Published at 16th of July 2026 6:32 am

Chapter 307 The Assault (Part 2)

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It is way too warm here, Cediri said for what had to be the hundredth time.

Alkazaria in the spring was certainly different than Frostlands Gate, but Beatrice rolled her eyes. Its not like youre even lifting the crates. Youre just levitating them. Grimalds the only one whos allowed to complain.

Grimald, who was carrying two crates of supplies stacked on top of each other, did not complain.

Beatrice finished levitating her own crate onto the cart waiting for them. She glanced back. Lily was sitting on the stairs of Elsadorras temporary shop, sulking. It wasnt like her to sulk, but after the insanity of evacuating Frostlands Gate, there hadnt been much for a novice spellcaster to do. Most of the work to be done involved butchering myrvites, using alchemistry on the parts, or using the inks for artifice. Anyone could pack the special crates designed to float to the top of the Mahatan Oasis.

The whole area near the Gate tunnel had been transformed into production lines, and other carts were being loaded up nearby. There were still places where the cobblestones were broken. The locals told her that a giant myrvite had done that, and that was why the tunnel leading down there was so big. Beatrice didnt believe that for a second.

Cediri wiped his brow as they finished packing the cart. Not a spellcart, but an actual cart pulled by a scrubland ox. Fossilized myrvite was apparently plummeting in supply. Hey, why do they get a real spellcart? the mage asked, gesturing at one that was heading towards the tunnel that led down to the Alkazaria Gate.

Because theyre Praetorians, Beatrice said. Then her brow furrowed. Theyre using the wrong crate design. Those are just standard shipping boxes.

So? Grimald asked.

Cediris eyes narrowed. No, shes right. The Gates connected to Mahatan, and you know the shipping rules. Only things actually going through go down there.

Yeah, you would pay attention to the shipping rules, Beatrice said. She was still deeply annoyed that Cediri had been smuggling myrvite parts for a criminal syndicate. And it was Lily of all people who told her!

Shipping rules are important, Cediri muttered. You have to know the rules in order to hmm. Cant have anyone sabotaging hmm. That would be concerning. That would be very concerning.

What? Grimald asked.

Beatrice saw what he was getting at. Lily, get over here, Beatrice called. A grumpy-looking Lily begrudgingly did just that. Has Mirian changed her plans? Redirected the Gate?

How should I know? Lily pouted.

Well you areI mean, she actually talked to you.

The cart was slowly moving its way down the tunnel to the first gate and checkpoint. Beatrice used amplify sound directed at the area to better pick up the conversation. It amplified other noise too, so it was hard to make out, but one of the Praetorians was saying something about new orders and starting to raise his voice. The guards were starting to look uncomfortable, but they were still requesting a manifest and an inspection. Even carts that had been loaded up just up the street got inspected.

Hey, whats going to Mahatan? Cediri shouted, starting to make his way to the cart.

Cediri! Beatrice hissed.

One of the Praetorians turned to look at him. I mean, Im just wondering. Those are the wrong boxes, you know. We have some extras over here, and we can help you unload and reload. Just being helpful!

The Praetorians turned to look at each other.

Beatrice saw the look pass among them. She knew what that meant a moment before they drew their wands. She flipped a spellbook page and cast amplify sound just as they drew.

Saboteurs! Beatrice shouted just as the first spell went off. Two of the guards by the gate dropped dead, force spells having sliced their throats open. Another drew his pistol and got a shot off before getting electrocuted. The fourth got a shield up, but it shattered a moment later and she also dropped.

The Praetorians layered their shields around each other and the cart. A fireball went streaking towards Beatrice, and she snapped her own shield up just in time.

Take Lily! Get reinforcements! she ordered, and Grimald didnt hesitate. The big man scooped Lily up and threw her over his shoulder and started running the other direction.

She and Cediri took cover behind a building as force blades slashed through the area theyd just been.

At first, there was confusion, but more shouting soon joined as the rogue Praetoriansor maybe impostors, Beatrice didnt knowbroke down the first gate with a series of magnetic and kinetic detonations. Most people were running for cover, but several guards and militia members were responding from the nearby watchtower. Gunfire rang out over the shouting.

Stop that spellcart! Stop those saboteurs! Beatrice shouted. She ducked out from behind the building and shot several fire bolts, but the traitors werent just using their own shields. A man whod been hiding on the cart had activated a shield engine on the cart.

At least a dozen people were firing or casting spells at the spell cart. Meanwhile, the guards at the second gate in the passage had activated their own shield engine and were firing up the passage at the approaching Praetorians.

Beatrice peeked out from their cover again, then ducked as another fireball detonated nearby. The cart had shields, and the Praetorians had spell resistance. They were outnumbered, but they had more spellpower than their attackers. She needed to slow them down so reinforcements could arrive. They had loyal Praetorians. At least, she hoped. Shit, what if they already killed ours? An alarm spell was going off somewhere. Reinforcements were coming, but most of the best battlemages were out west protecting Palendurio.

