Path of Dragons

Book 6: Chapter 96: Siege

Colt leaned back in the chair, his feet on the table as he looked at the still-unfamiliar cards. He barely understood the game, but somehow, he was currently in the middle of an inexplicable hot streak. He didn’t believe in luck – a man made his own fortune, as far as he was concerned – but his winning ways definitely stretched that notion to its limits.

Finally, he laid his cards on the table. “Believe that means I win. Again.”

One of the dwarves groaned, throwing his own cards on the rough-hewn table. Another just stared at the multi-colored cards Colt had just revealed. The third member of the group – a goblin named Myskix – snarled, “Doesn’t make sense. You didn’t even know the rules before tonight.”

Colt shrugged, then tipped his hat back a little. “S’pose I’m just lucky,” he said.

“Nobody’s that lucky,” Myskix slurred. Despite their situation, he was more than a little inebriated, which probably led to his consistent losses. It also made him far more volatile, and Colt recognized an impending fight when one presented itself.

“Don’t go gettin’ riled up. You want a fight, I’ll give ya one. But it ain’t gonna end well for you,” Colt said. “Best you save it for the real enemy. Or did ya forget ‘bout them?”

Myskix blinked his beady eyes, and his ears twitched before he threw himself across the table. The little goblin was quick, but Colt was quicker. Even as the small, green figure scattered the table’s contents – ethereum, drinks, and cards – off the table, Colt reacted. He barely moved, but somehow, he ended up wrapping his fingers around the goblin’s neck, twisting, and slamming him against the nearby wall.

He squeezed.

“Told ya it wouldn’t end well,” Colt said, leaning close to Myskix’s long nose. Then, he released the goblin, who clattered to the floor, gasping for air. “Now, I think we’re done playin’ cards for now. We need to –”

Just then, an unholy screech filled the air. Through the windows of the guard house, Colt saw flashing, red lights. And he knew what they both meant.

He quickly grabbed his sheathed sword and shouted, “Attack! To your positions, boys!”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The two dwarves and Myskix knew the drill. They’d had plenty of practice runs, so they too had recognized the alarm when they saw it. They gathered their weapons and followed Colt as he sprinted outside and onto the top of the wall encircling Ironshore. Behind him, a huge ball of blinking, red light illuminated the entire city, while the caterwauling alarm echoed throughout the region.

Colt tuned it out as he searched the area on the other side of the wall. It had all been cleared, and it was riddled with traps and trenches that went on for more than a hundred yards. He’d helped dig those ditches, and he’d watched those with pertinent skills set the traps, so he knew the area like the back of his hand.

Because of that, aside from a quick scan, he didn’t pay much attention to the defenses. Instead, he focused on the stretch of land on the other side. And as he saw the enemy army arrayed before him, he couldn’t keep a deep frown from creasing his face.

There were thousands of them. Perhaps tens of thousands. Far more than he or the leaders of Ironshore ever could have expected. And they were all armed and armored for battle. Until that point, it had been quite rare to find a dark elf wearing anything but leather gear, but now, Colt saw plenty of fighters in full plate armor.

“This ain’t…this ain’t good,” said one of the dwarves as he absently adjusted the armor Carmen had made for the entire city. The dwarf was a Miner, if Colt remembered correctly. By no means was he prepared for what was coming. And yet, none of them had a choice. The elves had made it absolutely clear that they didn’t intend to give anyone quarter. At best, they would make slaves out of any of the survivors. At worst…

Colt didn’t want to think about that.

The bottom line was that none of them could avoid a fight. They’d known that from the moment the dark elves had begun the conflict, and they’d made preparations accordingly. Still, despite all the countermeasures they’d built, Colt was far from convinced they had enough firepower to deal with so many dark elves.

Another light – this one blue – exploded above the city, and Colt’s heart sank.

The red alarm meant that enemies had been spotted coming from the forest. Colt was looking at those. But the blue was more disturbing. It meant that the dark elves were coming from below as well. It meant that their last resort had failed. They were supposed to collapse the tunnels in the hopes of killing a large swath of dark elves. It wasn’t what anyone wanted, considering how much work it would take to get the mine up and running again, but even the consequences of falling behind were better than giving the dark elves a free path to the surface.

But obviously, that had failed. Had the dark elves counteracted it? Colt didn’t know, and for his current task, it didn’t really matter. His job was to hold the wall, and he needed to trust that the rest of the makeshift militia could do the same on the other side of the city.

