Four Horsemen Book 5 - Old Histories: Chapter 17

Mya turned her head within the main ritual circle, as she turned illusions allowed her to see beyond the walls of the room, out to Osola and beyond.

 Her consciousness stretched across Osola's shores, from blood-soaked beaches to the horizon where Irdun warships loomed like iron giants.

She commanded Osola itself. All of the rituals that were laid down upon the land and within it at her command.

Raw magical energy surged through her body, setting every nerve aflame. The ritual site amplified her abilities beyond their normal bounds, letting her reach deeper into the ocean's dark heart.

Beside her, Tilla swayed on her feet, the toll of maintaining the defenses evident in her stance. Though both of them were undead, even liches had limits.

"Come on beastie!" Tilla snarled, her hands weaving complex patterns as the secondary circle beneath her flared bright enough to cast harsh shadows.

Mya plunged her awareness into the depths, seeking the ancient horrors they'd bound there for this moment. Her will touched rotting flesh and calcified bone, awakening creatures that had slumbered in the crushing depths.

They shifted and awoke to her commands—rising towards the surface.

Massive forms breached the surface - undead leviathans whose decaying bodies dwarfed the largest ships. Tentacles thick as tree trunks lashed out while phosphorescent eyes blazed with unholy light. 

The beasts moved with terrible purpose, but the Irdun forces met them with practiced precision. Enchanted cannons roared, their blessed shot tearing through necrotic flesh while battle mages launched spells that burned away corruption.

A particularly massive beast, its skeleton exposed through patches of rotting tissue, latched onto an Irdun warship. Its jagged teeth punctured the hull like paper, sending screaming soldiers tumbling into the waves. Their enchanted armor, designed to protect them in battle, now dragged them into the depths as the leviathan tore their ship apart.

Power flickered and failed as one of the beasts dropped—not even necromancy able to keep it alive as it slammed into the waters of the sea.

Its bulk displaced enough water to create a massive wave. The surge capsized several landing craft, dumping their reinforcements into the bloodied sea. Mya channeled more power through the ritual circle, animating and strengthening her undead servants as the United Forces of Irdun unleashed their full might.

Mya cast out a raise undead spell upon the fleets. As it had happened before, her spell found no purchase.

"They really fucking invested in the goddam holy spells," Mya muttered.

"We were too effective. They stopped for a few months melted down a whole bunch of holy relics to make protection pins."

"Well that is just insulting," Mya complained.

"They were annoying to deal with but not all that effective. After that they made bracelets—they were much more effective unfortunately."

Mya felt the temperature plummet through her connection to the island as divine ice magic swept across the waters. The United Irdun Forces' mages worked in concert, frost spreading across the churning waters like a living thing. Spreading from the landing craft across the treacherous waters of broken craft and Petor's plants.

Soldiers scrambled onto the newly formed ice bridges. The ice paths stretched toward shore like pale fingers reaching for Osola's beaches.

The tide of fighters rushed forward.

Mortar fire rained down. The carefully constructed ice paths shattered, sending dozens of soldiers plunging into the freezing water. 

Their screams cut short as everburning brambles erupted from beneath the surface, thorny vines wrapping around thrashing limbs. The plants dragged their victims down into the depths.

Mya raised her hand, channeling an elemental spell that Desari had taught her. Energy crackled along her arm, leaving trails of blue-white light in the air as she directed it toward the largest ice formation. 

The spell tore through the ice with devastating force, thousands of razor-sharp shards caught soldiers in the blast. They fell screaming, their bodies torn apart by the magical shrapnel.

"Just a tithe on the horizon," Tilla said.

"They must have drained all of the barracks,"  Mya said.

"Conscription—every able man and a lot of the women if they have even a slight connection to the divine," Tilla said.

"Why do they hate us so much?" Mya was hit with a sadness—a tiredness that bore upon her soul.

"I don't know, sometimes people just need something to hate and we were the target of that," Tilla tried to comfort her.

Through the ritual circle's enhanced awareness, Mya spotted movement among the Irdun fleet. 

The landing craft that had managed to retreat carried an invisible cargo back to their mother ships - Petor's seeds. Her lips curved into a cold smile.

"Looks like they're about to have a real plant problem."

The landing craft rubbed up against ships to recieve more fighters. Mya zoomed in to see the seeds spread to the warships they touched and begin burrowing their way into the ships hulls. Galeseeds and emberblooms spat out their pay loads, sinking beneath the waters to be carried to the ships on the current.

Galeseeds burst to life across a warship's hull deck, their blue petals unfurling with supernatural speed. 

Vines thick as anchor chains punched through wooden planks, causing the wood to smolder and then burn. Crews worked with buckets of water an axes, hacking the bramble away and tossing it, burning their hands or getting cut by thorns in the process. They merely slowed the brambles as they wrapped around masts and spars. 

The ship's enchanted barriers flickered and died as the aggressive flora spread unchecked, magical protections unable to halt the natural invasion.

Dozens of ships sprouted more plants, the wind carried seeds from ship to ship.

"I guess their barriers don't see seeds as a threat," Mya said.

