There was now a thick, impenetrable wall of smoke ahead of them, but the sounds of the war drums could clearly be heard, getting louder and louder.
“Finn?!” Diane was on the barricade. He turned to see her gesturing at the street ahead, but Finn shook his head quickly.
He didn’t know what was taking the others so long. Had they been attacked? Did War Chief Durzog have some other battle plan in place?
Finn could feel the cobbles under his feet start to shake with the passage of so many marching feet.
“Dammit!” he swore. He had no idea what had happened to the other premiers, who were supposed to be closing the wall alongside Tobias, but now, there was no time left.
“I guess we’ll have to do this ourselves,” Finn said, leveling his sword with both hands at the wall of smoke below him. There was a sudden shout of pain above, and his eyes found that the zephyrs were engaging Rosa and her small band of Air Initiates. He saw flashes of blue, sudden swoops of white, deadly wings, and the backflips of the Air Initiates as they fought for the control of the rooftops.
The drums pounded louder, and there was a glint of light in the smoke. Small figures were clambering out of the darkness.
It was the trollics, the smallest members of the trollish race, usually used as assassins and scouts. Their small, mottled gray-and-green bodies in their black robes swarmed over the rubble and shot nasty barbed arrows at the barricades.
“Fire!” Finn shouted as he swept the Pyrrhic Blade before him.
The Pyrrhic Blade
Fire-Bolt. Convert Mana into damage.
Finn threw half of his available personal Mana left, knowing that he would only have the Hearthstone to rely on after this. A sheet of fire burst from the blade, incinerating many of the arrows before it stuck the tide of trollics themselves.
You struck the Trollic Horde for 450 points of damage.
Flames burst into the shadows, and the trollics were flung back. Finn’s eyes saw the blinding burn of incandescent fire for a moment, before it suddenly receded and his vision was filled with the after images of trollic bodies flying through the air. Messages poured in with the experience he had been awarded, but the trollics were only light troops and not especially advanced.
You have slain the Level 12 Trollic Scout. Experience awarded.
You have slain the Level 13 Trollic Scout. Experience awarded.
You have slain…
No sooner had the words faded than Finn felt a lance of pain across his shoulder and heard a searing cry of anger.
One of the trollics was right before him, barely up to Finn’s shoulder. Their cloak was smoldering, and there were terrible burns across one side of their face. Finn saw small teeth filed to points, heavy brow ridges, and eyes that were yellow like a cat’s…
The trollic slashed at him again.
You have been struck by the Level 14 Trollic Scout for 40 points of damage.
You have got to be kidding me!
Finn staggered back automatically, but then he saw just how little damage the enemy could do. It had been a long time since he had liberated Blackwood from the Trollic Infiltrators.
He stomped forward and cut the wounded trollic down. Another monster leaped at him, but Finn was quicker. A backhanded blow caught that one and separated it from its natural life, and then Finn was in the thick of it. His burning blade hacked down trollics at levels 12, 13, 14… some as high as Level 15 or 16. None were a real threat.
He felt the slash of pain occasionally, but what he felt much more was the rising inferno of his own rage.
I’m a Level 30! This is too easy!
You have slain the Level 12 Trollic Scout. Experience awarded.
You have slain the Level 14 Trollic Scout. Experience awarded.
You have slain…
“Finn! FINN!”
A terrorized shout called out behind him as Finn pulled himself up from the final blow of another monster. He suddenly realized that he had moved completely through the small horde. He stood at the edge of his Smoke-Shield and the ogre bodies.
Many of the trollics had made it past him and were leaping at the barricade, but they were being caught by spears and blasts of energy from the defenders.
Immediately, Finn saw the problem. He heard the scraping of booted feet clambering over the ogre bodies. He had put himself right in front of the army, and now the horde of real warriors—the troll warriors—would be coming for him.
Even at Level 30, he couldn’t fight off a whole army.
Finn started back up the road toward the barricade, and his feet splashed in the groundwater…
Groundwater? he thought, puzzled for a moment, and then: Mico!
