Stahlia, Ten Years Old Eleventh Month of 947
I crested the small hill at speed and caught air as my skis left the snow behind. Bending my knees to absorb the impact as I landed, I hunched low and shifted my gaze further ahead, accelerating yet more. I needed to get back to the village and warn my father about the horde of goblins that had set up camp a day’s march into the mountains. Thankfully, I was guaranteed to be able to provide some degree of forewarning, my skis let me make that same trek in hours.
Stil bounded along just behind me, thankfully he was able to keep up with this pace, though he would be dead tired by the time we got back to the village. As I skied, I put part of my attention towards a statistical analysis of the information I had.
I had wiped out one scouting party and then scouted three more without engaging them. All four parties had had an identical composition, indicating that these goblins possessed a high degree of organization. That all but confirmed the presence of a Goblin King. A basic Goblin Lord wouldn’t be able to control things to such a degree.
Still, since the compositions were uniform, I could make some educated guesses about the main force composition. Likely one in five goblins was actually a Hobgoblin, and these could be assumed to be in the leadership positions. The absence of calvary among the scouts indicated that the main force was either not in possession of many or was keeping them in reserve. But given the scouting effectiveness of mounted troops, I had to doubt that they would not be included in the scouting parties.
I had also confirmed the presence of Goblin Archers, however, given the presence of Hobgoblins, it could be assumed that the other variants of lesser goblins were also present. The biggest question was where the hell the horde had come from. There had been no news about a horde ravaging the countryside of Drakas, so that indicated that they had descended from deeper in the Ris Mountain range, however that just didn’t seem to make any sense. The mountains were incredibly dangerous, something as weak as a goblin, even in a horde, would struggle greatly in crossing them.
Before long, I had arrived back at the edge of the mountain forest and was within sight of the village. I killed my snowstorm spell and skied to a halt. Since I was using a completely original spell, there was no way in hell that I could risk anyone seeing me use it. I jumped out of my skis, and ran down the road towards my father’s house.
Stopping at the guardhouse, I waved down the captain of the guard on my way, “Can you head up to my father’s house? It’s an emergency. Thanks!” I also stopped by the Adventurer’s Guild by making a small detour and grabbed the branch guild master. I wasn’t expecting the guild to do much to help with the defense, unless, of course, my father paid them. However, he could provide testimony about the recent deaths of adventurers to supplement my own story.
I arrived back at my own home, where my father was confusedly greeting the captain of the town guard, “What do you mean my daughter told you to come to see me? She’s away at the moment, and will not be back for at least a week.”
I called out, “Father, I’m back. We have a serious issue to discuss. The whole village is at risk.”
My dad spun around and stared at me, “Stahlia!? It hasn’t even been a day…” He saw the guild master behind me and my words seemed to sink in, because he nodded, “Right, I am sure you have a good reason for coming back so quickly. Let us all go inside.”
Inside the house, we gathered in the seating room. It was the same room where my engagement had been arranged nearly three years ago, and we were sitting in roughly the same places as then. Though Count Francois was now played by the guild master, and the third prince was being played by the captain of the guard. There was no Dominic.
In time, Silvia came in to provide us with tea. Jacqueline was out somewhere with Lucy, owing to the fact that I had not planned on being back for a good deal of time, so poor Silvia was left to attend to the impromptu emergency meeting by herself. I gave her my thanks, she was likely going to have a hard time of it.
After I had taken a sip, my father addressed me, “Alright, Stahlia. What in the world is going on?”
I nodded and took a deep breath. While skimming some of the less relevant details, I described the budding situation in the foothills of the mountains. Along the way, I noted a look of realization dawning on the guild master’s face. Perfect, it seems like he’s made the connection between the missing adventurers and my story. I also highlighted the various small things I had noted in the village the past few months; people struggling with foraging for food, damaged crops, the occasional pet going missing.
When I was finished, my father sat back with a grim expression. Nodding in the direction of the guild master he noted, “Judging by Pierre’s expression, it would seem he agrees with you. I share the opinion regarding the missing adventurers.” He took a breath before continuing, “If what you say about the position of the goblin force is to be believed, then we likely don’t have a lot of time. Lindell, why did this force go unnoticed?”
The guard captain, Lindell, shook his head, “I don’t know, lord Ris. Lady Stahlia’s claims put them just outside the range of our patrols, but we should have still seen signs of them, traces of their scouting parties and what-not.” My father furrowed his brow at Lindell’s words.
“the fact remains, that they are now on our doorstep; we lack the time to contact the kingdom, leaving us with just the forces we have at hand. Lindell, go and marshal the guards. Pierre, gather the adventurers for an emergency quest… and both of you, do this quietly. I will inform the villagers at a later time, I would rather not incite panic.” My father’s voice was calm, but I could sense some vague discomfort behind his words.
Pierre and Lindell both nodded, stood and gave bows before leaving to perform their assigned duties. As soon as they had left, I turned to my father, “Father, I…” I trailed off, my father was giving me a hard stare, and it looked like he had something he wanted to say, but didn’t have any desire to.
Ah… It’s probably that. I nodded, “It’s fine dad. I understand.” My father’s eyes widened, showing his surprise.
“I always forget how smart you are. It might sound crass of me… especially after what I said when you returned, and the way your mother and I have been treating you… But I have to ask, no, order you. Stahlia, As my daughter and a noble of this kingdom. Help with the defense of the village.” I stood up and gave a military salute, I could tell from the way he was speaking; giving that order was painful for him.
But it was the logical thing for him to do, I’m the only combat mage in the town, nobody but me knows about Jacqueline’s magic beyond what a noble’s made usually has. Besides, even if he doesn’t realize, my specialty is Ice Magic. The season lends itself to that quite nicely. Indeed, thanks to the Seventh Law of magic, Ice magic would perform incredibly well at the moment, “Father, I was about to ask if I could help; I am your daughter, as well as the only combat mage in Ris Village. I might not have much experience, but I know a few spells that could affect an army. Thankfully, I do not believe I saw any Goblin Shaman’s, so my advantage should be one-sided.”
I’ll ignore the fact that I just raised a flag. For now, the important thing is to reassure my father, so that he doesn’t do anything stupid, like try and prevent me from joining the battle. “Shall I join the guards in their planning session, father? I believe it would be best if I did so; they do not know my abilities.” After a moment of consideration, my father consented, but also instructed me to inform Sieg of the issue on my way to the training ground.
Right, I should let Sieg know. He’ll want to brew a lot of medicines… There are a few more recipes I could give him as well… Thoughts of things like Mustard gas, Cl2, and Napalm flashed through my mind. Mustard Gas and Chlorine gas would actually be fairly simple to produce; we could even adapt the pressure mixer to do so. Napalm would be harder, but should still be doable.
