84 Stampede
1506 Words
Outside, guards were rushing out, yelling orders and signals.
"South! The commotion is south! The lights are signaling for the Fellwarden gate. All Mystic Flames and able-bodied workers are requested to the scene at once." Yelled Harlan, the newly appointed town crier who was riding on his own horse-driven sled.
Janus hailed the young man.
"Have you seen Commander Arthan? Is he aware of the emergency?"
"Yes, your highness. His sled is rushing to the scene as we speak."
"Good. Have you seen a driver nearby? I need to get there as well."
"Dulfo is on night duty, he should be nearby somewhere."
Harlan took out a whistle and carefully blew out three sustained beats. It was the Prince's signal. A few drivers came rushing by to the scene, along with a few knights and Monster Hunters headed by Mistress Jundra herself.
They divided themselves amongst the carriages and sped to the scene. Haruna and Cornelia also came rushing by, they rode with Janus side by side. They were driven by Dulfo himself.
"Does anyone know what happened?"
"Rhinosaurs. They're Rampaging through the gates." Haruna said.
"How did you know?" Janus asked.
"Aiden told me. A magic telegrapher sent the message to the tower. They were still learning the codes, but the scout's skill was enough to send a short message."
"Isn't Aiden coming?" Cornelia asked.
"Yes he is, but he'll be late. He's bringing his cannon with him." Haruna said.
The cannon was something that Aiden was working on for a few months now. Janus had never seen it before, he never had the chance to.
"I thought that wasn't ready yet?" Janus asked.
"It isn't." they both said.
When they arrived at the scene, Commander Arthan was already gathering his elite troop of knights. They held spears and nets with them. Some were mounted on horses and carried lances and crossbows. Weapons that they specifically developed for larger monsters.
The Rhinosaurs did fit the bill, but this time there were too many of them.
A huge part of why they would send out scouts and hunters around the borders was for this very reason. Having a herd of behemoths would be too much of a problem for them to handle within the village. So once they spotted large herds gathering, they would immediately deploy outside to drive out the creatures with a perimeter of stakes and pits, hopefully scaring them away with minimal casualties.
These massive beasts were just too many to handle and had not been spotted so close to the territory in the last week. In fact, the last report they received was from Skeeter. Based on their reports the Rhinosaurs sprinted out of nowhere.
"Commander, what's the current situation?"
"We've had a few attempts at driving out the beasts but they didn't seem to respond to our scare tactics. It's no use sire, they'd just easily drive our horses away. We had to regroup. The beasts don't seem to respond to us at all. They rampaged through the gates and moved further west, only responding to our threats once we get closer. And we can't get too close. Five knights are already injured."
Not good. "Where's Jundra and her band?"
"They're following them through the west."
Janus looked at Haruna and Cornelia.
"Looks like we're gonna need to do the heavy lifting this time. Are you two ready?"
Haruna nodded. Cornelia had a fire in her eyes.
Their sled rushed towards the west, where they saw the herd of behemoths from afar.
Jundra and her Merrimen were mounted on horses and were tailing the beasts on the flanks. They pelted them with sleeping darts, nets, and javelin. But the creatures didn't respond. They simply went along their way in a slow trotting jog, which shook the earth below them.
It looked like the creatures were moving in a trance-like state, determined to move towards their destination without a care in the world.
The Rhinosaurs who were at the front were toppling trees and buildings on the way. A few posts were scattered across the land. They also ravaged the crops and fields that came across their path. A few brick houses were destroyed during their march, thankfully everyone was alarmed beforehand and had already evacuated their homes. At first, it seemed that the creatures were going on a wild rampage, but their slow and controlled movement showed that they were moving on instinct. As if there was a somewhere that they had to go to, and its getting late.
"What's to the west?" Janus asked. "Does anybody know?"
"There's a natural clearing there. At the base of the mountain. Nelia and I found a large swell of arcane energy, but not as strong as the one in Lakeside."
"Is anyone living there?"
It was Dulfo who replied. "No sire, but a few workers are surveying the area right now for the newest settlers."
"Damn it." Janus said. They had to act quickly.
After a few minutes of toppling trees and structures, the beasts arrived at the base of the mountain.
In front of them was a few groups of workers who had since abandoned their camp and were rushing to run away.
They had a very late start, the alarm system hadn't been installed this far southwest yet.
The beasts roared and charged at the sprawled out camp that was left behind, toppling pans and cauldrons. Stomping out bedrolls and work tables along the way.
The front line of Rhinosaurs kept running, they were getting closer to the workers who were all scrambling for their lives.
Janus, Haruna, and Cornelia leapt from the sled and rushed towards the scene.
The three of them had perfected a spell that could give them temporary bursts of speed. They spoke a few incantations and drew inscriptions in the air. Wind pressure pooled below their feet, making them hover slightly above the ground. They glided across the land like in a weightless gallop to face the creatures head on.
Janus formed a large barrier to stifle the beasts' charge, while Haruna and Cornelia raised large boulders of rock at the same time.
The beasts were knocked back momentarily, stunned by the invisible barrier that laid before them.
The mages hurled the boulders towards the beasts, smashing them straight to their skulls.
Their front line fell in a confusion.
There's not much they could do but drive them out. Killing them would be too big of a task, Janus wanted to prevent that as much as he can.
Sir Arthan's Knights and the guards slowly lined up their formation from behind. The plan was slowly to poke them with spears to drive them out further south away from the territory.
The army slowly advanced. Janus kept the barrier in front of them, while Haruna and Cornelia pelted them with rocks from above.
Still, the creatures didn't budge, instead, they formed a tight circular formation, protecting those who were hurt and the young ones on the inside of the circle while the larger, stronger ones guarded the perimeter.
Janus tried to push his barrier forward. It was the largest one he could muster, enough to cover the whole front line of beasts. But as he inched his barrier towards the tip of the beast's horns, they resisted and pushed their snouts at him.
A few cracks emerged from the barrier. Blood was now dripping from Janus' nose. He was getting agitated by the pressure of the situation along with keeping up the barrier.
"Janus! Don't overdo it!" Haruna yelled. "We can do a switch if you like."
Janus shook his head. "Keep pelting them with rocks. You know I have the strongest barrier among the three of us."
"The rocks are not working," Cornelia said. "Let's try fire."
They puffed out a large wall of fire that crept in front of the barrier, they did this in the hopes that it would coerce the beasts into moving backward, but still, they held their ground. Some even gravitated towards the heat, in the cold midnight breeze.
The soldiers were now getting close to them. It was merely a formation designed to intimidate. They had used this once to drive out Sabercats that were nesting too close to the borders.
It didn't work this time. The Rhinosaurs still held their ground.
They were running out of options.
"Prince Janus!" A voice from behind them called. "Give me an opening. The cannon is here. I repeat! The cannon is here!"
"What? Who?"
"That's Aiden's voice. Behind the trees." Haruna said.
The Knights gave way for Aiden and his crew. He was followed by a band of assistants composed of goblins, I'reen, and dwarves. Along with them was a small vehicle that housed a large gun. It was clearly mounted on top of an ox-driven sled in a rush. Janus could see the lines of welded iron that was still red hot.
On of the sled was a large barrel that looked exactly like that of a cannon, except behind it was a large steam engine that whizzed and rumbled with arcane energy.
Aiden had once asked him if he was interested a way for non-magic beings to wield magic. Something of an equalizer in power. Janus had not pressed him for details at that time. He had so much trust in him that he approved every project he proposed immediately.
Aiden had brought with him an arcane cannon.
- Writer
