Chapter 459 - Invasion of Elenvine

Every time I get to battles I forget how hard it is to keep track of so many characters! Takes so much reordering paragraphs and tweaking de

Every time I get to battles I forget how hard it is to keep track of so many characters! Takes so much reordering paragraphs and tweaking details. They're probably my favourite thing to write though.

Hump did his best to ignore the spectacle, as essence gathered to Lady Kaisura, Master Dorn, and the traitor Chosen, Godfrey. Their power eclipsed the rest of the battle, rising over it with devastating pressure, making even breathing difficult.

He’d lost sight of Warlock Anthony and the other warlocks, but they were out there somewhere. And considering what Godfrey had said about Baelkor, it seemed they had orders to bring him in alive. That certainly made him nervous.

Focus, he told himself.

The courtyard was a warzone. Demons surged through the breach, spilling from the Tree of Damnation in unrelenting waves. Already, they had spread beyond the tree’s roots, filling the courtyard like a flood. Soldiers, Chosen, and mages met them in desperate combat. Through the middle of it all stood their narrow path, and it was closing fast. The wooden staircase leading up to the entrance of the Royal Armoury already had a few demons searching for a way in.

“We need to move now,” Hump said. “Prince Gregory, are you ready?”

The prince gave a grim nod. “I’m ready. Let’s just get on with it.”

“Bud, take the front. Dylan, watch the rear. Celaine, Emilia, guard the sides. Keep the prince at the centre. Let’s go!”

Hump made his way toward Wizard Aldric first, the line of wizards unleashing arcane devastation upon the tide of enemy. Hump spotted a variant of Silver Rain gleaming in the chaos, hundreds of needles of silver stabbing through demon flesh.

Wizard Aldric turned at their approach. “What?”

“We’ve been ordered to get the prince to the palace,” Hump said. “Can you clear a path?”

Aldric didn’t hesitate. “We’ll make space. Otto—hide them.”

Wizard Otto snapped his fingers, and a thin veil of distortion rippled over them. Hump felt it wrap around his form, cool and soft as mist.

“It won’t fool anything too strong,” Otto said. “But it’ll keep the fodder off your back. Good luck.”

Hump nodded. “And to you.”

Aldric raised his cane. A bolt of lightning arced across the courtyard, bouncing from demon to demon, cracking bones and scorching flesh. The air filled with shrieks as a corridor of momentary safety opened before them.

“Move!” Hump shouted.

They plunged into the chaos, tight around the prince, the veil flickering as they brushed past snarling demons. Hump led with a barrage of Rock Shot and Essence Blast, not aiming to kill, just to keep the way clear.

Bud carved forward, sword lit with Frostfire, every swing leaving corpses of frozen gore. Emilia darted beside him, her rapier finding gaps in demon armour and finishing wounded stragglers with brutal efficiency. Behind them, Dylan’s blessings encompassed them all. He sent out vines, tangling demons, or bashed them aside with his quarterstaff, enlarging it with growth to turn it into a devastatingly heavy weapon.

Even Prince Gregory fought, blade drawn and steady. While only a fourth circle Chosen, he was a powerhouse compared to many of these demons, and had the sword skills to make quick work of them.

There was a shift to the air. A chill ran down Hump’s spine. He felt power rising and then crushing pressure descended.

Hump looked toward the source as a shadow fell across the courtyard.

Master Dorn raised his staff. The sky churned. Clouds rolled in, black and thunderous. Rain fell, inky and unnatural. It pooled at Godfrey’s feet, swirling like a whirlpool, sucking in broken bones, still corpses, and struggling demons. The vortex surged up, engulfing Godfrey in a sphere of black water.

For a moment, Hump held his breath.

The pressure vanished, sucked inward, all of it concentrated into that sphere. Hump paused, mesmerised by the scale of the spell and the silence. Had it worked? Had a wizard slain a ninth circle Chosen?

Then the sphere cracked.

A sound like splitting mountains tore through the air. The orb fractured into shifting shards, glimmering with pale light. Gold burst through the cracks, and in a blinding flash, the darkness vanished.

Godfrey stood at the centre, wreathed in golden brilliance. He clapped his hands and a wave of light and essence blasted out, flattening the battlefield.

“You cannot defeat me, followers of false gods.” Godfrey said. “Allow me to enlighten you.”

The words rang through the world like a verdict. His essence radiated outward, and Hump felt it like ice lancing from his core. His control over his essence vanished. Bud and Dylan’s blessings were extinguished. Even the demons recoiled. Silence, terrible and complete, settled over the battlefield, demons and Chosen alike dwindling before Godfrey’s power.

Even the world paused. Every bit of essence overwhelmed by one man’s intent.

Light scorched the air. A golden mark flared on Godfrey’s forehead and a crown took form on his head. Above, the now overcast sky ruptured. Thunder cracked. Streaks of golden like crackled through the clouds, burning them to pieces, before raining down in great radiant bolts, striking the city beyond the walls. The castle trembled. In the distance, towers collapsed. Smoke rose in great plumes.

