The Unbidden: The First Tome (Side Stories 1) (Long Parts)

Man and Magic (Part 3)

I made sure to stay high above the town when I reached it, and rightly so. It looked to be the most defended of the three. This particular town was a central trading hub for the kingdom with its neighbors to the southwest outside dwarven and elvish territory. The dwarves had demolished and repurposed several of the outlying buildings into perfect rectangularly shaped structures of sorts.

There were a couple machines I hadn't seen before – they possessed six legs with a tail that curled upward from the backside akin to a scorpion. Had I not been granted my power; I'd be so terrified of the mere sight I might have died on the spot.

However, I felt strong. I lowered myself down to the ground just in front of the main gate toward the town. The dwarves stared at me, wide-eyed with mouths agape. They didn't attack immediately much to my surprise. Instead, one of them that wore a thick, heavy looking armor shouted at me from atop the wall.

Unfortunately, I still didn't speak their language. He stared at me as though expecting a response. I furrowed my brows, pursed my lips slightly and simply shrugged my shoulders.

He shouted out something once more to no avail. I knew they were about to attack. The bloodlust from before had begun to stir from within as well.

Me, alone, fighting an entire fortified town of dwarves. The anticipation created a high on its own. I waited until just before the armored dwarf motioned to attack before launching a beam from my fingertip to his chest.

A bright red beam of light pierced through the dwarf's heart, shooting hundreds of feet into the sky behind him. He croaked out before hitting the ground, lifeless.

As the other dwarves stared on in disbelief, I used that moment to launch my offensive. I ran one hand down my other forearm and shot it up and outwards, causing a large spike to rupture out of the ground and penetrate the stone wall protecting the town.

I sprinted up it and sent a strong gust of wind at a couple of the enemies, sending them flying into the roof of a building behind them. They coughed out as the air was forcefully expelled from their lungs and they fell two stories to the ground below.

Twisting my body, I sent a ball of fire at one dwarf before launching a lance of ice at another. They screamed out as their lives left their bodies.

I couldn't help but laugh out in some strange version of joy. Despite the fact I was literally ending the lives of other sentient creatures, the hatred I felt toward the dwarves was just. Nevertheless, my mind was still partially conflicted even as I speared one of them through the neck.

Lost in my thoughts and visceral actions, I didn't notice one of them aiming his crossbow at me. It was too late as it struck me in the shin, sending me to the ground with a loud grunt of pain.

He tried to quickly reload, but his life was snuffed the moment he looked away as a chunk of the wall decapitated him. I rose to my feet and flew into the air seconds before one of the scorpion machines slammed its tail where I was.

My breathing became slightly labored from the pain. I examined the wound a little closer once I was high enough in the air. I recalled only some of my training during childhood regarding the removal of arrows and bolts.

The rule of thumb went something along the lines of just snapping it off, but I disobeyed that rule and, with great effort, pulled it back out whilst screaming in pain.

As if by second nature, I slapped my hand on the wound and thought about it disappearing, and surely enough, it did. All that remained was a small scar where the bolt penetrated. The dwarves had been trying to fire at me, but because I was so high, the bolts simply fell back to the ground before reaching me.