Winter's Crown: Act 6, Chapter 27

Chapter 27

The sounds of laughter filtered through the trees, and Qrs’ steps paused as he marvelled at the sound. When had his people learned to laugh in joy again? How many months had they lived with the shadow of Jaldabaoth looming over their shoulders?

No – that was wrong. It had been months for Qrs, but mere weeks for his people. They had never been subjected to Jaldabaoth’s evil tortures; his cruel games that toyed with mind and body alike. The Demon Emperor’s appearance was a calamitous event for them, to be sure, but it could have been worse. There was loss and there was grief, but at least those wounds could be soothed by the passage of time.

He continued on his way through the trees and out onto the riverbank, where his daughter played with several children of the various races that had come together in their great flight. It was a strange scene – races that would otherwise be fighting each other over territory and resources were now united by common cause and cooperation.

Qrs felt that the forest that they had settled in contributed to that feeling as well: it was lush and bountiful, offering them peaceful, idyllic lives. It felt more like home than the home that they had abandoned in the west.

“Leela!” He called out, “It’s time to go.”

His daughter stopped, as did the others she was playing with. Sad expressions crossed their faces for a moment, but then she walked away, waving and smiling as she went. The children returned to their play, and Qrs took Leela’s hand to walk her back to the village.

The people had taken well to the place, the initially ramshackle dwellings replaced by more substantial homes. The longer they stayed, the more they accepted the notion that they would be wintering here. Qrs suspected that they would be loath to leave when spring arrived. Even the growing demands of the Goblin army that was subjugating the basin to the east was not overly strenuous, so plentiful this land was.

“Qrs!” The gruff voice of one of the village elders called out, “About that thing we talked about…”

Qrs sighed, sending his daughter on her way. He turned around to face the elder who had assailed his moment of reprieve.

“It’ll take too long,” he told the elder.

“It’ll be worth it in the long term,” the elder pressed him.

We’re not going to be here for the ‘long term.’

He thought this, but he didn’t want to cast any shadows when everyone had so recently started to show signs of regular life again.

“Our warriors can keep the ruins suppressed for as long as they need to,” Qrs said. “Besides, it’ll keep them sharp. Better to use our mana on other things.”

“What ‘other things’ are there? The people are healthy, and injuries are minimal. We don’t need to summon food or anything else here, either.”

The elder had a point. Their current situation meant that their mystics had plenty of mana to spare.

“Then how about figuring out some new spells?” Qrs suggested, “That Manticore a couple of weeks ago really showed us how vulnerable we are to flying monsters. The village enchanter could take on some new apprentices too – those Dwarves are insanely miserly when it comes to magic items.”

“It’s nowhere as easy as you make it sound,” the Elder told him. “We’ll need the right spells, reagents–”

“The Elder Lich that was lurking in this forest had a huge trove of magic items, didn’t it?” Qrs said, “I can’t picture anyone actually trading with the Undead, so it must have made ‘em from the stuff that can be found around here.”

“Very well,” the elder sighed in defeat. “We’ll look int–”

“Qrs!”

They turned their heads at the woman’s voice. The Huntress was breathing heavily, eyes bloodshot.

He didn’t want to hear it. He really didn’t.

“There’s movement to the west,” she panted. “Fiends headed our way from across the plain.”

“How far are they?”

“I was just across the river, hunting game when I spotted them – fifteen minutes, maybe a bit more.”

Qrs started bellowing orders out across the village. Why had they decided to come now? No – the reason probably made sense. The Gnolls had moved across the pass in the last day or so. It left them reliant on their own, limited Hunters to stand watch in the rear. It was the best time to come upon them with little warning.

His real question was why they were being targeted in particular. The more he thought about it now, the more it didn’t make any sense. At first, it just seemed that they were in the way of Jaldabaoth’s advance, but his forces had plenty of options now. Shouldn’t he strike out against the large, Human nations all around the borders of the wilderness? Why did he insist on pursuing their relatively small group?

The demonic presence grew on the horizon as Qrs urged his people to mobilize. They didn’t have enough time, and they were scattered all over the surrounding forest. The two other villages would be overrun as the runners sent out to warn them arrived. He frowned as he saw families still running around their newly-made homes.

『Stop trying to pack your things and get over the pass! Those Fiends are coming here NOW!』

As if to punctuate his point, a massive scaled Demon landed in the centre of the village. Qrs brandished his weapon and charged.

The first thought that crossed Ludmila’s mind as she and her Undead trainees approached the final set of Goblin army encampments was how large of a communication network she could create with so many Imps. They had already arrived in the basin by the time she came through the Gate, swooping down over the Demihuman camps in such great numbers that they instead resembled a flock of starlings.

So much for training. Or maybe it was time for a change in flavour?

“I like them better when they are working in an office,” Ludmila muttered.

“It would be erroneous to correlate our familiars with these transient beings,” Nonna told her.

