Chapter 20: Dark Elven Army Descends

"Attack!"

The commander’s roar cut through the chaos as another wave of arrows descended upon the camp.

Koda ducked behind a slab of volcanic rock. Several arrows struck the ground where he had been standing, their impact scattering black ash across his armor.

His bone talons slid from his fists with a sharp KRRSHK.

Around him, the camp erupted into confusion. Lesser demons scrambled for cover, while the stronger ones recovered quickly and prepared to fight back.

The senior officer raised his weapon and began casting a defensive spell. A layer of hardened stone spread across the ground before rising into protective barriers around the assembled demons.

"Shields up! Counterattack!"

The demons responded with practiced aggression. Their instincts for violence had been honed by countless battles, and even the weakest among them understood that standing still beneath an arrow storm meant death.

Groups of fire-wielding demons began hurling fireballs toward the distant forest.

Koda watched the exchange from behind his cover.

Something about the battlefield immediately caught his attention.

The camp had been established near the forest, but the surrounding vegetation had already been burned away. Blackened trunks and scorched earth extended across a wide stretch of ground, leaving little cover between the demons and the approaching enemy.

Someone had anticipated the danger of fighting elves among the trees.

That preparation had forced the attackers to reveal themselves when their first volley crossed the open ground.

Unfortunately, the exposed terrain had done little to discourage them.

Massive figures emerged from the forest.

Treants.

The towering tree-like creatures advanced in a dense formation, their heavy steps shaking loose ash and broken branches. Some were still burning from the demons’ fireballs, but they continued forward without hesitation.

Koda counted as many as he could before losing sight of them behind the smoke.

There were hundreds.

They formed a living wall between the forest and the demon army, protecting the smaller creatures advancing behind them.

Then the archers appeared.

Hundreds became thousands as wood elves emerged from the trees, their bows already drawn. Among them stood elite marksmen whose movements were more precise than those of ordinary soldiers.

Koda glanced at the dead lesser demon still pinned to a distant tree by the first arrow.

That shot had not been a warning. It had been a demonstration.

The elves were here to kill.

Behind their archers, additional forces moved into position. Dwarven warriors advanced with heavy weapons, centaur captains charged across the open ground, and silver-winged knights rose into the air.

Koda’s stomach tightened as he surveyed the advancing formations. He had expected resistance eventually, but he had not expected the enemy to commit so many troops against a single demon camp.

Then three figures appeared among the elven ranks.

Two wore the distinctive antlered helmets of elven druids. The third was a human man bearing elaborate elven tattoos across his face and chest.

He stood among the elves as though he belonged there.

Koda did not recognize the man, but his position suggested that he was no ordinary soldier. The officers around him treated him with obvious respect.

Before Koda could study the three figures further, a deep roar shook the sky.

He looked up, and his expression changed.

Wyverns.

More than a dozen enormous shapes descended through the crimson clouds. Green and emerald scales reflected the faint light above the battlefield, while several golden wyverns glided behind them.

Their wings were enormous. Each powerful beat displaced clouds of ash and sent the smaller demons into renewed panic.

Even from a distance, Koda could appreciate the difference between these creatures and the beasts he had hunted for his quota.

The golden wyverns were particularly terrifying. Their scales gleamed like polished metal, and their massive bodies made the lesser demons beneath them look insignificant.

Koda swallowed. "So much for an easy assignment."

The officer who had organized their deployment looked equally displeased, though he concealed his reaction more effectively.

The demons had expected resistance from the elves. The campaign had been planned with the possibility of wyvern involvement in mind, but the forces required to confront their foes had not yet assembled.

Their other commanders were occupied elsewhere, leaving this force badly outnumbered.

The elves had committed thousands of troops and an entire flight of wyverns to the attack.

Koda did not need a military education to understand the problem.

Their side had too few powerful fighters to counter such a force while simultaneously protecting the lesser demons.

The officer apparently reached the same conclusion.

