The Tower in the Shadows

Alarm messages spread word of the danger far and wide.

The void twisted monsters had crossed the river.

By dawn, the cavalry units were active, searching for the abominations and their whereabouts. The military planners had predicted that the monsters would cross the river at one point and then scatter across the countryside, aiming to inflict as much destruction as possible. They didn't expect an organised assault under the cover of a moving fog bank.

By the end of the first day, they realised they were facing an organised assault and began issuing new orders.

On the first night, the abominations had struck a narrow area across the river. An unknown phenomenon had frozen the river in that section, allowing them to cross en masse. Scrying spells were being blocked or disrupted by another unknown force. This had been increasing before the crossing and was attributed to the arrival of the larger, more powerful abominations from deeper within the land.

The assault had broken through the watchtowers before most of them had gotten off their alert flares. Several had which had raised the alarm to the keeps further back. Three were assaulted that night, and all were overrun before the dawn flight arrived.

It was expected that the monsters would then scatter across the countryside, but they didn't; they stayed together, moving as a single horde. From what they could learn, the planners realised that the horde was travelling in three sections. A front of fast-moving abominations was attacking everything along the way, and the horde was travelling in advance. They were eliminating targets that they could and bypassing the ones they couldn't.

Coming behind them was a much larger and harder-hitting force that would crack fortifications or engage larger units. Finally, behind them came the worst of them all. Very little was known about these, as this is where the scrying blocks and disruptions were worst.

It was hoped that the horde would scatter the cavalry units to hunt the monsters down one by one or in small groups. Unfortunately, they were moving as a single organised entity, meaning that the cavalry was launching the assaults, but greater numbers were meeting them. This, in turn, led to greater casualties among the cavalry units. Abominations were dying, but it was taking far more of the cavalry with them than predicted.

By the end of the day, the cavalry units were ordered to cease engaging the larger groups and instead attack only stragglers or scouts. From the reports coming in, the casualties were horrific, with close to a third of all the cavalry units not responding—the ones I did report heavy losses and the spreading of void corruption amongst the survivors.

The military planners quickly realised that the horde was moving in a straight line, laying waste all before it. It was moving faster than they had predicted; they expected it would take a day or two to reach the first keeps. They had reached them in a matter of a few hours and overrun them. By the end of the first day, they were already three times further past the river than the worst projections made by the planners.

Castin was the clear target of the horde.

The city was prepared. The city had been reinforced. Privately, the city's commanders were worrying about the actions of the horde.

## ## ## ## ##

Within a divine plane, there was panic.

The Pantheon was diverting all the resources it could to support the mortals within Nygar in resisting the hordes of void-corrupted monsters.

They quickly identified that Oda was interfering with supporting the horde, allowing it to move with little disruption. There was even evidence that he had aided in its crossing of the river.

Rickle watched it all unfold. He was not inactive, but he wasn't panicking. He knew that there was a plan to contain Oda when he was discovered. The gods and goddesses have been discussing what to do with the fallen God for some time. Destroying him was out of the question for the moment, as that would cause a near-catastrophic explosion of void corruption that could twist and warp everything within a vast radius.

No, they needed to contain him.

There was an answer.

They could trap him within a pocket dimension sealed within a crystal similar to a dungeon core. This would sever the connection to the Paths of Ascension, allowing his mantles to change hands. Over time, this vessel would become corrupted, but it was hoped that with the aid of Bhaldor, they would be able to siphon off the corrupt essence and make it safe.

How would their reality change as a result of this? They did not know.

They just knew they had to do something now.

The problem was that they didn't know where Oda was hiding.

Rickle knew him and how we operated. Maybe more than he realised.

Rickle began investigating some unexplored avenues and routes, looking for signs of the corrupted God.

## ## ## ## ##

It was expected that the horde of monsters, when they crossed the river, would take between 10 and 12 days to reach Castin. On the dawn of the fourth day, they arrived not in small groups but as a solid force.

