.
Gritting his teeth, Nick realized that unless he had the truly destructive high-end casters with him, these gryphons were slightly out of reach. They had been needed to throw the big ugly spells at the camp of soldiers near the Harbor, however.
They were still en route here.
This was literally going to be a situation where they were on the receiving end of what they’d been doing to the enemy for months.
Nick saw no reason to not empty his magical pool though. He wasn’t going to need it, and if he could cause a casualty, all the better.
Settling into a rhythm, Nick began just working spells out, one after another after another. Throwing an endless stream of Wind-blades up at the enmy.
All the while, thinking of ways to prevent this damned situation in the future. Because if this became a normal thing, he would eventually take losses.
***
Watching the gryphons as they flew away, Nick threw another set of Wind-blades at them.
He’d run out of his ability to use magic a while ago.
Much like anyone else, he regained some passively over time and that was what he had just spent, taking him right back to empty.
Again.
“Your pool is incredibly deep,” Delaney stated with something close to awe in her tone. “I think you threw more spells than several people combined could have.”
Finishing her statement with a nod of her helmeted head, Delaney fell to one knee, planted her sword, dropped her forehead to the crossguard, and clearly began praying once again.
“Great,” Nick muttered to himself and looked to Jessie, Sara, and Harlowe. He really didn’t know how to handle Delaney praying to him.
He saw more than a few royal guard drop to a knee and do the same thing.
Including Nathaniel.
As he did his best to ignore all of that, he instead focussed on those in front of him.
“Maybe it’s time I looked into that Dragon thing,” he said quietly under his voice. He wasn’t close enough to anyone else for others to hear him that weren’t nearby. His royal guard kept most people at a distance from him. “In the ledger. Or some type of flying mercenary troop. Because we don’t have a proper counter to what they just did.
“That and near the end I swore it felt like our own shields were weakening and had to be reinforced at least twice. If they come back with more than that now that they know we don’t have any type of way to combat them, other than Gramps, than we’re in for a rough time.”
“Yeah, definitely looked like the shield had to be reformed,” agreed Jessie quickly. “I’m kinda annoyed that all our spell people are… helping me with the royal kiddos right now. It’d be really nice to ask one of them what they thought of all that.”
“I mean, Gramps probably has an idea. I’m sure he’s on his way back relatively soon. Knowing him… knowing him he snatched a few people up in his mouth, a few in his talons, and is being quiet about it because he wants to arrive and hand them over.
“Like treats for eager grand kids who came over to see him. Isn’t that right Gramps?”
There was no response from Lucian, but that didn’t concern Nick. It was likely exactly what he thought.
“Well, I don’t know about this ‘Dragon Thing’, the ‘ledger’, or ‘Gramps’, but I promise you, dear,” said Lorelai from his side. He hadn’t noticed her slink up to him. “Every single one of those Dark Elves that we sent across the wall? They saw that happen. Saw that whole thing. They’re going to follow those gryphons to wherever they settle and rest and then cause problems.
“Because that’s a target of opportunity for them to prove themselves easily and early.”
The beautiful Dark Elf made a bouncing motion somehow by just shifting her weight from one foot to the other. It caught Nick’s eyes despite him not wanting it to happen. The smile that curled her lips was also clear as day that she’d caught his eyes dipping and she wanted that.
“Now, I must confess dear, that I have no mind for war or being as close as we are right now to this. I’m going to retreat to where-ever your royal tent is put up,” Lorelai said, reached up, and patted his helmeted head. Then lifted the visor, got up on her tip-toes, and kissed him. Then she closed the visor again. “Don’t forget to see me first! Now… be safe dear.
“Oh! I didn’t forget to ask for more troops and what it’d cost. I sent it by raven so it should be quick!”
Lorelai turned, looked at Jessie, Sara, Harlowe, and Delaney, waved a hand at them, gave them a wide smile, then bounced away. Her private Dark Elf guards fell in around her the moment she cleared the ring of the Royal guard and she was off.
Though Nick didn’t miss it when she pulled out her cloak, wrapped herself in it, and more or less too herself ‘off display’. The fabric of the cloak covering her up from chin to boots.
Now that I think about it, she only ever dresses like that when I’m around her and she knows I will be.
“As Harlowe said, Sire, hunting tools. She only wields them when her prey is around. She hunts no one else. And yes, I have treats,” Lucian said and landed with a heavy thud not far away. He was massive and took up far too much room.
Lowering his head, he spat out three people, emptied his front talons of two more people, then lifted his rear legs and deposited two and a half people.
The ‘half’ a person was only the lower half.
Apparently something had happened and they’d met a gruesome end.
“Oh, oops,” Lucian murmured, leaned down, picked up the half a corpse with his teeth and flicked his head. Sending it soaring away at high speed.
There was now seven people who were all wearing bright green uniforms. They all had extra markings at the shoulder and upon their helmets that made them look rather unique.
“Well,” Nick said, looking over the fresh prisoners. “Someone get me the Royal Inquisitor.”
In his heart, Nick could feel the tension. Things were speeding up already and the season hadn’t even fully changed. A certainty that’d been on the horizon was standing before him right now in the captured prisoners who were all glaring at him.
The enemy was coming and were now probing his nation.
A dam that’d been holding everything was now starting to let forth trickles and streams of water through the cracks.
As he stared at them, he couldn’t shake the tension, dread, and honesty the fear that was growing inside of him.
Despite suffering no casualties, Nick hadn’t missed the way his troops looked after the gryphons fled.
Bothered and relieved for the most part.
Though some… had fear on their faces.
At this moment, they had no response to the gryphons and that was a disgusting issue.