“Gods help us,” Prince Gregory murmured. “How could he have fallen so far to turn his power against innocents?”

“He is not the man that you remember,” Bud said. “Tobias Godfrey would never have done this. This is but his shadow, a twisted memory of what he once was, lost to the corruption that is the warlocks.”

Despite the knight’s words, Hump could see the doubt in Bud’s eyes. The similarity in what Godfrey had said about the gods’ betrayal, and the information contained within the Book of Infinite Pages would not have been lost on him either. That was one more source pointing to the same thing: that the Pantheon was not what they had been led to believe.

But now was not the time to talk about it. Hump took the prince by the elbow and dragged him onward, the others moving with them. Right now, he could hardly call upon his essence at all for the pressure of Godfrey’s attack—but that went for the others around them too.

They were almost there, another twenty paces or so to the base of the armoury staircase leading up to the keep. The weight of power only grew as Master Dorn and Kaisura answered with their own domains. Essence weighed heavily in the air, but there was warmth to it now—the life of Emirai, reaching through the darkness, to him and no doubt the others that fought for Alveron.

From beneath the battlefields, vines of radiant green light burst forth, entwined with the skeletal roots of the Tree of Damnation. They healed allies they embraced, but withered and drained the demons, ageing them for decades in seconds—turning them to rot and then to ash, corruption and then to dust.

One of the vines touched Hump’s arm, and suddenly he felt essence clear again. His power returned to him. He looked up at the sky to see Nisha following them overhead. Part of him wanted to send her back to the palace, but more than anything, he wanted her with them. There was no telling what might happen, and it was too dangerous for her to be alone.

It would be a bit of a squeeze, but she should be able to fit through the secret tunnel. And if not—well, there were few earth wizards in Alveron now that could match Hump. He would simply need to widen the path.

Meanwhile, the battle grew more violent.

Lady Kaisura and Master Dorn buried Godfrey in spells and blessings. Godfrey moved with ease, his light defending against Master Dorn’s heavy blows with mirrors of light or perfect barriers. Shrouded in light and a new spear in hand, he carved through Lady Kaisura’s vines as they tried to swallow him up, each as thick as a tree. With blessings constantly surging from him, he defended himself and his force of demons.

Despite the two-on-one, he only seemed to grow more powerful.

Blessings layered atop each other, enhancing him in ways Hump could only guess. He seemed impervious to harm, with speed that surpassed Emilia and Celaine’s, and power that he could only dream of.

The demons reached the stairs ahead. They crashed up the steps with frenzied howls, metal weapons flashing in the firelight.

“The damn door is locked,” Prince Gregory said.

“Doesn’t matter,” Hump shouted. “Get to the door and we’ll figure out how to get inside.”

Bud was first up the stairs, sword aflame with Frostfire. His first swing bisected a demon from shoulder to hip. Another stabbed him in the side but he leant into the blow with his armour, shouldering the demon, and plunging his sword into its gut. Frostfire exploded to freeze it mid-scream. Bud kicked the corpse down the stairs and kept going.

Two more fell in an instant—arrows from Celaine’s bow catching them in the throat and heart. The last leapt at the prince, only for Emilia to dart in and stab it through the eye.

Bud reached the top of the stairs and tested the handle of the metal door.

“Still locked,” Bud said. He banged a fist three times, hammering blows. That must have echoed through the building. “Open up,” Bud roared. “Let us in. Prince Gregory is here!”

There was a scraping sound. A small peephole opened, and an eye appeared.

“How do I know you’re not lying?”

Gregory stepped up, shoving his way to the front. “I am Prince Gregory of Alveron. Open this door.”

Hump glanced back down the stairs. More demons were in close pursuit. And these were not like the fodder from before. Each of them carried weapons. They were different to the demons of the Infernal Halls. Their red flesh was more brown and leathery. Their bodies more muscular. They wore armour, but it was not ordinary metal. Instead, it had sunken into their body in places, merging with their skin like an outer shell.

They carried a variety of maces, swords, and knives. Runic tattoos climbed their bodies, trailing up their necks, shining with some dark power.

Behind them, the Tree of Damnation continued to vomit horrors. Demons packed the courtyard so tightly they crushed against each other. And now, they’d started fighting amongst themselves.

From the top of the stairs, Hump saw the true scale of the invasion. With every passing moment, more flooded in, and it was not only simple fodder now. The enemy were becoming more elite.

Hump gathered his essence and envisioned Lava Coils—a spell that could slaughter a mass of foes without cutting off the path back entirely.

Then he noticed humans in the crowd. Hump’s blood ran cold—Anthony. And with him were six other warlocks.

His gaze fixed on Hump. A cruel smile touched his lips.

“The prince!” Anthony roared. “Bring me the prince!”

The demons turned with renewed purpose.