The Elder Lich appeared none the worse for wear after their encounter with the Gnolls. They had been using piercing arrows against Ludmila, and Nonna sent her summons down to tie up both the Gnoll that had led them into the ambush and the one that had attacked them from behind while she flew up and out of range to contact Lady Shalltear.

“Transient…you mean someone has summoned thousands of Imps?”

“We have no knowledge of any Fiend populations native to this region,” the Elder Lich replied. “It would stand to reason that this would be the case.”

“What about the Black Knight of the Thirteen Heroes?” Ludmila asked, “He was said to be half-demon.”

“A tale with no proper historical record,” Nonna said. “Likely embellished – if this individual even existed at all.”

The Black Knight was favoured by many for his dark and mysterious persona, but Nonna was clearly not a fan. She eyed the cloud of Imps in the distance, wondering how they could even begin to get rid of so many.

“If we get rid of these somehow, whoever sent them can just summon more, yes?”

“This would depend on the method by which they were summoned. If it was simply a matter of having individual summoners casting summoning spells, then yes.”

“Is there a way to locate the summoners?”

“Not unless they give themselves away through poor situational awareness while using their summons.”

Ludmila took a tally of her available flying forces. There were forty Bone Vultures and four Elder Liches, including Nonna. The Bone Vultures were a fair bit stronger than the Imps, while the Elder Liches were significantly so. She supposed she could try downing them as well, though using arrows to kill thousands of Imps one at a time felt like a futile endeavour.

As they came closer, shouts and screams could be heard from the camps. They had been thrown into absolute chaos: some Demihumans were making a desperate attempt at defence while others were attempting to flee into the surroundings. Many lay scattered over the ground, unmoving.

“We at least need to get rid of these ones before they get bored of harassing Goblins and fly off somewhere,” Ludmila said. “They will be an absolute terror if they cross over the borders and start attacking settlements. Do we have a way to get rid of so many at once? They are spread out over a wide area and constantly moving.”

“If they could be drawn into a smaller area, area effect spells could dispose of most of them.”

At Nonna’s suggestion, she sent several Death Knights forward, ordering them to use their attention-drawing skills when they came within range. The Demihumans in the camp froze, fixing their gazes on the Death Knights, but the Imps continued flying about. The distracted Demihumans were taken down in droves, and Ludmila frowned at the result.

“That definitely was not my intention.”

“Opponents must be afflicted with the Shaken status from a Death Knight before its skill will work on them,” Nonna reminded her.

Did that mean that Fiends were immune to fear? She didn’t think that they were…maybe they just didn’t care: they were Fiends summoned by some great evil, after all.

“Using volleys would be an efficient measure, on your part.”

“Volleys?” Ludmila asked.

“Area attacks with archery,” the Elder Lich answered. “You are a Ranger, yes?”

“I am a Ranger,” Ludmila frowned in confusion, “but how does a single person deliver a volley?”

Nonna offered no response, leaving her to puzzle over her nonsensical statement. Certainly, she had heard tales describing great heroes who could do exactly that, but they were fantastic embellishments with no real details and no basis in fact. Rather than tie herself in a knot over something she couldn’t do anyways, she refocused on the task at hand.

Summoned Imps were occasionally used in Adventurer training; she had seen and fought her fair share of them when she found herself stuck at Silver rank. They were Fiends whose survivability hinged on their weak damage reduction and agility. Being able to overcome both made them easy marks. They were resistant to poison and fire and had Invisibility as a spell-like ability. Offensively, they made slashing attacks with their claws and possessed a stinger laced with venom that hampered coordination if successfully applied.

They were a terror against weak opponents but were an insignificant threat against her forces. The problem was that there were a lot of them, and she wanted to reserve her Elder Liches’ mana for the adversary that had presumably driven these Demihumans before it. She issued instructions to her Elder Lich commanders.

『Follow those Imps to the next camp and start destroying them. Keep your mana near full – use your ground forces to get rid of the ones they can reach.』

She brought in her Bone Vultures as well, ordering them to make an attempt at herding the Imps towards the ground. Skeletal Undead were resistant to slashing attacks and the Imps’ stingers would do nothing at all to them. It wasn’t an instant solution, but destroying a few hundred Imps a minute between all of her forces would thin them out before too long.

A few minutes after they started their attack, the Imps started to show aggression towards her troops. They started to attack her directly as well. Fighting flying opponents on the shoulders of an Elder Lich was decidedly clumsy: she couldn’t use the Rune Bow to its full effect, and she couldn’t use her glaive at all. Fending off Imps in melee set them wobbling precariously with every swing of her axe.

“This is too awkward,” she said after fighting off the first set of Imps that came their way. “I will fight on the ground until we clear this mess up. Keep an eye out on our surroundings from above – let me know if you notice any pressing changes.”

