-Callia-

  The paladin’s warning was clear and decisive, but my gut was screaming at me that trying to run was suicide. The paladin’s sword was leveled horizontally in a defensive posture. If I wanted to escape, I needed an opening, but the moment my attention on her wavered, she wasted no time diving forward. It wasn’t particularly fast, but I felt mana bursting from her body and taking shape around her. The paladin didn’t hesitate to charge forward, intercepting the queen.

  This was my chance. I burst across the short distance to the window and threw myself through it without hesitation. As I flew out, I looked back and caught sight of the paladin being cleanly ripped in half by a wave of mana. His sacrifice only bought a mere second before she turned to the window.

  The separation of falling was never going to be enough to escape. I was already focusing inward, summoning a boulder to act as a launching platform to land on a lower balcony. The occupant screamed, but I paid her no heed as I rushed further indoors. I slid out the door and under the guards who were rushing to the aid of the occupant. Behind me I heard the girls' scream cut short as the wet gurgling of someone choking on blood replaced it. I didn’t let that distract me as I jumped through another door on the far side of the castle. I dashed through the room and leapt from the balcony while focusing inward to summon the helicopter.

  I pulled it out while falling and manipulated my fall into the cockpit of the helicopter. I slammed the throttle to maximum and desperately adjusted the angle to pull me away from the castle. I took a moment while operating the controls to look up at the balcony above. The queen had just arrived. My instincts flared with danger again, and I jerked the flight controls desperately to the right. Moments later I felt the invisible wave of mana cleanly slicing through the air between me and the queen. The helicopter was too slow. I leaned over the seat, narrowly avoiding the attack as a quarter of the helicopter was cleanly severed.

  The helicopter ceased functioning. I jumped out of the brand-new hole where the other half of my seat used to be. On my way out I grabbed a piece of loose wood, infusing it with growth. I throw the wood ahead of me onto the severed portion of the helicopter. It impacted and started growing wildly into a tree. I adjusted my fall and took hold of the tree just in time to feel another imminent attack. I easily adjust position on the tree as another wave of mana rends it in half. I grabbed splinters from the attack and infused them as well. I slammed them into the half of a tree I was riding, growing two more trees. I took a chance to look upward. The crazed queen had thrown herself from the castle and was skydiving after me.

  “You are mine!” A shrill voice in the wind accompanied her as she rapidly caught up with my fusion of trees. I steadied myself while summoning my bow and taking a shot back. The arrow arced cleanly through the air and impacted a previously invisible barrier around the queen. I held my breath as a crack shimmered in the barrier, letting my arrow through but at greatly reduced speed. The arrow stuck into the queen's chest but was only surface deep.

  “I WILL RIP YOU TO PIECES!” Her scream echoed out with supernatural ferocity, shattering dozens of windows as we fell. For a moment she looked like she was about to charge but stopped instead, slowing her descent. I looked back, noticing the ground was fast approaching. I slammed one hand into the tree while grabbing hold of an upward-facing branch. I channeled growth power into the tree, making it shoot upward as I held on, riding it up. I tightened my grip as best I could right as the tangled trees made impact with the ground.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  The lowest portions began to collapse from the impact, and I felt incredible strain in my arms as I held on for dear life. The tree dug deep into the soil below before coming to a stop. I was barely a single floor from the ground when it finally stopped. I let go of my branch and immediately ran for the city. However, as I ran for the gate, the guards ahead of me swarmed, barring the path. Up above I heard the queen.

  “Seize her NOW!” Obviously I wasn’t in the mood to be seized, so I immediately dived through the crowd of low-level guards. They tried to grab me, but I just used them as convenient objects to push off of. As I neared the gate, a guard knight intercepted me, forcing me to break my course and narrowly avoid his blade. I reached for my knife, but my grip was too weak. The impact of the tree had pulled both arms, and they were still recovering. I tried to move around the man, but he easily adjusted position, intercepting me and trying to land another hit again.

  The queen landed on the ground near the castle, just a short distance away. I had no time to spare, but I didn’t need to deal with the man personally. She unleashed another wave of mana horizontally, and I ducked just fast enough to escape with a few strands of hair lost. The guards and the knight weren’t so lucky. They were all caught in the area and torn in half. I pushed off the ground trying to run but slammed into a barrier. My nose was broken and dripping with blood as I pushed off the ground in a side hop, narrowly avoiding a vertical wave. The tips of my toes were removed along with the front of my shoe.

  The shield that had been protecting the queen had expanded and now sealed me inside it with her. Despite my shaky hands, I pulled my knife, facing the queen. Her wild eyes and disheveled appearance shifted into a cruel smirk.

  Battle for Port Town

  Paladin Korin noticed Callen finish off the elf he had been fighting right before the main force of the elves arrived. He grabbed the elf and slashed it in half while sending the remains in Callen’s direction. Then he faced the others and pointed his blade while calling out, “Release!” The voice boomed out, and the guards on the castle jumped into action. The elves responded in kind with several opening fire on the castle. Korin would’ve cursed Callen’s negligence of his post in defense had he not proven essential in both recognizing the elves' immortal nature and knowing how to finish them. Now his presence on the front was absolutely essential, as he was the only one who could deal a lethal blow.

  “Protect Callen at all costs! Form up on him!” The others immediately shifted from the attack to a defensive circle around Callen, who had just slain the elf he had delivered. Just before the elves reached them, bolts and boulders rained down on the elves, who seemed uncaring about personal risk. Unlike those Korin had fought previously that used agile movements and carefully plotted attacks, this strategy felt like a hive mind monster that didn’t care about casualties. Instead of attacking every threat, the elves seemed more interested in attacking the closest target. Which, as knights with a lifetime of hunting monsters, played right into their hands.

  Sir Torulf wasted no time moving forward, drawing attention and enabling Sir Gunther to blast those concentrated around him with fire. Callen used this chance to end two of them while most recovered. The ballistas hammered the enemy formation, disabling it and creating plenty of space for the friendly knights to maneuver. As they fought, flowers burst from the ground, binding the elves that were reviving, holding them in place while Callen banished the magic that was animating them.

  Despite that, the reckless charge also quickly whittled the numbers of friendly fighters. Torulf fell when his legs were severed, Fullart was overwhelmed on the flank, succumbing to countless blows, and Reesia had stepped up after Torulf but was impaled by a javelin and anchored to the ground. The opening resulted in Sir Gunther losing his head. Likewise, two of the other paladins had collapsed. Meanwhile, the deadliest of the elves were being held back by massive flowers.

  A grim expression reached Korin’s face as defeat tipped from near certain bit by bit to certain. He slid from his place next to Callen, severing another elf and saving him, but at the same time a dagger slipped through his armor, striking a deep cut through his body. He bent over furiously retaliating as his vitality began to falter.

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  2 Corinthians 6:2 NIV - For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.”