On the western bank, a reinforced, fortified position was built around a keep. This led to a bridge and the central city on the eastern side of the bank. The city's fortifications were large and strong. Built in the time of the old Empire, this structure is a mixture of dense stone reinforced by extensive magical enchantments. The city had never fallen, and the rulers of Nygar had been reinforcing those defences since learning of the danger from Folly's End.

Most believed that the horde would be stopped here, but the nation's rulers were not fools and had plans in place in case the city fell. Those plans were rapidly being explored.

Along the way, the horde had destroyed several towns and villages. Those not killed but corrupted and changed, both humans and animals, were added to the hordes' numbers. The cavalry had thinned them down slightly, but not even close to enough.

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The city had entered lockdown on the western bank the day before the horde arrived, in anticipation that the corrupted might attempt to rush the gates. This had happened in several other places, so the city's commander decided to prevent it from happening here. Many civilians and military units were trapped outside the gates and were told to head north or south. The military units obeyed instantly, but many civilians ignored the command and huddled before the gates, demanding to be let in.

The fog and cold came with the horde.

They were the first to die when the horde arrived. Some fought, most ran, but all died.

The garrison did what it could from its walls, firing arrows, spells and siege weapons into the horde when they found a target in the fog.

The horde did not slow after the deaths before the gates and assaulted the keep straightaway. The doors were heavily reinforced and barred. The largest of them began battering against them. Others started storming the walls by climbing them with their claws or tentacles.

The defenders knew that the city behind was sealed, and retreat was impossible. Those who manned these positions knew that their families were already safe inside the city, and if they were victorious, they would receive a great boon in the form of wealth for their families, even if they fell in battle. They expected their fortifications and training to carry them through the day.

The abominations were like nothing they had ever encountered before. They knew no fear, only hunger and a driving force. They sensed something in the distance, something they needed to destroy, as it was the only thing they knew posed a danger to them, yet it also called to them. This city was simply in the way.

The defenders on the other walls watched in horror as the keep was engulfed in a wall of twisted and corrupted flesh as the fog thickened. The defenders used every weapon in their arsenal, but the void corrupted monsters had their own.

The garrison didn't retreat as they had nowhere to go. They thought and fought with the desperation of those who knew they were dead. But even that could not stop the assault, let alone hold it off.

In less than an hour, the outer keep has fallen. The abominations were storming the bridge; now, the city's main garrison was also committing its full force. The garrison had been reinforced by military units, volunteer adventurers and the church's militant orders.

They looked down upon the bridge, and now they could see the mass of flesh and twisted monstrosities. Elemental magic exploded, siege munitions impacted or exploded, and arrows or bolts fell like rain. The horde did not slow.

The main gates were struck by one of the larger beasts. Even heavier and more reinforced than the keeps, they began to strain under the assault. The portcullis behind them was dropped. A second portcullis was then dropped, creating a kill zone between the two.

Other monsters were scaling the walls, while some fell dead from injuries, but they kept coming. Others were swimming in the river and assaulting the walls in different areas.

The air began to change as the temperature started to drop, and a fog rolled in, thickening further. The fog was freezing everything unnaturally. As soon as it arrived, it seemed to suck the very warmth out of the air, as it started to form. Many called out in panic as they saw the river below them freezing, allowing more monsters to cross. Further back in the fog, they began to see the massive shapes moving further back, hinting at even worse monstrosities to come.

It was at this point that the scrying spells started to fail.

The world quickly became blind to what was happening. And the truth horror unfolded hidden in the fog.

The defenders were holding the wall barely, but they were managing to do so. Reinforcements were being rushed in to strengthen areas that were starting to weaken due to casualties. Hope blossomed in the hearts of many, as they thought they might be able to hold the monsters at bay for at least a day.

Below the river, the ice was now frozen along the entire length of the wall. More monsters were on the other side, but not crossing, allowing the defenders to shoot at them freely when sighted.

