-Callen-

  As the second day of driving came to an end, Nixie needed to rest. Therefore, despite her feeble protestations, I moved her into the bed of the truck and tossed her a pillow. We were making such great progress; I regret not making some kind of van for our original journey to the capital. It would’ve been much easier and safer. Still, what's done was done, and I noticed faint trails of smoke reaching into the sky up ahead. On the other side of the river was a smoldering ruin with no signs of life. I reached back to get Nixie up.

  “Looks like the elves have pushed through this way.” Nixie slides back into the driver's seat, taking control of the vehicle. I was so focused on the town itself I nearly missed that the center of the bridge had collapsed. “Nixie, the bridge!” I gave my best warning, but instead of slowing down or turning away. She pressed the vehicle forward full force. We hit the ruined stump of the bridge on our side like a ramp and launched into the skies. Trapped inside the frame of the car, there was no space for me to open a void gate to escape through. “NIXIE!” my shout echoed out as she started cheering. A glance showed her expression of madness and thrill.

  I clung to the frame, praying the vehicle would hold together, that the vehicle wouldn’t flip, and that we didn’t just launch ourselves into a wall. The fall started to last longer than I anticipated, so I peeked my eyes open. The roof of the car had deployed into a pseudo paraglider. We dipped back down but with none of the would-be lethal speed or lost control. Instead we hit the road fast, and Nixie spun a dial on the side console, retracting the glider. When Nixie helped in making the car, I just thought she was filling out the interior while I handled the mechanics, but I should’ve known better. The smirk on Nixie’s face showed her satisfaction.

  “Callen, no need to be such a baby. You fly around all the time; didn't you think I would figure it out eventually?” I just shook my head as we raced across the road, leaving the ruined town behind. “We’ve got another bridge and two more towns on the way. Let's hope they’re doing better.” With the chaos of the moment passed, I took a breath, letting myself sink into my seat. “It’s your turn to get some rest. I’ll try not to do anything crazy while you're out.” I didn’t have the energy to argue as I nodded faintly and let myself sleep.

  Over the course of the next few days we continued to keep going while alternating drivers. Much to our disappointment, neither of the following towns had anyone inside. At least nobody we saw while racing past them. During my turn resting, a violent jerk to the side snapped me awake. Immediately I noticed up ahead two elves blocking our path forward, and the City of Gilbert on the horizon just beyond them. I get myself ready to start casting, but Nixie grabs me.

  “Brace!” Instinctive I grab on as I notice her finger pressing down on the trigger I installed for the runic thrusters. I had no time to stop her before the world compressed me into my seat. A small bump on the road was all it took to send us spiraling into the air. “WOOOO!” Nixie’s cry was even louder than the previous incident at the bridge. As we crested in the air, Nixie activated her glider, but the right wing didn’t fully deploy. “Callen!” She struggled to make her statement while fighting the spin being generated by the uneven deployment, but I understood what she meant. I cursed the universe while reaching out my window, forcefully pulling the wing free from whatever had caught it. I pulled myself back inside as we spiraled violently towards the group.

  “Airburst wings on command!” Nixie’s voice roared against the wind, followed moments later with her shouting, “Now!” I gave a burst as strong as I dared against the flimsy-looking wings, but the sudden force was exactly what we needed to correct our fall. We pulled up moments before splatting into the ground instead of hitting the ground at extreme speeds on our wheels. We skidded past the burning city and onto the southern road. I didn’t have time to investigate what was ahead as the front left wheel broke off the axle, bouncing and sliding free of the truck. The loss caused the whole cart to spin left and then start rolling as a whole. I reached over into the driver's seat, shielding Nixie as the car rolled violently down the road at extreme speeds.

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  I felt the frame shake as we hit something and then a few more things. Finally the death spin came to a stop. Shaken as I was, I confirmed Nixie was relatively unharmed. The door had crumpled under the spinning and wouldn’t open, so I kicked it off. I ripped myself free from a metal strut that had impaled me and lowered Nixie onto the ground. I coughed up some blood as the hole in my lung caused it to start flooding with blood. I pulled my hand to the wound and started treating it while taking stock of our surroundings.

