David Bishop and the Mystic of Creation T.C. Crawford (icecream ebook reader txt) 📖

exhausted before the fight was over – something that would certainly bring their doom.

Immediately, a surge of energy and strength flowed back into the bodies of the defenders. Their wounds no longer bothered them, their tired limbs no longer ached, and their minds were clear as if they had just woken for the day – they were prepared for the next wave of attacks.

Within minutes, the men had regrouped and prepared to face the onslaught – and it came in full force.

The flames finally subsided, the enemy forces let out a devilish high-pitched howl and charged at the wall full force. They were running so quickly and carelessly that they were climbing over the scorched bodies on the barricades, refusing to wait their turn to fit through the maze, but instead using them as steppingstones to keep from becoming impaled themselves. They were charging with such reckless abandon that they were pushing each other over and impaling the slower ones on the barricades, creating more and more paths across the field.

Orin and the others could see this becoming a problem as it allowed the enemy forces to attack them in greater numbers, thereby thinning out their forces on the walls.

General Ryan, thinking quickly, instructed the catapults to fire their remaining cannisters as close as they could to the front of the wall.

“But sir, that would put the men in danger.” objected one of the engineers firing the devices.

“Just do it, soldier!” shouted General Ryan.

The men sprang into action and after making the necessary adjustments, began sending volley after volley of flaming cannisters into the opening between the two walls and a short distance in front of the defenders.

The entire area before the wall erupted in a series of explosions, sending demons flying in every direction, sometimes in unrecognizable pieces.

The defenders behind the wall braced for impact, covering their heads, and hiding behind the crenelations to protect themselves from the flying debris and powerful blasts.

In the span of just a few minutes, over a thousand demons and undead soldiers were obliterated. Not a single soldier had been killed, while only a few had suffered severe burns on their hands or arms from the blaze.

When the smoke cleared, they could see the now pothole ridden field filled with the charred remains of countless enemies. When they had seen the effectiveness of the barrage, the rest of the forces had stopped pouring into the pit, waiting for the rain of death to cease. Now that it was finally over and they could see no indication of any further attacks, they grew emboldened once again and one by one started rushing through the still smoking field, navigating around the flaming pits and scorched bodies.

When the ladders started hitting the wall, the defenders were ready.

Over the course of the next several hours, the defenders held back the enemy waves with surprising efficiency, kicking off the ladders, lopping off their heads and arms and any limbs that they could reach. The stench of demon blood filled the air. The smoke from the still blazing fires blocked the midday sun of the second day, giving the air an almost dusk appearance.

Men and demon screamed alike, fighting viciously for their lives for what felt an eternity. The sun began to set in the distance, and the fighting still raged on, as ferocious as ever.

That’s when they first caught sight of him.

General Krauss came in like a bulldozer, faster than a charging bull, and ten times as strong.

He was glowing an eerie green and seemed to be larger than they remembered, but his evil smirk and his dark features let them know that it indeed was the General.

The archers sent a flurry of arrows flying towards him in an attempt to knock down his charge, but he just waved them off with a flick of his hand, sending them flying back at the men and taking out several of them.

Orin sent a fireball blazing toward him. He simply batted it aside as if it were a firefly, giving it even less thought than he would an annoying insect as it deflected off into the side of the mountain pass, exploding like a bomb and taking out several demons in the process.

Rex and the two generals looked at each other and immediately knew what must be done.

They signaled for the men to fall back into the main forces that were waiting just behind the walls, then followed quickly in pursuit, prepared to make their final stand in their last-ditch effort to keep the enemy forces from breaking through into the valley and spreading out like wildfire. They knew if they got that far, their chances of survival would drop significantly. It would be the end of Ravenfell.

Just as they got off the wall, it exploded with such force that it knocked them all several feet through the air. They landed hard just before their main line of forces, several soldiers running forward to help up their fallen generals and king.

When they got to their feet and turned around to see what had happened, suspecting they already knew the answer, General Krauss was standing in the midst of the rubble, a great cloud of dust still clearing from the air as it settled back into place.

“He’s far more powerful than he was before,” said Orin, seeing the incredible force he had displayed, “He must have been enhanced by his connection with the Defiant One. Now that he’s no longer in the Dark Abyss, their connection appears to be stronger than ever!”

“Great…” replied General Ryan, “so how do we stop him?” he asked.

They each looked to Orin, his face covered in dirt and sweat and his eyes wide.

“We fight together, with everything we’ve got!” he said defiantly.

With that, they each nodded, knowing they were in this together until the end. If they were going to die, at least they would die fighting with their friends and for their people, and they did not plan on going down easy.

General Krauss stepped through the