Empire Builder 4: Breed, Populate, Conquer, page 18
He flapped in place for several moments, trying to think of his next move. And as he did, he spotted several small items in the hands of the approaching goblins.
Ben’s heart nearly stopped when he realized what they were—the same twin vials that he’d seen the goblins in the jungle use.
They were going to bomb the town.
Ben knew he didn’t have a moment to waste. He flew toward the goblin swarm, paying no heed to the danger. As he drew closer, he saw that not all the goblins carried the explosive vials. Many were armed with crossbows mounted on the front of their flying crafts. The wings of the flying machines flapped and flapped, the crafts propelling forward and dipping just a bit between each push.
Soon, they were close enough that Ben could make out their green faces, their expressions eager as if they couldn’t wait for the battle to begin. Then he could hear their chattering, the goblins calling out commands to one another. And it didn’t take much time for the goblins to realize the identity of the hawk currently barreling down on them.
One of the goblins was a bit overzealous, whipping his vial of explosives through the air toward Ben. The vial went wide, careening through the air and landing with a small explosion well before the town limits. Ben glanced back over his shoulder to see that the townspeople were still making their way into the tower. He needed to give them another five minutes—at least.
Ben focused, flying as hard as he could into the swarm of goblins. As he approached the flying craft on the outer edge of the swarm, the goblins pulled away as quickly as they could, one of the goblins tilting too hard and turning his craft upside down. The angle caused the goblin to slip out of his harness, the creature falling from his flying machine and hurtling toward the ground. The goblin screamed as he fell, the noise ending abruptly when the creature slammed into the earth below.
That’s one, thought Ben as he turned his attention toward the rest of the swarm. Just have about a hundred more to go.
He was outnumbered, but his flight into the middle of the mass of goblins had served its intended purpose of causing chaos. Dozens of flying craft around him juked hard out of the way, the formation of the goblin fleet breaking apart. One of the nearby goblins yelled out a harsh command, then pulled his craft hard, the crossbow at the front pointed right at him. The goblin pulled the mechanism back and fired.
Ben shifted back into his human form, dropping down and letting the bolt sail right over his head through the air where he’d been only a few moments ago. Once clear, he shifted back into his hawk form and watched as the bolt zipped through the sky, connecting with the pilot of another craft and spearing him through the chest. The craft of the slain goblin began an immediate descent, spiraling down, down, down until it crashed.
Ben flapped his wings hard, sailing through the swarm and to the other side. A few of the goblin crafts broke off from the swarm, flapping toward him. Up ahead, the rest of the attack fleet struggled to return to their attack formation.
Not very disciplined , thought Ben. They’re inventors—not fighters. I’ll need to take advantage of that .
He counted out the craft on their way toward him, spotting three in total. He flew toward the first, the goblin launching his bolt at Ben, the ammunition rushing toward him. It zipped through the air faster than he was expecting, Ben juking to the side only for the bolt to cut through the very tips of his feathers.
Need to be careful, he thought, checking himself over to make sure that no major damage had been done. A bolt like that would pulverize bird bones .
Once he’d finished checking the damage, Ben went on the offensive. He flew toward the craft as hard as he could, and when he was near enough, he shifted into his human form, grabbing onto the side of the flying machine. The goblin regarded him with wide, shocked eyes, barking out something that sounded to Ben like rittiki brattata!
Then the goblin went for the weapon he carried—a dagger with a wavy blade. He jabbed the dagger toward Ben, who easily dodged the strike. Ben wasted no time gripping the goblin’s wrist and yanking the creature out of his harness. The goblin was small, likely weighing no more than fifty or so pounds, its skinny arms no match for Ben. Once the goblin was out of its harness, Ben tossed the creature out, the goblin screeching as it flew toward the ground.
The craft began to immediately descend. Ben hurriedly strapped himself into the chair, barely fitting himself into the tiny seat intended for a goblin. Once he was strapped in, he grabbed the handles of the craft and, for lack of knowing what else to do, pulled back as hard as he could.
