Fei and Sen stared at the scout in shock. For his part, the scout held his salute. August felt that the man’s gaze looked rather distant, however. Seeing an invading army in your nation was far from comforting.
"Are any of the enemy heading our way?" August asked.
"No, sir," the scout answered. He hesitated. "They seemed focused on the tower. But they had definitely lain siege to it. Both of us saw fire and other sorcery flung from the top of the tower, and a dome barrier was active over the exterior wall."
"Keep an eye on the pass," August ordered. "Alternate with other scouts on a regular basis. Let me know the moment you see Federation soldiers marching toward us."
"Sir!" the scout barked. He dropped his salute and ran back into the keep.
August sighed. The two women looked at him.
"You expected this?" Sen asked.
"I expected something," August said. "A demonic invasion is detectable through the leylines, as is the buildup of energy. We’re fighting an enemy Bastion, and he would likely move the moment he felt the portal was close to activating. That’s why I wanted Vera to establish a gateway with Leopold. The old man will move against an invading army if he has a clear path, and if he doesn’t need to send his Champions riding the long way across the countryside."
"Shouldn’t he be moving against them regardless?" Sen said, expression darkening.
"That’s what we’re here for. Plus, he’s holding Forselle Valley. I can’t complain too much. It’s not as though the Federation can oust him in the north." August shrugged. "Although they may be stupid enough to try."
Speaking of stupid, August turned back to the demonic horde gathered below.
The clearing swelled with the demonic mass, and the portal showed no signs of weakening. August frowned and tapped into the binding stone. A quick search found what he was looking for.
"This must be the last of them," August said. "The demonic energy is running low."
"So they’re going to charge us en masse?" Sen asked.
August nodded. "They’re only weaker demons, but with their numbers they might be able to overwhelm us. At least, that’s what they think."
"So we crush them here and go help Vera?" Sen looked at August in disbelief. "I don’t have the stamina to do that, August. There’s as many demons down there as we’ve already killed. And you look like you’re about to collapse. Plus, you don’t have the energy left in the binding stone to support us away from the keep."
All excellent points.
If August intended to do this the normal way, that is.
August nodded. "You’re right. That’s why we’re not going to do that."
Sen stared at him. "We’re leaving Vera?"
"No."
"Then what are we doing?" Sen asked, exasperated.
"Trust me, Sen." August ran a hand through his hair as he thought through his next steps. "Fei and I will take the summons down the valley. I need you to follow us and hit the clearing with your sixth rank spell."
Sen’s eyes widened. "Are you crazy? Ifrit hasn’t taught me how to control it properly. If I cast that now—"
"You’ll use up all of your remaining power. I know." August looked at her. "Do it anyway."
After a lengthy pause, Sen nodded. "Okay. What next?"
"Fei covers me while I do my thing," August said.
Neither woman seemed convinced.
Behind them, the soldiers readied their siege weapons for a second wave. Many of them took the opportunity to drink from canteens or sneak a quick snack. Sweat poured down most of their faces.
The valley wasn’t hot, but August wouldn’t describe it as cool either. He considered that a positive of battling in here. Once outside, he’d be contending with the summer heat.
August topped up Fei’s sapphire again.
Sen pointedly ignored the soft moan that slipped out of Fei, and instead meditated. No doubt she spoke with Ifrit about how to cast her sixth rank spell as quickly as possible.
Once Fei recovered from her pleasure-induced stupor, August gave out orders to the officers to hold fire until given other directions. He didn’t want to get hit by a boulder while trying to pull off his trick.
Then he, Fei, and Sen leaped down from the wall. The hoplites followed them, streaming out from the gate.
The valley floor appeared unmarred from the earlier battle. Whatever power sustained this place had repaired the char marks, cleaned up the piles of gore, and filled in the many craters. If August hadn’t seen the earlier devastation, he might think that nothing had happened here.
Sen screeched to a halt well short of the demons.
She held her greatsword in front of her and a red hexagon appeared over it.
The surge of power pouring into her spell flooded August’s senses, even though he wasn’t actively using magical detection. He smelled ash and knew that Ifrit’s power was about to show itself.
The hoplites fanned out. August directed Fei to one side of the valley, and she vanished in a blink.
The demons jeered. The horde deafened August with their cries.
At least two thousand demons clustered in the clearing, brandishing weapons above their heads and screaming in their bestial language.
Within moments, the monsters would begin charging uphill. They had the numbers. Something caused them to hold back, but demons weren’t the cautious type.
Once August crossed an invisible line, the demons charged. They spilled forth like an angry red wave.
August drew his sword and slashed across their formation twice. His hand flared with magic both times.
The front ranks of the demons collapsed into pieces. But the wave kept charging forward over the corpses.
Blue fire consumed the right flank of the demons. But their numbers proved enough to push through the blaze, and many of them survived long enough to reach Fei.
Their bodies blistered and bubbled as they swung at her, but they fought until the end. Fei’s scimitar ended their lives with swift, decisive cuts through their torsos or heads.
One demon clipped her head, and she stumbled. Three more demons were on her in an instant, their swords raised. August’s sword flickered.
The hoplites were there first. They slammed the demons aside with their bodies and shields. Their spears impaled the beasts and shoved them aside, and a hoplite pulled Fei up.
The beastkin shook off the earlier blow, her tail shuddering from base to tip. Then she nodded to herself and gestured for the hoplites to withdraw.
Fei had a connection to August’s summons through the binding stone. He let her order them around and turned his attention back to the demons closest to him.
Hundreds of angry, bestial faces closed in on him.
