Limits

After a proper rest, I walked out of the still unfinished private house. Soldiers were busy preparing for the battle, while blacksmiths worked like crazy making orders. The arrows for Scorpions were distributed atop the walls as well. Each Scorpion would have around 28 shots. Not a crazy amount, but if we used it well, we could wipeout the army of Mordars.

Harlin as always told the soldiers how to attack, and the overall strategies they would undertake. I joined them, and proposed to do as much damage with Scorpions, as we could. Then we would see, and attack if necessary. Crow and other Shades were also gathered in another spot. There were three more Shades who stood next to Crow. 'So they are the other council members' I guessed. Lira was there too, she stood behind Crow. I could feel her energy was a lot stronger than before. She decided to take my Extracts, and seemed to have reached a similar stage to mine.

When I walked up to them, Crow asked "I assume we will use those Scorpions first?". I nodded while replying, "Yes, we will do as much damage as we can first. I opted for fire arrows. I think the poison can be more useful to you guys instead. I have a few bottles, which I will distribute to the guys at the walls, but here take the rest of them". I handed Crow most of my poison supply. "With this, you should be able to take care of your injuries. Distribute it as you see fit. As for your forces, those that can use bows, can join others atop the walls. Everyone else waits for the results".

One of the council members asked, "What are the chances we will win?". I thought about it, and said "60% at most. I have no idea how strong that huge Mordar will be. Although I faced something similar, this one is much bigger". What I didn't tell anyone, was the crazy length of the roots. Mordars could grow them to a certain extent, the larger the Mordar, the longer the roots could be. With that huge Mordar, I was sure he could destroy the whole city from afar. I only hoped they were overconfident, and approached us closer. Close enough to be in range of our Scorpions.

I left them to do their preparations soon after, and climbed the walls. In the distance, I could already see the huge Mordar moving slowly towards us. 'They are here' I thought. I found Ama and told her to cease any work for now. Normal people needed to hide away, while only soldiers and warriors should stay outside, defending the city. Lerry wanted to help out too, but I told him to hide as well. "You already helped us a lot. Now it's our turn to do whatever we can, and destroy our enemies. Although, there is something you can do".

He asked "Anything, as long as I can help". I nodded, and replied "Go to the six Atols responsible for the fields. They will need to take care of injured people, but six of them might not be enough. Take a few people with you, and help them out when they need help". He nodded and left to join the Atols.

I then shouted, "The enemy is approaching us! Only warriors and soldiers should stay outside! They rest of you hide, we will take care of the rest!". People retreated to their homes, and closed the doors. Lizards climbed the walls as well, and mounted the Scorpions. Harlin walked over to me and said, "That Mordar is huge indeed. Do you think those Scorpions will work?". I replied, "We will see. Crow has the Voltic Orb, in case we need to blow something up, we can use it as a last resort. Make your soldiers wait for now. There is no need to leave the city, it would be pointless anyway". I threw him a few bottles of medicine, and said "Stay alive Harlin". He nodded, and joined his people.

Shades appeared on the walls too. I joined them, as I was also able to use a bow. Although our bows might not do much damage to Mordars, we could always act as distraction. Everyone could see the huge Mordar approaching, but no one even took as much as a step backwards. They knew we had to fight, we had to fight and win. With the huge Mordar at the back, smaller Mordars appeared in front of it. There were no Vanauts in sight, which was understandable. They were attacking Boltier at that time. The weird thing was, there were no Furians either. 'Are they that confident? Or do Furians have another job?' I asked myself.

It was no longer that important now. "Get ready guys! When I give you the sign, ignite your arrows and shoot at our enemy!". Everyone shouted back "Yes!", as we awaited the Mordars. When the Mordars were just outside of our range, they stopped. For some reason, they didn't attack. Instead a few people jumped down from the huge Mordar, and headed towards us. "Eterians" I said. They stood in front of the Mordar army, and looked at us. I recognised one of them, it was the guy who destroyed Arangard.

One of the Eterians stepped forwards, and said "There is no need for you to fight! Drop your weapons, and no one will suffer! No one has to die today!". I knew exactly what they were trying to do. Those few Eterians were trying to influence the minds of soldiers. They wanted to take over the city, without moving as much as a finger. 'Tough luck Eterian, your plan will not work' I thought, and said "Don't listen to him. Remember the medicine I gave you? Drink it now!". I brought a lot of Serelis back from Apium, and all soldiers received some. Moreover it was in concentrated form, therefore it would work much better.

All the soldiers, warriors and Shades drank the Serelis I gave to them before the battle, and stood their ground, looking straight at the Eterians. I smiled. 'It seems Serelis works quite well. With so many people, and their calm minds, Eterians can't manipulate anyone' I thought.

The Eterians were not happy that their little tricks didn't work. He shouted again, "That is your choice then!". The Eterians retreated towards the huge Mordar, while their army began advancing again. 'Come, come closer!' I screamed in my mind. So far the Mordars didn't use their roots to attack us, and that overconfidence would destroy them.

When the huge Mordar entered our shooting range, I shouted "Light those arrows, and let them FLY!". "Baam!", "Baam!", "Baam!", "Baam!", "Baam!", "Baam!"... The Scorpions shot our arrows one after the other. Even though Mordars were still over 500 metres away from us, that wasn't a problem. As long as we tilted the Scorpions upwards a bit, the range got extended.

"Reload and shoot again!", I screamed, while shooting my own bow. A rain of arrows flew towards Mordars. All those arrows were dipped in oil and set aflame, just like the Scorpion's arrows. "Swoosh!", "Swoosh!", "Swoosh!", "Swoosh!", "Swoosh!"... The screeches filled the air, as Mordars died or were set on fire. The huge Mordar finally acted, as hundreds of roots resurfaced creating a wall protecting the smaller Mordars below.

"Don't stop shooting! Tilt the Scorpions up a bit more!" I shouted, while hiding my bow, and running towards Crow. "Crow, give me the Voltic Orb". He asked stunned "Don't tell me you want to go there?". But before I could reply, I heard a loud "Boom!" behind me. One of the roots slammed into the walls, destroying one of the Scorpions and killing a few people. I shouted, "Continue shooting! Take the injured away from the wall!".

I said to Crow, "Someone has to go there. I dealt with it once, I know its weaknesses. You have to continue shooting, and give me support from walls". Crow handed me the Orb, and said "I'm going with you. I'm not asking either". I nodded and jumped forwards. The walls were pretty tall, but I could use them to my advantage still. When I was close to the ground, I kicked the wall and launched myself horizontally. "Boom!" I landed outside the city walls. Another "boom!" sounded behind me, then one more.

'Hmm?' I turned around wondering who was the third person. When I saw her, I understood. "Let's go guys". As we began running, another root slammed into the wall. "BOOM!", "ARGHH!". Painful screams resounded through the air. "Quickly, we don't have much time!". Not only did we have a limited amount of arrows, the huge Mordar was already fighting back.