No… that would be a bad idea. Almost as soon as I thought of the compounds in question, visions of something going wrong and gassing the village came to mind. Besides, even on Earth, those things had ethical concerns. This world might be harsh, but I’m not sure I should introduce chemical warfare… especially not in this kingdom. Considering the two neighboring political entities existed for the sole purpose of deterring Drakan aggression, the thought of providing Drakas with chemical weapons was vaguely nauseating.
For the same reason, as well as production capacity issues, I probably shouldn’t mention gunpowder either. Though making a small amount for my own use might be a good idea, I could only see providing Drakas with the methods of producing something like gunpowder ending badly. With such thoughts in my head, I made my way out to visit Sieg and the guards.
Sieg was surprised but quickly agreed to keep things quiet until my father made an announcement; it was self-evident how speaking of things early might cause problems. What was unexpected was me running into Giogi on my way to the guardhouse. I was walking at a brisk pace; not running so as to avoid causing suspicions, but Giogi had known me for a while and, evidently, he picked up on something in my mannerisms.
Giogi narrowed his eyes, and quickly fell in line a small distance behind me, “Lady Stahlia, it seems that there is a problem?” I hesitated for a moment, then decided I may as well tell him; he was nominally my knight.
In a low voice that wouldn’t carry far, I whispered, “There’s a large goblin army about a day’s march into the forest. My father has requested I assist the guard with magic.”
Giogi caught his breath. “Does it have anything to do with the Goblin King from a few years ago?” I stopped; I hadn’t considered that. If the two incidents were related, it might explain why the goblins were there. Why didn’t I think of that earlier…? Something like that is what my Eidetic memory should excel at… It was worrying, but I would ask those questions later. I started walking again, with Giogi following me. Thankfully, he picked up on my general demeanor and adopted a similar mask of his own.
Before long, we had arrived at the Guardhouse. In appearance, it was a fairly small structure. Ris was, at the end of the day, only a village. Rather than having a dedicated guard population, the village instead enlisted young men who had grown up here. Third and Fourth sons with no other prospects became guards, as it was a moderately better profession than becoming an adventurer.
Giogi stepped forward, and opened the door for me, allowing me entrance. I thanked him with a quick nod and stepped inside the building, wherein I was met with a series of stares from the assembled fifteen guards. I knew Ris had a small guard force… but is this really it? This was going to prove difficult. Mentally, I began considering the best spells to use. I need to inflict the most casualties I can with a single cast…
The guard captain nodded in my direction, “Thank you for coming, Lady Stahlia. I though Lord Ris might send you to provide a direct account of what we’re dealing with.”
I shook my head emphatically, “No Lindell, rather, my father sent me to provide insight into my own abilities; he wants you to plan with my magic in mind.”
A murmur went through the room; magic was so restricted, that for villagers from such a remote place as Ris, would very likely have never seen it other than possibly a miracle from the temple. The guard captain, who would be the one most familiar with magic, nodded, “I’ll thank Lord Ris. Not many lords would let their daughter fight. Especially not goblins.” I shrugged noncommittedly. I certainly didn’t envy my father having to inform my mother, but I was of the opinion his choice was the correct one.
“Still, Lady Stahlia, I’m not too well informed on the particulars of magic… How useful do you reckon you would be?” I paused to think at his question. It was an intelligent one, and I knew my answer would sway the direction of the strategy meeting. After a moment, I nodded and gave my answer.
“It depends on your tactics, Captain Lindell. I believe there are two things I could do to maximize my abilities. The first would be to fight on the ground, using barrages of simple spells mixed in with sword fighting…” I could see that Lindell was not very fond of this idea, likely since it put me in the thick of things.
“…The second option, would be a bit of a gamble…” Lindell raised an eyebrow, urging me to continue, “…Are you familiar with the term ‘Wide-area anti-army magic’?” Behind me, I felt Giogi stiffen, he was most certainly familiar with the term, owing to his knight training.
Lindell was looking me over incredulously, “You can cast forbidden magic? Do you have the king’s permission?” I grimaced and shook my head; Wide-area anti-army magic did exactly what the name implied; it obliterated armies. I was not supposed to know the chants for it, and in reality, I didn’t know them. But I knew the names and descriptions of several of the spells that fell into this category.
“No, I don’t have permission to cast the spells. But as a Special Student, I am afforded certain privileges. I will be able to get away with it.” Lindell eyed me suspiciously, but he had spent his entire life in the village; there was no way for him to know how hard I was lying right now. Giogi had some idea most likely, but as my knight, he was bound by his oath of loyalty and could not legally go against me here.
Finally, Lindell let out a long sigh, “…Alright. We’ll go with that plan. How many times can you cast the spell, and what can you tell us about it?”
I ruefully shook my head, “Only once I’m afraid, and then only because it is presently winter.”
Truthfully, there were a few more things I would be doing to be able to cast this spell; the discount I received from the amount of ambient Ice Aspected Mana wouldn’t be enough on its own. I would also need to rely on my [Blessing of Winter]’s strengthening effect towards the Ice Element and would most likely be disabling most of my emotions through [Cold Hearted] in order to take advantage of the Fifth Law.
“Then, the spell I will be casting is known as ‘Frozen Garden, Niflheim’. The chant will take several minutes to recite, so I will need to be defended during that time. That being said before I finish the chant, everybody needs to retreat. The spell does not discriminate. As for the effect, it first locks the area, preventing escape. Then, the affected area is magically frozen, the ambient temperature is lowered to several hundred degrees below the freezing point of water. Only creatures with outright immunity to ice and cold are capable of surviving.” I finished my brief explanation and waited for Lindell to speak his thoughts.
“Lady Stahlia… with all due respect, can you really cast such a spell? You’re not yet eleven even.”
I nodded, “I can. As long as it’s winter.”
Lindell took my repeated assertion at face value and nodded, “Very well, we will plan around your spell thinning the numbers. I don’t like relying on a gamble like that, but given the size of the horde, without taking such a risk, we’ll be overrun.”
The planning session proceeded apace. I was a bit surprised that the adventurer’s Pierre had been sent to gather did not take part, but as it turned out, they were not going to be directly involved with the defense of the village. Rather than fighting like the guard squad was going to, they would be patrolling inside the village walls and striking down any goblins or hobgoblins that inevitably slipped past the guards and me.
Part of me thinks it would be better to have them at the walls and prevent any goblins from getting past in the first place, but I’m not a strategist. I have some high firepower, but in terms of planning I only know the basics, things like how the high ground is better, or calvary make good scouts.
As far as the actual plan was concerned, it was fairly straightforward. We knew what direction the Goblins were going to come from; supposedly the terrain around Ris would prevent them from coming out of the foothills any other way. As such, we could set up an engagement are at the point of our choosing. Once the Goblins appeared, I was to wait for the order and begin chanting while the guards bought me time. After three minutes, Lindell would sound the retreat, this would begin a staggered fallback outside the region of my spells effect. The fallback would take two minutes to complete, at which point I was to activate the spell.
