《The Twin Lands》 Chapter 1 - The impenetrable wall Reinwald pulled his rough brown wool cloak tighter around himself in a futile attempt to ward off the bitter cold winds blowing down from the North as he stood atop the great wall, doing his patrol with the rest of his squad. ¡°This damn leather armor doesn¡¯t hold the wind back at all.¡± He mutters under his breath. Reinwald is a Captain in the army guarding the Great Wall against the vicious creatures of the North, a model solider at that, being in his late 20s with a fairly muscular build and of average looks. Like all of humanity, he has a dark tan with black hair and eyes. He is a member of a Lafayette branch family, a proud family of Knights who specialize in light magic to repel the disgusting creatures of the North. Seeing as they live in perpetual darkness, bright light burns their eyes and skin easily and is quite effective at killing or maiming them. Unfortunate for them and lucky for humanity that their planet only faces the sun with a single side, keeping the side of the continent that humanity controls in the light and warm while the beasts of the North are kept in perpetual darkness and freezing temperatures. He glared down the 40 foot tall and 20 foot thick wall built by ancient Ebenhard earth mages into the thick forest of pine trees below, his eyes darting back and forth as he searched for the terrifying Araxin soldiers, the Axi, that often hide within. Terrible, horrifying creatures, the Axi - massive black spiders the height of a man with eight legs and four arms, two on each side. The arms had 3 fingers and a thumb on each thus allowing the Axi to wield weapons similar to men, often utilizing the extra arms to carry two swords while still leaving the other two arms to interfere in other ways. While the Axi are just one of the horrors birthed by the Araxin race they are the most prevalent along the Great Wall separating the bitterly cold barren wastes of the North from the veritable warm utopia that was the South. Reinwald¡¯s patrols had been quiet and uneventful these past weeks as the North neared the warm season that it enters every ten years and the Araxin had been quiet leading up to it. This was a normal occurrence however, because every decade their planet nears its second sun for a period of a year and this warms the North enough to melt the ice and snow allowing the Araxi, the leaders of the Araxin, to lay more eggs than usual and mount a major invasion attempt at the end of the warm season when their troop count is at its highest. The Araxin desperately wish to breach the wall and take over the South of the continent where it is perpetually day and always warm, but humanity of course will not stand idly by and die. As he turned away to continue walking along the top of the massive dark gray stone block wall, movement out of the corner of his eye made Reinwald whip his head back around and his breath caught in his throat. There, rushing out of the tree line, was a swarm of Axi troops headed straight for the wall! His training kicking in, Reinwald immediately pulls mana from the air around him and shapes it into a flare spell which he shoots high into the sky to alert other soldiers along the wall and to call for reinforcements. Immediately after he does so he sees flares fire off from other sections of the wall signaling that this is not a small incursion, and he likely wont be receiving as much aid as he had hoped. ¡°Men! To battle!¡± He screams at the top of his lungs to the troops placed under his command. As the Axi spin their web and begin throwing it at the top of the wall to pull themselves up, the mages among his squad begin slinging all sorts of spells at the creatures while the normal soldiers unsling their short oak bows and begin to fire. Unlike most of the squads along the wall which were made up almost entirely of Fontayne and Lafayette mages, capable and fire and light spells respectively, his squad contained a bit of everything leaving them more balanced. He had members from the Ebenhard and Wenzel families with him as well, capable of using earth and water magic. Most of the other families were not nearly as suited for combat however, so it was rare to encounter any of the Warford, Delano, Isai, Thiery or Sorel along the wall. Their use of wind, darkness, illusions, telekinesis and space were more suited for other areas within society and it was there that most of them chose to stay. ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom!¡± As three more Axi fall dead, Reinwald is yet again thankful that these new inventions, these rifles, now allowed even the weaker fire mages who were unable to produce a proper fire spell to participate in combat effectively. The shadows on the other side of the wall lit up as fire, light, water and earth spells crashed into their enemies all at once, knocking many of the Axi off of the wall and smashing them into the magic hardened earth below. ¡°Don¡¯t let up men! For humanity!¡± Yelled Reinwald, as he began firing his own magic into the fray. ¡°It¡¯s gonna be a long shift.¡± He murmured quietly to himself as the fight began in earnest all along the wall.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Hah!¡± Yelled Reinwald as he cut down yet another pitiful Xi, one of the peasant shock troops of the Araxin, that had managed to get over the wall and into sword range by climbing over the fallen bodies of its brethren. The Xi were not nearly as large and powerful as the Axi but were much more numerous and often sent in before the main assault. All along the base of the wall lay the bodies of hundreds of Xi with a healthy dose of Axi thrown in, slain by the proud knights and soldiers defending the wall. He stumbled slightly as he pulled his sword from the Xi, his body beginning to fail him in his exhaustion. Around him the rest of his troops were engaged in their own skirmishes here and there. One of the non mage soldiers firing his bow from the wall reached for another arrow in the quiver on his back before realizing he was out. The panicked young soldiers quickly backed away from the wall as a Xi crawled over the side and began to list its misshapen pig iron sword to take his life. ¡°Boom!¡± The Xi fell dead, dropping its sword and tumbling back over the wall to join the ever growing pile of bodies at its base. The lucky soldier had been saved by one of his troop mates and his rifle. A simple nod was shared between the two as the rifleman turned back to the battlefield and continued to fire when able. The archer took his quiver off to double check that he was indeed out, before glancing around for any spares. He had never run out of arrows while on patrol before, as battles of this scale were unheard of during the winter, especially right before the warm period. ¡°Captain, whats going on?¡± The young man asked, as he threw down his bow and unseated his sword. It was not his preferred weapon, but it would have to do. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen so many Araxin attack us at once during the cold season. When will this end? Are reinforcements on their way?