Chapter 385: War Against the World

That which came from the breach in the northern forest dominated all sight. They filled the gap between every tree, a disorganized legion of monsters.

High up in the branches, a purple fleshy orb with eight white wings on its center and one eye on its front flapped up and down, sagging and then rising like a jellyfish in water. Everywhere it went, black winged creatures poured from its bottom like sand from a cut bag. Though they all fell freely, in moments they took to life and darted towards the elves in the canopy.

These small black winged creatures had weak bodies, like frail bats… yet their beaks were sharp and hard as metal, and they dived towards their enemies’ throats, eyes, and other soft parts with tremendous speed, digging in deep enough to do much more than draw blood. They seemed to die upon impact, yet when they did rose up again as black smoke, returning to the purple fleshy orb. There, they were absorbed and born again.

The elves were not fools, and their arrows sought the creature that spawned these dive bombers. It took the blows one and all, seeming to exist without pain. Finally, a mage swung out from the high branches, a spell prepared in hand that created a mana ripple. A single great bolt of yellow lightning slammed upon the top of its head, leaving a great burning gash. It floated down, dead and deflated. As it fell smoking, the whole of its body turned into the dive bombers as one final blow even after death.

And it was not alone in its hunt, either. One creature of the same purple flesh formed a torso, arms, and wings, with a great eye upon its chest. It had a bow of wind in hand and plucked the white feathers from its wings to use as arrows. Another almost seemed human, though its arms were wings and it held a gargantuan spear with ape-like feet, soaring through the sky and showing prowess with that weapon far beyond what seemed possible. They all hunted the elves without word, without mercy, and without pause.

With the steady advance of these monstrosities, those in the canopies of the redwoods did not begrudgingly retreat. Indeed, given time to progress, this would be no feigned retreat.

Things were no different on the ground. Swarms of ant-like creatures made of earth were numerous enough they hid the forest floor, with heads larger than their bodies and jaws larger than those heads. They chewed at everything, be it the trees, elves, or the fleeing animals. They had no eyes, and the only way they saw was testing all before them with those menacing jaws of theirs until they chewed on something fleshy. They died easy enough to flames or ice, but the fires were snuffed out by the arrival of others and the ice was made warm by new hot bodies.

When facing such a horde of opponents, it could be well forgiven that the elves retreated. And given the nature of their foes, it could be, too, overlooked that all the elves moved in a very particular manner. If the elven forces were a line holding against those of Kirel Qircassia, that line seemed to come into itself as it fell back, becoming thicker and thicker. And all the forces on the outside converged towards one particular point… almost an epicenter.

#####

Argrave knew that Anneliese was right when she said it was far-fetched to lead the centaurs and the giants beyond the initial confrontation. He was no expert when it came to the military, but he knew some things about the way people would behave. And in the event that one was led into what was obviously a trap—like, for instance, being led into a camp of giants—the person trapped definitely wouldn’t make the same mistake. There was a whole mantra about the idea. Fooling once, twice, and all that. The centaurs have a brain. No matter what he’d done, they wouldn’t run off the cliff like lemmings.

That’s why he modified the plan, somewhat. It was still two traps, technically… but one was for the giants, and one was for the centaurs. They were both stirred together in one big, messy pie.

In the heat of the moment, however, it was very hard to have pie on the mind.

The centaurs hounded them relentlessly. They were warriors well-accustomed to hunting prey than ran, and it showed. They were far larger, far faster, and all in all Argrave had done quite a stunning job of making sure they hated him. Though cautious of wire traps set by the elves or other such harmful things, they pursued with a single-track mind. He could practically hear their hate in the air, and it was strong enough to make it wonder if they forgot the reason they chased to begin with.

Orion and the Brumesingers were the main force keeping them all at bay, with Anneliese alternating between help for Orion and Argrave and a scout for what lay ahead. With ‘Sarikiz,’ or namely Mina, in Argrave’s arms, their pursuers were hesitant to shoot arrows. It was one small advantage he had with this whole charade of his. The centaurs hoped to catch up physically, not shoot them all down with arrows. And indeed, they did much more than hope—they tried their damnedest to do just that.