After my spell ended, the guards would return to check for survivors; while the area of effect of my spell should not have any, some goblins may not have entered the chilling grounds. It was a decidedly simple plan, but given how we had not trained with each other to figure out timings, there was much that could go wrong. Lindell was aware of this and told me in no uncertain terms not to worry about the guards and fire the spell after five minutes.
He was grimacing as he said that, fully aware that he was telling a ten-year-old girl to knowingly take actions that could result in her becoming a mass murderer. No, I’m already becoming one, of Goblins. Fortunately, hesitating wasn’t likely to be a problem in the moment of action. Though, if I did wind up killing some of the guards, well, I wasn’t looking forward to the additional repentance I would have to overcome. And thinking that their deaths would only be a bother is probably in and of itself going to increase my suffering tonight. Fuck.
Once our strategy was decided, I bid a temporary farewell; we had no way of knowing when the Goblins would make a move, so we were going to be living near the battlefield for a while. As such, I needed to collect a few things and grab Jacqueline. While she wouldn’t be able to fight openly in front of the guards, her presence would serve as an anchor for me.
Thankfully, she was at home by the time I arrived and had already begun to pack, as I expected, she had predicted that I would be living away from home for a bit, “T-Thank you-u, Jacqueline.” I couldn’t help but stammer a little bit; they were only Goblins, but what I had agreed to do was starting to set in.
Jacqueline caught my stammer and gave me a concerned look, to which I merely smiled weakly and shrugged, “Don’t worry about me Jacqueline, I’m just nervous; this will be my first exposure to large-scale warfare is all.” And if everything goes to plan, my first exposure to wholesale slaughter. Even if they are just Goblins…
★★★★★★
“Well, still no signs of movement?”
The adventurer shook his head, “The horde is still encamped in the foothills where Lady Stahlia said they was.”
Captain Lindell turned to me, as I was observing the Adventurer’s report. Owing to a legal technicality, I was theoretically the highest-ranking person in the encampment, as such I was “supervising” most of the actions taken here. Of course, when my father was present, that was his job. He was actually present fairly often; it was my opinion that he disliked me being here, but wasn’t willing to change things now that a plan had been formed. Still, he wasn’t here today, as such, it was my job to pretend to be in command.
As far as this report was concerned, after the third day of nothing happening, we had begun to dispatch adventurers on reconnaissance quests. Contrary to what I had thought, these quests turned out to be quite popular; the recipient was not required to fight, simply go out and confirm the Goblin force’s position. If they were discovered, the quest taker was allowed to flee. Of course, owing to the distance involved, the reports we received were typically twelve hours behind the actual state of the Goblin army. I could have done it faster, but I needed to be present to cast the anti-army magic whenever the horde moved.
“If that’s all, you’re dismissed.” The adventurer gave a brief nod and disappeared from the command tent. Behind me, I heard some clinks as Giogi relaxed. For some reason, he was always tense when one of the adventurers was giving a report.
Lindell eyed him with a bit of a warm expression, before turning to face me. “Well, it looks like nothing is going to happen today either, Lady Stahlia. I’m sorry for keeping you stuck here, but it should only be another day or two before the word comes back from the kingdom about the response force.”
Indeed, the same day as the planning meeting, my father had dispatched three groups of adventurers bearing letters to Lord Fess, the noble regent in charge of the Town of Fess. He would then dispatch a portion of his town’s forces to our aid and forward the letters to the capital, where the army would begin mobilizing. Goblin Hordes were quite the threat if allowed to go unchecked.
I nodded, then asked Lindell a question, the same one I had asked him every night since establishing this camp, “Lindell, any news of the Goblin King? Do we know if it’s the same one from six years ago?” Lindell shook his head.
“You know as much as I do Lady Stahlia, if I learn anything, I’ll tell you… Still, why are you so concerned about this? Even if it is the same king, it doesn’t change anything about what needs to be done.” His tone was a bit tired, indicating that he must be getting tired of answering this question.
I mean, you wouldn’t understand. I’m not saying it would change anything about the engagement, I’m trying to figure out why I didn’t remember the Goblin King from five years ago until Giogi said something. My memory failing shouldn’t be possible, other than the contents of the menus. Indeed, the only thing that didn’t seem to work with [Eidetic Memory], was the entries on my menus. This was particularly frustrating when it came to the Talent and Skill lists. But what connection a Goblin King has with those, I just don’t understand…
As I was thinking, a horn sounded in the distance, then another, and another, and a dozen more. I stood up, “Captain Lindell, it’s starting.”
Lindell nodded, “Aye, it sounds like it. What shitty timing.” You can say that again. Right after getting a report that it was all clear… They must have found and killed the adventurer who relieved the one who just made that report, otherwise, he would have come back ahead of the horde and warned us. Seriously, what the fuck is this horde? Goblins don’t act like this, even with a king.
I left the tent with Giogi and Lindell, and we made our way to the staging area where the guards were beginning to assemble. With me standing to his side, Lindell began the age old tradition of giving a pre-battle speech, “Men, guards of Ris…”
I tuned him out; I had my own pre-battle process to go through. Right. Ice is an element made up of the combination of Wind and Water, Yellow and Blue. So, I can get rid of Anger Since that’s a Red emotion. Like a switch, the minor feelings of irritation towards the horde vanished.
Fear is a Black emotion, it wouldn’t hurt my casting efficiency, but not having it would prevent any chance of me faltering when I see the horde approaching… I made up my mind and disabled fear; it would be better to keep as clear a head as possible for what was to come.
Empathy… That’s going to have to go as well. Even if they’re goblins, I’m about to kill a lot of them. There’s the chance that some of the guards won’t make it out in time, and I can’t afford to hesitate. Knowing full well that my nightly self-flagellation sessions were probably going to get a lot worse after this, I disabled Empathy as well.
The only one left is Love… I’ve never turned off all of the options before, and I don’t want to do that now. Turning off everything was, for some reason, still something I hesitated over. Even without fear, I was afraid of turning off all the emotions [Cold Hearted] was capable of. Looking at how the blowback worked, I got the feeling that the oversight was intentional; that feeling of fear and hesitation was probably some kind of warning put in place by whoever or whatever ran the system.
“…together with her magic, we will prevail. Now men, assume your positions!” It would seem that I had successfully missed Lindell’s speech. I climbed up onto the tower that had been specially constructed for me; from here, I could oversee the entirety of the small valley that was to become our battlefield. The angle of the tower was such that it would be extremely difficult to hit me with any arrows as well. Accompanying me were Giogi and Jacqueline. Stil couldn’t climb the ladder and was not with me in the first place; I had instructed him to watch over Rosin and Felicity.
I took a deep breath and began my chant, “Oh Ice, I desire a prison…”
★★★★★★
Lindell, Thirty-Nine Years Old, Eleventh Month of 947
I gripped my sword tightly, and stared death in the face. In front of me was a horde numbering in the low thousands. Behind me was my home village, and a girl young enough to be my granddaughter who was about to commit genocide to protect it. To my left and right were twenty of the bravest men I knew. Together, we would have to hold the line against the thousands-strong force, for five minutes.