¡± Reinwald glanced around at his men and saw the young mans fear reflected in the eyes of nearly everyone there, although the men from the Fontayne family outwardly scoffed at the fearful questioning of the other man, too proud to show fear. As Reinwald prepared to give a reassuring answer to his men and attempt to bolster their confidence for the continuing battle suddenly the whole wall shook, stopping the battle in its tracks. The air was suddenly quiet, Araxin and human soldiers alike standing still, staring off into the distant North where the shaking originated from. ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom!¡± With each blast of sound, the wall shook, and along the horizon a shape began to appear. A creature the size of a small mountain that would give even the most ancient of dragons a run for their money in size slowly stomped its way toward the wall, all eight spider legs moving together, eyes the size of houses staring down the wall with clear malice. A thick black carapace coated in a thin layer of hair covered its body and it carried an enormous wooden staff in its hands. Above the wooden staff floated a miniature moon, its pockmarked surface visible even from this distance. ¡°What in the hell¡­¡± whispered Reinwald to himself, with similar things being uttered all along the wall. ¡°An Araxi¡­ That must be an Araxi!¡± He half yelled, pulling his men out of their stupor. An Araxi had never been seen by humanity, at least not in recorded history, but everyone knew that there was nothing else this monstrosity could be besides one. The Araxi were only known to be the ruling caste of the Araxin race and what the rest of the race was named after. Each other sub species was only worthy of part of the Araxi name, giving us the Axi and Xi, but the Araxi were the originals. As everyone began to panic the Araxi suddenly unleashed a ¡°SCREEEEEEeeee¡± so loud and high pitched that every soldiers had to drop their weapons and cover their ears. Even the opposing Axi and Xi seemed in pain from such a loud noise. As the scream finished, the Araxi pointed at the wall with its staff and the miniature moon threw itself at them! ¡°Run! Get clear!¡± Panic clear in his voice, Reinwald gave his orders to the troops nearby. As soldiers ran in all directions up and down the wall and some jumped off the back risking broken bones in an attempt to escape, the massive ball of stone struck the wall to the far East and Reinwald¡¯s world briefly went black. He awoke several hundred feet away from the wall proper being drug toward a nearby barracks by some of his less injured and still conscious subordinates. Even being hundreds of feet away from the broken section of the wall, the force of such a large chunk of earth smashing down caused widespread destruction all along the wall in both directions with many collapses, one of which caught Reinwald¡¯s troop and is what briefly knocked him out. As he stared back at the wall in shock while his subordinates drug him forward, unaware that he was now awake, he saw the dust begin to clear and a wave of Xi and Axi swarmed forward. He quickly pulled his arms free and clamored to his feet, shocking the other soldiers. ¡°Sir! Your alive! When the wall collapsed we saw you get struck on the head and couldn¡¯t leave you.¡± said Johnson. Reinwald grabbed the mans hand and shook it hard. ¡°You have my thanks boys, but the Araxin are streaming through those breaches like locusts. We need to regroup with the main army and figure out what to do about this mess. Now run!¡± Chapter 2 - Calamity at sea ¡°Wake up, you layabout cabin boy!¡± a gruff impatient sounding voice yelled from above, accompanied by the loud noise of a boot stomping on the deck above. ¡°Ugh¡± groaned Eraum as he groggily awoke and rubbed his eyes, slowly sitting up in his hammock as he looked around the room. What greeted his eyes was a small room with three of the four walls covered in mostly empty hammocks gently swaying with the motion of the ship and an assortment of hooks hanging between them with various coats and shirts hanging from them in various stages of drying and smelling strongly of the sea. A few other crew members that had been on the night shift still slept but unfortunately there was little rest to be had as a cabin boy, there was always something else to be done. The only wall not covered in hammocks and coats happened to be the exit, through which he could see a short dirty hallway with a few doors and then the creaky half broken steps leading to the deck above. ¡°Just another day of fishing and we will be home again, and with enough of a haul for me to finally get a new pair of boots.¡± Mumbled Eraum to himself as he put on his brown leather boots that had clearly seen better days. He stood up and gave himself a quick once over to make sure everything was there - his warm brown wool pants with a leather belt and his dirty white linen shirt were in order, covering his dark tanned skin and average body for a boy of 15. ¡°Eraum! Get some food and then get up here to start scrubbing the deck!¡± Yelled the ships boatswain, Duran, as he stomped on the deck again even louder than the last time. Eraum slowly glanced around the room once more, giving a longing stare to his hammock, before letting out a small sigh as he walked out of the bunk room toward the steps to the upper deck. ¡°Im coming Duran, one moment!¡± Eraum yelled up the steps, lest he anger Duran even more by not giving a response. The man was in charge of the crew and could be a terror when he wanted and Eraum feared angering him too much. Eraum briskly walked to the galley and sat down at the long wooden table in the center of a room just large enough for the table and its chairs to fit. In the center of the table a large metal plate with some half stale bread and butter ready for quick meals when the crew was hungry and didn¡¯t have time for a proper meal. He drug the plate over to himself and took a few big bitesbefore standing up and stuffing one last large piece in his mouth whole as he left the room and quickly spun around the back of the steps to grab his bucket and mop before trudging up the rickety steps and out into the perpetual daylight that graced the southern portion of the continent in its warmth. Eraum took another moment to look around and get his bearings as the light half blinded him in its suddenness. All around for as far as the eye could see was naught but blue ocean, the light waves slapping against the hull of the two level dual mast ship, clearly in need of some repairs but still sea worthy. The rest of the crew, a group of rough sailors and fishermen, were situated around the ship performing their various duties. As he was about to fill his bucket with water and begin mopping the deck, a yelp for help was heard from one of the water mages helping to corral fish into the nets that the ship drug through the water. ¡°Somethings wrong over here, everyone grab onto the net! Its like the water is suddenly fighting against me and trying to pull the net down!¡± ¡°Quickly men! We can¡¯t lose that net of fish!¡± Yelled the captain, with a return of ¡°Aye Aye!