The man on the cart threw some sort of package down at the second gate. It bounced off the force shield, then detonatedand the shield engine protecting the second gate went down. The guards at that checkpoint died a moment later to the flurry of spells. The spellcart continued to slowly advance.

Beatrice swore. She couldnt get through the shield to hit the spellcart, and she couldnt attack them directly. Then she realized what she could do.

Advance with me. We need to get closer!

She dashed forward, and Cediri was right behind her. Chain lightning smashed into the cobblestones nearby, and a woman screamed out as the bolts caught her.

Beatrice turned her book to manipulate stone and said, Expand that crater by the second gate so the wheels get stuck! and cast.

Cediri nodded, maintaining his force shield as he cast alongside her.

Beatrice elated as the front wheels of the spellcart dipped into the hole theyd made and the cart jerked to a halt. Then her face fell as one of the Praetorians cast a lift object spell, lifting them right back out.

Another satchel went flying from the cart and hit the shields protecting the third security point. By now, the cart was getting distant enough that her spells were having a significantly reduced effect. And problematically, there wasnt any cover in the tunnel.

A group of militia had gathered near the tunnel. All at once, they drew swords, halberds, and old pistols, and one of them shouted, For the Prophet! For Enteria!

They charged.

Are they idiots? Cediri asked, but Beatrice understood their plan. Rifle shots and distant spells werent doing much against shield engines designed to withstand artillery, but a pile of people pushing against a barrier like that might be able to disrupt the shield with their own spell resistance.

Assuming they lived.

Beatrice leapt out from cover again. Shield them! she called, and a swearing Cediri followed her. She put up a force and fire shield while Cediri cast a grounding and magnetic suppressin spell. As the suicidal militia group charged forward, they had to move too or the distance would be too great for them to maintain the spell. That brought them into the tunnel where there was no cover.

The guards by the last line of defense had shields up and were taking cover behind their stone fortifications, but the traitors had been prepared with spellbombs that could quickly detonate shields, and the defenders didnt have the same. The guards there were trained and from their spells, had to be hitting 60 myr, but the Praetorian traitors had an advantage of another 20 myr on top of that, plus the shield engine. While two of the Praetorians battled with the guards, the third one turned and started firing at the crowd charging at them.

No! Beatrice shouted as the rearmost Praetorian shattered her shield and a fireball exploded among the group. Ten of the charging militia went down instantly. Her face was damp all of a sudden. She recast her shield, but it shattered again.

The charge didnt stop, though. Three of the fools, burns all over their bodies, were getting up and renewing their assault. Even as another fireball went off among them, they kept going, stumbling forward, swords held high, one woman firing a pistol as she continued to run at the spellcart.

Another spellbomb went off, then another. The last shield engine sputtered out, glyphs smoking.

Were not going to stop them, Beatrice realized. A spellbomb burst the third gate apart, and behind it, she could see the glow of the Alkazaria Gate.

Fuck. Fuck! she said. She looked back. She wanted to tell Lilywell, a lot of things. But if that Gate was destroyed, none of it would matter.

She joined the fools in their charge. Behind her, there were more people gathered. Another group of underarmed guards and underpowered spellcasters, most of them better at artificing than fighting. She even saw Elsadorra in the crowd, wand in hand.

Beatrice took up the cry. For Mirian! For Enteria!

Together, they ran towards the Gate, just as the spellcart began to speed up towards it.

***

Trinea had thought theyd finally stabilized, and then one of the skiffs had plummeted out of the sky, smashing into the primary shield. The engine, which had been running low from the intensity of the bombardment, broke from the direct hit, the conduit crystals cracking in half.

Jaern had died a minute later, his shield failing to focused fire from Caldser and the other traitors. Trineas blood boiled. The bastards had known where the weakness in their formation was because shed broadcast it to thembut there was nothing she could have done to shore it up. The anti-air engines were firing infrequently, either out of ammo, damaged, or unable to acquire targets. Meanwhile, the Akanan skiffs up in the sky had moved to blowing up the streets, and reinforcements had been further delayed. A squadron of Hanarans crack rifle soldiers had taken up positions and picked off some of the attackers, but the damn Akanans were nearly in.

Praetorians to Ground, wheres the bloody air support? she sent to the receiver engine.

Ground to Praetorians. Someone sabotaged the craft in the hangars. Well have three up in the air in a few more minutes. Just a few more minutes.

Her neck muscles tightened. She wanted to tear the hearts out of the people whod betrayed Baracuel. For what? For Akana? Hadnt they heard the Prophet when she said what was at stake? Hadnt they heard her warnings about the false prophets lies?

