Path of Dragons

Book 8: Chapter 13: The Hollow Depths

Irasi stood atop the walls of the citadel and watched as her people’s doom descended upon Aeristhûn’s walls. Perhaps the current charge would not destroy their defenses – after all, the powerful thrum of ethera through the walls was still as strong as ever – but she could see their fate writ large across the attacking army’s amassed force.

They didn’t strike only from the ground, where the attackers rode massive beetles with mandibles well-suited to cutting through stone. They also came from above. Astride giant mosquitoes that she knew were just as dangerous as their riders, the trolls came for blood, howling in fury as they descended.

But they didn’t make it.

Hundreds of feet up, they rammed into the city’s main defense – a powerful shield that drew energy from a hundred power crystals buried deep underground. Ripples of ethera spread out from the point of impact as the mosquitoes – one after another – rebounded, righted themselves a second later, then resumed their charge.

That’s when the beetle cavalry – or siege weapons, if Irasi was concerned with accuracy – hit the walls. Their mandibles cut deep into the stone, showing just how horrifyingly effective they could be. As they did, the riders on their backs launched themselves to the top of the wall, where the Illythiri waited.

No one tried to kill the trolls. That was a task that would take far too much effort, and by the time they accomplished even a single kill, the others would overwhelm them. Instead, the Illythiri soldiers focused on dismemberment, all with the aim of knocking the trolls away from the walls.

Even as they went about that task with workmanlike efficiency, Irasi saw many of her soldiers fall victim to their monstrous attackers. These were no wild trolls. Rather, they were organized, intelligent, and well-equipped with chainmail armor and crafted weapons that hungered for blood. It was as if the elder race had returned from extinction to wage war on a newly-touched planet.

The only reason the city’s defenses had held for so long was because the trolls’ numbers were far from overwhelming. A few hundred in each charge, and that was likely a generous estimate. Indeed, if they’d had even a few more trolls to throw into each attack, the city would have long since fallen.

Even with their top-of-the-line defenses.

Being durable was one thing, but eventually, even the strongest wall would fall. However, if the wall rebuilt itself after every attack, it would last much, much longer.

Irasi had already sent the plans back to Eldrathûn. Hopefully, the Empress’ crafters could adapt and improve upon the design before the trolls reached the capital.

But that was not Irasi’s burden to bear. Her job – her lone task – was to defend the city she’d been granted. She knew she would fail. The crystals that powered Aeristhûn’s defenses were a finite source of energy. They would eventually be spent, and when that happened, the city would fall. Trolls would not be deterred by simple walls or mundane weapons.

“Burn them,” she ordered.

The soldier next to her raised a flag, and a second later, a loud gong echoed across the city. That sound elicited a ripple of activity, and every Sorcerer in the city stepped forward. Ethera swirled, thick and deadly, before they cast their spells. Unfortunately, only one in three were dedicated fire mages, and even then, most weren’t powerful enough to create flames of sufficient heat to destroy trolls.

But all together, the magical onslaught was enough to devastate the oncoming army. The trolls who’d fallen were burned to a crisp, and though a few managed to crawl away to recover out of range, most died.

It was a boon, having so many Sorcerers at her disposal, and those Illythiri mages had made substantial strides since the war had begun. One day, if they could defend the city long enough, they would reach a point where they could outpace the flow of trolls.

But that had not happened yet.

Never was that clearer than when that first wave was replaced by a second that was already on the way.

So it had been for months. Charge after charge. Day after day. They rarely stopped, except for during the Trial of Primacy. That was when the defenses had taken a step forward. Irasi had hoped it would be enough, that they had finally progressed to the point where they could become a stalwart edifice against which the troll hordes would break.

She had been mistaken.

The defenses had grown stronger, but so had the trolls.

The message was clear. Her city was doomed. She could only hope to delay them long enough for the Empress’ forces to erect more defenses against the invasion.