"I didn't till your friend Petor turned the beach into a fucking nightmare," Tilla said.

"He has a talent," Mya agreed.

Tilla laughed a dark and dry thing.

Emberbloom pods detonated in chain reactions. Burning seeds peppered decks, masts, and unfortunate crew members. Where they struck, roots immediately burrowed deep, spreading fingers of flame through wood and flesh alike. The seeds grew with terrifying speed, reaching maturity in seconds before exploding to spread more fiery destruction.

Through her enhanced senses, Mya watched the devastating transformation of proud warships into floating gardens of death. 

Rigging became strangling vines, crow's nests sprouted deadly blooms, and decks disappeared beneath carpets of carnivorous growth.

Dozens of ships burned and collapsed.

Mya's eyes narrowed as she tracked the disarray spreading across the battlefield. The once-imposing Irdun armada—a meticulously organized force—had turned into a fragmented mess. Landing craft floundered. Warships burned or were consumed by Petor's plants. Reinforcements were stalled by the icy, vine-choked waters.

The ritual site's magic amplified her voice, carrying it to the defenders stationed across the island. "The Irdun forces are collapsing. Keep pressing them. Do not give them time to regroup."

"Here's another one," Tilla said as another undead beast rose from the depths to attack a squadron of ships.

Spells lashed down into the water, hitting the beast before it smashed into the largest ship it could find. The ship shifted, its barrier flaring as it fell off of the beast and rocked into the water, its cannons fired as it came level with the beast, other ships fired and cast their spells-tearing into the beast.

She felt Captain Davos through his ritual circle raising the dead reserves they had upon Osola to man the cannons around the island—keeping the best crews on those cannons pointed at the main Irdun fleet. The rest of the undead fought with the Irdun that had landed on the beach. They were cut down in droves by the Irdun's magic that was perfected against the undead.

Though they slowed the Irdun for the plants, cannons and mortar to do their deadly task.

A massive creature, more bone than flesh, breached the surface like a mountain of decay. Its skeletal jaws crushed a warship's bow, splintering enchanted wood like kindling. Beside it, writhing tentacles dragged screaming sailors into the depths.

But something changed in the air - a shift in the magical current that made her enhanced senses prickle. Chanting rose from the surviving ships, the voices of priests lifting in unison. Golden light blazed from their upraised hands, cutting through the dark magic that animated her beasts.

One of her largest creatures, a whale that spat out bolts of air pressure that could tear through a ship lengthways, suddenly went rigid. The divine energy burned through its form like fire through paper, dissolving the necromantic bonds that gave it purpose. The massive corpse sank beneath the waves, taking its deadly cargo with it.

More followed. Each holy blast found another of her creatures, severing their connection to her will. The beasts she had spent precious power raising simply... stopped. Their massive bodies disappeared into the depths, leaving only ripples to mark their passing.

The glow faded—though it grew on other ships as they readied their own attacks.

Next to her, Tilla's hands shook with effort. Sweat beaded on her pale skin despite her undead nature. "We can't keep this up," she ground out through clenched teeth. "Raising this many is pushing the limit—they're starting to slip out of control."

Mya didn't reply immediately. Her attention focused on one of her last remaining krakens, its tentacles thick with rotting flesh and barnacles. With a sharp gesture, she directed it toward the Irdun ship that had been coordinating the priests' attacks. The creature responded sluggishly, but its tentacles still found purchase on the vessel's hull.

"We just need to hold long enough for Desari," Mya said, her voice carrying an edge as she watched the kraken slam into the ship's side. Attacks hit the beast as it smashed against the ship's barrier.

"Corruption," Mya hissed. 

Dark shapes rose from the depths, their forms twisting and writhing in ways that defied natural law. These weren't her undead creatures - these were something else entirely.

The first abomination breached the surface like a nightmare given flesh. Multiple mouths lined its grotesque body, each filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth. Tentacles covered in eyes and barbed hooks whipped through the air as it oriented on her kraken.

The creature struck with devastating force, its claws ripping through the kraken's decaying flesh like paper. Black ichor sprayed across the waves as the abomination tore into her undead servant. The kraken's massive tentacles flailed, trying to fight back, but the corruption-spawned horror was too fast, too strong. Within moments, the massive undead beast was reduced to floating chunks of rotting flesh.

"Damn," Mya muttered, her mind racing through possible countermeasures.

"Best spells are them cleansing holy ones," Tilla said.

"The same ones that would hurt us and our forces," Mya grimaced. She squinted and let out a sigh. "Looks like Desari is almost ready."

The sky darkened overhead as storm clouds gathered with unnatural speed.

She reached out and connected to the secondary ritual room that Desari was in.

"How's it coming?" Mya asked, keeping her tone carefully neutral despite the chaos unfolding before her.

Desari's response crackled through their link, her voice strained but sharp. "Oh, you know, just another day of conjuring a storm that could drown a fleet. Mana draining—mentally exhausting."

"So, please shut up and leave you alone?" Mya asked.

"Please shut up and leave me alone," Desari confirmed.

