Chapter 312: Unreasonable Demands (1/2)
It was a weird atmosphere when they landed on top of a building near the massive gate. Ranks of dark ones stood in formation, mages behind as barricades were created. Weapons at the ready, they waited. The gates remained closed. Lucas had moved to the very front, none of the people stopping him. “You think he can do anything?” She asked Maro who was standing next to her.
“I doubt it. I like the way he thinks, I really do. Admirable. Depends on the enemy forces I suppose and what their goal here is. If they even break through the guardians positioned outside. I don’t know much about the political situation as well as the Feynor.”
“Will you fight them?” Terok asked, constantly switching his attention between the gate, the dark ones below and the two people next to him.
Maro didn’t reply, simply focusing on the gates. Ilea wasn’t sure either. The elves had left no survivors, going as far as eating dead humans. She didn’t know what would happen if Baralia took Virilya but some of the soldiers had killed civilians without restrain, others had ignored them. Let’s see what the Feynor are like. The only thing she knew was that once those gates opened, chaos would ensue.
“They will attack us regardless. Those dragon worshiping cunts are ruthless.” Terok commented.
“Have you fought them then?” Maro asked, the dwarf shaking his head, “Then let’s see where this leads.”
Ilea sat down a moment later, her legs hanging freely. Came here to have some time off from fighting and all I did so far was fighting. She smiled, at least it hadn’t been Taleen or undead knights. And she had some food, though the shopping was underwhelming.
“How the fuck are you guys so calm? We’re all going to die…,” Terok looked around, as if he was trying to find an escape route.
Maro glanced at Ilea but turned his head forward again. “At least I get a warning this time. With all the other attacks it came out of nowhere.” She was the one to answer. “Just stick with us, you’ll survive.”
“Probably.” Maro added.
Ilea smiled, “Probably.” She repeated. It was true of course. Terok would be safer as far away from the gates as possible but the dwarf was at level 223 already, higher than most of the dark ones standing below. It simply depended on how powerful and numerous the attackers were. The same was true for Ilea and Maro and while she didn’t know his reasons, she refused to ignore an event like this happening close by. Ilea would be standing there even if she was the only one inside the dungeon.
The pounding on the gates became louder, different spells and explosions audible in a muffled tone. “At least thirty of them. If we assume only attack mages are trying to get through we should expect at least eighty of them.” Maro commented.
They shouldn’t stand so close together. Ilea noted, looking at the dark ones gathered in the big area before the gates. The house they were on stood around two hundred meters further back, the sounds audible thanks to the silence of the defenders. Ilea could feel them through her sphere, at least those standing close enough. “They’re terrified.”
“Course they are, their home is about to be sacked.”
“Tell me dwarf, what happens to settlements the Feynor attack?” Maro asked.
“They usually don’t leave anything behind. An affront to their own culture. At least that’s what everyone says.”
The king nodded and walked to the back of the house, holding out his hand before bones started dropping down to the alley below.
“So you will fight?” Ilea asked.
“There might be no choice. As much as the old man believes there to be one.” He replied.
One last explosion bent the gates inwards, the torches and glinting reptile eyes reflecting the light indicated quite a bit more than the eighty attackers Maro had suggested. A single one walked inside, the collective holding their breath as he approached. A small figure compared to most of the people in Lisburg, not taller than Ilea herself. Squinting her eyes, she could make out some details. It reminded her of a lizardman, the tail much shorter and where they were greenish, these people were going towards yellow, gold or brown.
The head was completely different, more dragon like than anything else. Even the drakes had lacked some of the features the Feynor sported, the amount of horns the most prominent one. The reptile looked dangerous, powerful, its spear glinting in golden light. It wore light armor, open in several places to reveal scales it likely deemed appropriate in defensive capability.It was too far away for Ilea to identify of course but the sheer confidence it exuded after entering the dungeon had her guess its level pretty high.
“Welcome noble warrior, to the Vineyard Caves. May we…,” Lucas was interrupted by the Feynor.
“Your kind is not welcome here. Do not speak for those dreadful monsters.” It raised a hand and continued, addressing not the elder but the people of Lisburg, “Surrender now and you shall die without pain, I swear on the dragons of the high peaks. Be returned to where you came from, released from this world you do not understand.”
“Negotiations braking down.” Ilea commented, Maro snorting next to her. The people around them were getting more and more terrified with each word the Feynor spoke. The sheer arrogance and contempt was damn near graspable even from the distance.
“That’s how you keep the moral high ground after slaughtering a people.” Maro said, his magic spreading behind him, Ilea glancing back.
“Terok, if shit goes south, lead people to the arena and barricade yourself in with them.” Ilea said to the dwarf who obviously didn’t want to stay there. He nodded quickly, not even glancing at her as he stared at the torchlight quietly swaying in the dark tunnel beyond.
“These people are peaceful, unwilling to take part in your war. Neither do they encroach on your territory. Leave this place, you are unwanted here.” Lucas spoke loudly.
The Feynor nodded, “You shall die with them old man.” He shouted something in a hissing language before a storm broke loose. Dozens of the Feynor appeared beyond the gate, spells started flying in as defensive barriers and walls were erected by the Dark ones who quickly spread out, rushing into houses or behind cover as the first spells impacted. The speed and precision of both the attackers and defenders was a marvelous and terrifying thing to watch. Ilea glanced a wooden wall forming where Lucas had stood, now obscured by rising smoke, explosions and fire.
Ice rained down on them as Maro raised a shield above. Terok looked at Ilea and she just nodded, the dwarf vanishing right after. She watched as Maro lifted his hand, a beam of black opaque energy slamming into a flying ball of fire, the thing exploding in mid air. More and more of the creatures rushed in, hunting down the dark ones still remaining near the gate. Four or five to one, they broke through their defenses and cut into their armor, skin or ethereal bodies.
“What are they doing?” She asked as she stood up, her ashen armor forming as a series of dark orbs slammed into her. Maro stood behind his barrier as she felt his magic intensify, the noises of bone on stone audible behind. Many of the dark ones were already fleeing or repositioning at this point, not thirty seconds after the initial breakthrough.
“The gift for surrendering was a painless death. There is no rush when they hold the only entrance.” Maro suggested.