¡± From the nearby crew members. Eraum rushes over to help pull up the fishing net and grabs one of the thick coarse ropes with both hands and begins pulling with all his might. Around him the other men follow suit, everyone with a portion of rope, and for a moment it does indeed appear to be working. ¡°Heave! Ho! Heave! Ho!¡± The men chant as they pull with their full might but alas, it was a futile struggle and the strained rope snapped in twain. Eraum¡¯s heart sinks, and surely the rest of the crew¡¯s hearts as well, as he watches the rope and net holding the crews payday sink into the suddenly more roiling sea along with his hopes and aspirations for that new pair of boots. Sighing dejectedly, he turns around just in time to get slammed with a massive wall of water! Body crashing into the railing and head bouncing off the deck with an audible thump, Eraum struggles to stand back up as the crew begins crying out. ¡°What the bloody hells!¡± ¡°Where did that come from!¡± ¡°Were doomed!¡± and other hopeless wailing sounds in the air as Eraum coughs up the salty sea water and finally manages to regain his bearings and get on his feet, soaked clothes weighting him down.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. As he looks in the direction that the wave originated from Eraum sees the most gut wrenchingly horrifying storm he has ever encountered during his several years of fishing on the open ocean. Pitch black clouds are rolling across the skies at an amazing speed, stretching as far as the eye can see. Lightning streaks constantly shooting and twisting around within and a torrential downpour of rain that could easily be confused for a solid wall of water rushes across the sea and hits the boat in an instant. It feels as if the cold is seeping into his very bones. BOOOM! The loudest thunderclap any of the crew had ever heard goes off, temporarily deafening them as they stood around frozen with fear. ¡°Eraum!¡± Screams Duran, as he rushes over and grabs him tightly by the shoulders. Duran struggles to be heard over the massive booms of thunder and the sound of the storm pounding into the deck as he yells ¡°Quickly boy, begin bailing water out of the second deck! Stop for nothing, the rest of the crew will take care of anything else that happens. You must help keep us from taking on too much water! I will gather others to send, but go!¡±. Eraum¡¯s ears are still ringing from the thunder but he hears most of what Duran says and nods in confirmation, fear clear on his rain streaked face, and begins running toward the steps to the second deck while dodging out of the way of the others who had finally broken out of their fear and began attempting to survive this disaster. He quickly scrambles below deck to fill his bucket with water, falling down the wet steps in his rush and cutting his left arm deeply on some of the broken steps while falling face first onto the ground. ¡°Brace yourselves!¡± He hears someone above scream above the wind and rain, and a moment later the boat turns nearly on its side as what must have been a truly gigantic wave crashed into the boat in an attempt to claim it as the oceans own. A veritable waterfalls worth of water was cascading down the steps at this point and onto Eraum¡¯s prone body as he struggled back to his feet yet again. ¡°Not good not good not good not good¡± he said to himself repeatedly as he picked up his fallen bucket and scooped up a bucket full of the now knee deep water contained within the ship. Dizzy from the repeated blows to his head he staggered up the flight of steps and tossed his bucket of water overboard. He went back for another trip and at this point several other sailors had begun the job of bailing out the ship alongside him, but things were not looking good for them. Eraum lost track of how many buckets he had bailed out of the ship, however when he came up from belowdeck this time everyone on deck was standing still, jobs forgotten, staring off into the same direction. As Eraum turned to find out what everyone was so focused on, he dropped his bucket of water onto the deck, spilling it. Bailing the ship no longer mattered he realized, as a wall of water higher than the eye could see was about to engulf the ship and drag it down to the deep dark depths of the sea. The terrifying wall of water wasn¡¯t even the most terrifying part of this whole ordeal however as just barely visible within the wave was the partially visible form of some gigantic undersea monstrosity. ¡°This must have caused the freak storm¡­!¡± Eraum thought to himself. Tales of horrifying sea creatures in the North had been passed down for generations, but it was all thought to be legend. Never had a fishing boat been accosted by a creature such as this, especially in the warmer waters of the South, and Eraum had never thought to experience one for himself. Several of the crew working above deck had the forethought to tie themselves to the masts before handling their duties while the rest were left scrambling to grab and hold onto whatever they could find nearby for dear life. All of these attempts were of course vain, however Eraum lunged for a rope anyway and held on as if his life depended on it, closed his eyes, and then the water came crashing down onto the ship with a power that only the primal forces of nature could ever hope to achieve. Chapter 3 - Our Heroine ¡°Ouch!¡± yipped Enru as the large covered troop transport carriage she was riding inside hit another large bump in the road causing her to smack the back of her head against the hard wood, waking her from the uneasy nap she had managed to slip into. It was not a very comfy carriage, the frame and body consisting of rough wood and a linen covering stretched high over the rounded top. It had four large wooden wheels with metal rings around them for support and hard wooden benches inside with space for around two dozen people to sit. Rubbing the back of her black shoulder length hair covered head, Enru groggily looked around the carriage as her memory quickly came back to her. Enru¡¯s wind mage guild had been contracted out by the city of Warford, which was the city controlled by the main family specializing in wind magic, the Warfords, to head South to the great desert and assist one of their branch families with containing and repelling an unusually large sandstorm that had been discovered to be heading North. The Warford family and wind mages in general mostly lived along the Southern border of the continent where the lush lands of humanity ended and the sandy desert belonging to the ferocious and majestic dragons began. Quite often sandstorms from the great desert tried to blow into the open plains on humanity¡¯s Southern border but wind mages were quite adept at using their magic to help repel the storms and keep the desert from becoming even larger than it already was. History told them that long ago the plains stretched much further and the desert was much smaller so humanity was determined not to let it grow any larger. Enru is a sixteen year old girl with the usual dark tanned skin, black hair which she left mostly unattended to with the exception of keeping it shoulder length and a body that left people mistaking her for someone much younger unfortunately. She was born to a family of wind mages and thankfully has the gift herself instead of being born as a non mage, although she was quite weak as far as mages go. That was why she joined one of the guilds as soon as she hit the minimum age of sixteen. The guilds had their fair share of powerful mages but the vast majority of members comprised of mages weak enough that their magic was not very useful on their own. However when under the control of a more powerful mage, the weaker mages powers can be combined and become useful. Free training and an easy job until she had the money to go follow he dreams sounded good to her. Hence why Enru was currently riding inside of a troop transport carriage to the border full of other wind mages from her guild while a few of the more powerful members of the Warford branch family rode in a more luxurious carriage nearby. Still grumpy from being woken up so rudely Enru turned to her neighbor on the bench and said ¡°Any idea when were gonna get to the border? This is the bumpiest carriage ride I¡¯ve ever been on. Its soo hot in here too!