SJ was travelling fast. Having closed her wings to dive, she had picked up speed so rapidly and now plummeted like a stone towards the head of the gnoll she had picked as her target.
"Too fast," Dave warned.
Her claws extended in front of her in miniature form, similar to a Superman pose, and the fur-covered head of the gnoll got closer with each passing moment. Just as Dave thought she was going to smash into it in an uncontrolled manner, SJ flared her wings. The more she used them, the more her strength in them developed, and she could now adjust her flight path and speed as well as any natural-born fae. She triggered her newly acquired Puncture skill. It significantly reduced the target's armour class as she struck the gnoll. Her flared wings reduced her speed; it was not a dramatic reduction, but enough to prevent her from knocking herself senseless as her feet followed and thumped down on the top of its head. Her claws, having hit first, had easily penetrated and sunk through its fur, inciting a cry of shock and pain.
It was only then that she grew, her claws still embedded in the gnoll's skull.
As her body flared in size, so did the claws, and their blades continued through her hapless victim's head. She hadn't even reached her full size when the notification triggered that the gnoll was dead, and she immediately shrank again, beating her wings as soon as she could lift her to safety, taking off back into the air.
Her adapted vision allowed her to see around her, and from the position she had struck the gnoll, she had been hidden from most of the gathered forces. The gnoll had been behind the sledge carrying the beetle's boulders of ammunition, and only if a being had been looking directly towards him would she have been seen. As she rose rapidly into the air again, she watched to check that no one had spotted her actions. She didn't stop rising until she was easily a hundred feet above the area. Her breathing came rapidly, and her adrenaline flowed with the thrill and danger of her choice.
"That was an impressive move," Dave said with pride.
'Thanks,' SJ thought in response.
She scanned the notification.
Congratulations on killing a level 20 gnoll herder. 190 experience gained. Your experience gains are doubled due to your reputation bonus, 380 experience awarded.
Only moments had passed between her dive and the gnoll's demise. She hadn't been noticed as yet, but knew as soon as the gnoll's body was spotted that it would change. SJ scanned the area, looking for another target. The only other one that looked out of sight of the leading group was a level 34. SJ may only be level 21, but after the discussions with Carlito, she knew that her role was to kill much higher-level beings with precision and care for her strikes, and these gnolls were threatening her home.
Anger coursed through her as a beetle to the left released another boulder. SJ watched as it sailed towards the gate. This one's throw was accurate, and she heard the resounding crack of timber as one of the hatched lumber struts snapped under its force. It was high up the gate, and the primary defence still stood; the makeshift portcullis affair had not fallen to the impact.
'Ballentine needs to get a move on,' SJ thought.
"I'm not sure what good they will be," Dave replied with concern.
'Why?' SJ asked.
"The number of gnolls and their beasts with the level difference. Few will compete against their strength directly."
As SJ considered Dave's comments, she commenced her next attack. With the grace of a hawk, she plummeted to the ground. The air buffeted her, trying to resist her momentum, her hair flowing freely like a raging wave. With her claws aligned, the pitch of her descent was almost vertical. Again, she struck, her claws penetrating the gnoll's skull with ease before growing. The seconds felt like hours until the notification rang in her display. Quickly, she shrank, and before she was miniature, she beat her wings.
Congratulations, you have killed a level 34 gnoll herder. For killing an enemy ten levels higher than yourself, you receive double experience. The 660 experience was doubled to 1320 experience. Your experience gains are doubled due to your reputation bonus, 2640 experience awarded.
It was at that moment that another gnoll herder turned, a frown creasing its face as it took in the shrinking fae, before realising what had happened. It let out a sharp bark in a language SJ didn't know, and almost immediately, other gnolls turned. Her heart raced as she beat her wings, rising as swiftly as she could. What happened next was not something SJ had been expecting.
The beetle closest to her latest victim opened its carapace, splitting its back like a lift door opening. Instantly, as though spring-loaded, enormous wings erupted and started to thrum the air. SJ was still rising as the thrumming increased. The immediate change in the air surrounding SJ caused her to stutter. Her wings beating against nothing as though the air had lost all its substance. Her ascent slowed as the air seemed to be drawn towards the beetle, as though each wing beat pulled the very atmosphere toward it. With gritted teeth, she pumped her wings as quickly as she could. Slowly, very slowly, she began to rise again. Then the other beetles started to do the same. This had to be their Void skill.