They might not be able to hold a few more minutes. Her aura was waning, and she was out of elixirs.

Above! Shields! someone called.

Trinea saw the spellbomb a moment before it hit. She poured more mana into her shield, but it wasnt a force bombit was a magnetic one. The battlefield was littered with twisted metal, and it exploded outward, blasting through their remaining defensive spells. The last shield engine sputtered and died.

She felt a line of white fire in her side, and when she touched the area, her hand came away warm and sticky. Something was wrong, and it took her a moment to realize she was lying on the ground, staring up through a shattered ceiling at a haze that flickered with the light of all the burning fires. She tasted something metallic.

She tilted her head up. The Akanans were pushing forward. She could see them, shields up, advancing towards her position.

Trembling, her hand reached for her wand. Theyd failed. She knew that.

But shed go down fighting.

Then, there was a pressure waveand suddenly, the color of the room seemed to shift. The Akanans had stopped their advance. And they were

Running?

Then she was there, levitating inside a black and white sphere. The Prophet.

Mirian.

Trinea felt something wash over her, and suddenly, the pain was gone. She stood, amazed, and saw a room full of people checking their own bodies for wounds that had been there just a moment ago. Then Mirian dashed forward.

Trinea had been an Arcane Praetorian for years. Had trained with the very best battlemages in the country. Shed been there for Luspires archmage assessment, and had a chance to see other aspiring master spellcasters casting their best spells.

Shed never seen anything like this.

The Prophet flung out spells with such rapidity it seemed impossible, and Trinea couldnt even see a wand or spellbook. Was she really directing mana flows through that armor of hers? And then the spellsthey were powerful, precise, and wasted nothing. Tiny projectiles of force, fire, and lighting that sped through the air, cracking open shields and laying waste to the enemy. Most of what she was doing wasnt even arcane magic, though. Lines of pitch black that glowed white around them shot out, and despite their power, she couldnt feel them with her arcane sense. Where they pointed, though, people died. She watched as Caldser and his traitorous friends backed away, madly casting spells, but they might as well have been using their hands to ward off a hurricane. Trinea didnt see the spell that killed them; they simply dropped dead.

Then Mirian shot into the sky, moving so quickly Trinea lost track of her.

A moment later, the skiffs began to fall out of the sky, dropping like stones into the devastated city. The ground shookand then was still.

The Prophet streaked back down, coming to a stop right in front of Trinea. Secure the area. Divination isnt picking up any follow-up attacks, but we want to be sure. Ill be back to heal as many as I can, but first I need to check on the other Gates. Her eyes met the Praetorians. And Trinea? Thank you.

Looking into those glowing silver eyes, Trinea realizedthis wasnt the gaze of someone talking to a subordinate. It was familiar.

She found herself shaking. As is my duty. To you and the Ominian, she said, kneeling.

Then the Prophet was gone.

***

Beatrice saw the spellcart speeding up towards the gate. She wondered how many spellbombs were on it, and just how many of those it took to blow up something made by the Elder Gods. She was shouting, fling out spells, but the shield on the cart was holding. Next to her, someone fell down, pierced by some sort of force spell.

Too late, she thought.

Then the Gate flickered and went dark. The strange, four-dimensional pieces stopped spinning.

Its being realigned!

The Akanans shouted something in Eskanar, and then the Gate flickered back to life. Space distorted, and on the other side she saw her.

But it was too late. She saw the fireball streaking back towards her a moment before it hit. There was pain, then everything went dark.

Then, she found herself staring at the ceiling and took a ragged breath. Mirian was standing over her, a crowd of people around them. Lily was standing there, her face soaked with tears. How did she get here? she wondered. And wh is she crying?

The spellcart, she rasped.

The traitors are dead, Mirian said. Youll need rest. Take care of yourself, Beatrice. I made you a promise, and I dont break my promises.

It took a moment for Beatrice to remember what had just happened. Thered been a fireball. Shed been hit by a fireball. She should bebut she wasnt. She wasnt even burned. She noticed Cediri was right next to her. His face was also tear-streaked. Then Mirian had stepped away and was comforting Lily. Be strong, Lily, she heard her say, and embraced her in a hug.

It was so strange. Nothing of that young, slightly neurotic girl shed chatted with just a few months ago was thereand yet there she was.

Well, Beatrice said, sitting up. Glad were uh Cediri, why are you crying? I took a bad hit, but she healed it. Its not like you to get all sappy on me.

No, Cediri said, wiping away some of the tears. You were definitely dead.

Beatrice stared stupidly at her friend. Then it sank in. Oh, she said dumbly.

Mirian was moving around, thanking people by nameby name!for their heroics. Beatrice just stared. A minute later, the Gate shifted, and she was gone again. Beatrice caught a glimpse of her forming an air sphere in dark waters as she headed up to Mahatan.

Oh, she said again. What else could she say?

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