¡± Her neighbor was a gruff middle aged man with a fairly long bushy beard and several scars on his face that had been with the guild his entire life and so she hoped he had a good idea of the distance left. He wore the same clothes that they all currently had on - simple tan linen pants, a tan linen shirt, worn looking brown leather work boots and a leather hooded cowl with an attached piece that could be pulled across their mouths to keep the sand from their faces as much as was possible. The clothes were designed to keep the sun exposure out here to a minimum as even with humanity living in perpetual daylight and being used to heat and light, the desert was a truly harsh place that still burned the skin and pushed their bodies to the limits. ¡°I dunno lass, why don¡¯t you tell me?¡± The man responded to her with a playful smirk, as the carriage slowed to a halt. ¡°Ok, everybody out!¡± Yelled one of the nobles in charge of the expedition. As the carriage thinned out and it came to Enru¡¯s turn to exit, she hopped off the back and looked around curiously as she had never actually been to the great desert. Sand. Sand. More sand. That was all she saw, the rolling dunes going on for as far as she could see. In the far distance she could see the massive mountain at the far end of the desert piercing the sky, going up higher than she could clearly see. If she turned back around the way they came she could see some green in the far distance, signaling the plains. A few sparse trees dotted the horizon as well, although the plains certainly lacked trees in general. They had ridden quite far into the sand to stop the storm as far from the plains as they reasonably could. ¡°Line up over here! Hop to it!¡± Yelled a fancily dressed man. Enru was rudely pushed forward as she realized she was still blocking the exit from the carriage. She walked over to line up with her guild mates as the man had commanded and took a moment to study him. He was, after all, the first noble she had seen up this close. He had on the same general clothes readying him for the desert as everyone from the guild but his were very clearly above their status. His shirt and pants were purple while his hook was a deep blue, all expensive colors to be had for regular folk. Golden thread held together all of the stitching and the sword at his belt had so many gemstones embedded in it looked to be more gemstone than sword and was surely more for looks than real use. That made sense though, as the man was also flanked by two hulking body guards who, despite the heat, were wearing thick leather armor covering their whole bodies and had both unstrung bows on their backs as well as very well made looking steel swords on their waists. Even the branch family ruled over several towns and villages, so some opulence is to be expected whenever one shows themselves in public. Enru thought this was a bit excessive even for them however. The man was in his young 20s, the prime of his life and the perfect time for his family to send him out to make a name for himself without embarrassing them. His hair was black as was everyones and was shaped into a bowl cut often seen among nobles. Numerous earrings adorned his ears and his face was soft and androgynous - most would describe him as beautiful rather than handsome. ¡°Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, my name is Badir. As you all know, you have been brought here to assist my brother and I¡± everyone looked around at this remark, as nobody had yet seen another man dressed like Badir, causing him to sigh and stop mid sentence. ¡°My apologies, this barbarian dressed like a guard to my left is my brother, Reban.¡± Reban raised a hand in greeting and smiled sheepishly. The only part of Reban¡¯s equipment that visibly differed from the other guard was the quality of his sword and sheath. It looked to be of much higher quality steel and the sheath was adorned with a variety of engravings while the pommel had a large white gemstone. Reban is in his early 20s and has a rough face most would associate with a bandit or rogue of some kind, but while still managing to be what most would consider handsome. ¡°The similarly dressed man to my right is our guard Ebrer. As I was saying, you are here to assist my brother and I in forcing back this dust storm that threatens to cover our lands in more sand than we already have to deal with. We will cast the standard wind wall spell in concert while adhering to the group spell shaping type three. Depending on storm severity we may switch to other spells as needed. While lined up, I will stand on one end while Reban stands on the opposite with your strongest spell caster in the middle to assist. Everyone is to hold hands skin to skin and open yourselves to the flow of mana, sensing it swirling around you but not reaching out to meld it as if you were casting a spell. You will feel the three of us begin to pull mana through you as a conduit - you are not to resist as this will ruin the connection. This will allow the more powerful of us to shape much more mana than we are usually able to as the strain that large spell casting usually brings will instead be spread throughout all of you. Any questions? No? Good. If you¡¯ll notice, the storm is visible in the distance so please everyone take your positions and ready up.¡± Badir finished his speech and everyone quickly got into formation for spell shaping type three and prepared to do as told. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°First time out in the field, rookie?¡± Said the man who was holding Enru¡¯s hand to her left. To her right was Reban - as she was the weakest that the guild brought, she had to be placed next to one of the major powers in order for the formation to work properly. So far he had said nothing to anyone however, including his brother, and that did not change for her either. ¡°Yes, I only just finished my basic training to become an apprentice two weeks ago. This job came in so fast and required so many of us though, that I was still sent.¡± She shakily responded with an unsteady smile on her face, clearly nervous at her first expedition being so important. ¡°If you just got out of basic the steps should be fresh in your mind then at least, so just focus like that noble said and things will go smooth.