Legend of the Spellthief

“Goblins! In the treeline! Guards to position, bring in the civilians!” a guard shouted from one of the windows of the gatehouse.

A thunderous stampede of the retreating humans, gashriek, and a few saebers, filled the area with fear. The tightening bow strings above Logan revealed the prepared archers, thankful there were more here than there would have been.

As people flocked to the safety that the walls provided, Logan scanned over the forces. Scouts, muscles, archers, shamans, hobgoblins, and more. The army was varied and numerous, quickly looking from left to right he could only fathom that there were at least three hundred foes in the forest.

Keeping his attention on the goblins in the distance, moving around the villagers so his vision was not disturbed, Logan could hear the chanting of several goblins at once.

“Hise, rise, rin”, they chanted over and over.

The Spellthief could only guess at what it was. A war chant? Or maybe a form of spellcasting or skill use? Logan had yet to face an enemy that spoke their skill names or chanted for magic, but since these creatures could speak maybe they had to do so. Now was not the time for theorizing however, the goblins were standing ready at the extent of the forest, while the guards moved into position and held fire.

Bells rang out in the gatehouse as the portcullis started to come down and stopped at around ten feet from the ground. The scraping of metal and the low dinging of the bell called the goblins to action. The chanting stopped as Logan saw it to be the casters who had done so, large balls of fire had formed within the trees and were shot through the blocking flora.

Crashing through wood, the masses of flames came soaring through the air to the walls of Gauntlet, guards calling out to brace for impact. The smokey trails painted the attack as if they were flaming balls released from trebuchets. As they blasted the walls the rocky barrier shook, dust being rattled from the crevices and pebbles getting dislodged. Dealing severe damage, one after another, the walls held strong against the magical barrage.

“Loose!” a guard shouted from inside the gatehouse.

With the command, several bows and crossbows shot their projectiles from the windows and atop the walls. Raining down death on the enemy forces, the arrows and bolts were somewhat halted by the trees that still stood.

“Bars! Hyse!” Krekka commanded as he threw his hand to the side.

More chanting could be heard in the treeline, ending just before another volley from the archers soared through the skies. Pitters and patters were heard as the arrowheads were reflected off of a transparent purple hexagon designed barrier.

In retaliation to the barriers being formed, Logan heard another bell starting to ding up in the walls. This one reverberated and was much more high-pitched than the last, recognising it as the call to arms for all adventurers to protect the city. Logan was waiting for it before he started his own offensive.

Lowering his hand in a burst of mocking laughter, Krekka pointed at the gate. The goblin forces yelled and laughed as they began their charge to the city. They caused the purple barrier to ripple as if it was made of water as they left its protective housing. Logan’s initial calculation of three hundred seemed a bit low at this point as they left the cover of the trees.

“Marcus, now!” Logan called out to his ally.

Raising his hands, Logan let out Force mick after Force mick, tunnelling grey forces forming in his shoulder then slingshotting through his limb into the distant foes. Marcus drew up his crossbow and fired as fast as he could. Celsius shot out Ember Shards while Spark awaited his moment to strike. With a mental command of, “Identify”, Logan saw the goblins were quite varied in their level distribution. Scouts ranged from 1 to 3, muscles from 2 to 5.

He didn’t have time to formulate the new change in the opponent, he had to aim to get the best shots in as possible. Thankfully many of the lower level foes, mostly up to 3, were felled in singular blasts. Any above that required an additional arrow or two to bring to the floor.

To the side of Logan’s view was a new window that had appeared, informing him that he had joined a raid event and that he would be counted as if he were in a party of eight allies for experience reductions. With the sheer number of foes, Logan had no worries about the rewards awaiting him at the end.

The goblins clambered over their kin, jumping and vaulting the hills of corpses. An almost endless stampede of green and brown-skinned monsters continued towards Gauntlet. All the civilians and guards outside the gate had finally got to safety, a call from below ordering the gate to come fully down.

A loud screeching of metal against the rock was followed by the slam of the portcullis spikes into the floor, sealing off the city from the goblin army. Moving their arms to shoot through the gaps of the metal, Logan and Marcus carried on in their assistance to the archers above.

Giving back their own attack, Logan saw goblin archers riding atop the shoulders of hobgoblins and firing their bows towards the gatehouse. Their aim was shoddy due to their movement, but a few were able to get through the windows and arrow slits thanks to the number of arrows being shot.