It worked. The flying machine tilted toward the sky, the wings flapping and pulling Ben into an ascent. When he was level with the rest of the swarm, he pushed the hands forward until he was at the altitude he wanted. He gave himself a moment to experiment with the controls, finding them quite simple. A pull of the right stick back and the left stick forward allowed him to go to the right, the opposite pulled him to the left. Both back was up, and both forward was down.
And then there was the matter of the crossbow. Luckily for Ben, one of the two remaining craft that had broken off from the swarm was in close pursuit, giving him the perfect opportunity to test out what the craft could do.
He pitched the craft forward, his stomach sinking as he sank in altitude. The craft behind him did the same, and Ben responded by pulling up quickly, and then to the right, banking into a hard circle. The goblin in the other craft hadn’t been expecting this. When he was dead center in front of Ben, Ben pressed the red button in the middle of the handles. Twisting the handles to the left slowed them down, making the craft sink. Twisting them to the right made them beat faster, raising him higher.
Just like he’d expected, a massive bolt flew from the crossbow at the front of the machine with a twang . It rocketed through the air, hitting its mark and smashing into the other craft, puncturing it right through the wings. The damage sent the craft into a free fall, the goblin screeching as he plummeted toward the ground.
There was one more left. Up ahead, Ben could see that the majority of the townsfolk had made it into the tower. But not all of them were in, and the fleet of goblin craft was just about at the edge of town. While he’d managed to slow it slightly, there would be no preventing them from reaching the airspace above Grand Zhameen. Far ahead in the tower, he spotted archers in the windows, along with a few dozen mages and kin on the top of the roof. He knew he’d need to get back to command them against the goblins.
But in that moment, Ben needed to take care of the goblin on his six. A bolt zipped past his craft, barely missing his wings. Ben slowed his speed, letting the goblin gain on him. But the goblin was a skilled pilot, not falling for the same trick that the other had.
When the goblin was near, he pulled up to the side of Ben’s craft, a wicked expression on his face. He reached down and grabbed something, holding it up to reveal that it was one of the explosive twin vial bombs. With a wild cackle, he whipped it in Ben’s direction.
Without thinking, Ben cast Force Wave at the vial as it flew toward him, the thing bouncing back as surely as if it collided with a room of rubber. It returned so quickly that the goblin didn’t even have time to react before it crashed into the craft, the flying machine turning into a brilliant fireball. Ben juked his own craft hard, pulling it away from the shower of debris.
Ben allowed himself a small grin as he steered his craft toward the swarm. Part of him wanted to take it on all at once, to wreak as much havoc as he could. But when the flock of goblins reached the edge of Grand Zhameen, flying over the newly built houses that had thankfully been evacuated, he realized it was no time for such stunts.
The goblins began dropping their payloads, vials falling over the sides of their flying machines and hurtling toward the earth. Ben could do nothing but watch helplessly as the vials fell and landed, explosions blossoming where they struck.
The sight filled him with a rage he could hardly control. The buildings down below in the process of burning to the ground, fires jumping from here to there—they were the homes of his people. Even if the citizens themselves were safe in the tower, he knew he was failing them by not protecting his territory.
He wanted revenge. Hot anger boiled inside of him. Ben pushed forward on the sticks, bringing his craft closer and closer to the swarm. And when he was near, he closed his eyes and tapped into his mana pool, bringing every drop he had to bear. He clenched his hands and let the power accumulate, gathering in his fists.
Then he summoned Force Wave and released it.
Ben wasn’t sure what he expected, but it certainly wasn’t what happened. A massive, spiraling tornado of wind rushed forward, the swirling gusts nearly half the size of the swarm. The cyclone sped forward, blasting through the fleet of goblin craft and scattering them here and there.