Long enough for that girl to finish chanting a spell that would turn the tide of the battle. Fortunately, the battlefield was favorable to us. The goblins would be forced to compact their numbers in order to exit the valley. It was at that point that we would strike them.
I signaled the men with me as the horde drew close. Well, a minute has passed at least. Lord Ris had, upon hearing the plan, provided me with a small magic tool that could display time accurately. Lady Stahlia had repeatedly assured that her own estimate of how long the chant would take was accurate. I had to believe her in that since if she was off, it would mean the deaths of me and my men.
The goblins were upon us now, and my men had begun to engage. Like a proper commander, I was just close enough to engage myself and thus inspire my men, but not close enough to be at risk of taking an unlucky blow. A squad of guards is just as much a living creature as any man, and the commander is its head. Losing me would consign all of my men to their deaths.
Still, it pained me greatly as I watched Dae fall to his knees and vanish under a wave of green bodies, “Ald, Dae’s down! Close the gap!” I shifted to the left, dispatching a goblin that had slipped through the breach left by Dae as I did so. The gap was closed almost immediately, but several other Goblins had gotten through. That Giogi boy can pick up any stragglers that target Lady Stahlia, hopefully the adventurers are in position in case they head towards the village.
Two minutes have passed. I pushed the line forward a small amount; it would help to have more ground to retreat with when the time came to begin falling back, “Commander! Watch out!”
One of my men shouted at me, I couldn’t tell who in the thick of things. On reflex, I responded by dropping to my knees. A large ax sailed past where my head had been. Too big for a goblin. I followed the swing and met the eyes of a Hobgoblin that towered above me, owing to me being on my knees. The creature snarled at me, and adjust its grip on the haft of the ax, aiming to bring a swing down on my head.
“Hiya!” I stabbed forward with my sword, but the creature batted aside the blade with a quick twist of the ax’s handle.
I rolled forward and past the monster on its left, narrowly avoiding its falling blade. The ax head buried itself deep into the dirt, showcasing just how hard it had been swung. I wasn’t green enough to miss such an opportunity. Taking advantage of my opponent’s exposed state, I launched to my feet and swung for its neck. I was rewarded with the feeling of steel passing through flesh.
I took a few steps backward, returning to my place in line. Unfortunately, my maneuver had opened a gap for a few seconds. In those seconds, yet more goblins had slipped through. A pained cry rang out. It was human; another of my men had fallen. Fifty-six, fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty! I checked the time piece to confirm my count was accurate; three minutes had passed.
“Fall back! Retreat to the barrier point!” As one, my men began to fall back to the place Lady Stahlia had designated as being outside the range of her spell. I didn’t understand magic myself, but from what Lady Stahlia said, the conditions of this battle had conspired to grant her the ability to release “the final hell on earth”. I wasn’t sure what she meant by that, but it was likely a noble euphemism or something.
The fact of the matter was, she had been very clear; if my men were within the range of her spell, they would die. The goblins picked up on the fact that we were falling back and intensified their assault. Another of my men fell to their rusted blades. I hope Lady Stahlia doesn’t blame herself for this… it isn’t her fault. We knew some of us were going to die when I came up with the plan. The last thing I wanted, was for our deaths to shake lady Stahlia.
Halfway there. I checked the timepiece; we had just hit the four-minute mark. Only another minute. We can do this. Our victory was within sight. Surely, in the face of whatever spell was about to be activated, even monsters would falter. There was a roar.
I sidestepped a charging Hobgoblin allowing it to run past me. The creature balked briefly; it had not expected to be allowed through the line. In its moment of hesitation and surprise, I cut it down. Turning my attention to the source of the earlier roar, I saw a hulking monstrosity moving towards us. The green bastards parted before it as if repelled by an invisible force.
The Goblin King? No. It’s too small. From the descriptions I had heard, a Goblin King should be similar in stature to a small ogre. This mountain of muscle was about as tall as a large human. So a Goblin Lord then. The horde is too big for him to be in control… Don’t tell me the King has a large enough following to have multiple lords as sub-leaders!?
As I arrived at that worrying conclusion in my mind, my body arrived at the border. I was close enough that I could now hear Lady Stahlia’s voice, carrying words of magic over the wind. Each one rang out with power, and the air around me felt charged with some strange energy. At the very least, my arm hair was standing on end.
“That’s it! I’m about to cast!” Lady Stahlia’s final warning came not a moment too soon and, though I couldn’t see her, I could imagine her face, trying not to think about the possibility that my men and I hadn’t made it out. Thankfully for her, only those who were already dead had failed to return.
My men and I rushed across the line, then turned to face the oncoming horde for one last push. A final few words I could not recognize were said. These contained an air of finality to them, and for a moment, I could swear that all the sound on the battlefield stopped.
The Goblin Lord was charging straight at me, but mere feet away, he slammed into something in the air; looking closely, I could see a faint blueish tint, as if looking through the ice of a frozen river. The barrier… This wall can stop a Goblin Lord’s charge!? I shivered at the thought of what it would have been like to be trapped on the other side of the wall.
Suddenly, the Goblin Lord turned and eyed the area behind him suspiciously. As I watched, I noticed what had caught his attention; The tips of the pine needles and the wood of leafless trees were beginning to turn white. The Goblin Lord shivered, and looked down at his weapon; a thin sheet of ice was forming on the exposed metal.
In blatant desperation, he began to beat at the barrier. As I watched, his green skin began to turn blue. The force of his blows reverberated against the barrier, causing cracks to form. But these quickly repaired themselves; the barrier would allow no escape. Suddenly, a snapping noise echoed through the barrier. It was then that I noticed; there had been no sound for some time now. So transfixed had I been on the Goblin Lord, that I had failed to notice the myriad of goblins and hobgoblins that had long since expired.
The cracking noise was the arm of the Goblin Lord; it had frozen to the point of shattering as he tried to move it. Staring dumbly at his stump, the Goblin Lord looked up and met my eyes. In my heart, I felt pity. Pity for a Goblin that would just as soon eat me and my family. This… this is Anti-Army magic?
I turned away from the field of freshly made ice sculptures in time to see the one-armed maid supporting Lady Stahlia. Lady Stahlia looked positively exhausted. She did say she could only manage to cast the spell once… She must be at her absolute limit right now. I should make a point of thanking her and assuring her that none of my men were caught in the area.
I approached Lady Stahlia to do just that, but stopped short when I saw her eyes; she was studying the battlefield, but rather than expressing any sort of regret or sadness, she looked like she was studying a particularly interesting piece of art. I… I’m a soldier, technically, and that scene makes me feel sick… she’s just a girl… Appearances and age aside, her eyes betrayed no emotion whatsoever that I could discern. They were cold. The eyes of someone unbothered by the atrocities they had committed with their own hands. I shivered in spite of myself.