There was a roar and the blare of war horns as the first wave of troll fighters launched themselves over the ogre corpses. Their metal-shod boots splashed in the same water that Finn had just run through. He looked over his shoulder and saw their growing numbers as they all charged after him, weapons held aloft.
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Trolls were much larger than the trollics and larger than the average human, roughly seven feet tall with powerful, meaty limbs which were perfect for aggression and combat. Their hands ended in talons, and they had heavy, tusked jaws. Each one would be a trained, bloodthirsty fighter from a violent Elder Realm.
“Get behind the barricades!” Diane shouted, raising her studded mace as it swirled with green energy. She threw some kind of magic bolt at the enemy below.
Unfortunately, the city’s defenders weren’t the only ones with magic. As Finn charged up the road toward the barricade, a burning purple bolt slammed into the cobblestones to his right. The force almost knocked him to his feet. He yelped and leaped to one side just before another bolt slammed into the barricade, exploding a series of heavy tables and the human defender behind them.
This time, the blast did send Finn to his knees. He pushed himself up and turned.
You have been struck by the Chaos Bolt for 150 points of damage.
All Finn saw was a flash of brilliant purple light, and then everything was electric pain as he was thrown forward. He slammed into the barricade and broke through some chairs.
“Finn?! Finn, get up!”
He could hear the muted cries of his fellows as he saw stars.
“Finn, we need you!” Diane was hauling him to his feet as Finn looked down and saw that his Part-Plate of Azor—itself looted from the first troll Chieftain to invade the New Zone—was badly blackened and dented. Whatever that magical bolt had been, it had been powerful.
Finn rubbed his eyes as he heard screams behind him. Troll fighters were charging ahead and there, standing atop the ogre bodies, was none other than the War Chief himself.
Durzog was silhouetted against the still-burning trollic corpses, his helmet’s horns rising to sharp points as he lifted his head and stepped down into the brackish groundwater that was now almost knee-deep.
As Durzog stepped onto the battlefield, it was almost like time itself slowed. Finn was certain he could feel Durzog’s presence, that was how powerful he was. He was like his own event wave as he stepped into the arena of battle.
“The water. Is that Mico’s doing? Is that the plan?!” Diane said as Finn staggered to his feet, looking down at the oncoming enemy.
They didn’t have long before the enemy would reach the barricade.
“Everyone ready!” Diane called.
Finn nodded grimly.
They were going to lose.
They couldn’t afford to lose. Too much was at stake.
As Finn stepped down from the blockade to meet the oncoming horde, something new happened.
Water poured out of the grates on both sides of the street. It didn’t just pour; it raged. Torrents of water suddenly burst from the tunnels underground, flinging the grates out as the water fountained, slammed back to the ground, then started to churn and rise. The invisible hands of Mico Sud and the Water Lodge initiates molded, shaped it, and sculpted it into a weapon.
A weapon that hammered into Durzog’s army.
“Now!” Finn roared.
Every Malvas defender at the barricade or on the wall loosed every weapon they had. Arrows were fired. Spears were thrown. Magical attacks were launched at the now-confused troll army.
The water continued to pour from the grates with the force of a waterfall. Finn saw it start to morph and change, taking on the shapes of four giant fists rising into the air. The trolls had only a moment to look up in horror before the fists slammed into them. Finn couldn’t even imagine the strength of those blows as the street turned white with froth and spray. Finn heard muted, gargled screams, and the waters rose high enough to lap at the barricade. There was a thick haze obscuring the rest of the long avenue that led to the distant front gates.
Then, in another fantastic and terrifying sight, objects—roof tiles and stone blocks—started to fly from the distant buildings. Finn watched the mysterious bombardment of the city itself down against the drowning enemy.
“Tobias! It has to be Tobias and the Earth Lodge Defenders!” Finn whooped in delight as Diane scrambled to the front of the barricade beside him.
“That water… How long can Mico keep it up?” she asked breathlessly.
Finn didn’t know for certain. “She said that she was going to try and channel the sea water, where the undercity tunnels on the far side of Malvas meet with bay. Just will keep going as long as they have Mana, and they shouldn’t run out of water!”
