The Land: Alliances (Chaos Seeds Book 3)

CHAPTER 21

Richter hit the ground hard and started running. He was able to absorb most of the force by flexing his knees, but it was still jarring to drop the twenty yards. Thankfully, his body was up to the task and he barely stumbled before he was moving at full speed. He had fuzzy men to kill!

The one good thing about the bugbears’ tactics was that it served to distract them from his approach. The Enhanced Sprite Armor reduced any noise he made by 50% when he was in the forest, but he still broke plenty of branches on his mad dash through the trees. He just prayed that he could get close enough that he could break through their ranks.

When he was three hundred yards away he recast Haste, Minor Life Armor, and Barkskin. He kept sprinting. His armor slowed him slightly, but he could definitely tell that he was moving easier than he had when fleeing the kobold warren. Richter’s legs flew across the ground!

At two hundred yards, he gave a quick mental order to Alma. She sent back her agreement and that she would wait for his signal. He hurdled over a bush easily clearing the four feet and landed with a grace he could never have matched on Earth. His bow was still held in one hand as he tried to stay low enough to avoid obstructions, but not enough to diminish his speed. Less than ten seconds later, he was only one hundred yards away!

When he was seventy-five yards away from the tree line, some of the bugbears noticed him and turned towards him with a smile. None were overly worried about the solitary human that was rushing into their midst, they were just happy to have another trophy to bring back to their base! That arrogance worked just fine for Richter! He started using Analyze in rapid fire. He didn’t have the time to read the prompts and as soon as one popped up he almost immediately dismissed it, but soon he found what he was looking for. The faintest of grins graced his face to celebrate his good luck. Angling to run right at a couple of the larger and better equipped bugbears, he threw out his hand and shouted a word of power!

Gold light pooled at his fingertips as Richter’s will twisted the fabric of reality. His powerful Life magic met the resistance of a sentient creature and in a contest measured in milliseconds, ruthlessly crushed the bugbear’s freewill. A Professed bugbear Ranger was now his to command! Richter’s other arm was already up and extended towards a second bugbear. A slightly flexing of his will was all that was required to release his stored spell. In less time than it took for his victim to consciously register what had happened, Richter had another thrall!

There were still two enemy bugbears between him and the tree line, and more converging from each side. He shouted a command while sending a second mental command to Alma. His two slaves turned their weapons on one of the other bugbears while his winged familiar cast a spell. A gold glow suffused her entire body and her eyes flashed as she unleashed her power. Her Charm spell was powered with the same 50% bonus as her master’s magic, and it easily overcame her target’s resistance.

Richter ran past the fighting bugbears and nocked an arrow to his bow. As soon as he was free of the trees, he drew and imbued for the briefest of moments. He sighted directly in line with his people, who were looking in utter confusion at the bugbears who now seemed to be fighting each other. He loosed his arrow!

His people were shaken from their befuddlement by the appearance of the bald man firing a glowing arrow at them! One loosed his bow ineffectually into the woods, but it was more a case of being startled than a conscious attack. No one else had time to react before the arrow reached their position, and then shot past. It traveled whistling through the air another fifteen yards before impacting with the ground with a loud bang!

Earthen clods were shot into the air, peppering the area for ten yards in every direction. The large pieces of dirt did not inflict direct damage of course, but when they impacted against the bodies of the concealed bugbears, it was enough to break their stealthed status!

“Behind you!” Richter shouted as he continued to sprint towards his people. Five bugbears had appeared less than ten yards from his people. One had been knocked off of his feet by his proximity to the detonating arrow, but the others were roaring in anger and were in the process of drawing their weapons. He took a second to command his bugbears to follow him then kept running.

His gnome villager finally recognized him and shouted “It’s Lord Richter!” At the same time, she turned around and saw the bugbears that had crept so close. Wasting no time at all, she started a chant and light surround her hand. A 5x5 foot area to the far left of where Richter’s arrow had struck the ground became full with a maelstrom of shining particles. This was one of the casters that had learned Glitterdust when he had awakened the Air magic of his villagers, Richter realized!

Two more bugbears appeared and one fell to his knees screaming and holding his eyes. The other took off running to close the final distance to the villagers. Richter was impressed by the quick thinking of the gnome aeromage, but now wasn’t the time for congratulations! He stopped thirty feet away from his people and drew an arrow. Before he could fire though, a final two bugbears unstealthed right behind two of his people!

One stabbed down into the neck of the elf archer with a heavy dagger. The elf fighter muttered a simple “awk” as his knees buckled under the heavy assault. The other bugbear was wearing a ridged gauntlet that he was able to smash into the face of a wood elf fighter. The armored elf was wearing a high steel helmet with a nose guard, which saved his face from being completely mauled, but he still dropped to the ground stunned. The bugbear’s gauntlet had a small piece of flesh in the sharp steel ridges and blood dripped off onto the ground.

