Jackal Among Snakes

Orion stepped up a mound of roots, using several separate branches like steps of stairs until he crested the top. He looked out across the vastness of the Bloodwoods, then up, up, and up, at its towering branches far removed from the earth. He turned back and waved, shepherding people onwards.

With the signal given, Argrave’s party advanced fluidly up the mound of roots just after him. The van of the formation was Veidimen bearing large tower shields, though just as many without shields were wrapped around the core so that both front and back were protected. The core was, namely, Argrave and his closest council, with its new additions being Ganbaatar, Moriatran, and Artur. The Veidimen officers, too, were positioned to receive and deliver orders.

As they grew nearer, Orion kept his eyes on the branches high in the sky. Everyone else remained utterly silent in anticipation for his order. Just as their party began to near the first trunk of the redwoods on the edge of the forest, he called out, “Movement!”

Anneliese held her hand up. A rift opened in front of her hand, and from it spilled a silver aura that seemed like a cut in the sky. In truth, it was a mana ripple. The queen completed her A-rank spell. A staff started to crystallize in her hands, spreading out up and down—intricate and elaborate, it looked like it was made of amethyst glass. Eventually, the top of the staff blossomed outwards into a great covering, shielding their entire party. The spell was called [Amaranthine Sunshade]—an A-rank ward. She held the staff and ward up above like a torch, shielding them all as they marched into the Bloodwoods.

It was not one second too late, either. The arrows fired by the wood elves high in their tree came in a unified swell, each arrow released within half a second of the other. With both the power of their bows and the gravity pressing down behind them, the synchronized arrows slammed into her spell with intense power. The spell held firm, though it sounded as though a giant gong had been struck. Anneliese seemed to feel no impact in her arm as the arrows sagged off the [Amaranthine Sunshade] like raindrops. Far up in the branches, numerous deep horns echoed, loud enough it seemed to permeate the entire forest. As they did, Orion sprinted away deeper into the heart of things.

“They blew the horns,” Ganbaatar told Argrave as they bounded over a root. “Every elf in half a mile is obligated by threat of death to join into a Tumen to resist us. More than that, the noise—”

“Is meant to summon every living predator within half a mile should they fail,” finished Argrave. “Just walk.”

The next wave of arrows pounded upon Anneliese’s mobile ward. The magic only chipped slightly from the numerous impacts, shading all those under it very well. The needlelike leaves and sometimes branches of the giant redwood sprinkled down as hordes of wood elves travelled up above to make their formation. Still, their party was able to press onwards for a time.

But then, the obstacle that had stalled King Felipe III’s army revealed itself—though perhaps the term ‘revealed’ was deceptive. Between the trees, hair-thin wires stronger than steel and sharp enough to rend bone and flesh both barely glinted from the faint sunlight pouring through the trees. They were fainter even than spiderwebs, and far deadlier.

Rather than mechanical, the wires were magical. They had three points they were attached to something solid—two to hold them taut, and another between the two to create high tension. When touched, the tension-generating binding would be released, and the wire would spring into action. They could cut a dozen fully armored knights in half in the span of milliseconds.

But they had a fatal failing.

Ganbaatar said, pointing to a spot on the tree as

the right side,” Argrave relayed. His order was repeated by the officers, and the

where Ganbaatar had pointed. A B-rank matrix formed in his hand. When it completed, he crushed it. He turned his hand upside down and snapped. A faint purple light, no more discernable than a fire’s ember, danced from under the sunshade where he’d snapped. It travelled through the air whimsically… yet when it reached its target, it expanded outwards into the pre-completed matrix. A roaring explosion of fire rocked the redwood tree. That was Moriatran’s A-rank ascension: [Spell Storage], the ability to store spells, send

be effective. By dislodging only one of three stakes, a

one small nullification in the face of an overwhelming battery of disadvantage. They pressed on as quickly as they could, but traversing the roots instead of flat ground made the advance difficult. The master enchanter had the least trouble of them all, suspending his body with his mantle as he hovered along with them, uneasy yet alert. Ganbaatar used his knowledge to spot the wires, and Moriatran cast spells to dislodge them, clearing a path. It was a grueling advance, the whole of which

upon the ward, too, as spellcasters joined the archers in defense from the treetops. That proved considerably more effective in damaging the amethyst shield… but in reality, it was a bigger boon to them than

trees like rappelers in vast quantities, forming their Tumen—their unit of ten thousand. Their tactics and organization reminded Argrave of the

dispelled the ward, flawlessly transitioning between the two to let not even a single arrow fall upon them. They marched, marched,

din of power pounding over their head. It was a few

Make way!”

came alive with light, and a red mana ripple spread out from his right hand. As it ended, he closed his hand. When he opened it again, he held a ball of pure purple light.

Sunshade] was barely translucent enough to see Moriatran’s stored spells travel to their destination—namely, two trees closest to the bulk of the Tumen, from which many wood elves rappelled down even now. The mana ripples reappeared… and two pillars of howling flame erupted

unsurpassed power. He collided with the elves, interrupting the rain of arrows for a moment as their formation of archers adapted to the lone juggernaut in their midst. In that moment, Anneliese tilted back the sunshade, revealing the front. As if closing the door behind the prince, Vasilisa finished with a final high-ranking fire spell, filling in the space between the two

move!” Argrave

time. The redwoods here were not as flammable as mundane trees, so the fire would not spread too far. Still, they took ample advantage of this moment and moved at their fastest pace yet, changing directions to their true

ceased. They managed to advance a great distance without receiving any projectiles at all. When their location was finally rediscovered, the assault that came was nothing compared to what it had been. The forces at the edge of the Bloodwoods

shouted, “Move the

looked up. There, a wood elf clung to a tree, a teal mana ripple spread out from his hand. Anneliese moved the sunshade aside, exposing them to the open sky for the first time in a while. Artur surged past, floating upwards with his mantle. He held his hand out. A silver streak spread out from his

wind seeped past and hammered into Anneliese’s [Amaranthine Sunshade]. Her spell chipped and shattered against even a weakened impact from an S-rank spell. In time, the stalwart golden dome blocked

name—a simple, destructive writhing wind that seemed to come without an end. Seeing his

pounds collapsed toward them. The Veidimen didn’t need to be commanded, but