Stahlia, Ten Years Old Eleventh Month of 947
I crested the small hill at speed and caught air as my skis left the snow behind. Bending my knees to absorb the impact as I landed, I hunched low and shifted my gaze further ahead, accelerating yet more. I needed to get back to the village and warn my father about the horde of goblins that had set up camp a day’s march into the mountains. Thankfully, I was guaranteed to be able to provide some degree of forewarning, my skis let me make that same trek in hours.
Stil bounded along just behind me, thankfully he was able to keep up with this pace, though he would be dead tired by the time we got back to the village. As I skied, I put part of my attention towards a statistical analysis of the information I had.
I had wiped out one scouting party and then scouted three more without engaging them. All four parties had had an identical composition, indicating that these goblins possessed a high degree of organization. That all but confirmed the presence of a Goblin King. A basic Goblin Lord wouldn’t be able to control things to such a degree.
Still, since the compositions were uniform, I could make some educated guesses about the main force composition. Likely one in five goblins was actually a Hobgoblin, and these could be assumed to be in the leadership positions. The absence of calvary among the scouts indicated that the main force was either not in possession of many or was keeping them in reserve. But given the scouting effectiveness of mounted troops, I had to doubt that they would not be included in the scouting parties.
I had also confirmed the presence of Goblin Archers, however, given the presence of Hobgoblins, it could be assumed that the other variants of lesser goblins were also present. The biggest question was where the hell the horde had come from. There had been no news about a horde ravaging the countryside of Drakas, so that indicated that they had descended from deeper in the Ris Mountain range, however that just didn’t seem to make any sense. The mountains were incredibly dangerous, something as weak as a goblin, even in a horde, would struggle greatly in crossing them.
Before long, I had arrived back at the edge of the mountain forest and was within sight of the village. I killed my snowstorm spell and skied to a halt. Since I was using a completely original spell, there was no way in hell that I could risk anyone seeing me use it. I jumped out of my skis, and ran down the road towards my father’s house.
Stopping at the guardhouse, I waved down the captain of the guard on my way, “Can you head up to my father’s house? It’s an emergency. Thanks!” I also stopped by the Adventurer’s Guild by making a small detour and grabbed the branch guild master. I wasn’t expecting the guild to do much to help with the defense, unless, of course, my father paid them. However, he could provide testimony about the recent deaths of adventurers to supplement my own story.
I arrived back at my own home, where my father was confusedly greeting the captain of the town guard, “What do you mean my daughter told you to come to see me? She’s away at the moment, and will not be back for at least a week.”
I called out, “Father, I’m back. We have a serious issue to discuss. The whole village is at risk.”
My dad spun around and stared at me, “Stahlia!? It hasn’t even been a day…” He saw the guild master behind me and my words seemed to sink in, because he nodded, “Right, I am sure you have a good reason for coming back so quickly. Let us all go inside.”
Inside the house, we gathered in the seating room. It was the same room where my engagement had been arranged nearly three years ago, and we were sitting in roughly the same places as then. Though Count Francois was now played by the guild master, and the third prince was being played by the captain of the guard. There was no Dominic.
In time, Silvia came in to provide us with tea. Jacqueline was out somewhere with Lucy, owing to the fact that I had not planned on being back for a good deal of time, so poor Silvia was left to attend to the impromptu emergency meeting by herself. I gave her my thanks, she was likely going to have a hard time of it.
After I had taken a sip, my father addressed me, “Alright, Stahlia. What in the world is going on?”
I nodded and took a deep breath. While skimming some of the less relevant details, I described the budding situation in the foothills of the mountains. Along the way, I noted a look of realization dawning on the guild master’s face. Perfect, it seems like he’s made the connection between the missing adventurers and my story. I also highlighted the various small things I had noted in the village the past few months; people struggling with foraging for food, damaged crops, the occasional pet going missing.
When I was finished, my father sat back with a grim expression. Nodding in the direction of the guild master he noted, “Judging by Pierre’s expression, it would seem he agrees with you. I share the opinion regarding the missing adventurers.” He took a breath before continuing, “If what you say about the position of the goblin force is to be believed, then we likely don’t have a lot of time. Lindell, why did this force go unnoticed?”
The guard captain, Lindell, shook his head, “I don’t know, lord Ris. Lady Stahlia’s claims put them just outside the range of our patrols, but we should have still seen signs of them, traces of their scouting parties and what-not.” My father furrowed his brow at Lindell’s words.
“the fact remains, that they are now on our doorstep; we lack the time to contact the kingdom, leaving us with just the forces we have at hand. Lindell, go and marshal the guards. Pierre, gather the adventurers for an emergency quest… and both of you, do this quietly. I will inform the villagers at a later time, I would rather not incite panic.” My father’s voice was calm, but I could sense some vague discomfort behind his words.
Pierre and Lindell both nodded, stood and gave bows before leaving to perform their assigned duties. As soon as they had left, I turned to my father, “Father, I…” I trailed off, my father was giving me a hard stare, and it looked like he had something he wanted to say, but didn’t have any desire to.
Ah… It’s probably that. I nodded, “It’s fine dad. I understand.” My father’s eyes widened, showing his surprise.
“I always forget how smart you are. It might sound crass of me… especially after what I said when you returned, and the way your mother and I have been treating you… But I have to ask, no, order you. Stahlia, As my daughter and a noble of this kingdom. Help with the defense of the village.” I stood up and gave a military salute, I could tell from the way he was speaking; giving that order was painful for him.
But it was the logical thing for him to do, I’m the only combat mage in the town, nobody but me knows about Jacqueline’s magic beyond what a noble’s made usually has. Besides, even if he doesn’t realize, my specialty is Ice Magic. The season lends itself to that quite nicely. Indeed, thanks to the Seventh Law of magic, Ice magic would perform incredibly well at the moment, “Father, I was about to ask if I could help; I am your daughter, as well as the only combat mage in Ris Village. I might not have much experience, but I know a few spells that could affect an army. Thankfully, I do not believe I saw any Goblin Shaman’s, so my advantage should be one-sided.”
I’ll ignore the fact that I just raised a flag. For now, the important thing is to reassure my father, so that he doesn’t do anything stupid, like try and prevent me from joining the battle. “Shall I join the guards in their planning session, father? I believe it would be best if I did so; they do not know my abilities.” After a moment of consideration, my father consented, but also instructed me to inform Sieg of the issue on my way to the training ground.
Right, I should let Sieg know. He’ll want to brew a lot of medicines… There are a few more recipes I could give him as well… Thoughts of things like Mustard gas, Cl2, and Napalm flashed through my mind. Mustard Gas and Chlorine gas would actually be fairly simple to produce; we could even adapt the pressure mixer to do so. Napalm would be harder, but should still be doable.