While this happened, the other two villagers leapt to aid their attacked comrades. The other mailed elf swung his sword at the gauntleted bugbear and began trading blows. The human villager loosed an arrow at one of the bugbears revealed by Richter’s arrow. Then he dropped his bow and drew a short sword to attack the bugbear that had driven a dagger into his party member’s neck.

Richter drew, imbued and loosed an arrow at a bugbear closing with the caster. It struck the bear in the side and knocked him down. In the meantime, the two bugbears he had charmed caught up with him. Alma’s enchanted bugbear continued to fight a losing battle against seven other bugbears near the tree line. Alma used a Psi Blast on the tail end of the group attacking her pet and then winged towards Richter. Four bugbears fell to their knees screaming in her wake.

*Alma! Heal the villagers!* Richter thought to her frantically.

*Yes, master!* She flew towards the knot of fighting, her body already glowing gold as she cast Errant Wind to protect herself from any arrow shots.

“What is your command, master?” the Ranger asked.

“Save my people! Kill the other bugbears!” he shouted in response. He kept up his rate of fire while he answered. An imbued heavy arrow struck a bugbear in the chest, knocking the goblinoid to the ground. The gnome mage had unlimbered her crossbow and shot the downed bugbear in the chest. The powerful bolt sunk into the bugbears chest with a wet thunk!

The other bugbear Richter had chosen to enchant was a raider. The powerful goblinoid held a large warhammer and ran towards the villagers that were fighting for their lives. He came up behind another bugbear and slammed his sledge directly into his former ally’s back. The sword wielding villager looked up, bloodied but unbowed, and prepared to fight this new opponent. Richter’s raider just slammed his hammer into the fallen bugbear’s head once, twice, three more times. His victim’s head was a ruined mess, and one leg kicked spasmodically. The raider gave no acknowledgment to the villager before diving back into battle with another opponent.

Before the raider had even landed his first hammer blow, the Ranger had entered the fight as well. This bugbear was holding a five-foot-tall bow of brown wood so dark it was almost black. As he nocked a large arrow to the bow, the wood of the bow started to glow green. He sighted and released three seconds later. The bowstring made a noise louder than should have been possible, and a tactile THRUM shook the air. Richter jaw seemed to reverberate unpleasantly in response to the deep vibration. The effect was worth it though!

Though Richter was still firing he almost stopped in amazement. The dark arrow that the Ranger had shot shimmered in midair. As Richter watched, what had been one arrow, became five! The arrows were closely clustered and they hit the Ranger’s target almost as one! The bugbear saw the projectiles just in time to hunch slightly and raise his circular shield. It didn’t save him.

One arrow punched through the shield, puncturing through the wrist and sending a spray of blood and small bones onto the ground! Another two stuck the bugbear in the abdomen. One was only a glancing blow, and was turned by the bugbear’s boiled leather armor. The other struck just above the navel thought and sunk deep into the abdomen. A fourth arrow sunk into the goblinoid’s foot pinning it in place. The fifth saved the bugbear from any more pain though. The arrowhead sunk through the bugbear’s eye and into his brain, leaving a finger width black shaft sticking straight out like a pin in a pincushion.

Richter stared in shock at the power of the Ranger and thanked his lucky stars that he had charmed the Professed fighter at the start of the battle! He was about to start imbuing another arrow, when a massive shockwave threw him forward. He was able to keep his feet, but had to run forward three steps before he recovered his balance. When he looked back though, he didn’t mind being jostled a bit. The sprites had joined the fight!

All ten of the sprites had fired imbued arrows at once. The bugbears had slain Alma’s charmed pet, but they were still in close proximity to one another. Before they could disperse, the sprites used their racial attack to turn the bugbears into kibble. Each had infused mana into their shots for at least five seconds and then upon Kenzo’s command, they let loose hell.

The imbued arrows caused massive damage upon the individual targets they struck, but the damage reinforced itself. The waves of force built upon one another in something sprites called a ‘Death Lotus.’ The bodies of the bugbears were buffeted about by the shockwaves causing secondary damage, and in more than half, internal bleeding ensued. The few that escaped instant death were seriously wounded and were effectively out of the fight.