Cries from below broke through the hum of the beetle's wings. Its monstrous form didn't lift even from the intense thrumming beat they created; instead, it was as though they were sucking the very air towards them. The cries had alerted the group behind, and the change in the beetle's behaviour, and SJ saw several of the gnolls move forward. A couple carried what looked like javelins, thin, almost needle-like spears, tipped with what resembled the stings from the scorpions.
"You need to get out of here," Dave said.
SJ had only risen thirty feet into the air. That was way too close to the hostile forces below, and she strained to lift higher. She gasped under the effort, her muscles screaming in protest. A powerful downward pull overcame her; other beetles joined in, thinning the air and forming a vacuum. There was only one way SJ could escape this, and she changed her direction. No longer trying to fly straight up, but angled slightly down. There was no way the beetles could affect everywhere.
"What do you think you're doing?" Dave said as SJ changed her angle.
'Going sideways. I can't get lift above them.'
"Oh," Dave chuckled nervously. "Good thought."
SJ had angled back towards the wall, cutting a path over the gnolls' front line, and as she did, her miniature form became ever closer to them. She continued to beat her wings, hoping beyond all hopes that she could break from the impacted area. A gnoll herder lifted a sling and started to spin its load around its head. It was over thirty feet from her, and she was only six inches tall, moving at speed; yet when he released it, she had to brake and almost come to a stop. If she had maintained her angled descent, the stone the gnoll had released would have hit her. It had judged her trajectory almost perfectly.
SJ had been trying to maintain a shallow downward angle, but having stalled because of the attack, she was now hardly past the line of gnolls. She tucked her wings in and allowed herself to speed up, angling further towards the ground. As she increased her speed, she was past the line of gnolls, slowly gaining ground on them, but the air still felt weakened. There was only one thing for it, and as she neared the ground, the distance shrinking too quickly for her liking, she waited until she was almost down before growing. She landed at a full sprint, pounding across the grassland separating the troops from the wall. Angry shouts and cries were being hurled towards her, and she watched as several stones were released in her direction. She dodged and weaved, zigzagging away from the missiles, only her vision giving her the luxury of being able to maintain her forward momentum and balance while seeing what came from behind.
Gnolls had started to race from the line towards her, dropping to all fours in a primal pose of their beast origin, which SJ had seen Cristy do. Fifty, sixty, seventy feet and then she felt it. The air thickened, almost feeling like syrup in comparison, and as soon as it did, she again shrank. Her wings beat, and she lifted with ease. She had reached a safe distance from the beetles. Without hesitation, she soared upward, angled to get over the wall.
SJ didn't stop until she had dropped behind the wall, only then slowing her movement. Her breathing was ragged, adrenaline-fuelled, panic-stricken, and lacking control. She landed heavily, allowing herself to grow, resting on her knees as she did. Her muscles across her back and shoulders burned, and she slowly flexed them, wincing. The effect the beetles had on the surrounding air was something she had never experienced and never wished to again.
"Are you okay?" Gary called, hurrying towards where she was slumped.
"I won't be trying that again soon," SJ said, forcing herself upright.
"What happened? I saw you drop twice, and then you almost froze?"
"Those beetles. When they started to beat their wings, it was as though the air thinned. It had no substance to it, I couldn't lift."
A horn blared, and Gary and SJ turned as the line of racing friendlies began to descend the track to the valley floor. Ballentine led them, his shouts spurring them on. Gary and SJ moved back to the parapets and looked out on the beetles. Kibble squeaked on seeing SJ, and she picked him up, releasing his lead from where Gary had tied it. He looked at her with an almost concerned expression on his features, as though he understood the danger she had been in.
The beetles had stopped beating their wings and were once again being loaded with stones. The first was released with the snapping sound of the beetle's massive mandibles as it released the boulder. The barrage continued as the others joined in. Boulders pelting the stone wall, sending shockwaves through its very foundation. The cracking sound of rock on stone was deafening.
SJ watched as a boulder sailed high over the wall, completely missing its target. SJ turned, watching its flight, and then screamed.