Aeristhûn was not the only city on the frontier. There were dozens of them, and each one was under siege. Along the route to the capital, there were nearly a hundred other fortresses and outposts guarding every conceivable path through the Hollow Depths. Thousands of soldiers manned those defenses, meaning that if the trolls broke through, they would still pay a heavy price before they ever reached the heart of Illythiri society in Eldrathûn.

In most cases, it would have been overkill.

But no one could have expected the presence of the trolls. They had planned for powerful creatures like the wild descendants of the elder race, but no one had anticipated an organized force of well-equipped and nigh-unkillable creatures hellbent on conquest.

More often than she cared to admit, Inari had considered the implications of the trolls’ presence. They were an elder race, and an extinct one at that. They’d all been killed in an eternal war against another elder race, the hobgoblins.

Neither race had survived intact. Reduced in numbers, their bloodlines had been tainted by outsiders. The descendants of the hobgoblins maintained their sentience – eventually becoming the various races of goblins that had integrated into modern society – but the trolls had gone the other way. Their bloodlines overwhelmed every other, but instead of retaining their sapience, they descended into monsterhood and became what everyone referred to as wild trolls.

No better than beasts, they were menaces capable of fighting far above their apparent power level. But they weren’t sapient. They did not use tools. And most importantly, they were almost always solitary creatures. The only exception to that was when they mated, which was a rare occurrence.

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So, the current situation was not one anyone could have prepared to tackle. Yet, Irasi was doing the best she could with the tools she had available. And by all rights, the defense had gone better than anyone could have expected.

Still, failure was not something Illythiri normally tolerated, and she knew that retreat would earn her some sort of punishment. She refused to let that sway her, though. Her first priority was to stop the trolls, but her second task as general was to preserve her people’s lives. That was almost as important as accomplishing the mission.

“Report,” she ordered when she sensed one of her Administrators approach from behind. The man looked half-starved and more than a little exhausted.

He bowed. “At the current pace of usage, the crystals will fail in three weeks,” he stated. “Our Sorcerers’ regeneration can no longer keep up with demands. If we divide them into smaller shifts, they will lack the power necessary to destroy the trolls. The casualties on the wall have been manageable, but if the current rate of disability continues, we will soon lack the manpower to defend the walls.”

“The Healers?”

“Overwhelmed, but working without rest.”

“Food and water?”

“Holding steady. They should not be a problem.”

“What of the evacuation?” she asked, still watching the oncoming second wave.

“They have reached Akthûn. Commander Olasir has implemented your orders, and their walls will hold. Civilians have continued on, though I am uncertain as to how far they have gotten,” the Administrator answered. “At their rate of travel, they should reach the portal in Marithûn in a month. From there –”

“They’ll be in the capital.”

The Administrator nodded.

That the civilian population of Aeristhûn had passed Akthûn and were well on their way to the teleportation hub was great news. If her city fell before they made it, all of those people would be slaughtered. Their progress was just one more load off her shoulders, letting her focus on the task at hand.

She gripped the banister as she watched an all-too-familiar battle play out. The trolls charged atop their insectile siege engines, then launched themselves to the top of the wall. At the same time, mosquito-riding enemies attempted to foul the dome-like shield protecting Aeristhûn from airborne attacks. They failed, just as they had the last time, but Irasi knew that that wouldn’t always be the case. Soon enough, the power crystals would be spent, and the enemy would succeed.

She had no more options.

“Begin concocting the plan for retreat,” she ordered. “Maintain full rations of food and water. Increase the length of each shift but decrease the numbers on duty. I will bolster the soldiers myself.”

There were other Tacticians scattered along the wall, but they were lieutenants while she was a general. That mattered, and not just because her level was higher. She also had a higher-grade class and more effective skills. In times of war, she was the heart of the army.

And they were most definitely at war.

When the latest charge was beaten back, the next didn’t immediately begin. That gave Irasi’s orders time to percolate through the defenders, and the changes were implemented. Soon enough, the soldiers and sorcerers manning the walls had been reduced by half.

And Irasi had joined them.

