Return to Jorgaldur Volume I: the battle mage

Until the end

This time there were no strategies. The army of corrupted beings attacked head on, ready to crush their enemies from all fronts, including the ground and the sky. They didn't have any air forces, as they came into conflict with their ranged attacks, but they did have these attacks, which they started to launch as soon as weapons and claws met in combat.

Gragko had opened a third hole in the ground, in the face of the greater influx of various types of worms. Eldi was in charge of this third place, using Frenzy, Area of Attack and Overload, in addition to Perforating Impact, to kill his enemies. Overload made the Lightning Spear last half the time, but he could recover the mana invested in it in less than a minute. With all those skills, he could match the effectiveness of the giants at the cost of losing defense, but this wasn't relevant in his current task.

The archers struck down the first attackers, which were advancing ahead of the rest, trying to use their speed to impact more strongly on the defense perimeter. But, soon, the attacking formation became more compact and fearsome, making the objectives less clear.

Once again, the powerful claws and brute force met the powerful shields, some of which had already begun to crack. The piercing power of the spears was met with the powerful skins of some beings. Skills to pierce defenses were met with their counterparts to increase them. Some spells encountered beings immune to them that intercepted them.

It is true that discipline and collaboration made elves and their allies more formidable than their enemies, but that assessment is only applicable to equal numbers. With an overwhelming disadvantage on their side, the defenders were, little by little, pushed back.

Some of their shields were cracking. Most of their spears had been broken, almost all but the most exceptional. That involved using other weapons, such as swords or maces, much less efficient to support from behind.

In addition, the number of injuries and their severity was increasing, which forced them to reduce the size of the perimeter, which was also decreasing in effectiveness, and their equipment was getting more and more damaged.

And, to make matters worse, mana and energy was also running out. The only warriors who weren't in trouble were Eldi and the giants, but their work was essential. Only when the latter regained all their power, they were replaced by three warriors each, which forced Eldi to create four more spears.

The arrival of the giants was a relief for a section of the perimeter, because, full of energy, they soon imposed their strength. However, their energy wouldn't last forever, and the rest of the circle was still being forced to step back. Soon, they would be in a critical situation.

"Eldi, now!" Caranlín shouted.

As they had previously discussed, the high human again unleashed Rock Fortress, covering a few meters ahead of the current perimeter, and thus, confining some enemies inside.

"Disnalor! Your turn!" commanded the red-haired elf.

The mage, who had been resting to recover some of his power, get up and began bombarding the enemies that had been trapped inside the spell, with the support of other mages. At the same time, some defenders exchanged their positions with warriors of more offensive profile, who didn't hesitate to attack their enemies. Some of them, like the giants, even had time to help their teammates, attacking from the flanks.

When the spell's time was used up, they had already got rid of all the trapped enemies and redone the perimeter. They stood by challenging their enemy, smiling, letting them know that they were in top form to endure another wave. Although the truth was that it was only a bravado. They were exhausted and injured. They knew they couldn't take much more.

Their little ploy to buy time had worked. Fearful of another Armageddon, the enemy had withdrawn and were hesitating to attack, while Disnalor seemed ready to cast it.

The general hesitated. It hesitated at the defiant attitude of its enemies, who didn't even look tired. It hesitated at the spell that mage was preparing against them. It doubted because of the number of troops it had lost, and the times their attacks had failed. It took a long time to realize that it was just a bluff, that it had been deceived. That enraged it.

"Go get them! Attack! Shoot!"

Caranlín gave a bitter smile. They had hold until then, but they had run out of tricks. So, they have no choice but endure as much as they could. She was aware of her troops condition. They all were.

Some archers moved forward, because they had no arrows left, and could still wield their swords. The mages in charge of establishing the defense erected shields to face the ranged attacks, even knowing that they couldn't continue doing so for a long time.

Gradually, the perimeter receded again. Healers were overwhelmed. They could only stabilize the injuries, try to close them enough so that the warriors could fight one last time when the end came. In doing so, they would be opened again, but, at least, they could die with honor.

Only the offensive mages were idle, watching the battle they were gradually losing, accumulating mana for one last attack.

"Now! Shoot!"

When the perimeter had been reduced to a critical point, Caranlín gave the order. The mages cast all their spells just behind the attackers. Their goal was to separate the lines, kill as many as they could, wreak havoc, and let the warriors take care of those in front.

It wasn't an absolute success, but not a failure either. A rain of magic fell on the losts. Those in the front were pushed by their allies and the shock waves, destabilizing them. Of those in the line of fire, many died or were seriously injured, while some resisted without serious damage.

The warriors pushed once more, recovering some lost ground. However, soon, other corrupted beings replaced the fallen, and trampled on the ones which couldn't fight, again pressing the defensive perimeter.

Eldi cursed being in that situation, and he wasn't the only one. None of those present wanted to die. Everyone had reasons to continue living, mostly family and friends who were waiting for them. But there was nothing they could do except fight to the last breath, except free as many of those losts as they could.