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Minglings 43: Frost Dragon [Part 1]
🕑 Added 2020-08-02 13:09:42 +0000 UTC
Jake curled up around a thick tree at the bottom of the wall. He needed to think. The battle sounds from behind the wall were driving him insane. His instincts were screaming for him to kill the Goblins. He focused slightly, and small frost particles formed around him, calming his mind and sharpening his thoughts.
What did he have to work with? He had fed enough for a single large wave, to swipe all the Goblins from the wall. But he had planned to use the energy to freeze a part of the river with the Hydraci. He couldn't do both. Staring at the wall, he wondered if he couldn't just destroy it. But how?
Staring at the wall, he pictured himself using his frost to topple it, but none of it made sense. How would he ever get those Antracii out alive if he burrowed them under an avalanche of debris?
Wait... Do I even need to destroy that thing? Jake blinked as an idea flitted through his head. What if he just made an opening at the bottom for the Antracii to flee through? After that, he could use all the power he had to crush the wall, and perhaps the Hydraci could do his work for him.
"Tergin, I've got an idea."
Jake released his hold on the submerged tree and noted the thin layer of frost on it. He turned to the Kobold that was staring at him with unhidden hope.
"Alright, this is what we are going to do." Jake quickly explained what he had in mind, and halfway through, Tergin began grinning and nodding.
"Go ready the others while I find the best path through!" Jake turned back to the wall and focused on the flow of the water surrounding him. The wall looked solid, but he quickly spotted dozens of cracks and hollow areas inside. He almost changed his plan when he found an instability that would let him crack half the wall with little effort.
After a few minute's he decided upon a weak spot at the left side of the wall, less than a meter above floor level. Ice crystals formed from the small blue water energy swirling around him. The water in front of him became murky within a second. Ice built from the point he was hovering and into the wall. Cracks appeared on the submerged trees, their leaves turning rigid. A deep blue layer of frost permeated a section of the wall, the middle becoming darker.
The hunger worsened as Jake continued, and when he felt the ice breakthrough the other side, he sighed in relief. It had taken more out of him than he had expected.
Staring at the thick layer of ice in front of him, he suddenly wondered how powerful he could become if he survived and kept growing. Only time will tell. First, he had to overcome the upcoming ordeal.
Moving along the thick piece of eyes in front of him, he slammed his tail against it. It resonated, and the spot he hit became milky with tiny cracks. That should be enough. He released his hold on the cold and noticed again how the snowflake-shaped mana dots changed back into gently swaying water mana. At the same time, he felt the ice change, something he hadn't noticed the first time. It was as if something resisted its presence and tried to crumble it. In minutes pieces began breaking off as the ice cracked.
Jake slammed his tail into the same spot. Like a crystal glass shattering on the floor, the stub of ice shattered, pieces drifting up. Without waiting, Jake surged forward and slammed into the cracked area of ice on the wall. The entire wall crumbled where he struck it, and he shot through. Pieces of ice cut at his scales, but nothing penetrated. In a cloud of ice particles, he shot through the wall, and on the other side.
Blood and gore drifted everywhere. The screams were deafening and startled by the shadows moving on the bottom Jake looked up in horror at the bodies floating on the water surface.
Only a dozen meters away was a massive battle. Kobolds and Hydraci fought each other like a school of fish on a feeding frenzy. Giving no quarters and getting none, they used spears, claws, and even teeth. Another smaller battle was ensuing near the wall, at the other riverbank.
Where is he? Jake was overwhelmed and tried to find Bolyr. He almost struck out when something moved next to him, and barely refrained from gutting Tergin.
The Kobold didn't notice. His head swirled around, trying to take in what was going on.
"This won't do! We need to guard this entrance, or the Hydraci will take it." Tergin didn't wait for Jake's answer but shot back through the iced-over hole in the wall. Seconds later, he came back, followed by the other Kobolds. The earthlings stopped in their tracks when they saw the ferocious battle, and Tergin had to usher them out of the way.