Anthony lifted a hand and sliced it through the air. Blood magic flared. Daggers of crimson burst forth, whistling through the chaos. Hump barked out an incantation, and a shimmering blue Shield formed before them. The first four struck with heavy thuds, followed by a crack. His eyes widened as he realised that he couldn’t stop the fight. His Shield shattered into a thousand pieces.

Emilia darted ahead, her rapier a crimson blur. She battered the remaining daggers aside, each impact ringing with steel.

Hump took aim. “Magma Pit!”

Bronze and red essence flared. The ground trembled, splitting open with a shriek of heat and pressure. Smoke billowed, and red light glowed from the depths as the earth caved beneath Anthony’s feet. Demons screamed as magma erupted from below, swallowing them whole.

Anthony leapt with effortless grace, somersaulting through the smoke. He landed beside the stairs, eyes still on the prince.

Then a spear of ice pierced across the battlefield.

Wizard Aldric strode from the chaos, firing shards of frost from his cane. Anthony spun, two swords of blood forming in his hands—cutting, parrying, deflecting. The air warped with the clash of their magic.

“Get inside!” Aldric shouted.

Hump turned. The metal door creaked open behind him.

Prince Gregory slipped through first. Bud held the door open, glancing back. “Come on, Hump!”

“I need Nisha,” Hump said, scanning the skies, calling to her with his mind.

The dragon swooped down quickly, and Hump prepared to defend her with his life.

Bud didn’t question it. He simply stepped up beside Hump, sword raised, Frostfire blazing.

There they stood—wizard and knight—shoulder to shoulder atop the stairs, facing the tide.

Hump lashed out with Lava Coils, red-hot whips of molten earth snapping across the battlefield. Demons fell, their screams cut short as fire seared through them. Any who made it through were met by Bud’s blade, blue fire freezing flesh and slicing bone.

Nisha landed hard behind them, stumbling through the door at a near spring.

Ready. Safe. Came her reassurance, an image of the inside of the keep forming in Hump’s head.

He cast one last look at Aldric. The old wizard parried Anthony’s twin blades, pushed back but unbroken. He raised a glowing hand, and lightning danced from his fingertips.

Hump turned and ran inside. Bud followed, slamming the door shut behind them.

Inside, a steward backed away in terror.

“Thank you, steward,” Prince Gregory said. “That was brave of you.”

“Of course, Your Highness,” the man stammered.

They stood in silence, panting. Essence still trembled in Hump’s limbs, his thoughts sluggish with adrenaline. He pressed a hand to his chest, focusing on the River and Waves, but guilt twisted like a hook in his gut. He felt like he was abandoning his companions—his friends. Wizard Aldric had been good to him, yet he had left him to fight one of the most powerful beings in Alveron.

“Are you hurt?” Prince Gregory asked.

“No,” Hump said. “Just angry. I don’t like leaving them.”

The prince clenched his fists. “Am I being a coward?”

Hump stared at the man, taken aback. “That’s not what I meant. I’m not angry at you. I’m angry at the warlocks and the demons invading Elenvine. We’re at war, which means we need to get you to safety. We need to get to the tunnels quickly. That door won’t hold for long.”

“Steward, I suggest you find yourself a place to shelter. You will likely be safer there than with us.”

Prince Gregory led the way through the vault’s wide halls. Guards and stewards still remained, guarding treasures of kings. Hump recognised the corridors now, guiding them to the spiral stair at the rear.

Then came the crash.

Stone splitting. Metal shrieking.

“Pretty sure that was the door,” Celaine said, already turning.

“Definitely the door,” Emilia muttered.

“Then move let’s move a little quicker,” Dylan said from the rear. “Or if you want to stop again for a look, feel free to switch places.”

Hump snorted.

They reached the spiral staircase and the hidden door to the tunnel. It was still open.

But Prince Gregory stopped.

“What are you doing?” Hump asked, breath catching.

Gregory gripped the frame. “I can’t do this.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t leave. They’re here for the Seal of Elenvine. It must be protected. That crash—the warlocks may already be on their way to the vault.”

“Our orders are to get you to the palace,” Bud said.

“I know,” Gregory said, voice low. “But if they breach the lower passages… if they reach the seal, my life won’t mean a damn thing.” He looked at each of them in turn. “And if we’re not needed, we will be as safe down there as we are here. At least this way, we can act as a last line of defence while you hide me away.”

Hump shared a long look with his party. No one spoke. The weight of it pressed down on them all. If the Seal of Elenvine fell, the Path to Heaven would be revealed, and the veil between realms would open.

“You go back to the palace,” Hump said. “We’ll go to the seal.”

“You will need me to get inside,” Prince Gregory said. “As noble as that is, the stewards will not open the vault for you.”

Hump’s fist tightened on his staff. In truth, it was a logical answer. The most important thing was ensuring the Seal of Elenvine was protected, and if the warlocks were already in the building, they were likely the closest out of anyone that had a chance to stop them.

That seemed a whole lot more important than protecting some royal blood.