No… that would be a bad idea. Almost as soon as I thought of the compounds in question, visions of something going wrong and gassing the village came to mind. Besides, even on Earth, those things had ethical concerns. This world might be harsh, but I’m not sure I should introduce chemical warfare… especially not in this kingdom. Considering the two neighboring political entities existed for the sole purpose of deterring Drakan aggression, the thought of providing Drakas with chemical weapons was vaguely nauseating.
For the same reason, as well as production capacity issues, I probably shouldn’t mention gunpowder either. Though making a small amount for my own use might be a good idea, I could only see providing Drakas with the methods of producing something like gunpowder ending badly. With such thoughts in my head, I made my way out to visit Sieg and the guards.
Sieg was surprised but quickly agreed to keep things quiet until my father made an announcement; it was self-evident how speaking of things early might cause problems. What was unexpected was me running into Giogi on my way to the guardhouse. I was walking at a brisk pace; not running so as to avoid causing suspicions, but Giogi had known me for a while and, evidently, he picked up on something in my mannerisms.
Giogi narrowed his eyes, and quickly fell in line a small distance behind me, “Lady Stahlia, it seems that there is a problem?” I hesitated for a moment, then decided I may as well tell him; he was nominally my knight.
In a low voice that wouldn’t carry far, I whispered, “There’s a large goblin army about a day’s march into the forest. My father has requested I assist the guard with magic.”
Giogi caught his breath. “Does it have anything to do with the Goblin King from a few years ago?” I stopped; I hadn’t considered that. If the two incidents were related, it might explain why the goblins were there. Why didn’t I think of that earlier…? Something like that is what my Eidetic memory should excel at… It was worrying, but I would ask those questions later. I started walking again, with Giogi following me. Thankfully, he picked up on my general demeanor and adopted a similar mask of his own.
Before long, we had arrived at the Guardhouse. In appearance, it was a fairly small structure. Ris was, at the end of the day, only a village. Rather than having a dedicated guard population, the village instead enlisted young men who had grown up here. Third and Fourth sons with no other prospects became guards, as it was a moderately better profession than becoming an adventurer.
Giogi stepped forward, and opened the door for me, allowing me entrance. I thanked him with a quick nod and stepped inside the building, wherein I was met with a series of stares from the assembled fifteen guards. I knew Ris had a small guard force… but is this really it? This was going to prove difficult. Mentally, I began considering the best spells to use. I need to inflict the most casualties I can with a single cast…
The guard captain nodded in my direction, “Thank you for coming, Lady Stahlia. I though Lord Ris might send you to provide a direct account of what we’re dealing with.”
I shook my head emphatically, “No Lindell, rather, my father sent me to provide insight into my own abilities; he wants you to plan with my magic in mind.”
A murmur went through the room; magic was so restricted, that for villagers from such a remote place as Ris, would very likely have never seen it other than possibly a miracle from the temple. The guard captain, who would be the one most familiar with magic, nodded, “I’ll thank Lord Ris. Not many lords would let their daughter fight. Especially not goblins.” I shrugged noncommittedly. I certainly didn’t envy my father having to inform my mother, but I was of the opinion his choice was the correct one.
“Still, Lady Stahlia, I’m not too well informed on the particulars of magic… How useful do you reckon you would be?” I paused to think at his question. It was an intelligent one, and I knew my answer would sway the direction of the strategy meeting. After a moment, I nodded and gave my answer.
“It depends on your tactics, Captain Lindell. I believe there are two things I could do to maximize my abilities. The first would be to fight on the ground, using barrages of simple spells mixed in with sword fighting…” I could see that Lindell was not very fond of this idea, likely since it put me in the thick of things.
“…The second option, would be a bit of a gamble…” Lindell raised an eyebrow, urging me to continue, “…Are you familiar with the term ‘Wide-area anti-army magic’?” Behind me, I felt Giogi stiffen, he was most certainly familiar with the term, owing to his knight training.
Lindell was looking me over incredulously, “You can cast forbidden magic? Do you have the king’s permission?” I grimaced and shook my head; Wide-area anti-army magic did exactly what the name implied; it obliterated armies. I was not supposed to know the chants for it, and in reality, I didn’t know them. But I knew the names and descriptions of several of the spells that fell into this category.
“No, I don’t have permission to cast the spells. But as a Special Student, I am afforded certain privileges. I will be able to get away with it.” Lindell eyed me suspiciously, but he had spent his entire life in the village; there was no way for him to know how hard I was lying right now. Giogi had some idea most likely, but as my knight, he was bound by his oath of loyalty and could not legally go against me here.
Finally, Lindell let out a long sigh, “…Alright. We’ll go with that plan. How many times can you cast the spell, and what can you tell us about it?”
I ruefully shook my head, “Only once I’m afraid, and then only because it is presently winter.”
Truthfully, there were a few more things I would be doing to be able to cast this spell; the discount I received from the amount of ambient Ice Aspected Mana wouldn’t be enough on its own. I would also need to rely on my [Blessing of Winter]’s strengthening effect towards the Ice Element and would most likely be disabling most of my emotions through [Cold Hearted] in order to take advantage of the Fifth Law.
“Then, the spell I will be casting is known as ‘Frozen Garden, Niflheim’. The chant will take several minutes to recite, so I will need to be defended during that time. That being said before I finish the chant, everybody needs to retreat. The spell does not discriminate. As for the effect, it first locks the area, preventing escape. Then, the affected area is magically frozen, the ambient temperature is lowered to several hundred degrees below the freezing point of water. Only creatures with outright immunity to ice and cold are capable of surviving.” I finished my brief explanation and waited for Lindell to speak his thoughts.
“Lady Stahlia… with all due respect, can you really cast such a spell? You’re not yet eleven even.”
I nodded, “I can. As long as it’s winter.”
Lindell took my repeated assertion at face value and nodded, “Very well, we will plan around your spell thinning the numbers. I don’t like relying on a gamble like that, but given the size of the horde, without taking such a risk, we’ll be overrun.”
The planning session proceeded apace. I was a bit surprised that the adventurer’s Pierre had been sent to gather did not take part, but as it turned out, they were not going to be directly involved with the defense of the village. Rather than fighting like the guard squad was going to, they would be patrolling inside the village walls and striking down any goblins or hobgoblins that inevitably slipped past the guards and me.
Part of me thinks it would be better to have them at the walls and prevent any goblins from getting past in the first place, but I’m not a strategist. I have some high firepower, but in terms of planning I only know the basics, things like how the high ground is better, or calvary make good scouts.
As far as the actual plan was concerned, it was fairly straightforward. We knew what direction the Goblins were going to come from; supposedly the terrain around Ris would prevent them from coming out of the foothills any other way. As such, we could set up an engagement are at the point of our choosing. Once the Goblins appeared, I was to wait for the order and begin chanting while the guards bought me time. After three minutes, Lindell would sound the retreat, this would begin a staggered fallback outside the region of my spells effect. The fallback would take two minutes to complete, at which point I was to activate the spell.