The raider was fighting two bugbears and had received a deep cut in the thigh that greatly hampered his movement. The Ranger had used another Talent, Entangling Shot. The arrow struck a bugbear and immediately tendrils spread out from where the arrow struck. They wrapped around the bugbear and then dove into the ground, rooting the goblinoid in place. Another expenditure of mana made the bow glow white as the Ranger activated the Talent, Hawkeye. The Ranger shot directly at one of the villagers trading blows with a bugbear. Though the risk of hitting the villager was high, the arrow flew true. It whistled over the right shoulder of the mailed villager and struck his enemy in the neck. The bugbear reeled back in pain and shock. The villager took the opportunity to strike a low blow. His sword entered the bugbear’s thigh near the groin, severing a major artery. The hairy fighter fell with a cry and blood poured freely onto the ground.

Another of the villagers was down, bleeding from a stab wound high in his right chest. He was pressing his hand against the wound to staunch the blood loss, but it was a lost cause until Alma swooped above him and cast Slow Heal. The villager who had been stabbed in the neck was unconscious, and the Air mage cast Glitterdust again. Two nearby bugbears cursed in her direction, but were blinded for a short period.

Richter had started running towards his villagers in the vain hope that he could save one of the two. As he ran closer he started a casting, three seconds later, black energy writhed down his arm and started circling the bugbears fighting his raider. Because of the ebb and flow of the fight, his charmed pet was caught in the AoE of the Dark spell as well. The two bugbears he had been fighting succumbed, but the raider himself resisted. Unfortunately, casting Troubled Sleep constituted an attack and broke the Charm enchantment. Richter now had a fight on his hands with a six foot four muscle bound killer who absolutely hated him!

Intermittent bangs sounded all around him as the sprites continued their ranged fight against the remaining bugbears. Richter didn’t have time to observe the effects of the barrage, he was just trying to stay alive. Enraged, the bugbear raider swung his warhammer in a punishing across the body attack. Richter knew that there was no blocking such a vicious attack. In the split seconds he had to react, he ducked low and bent his knees. Richter was almost in a full curtsy before the bugbear when he heard the hammer whistle above his head!

He didn’t lose his center of balance, though. In his left hand he held the high steel short sword Krom had made for him. Still bent low, he attacked with the sword form, Reaping Wheat. His sword cut towards the raider at shin height, but was stopped by his opponent’s greaves.

The raider reached out to push Richter as he stood up, hoping to knock the chaos seed onto his back. Richter’s increased Agility had done more than just increase his ability to spring however! Without fighting the powerful shove, Richter’s body almost instinctually aided the movement by a performing small jump. Then, all that was required was a small flexing of his back and he committed to a back handspring! One hand connected with the earth ever so briefly, the other still holding his short sword, and with a slight push his momentum carried him back to his feet facing his enemy but now with ten feet of space between them!

The raider snarled again and took a step towards Richter with his hammer half raised, but the Lord of the Mist Village remembered the words of Ra’s al Ghul, ‘This is not a dance!’ Richter dropped his sword and channeled the power for his spell down both arms simultaneously. The word of power resisted his attempts to speak it for the briefest of moments, as if his mouth was filled with thick honey, but his will prevailed! Both wrists came together unbidden as red bands of power swept down his forearms, along his hands and manifested as a spear of pure orange flame that struck the bugbear full in the face!

The raider had managed another one and half steps, decreasing the distance between them to a meager five feet. One more step and Richter would have been within range of his hammer! Once the gout of fire reached him however, the raider’s senses all shut off except for one... pain. A howl of agony accompanied the smell of burning hair and cooked meat as Richter’s dual casting of Flame enveloped the head and upper chest of the bugbear. The fire burned much hotter than even Richter had expected, his practicing having increased the fiery output. As one of the bugbear’s eyes popped from the extreme heat, Richter’s mana dropped at a prodigious rate, but he didn’t stop the attack until his enemy had fallen to both knees, the hammer dropped and forgotten.

After maintaining the punishing attack for long seconds, Richter finally released his horrible will, and the entwined ropes of flames faded from existence. He was light headed from his mana being nearly depleted, but his enemy was upon death’s door. He drew his longsword from his back, searching for other enemies, but all of the bugbears were either dead or disabled. The one exception was his charmed Ranger whom the sprites were now sighting upon.

“Stop!” Richter called out. He made eye contact with Kenzo, and said, “He’s under my control. We can question him! Any that are left alive, just disarm and leave for me!” The sprite captain quickly got his troops under control. To aid the situation, Richter quickly commanded the Ranger to divest all of his arms and armor before running over to his villagers. He heard a cry of brutal pleasure from Alma as she descended upon the burnt raider to drain away his few remaining points of life.

When he reached his people, only one was still standing, the gnome mage. The elf who had been stabbed in the neck had never regained his feet. There was another stab wound in his chest. Two other villagers were down with stab wounds in their chest and abdomen, one was screaming in pain and the other was unconscious. The fourth was moaning on the ground, his leg protruding at a strange angle.