"Right!" Mya snapped the connection closed, smiling.

"She almost done?" Tilla asked.

"Yeah, now this should be something to see."

Clouds drew together darkening and blocking out the midday sun. 

Lightning arced between thunderheads that had grown impossibly dense and dark. The wind shifted, no longer following natural patterns but instead moving with deliberate, malevolent purpose.

Spells shot up into the skies, to try and break the spell commanding the unnatural weather. Cannons fired on the beasts around the ships while the helm fought to avoid the debris of broken ships that Petor's plants inhabited.

 Priests raised their hands, divine light pushing against the darkness, but their spells dispersed like smoke in a gale.

Sheets of ice descended. They weren't hail or sleet, but massive crystalline blades that filled the sky. The magical barriers protecting the Irdun ships flared bright as the ice struck.

The ice fall increased in density—blocking all of the ships from sight, only able to see a few dozen meters past the edge of the storm, and just the glow of the ship's barriers at that before they were swallowed up by the ice fall.

 Already harried barriers shattered under the relentless barrage.

Masts snapped like twigs, their enchanted wood offering no resistance against the storm's fury. Deck plates buckled and split. The only visible signs of the fleet were the desperate flares of failing barriers, glowing briefly before being extinguished by the endless fall of ice.

The storm ran through the densest ships, chasing the landing craft and consuming them as its energy began to ebb. It became possible to see through the storm and all of the ships that had survived as the ice blades cracked the birdges before they petered out before they reached Osola's shores.

"That'll buy us some time," Mya muttered as she studied the ships, categorizing the ones that were on the last legs, those that were only slightly damaged and the ones that largely unscathed.

"Some. They're not done yet," Tilla said grimly.

Mya's crystal vibrated. She pulled it free, the smooth surface warm against her palm.

"Mya here!"

"Mya." Valter's voice carried a weight that made her stomach drop. "The conch—there were champion—they attacked where the portal was, destroyed the conch. Bedrick is taking care of the wounded."

"Shit." Mya pressed her hand to her forehead, eyes darting around the ritual circle.

Desari's exhausted voice cut through the crystal. "That leaves the Planar gem as our only way to get people out of Osola."

"Can we use the ritual?" Petor asked—hopeful.

"No," Mya snapped. "It won't have enough power." She paced the ritual circle, thoughts tumbling over each other as she searched for a solution. Then an idea struck—dangerous and reckless, but possible.

"That—" Tilla's voice sharpened in warning, "that is not a good look. That is your 'I've got a crazy fucking idea' face, Mya."

Mya ignored her, focusing on the crystal. "I know a place where we can get the power we need and also hurt the enemy at the same time. Meet me at the command center."

Before anyone could argue, she shut the crystal down and slipped it back into her pocket.

Mya inhaled deeply, closing her eyes and reaching into the reserves of power still thrumming within her. The ritual site's ancient stones pulsed beneath her feet, raw energy flooding through her form like liquid fire. The connection stretched her awareness across the island, each heartbeat sending fresh waves of power coursing through her veins. The ritual had amplified her abilities beyond anything she had felt before, but she knew she was pushing it. She didn't care.

"You do that, you're going to kill yourself!" Tilla hissed, stepping closer, her eyes blazing with frustration.

Mya opened her eyes, a faint glow emanating from them now, her grin sharp and defiant. "I'm alive now, didn't you know?"

"Being alive doesn't make you immortal," Tilla growled, her skeletal fingers gripping Mya's arm. "Whatever you're planning—"

"Its necessary," Mya interrupted, shrugging off Tilla's grip. She focused her power, directing the massive beasts to surface around Osola's perimeter. 

Mya raised her hands, the magic radiating outward like a ripple on the water. Around Osola, the sea stirred violently, its surface breaking into towering waves as shadows shifted beneath it.

A half-dozen titanic beasts began to rise, their massive forms breaking through the waves in terrifying, majestic arcs.

A colossal leviathan, its flesh writhing with spectral light, roared as it emerged, its jagged fins cutting through the water like blades.

A bone serpent, its skeletal frame impossibly long and glowing faintly with runes of death, twisted through the churning sea.

Two krakens, their tentacles writhing with malicious intent, dragged themselves upward, their rotted hides bristling with unnatural spines.

A three-headed hydra, its heads snapping at the air as it let out a piercing, bone-chilling cry.

A massive shadow shark, its body cloaked in a swirling, smoke-like mist, circled below leapt out of the water, smashing through a ship's rigging before slapping the ship with its tail, breaking it in half.

Chaos errupted amongst the Irdun fleet as Mya felt her mana bottom out. She staggered, Tilla catching her.

"Well that took a lot out of me." She patted Tilla's hand in thanks as she stood 

Tilla shook her head, her tone half-exasperated, half-admiring. "You're insane, you know that?"

Mya smirked faintly, the glow in her eyes flickering as the toll of her magic pressed harder. "Sometimes insane works. You're going to have to hold things down here."

Mya staggered towards the doorway out of the room, her footsteps becoming more sure as she went.

"And where are you going to go?" Tilla called after her.

"To prison."