Argrave could feel the pounding of a thousand hooves behind as he jogged across the forest floor, returning to where the scenery ahead was overgrown roots and endless forests of giants. He didn’t dare look back—instead, his primary focus truly was escape. There was no better way to give the impression that he wasn’t faking an escape than genuinely escaping.

“A group of them split off,” Anneliese informed Argrave. “They’re trying to get around and ahead, surround us,” she relayed quickly.

“My turn, then,” Argrave paused abruptly, turning.

Argrave had been practicing using these blood echoes relentlessly, but it was still a difficult art. In the heat of the moment, he could only confidently manipulate two… and with only two, there was only one spell he could call upon. [Bloodfeud Bow] made its appearance, two of them pointed at the redwood trees.

His abrupt stop spurred caution from the pursuers, though some reckless fervor pushed them onwards. Argrave adjusted Mina in the time that past, watching their steady gallop. Finally, he released the spell, and the two bolts bore straight into the giant tree. It tipped, beginning its long fall, but…

Wrong god damn way, Argrave lamented in his head, but shouted instead, “We move this way!”

Orion and Anneliese both knew it wasn’t the designated path, but they heeded it nonetheless. They ran just beside its fall path, and when it collapsed with a roaring boom, roots ripped and writhed every which way. Nevertheless, it did somewhat stem the tide.

Anneliese sped ahead, doing some speedy and impressive scouting with her Starsparrow. She said, “They’re delayed, but not for long! The other side converges. They’ve blocked the route we intended to take.”

“You can make us a new path?” Argrave asked.

“I can,” she confirmed after hesitating half a second.

Argrave gave her the nod, and she took the lead ahead of both Orion and Argrave.

“Brother! I shall delay one group,” Orion suggested as they ran.

“Forget that. Throw me up high, as high as you can,” Argrave yelled back.

“What?” Orion looked at him oddly.

“Throw me,” Argrave repeated.

“What did you just…?” Mina whispered from his shoulder.

“Crouch down, hold out your hands, and toss me to the sun, Orion, right near that redwood over there,” Argrave reiterated. “Anneliese, you go as fast as those boots allow you.”

Anneliese looked back, a little concerned but with as much trust on her face as ever. She nodded, and then Orion and Argrave came to a stop. The prince knelt as Mina strangled him desperately, whispering in frenzied tones. Argrave put his boots atop his hands, and then Orion gripped tight.

Then, with what was likely the most force ever put on his legs… Argrave was cast up to the sky. When his momentum finally died, the slow fall on his enchanted breastplate took effect, draining his magic as he was lowered gently. He had practiced travelling in this fashion before, and so when the redwood he’d told Orion to throw him to came into his reach, he planted his boots down and kicked off in hot pursuit of Anneliese.

When his adrenaline died down, he realized Mina was repeating, ‘I hate you,’ again and again in a squeaky, panicked voice.

“No arrows are coming,” Argrave told her, bracing for the next incoming tree to kick off. “They can’t climb. This is safer. And faster, even with my arms preoccupied with you.”

And though his idea was crazy… he found it worked perfectly well. Even without his arms to maneuver finely, he could utilize the strength enchantments offered by this armor far better by small jump bursts from tree to tree. Anneliese moved far, far ahead, greater mobility offered by her boots of wind.

“Maybe I’m losing sleep for nothing,” Argrave said, half to himself. “Maybe things will work out. Maybe I’m not in over my head. Maybe gods aren’t all that.”

“I need fewer maybes,” Mina chided him.

When Argrave saw familiar geography, he couldn’t help but smile. “Well, I can give you an almost definitely. We’re there. All that remains is the final finesse. You know, Mina… maybe you were right about illusion magic the whole time.”

#####

The half-giant had learned many things in hunting. He was smarter than his dumber brothers, but far weaker. And he’d learned that using the former did him far better than trying to gain the latter to no end. And in doing it, he’d led his people to a better life. Now, he employed a trick. It was a trick to deal with a dangerous enemy easily—a dangerous enemy like this pack of Amaroks lurking near their camp, leaving half-eaten carcasases of Pachamamas.

The trick was simple. When thrust into chaos suddenly, chaos so severe one is surrounded by enemies on all sides, what do they do?

They panic. And panic was perfect.

