Chapter 45

Note: Thanks to Alex for beta reading this!

I had to see for myself. I darted to my Vault and shifted all the companions to the front, along with Siwang and his monster girls. I moved Kassie to the teleportation room and darted there so she could get me to Astovin fast.

When I emerged into the city, shouts and cries were coming from all directions. It was more than just arrows. Huge crashes rocked the city. Boulders hurtled into the walls or over them. Some crashed into the village, destroying the wooden buildings with ease.

One slammed through the roof nearby, ripping through the thatch roof and bursting out the wall, destroying the plaster and leaving a gaping hole in it. The rock stopped at Smerta’s foot. She planted an icy boot on it and glanced at me, concern in her eyes.

“You shouldn’t be out here, Leo,” Maya said.

“No,” Mom said, hands on her hips.

I glanced over at Siwang. “Let’s split up our companions to defend the walls.”

BOOM!

Siwang flinched and glanced out at the wall. “Your monster girls are right,” he muttered. “But, yes, let’s do that.”

Feya winged down and landed before me. “They are assaulting us from all sides. Siege weapons have just started firing.”

BOOM!

“Yeah, I noticed,” I muttered. I glanced at Siwang. “Me and you are not going on the wall.” I hated that. I wanted to be in the fight. I also wished Halia was here, that I hadn’t sent her away. “It’s not safe.”

“At least you’re being that smart,” Crystal said.

“Yeah, I thought he’d insist on going up there,” said Terra. “You’re learning.”

I scowled. “Don’t tease me about it. I’ll do it. just to spite you two.”

Mom threw her arms around me, hugging me. “You’re too important. You know that. You’re a king, not a grunt.”

“Yep, dirty boy,” my older sister said, forming a dagger out of ice. “Leave that to us.”

“We’ll drive them off, Dark Lord Big Bro!” Garnet declared, her wings flaring wide.

Morana and Hagane both nodded, Hagane’s arms forming into blades.

“We can do this everyone!” whooped Alizee, bouncing in place. “Go, Leo’s Harem! Go!

“Okay,” I said, looking around at who we had. “I want Morana, Vilkas, Ljosa, and Xiongbu on the north wall.”

The once named darted off in that direction.

“East wall, Maya, Ms. Trueno, Baaghi, and ... Bjorni!” I called.

Bjorni gave a wicked smile that looked gruesome with her bear’s head. The bugbear joined the others rushing off in that direction, Ms. Trueno leading the way.

“South wall ... Terra, Crystal, Paanee, and ... Guang.”

Guang hugged Siwang and kissed him before she joined my three monster girls running—or slithering in Paanee’s case—towards the south wall.

“Mom, Hagane, Smerta, and Lei, the west wall,” I declared.

Lei’s one eye blinked as she nodded. Hagane darted off, Smerta on her heels, with Mom and the cyclops close behind. That left Lana Fulmine, Garnet, Nina, Mrs. Lucina, Feya, Esclava, Paetu, Daleitha, and Alizee.

“The last of you, take to the air and do what you can,” I said. “I want the assault driven back, and if we can take down those siege weapons ... better.”

BOOM!

The south wall shook.

“Lord Leo,” Kassie said, grabbing my hand, “let’s get you back to your Vault. You can cast your scrying and watch from there. You don’t need to be here!”

I glanced at her, my jaw grinding together. “Fine!”

Morana, her black mist spilling behind her, gained the north wall. She peeked out over the battlements to see the mass of soldiers gathering for the attack only for an arrow to nearly taking her in the eye. She gasped and ducked back down.

BOOM!

A rock slammed into the wall nearby. Stone cracked.

“Okay, let’s spread out and do some good,” Vilkas growled. The raiju wore a fierce look on her face.

“Sounds good,” said Ljosa, her body shining bright.

Morana nodded, agreeing. She moved down the wall, passing will o’ wisps, unicorns, sphinxes, leprechauns, and animated armors. Will o’ wisps peeked out to fire balls of lightning down on the archers, striking them dead.

Svyte took an arrow in the face. The lightning sprite vanishing into motes.

Morana’s stomach twisted. She knew that Svyte would come back. All the monster girls were immortals. It was the joys of serving the dark lord. They were given eternal youth and beauty, but it still hurt taking an arrow in the face.

She glanced out at the soldiers and saw a mass of them were marching forward with shields raised. Lightning burst across some of the shields, deflecting the will o’ wisps attack. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed they were pushing something in the middle.

She had watched Return of the King. She knew what that was.

“There’s a battering ram coming up,” Morana sent to Vilkas, Ljosa, and Xiongbu. “Rock elementals, get ready. That gate’s coming under attack. Will o’ wisps and sphinxes, take it down!”

The remaining will o’ wisps popped up and fired their lightning balls down at the enemy. She trembled. If the banshee had a living heart, it would be screaming right now. This was so dangerous. The battering ram crept forward, the archers pelting the wall with arrows.

BOOM!

