Fantasy The Clueless Wizard (Completed)

[Yokai]

》Leave the studies until after the war.

Days passed by in a rush of preparations and an increased work load. Arden simply didn't have time to spare on something she wouldn't be using until after the war, or perhaps at all. She hadn't completely made up her mind on that point. The Amulet of Planeswalking would have to be pushed aside for more pressing issues; like how Blackcliffe was going to survive this war. If they did manage to survive, and after everything had happened, she didn't want to remain here then Arden would return to her studies on the Amulet. It'd have to wait for now.

 

[ArcticFox]

Nearly a month passed as the city prepared its defences and Arden studied her magic.

Her night were spent with Kogan and her mornings in meetings with General Aldo and the other officers who kept her well-informed. Soldiers knocked on her door all day long for healing from training accidents and occasionally she would reach out to Teddy, but he saw no sign of the invaders.

This left Arden with enough time to focus on specialising in one of her magic abilities or learning new ones.

- You specialised in binding magic.
- You specialised in fire magic.
- You learned more about glamour / divination / healing.
- You learned a completely new spell.

 

[Yokai]

》You specialised in binding magic.

If it were not for the threat of invasion that loomed over their heads Arden would have enjoyed the hectic bustle of the next month. Business was conducted throughout the day in the form of war preparations, healing, and magical studies. The first of which was entirely new and foreign to her, but the other two were familiar and easy to fall into once more.

Then, in the evenings, she was graced the presence of a certain orc that she was growing steadily attached to. Arden still wasn't sure where they stood in regards to one another but right now she'd take what she could get. There was no point worrying about labels when there was a literal war headed toward Blackcliffe.

Eventually it came time to decide upon which specialisation route she would take. Fire manipulation or binding magic? While Arden recognised that she was probably more suited to fire there was an allure to binding magic that she couldn't deny. Fire was offensive and powerful, it could burn her enemies to ashes. But binding offered companionship and it was versatile in nature; it could be offensive, defensive, and -- as evidenced by Teddy's involvement with scouting -- surprisingly useful. Also, Arden needed to keep the golden apple of Discord in mind. Having a familiar would most likely be more useful than flames.

 

[ArcticFox]

Reading the book of binding from Yriss's Tower, as well as many books on the subject from her own Tower, Arden was able to learn a great deal about binding magic. She had a headstart thanks to her little excursion, so this magic came natural to her, as simple as learning a recipe.

She could feel her sense of other creatures around her growing stronger, the bound in her simply wanting to attach itself to another. She was so well versed in this magic that she felt thought of great dragons and gryphons echo from across the world to her. And they felt it as well, the great being wanted to ally themselves with someone powerful.

- Bind a dragon.
- Bind a hoofborn.
- Bind a gryphon.
- Bind a minotaur.
- Bind an orrok.
- Bind a wendigo.
- Bind a manticore.

 

[Yokai]

》Bind a dragon.

The stretched feeling of her perception made the young wizard shiver, reaching out tentatively to brush against the thoughts of the creatures around her. Arden already knew what particular creature she was searching to bind herself to. A dragon seemed like an obvious choice; it was intimidating, could fly, and it breathed fire. Arden also controlled fire, though she couldn't fly and wasn't very intimidating. It was a match made in heaven!

Also, all things considered, being bound to a dragon would be a useful war asset. An orrok or a gryphon were tempting options in the long-term sense, but presently and against an army of orroks? She'd take the dragon.

That meant that Teddy was, hopefully, going to have an older and bigger and much more scaley sibling.

 

[ArcticFox]

She climbed the walls of Blackcliffe, feeling her familiar's approach. The dragon has been communicating with her for the whole day, flying from the mountains to meet her. His thoughts were much clearer than her bear's as dragons were intelligent species. Not that much different from humans in terms of speech, really. If Arden already knew the sound of her new familiar's voice and his feelings on the matter (which were surprisingly very positive), she was not prepared for his appearance.

That dragon was huge. She could hear nervous murmurs from the guards on the walls as it flapped its huge wings, landing on the other side of the gate, looking up at Arden. Even on flat ground, his snout almost reached the top of the wall.

"Master." He greeted Arden in a strong, clear voice. "I expected you to be taller."

- Introduce yourself.
- Ask his name.
- Give him a name.

 

[Yokai]

》Introduce yourself.

"Not what you expected? I get that a lot," Arden grinned. It seemed that being a powerful wizard placed some specific expectations on what her appearance should be. Normally it was the fact that she wasn't an older, graying man. But, admittedly, she probably looked like a tiny ant before the massive dragon before her.

And he was huge! A 10/10 dragon if she had to give him a rating. Very intimidating, very scaley.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you. My name is Arden," She said as means of an introduction, throwing in a little flourish and a bow. When she straightened up her expression was earnest, genuinely excited to meeting the dragon she'd been telepathically communicating with. "May I ask what your name is?"

 

[ArcticFox]

"Nightwing." The dragon said politely. For a huge guy, he was quite well mannered. He bowed his head slightly then rose it again to take a look at Arden. "At your service."