"WATCH OUT."
Ballentine and the group had just reached ground level and were charging forward down the track from the valley side. Ballentine bellowed as he dived sideways, others scattering behind him as the boulder gouged into the ground, tearing and throwing dirt at those following as it bounced before coming to a rest. A flash of white light erupted from the group, and SJ noticed a man holding his shoulder where the boulder had clipped him as it passed.
Kibble squeaked, nuzzling into SJ's hand. She stroked him subconsciously as she moved to meet Ballentine. The dwarf's face was flushed from the exertion of the run, and SJ watched as he called a bottle to his hand and drank heavily from it. The group that had come with Ballentine were now positioned at the base of the wall. There was no way a projectile could hit them where they now were.
"What's going on?" Ballentine asked.
"Come see for yourself. I'm not sure what we can do until the remainder arrives," SJ said.
Ballentine looked over the parapet, his eyes widening and his head shaking.
"That's not a small force."
"No, and they are out of range of the archers," Gary said.
"Mages, to me," Ballentine bellowed.
The three mages who had accompanied Ballentine approached, half crouched to stay below the parapet openings.
An elf led them. SJ couldn't remember her name, but had seen her several times at the mage apprentices that Fran ran.
"Larion. Can you do anything from this range?" Ballentine asked, directing the left one to look over the wall.
The elf spent several moments before looking back at Ballentine.
"Ewin can probably reach with his water magic. I can't with my fire magic, nor will Olek with his wind magic. I can create barriers, though, in the meantime, but would need to be at least fifty feet closer for my offensive magic to be practical."
"Damn," Ballentine cursed. "We have to get nearer than we are."
"We can't open the gate. There is no mechanism to move it. The trolls placed it as a temporary structure until the doors were finished. Only they could move it easily enough," Gary said.
Ballentine looked past Gary, who was at the entrance gate, which he could see because of the curved architecture of the walls around the base of the valley. The timber crossed framework looked precarious and had not been designed to withstand any form of siege. Another enormous boulder struck the gate, and it shuddered with a reverberating cracking sound. The sound drew SJ to the thought that the tree had fallen on her that fateful evening, leading her to her new life.
Ewin had moved to the side of Larion and peered over the wall towards the hostiles.
"Anything?" Ballentine asked.
"Maybe," Ewin replied, scratching his chin. "The river passes by to the right of their formation. I should be able to channel the water from there."
"Do what you can," Ballentine said, nodding in acknowledgement. He turned and looked at SJ again before frowning. "Why do you have blood on you?"
SJ looked down. Her dress had cleaned itself, but there were still red stains that hadn't been removed yet. "I attacked the front gnoll group. I managed to kill a couple of them, but those beetles stopped me from doing anything further."
Ballentine raised an eyebrow, not progressing the conversation.
"All ranged guards to me," Ballentine called as the troops that had come with him split, those with ranged weapons moving to the parapet. "I want you to split on either side of the gate. Don't bother trying to shoot them, just be ready for when they approach—the rest of you. I want troops ready by the gate. If it gives, then you will be our defence, along with our mages. Whatever happens, we have to maintain the walls until the others arrive. Clerics, be ready to heal any injuries. Seth, be sure to keep the mages topped."
SJ noticed Seth amongst the troops for the first time. He was the paladin who had healed her after the injuries she had sustained fighting Iratu and Bordon.
The troops moved as instructed, the mixed races working as one. It didn't matter what race anyone was in Killic; they all stood and fought for the same cause: defending their home.
Where the river ran from the lake above on the plateau, it passed under the wall, where a metal grated tunnel had been constructed. It wasn't very tall, not allowing a being to stand under it, but you could crawl on all fours. The river ran swiftly under the wall, its shallow decline in the valley as the plain opened, ensuring it maintained momentum. It meant that anything trying to come from the other side would face the power of the river if they believed they could use it to their advantage. SJ watched as Ewin moved from the wall and made his way to the tunnel. He stooped and moved into the gap under the wall, out of sight. Larion followed him.
Cries could be heard from the attacking forces, and SJ watched as one beetle reared up. A gnoll holding a chain was lifted into the air as though he were nothing and dangled precariously.