Richter downed two mana potions and quickly ran up to the elf with the neck wound, but saw that blood no longer pulsed from the wound. The man’s left eye was half lidded and the other stared sightlessly up into the sky. The villager was beyond his ability to help. Alma flew up behind having finished her meal and he ordered her to cast Slow Heal on one of the bleeding villagers. He went to the unconscious one. Casting Slow Heal, Richter tried to wake his patient, but to no avail. Blood still leaked from his wounds. Not knowing what else to do, he cast the new spell Fumiko had taught him, Summon Weak Life Wisp.

Three seconds later, a golden ball of light sprang into existence and then sank into the chest of unconscious man. Richter saw that the chest wound was finally closing, and though the villager had not woken up, his breathing eased. A quick glance showed that Alma had already stabilized the other villager. Richter handed him a health potion and then walked over to the man with the broken leg. The aeromage had made her way over to the man and was giving him what comfort she could. That wasn’t much when compared to the shard of shin bone sticking out of his leg.

Richter analyzed both of the villagers to recall their names. He looked at his injured villager, “We are going to take care of you, Phorin.”

Phorin opened a bleary eye and looked at Richter, “Thank you, my Lord.”

Richter reached into his Bag and pulled out a healing herb and healing potion, “Take these. This next part isn’t going to be fun.” Richter ordered the aeromage, Drissa, to hold the man’s leg in place. Then, looking Phorin in the eye, he waited until the villager had quaffed the potion and was chewing the waterthread, then set the leg. Pushing on the bone shard with one hand, he pulled down on Phorin’s ankle with the other. Richter was able to get the fractured bones back into the man’s leg to the sensation of bones grinding together. Phorin screamed and lost consciousness, a piece of waterthread still hanging out of his mouth. Without an X-ray, Richter couldn’t be sure that the tibia and fibula had lined up, but it should be sufficient until he could get the man back to Sumiko.

That done he looked at Drissa, “You did well, but what the hell were you all doing outside of the mists? It’s only dumb luck that you’re not all dead!”

The gnome hung her head slightly, “I know, my Lord. Captain Terrod told us not to leave the mists, but we were hunting a dire wolf. It had been coming closer and closer to the village. Hurid,” she said pointing at the dead archer, “convinced us to follow its tracks even when it left the mists.” She started to sob, “I can’t believe he’s dead!”

Richter placed his arm around her shoulders. “We will bring him back with us, and bury him at home. Stay with Phorin for now. There is still work to be done.”

The mage tearfully nodded and Richter stood up. Walking over to Kenzo, he asked the sprite, “So what’s our status?”

“We didn’t lose anyone except for your man over there. Two of my people suffered minor injuries, but they can move. I’m going to send my soldiers out to search the area.”

“Did any of the bugbears get away?” Richter asked. He immediately started searching the periphery.

“Not that we saw, but it wouldn’t be the first time they had positioned a soldier away from the battle for the express purpose of reporting back to his main group.”

“Okay,” Richter said relaxing somewhat. I need every bugbear that is left alive brought over. I plan to kill them all. I trust you won’t have a problem with that?”

“They may have valuable information,” Kenzo objected.

“That one over there,” Richter said pointing at his charmed bugbear, “is a Professed Ranger. He will most likely have more information than any of these common fighters. You can question him for the next thirty minutes. I don’t want to stay in the open any longer than that, and besides, the enchantment will wear off. In the meantime, I’ll need your people to help make a stretcher for one of my villagers. Does that work for you?”

Kenzo nodded. Richter ordered the ranger over and told him to answer any and all questions that Kenzo posed. The sprites had brought over five bugbears that were still alive. Two were the ones caught in Richter’s Troubled Sleep spell, another two were unconscious and didn’t appear long for this world. The fifth was actively fighting and cursing, but was bound and had been dragged forward by three sprites. Richter walked forward and hit him behind the ear with a pommel strike. The bugbear’s body slumped somewhat, and he just lay on the ground. Soft sobs started to come from the captive and he pleaded for his life in the bugbear language.

Richter looked at the bugbear, disgusted. The problem was, Richter wasn’t sure if the disgust was targeted at himself or the sentient being pleading for his life. A quick mental order later and Alma latched onto the head of the bound bugbear. The sobs cut off and her victim’s body was afflicted with intense seizures. His familiar was not afflicted with any of her master’s moral qualms. Richter turned away and left her to her feast.

He walked over to the ranger’s gear.