"Destroy those treants!" he ordered. "Keep the archers away from our formation!"

The demons responded with another barrage of fireballs.

Flames exploded against the advancing treants, igniting branches and spreading across their wooden bodies. Several creatures collapsed as the fire consumed them, while others staggered forward with burning limbs.

But the formation did not break.

There were simply too many of them.

The surviving treants pressed onward, shielding the archers behind them as the first dwarven warriors and centaur captains rushed into combat.

The battlefield dissolved into violence.

Koda remained near the edge of the formation, watching for an opening. Charging blindly into the enemy’s main force would accomplish nothing. He was strong for his rank, but that did not make him invincible.

Then the wyverns attacked.

Green and emerald wyverns swooped over the battlefield, releasing clouds of poisonous breath and streams of corrosive liquid.

The attack swept across the demon formation.

Screams erupted as the acid ate through armor, scales, and flesh. Lesser demons died before they could even approach an enemy. Some collapsed immediately, while others staggered away with dissolving limbs before their bodies disintegrated into infernal ash.

Hellhounds and long-horned demons survived slightly longer because of their tougher bodies, but even they struggled against the corrosive assault.

Koda watched a nearby demon lose an entire section of its shoulder to the acid.

The creature barely managed to scream before another stream struck it.

Koda shifted farther toward the flank.

He had no intention of testing whether his own scales could withstand that kind of attack.

The golden wyverns descended next.

Their massive bodies struck the ground with enough force to crush several hellhounds beneath their weight. One swept its claws through a group of long-horned demons, sending the survivors tumbling across the scorched earth.

The demons retaliated with horns, claws, and infernal spells.

Their attacks barely scratched the golden scales.

Koda’s jaw tightened.

The wyverns were not merely larger opponents. Their natural defenses made them extraordinarily difficult for ordinary demons to injure, while their physical strength allowed them to tear through the formation with terrifying efficiency.

The demon army was losing ground fast.

The officer finally turned toward the stronger demons gathered near him.

"You! Engage the wyverns! Buy me time!"

The high-level demons did not hesitate.

Several winged demons launched themselves into the air, their weapons flashing as they intercepted the green wyverns. Others vanished in bursts of infernal flames and reappeared beside the golden wyverns, striking at the gaps between their scales.

For the first time since the attack began, the wyverns were forced to acknowledge a threat.

Their attention shifted toward the powerful demons challenging them, drawing some of the pressure away from the weaker troops.

The officer then looked toward Koda.

"You too! Kill as many as you can!"

Koda stared at him and almost cussed out.

But he had been promoted to Vanguard Leader, received better armor, and been assigned responsibility for his squad. Apparently, that also meant being ordered to fight creatures capable of slaughtering entire formations of lesser demons.

Still, refusing would accomplish nothing.

Koda lowered his body and moved along the outer edge of the battlefield, looking for isolated enemies rather than charging directly at the wyverns.

His bone talons remained extended.

He would fight when an opportunity presented itself, but he would not sacrifice himself merely to satisfy an officer’s expectations.

The high-level demons had become the center of the battle. Wyverns and powerful infernal creatures clashed above and across the scorched ground, their attacks shaking the battlefield.

That gave Koda the opportunity he needed.

He stayed near the flank, where he could intercept separated enemies and retreat if the formation collapsed.

His instincts told him the demon army was in serious trouble.

The elves had brought overwhelming numbers, their treants were absorbing the initial counterattacks, and their dragons were tearing through the weaker troops.

Unless the commander possessed something powerful enough to change the situation, the demons would soon be forced to retreat.

Then Koda noticed the officer stepping away from the fighting.

The demon scythe lowered beside his feet as infernal energy gathered around his hands.

The air began to vibrate.

Koda slowed.

Whatever the officer was preparing, it was not an ordinary spell.

For the first time since the attack began, the commander seemed less interested in directing his troops than in unleashing something of his own.

Koda tightened his grip and watched carefully.