When the next charge commenced, she used the backbone ability of her class:

Immediately, the soldiers atop the wall moved with more surety, which allowed them to fend off the trolls with far better results. There were fewer casualties, courtesy of increased Regeneration and Constitution attributes, and their attacks were more effective than ever before. During other charges, hacking a troll’s limb from its body took the combined efforts of three or four Illythari, but under the effects of Bolster, it could be accomplished with two.

And when the time came to burn the monsters alive, the Sorcerers’ spells were that much more effective as well.

It was too bad, then, that Irasi could only use the ability every thirty minutes or so. Thankfully, she had other abilities at her disposal. Rally was a much more potent buff, but it only lasted ten seconds. Protect helped shield her people from damage by improving their Constitutions by a significant amount. And Hastened Blades gave them a distinct advantage by improving their Dexterity.

With so many abilities at her disposal, Irasi managed to instill her people with additional power on every other charge. It was enough to help them hold their heads above water, but she could sense the end coming.

After all, she was just one Illythari. She could only keep it up for so long before she ran dry of ethera. When that happened a few days later, they returned to their previous pattern of defense while she took the time to recover.

And then, once she was ready, she repeated the cycle.

It felt neverending. Time passed, but it all blurred together. Then, finally, she got the report she’d been dreading.

The same Administrator said, “The crystals are nearly spent. They have enough power for one more charge before they shatter.”

Irasi nodded. She already knew it was coming, and she was read to give the order she’d been dreading. “Begin the retreat. Last shift first. We’ll hold the walls and retreat when everyone is out of the city.”

“What about –”

“Go. There is no time to waste.”

Indeed, another charge was already underway, and the trolls showed no signs of backing down. They were a relentless force of pure hunger, and Irasi questioned whether anyone could stop them.

But for now, her job was simple. She needed to halt a few charges so that her people could affect a retreat. They’d been preparing for it for weeks, and now, the time was at hand.

The first thing she did was use her most powerful ability:

As the ability took hold, sending out thick threads of ethera to the best fighters in her army, weakness hit her like a physical blow. Ignoring it, she forced her back straight and growled, “Keep me alive. We need to fight them off for a few more waves.”

Even as those words left her mouth, the first of the current wave of trolls reached the top of the walls. They were just as huge, ugly, and hairy as before, but with Last Stand powering the troops, the creatures fell more quickly than at any time before. And when the Sorcerers let loose, the output was apocalyptic in nature. Huge gouts of flame erupted among the fallen trolls, burning them alive in seconds. Their aggressive tactics kept the waves of trolls at bay, preserving the shields’ energy, but it would only extend the life of the crystals for a couple of extra waves.

Irasi could only hope it would be enough.

With every passing moment, she felt her ethera levels plummet to a dangerous degree. She grabbed a potion from her belt and downed it, giving her some respite.

She had twenty such potions on her, which would hopefully last long enough for her people to escape.

So it went for the next three waves. The constant drain on her vitality and Ethera was like nothing she’d ever experienced. Certainly, she’d used Last Stand before. Every general had. However, she’d never employed the ability for such a long and continuous span. But it was her only choice.

If she let it falter – even for a second – the ability would go on cooldown. If that happened, her soldiers would die soon after.

Finally, after downing her last potion, she ordered the retreat.

It was an orderly maneuver, well-practiced and without a single falter. It still wasn’t quite enough, and just as the crystals gave out, the terrifyingly huge mosquito riders fell upon the last elements to vacate the walls. The scene was horrific, but Irasi couldn’t spare the time to watch.

She had other responsibilities – like getting her people out of the city.

The general led them along, and finally, they passed the first bulwark. When the trolls reached that location a few seconds later, they were greeted by waves of fire that burned them to a crisp.

Those defenses were single-use traps, but they gave Irasi’s people time to get away. Nearly a hundred such traps peppered the path to Akthûn, which was the only reason she and the last elements had any hope of escape.

Not that Irasi would see it.

Last Stand was well named, and the constant drain on her vitality had left her crippled. She knew she would be dead before they reached their destination. However, seeing that the majority of her people had survived was enough to cement it as a good decision.

Satisfaction at that thought was the last thing that crossed her mind before she stumbled and fell unconscious.