Chapter Eighty-One: Parting Gifts

Chapter Eighty-One: Parting Gifts

Conversation in the room immediately sputtered out.

The merchant moved to the front of the room, and her wisp faded into visibility in front of them.

Wisps were intimate for Idealists, generally only ever seen by other Idealists one trusted enough to form a party with. An Idealist could make their wisp visible to anyone, though. The merchant clearly didnt enjoy it, but it was the only reasonable way to get the messages sent by Lord General Steel directly to the team leaders.

The merchant spoke aloud the message she sent in reply to him, Lord General Steel, I have the team leaders here. Were ready. Her wisp, a lustrous golden colour, pulsed and after a minute or so, began to scrawl with black text.

Thank you for the swift response. The orcs have begun proper assaults on the wall.

Val spoke. What is the situation exactly, General? The merchant relayed the question through her wisp.

The assault is concentrated on the north east quarter of the wall. We are holding for now. The explosions a few nights have put the orcs in disarray, but the Watch have reported two siege orcs behind the front lines. They were being readied in the buildings in Rens Delve instead of inside the mine. We believe they will attack with them as soon as they have moved their equipment closer to the city, and cowed the rest of their army back into order.

A worm of fear wriggled in Toms stomach. Two siege orcs was a lot better than the dozen or so that they had in the mines, but it might still be enough to overwhelm the Guards manning the wall. One of the giant boulders or huge spears that the regular orcs had fashioned for them to use could do serious damage to the enchantments, not to mention any Guards they hit with them.

The team leads broke into hurried conversations, quickly reigned in by Val.

What do you need us to do?

My Guards are stretched thin. Theyve distributed siege ladders to orc assault groups all the way around the wall. We imagine theyll try to hit us all at once, overwhelm us. Im not confident we can take out the siege orcs, not while also carrying out repelling actions all around the rest of the wall. Im not sure more time will help.

The explosions proved how easily the orcs organisation can be threatened. I would stake my life on this Smith and his chieftains being the only things holding the army together. We need to kill them. Does your enchanter have anything he could make that could help?

There was an awkward pause. Scriber was nearly captured carrying out the sabotage on the mines, General. The second explosion the other night, the one we were all wondering about? That was him. Hes gone.

Now the wisp paused, floating still in the air for some minutes, before finally the text resumed.

Goddess, but we cant catch a break. At least we got most of these siege orcs. My condolences to you all.

Thank you, General. It was a big blow to the war efforts. He will be missed. We are all eager to avenge him.

Val, Tom broke in. Scriber mentioned he had been working on something to help us with the orcs. He had realised the same thing: that without their leaders, they are little better than beasts. He said it was here, in his workshop.

Cub nodded, the big man looming forward from where he had been sitting quietly against one wall. I helped forge the device for him. It wont help with the leaders, not directly, anyway, I think. His idea was a paralytic ray. It will allow us to attack the Smith and his chiefs without spending ourselves wading through thousands of orcs.

Faces around the room became thoughtful, taking in the information. The merchant was relaying their conversation through her wisp to General Steel. The General had tried to use Watchmen volunteers to assassinate the Smith already, but the sheer amount of orcs surrounding him at any given time made infiltrating close enough impractical. Any assassins would be discovered, and have to fight their way through too many of the rank and file to make an attempt feasible. But if the orcs were spread out assaulting the wall, and they were hit from behind

Goddess bless that man, the Lord General sent. His device sounds like just what we need: an opening. If you can pressure the Smith, keep him occupied, the Watch should be able to handle the siege orcs while the Guard maintain the wall.

Can you give us any help with the Smith, General? He is bound to be surrounded by his most powerful Idealists. There are less than one hundred of us. Even with Scribers device, we might not be enough.

Im sorry, no. I wish I could. The civil war still rages. There is open fighting in the streets, constantly, now. Civilians are getting dragged into it. More and more of the Watch are getting involved too. I have barely enough left to keep an eye on whats happening beyond the walls.

Ladies and gentlemen, I wont lie to you. The situation is dire. If we dont break the siege now, we will lose it. The siege orcs, their Idealists, the sheer amount of troops they have, will all be too much. We will not get a better chance, and we cannot wait any longer anyway. Now is the time to throw everything we have at them. No more raids, no more infiltration, or sabotage. We bring battle to them, kill the chiefs, or we lose the city.Read latest chapters at novelhall.com Only

The team leaders read the message, and digested it with stony-faced silence. Val gazed around at each of them.