"I wonder what caused that?" SJ said.
Gary looked over, not having seen the beetle's reaction.
"What?"
"That beetle has reared up," SJ pointed out. "I wonder what caused it."
Dave let out an excited cry. "Bellpops. See, there is a bellpop near it."
Bellpops were tiny insects, barely visible in comparison to the enormous beetle, but as SJ observed, it seemed as though a single bellpop was flying near the beetle and had startled it.
'How can something that size react to a bellpop?'
"No idea. Then again, why do so many react so poorly to tiny spiders?" Dave chuckled.
The mention of spiders sent an involuntary shiver down SJ's spine as she recollected her trip to the crypt and her time spent in a cocoon.
'If only we had Little Stuart with his jar,' SJ thought in response.
"Get some from the town," Dave said.
The time it would take SJ to get to the town and back would be too long. 'I can't just leave.'
"And you can't do much here," Dave said.
'If only there were a way to stop those beetles from shredding the air.'
"The vacuum they create is at least confined to a local area. You only need to be able to get close enough to strike," Dave said.
'With what? My darts aren't effective at the range needed to stay outside of its wings.'
"You could still hit and run. Just make sure you leave the area each time."
'It's too risky. I only just got away last time, and that was after I was already taking off. The effect it has on its surroundings is almost instantaneous.'
SJ turned to Ballentine, who was perched, peering out onto the plain.
"How long do you think it will take Lorna to get here?" SJ asked.
"An hour, perhaps. Once everyone is equipped."
"I'm not sure that the gate will hold for an hour," SJ said, as another boulder crashed into the gate. The timber groaned ominously, and splinters were sent high into the air, raining down on those behind the wall.
"Damn those beetles," Gary cursed.
It was then that Jay climbed the steps to the parapet. SJ had forgotten he was even with the troops that had come from the town.
"The troops are all formed up below," he said to Ballentine as he reached the top. Then, seeing SJ, he smiled at her.
Ballentine nodded. "Thanks."
"Sand beetles are nasty," Jay said.
"You have seen them before?" SJ asked.
"Not directly, but I have heard the rumours, and there is a stone beetle that lives in the mountainous regions that is similar, and I have fought them in my youth."
"Is there anything we can do here?" Ballentine asked hopefully.
"The way we used to fight the stone beetles was by climbing on their backs. All beetles have potential weak spots. One where their heads meet their thorax, and then a second where their wings meet their thorax — it's called the scutellum, a small triangular-shaped area. Precise attacks in those locations can do devastating damage. The problem is reaching them. Strikes against their carapace are pretty pointless. It would be like an orcling hitting a dragon."
The information Jay had stated matched the weakness that her advanced identification skill had shown. "I could try," SJ said.
They all looked at SJ.
"I just saw what happened to you out there," Gary said. "You only just got away last time."
"True. But if I am attacking a beetle, I doubt it is going to open its wings and start beating them before I strike."
SJ called her claws to her hands. This time, as she did, she also changed her dress. She had retained the beautiful emerald green of the original dress she had been wearing at the festivities, not even considering its colour in the rush to get to the fight. Now she did, though she adjusted its design and colour. The emerald disappeared, being replaced by the colours of the surrounding skies as SJ took them in.
Those on the wall just stared at her in amazement as it adjusted. Both Gary and Ballentine opened their mouths to say something while Jay just grinned.
SJ felt embarrassed under the gaze, as she had never changed her appearance in public before.
"I should have thought about it earlier," she replied nervously.
Ballentine's jaw clamped shut with a snapping sound as he realised he was gaping at her.
Larian, who had accompanied Ewin to the tunnel mouth, came running back up the steps to the parapet. "Ewin is ready. He thinks he can send a wave to the beetles. He doubts it will reach more than the nearest two to the river, but it's better than nothing."
"Okay. Wait for my signal," Ballentine said. "SJ is going to try to do something, and the distraction will help." He turned to look at SJ. "Good luck."
SJ handed Kibble to Gary again and nodded immediately, shrinking, taking off.
Should probably have some text here? Or did you not yet intend to publish this chapter?
Ha. Thanks for the message. It should have been there.
Thanks! Looking forward to the chaos in the future of those unsuspecting gnolls!