For a few minutes, the people of Ironshore scrambled into position. It didn’t matter if they were fighters or noncombatants. Everyone was expected to contribute to the coming battle. So, as Colt and the others watched the opposing army, they were joined by hundreds of people. Many were Miners – that was the city’s stock and trade, after all – but there were other classes in there as well.

Colt even caught sight of Carmen, decked from head to toe in heavy plate armor and wielding her new hammer. It was larger and more devastating than any other weapon she’d created. With her enormous Strength, the quality of her equipment, and the experience she’d gained as a fighter, Carmen was not to be underestimated just because she didn’t possess a combat class.

He also saw Gwenivere and the other castaways. Aside from her, they all wore grim and haunted expressions. None wanted to be there. They’d fought too many battles. They’d faced death too many times. And it had broken any will to fight they might’ve once possessed. Trauma was like that. However, they still showed up because, as well as anyone, they knew the stakes.

Colt respected them even more for that.

Still, all in all, Ironshore only had a population of around fifteen thousand people. And of those fifteen thousand, only around half would be capable of truly contributing to the city’s defense.

Given what he saw arrayed against them – if there were less than fifty thousand dark elves surrounding the city, he would have been extremely surprised. And he expected the number was closer to six figures, given that he hadn’t even seen the force coming from below.

In short, they were woefully outnumbered, even when taking into account the advantage of being the defenders.

Before he could dwell on that for too long, the dark elves wheeled a series of war machines out. They were simple cylinders on wheels, and to his eye, they looked a lot like cannons. However, instead of being forged from iron or brass, they were made from some silvery metal that glinted red in the light. They were also covered in elaborate etchings that made them look more like works of art than weapons of war.

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Once the things were in place, the cylinders tipped forward, and, all at once, they fired. They didn’t use projectiles, but rather, balls of pure ethera that roiled and hissed as they sailed through the air. Just before they collided with the wall, they hit a shield of energy that stopped them cold. The ethera splashed across the barrier, looking almost like a fireworks show.

Then came the next volley.

And the next after that. On and on it went as the dark elves bombarded the shield with artillery. It was useless because, while Ironshore may have lacked fighters, it certainly didn’t have a deficiency of crafters. Those Tradesmen also had had plenty of time to work on the defenses, and so, they’d instilled the wall with a powerful enchantment that they’d said would protect the city for days if necessary. Probably indefinitely, given the high density of ambient ethera.

For that, they could thank Elijah’s grove and the arboreal natural treasure he’d planted in what was now Druid’s Park. They had ethera to spare. The problem was that the same ethereal density affected the cannons, giving them nearly infinite energy. It was thinner further from the city, but at a distance of a few hundred yards, it wasn’t a big enough difference to cripple their ability to bombard the city.

But a stalemate favored the city, because it gave them time to get everyone into position before the elves inevitably concluded that, if they wanted to take the city, they needed to get their hands dirty.

It took nearly two hours before the cannons ceased their fire, and though the shield remained as strong as ever, the effect on the defenders was far more dire. Most of the combat classes were fine, but the others were clearly rattled.

And Colt understood it, too. Sometimes, the anticipation of battle was much worse than the fight itself. In this instance, that likely wouldn’t be the case, but that didn’t rob the bombardment of its psychological impact. It was a difficult thing to endure, even when they knew the shield wouldn’t break.

At the cessation of the cannon barrage, Colt let out a sigh of relief that was echoed by most of the people nearby.

“Get ready,” he announced. “Ain’t gonna be long ‘til they charge.”

He didn’t really need to say it. Everyone knew what was coming. But knowing someone was in charge – at least as much as Colt was – gave people comfort. It bolstered their confidence and pushed them to do things they normally wouldn’t have been capable of doing.

Sure enough, after only a few more minutes, the dark elves sent the first wave of attackers. They rushed across the field, leaping over traps and ditches along the way. Or at least that was true for the first few feet.

Then, Ironshore let loose with its own cannons.

Balls of roiling ethera landed amongst the charging fighters, exploding with enough force to completely dismember the ones in the immediate point of impact. Body parts, clouds of dirt, and misting blood filled the air, accompanied by screams of purest agony. Dozens died to the first volley, and even more fell before the second. The third, though, was stymied by the dark elves’ reaction.

Suddenly, a portable version of the same shield that had protected the city manifested above the charging dark elves. It wasn’t nearly as powerful as the one around Ironshore, but it was strong enough to take a couple of direct hits before shattering. That allowed the charging fighters to push inside the effective range.

That was the problem with those cannons. They were powerful weapons of war, but they were difficult to aim. The angles at play made it even more difficult, meaning that, while the last leg of the dark elves charge wasn’t entirely free of cannon fire, it was a lot less prevalent than the first stretch.

