Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

With sweat continuing to pour off her body, Snow yanked her daggers free and moved to create a temporary barrier for them to retreat safely. Desmond was about to protest when the elf woman gave him a small smile and a nod.

There was one additional part of their task after completing the construction portion of the dam, and it seemed she had completed it for him while he was distracted.

"[Glacies: Ice Wall]"

""[Glacies: Ice Wall]""

Snow cast the barrier in front of them, which was swiftly followed by two other mages casting the same spell. With three layers of protection, they assumed they could retreat even with Desmond's extra injuries. He helplessly leaned on the much smaller woman and let her help him move behind the line of mages.

After having recalled his spear, Desmond finally observed it and saw that it was covered in blood. Though he had thrown it with reckless abandon in the general direction of the enemy force, it seemed he had been lucky enough to land at least a few hits with it. He put a note in the back of his mind to thank Corva again.

Over the edge, the water had already reached about two-thirds of the way to the top of the dam. Further down the river, it had already 'dried up', leaving behind a mucky riverbed. The opposing forces seemed to contemplate whether or not they should attempt to cross. Thankfully, the archers they set up in range of the river remained in place and were prepared to fire the moment anyone tried crossing.

No one attempted to cross between the bridge and their construct because anyone on the dam or the bridge could bombard them with spells.

Looking around and analyzing things made Desmond's world spin. The recovery effects of the potion had dwindled, and the pain settled in once more. All the extra movement he made while fighting off the hammer user had re-damaged his ribs as they mended, completely undoing the effects of the potion. Read exclusive adventures at empire

Snow looked little better. Her body physically shook with every step as they protested each minute movement. Sweat soaked through her clothes and basically poured off her head. Many times, Desmond noticed she would engage in a fierce blinking fit as she tried to blink away the burn of sweat getting into her eyes.

From behind them, the walls of ice cracked. The combined efforts of the enemy had made quick work of the three barriers, but they did their job by lasting long enough for them to retreat behind several of their own soldiers that had been brought over to help defend the new crossing.

Nearly the same moment they passed into relative safety, the ice walls shattered, sending massive chunks of ice cascading into the slowly filling basin.

"Quickly! More walls! We must reinforce our position!" Desmond shouted. The moment he gave the order, three more walls of ice materialized between the two armies. "Whenever a wall comes down, replace it! Buy time for us to reinforce!

Pull from the bridge if you must!"

Several of their men looked at him incredulously, as if they could not believe he was giving orders in this manner. They were within earshot of enemy soldiers, which meant they could relay their orders to their own commanders and respond. However, since Desmond and Snow were their commanders, they obeyed the ill-timed orders.

The duo smiled at each other despite the looks of their men. They were betting on the enemy, and even their own men, believing they wanted to hold two different crossings. The more they believed that, the better the impact of their true plan.

Once they stepped onto the riverbank, Desmond looked over his shoulder and down the front side of the dam. Peppered along its face were small, gray crystals that glinted in the daylight. Since the attack started early in the morning, a few hours had passed. Though it was not yet noon, the sun had raised high into the sky.

The amount of defiance his muscles and bones exhibited made Desmond feel as though he had been fighting for an entire day rather than a few hours.

"What next?" Snow whispered into his ears as she passed him another potion.

The more frequently someone drank a potion within a short amount of time, the less effective it became. No one complained or gave them odd looks for trying to rest along the rear line. Desmond attempted to hold his own against three opponents, one of whom had a size and strength advantage. Snow was recognized as the elf who let them advance further onto the bridge.

Everyone around them felt that those two at least earned their rest.

After downing two potions in a row, Desmond finally answered, "Find a runner. Have them start the process of a retreat. Back off to the last quarter of the bridge on our side."

"Make it look like we are reinforcing the dam?"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"Exactly, but we absolutely cannot let them take the entire bridge. If we do… that's a loss. Bring me the Thunder Mage."

Snow nodded before limping away to find a runner to deliver the orders. Desmond sat and watched her limp around their soldiers, looking for a handful of people. Meanwhile, he practiced deep breaths as he felt his ribs slowly stitching themselves together. Though he would be the better for it, the slow process of using a healing potion could be an agonizing experience as it related to broken bones.

A few minutes later, the runner darted off towards the bridge and Snow returned with a less noticeable limp, joined by the Thunder Mage. He had a grim expression as he seemed to realize what was going on. Though it was not well known outside of Aedrider, the elves had long known the special effect that Thunder Magic had on explosive crystals.

"Sir, I don't think…"

Desmond quickly cut him off with a glare, "Watch the skies. When you see a [Water Ball] spell explode over the riverbed, launch a Thunder spell at the crystals on the face of the dam."

"Sir," the mage said in a defeated tone before moving within range. Though he did not like his orders, he knew that disobeying them meant death for treason.

Snow moved to a position where she could monitor the basin, while Desmond struggled to put himself in a standing position once more. Though he had to lean on his weapon for balance, he maintained a noble demeanor, as was drilled into him during childhood. His ability to maintain this look while being in copious amounts of pain earned him several approving nods.

Not even ten minutes after he stood, he locked eyes with Snow. She gave a subtle nod. Desmond took a deep breath to prepare for casting a spell. He hoped it wouldn't send him into unconsciousness, but he had no choice. "[Aqua: Water Ball]"

With the horns of retreat being sounded, the spell flew over the heads of their men. The mages cast several wall spells of different elements on both the bridge and the dam to cover for the retreat. The moment the spell exploded; Desmond cracked his jaw to prepare for what came next.

The Thunder Mage heeded his orders. "[Tempestas: Lightning Strike]! [Tempestas: Lightning Strike]!" He launched two spells back-to-back, targeting multiple explosive crystals at once. The enemy forces seemed to move in slow motion as they attempted to retreat. Unfortunately, since they had advanced so far along both the bridge and dam, many of their troops could not escape the devastation.

Several massive explosions tore through the stone construction, sending rock and chunks of elves flying. Water was scattered into the air before quickly filling the void left behind. It cascaded in a massive wave over the bridge. As if a testament to the skill of elven construction, the wooden bridge seemed to hold strong against the massive wall of water.

However, it only lasted a few moments before the supports splintered and the bridge collapsed. The screams of elves unable to escape the destruction were drowned out by the rushing wave of the river surging forth to once again claim its territory.

Desmond looked south at the water rushing toward the main camp. With the extra amount of water, the surface of the river was nearly twenty feet higher than it used to be, flooding hundreds of feet of land, pulling people, trees, and buildings along with its raging waters.

Though everyone watched on in silence, Desmond could feel the looks of death on his back from the elves, who were disgusted by their actions.

Snow slowly returned to Desmond's side, deftly dodging soldiers and trying her best to keep out of arm's reach in the event someone forgot their place and let their frustrations out. She seemed to think that staying close to him would provide them some form of safety. Though it was just a thought and had no basis in reality, he could not fault her for feeling that way.

"I hope Lucius knows what he is doing."

"He does. Usually at least."

"You did this based on a usually?" Snow glowered at him.

"Nope, I did it because I trust him, like I said before. You should too, you know," Desmond answered quietly. Neither felt like continuing the conversation as the waters roared in front of them. The water levels likely wouldn't return to normal for several minutes. After all, they were only a few miles from the river's source.

It was only thanks to the raging waters and distance from the source that this plan would work so well and so quickly.