Nonna skimmed several metres over the ground, and Ludmila hopped off of her shoulders with glaive in hand. She landed on a very confused-looking Hobgoblin that was probably trying to figure out why someone was riding an Elder Lich around. The blade punched through the Demihuman’s armour with no tangible resistance as she fell upon it, and was withdrawn just as easily. She continued moving, sweeping her immediate surroundings clear of both Imps and Demihumans before switching to the Rune Bow.

On the ground, with the benefit of concealment, she could attack from range unimpeded and unharassed. Within fifteen minutes, only Ludmila and her Undead forces remained standing in the encampment. She looked to the skies to see if any Imps had attempted escape, but the trees surrounding the clearing mostly blocked the view. Nonna floated down beside her.

“How did we do?” Ludmila asked.

“It was a trivial, though somewhat lengthy, task,” Nonna answered. “No Imps were noticed attempting to flee.”

She nodded at the report. They were lucky…or perhaps it was to be expected. Since they were summoned creatures, the Imps would be arbitrarily attempting to fulfil whatever orders they were issued to the best of their ability. They would not act chaotically unless instructed to do so.

“What about the rest of the camps? And the pass?”

“Twilight has fallen,” Nonna said, “it is difficult to discern past beyond the range of our Darkvision.”

“We should keep going, then,” Ludmila said, then turned to the waiting Elder Lich commanders. “Reorder your formations. Keep an eye out for Fiends and Demihumans in the trees – we still have no idea what is going on out here.”

Nonna took to the air, and Ludmila clicked her tongue as she looked down at the ruined encampments that passed below. There was no sign of Demihumans or Fiends, and she could only hope that none that might have gone their own way could get past her patrols along the border. Her attention did not stay on the camps for long; movement could now be seen coming down from the pass.

A throng of something was moving in their direction, and flying creatures could be seen overhead. Gouts of flame sometimes appeared over the ground, while the creatures overhead descended to scatter those below. As time passed and they drew closer, she got a clear look at the flying creatures. They were a mishmash of different things, and how they functioned made little sense to her – by their unnatural appearance, they were probably Fiends.

On the ground was a mixture of Demihumans: Goblins and some others she had never seen before. They were being harried by Hellhounds and Greater Hellhounds, which she recognized from Adventurer training.

“There are Demihumans and Fiends out there,” she said, “fighting one another…maybe we can just let them kill each other off?”

They were both potential invaders. Sometimes the strategically naïve or those who thought themselves clever would say that ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’, but those who defended the border knew that the enemy of one’s enemy was simply the enemy’s enemy. Their relationship to you was just what it was.

One might come across a conflict between Goblins, Ogres and Trolls, but none of them were your friends – they were all just as likely to attack Humans after they were done with one another. If one was particularly unlucky, one group would subjugate the rest and consolidate into a much stronger adversary. Having Fiends subjugate Demihumans and then having them all turn against her was a decidedly unattractive prospect.

“The foreign policy of the Sorcerous Kingdom has no clause for this type of scenario,” Nonna said. “Considering that they are all potential invaders, it is an efficient proposal…if the outcomes can be managed.”

“We never received a comprehensive report from our reconnaissance,” Ludmila said, “but the apparent strength of the individuals from those before us make it seem an even match. If these Demihumans were previously in a well-defended position, something must have convinced them to abandon it.”

The rationale spoke for itself. Ludmila turned to address her commanders.

『Both Demihumans and Fiends are coming down the trail. Reorder your formations across the way – line abreast; put a little bit of space between yourselves. We will let their fight play out until they reach our line. The Demihumans appear to be fleeing, so do not attack them unless you are attacked first. You are free to cut down the Fiends as they approach.』

It sounded reasonable in her head initially, but she then realized it probably wasn’t. The Undead were universally feared and regarded as an enemy to all life – the chance of someone not reacting poorly to them outside of the Sorcerous Kingdom was slim. Combatants would surely attack them in a bid to destroy what they perceived as a threat. Noncombatants would cower or continue to flee.

Was this something that the army of the Sorcerous Kingdom would have to deal with every time they went abroad? They were even having trouble leasing Undead security forces to their allies. She didn’t really have a head for how to improve their image – perhaps her friends could figure something out one day. In the heat of battle, this was the most she could do.

Before the fleeing Demihumans could make it any closer, a basso growl filled the air. The stones trembled as it rumbled against the bloody cliffs on either side of the pass and rolled down the trail. Ludmila held her breath at the oppressive sound, and her skin prickled at the overwhelming sense of danger that it carried. Just as it settled to be replaced by the sounds of battle again, the ancient pass erupted into flame, throwing scores of Demihumans in every direction.

Ludmila could only stare as the scene cast its hellish glow over the valley leading down from the mountain. A roar swept down over the fleeing masses, as if announcing the doom of the world itself. At the crest of the pass, a massive Fiend beyond her ability to reckon appeared, its form wreathed in flames that burned hotter and brighter than the inferno from which it had emerged. She could only bring to mind the words of the Demihumans who had fled before it, harbingers of the evil that had befallen the west.

This was the bane of the Abelion Wilderness.

The evil star.