After my spell ended, the guards would return to check for survivors; while the area of effect of my spell should not have any, some goblins may not have entered the chilling grounds. It was a decidedly simple plan, but given how we had not trained with each other to figure out timings, there was much that could go wrong. Lindell was aware of this and told me in no uncertain terms not to worry about the guards and fire the spell after five minutes.
He was grimacing as he said that, fully aware that he was telling a ten-year-old girl to knowingly take actions that could result in her becoming a mass murderer. No, I’m already becoming one, of Goblins. Fortunately, hesitating wasn’t likely to be a problem in the moment of action. Though, if I did wind up killing some of the guards, well, I wasn’t looking forward to the additional repentance I would have to overcome. And thinking that their deaths would only be a bother is probably in and of itself going to increase my suffering tonight. Fuck.
Once our strategy was decided, I bid a temporary farewell; we had no way of knowing when the Goblins would make a move, so we were going to be living near the battlefield for a while. As such, I needed to collect a few things and grab Jacqueline. While she wouldn’t be able to fight openly in front of the guards, her presence would serve as an anchor for me.
Thankfully, she was at home by the time I arrived and had already begun to pack, as I expected, she had predicted that I would be living away from home for a bit, “T-Thank you-u, Jacqueline.” I couldn’t help but stammer a little bit; they were only Goblins, but what I had agreed to do was starting to set in.
Jacqueline caught my stammer and gave me a concerned look, to which I merely smiled weakly and shrugged, “Don’t worry about me Jacqueline, I’m just nervous; this will be my first exposure to large-scale warfare is all.” And if everything goes to plan, my first exposure to wholesale slaughter. Even if they are just Goblins…
★★★★★★
“Well, still no signs of movement?”
The adventurer shook his head, “The horde is still encamped in the foothills where Lady Stahlia said they was.”
Captain Lindell turned to me, as I was observing the Adventurer’s report. Owing to a legal technicality, I was theoretically the highest-ranking person in the encampment, as such I was “supervising” most of the actions taken here. Of course, when my father was present, that was his job. He was actually present fairly often; it was my opinion that he disliked me being here, but wasn’t willing to change things now that a plan had been formed. Still, he wasn’t here today, as such, it was my job to pretend to be in command.
As far as this report was concerned, after the third day of nothing happening, we had begun to dispatch adventurers on reconnaissance quests. Contrary to what I had thought, these quests turned out to be quite popular; the recipient was not required to fight, simply go out and confirm the Goblin force’s position. If they were discovered, the quest taker was allowed to flee. Of course, owing to the distance involved, the reports we received were typically twelve hours behind the actual state of the Goblin army. I could have done it faster, but I needed to be present to cast the anti-army magic whenever the horde moved.
“If that’s all, you’re dismissed.” The adventurer gave a brief nod and disappeared from the command tent. Behind me, I heard some clinks as Giogi relaxed. For some reason, he was always tense when one of the adventurers was giving a report.
Lindell eyed him with a bit of a warm expression, before turning to face me. “Well, it looks like nothing is going to happen today either, Lady Stahlia. I’m sorry for keeping you stuck here, but it should only be another day or two before the word comes back from the kingdom about the response force.”
Indeed, the same day as the planning meeting, my father had dispatched three groups of adventurers bearing letters to Lord Fess, the noble regent in charge of the Town of Fess. He would then dispatch a portion of his town’s forces to our aid and forward the letters to the capital, where the army would begin mobilizing. Goblin Hordes were quite the threat if allowed to go unchecked.
I nodded, then asked Lindell a question, the same one I had asked him every night since establishing this camp, “Lindell, any news of the Goblin King? Do we know if it’s the same one from six years ago?” Lindell shook his head.
“You know as much as I do Lady Stahlia, if I learn anything, I’ll tell you… Still, why are you so concerned about this? Even if it is the same king, it doesn’t change anything about what needs to be done.” His tone was a bit tired, indicating that he must be getting tired of answering this question.
I mean, you wouldn’t understand. I’m not saying it would change anything about the engagement, I’m trying to figure out why I didn’t remember the Goblin King from five years ago until Giogi said something. My memory failing shouldn’t be possible, other than the contents of the menus. Indeed, the only thing that didn’t seem to work with [Eidetic Memory], was the entries on my menus. This was particularly frustrating when it came to the Talent and Skill lists. But what connection a Goblin King has with those, I just don’t understand…
As I was thinking, a horn sounded in the distance, then another, and another, and a dozen more. I stood up, “Captain Lindell, it’s starting.”
Lindell nodded, “Aye, it sounds like it. What shitty timing.” You can say that again. Right after getting a report that it was all clear… They must have found and killed the adventurer who relieved the one who just made that report, otherwise, he would have come back ahead of the horde and warned us. Seriously, what the fuck is this horde? Goblins don’t act like this, even with a king.
I left the tent with Giogi and Lindell, and we made our way to the staging area where the guards were beginning to assemble. With me standing to his side, Lindell began the age old tradition of giving a pre-battle speech, “Men, guards of Ris…”
I tuned him out; I had my own pre-battle process to go through. Right. Ice is an element made up of the combination of Wind and Water, Yellow and Blue. So, I can get rid of Anger Since that’s a Red emotion. Like a switch, the minor feelings of irritation towards the horde vanished.
Fear is a Black emotion, it wouldn’t hurt my casting efficiency, but not having it would prevent any chance of me faltering when I see the horde approaching… I made up my mind and disabled fear; it would be better to keep as clear a head as possible for what was to come.
Empathy… That’s going to have to go as well. Even if they’re goblins, I’m about to kill a lot of them. There’s the chance that some of the guards won’t make it out in time, and I can’t afford to hesitate. Knowing full well that my nightly self-flagellation sessions were probably going to get a lot worse after this, I disabled Empathy as well.
The only one left is Love… I’ve never turned off all of the options before, and I don’t want to do that now. Turning off everything was, for some reason, still something I hesitated over. Even without fear, I was afraid of turning off all the emotions [Cold Hearted] was capable of. Looking at how the blowback worked, I got the feeling that the oversight was intentional; that feeling of fear and hesitation was probably some kind of warning put in place by whoever or whatever ran the system.
“…together with her magic, we will prevail. Now men, assume your positions!” It would seem that I had successfully missed Lindell’s speech. I climbed up onto the tower that had been specially constructed for me; from here, I could oversee the entirety of the small valley that was to become our battlefield. The angle of the tower was such that it would be extremely difficult to hit me with any arrows as well. Accompanying me were Giogi and Jacqueline. Stil couldn’t climb the ladder and was not with me in the first place; I had instructed him to watch over Rosin and Felicity.
I took a deep breath and began my chant, “Oh Ice, I desire a prison…”
★★★★★★
Lindell, Thirty-Nine Years Old, Eleventh Month of 947
I gripped my sword tightly, and stared death in the face. In front of me was a horde numbering in the low thousands. Behind me was my home village, and a girl young enough to be my granddaughter who was about to commit genocide to protect it. To my left and right were twenty of the bravest men I knew. Together, we would have to hold the line against the thousands-strong force, for five minutes.