So, the force reached the wall with minimal casualties.

Normally, the wall was only a few dozen feet tall, but the city’s Tradesmen had been hard at work ever since they’d discovered the close proximity of the hostile dark elves. Since then, they’d extended its height to nearly a hundred feet. The dark elves scaled it with ease.

They didn’t need ladders, instead relying on thrown grappling hooks that seemed to be guided by magic. They dug deep into the crenellations atop the wall, and when Colt tried to dislodge one, he found that it was stuck fast. Even the rope, which had a metallic sheen to it, took four hacks from his katana before it was severed. That sent a few dark elves plummeting back to the ground, but he knew it was far too much to hope that such a fall would stop them.

“Get ready!” he shouted.

Along the wall, a line of dwarves, humans, gnomes, and goblins stood poised to meet the ascending force. And when that first head popped over the wall, it was met with the stout blade of a pickaxe wielded by one of the Miners. The next took a sword to the throat. And the next, a blade that hacked a hunk of skull away.

When one appeared before Colt, he decapitated the elf. But even as her body disappeared over the side, another took its place. He swung his sword again, and with similar results. But he could only attack so quickly, and another came on the second’s heels.

Then another.

The dark elves swarmed, surmounting the wall far too quickly for the defenders to deal with them all. And the second one of them planted his feet on solid ground, the battle shifted.

The dark elves paid their price in blood, but even as Colt fought to defend the wall, he knew it was a losing battle. There were too many enemies, and they were too durable. Their armor wasn’t quite as stout as what Carmen had created for the defenders, but it was enough to keep them alive.

On and on Colt fought, slaying dozens of elves. He didn’t use any active skills, opting instead to save his stamina. Still, he hacked and slashed, reaping lives with almost every attack.

As he battled, he felt experience pour in. The elves had some levels on them, and as such, they gave quite a lot of energy when they died. Soon enough, he passed the threshold into the next. And the next after that. But he didn’t have time to check his gains. Instead, he could only focus on the fight before him.

Then, the signal he’d long expected appeared.

An orange burst of light announced the second phase of the city’s defense, and Colt shouted, “Down!”

All of his people obeyed his order, and he let loose with Cut of a Thousand Blades, one of his newest skills:

Cut of a Thousand Blades

Conjure a thousand blades to swirl around you. Each will issue a single cut. Potency dependent on relative Strength attribute. Accuracy based on Dexterity attribute. Cooldown: 24 hours.

Instantly, a thousand ethereal, blue blades manifested around him. Colt’s brow creased as they spread out, each one aiming for a different dark elf. The ones closest to him hit with surgical precision, and many decapitated his enemies. However, as the blades spread out in a hundred foot radius, his aim grew sloppier. They still cut, but few of those wounds were lethal.

It didn’t matter, because he immediately followed it up with Rain of Blades:

Rain of Blades

Conjure a deluge of spectral blades, hindering your opponents’ movements. Potency based on Dexterity attribute. Cooldown: 24 hours

The sky broke open, revealing a cascade of falling blades. They fell upon the wall, slamming into the army of dark elves. They didn’t actually harm the enemy. Instead, they merely pinned them in place.

“Retreat!” he ordered.

His fellow defenders followed that command, each one leaping to their feet and racing to the ladders that had been propped on the inner side of the wall. They shimmied down with well-practiced technique. Meanwhile, Colt simply leaped down.

All across the wall, the other defenders did the same. And when everyone was down, they dragged the ladders with them. At the same time, the Tradesmen activated a series of traps at the bottom of the inner wall.

As everyone raced into the city, a few dark elves recovered from the various abilities used to hinder their movements and leaped off. They were immediately subjected to the deadly traps at the bottom. None were lethal – that was beyond the skills of the city’s Tradesmen – but they did inflict serious injuries upon the ones unlucky enough to lead the way.

The dark elves, of course, recognized that, so they spent precious time spreading across the wall and finding the guard houses which contained the stairs that would lead them down.

Those, too, were heavily trapped, and in that confined space, these traps were far more lethal. They killed hundreds of elves before the enemy gave up on that route. As they remained stranded on the wall – albeit temporarily – the defenders took up new positions in the city.

For Colt’s part, he set up in an alley and prepared himself for urban warfare.

Even though everything had gone mostly to plan, he knew that they’d barely even bloodied the nose of the dark elf army. They were still largely outnumbered, and Colt knew that their position was untenable. But even so, he intended to fight until the last breath.