NOVEL NEXT 140- Demonstrating My Warrior Leadership. Part 2.
Without stopping to think, without getting lost in their insect eyes or how strong their mandibles look, I swing my sword and slam it in a circular, downward slash against its face.
For a moment, it seems like it's going to resist the impact.
But my channeled fire has been forged in the flames of hell... I start thinking as I get fired up. Of my intermediate-level spell, I correct myself.
So it penetrates. The smell of burning reaches my nose, and I feel and hear the incandescent steel sinking into chitin and reaching softer flesh beneath.
I hear a collective roar charged with warrior fury. The goblins fight with renewed fervor—not just from their totem's spell, but because I, their lady, their leader, am on the front line of battle and, before their eyes, just took down one of the tough ants with a single blow.
I smile.
Like I said, it's glorious.
Then I feel pain. One of another ant's legs has torn through my boot and reached the flesh of my thigh. I wrench the sword free from the ant with its brain literally fried and sever the leg.
Yes! It's got nothing on me.
Just in case, I spend my last two points on earth channeling to protect my body.
And like I said: glorious, wonderful, brutal and sublime!
Slash after slash, my sword clashes against chitin and, through the physical effort of my arm, penetrates their armor. My new magical armor protects me even from their bites. I quickly finish off the ant with the severed leg and two more.
I keep fighting.
Ronan's wolves, who couldn't penetrate the ants' tough exoskeletons, rush to attack the creatures I knock down that are still alive.
Until I arrived, the zombie and bone bears were the ones causing the most damage to the ants, but they'd also taken heavy casualties. Luckily, they can be raised again. I'm glad none of the living adult bears are here.
I dive in among the ants, and the seconds pass in a frenzy of slashes, parries with my sword or a kick, thrusts and spins. Even though the damn things don't jump, they do try to climb on me to bite my face. I hear the totem singing again. I feel its magic fall over me, but there's no effect. We finish off the ants that invaded this chamber, and I head for the ones in the tunnel. This one is narrower—the ants can only fit three across. With one slash I wound two, and then my sword clashes against the third. Its edge doesn't dull, but it can't pierce the chitin either.
The fire element channeling is gone.
Sensing the change, the ant lunges at me. I block it with my other forearm, where it tries to sink its mandibles.
I retreat before the magical defense runs out too. I take two steps back that return me completely to the large cave, where one of the bears hurries to get the ant off me.
Great, genius, natural-born leader, I scold myself with irony. You're out of mana and the ants keep coming.
Warning: The totem just tried to bless you with Blessing of Strength and Rage. The blessing has failed. It's only compatible with goblins.
Well, isn't that nice, I think as the notification pops up in front of me. Now it's officially confirmed that I'm not in combat. I better hurry up, or that won't last long.
I look toward two of the small zombie bears—Ronan only left the small ones here. I know they're feral, that they don't have souls like the dragon or Joe. Still, they're animals, so I'm counting on them understanding me. I played with dogs as a kid, and they always got the feeling, the intention behind my words. Plus, I'm sure their master gave them some directive like "always obey her."
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
"Block the entrance with the ant corpses and that bear," I tell them, pointing to a zombie bear that fell in combat.
Looks like they do understand me, because they hurry to follow my instructions. Their skeleton companions help them out.
The reason for plugging the entrance is simple: now that we've gotten them to retreat back into the tunnel, we need to try to keep them from coming out into the main cave again. And then, as our next objective, we need to reach the small cave and seal its fissure. I imagine the next step would be a cleanup operation in the ant nest.
These ants, by themselves, wouldn't be a problem for the mountain king bear—hell, they might even be the reason it got so big and high-level in the first place.
Ever since we took out the king of this territory, there have been several attempts by rivals from neighboring territories to test the waters. Like the big wolves from beyond the forest, the ones Ronan wants to tame. Or the orcs that came through the mountain pass. I guess the ants are next. Except if this was a scouting patrol, it seems way too large. I'll have to ask Ronan about it.
But not now. Right now, these are my goblins, and I'm the one responsible for their safety. I have no intention of asking him for instructions.
(I think that last part comes from still savoring the enthusiastic roar my goblin vassals let out when I charged into battle. I probably shouldn't because I know damn well that strategy isn't my thing. Even in games, my plans almost always went wrong. But I need to learn. I can't depend on Ronan so much.)
"Galp," I say, "I need you guys to buy me time to meditate and recover some mana. Do you have logs? Or bones from the giant bear that used to live in this cave. Those would work too."
"Yes, but logs are better. The sergeant doesn't like people touching his bones."
Right now, I couldn't care less what Ronan might say. But if they have tree trunks, great. They probably keep them in one of those lean-tos they've built against the mountain wall outside the cave.
"Bring them here. When the ants start breaking through, stick a log in the gap. Ants are good at pulling, but they're terrible at pushing," I explain, hoping it works the same way as on Earth. I never went near ant hills as a kid—no way in hell—but I had a friend who did, and he told me all about it. "The idea is that they'll end up pulling the logs further in themselves, making it harder to get out. And before they do manage to get out, cut off the heads of the fallen ones still in the cave. Fight in pairs. One grabs the head by the mandibles and shoves it into an attacking ant's mouth. If they're as stupid as I think, it'll bite down. Then the other can attack from the side or behind and go for the joints to kill it."
"What if they're not that stupid?"
"Then you run and leave them to the undead. Above all, be careful. I don't want you to die."
The only problem is that Ronan's minions keep dwindling, and I don't know how long they'll hold out against the ants.
What I wouldn't give right now for a few of those trolls the poor guy had to return to the dungeon's embrace.
By the way, there are the orcs that we defeated, but I think Ronan didn't raise them, that the goblins took them to their pile of bones and corpses.
"At your command, leader," Galp answers.
He doesn't even question whether what I'm telling him might be wrong.
I'm just a young woman, sure, but I've got the fucking seed of evil. That alone is guarantee enough for them that I'm their legitimate dark queen.
The loyalty of these creatures is beautifully simple.
"Totem, what spells do you have?" I approach the cabinet to ask, in case any of them might be useful.
"Support magic for my people and fireball."
He cast a blessing on me earlier. Better clarify so he doesn't waste more mana on me.
"I see. The one you cast on me didn't work. I'm not goblin race."
"Oh. I was hoping that since we'd sworn vassalage to you, it would work."
He sounds a bit disappointed. But even sad, he still shows those fangs protruding from his mouth and doesn't lose that savage edge all goblins have, even Gump. I shudder. No thanks, I'm perfectly happy being human.
As for the fireball, makes sense he didn't use it since it would've damaged his own people and the cave too. But I file away the fact that he can cast it—could be a good resource for burning the ants inside the tunnel if my plan doesn't work.
I move away to a secluded area of the cave to meditate. I need the mana. But not for the shadow wolf which, like the giant bear, won't fit through that tunnel. I want it to seal the tunnel myself.
Oh, I almost forgot.
"Galp!" I shout. "Have some of the goblins bring dirt from outside. Just get it within a few meters of the tunnel, that's good enough. A decent amount."
Because if they put it within my range, I can move it to seal that entrance and harden it. That'll cost one mana point. With two more, I'll apply earth channeling and turn it to stone. And if I can get more mana, even better. According to my calculations, I'm not far from leveling up splash, and that would unlock advanced earth control. And, oh yes, if that happens I'll be able to control rock and make stone spikes shoot directly from the tunnel walls, finishing off the ants. Then I'll seal that fissure myself so it won't open again until I come back with Ronan to finish off all the ants and their queen.
Because I imagine they have one.
Without further delay, I start meditating.
Forty minutes. That's all I need.