Did Gauntlet not have magi that could put up barriers similar to the goblins? Where even were the spellcasters? Logan could only make out archer fire, no spells at all except his. Arrows flew past his face as they fit through the portcullis, one hitting his arm and another into the leg. Marcus patched it up quick with a Healer’s Caress, but if many more came through it would add up pretty quick.

Crossing the bridge, the goblin masses were corralled into a neat little corridor of meat to cut down. Following the arrow fire, javelins were being hurled by the hobgoblins, smashing into the walls and creating large pitons. The scouts jumped from head to shoulder, leaping at the javelins and then between the higher ones.

“They’re climbing the walls! Swords ready!” a female guard called from the guardhouse.

Clashing of metal could be heard just above, the goblins rushing through the windows and attacking the guards within. Combined with the attack above, several of the larger goblinoids had made it to the portcullis. Some were trying to bash it down with their weapons, whereas some hobgoblins tried to grab it from the bottom and open it up.

Taking several steps forwards, Logan swung his arm across the floor just behind the gate calling out, “Flame Wall”, as the stone on the other side started to bubble and let loose torrents of columned fires upwards. Throwing his arm outwards towards the gate he chanted again, “Lightning Wall”, causing azure arcs to sprout and dance upwards into a secondary line of electrical death.

Thud after thud was heard as the two magic walls took down a vast quantity of the goblinoids at the gate. Only glimpses in the fires were shown as the pair returned to their Force and crossbow barrage.

However, at the top of the wall, a different scene was playing out. A shockwave of wind revealed a group of three hobgoblins and a goblin shaman had teleported to the heights of the walls. Large maces collided with leather-protected guards, the strength of the blows sending several over the sides of the battlements. Yells in pain and fear joined the explosions of magic and flinging of projectiles.

As a body crashed behind Logan, the Spellthief flinched and looked around. Seeing some backup adventurers with ranged weapons drawn he was bolstered ever so slightly. The attack against the portcullis had yet to stop though, cracks and bends easily visible across it. It was a sure bet that it wouldn’t withstand the attacks for much longer, it would take allies on the other side to see it survive.

Arrows and knives flew from behind Logan into the goblins on the other side, the adventurers having joined Logan’s aid. Others drew up melee weapons and ran into the doors that led to the gatehouse interiors to aid in the attack within and atop.

“Mage, what is the situation?” a youthful man asked.

Logan saw the blonde-haired man to be in his early 20s, scars across his face in side-ways formations showing his experience as an adventurer, or, his lack of personal safety.

“Hundreds of goblins teleported into the tree line, they have shamans and a goblin so strong I cannot scan them for their strengths. Hobs have been teleported to the top of the wall and scouts have climbed into the gatehouse”, Logan explained quickly.

“Madamra take us, was there any warning at all?” the youth cursed the Lady of Monsters’ name.

“Some explosives but that is all.”

“Ok. Koma, Lyrnin, you two head north and check the other towers for intrusions”, the man spoke as he pointed at other adventurers, “Raye, Quros, Patavava, you three go into town and warn the civilians, keep an eye for any infiltrators”, he continued as he turned his head to look at the others. “Mage, what is your rank and spell speciality?”

“8, and I am a Grasp expert. I have two summons active and helping, other than that I have Flame, Gaia, Lightning, and Necromantic spells prepared.”

“A slotter, good, more spells. I can teleport us around the field, can you use Wall alterations?”

“That I can.”

“Devout, hold this position and prepare healing for our return!”

“Got it!” Marcus replied.

“Alright, mage, what’s your name?”

“Logan.”

“Logan, I’m going to take us into their midst. Throw up Walls as fast and wide as you can, then we’ll come back in.”

“You think that’s wise?”

“No, but we need to work fast. That gate isn’t going to hold”, the man spoke faster as he grabbed onto Logan’s shoulder. “Ready?”

Logan gave a solid nod as he felt the wind around him get pulled inwards and crush his form, in an instant, he was teleported onto the middle of the bridge. The man became hastened as if through magic, though he had already used a spell to bring Logan this far. Dashing away from the Spellthief, the man let out a flurry of slashes with his shortsword that glowed gold with each strike.

Logan did as he was commanded and threw up a Lightning Wall on the bridge, filling its entire width with yet another barrier for the forces to barge through to get to the city.

“Explosion!” the man yelled in the background.