You have found: Stone Lizard Hide Helmet. Defense +6. Type: Light armor. Durability 26/28. Item Class: Uncommon. Quality: Above Average. Weight: 2.0 kg.

You have found: Stone Lizard Hide Breastplate. Defense +13. Type: Light armor. Durability 65/65. Item class: Uncommon. Quality: Above Average. Weight: 7.2 kg.

You have found: Stone Lizard Hide Armbands. Defense +7. Type: Light armor. Durability 53/55. Item class: Uncommon. Quality: Above Average. Weight: 3.6 kg.

You have found: Stone Lizard Hide Gloves. Defense +8. Type: Light armor. Durability 37/39. Item class: Uncommon. Quality: Above Average. Weight: 1.9 kg.

You have found: Stone Lizard Hide Trousers. Defense +7. Type: Light armor. Durability 36/37. Item class: Uncommon. Quality: Above Average. Weight 4.1 kg.

You have found: Stone Lizard Hide Boots. Defense +7. Type: Light armor. Durability 31/34. Item Class: Uncommon. Quality: Above Average. Weight 2.1 kg.

Congratulations! You have obtained an entire set of matched armor: Stone Lizard Armor. Defense given by each piece increased by 25%. Special Bonus: Defense vs animal attacks increased by a further 20%.

You have found: Magic Bow. Durability 48/51. Item Class: Uncommon. Quality: Above Average. Weight: 3.3 kg.

You have found: Steel Arrows. Quantity 36. Durability 5/5. Item class: Common. Quality: Average.

You have found: Moonstone Short Sword. Durability 61/64. Item Class: Common. Quality: Superb. Weight: 3.2 kg.

You have found: Magic Steel Dagger. Durability 29/32. Item Class: Uncommon. Quality: Above Average. Weight: 1.2 kg.

You have found: Ring of Health. Durability 6/8. Item Class: Common. Quality: Above Average. Weight: 0.01 kg. Traits: +27 Health.

You have found: Ring of Stamina. Durability 9/9. Item Class: Common. Quality: Above Average. Weight: 0.01 kg. Traits: +29 Stamina.

You have found: Magic Whistle. Durability 12/12. Item Class: Uncommon. Quality: Above Average. Weight: 0.01 kg.

You have found: Health Potion. Durability 6/6. Potion Level: Solution. Strength: Basic. Weight 0.01 kg. Will restore 54 health points over 5 seconds.

You have found: Pouch.

Richter admired the Ranger’s armor. The hide was a dark gray-green in color. It was smooth to the touch, but it was pebbled with irregular small knobs. It was remarkably supple and yet was heavier than he would have thought. The bugbear had really had some great defense! Again, Richter was so pleased that he had enchanted the man at the start of the battle! If the Ranger had been fighting against him, at the very least, the loss of life would have been much worse! The pouch just contained a few odd coins that Richter pocketed.

He walked over to his villagers and cast Slow Heal again on the villager with the abdominal wound. The man thanked him, and Richter promised his people he would come back in a few minutes to cast the spell again. He cast a regretful glance at the slain villager, then walked back over to where three of the sprites were dragging the bugbear bodies. They were all being stripped of equipment which was set to the side. Richter asked if they had any need of it, but one of the sprites shook her head. Richter began sorting through it and placing anything of value into his Bag. There were no magical items, but there were plenty of weapons and armor that Krom should be able to adapt for the villagers to use. His Bag was seriously heavy when he was done, but he was able to retrieve a massive amount of gear.

He walked back over to his villagers again, this time casting Slow Heal on Phorin. Then he walked over to Kenzo and the Ranger.

“Have you gotten what you needed?” Richter asked

“More than you know!” Kenzo replied. “This one,” he said indicating the Ranger, “is a captain in the bugbear invasion force. He knows about troop movements, defenses of their base and its exact position!”

“How many bugbears are we facing?” Richter asked

Kenzo’s expression became sober, “More than a thousand, and more are still coming.”

Richter nodded, his expression equally grim, “Do you need anything else from him?” His question was laden with obvious meaning.

Kenzo hesitated a moment, and then shook his head. Richter summoned Alma over to hover above his head. He then reached into his Bag and pulled out his Traveler’s Map. He had the Ranger point out the location of the bugbear camp. He zoomed in twice to be absolutely sure that he knew where the encampment was then he told the bugbear to kneel. Richter drew his short sword, and gave a mental command. Alma descended upon the kneeling bugbear who started screaming as his mind was ripped apart. Richter then plunged his short sword through the bugbear’s body, into the heart, and out through the chest. A sharp twist worsened the already massive internal damage, and the Ranger died before his body even hit the ground. An exultant Alma flew off into the air, shrieking over her victory.