The Battle of Black Port (Part 2)

Across the battlefield, hundreds of undead collapsed into piles of bones.

Confusion quickly turned to jubilation.

Prince Julius roared with laughter. “Fear not! This is what happens when a necromancer or conjurer is destroyed.” His voice carried across the battlefield thanks to a nearby mage’s magic. “Our brave companions, the paladins and adventurers, are destroying the foul liches that spawned this horde! This is a sign of our victory drawing ever closer!”

Morale soared, cheers cried out and the fighting intensified as each member of the Holy Legion knew it was only a matter of time now until they won.

The two Ravens atop one of Black Port’s towers were not as happy.

“Did his majesty foresee this?”

The other shook its head. “There was nothing about this in our orders.”

“Then, this could be a problem.”

***

After an exhausting thirty-minute-long battle, only one lich was left standing: the Lich King.

However, only nine adventurers were left standing to face him, including Connor’s team.

They were all exhausted, bruised and battered.

The battle had been intense and both sides had lost almost everything but, for the adventurers, this was definitely their victory.

Liches were very rare, and very dangerous, monsters. All adventurers knew that to properly handle a lich, they would need at least eight people to destroy one in an open area.

However, today, they had to fight multiple liches in an enclosed space where both sides had to be careful not to hit their allies.

For the liches, it meant they couldn’t use their most powerful spells or risk collapsing the tombs on top of them.

For the adventurers, it gave them a greater chance of winning.

“This cannot be happening!” The Lich King thrust his staff once more towards the adventurers. Alisa and the other mages raised barriers to absorb the attack, but the shields broke and launched seven adventurers flying backwards. “How can I, the one he named Lich King, lose to weaklings?!”

Tiergan fired an arrow enchanted with lightning magic at the Lich King. It landed in his shoulder and exploded, knocking the Lich King onto the ground.

“I can’t lose!” The Lich King launched several large fireballs at the adventurers.

Connor and Tiergan took cover in some alcoves and Alisa generated a large magical shield to protect her and the other adventurers. The fireballs began to chip away at her barrier and Alisa felt her strength leaving her.

“I am the Lich King and I will not be defeated by the likes of you!”

The lich roared and thrust his staff forward, launching a gigantic fireball towards Alisa.

“Alisa!”

Connor knew that if the lich’s attack landed, Alisa’s barrier would shatter and she’d die.

He jumped in front of her barrier and thrust his shield ahead of him; the fireball slammed into his shield and Connor screamed madly in pain.

Connor’s shield was magically enchanted to make it stronger and resistant to elemental damage, but the lich’s attack was too powerful and reduced it to dust. The fire then spread across Connor’s body and badly burnt him.

He fell face first onto the floor as Alisa screamed in horror.

“Connor!”

Tiergan fired another lightning arrow at the Lich King. It snuck through the undead’s rib cage and into its spine, exploding it from the inside out.

To make sure it was dead, Alisa conjured a gigantic stone fist from the ceiling and crushed the lich’s bones to dust.

She ran over to Connor and cradled him in her arms, calling his name again and again.

***

Forty thousand undead collapsed at once and the Battle of Black Port ended.

The Holy Legion and Paladins cheered, thrusting their weapons high into the air, praising Themis.

“General Pontus! Send relief and reinforcements to the Shadow Tombs as quickly as possible. Send medics, mages, healers and whatever men we can spare. Have the rest sweep the city, clean up the battlefield and make camp.”

“At once, your grace!”

***

“Open your eyes, dammit!” Alisa screamed, tears falling from her eyes. She hit Connor’s chest hard again and again. “Why did you jump in front of me, you idiot! You knew what’d happen and-!”

“Sorry,” Connor spluttered. “But I couldn’t let that thing hit you.”

“I could’ve handled it!”

“No, you couldn’t have,” Tiergan said. “Your shield was about to break, so Connor acted to protect you and give me a chance to finish the last lich off.”

“But-!”

“Hey, he’s not dead. He’s just a bit charred.”

“A bit?!” Alisa howled. “Even the highest-level healing spells can’t fix all those injuries.”

“And? Will that change what you think about him?”

“Of course not, but-”

“Just be grateful that he’s still alive, unlike.” Tiergan glanced over his shoulder at the dozens of dead adventurers.

Nine of them had survived and seven of them had been wounded in the final fight.

Alisa bit down on her lip and whispered, “Don’t you think I know that? I-I was scared that Connor wouldn’t make it.”

She started to cry harder.

“Me too,” Tiergan mumbled.

“I didn’t know what I’d do if that happened, and-”

“Hey, let’s not think about that,” Connor mumbled. “We’re all alive. I might just have to take a break for a while to heal up.”

“In that case, might’ve been better if you’d kicked it.” Tiergan smirked. “The life insurance would’ve been more than enough to make sure we’d never need to work again.”

“Tiergan!”

The two men began to laugh until Connor started to splutter and cough again.

“You mind helping me get down the mountain?” He asked.

Tiergan laughed and went to offer him his hand. “Sure, you lazy git. Just don’t get too used-”

He cut himself off.

Something made all the hair on his back stand up.

“I’m so sorry.”

A portal had appeared behind them and, before anyone could react, Alisa had been stabbed in the back.

The blade pierced all the way through her heart and into Connor’s.

Alisa’s face contorted in agony as she collapsed on top of Connor, blood pouring from her wound.

“You bastard!” Tiergan knocked and loosed an arrow with frightening speed at the attacker.

The man dodged the arrow, then dragged his sword’s blade through Alisa’s corpse and cut Tiergan in half.

“I’m so sorry.”

Tiergan’s torso fell into a pool of his own blood as he glared up at the man who had killed his friends.

I won’t forgive you!

Behind him, he could hear the screams of the other adventurers as they too were attacked by an unknown force.

Themis curse you! Themis curse you!

Die!

Die!

Die!

Di…e…