He tapped into his binding stone and let its power flood him.
The world slowed down as he entered the mental world of the binding stone.
August used this opportunity to check his memory for the most efficient spell he knew.
He needed every drop of power available for what came after this. The binding stone was nearly empty of power. If only Kadria had given him another month. Or three.
With the right spell in hand, August slipped away from the mental world of the binding stone.
Time flowed normally again. The demons roared and continued their blistering pace toward him.
August pushed his sword into the ground in front of him with a small flash of power, then cast a third rank spell.
A thin wall of rocks burst from the ground.
He cast another third rank spell, and veins of magma began to run through the wall.
The demons were only meters away now. Part of the rock wall collapsed. Lava flooded out and onto the demons who broke through.
With one final spell, August blew the wall apart. Lava, razor-sharp rocks, and blades of wind cut into the oncoming horde.
The front ranks went down.
Then the ranks behind them went down as they ran onto the lava and rocks. The charge faltered. The demons at the rear kept pushing forward.
A crush formed, and the demons pushed many of their kin to their deaths in the lava. The corpses mounted up, and they made a bridge.
August obliterated the corpses with another surge of lava and wind. He continued to stick with third rank spells, with the occasional supercharged one. The hoplites began to throw their spears into the demons.
Eventually, the demons looked for a way around. They pushed toward Fei and found blue death in the form of being melted. The hoplites formed a shield wall and held the demons back.
A few minutes passed. War cries rose up again. The demons charged, convinced this push would work, unlike all the other ones.
It didn’t. But the demons never stopped trying.
August glanced back and saw Sen’s hexagon glowing blindingly bright. Her crimson coat swirled around her with the force of the power she had summoned.
With a great boom, Sen cast her spell. Then all sound vanished.
The demons froze. They tried to shout, but couldn’t hear themselves. They looked around in confusion.
Then one pointed behind them. Then another. Soon, all the demons turned and stared at the portal.
Or what had been the portal.
Where there had once been a gaping hole in the world, there was now a hundred-meter-tall whirling inferno of flames and fury. Orange embers flickered off the tornado.
When they hit the ground, each burst into a conflagration large enough to consume a dozen demons. The tornado itself burned blazing white on the inside, and red flames licked the air around it.
The entire world seemed to shimmer with the heat from the tornado. August felt himself sweat even this far away. Standing where he was, the inferno tornado made him feel as though he was standing in front of a blazing furnace. Huge plumes of smoke choked the air. His sense of smell told him that the world was turning to ash.
Huge licks of fire shot out from the base of the tornado. Every demon in the clearing turned to ash within seconds. They didn’t even have time to understand what was happening before they died.
Sen flung her arm out, and the tornado moved. Every demon screamed. For the first time since Sen had cast her tornado spell, sound returned.
Then an enormous arm of flame sprung forth from the tornado and consumed that sound. The screaming of countless demons was snuffed out in an instant.
Those that survived ran. Their eyes were filled with a primal terror. They didn’t care about the lava on the ground, or the sharp rocks, or the corpses of their brethren.
The demons knew that death lay behind them. They had to fight and win, or they would all die.
August’s sword shimmered, and he cut down a row of demons. More charged him, frothing at the mouth. They moved faster than he thought weak demons could. The hoplites tried to hold them back, but some got through. Several blows rained down on August, and he knew he’d be feeling the bruises for days.
He flexed his fist and turned every demon within fifty meters into meaty chunks. The hoplites bounded away before he finished his spell.
A waste of magic, but he needed to end this.
On the other side, Fei chased dozens of crazed demons who had made it past her.
The demons ran like they were possessed. Their speed was nothing compared to Fei, and she cut them down before they reached the palisade.
The tornado continued to blaze. Sen collapsed to her knees, her breath coming out in choking sobs.
The spell had a minimum casting time, and she needed to keep it running with Ifrit’s obscene power draw. Her hand shook as she held it up, trying to keep the tornado from going out of control.
Demons slipped out of the portal again as Sen’s control wavered. The tornado weakened and hovered high in the air.
August approached the portal, ignoring the pests near it. The level of demonic energy powering the portal was low. Low enough to safely pull off what he wanted to do.
"Fei!" he shouted. He gestured for her to deal with the demons.
The beastkin charged across the battlefield, pulling the hoplites with her. She made quick work of the enemy.
Turning inward, August drew on the binding stone. He drew on every ounce of energy it had available.
Then he felt his way along the leylines. He snaked his way out from the keep and through Gharrick Pass. After a little while, he found the cairn beneath Vera’s tower.
All leylines were connected to one another, which meant that Vera’s tower was connected to his binding stone.
August imprinted the route to Vera’s tower in his mind. Then he gathered all of his power and began to cast a spell.
No geometric shapes appeared around his body.
This was binding stone magic—a form of magic unique to Bastions. Binding stone magic didn’t use the rank system of sorcery.
The way that August controlled the binding stone, created summons, and built his fortress used this method of magic.
Bastions used the innate power of the binding stone to accomplish feats otherwise considered impossible.
Magical scientists deemed this to be manipulating reality. The ability to use a binding stone was the true hallmark of a Bastion’s power.
August finished his preparations and focused himself. The inferno had vanished, the last of its embers burning up in the darkness above him.
Demons began pouring out of the portal again. Fei shouted something.
Ignoring all of this, August cast his spell.
He connected Vera’s cairn with his binding stone.
With a crack like thunder, the shimmering white and black tear in reality vanished. A blast of wind knocked everyone down in the clearing.
August collapsed, and all went black.