Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 121924 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121924 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
At the moment, the Cardinal stood in the center of the battlement, his fist held up in a gesture to wait. And so we did.
Archers held their bows steady. Phoenixians conjured orbs of cold air. Officiates who were manning catapults put flaming rocks in place. Delphiae held themselves stiffly as sparks of energy played over their palms. Other officiates readied the bubbling cauldrons, tossing this and that into them.
The animalistic sounds coming from the forest became louder and louder as the trespassers came closer and closer. And then, finally, they reached the part of the forest where the trees were more thinly spread.
As I got a look at our enemies, I felt my lips flatten. The hounds were back, galloping through the forest. Again, they had company. Not lamiae this time, though. Running among the seemingly never-ending number of dogs were hundreds of bulky, tusked, gray-skinned humanoids. Orks. All carried either axes, spears, swords, or hammers.
Various Deimos-beasts pursued the intruders. Bears covered in black scales. Tall, shaggy, ape-like humanoids. Overly large birds that were somewhat similar to white screech owls.
Talon whistled loud and then slammed down his arm.
Everyone acted as a unit.
Arrows, orbs, and huge flaming rocks hurtled through the sky. Blasts of lilac Delphiae-energy rippled outwards. Gold lashings of power poured from Talon’s fingertips in crackling snaps.
Unease tried beating at me, but I put away every emotion; focused on the battle, shooting one ork after another, deeming them the biggest threat. Some arrowheads sank into eyes. Others into heads, shoulders, or chests.
The enemies stumbled under our well-coordinated attack. Bodies dropped. Crawled. Writhed. Staggered to their feet only to collapse again.
The damage was done fast, furiously, and messily. The cacophony of noise was horrendous—all pain and fury and power.
The resident beasts of this area of the Pines were tireless in their determination to take down the enemy. The bears barreled into foes and knocked orks off their feet with a mere swipe of their large paws. The overgrown spiked owls soared through the air, swiping out with their hooked talons. The ape-like humanoids wrapped their arms around orks or hounds, crushing their bodies so tight bones cracked.
The orks retaliated brutally—slamming hammers on skulls, burying axes into backs, stabbing spears into hearts, and slicing open stomachs with swords. The hounds were just as savage, biting and clawing and lashing out with their tails.
Meanwhile, we picked them off.
Their numbers kept falling, but they never faltered. They kept moving, fighting, lashing out.
And then they were charging at the stone wall.
I aimed an arrow right at an approaching ork, burying it in the humanoid’s eye. I reached back to retrieve another arrow. Nothing. “Shit.”
A sudden weight fell into the quiver. I looked to see that Talon was walking around conjuring arrows and slamming them into empty quivers. Wishing I had that impressive ability, I nocked another arrow and then fired.
Officiates and candidates continued fighting hard while orks and dogs roared and cried out in pain, unable to dodge the onslaught. Arrows lanced through their chests. Rocks smashed their skulls. Balls of cold air slammed into them. Energy blasts knocked them off their feet. Golden whips of power reduced them to ashes.
But the intruders didn’t tuck tail and run. The dogs made a beeline for the curtain wall, despite having no ability to climb it. They leaped, their claws raking at the stone. The orks followed behind them and went at the wall, slamming it with weapons like they thought they could chip away at and weaken its structure.
I flicked a quick look at Keyes. “Is there any chance of them forming cracks in the stone?”
“No, not one,” he replied. “But orks aren’t the sharpest of tools.”
Indeed they weren’t, because in coming so close, they were only making it easier for us to take them out. Case in point: Bubbling cauldrons were tipped, raining down pure pain with burning liquid, fats, and sand.
Yelps and cries sounded from below … and something else. Something that didn’t come from below, though. It came from further out. From up.
I squinted as dozens of shapes came into view in the sky up ahead. Winged, two-legged serpentine shapes. My stomach bottomed out. “Shit, wyverns.”
Keyes swore. “There are no beasts here who can take on wyverns in the sky.”
I jolted as Talon once more refilled my quiver before moving on to the next person, whizzing forwards and backwards with his enhanced speed.
Studying the approaching creatures, I blew out a breath and nocked yet another arrow. I didn’t release it, since they were too far away. Instead, I studied them. There were a dozen or so—wyvern armies were generally small, since their numbers were just as small—but that was enough to cause horrific damage.
At least they couldn’t breathe fire like dragons. Unfortunately, wyverns were still lethal with their massive jaws, hooked claws, and stinger tails. Still, I doubted Talon would shift and deal with them in his dragon form unless more appeared.