A Drink Before Battle [MxM] ✅

41: This Is Not Good

41: This Is Not Good

Sevei got low, and got his shield over him.

The Loranarian Alchemists, enraged by the death of their leader, launched a relentless barrage of ethereal energy into the midst of the gathered army. A number of the soldiers who had broken ranks fell at Sevei's side, howling in agony as the smell of burnt flesh wafted through the air. An explosion sounded nearby, shaking the ground beneath them.

He peeked over his shield to see Ghed, still hovering over that rooftop, his gaunt face eerily calm as he lifted his hand and sent a stream of green-tinted ethereal energy into a neighboring house, reducing it to rubble as another tremor shook the earth.

Sevei heard Yeresym's voice shouting orders to his Martials. Collecting himself in a surge of fury, Sevei rose to his feet again, holding his shield tightly in front of him.

"Formation!" Sevei called out. "Shields up!"

From behind the shield walls, archers and Alchemists returned fire to the Loranarians. Showers of arrows pelted through the air among the sizzling back-and-forth exchange of magic, mostly ending up in the walls of the houses as the Loranarian Martials made use of their portal skills to evade the onslaught.

Yeresym concentrated his own efforts on Ghed himself, but the man seemed to have a sixth sense for approaching energy strikes, and met each with a strike of his own. Their energies resounded with a thunderous crash upon meeting overhead.

A few other Martials struck at him, and seemed to hit, but with no apparent damage to him, as if he had an invisible shield around himself. Ghed seemed merely annoyed, as if they were all merely pests interrupting his spree of destruction. Turning away without a glance at Yeresym, he casually blew up another house.

This is not good... Sevei thought as a cold fear ran through his gut. He raced through the ranks of soldiers, desperately searching for Thelan and Meira. They should be with the Sekkha who had come along, and he finally spotted them at the back of the field.

Behind a high wall of shields overlapped like the scales of a fish and held by a cluster of stalwart soldiers, Meira and Thelan sat on the ground, facing each other and holding fast to one another's hands. The Sekkha knelt in a half-circle around them, eyes closed and chanting in a language Sevei didn't recognize. Commander Bhari opened her eyes as Sevei broke his run at them.

"How soon can you get this going?" he asked. "I don't think we can hold out long."

"We're almost ready," Thelan answered, "but there's too much fire in the air. We need a clear path to Ghed. If they can get some of these Alchemists away from him; kill them or drive them away..."

Sevei nodded. "I'll tell General Urskatha."

He leaned down to grasp Meira's shoulder. "How are you doing?" he asked warmly. "Don't be afraid."

Meira turned her face up to him and smiled, her eyes radiant. "I'm not," she said. "I'm not afraid. I'm happy to be of help. Don't worry about me, Vei, I'm in good hands."

She pulled Thelan's hands up and shook them resolutely while turning her smile to Commander Bhari.

"She's a brave girl," Bhari asserted, nodding at Meira proudly. "Worthy of her people."

"Alright," Sevei said. "Stay ready. We'll see about those Alchemists."

He turned and jogged away from them to go find Yeresym. He hadn't gotten far, though, when Ghed aimed a strike at a spire of the municipal house, bringing it crashing down. Sevei immediately raised his shield overhead as debris rained down on it in a steady clatter. He watched a large chunk of the pillar fall on the corner of the army's formation, crushing soldiers beneath it.