Leave it to us, Lord General. Well get it done. Watch for us. We are coming.

The wisp pulsed in acknowledgement, and went silent. The team leaders immediately began discussing logistics, tactics, strategy, for the upcoming battle.

All in. One last attempt to decide the fate of the city. This was it.

Tom sat with Rosa, listening to the discussion, but could not contribute. He had no experience with such large scale battles, and could offer no advice or novel ideas. After a while, he instead sought out Cub.

Tom idly wondered what other enchantments were dispersed throughout the set. He glanced at Rosa, and found her inspecting a set of her own armour.

Like his own, it was metallic, made of plate as opposed to leather and mail, but it was thinner, lighter, and provided less coverage. The pauldrons were not as bulky, and it had no gauntlets or cuisses. Unlike his, her cloak was much thicker, and at a glance, much more heavily enchanted. He could also see that her soft leather under armour was different too.

He turned to Cub, and found the man in front of a huge pile of books. He was absently flipping through a small journal. He noticed Toms regard.

He knew, he said, smiling. Somehow, he knew. These are all the notes he made over the years. Every single thing he knew about enchanting. Every single skill, every single curiosity he discovered about all of the Ideals he ever encountered. Its incredible.

Tom could only agree. The information contained in the books could make Cub wealthy enough to found his own fortress city. Enchanters the world over would beggar themselves for a days unrestricted access to them without a second thought.

Mind telling us about all this, Mr. Enchanter? Tom asked, gesturing to their armour. I assume you had a hand in forging it?

Of course, Cub said with a grin. Best work Ive ever done, I reckon.

Its all soulsteel, with bloodsteel for the runes. Just like your weapons. Yours is heavier, as you can see, Tom, and layered over with durability and self-repair runes. Should be light as a feather too. We were aiming for maximum protection. The breastplate has an enchantment that tracks your health, and if you get too low, itll throw up a shield. Recharges from ambient mana, but itll take a couple days to do it.

Rosa, yours is lighter obviously, to allow you to make use of your Speed. The leather underlay is all focused on streamlining mana flows and assisting in mana regeneration, and the plate is focused on amplifying damage.

Youll be able to move faster and hit harder, and stick it out longer if you get cornered, he said to Rosa.

And you will be able to stand in the thick of things for longer without getting so fucked up, he said to Tom.

I love it, Rosa purred. Thank you. Tom echoed the sentiment.

Cub accepted the thanks awkwardly. Scriber put in half the work. He really liked the both of you. Use them well, and Im sure he will be proud.

They shared a minutes silence then, remembering their odd enchanter friend who had done so much for them. Cub eventually broke it.

Theres more. Check your rings.

Tom and Rosa both pulled out the next items. Tom looked at the weird collection of straps with confusion, but Rosa immediately got excited.

Dont get ahead of yourself, Cub said. Theres still more. Grab out the next things too.

They both dipped into their rings again, and both pulled out some more soulsteel plates. This time, they were accompanied by lots of soulsteel mail, all connected oddly by more straps. Rosas looked longer and narrower, whereas Toms set was wider and rounder. Tom couldnt make heads or tails of it, but Rosa seemed like she was going to burst.

What is it? he asked, feeling a bit stupid. Cub just grinned at him. Rosa smacked him around the head excitedly.

Saddle and tack! she practically screamed. And barding. Enchantedbarding!

Tom was still confused. He knew barding was armour for a horse, which was obviously useful for Rosa, with her horse familiar, but

Realisation hit him.

Oh, he thought. Oh. Sesame is gonna love this.

Just then they were interrupted by a commotion in the main cave. They quickly stored their new gear and made for the door.

Val had been giving a speech, it seemed. They had missed it, going over their new gear like excited children. To be fair, Tom didnt know a single Idealist that wouldnt get excited about new, custom-made, enchanted gear. Besides, it was obvious what the speech had been about.

Just under one hundred people stood listening to Val, the team leaders arrayed behind her. Many had been exiled to this life, shunned, forced into the Deep at the whims of fate. Many had been captured, tortured by orcs, simply by virtue of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Every one of them had one thing in common.

They were Hunters.

Every single person was burning with fury. Every single person had been thrust into this life or death struggle against monsters out of legend. They had seen friends die. They had suffered.

But no more. As the Lord General said: no more raids, no more sabotage, no more subterfuge. It was time to put it all on the line.

The battle for Wayrest had begun.