Chapter 34
Sealed Ascendance made short work of it.
Lilith cut down several Veteran-ranked Orcs inside seconds, and each corpse rose as another Gargoyle and joined the fight, closing the gap between the two sides' strongest fighters at a vicious pace.
The Orc force could no longer match the Gargoyles and Wood Elves combined.
The bad news: the peak Veteran had finally torn himself free of the swarm, and he was coming for her at full speed.
Lilith glanced back once. Then she ran. Why fight him when she could outrun him?
The last two hundred yards to the Portal became a chase. Orcs rushed in from the front to slow her long enough for their reinforcements to close, and the Gargoyles hurled themselves into the ranks to choke off every route of pursuit.
Two hundred yards, to a Veteran, was almost nothing. Lilith reached the Portal and raised Waltz of Ashes — and the Shaman's roar shook the clearing before she could swing.
"YOU WILL NOT!"
His bone staff swept down. A massive bolt of lightning fell out of the sky carrying the full power of an enraged Elite, and Lilith, still only a Veteran, had no hope of getting clear of it.
Vines erupted from the ground. They twisted together, wove themselves into Elowen's body directly in front of her — and the thunder crashed.
The lightning took Elowen instead. Her armor shattered under the impact, her aura went unstable, and blood ran from the corner of her mouth.
"Elowen!"
"I'll hold him." The words came through clenched teeth.
"Destroy the Portal!" She drew and fired at the oncoming Shaman, and their powers collided again — except this time Elowen was also splitting off part of her strength into a barrier around Lilith, shielding her from the shock waves.
Against a fully enraged Elite she'd already been losing ground.
Protecting someone at the same time would only make it worse.
Lilith didn't waste what that was buying her. She tightened her grip and charged. A black arc merged with the darkness and slammed into the towering gateway.
Clang!
Sparks scattered. Lilith stared at the thing. It survived? She'd expected to take it apart in one stroke. She struck again — and this time a thin green barrier flickered into being around the Portal and drank the full force of the blow.
Physical attacks, useless. She canceled Sealed Ascendance on the spot, let the enhanced attributes drain away, and lit Deathfire along the blade of Waltz of Ashes.
"Let's see you block this."
Black flames surged against the barrier, and the Portal's green energy swelled to meet them, the two powers grinding into a violent stalemate.
Deathfire could consume almost anything, but Orc life magic was no pushover — and more to the point, this barrier had been raised by an Elite. Quick wasn't on the menu.
"Kill her!" the Shaman roared.
Every Orc in the clearing dropped its opponent and rushed her. The common warriors she could manage. The peak Veteran was another matter — and with Elowen and her squad fully committed, if he reached the Portal, everything Lilith had done tonight went up in smoke.
Lilith forced more power into the scythe. "Break!"
Deathfire erupted — and in the same instant, golden light plunged from the sky and fused with the black flames.
The green barrier shattered. What life energy remained dissolved beneath the holy radiance, purified away as fast as frost under boiling water.
Lilith looked up. Auriel hovered above the clearing.
Perfect timing. Where Lilith's power could only grind the Orc magic down by brute force, Auriel's holy light countered it outright. The two of them exchanged a glance — nothing needed saying — and with the barrier gone, both turned their attacks on the Portal itself.
The Shaman saw exactly what was coming. "No!"
Elowen held him with everything she had left, and he could not break through. All he could do was watch as the Portal he'd built at such enormous cost was torn apart by two Veteran-ranked Lords.
The structure went up in a deafening explosion, green light fracturing across its surface before the entire gateway crumbled into ruin. Dust rolled through the clearing, and the Wood Elves erupted in renewed battle cries.
Lilith and Auriel gave the order. Gargoyles and Angels descended together, sealing off ground and sky alike — and with their reinforcements severed and every escape route closed, the remaining Orcs were simply trapped.
The blast had driven Lilith back several steps.
The moment she found her footing again, she looked toward the Shaman.
Most of the lightning wreathing him had vanished, and his aura had thinned considerably; destroying the Portal had clearly cost him.
Elowen was in no better shape. Let their duel drag on, and both would come away gravely wounded.
"Undead... and Angels." The Shaman glared at the pair of them. "How interesting."
He understood at last: these two seemingly insignificant Veterans had been the greatest threat to the Orc invasion all along. But the Portal was gone, and there was nothing left here worth staying for. One final, furious look, and he turned to go.
"You think you can run?" Elowen loosed another arrow.
A wall of lightning rose behind the Shaman and swatted it aside. His body was already blurring, spatial magic gathering around him.
"We will meet again, elf — and Undead Lord." His voice rolled across the clearing. "The wrath of the Orcs does not end here."
Then he was gone.
Elowen lowered her bow. Fresh blood showed at the corner of her mouth, and frustration tightened her face. "He escaped."
Lilith walked over. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. I only spent too much power." She wiped the blood away and looked toward the ruined Portal. "The reinforcements are cut off. Now we eliminate the Orcs inside the forest and restore the border defenses." Her resolve came back with the words, and she threw herself into the battle again.
Lilith surveyed the clearing. With the Portal down, panic had gotten into the Orcs, and the Gargoyles were running down everyone who tried to flee. The outcome was no longer in question.
Before leaving, Elowen addressed the two of them one last time.
"Thank you both for destroying the Portal. As the Seer promised, you may now act freely — you no longer need to coordinate with the Wood Elf forces." Then she smiled. "When this war is over, please allow our Clan to host you properly."
They accepted, and the two sides went their separate ways.
Lilith turned to Auriel. "Thanks for the help."
"The clash between the Elites was impossible to miss. I came to investigate."
She made it sound like pure coincidence. Lilith didn't press her on it. Instead, a calculating smile crossed her face.
"Want to take a bigger risk with me?"