Fighting around the gates was still intense.

There was a deafening roar suddenly from the fog, and a true monstrosity erupted from it. It was beyond words, a six-legged horror larger than any beast he had seen yet. It ran parallel to the bridge, crossing the ice, and jumped onto the walls. Its legs contained sharp claws that ripped into the stone, allowing it to find purchase on the wall, and it began to climb. Its back was covered with tentacles and arms, which swatted away some of the spells and arrows flying at it. Those that struck were ignored, for its hide was thick and tough.

Its climb was not stopped, and it reached the top of the battlements. The defenders threw everything they had at it, but it wouldn't stop, and it wouldn't die. When it reached the top, the defenders were the ones who died.

A second monstrosity emerged from the fog and bulldozed its way through the few remaining on the bridge, smashing into the gates. This monster was a living battering ram, destroying the ancient wooden gates with its protective enchantments. The force of his charge to get through the portcullis on the other side, as well as into the kill zone.

Those defenders who could were raining down death from above, but nothing stopped this one either. Larger monsters were coming up behind them now as well.

Within the wall, the city's Lord Commander watched, knowing that his city would fall this day. He reached into a satchel at his side and pulled out a magical scroll. Like Vandar, a few days before, he was calm as he opened it and spread it out on a table.

Around him, the garrison was panicking now, knowing that they could not hold back the horrors that were assaulting the walls.

He reached into his pocket, pulled out a charcoal pencil, and began to write. The magic activating within the scroll instantly sending his words out to the capital.

Castin's outer keep has fallen. River frozen. Void corrupted, assaulting the walls. The main gate has fallen. The city will not last the day.

He kept his message brief as the first man had. He heard the sounds of fighting above and below him. The ancient and thick stone walls were straining under the assault. He could hear the screams of the wounded and dying mixed in with the roars of the monsters.

Within it all, he was an oasis of calm. His family had held the position of garrison commander here for generations. He pulled out a special talisman and triggered it without a second thought.

Across the city, magical alarms began to sound, alerting the population to flee as the walls were collapsing. He knew that the town had another keep within its centre, but against what was assaulting them, it would not hold any longer. His family was manning that keep, and he knew they would not retreat. He lamented not being able to see his wife or children one more time before duty reasserted itself..

The structure around him shook, and he heard exclamations of fear and panic as soldiers shouted out that the second portcullis had been broken and the horrors were invading the city.

He nodded to his guards, who were tense but drawing strength from his calmness. To a man, they pulled out their swords, and he withdrew his own.

"Come. Let us buy as much time as we can for the civilians to escape."

They nodded to their Lord and followed him down the narrow stairs. He decided he would fight on the streets instead of the battlements.

It took longer than usual for the body to emerge onto the street and bear witness to the death of a city.

The void corrupted swept through the city, street by street, or just bulldozed its way through buildings. The population were trying to flee and were caught at these top points and slaughtered. Some fought, but all died. The ancient walls collapsed as monsters the size of legends of old brought them down.

The central keep fell after an equally brutal assault, marking the end of organised resistance within the city.

The gates to the north, east and south were opened, and those who could flee did so, whether military or civilian.

Fires quickly started in the city and spread unchecked. All was hidden in the fog.

## ## ## ## ##

Castin, the ancient and powerful fortress city, was no more by the light of the next day.

The horde moved on, not stopping or resting—the siren's call from the East pulling them relentlessly onwards.

In the capital of Nygar, the military planners and the Royal Court were in full panic. The horde was advancing again, and their direction was taken directly towards them. The king sat on his throne listening with growing horror to the reports.

His military planners were now expressing the opinion that the city's fortifications would not be sufficient to stop what was coming and that they should evacuate the city. They had received sporadic reports that some members of the civilian population had escaped Castin, along with a few military units. Still, the bulk of the garrison and population were feared lost.

Panic was spreading.

Rickle found a clue.