¡± He smiled reassuringly at her as he said this, but then was called to attention. ¡°Everyone, begin!¡± Yelled Badir down the line, which was repeated in the middle by their expedition leader Aibor so that the people at the far end heard for sure. Enru breathed in, breathed out, breathed in and breathed out. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the energy around her, in the air, in the ground, in the people next to her - mana permeated everything. For reasons humanity did not understand they could only interact with the inert mana in the air and could not do anything with the mana within their own bodies let alone other beings or objects, yet it penetrated every facet of life. Enru focused on the mana around her and waited for the connection to start. After a few seconds, she felt an outside force probing at her natural mental barriers. She instinctively resisted for a moment before she managed to quell that natural reaction and relax enough to let the foreign presence of Reban fill her mind and energy pathways. It was a very intimate contact that made her shiver, as if their very beings had merged on a basic level. After his energy permeated her body in its entirety she felt a new connection open to her left, and again, and again - the line was slowly all connecting in a similar way and becoming one, although the energy of the others did not fill her as Reban¡¯s did, they just brushed up against her awareness. After the entire line was connected, she gasped as suddenly the mana in the air rushed into her body at a rate far faster than she was normally capable of. She felt the telltale headache of mana overuse beginning to form already and hoped that this storm would prove easy to dissipate. As quickly as the mana entered her, it left and channeled into Reban next to her as he began casting an impressive wind wall at the same time as the other two focus points down the line. Enru¡¯s clothes whipped and whirled around her, as did the sand, resulting in a wall of wind and sand stretching high into the sky just as the storm hit. Enru could feel the enormous amount of mana being channeled through everyone and her headache kept building, but she persevered as did everyone else. The storm and the wind wall fought for a time, before suddenly she felt something odd with her mana sense. The storm quickly began shifting and reshaping as a thick vortex of mana thousands of times more powerful than their own streamed into the storm from the North, how far she did not know, and then the storm began shaping into tornados! ¡°Men, someone is interfering with the storm!¡± Screamed Badir over the wailing of the wind. ¡°Reban, Aibor - focus on warming the stream of cold air coming with the foreign mana. If we warm that up close enough to the rest of the storm it cant create a tornado like they are clearly trying to!¡± The two men began doing as instructed while Badir took on the brunt of managing the wind wall himself, the three silently partitioning the power reserves of the gathered mages between the tasks. Unfortunately, the efforts of the two were for naught as the foreign power nearly doubled in strength and several large tornados formed within the storm. As they quickly touched down, Badir finally gave the order to retreat. ¡°Everyone, get out of here! This storm is out of control! We need to retreat to the safety of a major settlement until we can get reinforcements from elsewhere along the border!¡± The connection to the others in Enru¡¯s mind broke as everyone stopped holding hands and began sprinting away from the storm and back to the safety of the plains. The carriages would take too long to get ready for travel, and Badir and his guard were on two of the horses while they held the third for Reban to escape on. As nobles they were more important than the rest of these people after all, and they needed to quickly report this incident. As Enru began running she almost immediately tripped in her fear, scrambling in the sand and struggling to see through the sand storm raging around her. Reban, who still had yet to say a single thing to her, stopped and helped her to his feet. He gave her a grim smile and pointed the direction to run. ¡°Thank you!¡± She tried yelling back, but just as she started to a tornado touched down directly on the two of them! Enru screamed out and Reban grabbed onto her as the tornado lifted them into the air. Enru¡¯s vision began failing and darkness slowly crept from the edges of her vision, the sound of the wind whipping around their tightly embraced bodies slowly faded and then she passed out from the fear. Chapter 4 - Survive The Great Desert Enru woke up half buried atop a large sand dune with Reban still partially holding her in an embrace. As she began to struggle out of his arms to get a feel for where they were, he also began to wake up. His eyelids flickered a few times and his breathing caught in his throat, before his eyes shot open and he bolted upright in the sand frantically looking around. He looked Enru and himself over for injuries as she got to her feet and began surveying their surroundings. Enru was still a bit dizzy and it took her a moment for her eyes to steady after she stood, but when they did, she was surprised at what she saw. She slowly turned around, and the surprise slowly turned to fear and finally to dread as she finished her circle, with her face paling and hands beginning to shake. Sand, for as far as the eye could see, was in every direction. Even from her vantage point on top of a sand dune she could not see far enough to spot any green marking the plains. The tornado had taken them both deep into the desert, although how deep and in what direction was anyones guess. She could still see the great mountain of course, as you could see it from anywhere in or near the desert, however she had no idea what side of it they were on anymore and had no way of knowing. They were lost. While Enru dealt internally with her mounting panic Reban got to his feet as well and completed his own survey of the land. His search was a bit different however, as he also noted the large patch of cactus nearby and searched for any animal tracks or movement. Reban did not simply dress like an adventurer, he was trained as one as well. Make no mistake he was also quite scared for the future like Enru clearly was, but he was much better trained to handle unknown situations with terrible odds. He had never tried it, but he knew that the cactus in the desert contained both life saving water as well as bore the occasional cactus pear. While not the most filling or bountiful food, the combination would be critical on their journey out of this hot hell. As he reached for his water skin at his waist, a lance of pain shot through his arm. After inspecting it for a moment he came to the unfortunate conclusion that it had to be broken. This would surely set them back on their trek and make survival all that much harder, but you gotta play the hand you draw. Reban ripped the sleeve off of the injured arm and used the linen to construct a sling, keeping his arm tight against his lower chest, so that he would not injure it further through accidental use. Enru has finally finished processing and compartmentalizing her current emotions, primarily fear, and was beginning to think normally again. She closed her eyes for a moment and entered that mesmerizing mind scape where she could sense the mana floating all around her and commanded it to keep a steady light breeze blowing on her. It was about the limit of her power on her own but she was grateful for it now. ¡°Reban, do you know which way to go? I have no experience with desert travel.