Jake barely noticed as he looked in horror at the battle. For the first time, he felt his almost gone human nature assert itself, years of nurture screaming at him to run. If not for his changes, he wasn't sure he could still hover here this calmy. He had played bloody war games before and always thought because of that; he would be fine in a similar setting. He was wrong. Those games never prepared someone for the smell and taste of death.
The previous battles and fights he was in had been more like hunting, but this? He looked at a screaming Hydraci, holding his bowels in his hands, trying to push them back. Nex to it was an Antracii Kobold, spreadeagled and slowly floating to the surface a ragged bleeding wound where its throat should have been.
"Jake! Snap out of it."
Jake shook himself and looked at Tergin, who was confusedly staring at him.
"I am ok. What do we do now?"
Tergin took a quick look around, seeming undisturbed by the carnage. Then he pointed at the small battle near the wall. "I will go and bring them here. They are close to winning that skirmish, and with them here, the wall should be secure." Then he pointed at the main battle, a chaotic mingling of bleeding limbs, quick-moving shapes, and screams.
"You go there and help them. They won't hold out much longer, and more Hydraci keep coming."
Jake gazed in the directions of the other's finger and cursed. Shadows moved far in the distance, heading their way. Steeling himself, he automatically generated ice mana and felt the cold calm his nerves. Within moments the battle didn't seem as frightening anymore, and he scowled. Why hadn't he done this sooner?
"Alright! Let's hurry."
Jake swiped his tail and shot forward through the water. No longer hidden on the bottom, the first Hydraci saw him, and a weird hacking scream shot through the water. At the edges of the chaotic battle, Hydraci withdrew and turned to him. Within moments a group of forty or more swam towards him spears outstretched.
The change hadn't gone unnoticed, and a roar came from the Antracii.
"Jake!" A bleeding Kobold stood in the middle, his thick yellow arm holding a Hydraci at bay, a spear shoved deep in its stomach.
At least he is still alive! Jake thought, relieved. He liked Bolyr, and if he died, that would be another bad thing in a long line of crappy things.
He braced himself as he reached the tight group of Hydraci on an intercept course. If only he could freeze them all. But he needed all the remaining energy for the second half of the plan. Instead, he drew in a deep breath.
The first Hydraci warrior stabbed at his head with its spear. The movement was fast and seemingly unhindered by the water.
Jake dodged to the side and roared as loud as he could.
The soundwave visibly traveled from him like a bubble, expanding outwards almost too fast to follow. The Hydraci en-route froze for a split second, their muscles bulging as they cramped.
Jake sped forward, ramming through the tangled mass of limbs. With his claws, he sliced at anything within range. Two seconds later, he passed through, leaving a bloody path in his wake. The Hydraci slowly drifted away, like bowling pins in slow motion.
In front, the other Hydraci didn't have the time to change course, and he had a clear path to Bolyr and the large group of Antracii.
Taking a quick look around, he shivered. Hundreds of combatants, Antraci and Hydraci alike, stared at him as they disengaged. The battlefield was quiet as the Hydraci backed, and the Antraci hovered in the water like a school of fish surrounded by hundreds of predators.
"Jake, you shouldn't have come! If you die we-" Bolyr greeted him, a worried look on his face.
"Shut up! Let's get the hell out of here. You can scold me after." Jake interrupted, and he shot a look at the group of Kobolds below the wall.
With the lull in the battle, he was the center of attention. Both the Antracii and the Hydraci watching him turned around to see what he meant.
A sharp hiss came from the Hydraci, and as if a button had flipped, they moved. The closest surged towards the gaping hole in the wall, screaming and brandishing their spears. Those further away, still surrounding the Antracii, mirrored the screams and closed in.
The momentarily calm river changed back into a hotchpot of raging Hydraci. Like a pack of hungry wolves, they dodged in and out of the clustered Antracii, attacking them with their spears.
Resisting the urge to crush them all with water or freeze them, Jake saw the Kobolds at the wall opening panic. Some fled back inside, while those remaining clustered together.
"Shit!" Jake cursed. If the Hydraci reached them like that, it would be a massacre.
