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Lightmoon 9, 2604 R.M. — Avant City, Avant, Avántar
DERITH SYLVARADO STOOD at the front of the Avánti Navy. The moon began to sink slowly into the evening sky. He took a deep breath of the musty air.
Derith, Niri thought. They are coming. They will be visible shortly. Would you like me to count down the seconds?
Thank you, he replied, not sure if the countdown would help or hinder his nerves. He signaled to Clarity and Searin.
Ten seconds... He checked the string of his bow.
Nine seconds... He nocked an arrow into it.
Eight seconds... He changed his body to armor plating.
Seven seconds... Searin donned his borrowed helmet.
Six seconds... Searin drew his sword.
Five seconds... Que-Que transformed.
Four seconds... Clarity strung out his long chain whip.
Three seconds... Silver tried to calm his beating heart.
Two seconds... He entered a fighter stance.
One second... He gulped.
A loud, metallic twang rang through the air. All at once, a series of a dozen or so long, sharpened logs flew in a steep arc overhead. They flew slowly, but by the time they reached the fulcrum, Silver saw they were targeted directly at the center of the Navy. The Avánti scattered for cover as the logs crashed around them. A single shaft pinned six Avánti standing meters from Silver’s side. He looked to the right to see one man impaled by one enormous point. Clarity used the chain of his whip to pull away one soldier seconds before another log crashed into the dirt where he had stood.
“Ballistae!” one of the Avánti soldiers shouted. “Those Lukar scum brought their bows! We don’t stand a chance!” The bows crept over the horizon. They were poorly manufactured and sat in large wheeled devices shaped like bathtubs. Silver used eagle eyes to see the Lukar preparing to load more arrows into the ballistae.
Around him, nearly three hundred Avánti fell in a single volley. Most were still moving, so it was clear they were alive, however, they were not going to be able to fight. That’s nearly an eighth of our Navy. We can’t take any more attacks... and they know it.
As a second twang rang overhead, Clarity clasped Silver on the shoulder. “Come with me,” he ordered.
“What are we doing?” Silver yelled.
“Reconnaissance,” Clarity shouted back.
Silver and company dashed along behind Clarity, hiding behind random trees and skirting around in a twisting path, to avoid getting struck by the elongated projectiles. They continued their dash until they got right next to the ballistae. Under the cover of a large stone, Clarity had a clear view of the siege weapons. “It’s just as I thought,” he said, noting that the weapons were, in fact, the same ballistae as in the dream. “Last time we went up against these terrible contraptions, we lost half the Navy.” Screams were heard on the other end as a third volley hit.
“Was that when Millos died?” Silver asked innocently.
Clarity turned away. “Y... y... yes,” he stuttered. “Millos was teemed by many foes. He died heroically, saving me from their attack. But a death is a death.”
Searin looked out at the Navy, determinedly. “That’s how it is for them too. Let’s get some revenge,” Searin said boldly. Silver wondered what had transformed Searin’s apathy for the Avánti into a desire to avenge Clarity’s departed friend.
Derith, look behind the ballistae! Niri screamed in his mind. Pushing the wheeled wash tubs was a long procession of life forms organized in a long line.
“They’re Avánti!” Clarity gasped. “They’re the slaves who were taken when... when Millos died.”
Silver attempted to understand what could have motivated the Lukar to such cruelty. These were intelligent beings treated like beasts, forced by Lukar women using long, wooden flails to march and slowly push the wash tubs forward.
A fourth volley of arrows sent a shock wave of sound tearing through the area as they flew. By now, most of the Navy had taken cover under the water of the swamp, but each log sent shockwaves through the water and penetrated the ground above the hidden city.
Clarity wiped a tear from his eye and jumped up on the rock. A Lukar saw him, but Clarity snapped his whip around the man’s scrawny neck, breaking it with a quiet crack. He sprang down and mixed in with a group of slaves who were pushing the first ballista. Silver and Searin followed him. Silver changed easily to look like one of the neglected Avánti children. Niri stuffed Que-Que, who had reverted to his bunny-like state, under his purple robe and ran over to a ballista with both women and children.