The air was filled with the roaring of water as it turned into giant, crashing white tides that pushed the enemy back. It knocked them over, flinging them against each other and into the walls. Finn saw trolls trying to climb the buildings, only to be smacked down by flying debris from the rooftops.
The Earth Lodge must have given up trying to plug the wall and instead are attacking…
He wondered what had made them change their tactics, but there was movement below him and no time to find the answer.
War Chief Durzog’s army was split. A large contingent of trolls, clearly the fiercest and meanest, had managed to swim or wade to the defenders’ side, climbing over each other and the bodies of their comrades as they fought for dry land. There had to be at least two or three hundred of them gasping and grabbing what weapons they could as they stumbled toward the humans’ barricade.
“Be ready!” Finn shouted. He had known that the lodges’ elemental powers wouldn’t be enough to destroy an entire army, but they had managed to even out the numbers some.
There was a flash of purple-and-red from the heart of the racing troll throng, and there was Durzog. A shell of a dark-purple energy crackled around him as he raced toward the barricade. With a sweep of his mace, a bolt of screaming chaos energy lanced up at the blockade and blew away two city defenders.
“Durzog!” Finn shouted as he leveled his blade at the troll leader.
“Finn, get back to the barricade! You can’t fight them all out there!” Diane yelled to him.
She was right, Finn thought with a snarl. He turned to leap atop the bed of one of the reinforced carts, but right then, there was another brilliant flash of that burning chaos energy.
You have been struck by a Chaos Bolt for 150 points of damage.
Finn cried out as he felt burning pain race up his arm. He was thrown to one side as the entire cart tipped over onto the wooden beams and barrels that made up this stretch of the barrier. He shook his head, scrambling to his feet as he saw gobbets of purple fire along the barricade.
Cries of “FOR DURZOG!” sounded out from the monster horde.
As the first wave of trolls hit, one crashed through the railing at the edge of the cart. He had a battle-axe in each hand, whirling and slashing as he moved.
Finn ducked under the wild swing, coming up inside the berserker’s guard as he drove the pommel of his blade into the bridge of the troll’s nose.
You have struck the Level 20 Troll Berserker for 85 points of damage.
There was a yelp as the troll staggered back, green ichor spurting from his face. Finn spun, his magical blade slashing through the air and catching the troll on the arm.
You have struck the Level 20 Troll Berserker for 115 points of damage.
It still wasn’t enough to defeat the creature. The Berserker dropped one of its axes, but the other caught Finn in a glancing blow across the shoulder.
Right. Enough of this, Finn thought angrily. He still had plenty of Mana. Enough to finish this one troll so he could rejoin the other defenders fighting for their lives.
Scarlet energy surged through his body, erupting in rivers down his arms and across his shoulders as he summoned his magic. He converted it to Strength as he ducked, spun, and slashed upward to catch the berserker under the ribcage and send him flying backward into the horde.
You have defeated the Level 20 Troll Berserker. Experience awarded.
Finn gasped, eyes darting around, looking for the next monster. There was no troll fighters immediately in front of him, but they were swarming over the barricades on either side.
“Durzog! Fight me!” he roared, looking around for the War Chief.
The trolls had broken through in at least two places, capitalizing on their fierce assault as they piled forward in dark waves.
Ascension Path: Combat.
Morale 75 Mana.
Finn raised his arm. Golden energy glittered around it before spraying out all around him like gold dust. He felt a surge of optimism and confidence, and he could see all along the line the Malvas fighters that they felt it too. They immediately started fighting back with renewed vigor.
You have cast Morale. You will suffer no effects of Fear, Shock, or Intimidation and feel no pain. You receive +25% to all attacks and damage.
Finn felt his heart almost burst with the wave of bravery. They could do this. They were strong. The trolls had no idea just who they were—
Something hit Finn in the back. Something big and fast.
For a moment, he wasn’t quite sure what it was, but he realized that he was hurt, and badly.
You have been struck by the Level 35 Chaos Hammer for 165 points of damage.
Finn gasped, stumbling across the cart bed and turned to see War Chief Durzog standing on the barricade.