2407 Internal Threat (Part 1)

Dawn pondered if fusing their minds could really be the solution to Acala's trust issues while Tista and Nyka pondered if a few decades would be enough for Solus to learn the telepathic boundary technique.

A few days later, they were still in Ne'sra when the city guard's bell resounded.

It started from the walls and was quickly relayed throughout the city by the observation towers. The citizens of Ne'sra stopped their daily activities and orderly went back to their homes or to the nearest public building.

"What's happening?" Tista had never heard a bell sound and thought they were only used for public ceremonies.

"That's the sound of a monster horde." Solus, instead, had heard it countless times during Lith's tour as a Ranger. "It's a signal for all the guards to assemble on the walls and for the resident mages to report to the city lord."

While they were talking, the Head Healer assigned a little more of the bare necessary number of mages to take care of the still critically injured patients and keep the rest stable before moving out.

"Great Mages Verhen, please help us." Head Healer Wyrvan Palaar was a chubby woman in her late fifties, with most of her hair grey which highlighted her blue streaks. "Ne'sra isn't your city and you have no duty that forces you to put your lives on the line but if you don't intervene, countless people will die."

She gave them a deep bow while keeping her chestnut eyes on Nyka.

Openly asking a foreigner for help would have been a sign of weakness. The Head Healer was already humiliated by begging someone so much younger than her and couldn't bring herself to stoop lower.

"Please, stood up, Mage Palaar. We'll do everything we can, right Nyka?" Solus said, receiving a nod in reply.

"Thank you, Great Mage Verhen." The Head Healer knew that Solus was addressing her with respect, but her words still remarked their difference in rank and it stung her pride.

Palaar's eyes lingered on the deep green robes and she gnashed her teeth in frustration.

"Is anyone familiar with monster hordes?" Solus asked, making everyone blink dumbly at her.

"No, this is a regional capital. Monsters never arrive this close to our walls. We perform regular drills but this is the first time we actually face a horde." The Head Healer replied.

"Dammit, then there's not a moment to lose. We must reach the walls and quickly!" Solus said.

"Indeed." Palaar nodded. "The repairs are far from being completed. We need to set up at least one mage for every crack to keep the monsters from entering Ne'sra."

"If we get to that point, it will be a massacre! We-" Solus noticed that between the envy for her green robe and her young age, none of the mages in the field hospital seemed to take her seriously.

They just wanted her help, not to follow her lead.

"Look, I've served as a Ranger in the Desert so I know what I'm talking about." She said.

"Really?" Palaar's eyes went wide. Being a Ranger in any country was a much bigger deal than a green robe.

"Really." Solus nodded. "Now follow me and don't ask questions or we will never make it in time!"

The bells kept resounding faster and faster, giving a measure of both the approaching of the horde and the panic of the guards.

Solus took flight, soon followed by the rest of the Healers as they moved toward the source of the alarm. Once they reached the south wall, Palaar gestured Solus to come down on the battlements but she instead had the mages follow her higher in the sky.

"Great Mother have mercy." The Head Healer lost her color as her cheeks wobbled in fear.

She had expected a few bands of monsters, a few dozens of them tops. In front of her eyes, instead, there was a swarm of hundreds of creatures so thick that she couldn't see the ground below them.

The main force moved following the paved road that connected Ne'sra to the rural settlements while the rest followed from either side, toppling trees and eating every living creature they found on their path.

"That's what a monster horde looks like." Solus pointed at the living tide that was quickly approaching. "If they reach the walls, it will be too late. We must stop them before that happens."

"In the gods' name, how?" A young Healer panicked to the point that he lost control of his flight spell and plummeted toward the ground, needing to be rescued. 

"It's easier than it looks like." Solus clapped her hands to have the mages stop gawking at the incoming horde in terror and focus on her. "They have the numbers, but we have flight and magic.

"Prepare your best spells, come down long enough to fire them, and get back to the safety of the sky. Rinse and repeat carefully and nobody dies today. Tista, can you see what we are dealing with?"

"This is weird." She shapeshifted only her eyes. "They seem to be mostly trolls, but I can also see goblins and a few Wargs."

"A mixed horde? Then there must be a leader!" Palaar said in surprise.

"Yes, but that's not the weird part." Tista shook her head. "Trolls are not discreet in their feeding frenzy. They raze entire forests to the ground and attack human outposts. How could you miss something like that?"

"I admit that the War of the Griffons forced the army to relinquish their duty in the wilds but this is indeed too much." The Head Healer nodded. "The magical beasts should have kept the monsters' population in check and if they failed, we should have noticed before the situation escalated so much."

"The good news is that Trolls are weak against fire. Hit them with it and they'll burn like dead leaves." Solus said. "Be careful of the Wargs because they can pass their wounds and if there's enough of them, they can also boost their magical prowess.

"Goblins should just be meat shields and snacks for the Trolls. We'll split as follow. The Healers will carpet bomb the enemy's middle ranks. This way, the efficiency of area of effect spells will be maximized.

"Nyka, you hit them hard from the back while Tista strikes at them from the front. I'll stay here as the last line of defense in case something goes wrong." Solus would have loved to follow her friends on the battlefield.

Yet she had already consumed a lot of mana that day and there wasn't enough time to go back to Lith to recharge. On top of that, if Solus left the mana geyser of Ne'sra, her energy reserves would plummet so fast that she would become a liability.

"Excellent plan." Nyka nodded, but from the white light that shone behind her eyes, it was clear that it was Dawn talking. "Keep away from Tista and me. Better to avoid the risk of friendly fire."

Solus nodded and turned toward the captain of the city guards.

"We should be able to deal with the monsters on our own but we could use some help in case something goes wrong."