Multiverse of Magic & Mistakes (Completed)

2.2.18 Chapter 18

Seaglass Beach, Cirmore, Azuhelm, November 2019.

Reynold's vanguard, arrived ready to fight. And they arrived early. Vi tore herself from Rho's arms as the shout went up further along the shore.

The enemy was coming through. The battle was starting.

"Shit," muttered Vi, finger's trembling as she hastily fastened her belt, and tied her boots. There was no time to lose. With one hand she reached again for Rho, and with her other, she opened a portal to take them both instantly into the frontlines.

"Love you Vi, whatever happens!" was his final words to her as they stepped through into the chaos.

"You too!" was all she had time to say before one of the mages of Verdyn materialised in front of her, brandishing a jet of fire. Vi put up her shields and sent an oval of pure darkness spinning through the air towards the man. With a yelp he was sent through, to be deposited in the heavily warded prisoner-pit that the Guardians had set up.

Only the three Stryders on their side, Vi, Rho and Mallory were able to open portals into the pit. And the Harmonizer had given them all strict orders. "We don't want to kill them, for that would make us just as bad as them. Injure and incapacitate, yes, but we do not want their blood on our hands unless absolutely unavoidable. We will capture as many as possible, then send them all back."

Mallory had had the genius idea of opening a portal into the prison, directly in front of as many of the Verdynian portals as he could. Several unsuspecting invaders stepped through from the fields of Verdyn, through the void, emerged into Azuhelm, then took another step forward and found themselves trapped in the Guardian's prison. If only, they had been able to figure out how to open prison portals corresponding to each of the Verdyn portals and keep them open. Vi's feat of opening the Verdyn portals remained an unparalleled, puzzling mystery.

The mages, that made it through onto the sandy beaches of Azuhelm, showed no such compassion. They cast powerful spells widely, their aim clearly to take out as many of the Guardians as possible. And if that meant killing them, then so be it.

Vi let out a shout, as a woman she vaguely recognised, dressed all in black armour, attacked a yellow-haired Guardian with a blast of icy power. The yellow-haired Guardian screamed as it broke through his shield, and his armour, punching a hole straight through his side. Blood sprayed wildly upon the yellow sand. The Guardian's healers were good, but even this was beyond their reach.

The mage locked eyes with Vi, smiling at the horror on her face, blood splatter coating her arms. She reached again for that powerful ice beam attack, at the same time Vi sent another spinning portal her way. The woman sprung aside, her jet of ice going wide, hiding the edge of Vi's shield with a shock that rattled her to the core and her portal dissipating into nothing.

"Shit" she swore, lunging closer and casting a much wider portal that the woman could not dodge.

As the woman was pulled into the darkness, something else came slamming into Vi's back, hard. She winced at the energy drain upon her shield and strengthened it turning to see what faced her.

Verdyn College had not prepared her for anything such as this. She had barely had time to train, just some scrambled hours with the other mages going over books upon battle magic and shields and practising as much as they could. The Echelon and the allies Reynold had called upon were all trained fighters. The Harmonizer had speculated that they had been training for years, honing their skill just in case Reynold's plans to invade another land came to fruition.

The mages that had made it through the fighting directly in front of the portals, were grouping together. They formed up into neat lines, their steps in unison, the dawn light glinting off their matching shiny black armour as they moved in one across the beach. Vi gulped. She spotted their leader front and centre, a fierce-looking older woman with hair and skin as pale as snow. Vi's eyes scanned over their ranks, there must be over two hundred of them now, advancing swiftly toward their ragtag bunch of Guardians.