Long enough for that girl to finish chanting a spell that would turn the tide of the battle. Fortunately, the battlefield was favorable to us. The goblins would be forced to compact their numbers in order to exit the valley. It was at that point that we would strike them.
I signaled the men with me as the horde drew close. Well, a minute has passed at least. Lord Ris had, upon hearing the plan, provided me with a small magic tool that could display time accurately. Lady Stahlia had repeatedly assured that her own estimate of how long the chant would take was accurate. I had to believe her in that since if she was off, it would mean the deaths of me and my men.
The goblins were upon us now, and my men had begun to engage. Like a proper commander, I was just close enough to engage myself and thus inspire my men, but not close enough to be at risk of taking an unlucky blow. A squad of guards is just as much a living creature as any man, and the commander is its head. Losing me would consign all of my men to their deaths.
Still, it pained me greatly as I watched Dae fall to his knees and vanish under a wave of green bodies, “Ald, Dae’s down! Close the gap!” I shifted to the left, dispatching a goblin that had slipped through the breach left by Dae as I did so. The gap was closed almost immediately, but several other Goblins had gotten through. That Giogi boy can pick up any stragglers that target Lady Stahlia, hopefully the adventurers are in position in case they head towards the village.
Two minutes have passed. I pushed the line forward a small amount; it would help to have more ground to retreat with when the time came to begin falling back, “Commander! Watch out!”
One of my men shouted at me, I couldn’t tell who in the thick of things. On reflex, I responded by dropping to my knees. A large ax sailed past where my head had been. Too big for a goblin. I followed the swing and met the eyes of a Hobgoblin that towered above me, owing to me being on my knees. The creature snarled at me, and adjust its grip on the haft of the ax, aiming to bring a swing down on my head.
“Hiya!” I stabbed forward with my sword, but the creature batted aside the blade with a quick twist of the ax’s handle.
I rolled forward and past the monster on its left, narrowly avoiding its falling blade. The ax head buried itself deep into the dirt, showcasing just how hard it had been swung. I wasn’t green enough to miss such an opportunity. Taking advantage of my opponent’s exposed state, I launched to my feet and swung for its neck. I was rewarded with the feeling of steel passing through flesh.
I took a few steps backward, returning to my place in line. Unfortunately, my maneuver had opened a gap for a few seconds. In those seconds, yet more goblins had slipped through. A pained cry rang out. It was human; another of my men had fallen. Fifty-six, fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty! I checked the time piece to confirm my count was accurate; three minutes had passed.
“Fall back! Retreat to the barrier point!” As one, my men began to fall back to the place Lady Stahlia had designated as being outside the range of her spell. I didn’t understand magic myself, but from what Lady Stahlia said, the conditions of this battle had conspired to grant her the ability to release “the final hell on earth”. I wasn’t sure what she meant by that, but it was likely a noble euphemism or something.
The fact of the matter was, she had been very clear; if my men were within the range of her spell, they would die. The goblins picked up on the fact that we were falling back and intensified their assault. Another of my men fell to their rusted blades. I hope Lady Stahlia doesn’t blame herself for this… it isn’t her fault. We knew some of us were going to die when I came up with the plan. The last thing I wanted, was for our deaths to shake lady Stahlia.
Halfway there. I checked the timepiece; we had just hit the four-minute mark. Only another minute. We can do this. Our victory was within sight. Surely, in the face of whatever spell was about to be activated, even monsters would falter. There was a roar.
I sidestepped a charging Hobgoblin allowing it to run past me. The creature balked briefly; it had not expected to be allowed through the line. In its moment of hesitation and surprise, I cut it down. Turning my attention to the source of the earlier roar, I saw a hulking monstrosity moving towards us. The green bastards parted before it as if repelled by an invisible force.
The Goblin King? No. It’s too small. From the descriptions I had heard, a Goblin King should be similar in stature to a small ogre. This mountain of muscle was about as tall as a large human. So a Goblin Lord then. The horde is too big for him to be in control… Don’t tell me the King has a large enough following to have multiple lords as sub-leaders!?
As I arrived at that worrying conclusion in my mind, my body arrived at the border. I was close enough that I could now hear Lady Stahlia’s voice, carrying words of magic over the wind. Each one rang out with power, and the air around me felt charged with some strange energy. At the very least, my arm hair was standing on end.
“That’s it! I’m about to cast!” Lady Stahlia’s final warning came not a moment too soon and, though I couldn’t see her, I could imagine her face, trying not to think about the possibility that my men and I hadn’t made it out. Thankfully for her, only those who were already dead had failed to return.
My men and I rushed across the line, then turned to face the oncoming horde for one last push. A final few words I could not recognize were said. These contained an air of finality to them, and for a moment, I could swear that all the sound on the battlefield stopped.
The Goblin Lord was charging straight at me, but mere feet away, he slammed into something in the air; looking closely, I could see a faint blueish tint, as if looking through the ice of a frozen river. The barrier… This wall can stop a Goblin Lord’s charge!? I shivered at the thought of what it would have been like to be trapped on the other side of the wall.
Suddenly, the Goblin Lord turned and eyed the area behind him suspiciously. As I watched, I noticed what had caught his attention; The tips of the pine needles and the wood of leafless trees were beginning to turn white. The Goblin Lord shivered, and looked down at his weapon; a thin sheet of ice was forming on the exposed metal.
In blatant desperation, he began to beat at the barrier. As I watched, his green skin began to turn blue. The force of his blows reverberated against the barrier, causing cracks to form. But these quickly repaired themselves; the barrier would allow no escape. Suddenly, a snapping noise echoed through the barrier. It was then that I noticed; there had been no sound for some time now. So transfixed had I been on the Goblin Lord, that I had failed to notice the myriad of goblins and hobgoblins that had long since expired.
The cracking noise was the arm of the Goblin Lord; it had frozen to the point of shattering as he tried to move it. Staring dumbly at his stump, the Goblin Lord looked up and met my eyes. In my heart, I felt pity. Pity for a Goblin that would just as soon eat me and my family. This… this is Anti-Army magic?
I turned away from the field of freshly made ice sculptures in time to see the one-armed maid supporting Lady Stahlia. Lady Stahlia looked positively exhausted. She did say she could only manage to cast the spell once… She must be at her absolute limit right now. I should make a point of thanking her and assuring her that none of my men were caught in the area.
I approached Lady Stahlia to do just that, but stopped short when I saw her eyes; she was studying the battlefield, but rather than expressing any sort of regret or sadness, she looked like she was studying a particularly interesting piece of art. I… I’m a soldier, technically, and that scene makes me feel sick… she’s just a girl… Appearances and age aside, her eyes betrayed no emotion whatsoever that I could discern. They were cold. The eyes of someone unbothered by the atrocities they had committed with their own hands. I shivered in spite of myself.