The damage was enormous. The flyers caught right in the center of the cyclone were simply ripped asunder, chunks of wood and fabric and steel—not to mention the limbs of the goblins—were tossed into the air like nothing. The flyers outside of the immediate area, those hit by the outer bands of the cyclone, were pulled here and there as if they’d been yanked by strings. They flew outward, colliding with the flyers on the border of the swarm. Several crashed into others, and some had been simply tossed so hard that their crafts broke.
Dozens and dozens of flyers hurtled to the ground. Ben watched, in shock, at what he’d done.
Words appeared in front of him:
FORCE WAVE HAS EVOLVED TO ITS FINAL FORM: FORCE CYCLONE
When the words vanished, Ben closed his eyes and focused on his mana pool. Just as he’d suspected, the casting of his new spell had drained every last drop. While it had done serious damage to the invading fleet of flyers, it meant that he didn’t have enough mana to shift into his hawk form—he’d have to make it back to the tower all on his own.
It wouldn’t be easy. The formation of the flyers had been broken, crafts zipping here and there in totally erratic paths as they struggled to level themselves out. Goblins fell from their flyers, letting out cries as they plummeted to the earth.
Got to be careful. I didn’t conquer half a continent just to get taken out by some dropping goblin.
He piloted his craft carefully through the chaotic swarm, pulling it to the right and left depending on what sort of obstacle was in front of him. Ben took advantage of the chaos, firing off a few crossbow bolts here and there and managing to drop another few goblins. Little by little, he was taking out the swarm.
Relief washed over him when he reached the other side, the tower just in front of him. He pulled the craft up, bringing it in for a landing on the very top. Ben was so glad to be on solid ground after his flight that part of him wanted to kiss the stone top of his tower. But he quickly put that aside, focusing on the approaching remains of the swarm.
“What was that ?” Melody asked, her eyes wide. “Ben, I’ve never seen a spell like that before!”
Uzax, who stood nearby in front of his group of a few dozen mages, considered the matter.
“I had suspicions that Ben was a mage of great potential. But that little display out there with the goblins clinched it. He managed to tap into a new level of his Force spell. It was… impressive.”
“Final form,” Ben said, repeating the words he’d seen. “That’s what it was.”
Uzax nodded. “Indeed, I have a hard time imagining anything more final than that. But I’m going to guess it did quite a number on your mana store.”
“Wiped it clean.”
“Then you’ll have to take care to make sure to only perform such a spell during a time of great need. You have plenty of mages around you, all eager to lend you their mana. But you won’t always have such a luxury.”
“I will say,” Melody said with a broad smile, “you certainly picked a good time to use that spell. You completely broke the back of the flyer swarm!”
Ben turned his attention back to the goblins. It was hard to be definite about it, but from what he could tell, he’d roughly halved the number of goblins. The landscape around Grand Zhameen had been littered with goblin corpses and flying machine debris The ones that were still in the air had broken what little formation they’d had and were struggling to marshal their forces to recommence the attack on the city and tower. Flames roiled underneath them, and Ben reminded himself that every second that the goblins held the air above the city was another second of damage to the town.
“What’s the situation with the townspeople?” Ben asked.
Lexi stepped forward to field the question. “They’re all in the tower. They’re packed in good and tight, but there were only a few injuries—mostly people tramping on one another in fear as they tried to get into the tower. But nothing a few healing spells can’t fix.”
Relief washed over Ben at the news his people were safe. But the battle was far from over. If he didn’t take care of what remained of the goblins, there’d be no place for them to return.
“Ben!”
Ben turned, spotting Lyra approaching from the stairs that led to the roof. She was dressed in her black armor, her massive great sword hung over her back.
“What’s the situation?” Ben asked.
“The archers are in position in the windows. The goblins aren’t quite near enough to fire, but they will be once they get their bearings. Having archers stationed in windows isn’t an easy situation for communication, but I’ve established a series of messengers who can relay orders to the posted archers.”