¡± She asked as she turned to look at Reban who had just finished wrapping up his injured arm and turned to look at her. He simply shook his head no, a grim but determined look on his face. ¡°Oh, you are injured!¡± Exclaimed Enru worriedly. ¡°Will you be OK?¡± She asked Reban, but in response he pointed down the dune towards the largest grouping of cactus she could see for miles and mimicked eating an apple. ¡°Can you not speak?¡± Asked Enru, curious. She had not heard him speak but had assumed he simply did not want to, not that he was unable. He shook his head no again in response and adjusted his cowl so that she could see that his throat had a patch of nasty scars, the injury likely resulting in his inability to speak. ¡°Well, this should prove interesting, then. Since you seem to know more than me out here at least, lead the way please if you would.¡± Said Enru, and the duo began the walk down the dunes toward the grouping of cactus in the distance. During the walk the both of them learned all the reasons why traveling in the desert was so hated and dangerous. The sun was high in the sky in its usual place however the heat coming down on them was drastically warmer than they were used to. The heat was taking its toll and the two of them quickly emptied the sole water skin they had between them. Every now and then a strong wind would blow across the sand throwing handfuls of it into their eyes, although thankfully the covering on their leather cowls protected their mouths and noses from the worst of it. Twice they saw small lizards a bit larger than an adult males hand scurry about in the sand. With the speed they displayed however neither Enru or Reban entertained any delusions of being able to catch or kill one of these creatures. After several hours of walking they finally were upon the large grove of cacti. As they began walking past the cacti at the edge of the large circular grove she managed to get a closer look at a cactus. This was her first time actually seeing it up close so Enru was a bit interested in studying it for the future. The cactus was squat and round, no higher than her waist around the edges but growing taller and taller towards the center of this grove. The tallest towered high above her and must have been ten feet tall! They were a dark shade of green and covered in their famous thorns and with a small grouping of red flowers on top. It was within this grouping of flowers that she spotted a few fruits here and there. ¡°Are these fruits safe to eat you think?¡± She asked Reban, and got a a thumbs up in response without him even turning around as he walked into the grove. When they reached one about the height of Reban, he unsheathed his sword and carefully cut the cactus in such a way as to retrieve water from within. They drank their fill and made sure the single water skin that Reban has for the both of them was filled as well. ¡°Isn¡¯t it a bit odd that these cactus all group together like this here but are so spread out elsewhere? What makes them group up? The way they get larger the closer you get to the center as well is almost like its intentional¡­¡± Enru¡¯s voice faded off at the end as the both of them looked around suspiciously. Of course, they spotted nothing out of the ordinary. It would have been quite obvious on their way here if someone was waiting or if anyone was following them. ¡°Well, let¡¯s collect as many of these fruits as we can reasonably carry. We don¡¯t know when we will ever find so many at once again and they will be very important for us while lost.¡± Said Enru, and the two of them began stuffing the fist sized pears in any available pockets and pushes they had on their person. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. As they worked their way through the grove clearing it of fruit, Enru had finished stuffing what she could fit and decided to check out the center. ¡°Reban, where are you? I want to check out the center of this grove!¡± She called out, and afters a moments pause heard the sound of Reban¡¯s scabbard banging on a cactus. Enru headed in his direction and saw that he had finished gathering his share of the fruit as well and so together they headed to the center of the grove. All around them the cactus grew larger and larger the deeper they went. At this point they were clearly above what was natural and the both of them began to walk slower and on guard. As they rounded another massive cactus they came upon an open area in the middle, just a large circle of smooth sand, nothing special. ¡°Well, that was a bit disappointing.¡± Said Enru as she walked to the center of the clearing. ¡°I was half expecting to actually find someone or something in here, but I guess that would be ridiculous out here in the desert. Why don¡¯t we take a short break and eat?¡± She suggested as she sat down cross legged and took out one of her pears. Reban nodded in silent agreement and followed suite across from her. As they both took the first bite of fruit, suddenly the ground underneath them opened up and swallowed them whole! A small squeak of surprise was all Enru managed before her and Reban fell down into the earth. ¡°Aaahhh!¡± Screamed Enru as she fell but just as suddenly as she fell she slammed into the soft malleable ground. ¡°Wait a second, soft and malleable ground?¡± She thought to herself as she opened her eyes that she had screwed shut tight in fear. She had fallen on top of Reban who broke her fall, and who thankfully did not look to be in too much extra pain from the new blow to his arm. ¡°Sorry Reban.¡± Enru apologized, although its not like she could choose where she landed during a fall. ¡°Where are we?¡± She whispered quietly to herself as she looked around the area they had fallen into. She got no answer of course, but it was reflex to ask. All around them were hard sandstone walls covered in hieroglyphics and drawings, or at least what she could see from the dim light that got in from the fresh hole in the ceiling. It looks like the ceiling had weakened over time and their combined weight was enough to finally cause a collapse. She estimated that they had fallen about fifteen feet and near the center of the room, so there wasn¡¯t exactly as easy way back up. She could not see the entire room due to the darkness but she did spot a large metal brazier along the wall nearby and could make out what looked to be metal torches bolted to the walls at regular intervals. Enru crept over to the brazier and attempted to see if it still had oil remaining. Squinting her eyes in the dim light she struggled to see, and decided to slowly dip her finger in - she didn¡¯t want to soak her hand after all. As she slowly lowered her finger toward the brazier, she felt the cold slimy sensation of oil touch her skin. Smiling brightly, she jovially said ¡°Reban, we have oil here! Do you think we could pry one of these torches off of the wall and use our clothes to light it?