A large swath of golden flame erupted as he slammed his blade into the floor, the magical colours expanding outwards and burning the nearby goblins. Running back to the Spellthief he held his sword with the flat end aimed at Logan.

“Logan, shoot a Flame at me!” he yelled.

Logan didn’t question it, throwing his hand towards his new ally, “Flame Shot”, he called out, a torrent of fire forming in his limb and grasping outwards towards the swordsman.

As the fires corralled towards the man his sword shone a dark blue, the flames colliding with the blade caused them to be vortexed into it similarly to Logan’s Spell Absorption. Glowing a bright gold again, the man slid to a halt just behind Logan.

“Air Swatter!” he called out, cutting into a cross design in the air towards the army in the direction of the forest.

Two golden flame lines shot from the blade as its light dimmed, cutting into the air and through several goblinoids in the distance. Yells of death and pain replied to the man’s attack, followed by a rain of arrows and bolts towards the duo. Repelling a few with slashes of a shortsword or daggers, the pair grouped back up as the man twisted his head over his shoulder to the top of the walls.

Another inward implosion of air had the duo teleport to the top of the walls. The man kicked off the floor and lunged into the nearest hobgoblin, three slashes brought the hunk of meat to the floor, the cuts singed slightly. Logan backed the other guards up with shots of Force, aiming at the shamans first.

Ducking low, Logan just narrowly dodged a Flame Shot over his head. The lack of chanting revealed they could silentcast like any other monster. A Force into the stomach and another to the head brought down the shaman that had aimed at the Spellthief. Watching the man at work gave Logan reason to use Identification, but his rule-abiding side won over that curiosity. The man’s level was sure to be high regardless, with how effortlessly he dealt with his foes.

A large crash and crack of metal from below alerted Logan to the dangers his allies’ were facing. Darting to the edge and peering over the battlements he saw guards and adventurers alike backstepping and getting into a melee with the goblinoids.

“The entrance is breached!” Logan shouted over to the others.

The youth turned around as he finished off another hobgoblin. Thankfully those in the gatehouse started to reach the top, relieving him of his duties. Running up and grabbing onto Logan, the man looked to a nearby rooftop at the entrance, the pair teleporting atop its slanted slate heights.

Leaping off the roof to land on another foe, the youth moved to deal with the enemies. Logan scanned the area for his friends, finding them quickly as Marcus was parrying two goblin muscles with his staff. The training had not come at a better time, Marcus showing amazing skill at stalling for backup. Aided by Celsius and Spark, one of the muscles was downed before Logan took out the other with a long-distance Force.

The tumbling of forested colours at the portcullis gate remains reminded Logan of those high-budget zombie films he had watched, but this one was far scarier. He was inside of that scene, and people were at risk. Screams erupted from the guards who were overwhelmed, clubs smashed into faces and knees, shots into arms and gullets.

The Spellthief turned his attention to give covering fire to the guards who needed his aid, many of them having grown rusty due to times of peace. A raging sound of clanking armour from the east calmed the trench fighters as the rest of the humanoid army approached. High-power crossbows landed shots that went through several goblin heads, horse-riders charging down and trampling the little goblinoids in the way.

“Essence of water pick out my foes. Water Prison Target Foe!” a woman chanted atop a horse.

Her arm was coated in a rough torrent of waves, shooting from her palm the waters serpentined around the guards and adventurers, darting into the goblins nearest to her and forming spheres of water around the enemies. Trapped in a bubble, the goblins clung to their throats as they started to drown, only for swords to pierce their stomachs and faces to finish them off.

Jumping from their horses, the sword-users moved to aid the guards, their skill far exceeding the ones on watch. Whereas the casters used spells to control the crowds of goblinoids.

“Rock and stone, create a barrier anew. Earth Second Wall, Sustained”, a male caster incanted.

This time, a large wall of earth formed from the floor of the portcullis to the height of the gates. Loud bangs and bashes against the wall sounded off the goblinoids trying to enter the city proper. Logan was excited at seeing new forms of magic, and new alterations to boot, but he couldn’t delve further into their operations.

“Cassius! Here to me!” a man wearing ornate red and silver armour shouted.

The youth that had aided Logan earlier ran over to the one who shouted, revealing Logan’s swordsman ally was named Cassius.

“Reinwold, sir. The situation is dire, shaman, hobs, and a leader of unknown strength await behind the walls”, Cassius started to explain.

“Sky beasts!” a guard yelled atop the walls.