The half-giant led all his people smartly against Amaroks, encircling their pack on the hill. The scene was serene—the wind was perfect to disguise their sounds, and they stayed downwind so as not to give away their smells. With spears ready, they sped up the hill and came upon them. The first was killed with a decisive stab, and that sent the others into a panic.

The panic made fools of these dumb wolves, and many died to quick thrusts of their weapons. But the panic eventually died, so the giants advanced further up the hill, circling, circling, and circling… waiting for any opportunity carefully and cautiously. Amaroks could walk with the wind, moving elsewhere for a brief distance intangibly as it flowed, but the half-giant knew this and moved his formation again and again to keep them entrapped. They were looking for anything. A misstep. Focus was so tight that it was nearly palpable, and all the hunters of the giants faced their opponents ready to put their life on the line.

Like hours, they’d wait like this. Anything to avoid damage to the tribe. And at the end of it all, the half-giant had plans. Like the elves, he would learn to harvest the Amarok tendons to make those cutting wires. Perhaps he would use those to hunt the Mishis, and then make arrows like the centaurs.

But for now, the hunt was on. And so they waited, moving in tandem with these hunters as though it were a dance…

And then at some point, the world broke. It was like a veil ripped from their eyes and ears both, showing them reality.

In one moment, they were hunters encircling prey. In the next, the ground rumbled, the trees, burned, and the sky was filled with the screams of war. On one end, a great disciplined army of elves battled back against foul abominations the half-giant had never seen in all of his day, fighting on both the sky and the land. On the other end, a great swarm of centaurs roved around the hill, chasing something… or fleeing from it.

Then, great cracks echoed out the woods—the half-giant knew this noise well. It was the sound of the redwoods cracking, beginning to fall. He spotted its source instantly. Though… instead of splitting horizontally, as the trees usually did… this tree split vertically. A great gash split it down from the top to bottom. And a hand came out, gripping the side of the tree.

Soon, the other trees began to split, too, all up along the side of the great forest. Though the half-giant was small, these things that emerged from the trees… they dwarfed giants. And with elven ears, they could be no friends of theirs.

And so, when thrust into chaos suddenly, chaos so severe he was surrounded by enemies on all sides, what did the half-giant do?

He panicked.

#####

Argrave watched with pride as the elven gods emerged from the redwoods, one after the other. Their movements were strong, vital—not at all like he’d seen them upon their first manifestation. They were here now, well and truly. They would be present with all of their power. And that was the only key Argrave had to keeping this vast forest clean.

He bent over and set Mina down, and then stood tall. His breathing was heavy, and he sweated… but all said, he had endured tougher things. With the scene shifted, the centaurs did not move so feverously in pursuit.

Anneliese came to stand beside him exhausted as the various factions adjusted to this scene. “The centaurs aren’t positioned in the fray. They might just retreat.”

“Let them,” Argrave nodded. “We need them for later. But the giants and the Amaroks… they’ve nowhere to run, not safely. They’ll move desperately. Those monstrosities will be hunting them down just like the elves, now.” Argrave looked at the formation of the elves.

All of the Tumens in the forest had come together at this point, and now gathered closely in what was a densely packed formation that vaguely resembled a square. Argrave raised his arm and pointed straight through the center of it.

“Now… we drive the spike right to Kirel’s breach,” Argrave said loudly about the din. “Janitorial work.”

As if responding to his words, Ghan, patriarch of all the elven gods, stepped forward. Shortly after, the elves blew their great horn. Like this, god and mortal marched in lockstep, death left in their wake.

“And we make an enemy of the largest divine faction in all the world,” Argrave said, taking a deep breath.

Argrave felt alone in the universe at that moment. None of the elven gods even paid him any mind, and simply advanced towards the coming battle. None except Chiteng. Argrave saw him staring at their party, and then he looked back to his family and joined the march.

“Maybe I delude myself,” Anneliese cut in. “I mean, it is a god… but he seemed… doubtful. Doubtful if it all works out in the end…”

Argrave couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Me too. Guess even gods can doubt. But let’s join them at the front.”

Anneliese couldn’t keep her eyes off Chiteng for a few moments. It looked to bother her greatly, and she left something unspoken. Then she shook her head dismissively, and then went to stand beside Argrave as he moved to confront the first wave of demons.