¡± Reban walked over to the nearest torch and inspected it as best as he could in the darkness, gave it some thought, and ripped it clean out of the wall by himself. ¡°Damn your strong!¡± Exclaimed Enru, as she had thought it would take the both of them some time to pry one off the wall. Little did she know Reban had noticed the wall already beginning to crack and crumble between the ravages of time and the weight of the metal torch. Reban, whose shirt was already ruined from ripping the sleeve off of one arm, mimed for Enru to do the same to his other sleeve. He might as well he supposed, and they needed a light source if they wanted to escape whatever these ruins were. ¡°If you insist. Thank you, Reban.¡± Replied Enru as she tore his sleeve off at the shoulder and wrapped it around the wall torch tightly. After dipping it into the brazier full of oil she handed it back to Reban and began lit it with some flint and tinder Reban had supplied. An adventurer is never caught without the basics of survival like a good tinder box. With their torch lit and ready to explore these ruins for another exit, Enru gave the room they had fallen into another look and steeled her resolve for the future. Not a chapter - Map For easier reference in the next chapter and going forward, it would be useful for all of you to be able to visualize the map of the human territories. I could describe them all in text form, but it would take up a very large amount of space and I imagine not super entertaining or interesting to read, so I decided to draw up a map for all of you! Also, it helps me to keep places correct in my head as well. I should be able to post another real chapter late tonight after work. Also my art skills are trash and I was unable to make the map in an actual program when I tried. If anyone now or in the future is ever bored enough to make a new map, feel free, although id prefer a message first so I can make sure to clarrify certain sections better like how I have not really added rivers and lakes or other mountains and such, just the major major points and all the settlements.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Chapter 5 - Humanity on the brink Sorel City, Ruled by the Sorel family, capital of humanity. Meeting room for the council. ¡°So we are gathered here to discuss the current events befalling our lands and to figure out what to do about them.¡± Stated Adrius Sorel, the current head of the most powerful of the nine great families that ruled over humanity. It also helped that the Sorel controlled space magic and had gates for travel leading out from their city to every other major city which made Sorel city both the capital of humanity as well as a hub of trade and crafting. Adrius is a man in his forties who still looks to be in his thirties. He has a strong face, hair cropped to end above his ears, and perfect unblemished skin. Most of the nobles have skin paler than the general public as they spend much more of their time indoors, however the ruler of the Sorel had the palest white skin most had ever seen. Several earrings were visible on both of his ears made of gold and gemstones, and he wore a finely tailored set of black pants and shirt. Gold thread inland all of the stitching, as was common among the nobility, and his clothes were dotted with small white specs throughout to symbolize his mastery of space magic. Adrius continued ¡°Its common knowledge that we all have our own personal information networks but just to be sure we are all on the same page, let¡¯s have a recap. Please wait until all reports are given before opening the floor to discussion.¡± He paused for a moment to make sure everyone was clear that he did not want interruptions during the proceedings. ¡°The biggest and most important matter is of course the breach to the wall. This is the first time the wall has been fully breached since its construction thousands of years ago and it is a disaster we were not prepared for. Especially not with the warm season approaching and many of our soldiers on leave, since the Araxin are traditionally the least active during this time in preparation for their usual invasion at the end of the warm season. The most worrying piece of news is that an actual Araxi participated this time, and our information on them is of course limited to what the surviving soldiers brought us. The abomination was as large as a small mountain and it seems the Araxi can use magic despite the rest of their race being unable and it was quite large scale magic as well. Our only saving grace here is that it retreated immediately after casting its spell, so for some reason it does not want to or cannot participate in the war at large - at least not yet.¡± Adrius took a moment to let the information sink in, although nearly everyone here had heard the information already. Shock was clear on the faces of the Isai, Wenzel and Warford heads - Hadrius, Aurelio and Martinus respectively. This made sense though as the Isai, ruled over by Hadrius Isai, was the weakest of the nine families and likely did not employ a very extensive spy network. They specialized in illusion magic which had very few practical uses within their society apart from entertainment. Aurelio Wenzel and Martinus Warford however both ruled over powerful and important families, but had their entire information network working on the disasters that had befallen their own borders and did not expect tragedy to strike elsewhere at the same time. The heads of the Lafayette, Ebenhard and Fontayne - Syri Lafayette, Astoria Ebenhard and Artamo Fontayne in order, were of course quite familiar with the events of the wall given that their cities, towns and villages are the ones being directly affected by the breach. ¡°The wall was breached between Fort Ebengarde and Fontayne City, so unfortunately we quickly lost the town of Bellden along with the villages of Oldrun and Silkguard. The army of Axi and Xi that has been continuously flooding through the wall is currently sieging Fontayne City and Fort Ebengarde. There is no expectation of either to fall anytime soon given their reputations and defenses. We have reports of the defenses near Lafayette City being broken as well however, although thankfully not by another Araxi. This time it was an unexpectedly overwhelming force of Araxin troops that managed to flood over the walls with little to stop them given that most active soldiers were redirected toward the breach. This lost us the village of Coldford and leaves the town of Dawnsmouth under a small siege, although it is quickly growing in size. Currently Lafayette city is providing them with support and the villages of Lakegrove and Dirt Hill are being evacuated to the nearest town or city to lessen the future losses.