A unison movement of heads to the skies was heard as guards and adventurers alike scanned the darkness above. Goblinoids with morphed heads of lizards and gangly wings could be seen far above, dropping down other goblinoids into the city. The fliers were quite large, maybe 10' tall, big enough to even ferry hobgoblins over the walls.

The crashing of wood, clay, and slate was followed quickly by the screams of the populace. Guards darted away from the gate and into the city to save the civilians, though a few adventurers were already in the midst of the buildings.

“Desma guide us. How did this many goblins make it to the city without notice?!” Reinwold, the ornately armoured man yelled.

“Teleportation sir, many of their shamans are showing a high capacity for the magic sir. They are bringing over three at a time”, Cassius informed.

“Adventurers, form groups and divide out into the city. Fell the monsters as you find them and keep the civilians safe!” Reinwold ordered.

The nearby adventurers nodded, grouping up with those nearby or those they are already working together with. Logan jumped from the rooftop and got back to Marcus alongside his elementals. Looking over their statuses it seemed that Marcus was doing a good job at keeping them all topped up on health, though the Devout was getting tired of having to defend the way he was.

Before they could converse, a large explosion hit a southern part of the wall, blasting apart the battlements in a large segment and sending rubble tumbling down to the streets below. With the destruction came more teleporting and skydiving goblinoids rushed through the top of the rubble.

“Let’s go”, Logan commanded as he began sprinting to the southern destruction.

Goblins jumped out from the left and the right, atop rubble piles or through building windows at the charging adventurers. A swift slash into the face, a staff smash into the skull, burning and shocking palms all retaliated against the ambushers. Slowing down their movement enough for goblins in the distance to line up shots with their bows.

Loosed arrows shot towards the pair, Logan moving in the front to deflect and take the arrows for the Devout ally. Getting hit several times did little to falter their energy, charging ahead with returning Force shots at the ranged goblins. Running up a pile of rubble, Logan jumped into the air to throw out some airborne blasts while Marcus dashed to cover to fire from afar.

Landing on top of a hobgoblin, Logan slashed out at it with his Spellthief’s edge straight from its sheath. Kicking off before a grapple could ensue, he didn’t want that again, he let out further Force micks that were getting reduced damage as normal. At this point it was confirmed the mick’s damage was capped at 15, dropping to 10 against the hob’s damage reduction.

A blast into the leg, another into the chest, caused the hob to fall down and then die to incoming bolt and fire attacks from Logan’s allies. Spark darted between the scouts he could find to aid in the fight where he could, his own damage reduction allowing him to last longer than normal.

The next foes to come through the wreckage above were muscles coated in shimmering barriers, most certainly buffed by their shamans. Firing off Forces at the falling foes returned several warning messages of 0 damage dealt, the barriers possibly being a counter to the mick. Landing with large cracks of stone underfoot, the muscles dashed towards the quartet of Logan’s party.

Marcus weaved in and out, dodging the slower movements of the muscle while Logan parried and retaliated with slashes from his dagger. Passing through the barriers it seemed they were only useful against certain attacks. Slicing a tendon and planting the blade deep into the hob’s head caused it to convulse and fall to the floor.

Celsius and Spark dogpiled onto the muscle that was accosting Marcus, causing it to roar out in pain from being shocked and burnt alive. A solid smash into its stomach and face from Marcus’s staff was enough of a follow-up to bring it down.

With two down, even more continued to pour in above, showing the relentlessness of the oncoming goblin army. Moving forward, Logan cast his prepared Lightning spell as a Wall to weaken the reinforcing goblinoids. The painful and angry yells of the enemies gave Logan hope as the barriers did not stop his normal spell damage.

Clicking his fingers, Logan felt the dread of the situation as countless dots were moving toward them on the mini-map. Checking his back to look at the green dots he was happy to see ranged adventurers climb onto the rooftops and rubble piles to loose pain onto the incoming forces.

Hopes continued to get dashed as their arrows and bolts dinked off of the barriers surrounding the goblins. They would stop both Force and ranged attacks, only elemental damage and melee would go through. The adventurers quickly saw the state of affairs and changed their aim to those lacking barriers or swapping to melee weapons.

More foes started to drop from the skies, magic aiding their landing to blast outwards and receive no damage from the fall. The team started to feel claustrophobic as enemies surrounded them, though allies were not far behind. With options being closed off, Logan would have to resort to new methods of taking down his foes, but his gear would not last forever.

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