“Excellent work,” Ben said.
So far, Lyra was demonstrating herself to be a capable commander. And while Ben had his own ideas for how the situation should be handled, he was curious to hear what her strategy would be for taking out the goblin horde.
“In your opinion,” he asked, turning his attention back to the flyers. “What’s next?”
Lyra didn’t wait a second before speaking. It was clear she’d given the matter plenty of thought.
“You did some serious damage to the horde, Ben. But they’re not going to give up so easily. Even now, they’re rallying for one more attack on the tower. And if we’re not careful, they could still pull it off. I recommend that we use our archers to take out as many from a distance. Once their numbers are thinned, we blast them with spells, making the airspace totally inhospitable to flying machines. From there, the flying kin can take out more. I estimate that they’ll try to flee on foot once the back of the assault has been well and truly broken, but once they’re in that position…” She smirked, suggesting she was looking forward to it. “Let’s just say that goblins aren’t exactly strong fighters once you take away their little toys.”
The plan was perfectly sensible to Ben.
“Let’s do it. Give the word to the archers to prepare to shoot on my command.”
“Of course, my lord.” Lyra bowed, then turned to speak to a soldier who was at the top of the stairs. She gave the order, the soldier wasting no time hurrying down the stairs to deliver it. Minutes later, the order passed on, the soldier returned to the top of the stairs, passing on a message to Lyra.
Very good strategy , Ben thought. Lyra knows what she’s doing .
“They’re ready,” she stated. “Give the word and they’ll be weapons-free.”
Ben nodded, then turned his attention back to the flyers. Slowly but surely, they were reforming and getting themselves in position for another go at the tower. A few had resumed tossing their explosive vials down into the city, explosions erupting here and there.
“If you’re worried that they’ll wreck the town and siege the tower,” Lyra said. “Don’t. Goblin flyers aren’t meant for such tactics. The purpose of the attack was likely to soften your army up, to take them by surprise. But we can turn this around on them.”
Ben nodded, then turned his attention to the flyers. When they were near enough, he gave the command.
“Tell the archers to open fire. No need for coordination—just loose and loose.”
Lyra hurried to the soldier to give the command. The soldier vanished, returning a few moments later as he had before.
Then the onslaught began. The archers in the towers began to lose their arrows, their ammunition arcing through the air toward the approaching goblins. Ben watched with a pleased smile as they dropped, one after another. But the smile faded when he saw that more than a few hit the ground and exploded on impact, their vials going off and detonating their payloads.
Grand Zhameen would need time to recover from the attack. But Ben put that out of his mind. His people were safe, and there was still an attack to repulse.
By the time the swarm had reached the tower, their numbers had well and truly thinned.
“Mages!” he called out. “Take them down with whatever you have!”
Uzax grinned wickedly as he was given the order. He and the rest of the mages stepped to the edge of the roof and began gathering their magical energy, red and blue and yellow masses of glowing essence forming around their hands.
Uzax was the first to cast. He launched a fireball toward the flyers, the flaming rock hurtling through the sky. When it reached the thickest portion of the mass it exploded, a shockwave rippling out and tearing through the goblins and their fliers. Many were incinerated on the spot, going up in a whoosh of flame and vanishing in mid-air. Even more were knocked to the side by the blast, their crafts spinning out of control and hurtling toward the ground.
When the flame dissipated, Uzax stepped back, the pleased smile returning to his face.
The rest of the mages went to work. Some cast wind spells blasting the flyers out of the air and sending their flyers rushing toward the ground. Others, like Melody, wielded lighting. Arcs of electricity zapped from their hands, detonating the crafts like bombs. Part of Ben wanted to join, to take some of a nearby wizard’s mana and cast. But instead, he stood back and monitored the battle, deciding that he would better serve his soldiers by keeping a close eye on the unfolding of the fight, making sure that he could issue commands on the spot.