¡± Adrius took another break from his report, as he knew the details of the wall the best and would leave the reports on the other distastes to the respective heads who are responsible for the lands affected. ¡°Aurelio Wenzel, if you would please care to take the floor and explain the situation in the West. I have my reports, however they are sorely lacking and I hope that you can fill in the blanks for the rest of us.¡± Stated Adrius before taking his seat around the table. ¡°With pleasure, Adrius¡± responded Aurelio as she stood up to address the council. Aurelio was a beautiful women in her thirties that gave off a very motherly feeling to most. She was a bit plump in body but not unhealthy and her hair fell freely to her mid back. She was adorned in robes dyed an odd mix of blues and blacks meant to give it the look of the ocean. As she flashed her brilliant smile to the gathered council many gave her a wry smile back, unable to be somber under her gaze. ¡°At the same time as the assault and successful breach of the wall, a hurricane of previously unseen proportions ravaged our Western coast. Many fishing vessels never made it back to their ports and we lost the village of Mythwater in its entirely. The survivors that experienced the storm first hand all report seeing a massive leviathan inside the largest of the waves as they crested however the descriptions all vary and match different myths and legends of the sea that are popular in the area, so we are chalking that up to mass hysteria at such an unfortunate and stressful event unless we find some evidence suggesting otherwise.¡± Aurelio paused for a moment and looked around the room to make sure that all of the council members were still paying attention before continuing. ¡°The storm did not seem natural however, as it seemed to vanish all at once after a time rather than slowly dissipating or passing as storms usually do. One minute our coast was being ravaged by the largest catastrophe in living memory and the next it was back to sunshine and clear skies. Combined with the attack on the wall, I believe the Araxi somehow had something to do with the storm.¡± As soon as Aurelio mentioned the Araxi being responsible, the room erupted in a cacophony of noise. ¡°But the Araxin have never shown any aptitude for magic before now!¡± ¡°We know nothing of the Araxi, nor the limits of their magic.¡± Preposterous!¡± ¡°How could any mage hope to control the forces of nature to such a degree!?¡± Suddenly Astoria Ebenhard conjured a small gavel made of stone and smashed it onto the iron table that they sat around, denting it badly with her strength. Everyone present shut up and looked in her direction, as she reminded them ¡°Adrius asked for no interruptions until the end of the reports. The floor is not yet open and you are embarrassing your families in front of everyone else who is following the rules.¡± Everyone who had taken part in the outburst looked around, ashamed, and settled back into their seats properly. ¡°Now, Aurelio, was your report concluded?¡± Asked Astoria. Aurelio responded with a bright smile ¡°Yes Astoria, thank you for calming things back down. I believe there was an incident of some kind in the Warford territory as well?¡± She asked, while looking towards Martinus Warford. Martinus simply nodded and stood up, prompting Aurelio to sit back down in her wooden chair. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. As Martinus Warford took the floor everyone adjusted slightly to face his direction. Everyone was wondering how much worse things could get, this was already shaping up to be the worst disaster in history and it was not even complete. Martinus is a very old man and definitely looks it. He struggles slightly to stand and leans on his thick ornately carved oak cane heavily as he does so. His skin is wrinkly, his hair beginning to whiten and several of his teeth missing. Despite all of this however he remains unmatched in his control over wind magic and his mind remains sharp and youthful even as his old body fails him and so he is thought by many to retain his position as head of the Warford family until death. He wore the standard clothes of someone ready to go out and fight against a storm at any given time - form fitting linen pants and shirt with a cowl fitted to cover his nose and mouth if clasped shut properly. The only addition was a large leather coat with an insane assorted of pockets and pouches. ¡°As you all know¡± he slowly and quietly croaked out causing everyone to lean forward in their chairs and listen intently ¡°the Warford family and most of humanities wind mages reside along our southern border with the great desert.¡± Martinus paused a moment to catch his breath before continuing. ¡°Our mages keep the sandstorms back and the desert from encroaching on our lands more than it already has over the millennia. We are very good at what we do, and very good at judging what is necessary to force a brewing storm back and dealing with unexpected situations. A magically fueled storm controlled by an outside source, however, is not something that we were prepared for.¡± He paused again as he had a small coughing fit, his body not used to speaking so much at one time anymore. While he composed himself the others quietly whispered between themselves. A magically fueled storm? What is he talking about? ¡°Two members of the branch family were dispatched along with an entire guilds worth of standard wind mages, however they were forced to retreat and reported that an enormous amount of magical power was pushed into the storm from the North and caused it to strengthen massively and form tornados which for you unaware is not something often seen along the Southern border. We do not get cold air down there very often like they do along the wall, where tornados are a fairly common occurrence.¡± Pausing yet again, Martinus reached into his coat and withdrew a silver flask from one of the many pockets which he took a very generous swig of before continuing. ¡°Most of the guild members and one of the two branch family members sent out made it back to give reliable first hand reports, although several members of the guild perished as did one of the branch family members. The storm pushed into our territory quite a bit and managed to devastate the village of Stormgulch and damage the outlying fields for Warford City. This ends my report.¡± As he finished he quickly sat back down looked relieved to no longer be standing and took another generous swig from his flask before returning it to the confines of his leather coat. Adrius Sorel once again took the floor and addressed the assembled council as a whole. ¡°So now that we have all heard the reports from the Wenzel and Warford and are all caught up on the current situation with the wall we must deliberate on what to do next to ensure the survival of humanity as we are assaulted from all sides by forces both known and unknown. Many farms in the South were destroyed by the sandstorm, most fishers refuse to sail with the fear of the leviathan and we are quickly losing land in the North. The floor is now open.¡± Adrius sat back down as another council member quickly took the floor before someone else could. The council deliberated for many hours on what to do, each vote slowly shaping how they would proceed for the near future.