The Lukar, as silent in war as when they had tried to sacrifice Silver, raised another colossal log into the bow. As a pair of Lukar pushed the log into its holster, Clarity’s whip cracked the wooden posts underneath. The log rolled and crushed them where they stood. Searin jumped up and swung his sword. With an adept lunge, he took a larger man through the leg.
Silver swung into the sky. He transformed quickly into a Neptune Dragon and sprayed multiple guards, causing them to lose their footing. “Is du drek!” the soldiers yelled. Some sprang from their perches in sheer terror.
A man rose behind Clarity with a wooden javelin. Silver spun his tail, whipping him off the bow. Clarity lunged to the right, catching another soldier through the chest with the chain. He spun the man’s limp body in a wide arc, using it to block a spear point aimed at his head, then kicked the dead man face first into the mud.
There were less than fifty soldiers atop the ballista, each terrible at using any manner of weaponry. As Silver blasted the last of the men from the bow with jets of water, and Searin had sliced at the final woman who was whipping the slaves, Clarity came to the edge of the platform.
“It’s Siellis...” Several of the slaves murmured.
“People of Avántar!” he shouted. “You have been freed of your oppressors! Yet many more of your sisters and children are forced to push these filthy Lukar bows while the Lukar shoot at your brothers and husbands! You would not be blamed if you wanted to simply retreat, but if you look around, you will see the terrible oppression of your comrades.
“I know you aren’t warriors! This armor must feel very unusual. But if you’re the Avánti I know you are, you’ll fight anyway! You will fight for your friends, your family, your way of life, your freedom, and your city! You will fight to protect Sysanohf from ruin!”
The Avánti slaves raised their arms to the sky, and the battlefield rang with a mighty shout.
Just then, Niri and Que-Que finished eliminating the guards from the ballista nearby. The former slaves melded together in one procession. The scared Lukar were open targets.
Que-Que flew in the sky slashing at soldiers on various ballistae and chomping at them haphazardly with his massive, acidic fangs and tail-head. Clarity and Searin ran together, leaping from bow to bow, hacking and slashing at every Lukar in sight. Silver flew about shooting water at the ballistae, punching holes through their bases and crippling the guards who were brave enough to stand up to the assault.
Niri floated above the ground, supported by only his mind, and sent beams of violet light in all directions leaving all the Lukar who were hit in a catatonic state, although not affecting any of the Avánti.
With every bow they freed, more slaves joined their ranks. The former slaves picked up the crude weapons of the fallen and hacked into the line of retreating enemies. The remaining Avánti men had emerged from hiding and joined the others in the melee. Together, the Sea Men routed bow after bow while the Lukar, caught off guard, were mowed down like grass. Soon, the Lukar army was reduced to only fifty men, while the Avánti ranks had swelled to nearly four thousand.
With only one ballista left manned, Clarity called for the Avánti to halt. Silver transformed back to normal and the two dashed onto the final ballista in tandem. Clarity spun his whip out and it swept six of the Lukar from their perches. Silver began to raise an arrow to his bow, aiming at the nearest Lukar. Clarity sprang in the way and lashed at the one Silver had targeted. He spun in a rapid circle and took several more with his chain in the process.
Silver shook his head and stepped back. He was unable to do much of anything. Clarity was on a mission to rout every enemy. Clarity bounded into the air and crashed onto another man. Upon hitting the ground, he spun in an arc and swept several men from their feet. He used the momentum to spin around again, sending them careening to their deaths. One man grabbed the edge of the platform and hoisted himself upward. Before the javelin aimed at Clarity’s back had flown, the Avánti had twisted and snapped his whip through the Lukar’s chest.
Clarity fell to the floor of the ballista, his strength exhausted. “At last, beloved Millos,” he gasped. “You have been avenged.” Silver breathed a sigh of relief, just before noticing one last murderous figure climbing up behind Clarity, a black pointed spear in his hand.