  I saw around fifty men overwhelming twenty-ish elves, but the elven formation that previously focused on buying time for the archers was shattered as we had accidentally just run them over. The knights surged forward, following behind the person I assumed to be the queen as she knocked aside elves with ease. Free from the archer suppression, the knights started pinning down the elves decisively, turning the tide in their favor. I noticed a hand clawing for freedom under the wreckage of the truck. I wrapped it in void mana, shattering its veil and revealing it as a scattering of guts across the trail of impact. I nodded as I confirmed that it still worked.

  I forced myself to hobble over to human lines while identifying and shattering the veils of any elven bits I found scattered through the field. Karia clearly noticed my efforts, and soon knights started dragging the elves over to me. Those still free and fighting quickly scattered, leaving the remaining to die. I wheezed weakly as I finished my work. Karia moved over to my side and examined me briefly. Her expression was completely obscured by the helmet.

  “Port Town seems to have been lucky this generation. I commend you for your timely aid. Rest now; I’ll handle the rest.” I could only nod and stumble back to Nixie, who had been brought to the back lines of Karia’s force. The healers didn’t waste a moment getting to me and dragging me away for treatment.

  Battle of Gilbert City

  Karia bypassed assembling commoner levies. There were plenty of men in the north to use as fodder in the coming battles, and there could be no time spared. The critical difference in knight-level warriors would lead to a rapid collapse in northern strongholds. Which meant the faster she moved, the more soldiers she could draft. She marched double time towards Gilbert City, intending to use it as the staging point for her forces, only to find the city overrun and civilians fleeing while being picked apart by pursuing elves.

  She didn’t hesitate at all, crushing the elven pursuers while her army caught up. Immediately she found a serious issue. The man who should’ve been naught but meat paste in the ground started reforming and crawling up from the crater that should have annihilated him. It wasn’t just one either; all of the elves started crawling up as if nothing had happened. She crushed them again as her knights finally arrived.

  “Restrain them; they aren’t dying." At her command the elves were mobbed and held down. The knights started trying various ideas, like lodging a knife in the skull or lighting them on fire, but it was to no effect. Karia didn’t have time to consider the issue as an arrow ripped through the space, stopping just short of her as she backhanded it. The elves pillaging the city rushed forward fearlessly. “Form up and restrain every elf you down.”

  Karia leapt forward but quickly had to divert as an elven arrow cut off her path. A cold feeling of danger whispered in its passage. She adjusted, identifying the threat as an elven elder at the back lines. She surged forward, knocking aside every elf in her path, but every time she tried to use her mace at range or force her way through the elves, the elders' arrows interfered. Under his undivided attention, the best Karia could manage was holding the line while her men dragged away the isolated. Slowly but surely removing the fodder protecting the irritating elder.

  Then streaking in from the distance, a small cart-like device fell from the sky, crashing and rolling. Karia surged forward again as she recognized the opportunity. Narrowly evading arrow after arrow, she forced the elder to relentlessly devote his full attention. He didn’t even move as the flaming wreckage of the metal cart struck him at extreme speeds. It kept grinding the elder more and more as other elves were also caught by the spinning ball of death. Karia surged forward, annihilating the elven lines, closing the gap to the elder as a human popped out and casually turned him into a blood smear. Seeing the familiar features, Karia felt a smile reaching her face. She decided she very much liked that pair of twins.

  Once the other elves started perishing, the elves immediately broke ranks, the low-level sacrificing themselves so the high-level could flee. Karia could’ve pursued, but it felt more prudent to ensure the only person present received treatment from his rather catastrophic impact. After the extended grinding battle, her men needed time to rest anyways. Looking back to the burning city, her expression hardened: they had pushed all the way to a city neighboring the heartlands of humanity in a mere month.