A stone struck the wall beneath her. Fragments of rocks flew up in the air and nearly peppered her face. She waited for the battering ram to come closer and closer. Gintaras died. The will o’ wisp burst into motes as she fell back.

“SPHINXES!” roared Vilkas. “SHOUT!”

The five sphinxes all popped up and roared. Their sonic attacks slammed into the massed soldiers, disrupting their formation. They were knocked back, sent stumbling. Will o’ wisp lightning crashed into their midst, killing more soldiers.

Morana rose, her black mist fluttering behind her like a cape. She drew in a breath and shrieked! Her deathly wail chilled the air. Arrows flew around her as her cry struck the front ranks of the soldiers. They died. Her banshee scream killed them. They dropped like flies. She kept shrieking, consuming more and more of the soldiers.

An arrow struck her arm.

She kept wailing.

The soldiers broke. She stopped shrieking as they ran out of her range. Morana ducked back down and looked down the line, surveying who they had left. Zaibas and Oroszla were down. Leo could bring them back so long as none of the soldiers were touching the wall.

But the entire city was under attack. The wall shook beneath her.

“Okay, okay,” Lana Fulmine said as she soared in the sky with the other monster girls. The air force swirled over the town. Stones flew at all four walls. The soldiers were massing for an attack. “Let’s split up the monster girls and lead them where they’re needed.”

“And to take out those siege weapons,” Daleitha said. The chalkydri’s twelve wings fluttered. “And doing that,” the lightning sprite said. “I’ll take the quetzalcoatls. Mrs. Lucina, you got the thunderbirds, Nina the phoenixes, and Alizee the harpies.”

“Sounds great!” Alizee said. She was far too peppy.

“Feya, you have the hippogriffs, and Garnet, take the vampires.” Lana looked around. “That’s all of them, right?”

“Yep,” Garnet said. “Ooh, ooh, vampires, let’s play!”

“What about us?” Esclava asked. The ifrit floated there, her hands on her hips.

“You, Paetu, and Daleitha, wreak havoc.” Lana grinned at them. “How does that sound?”

“Sounds fun,” the ifrit said and became a whirl of fire. She surged out, followed by the chalkydri and the djinn.

“Okay, I’ll go north,” Lana continued. “Mrs. Lucina, you got the south wall.”

The angel nodded.

“Nina, take your phoenixes east, and Alizee, west,” Lana finished. “Garnet and Feya, you go where you think you’re needed. Hold back and watch the situation and act when you need to.” “Yes, Booty Electric Lana Fulmine!” Garnet cheered.

Lana Fulmine rolled her eyes. Can that girl ever take anything serious?

Lana flew towards the north wall with the quetzalcoatls around her. The five snake-girls with rainbow-feathered wings soared with her. She liked flying with lightning magic girls. She could feel the current arcing through their bodies. Her own charge crackled through her wings.

Morana shrieked from the north wall. Lana Fulmine watched an enemy attack melting away. A battering ram was left behind. Archers fired waves of arrows that crashed into the wall. Morana ducked down low. The other monster girls did, too. Stones slammed into the wall with mighty crashes. The siege weapons pounded their position.

“Girls, we have to take out that siege weapon,” she cried, pointing.

“Right!” Iaidas shouted.

“Let’s go, Lana Fulmine!” Vaivory hissed.

The flight swept out over the battlements. Vilkas ran back and forth, growling out encouragement to the monster girls huddled down. One animated armor stood watch. Arrows struck her armored form and bounced off her. The archers didn’t notice Lana and her monster girls. The archers screened another mass of soldiers readying for an attack.

The siege weapons fired. They threw rocks that soldiers quickly replaced. How had they gotten so many boulders? wondered Lana. Magic? If they had some sort of Priest of the Earth Gods or an Earth wizard, they probably could have gotten stockpiles fast.

“Let’s go,” Lana said as the group soared over the ballistas. “Let’s fry them!”

“Yes!” Gyvate hissed.

Sparnas nodded, an eager smile on her lips, her green tail undulating behind her. Lana folded her wings in and dived. Her golden hair crackled behind her as she descended. She built the charge in her wings. The five quetzalcoatls followed after her. They screamed down at the enemy, ready to take them out.

Shouts rose from below. Screams echoed. The crews pointed up at them. A few drew bows and knocked arrows, but they weren’t in time. Lightning burst from Lana Fulmine’s wings and spat from the mouths of the quetzalcoatls.

Blasts of lightning struck the engines. Arcs of electricity burst from the weapon and into the crews. They screamed as they spasmed and died. Lana Fulmine banked out of her drive, flapping her wings hard. She turned to glance back at the siege weapons. Smoke rose from the engines. The crew lay dead or dying.

But the weapons had suffered very little damage. They can be used by a new crew, Lana Fulmine realized.

“Let’s bank around,” she cried. “We’ll—”

“ARROWS!” Iaidas cried.

Lana Fulmine snapped her gaze to the south. The archers had turned and had fired. She barely had time to register it before arrows were hissing around her. She dodged and weaved as they flashed by her.