--

Nightwing stayed close to Blackcliffe in the coming days, as Arden already had Teddy out in the field scouting. The soldiers of Blackcliffe were at first intimidated by the appearance of a huge dragon, but over the time he became a comforting sight. And really, there was something about seeing him roam the skies above the city that made people feel safe.

"A dragon? Really? Overcompensating for something?" Kogan teased her, but she often caught him looking through the Tower's windows with awe whenever Nightwing passed by.

--

One morning, just after breakfast, Teddy sent Arden a mental distress call. She got the feeling that he was safe, but the enemy had been spotted. Her undead army should delay them for a bit, but it would only need one second for the Emperor to test if he can nullify them with the Apple of Discord.

- Prepare for war!

 

[Yokai]

》Prepare for war!

The distress signal that Teddy sent had her calling for his immediate return. Arden could mobilise the undead army to fight the encroaching troops, attempting to buy them some time. Perhaps the undead had heeded her original warning on laying low, catching the enemy off guard would be the only way to ensure some casualties before the Apple of Discord was used.

Outside of that Arden needed to warn General Aldo and the King. After all, she was the first point of contact when it came to scouting.

 

[ArcticFox]

Since Arden could not communicate with her undead army in the same way as she could with her familiars, she could only hope that they were doing something to delay the invaders.

The King and General Aldo had listened to her warnings and soon enough their scouts rode in confirming the sighting of the enemy. The gears of war started to turn more rapidly.

--

Arden saw the enemy for herself a couple of days later.

She stood on the outer wall with General Aldo and King Tobias. The marching soldiers seemed endless - they were setting up thousands of tents outside of bow reach. The great, hulking shapes of the six-armed orroks were interspersed among them. All around the outer fringes of the army, she could see the spiny backs of the wendigos who have crawled out of the forest, eager to feed upon the dead.

The gates were closed and the buildings outside of the outer wall were set on fire to deny their use to the enemy.

Although Arden couldn't see the Emperor in the multitude of soldiers, she knew that he was here. The Kingdom of Traethia was formally under siege and the great war for survival had begun.

Blackcliffe's own troops stood on the walls and looked down at the enemy with worry and fear. It seemed as though the entire Yrantan Empire has marched upon the small Kingdom. Everyone in the city was filled with trepidation, anticipation and anxiety.

"You're probably used to leading armies of this size back in your home world." General Aldo said in a serious tone as he studied the soldiers on the field. "I'm glad that we have you with us, Wizard Arden."

- Answer.

 

[Yokai]

》Answer.

Staring out across pilfered lands crawling with enemy soldiers, Arden couldn’t help but wonder how they were supposed to overcome such a force. The Yrantan Empire was massive and sprawling in nature, the army itself seemed broader than the entire city of Blackcliffe. Logically she understood that it was much more difficult to take a Kingdom than to defend one, and that Blackcliffe had done everything it could to mobilise in such a short amount of time. But even so, their chances of victory were not looking so good.

General Aldo’s assumption made her blink rapidly, gaze torn away from the overwhelming sight before them, only to settle upon him. All she could immediately think was how wrong he was. Arden was a psychology student, disowned by her family, and accompanied by more than her fair share of emotional baggage. There was nothing about that that screamed leadership potential.

“What makes you say that, General?” Arden asked curiously, though not actively discouraging the General’s assumption. Hope was something that the people of Blackcliffe desperately needed, especially when faced with the sheer numbers of the Yrantans. If she could be that hope for them then Arden would do so gladly, even Generals and Kings needed something to hope for. Maybe even moreso than the troops they commanded.

 

[ArcticFox]

"You know what you are doing." General Aldo said.

"I have to agree." The King nodded.

--

The days passed as war engines were built and the enemy prepared to assault the walls. Despite the threat of danger, Arden found that day-to-day life continued from behind the sieged walls. Nightwing scouted the skies, but she could feel him getting restless. He wanted to get out there and demostrate his might. And perhaps he could destroy some of the siege equipment the Yrantans had? If Arden wished to risk her dragon so early into the siege.

- Send him.
- Don't send him.

 

[Yokai]

》Send him.

The decision to unleash Nightwing upon the machines of war was a difficult one for her to make. Nightwing was a dedicated companion and seemed eager to join the fray. While Arden did not want to risk her dragon by sending him out in battle so soon, it seemed like the best idea to halt the siege. The Yrantan Empire had obviously taken this invasion seriously but she wanted them to be intimidated. She wanted them to back down or reconsider, anything to get them away.

In her mind their best chance was to destroy the Yrantan army while it was still outside their walls.

Also, by sending out her dragon it provided them with the chance to see how much damage Nightwing could wreck, and, what tricks the Yrantans had up their sleeve. Because she had no doubt that they had many. It was like David and Goliath all over again, except Goliath had all the equipment and the numbers, and David had a big dragon.

 

[ArcticFox]

Nightwing flew to the filed with eagerness of a young soldier, but with a predatory focus of a hawk. He swooped above the great army, keeping out of reach of their arrows and then dipping down once close to the trebuchets and ballistas. He opened his enormous jaw and breathed out a gust of fire so bright that Arden could feel it on the wind that blew from the battlefield.

One by one, their trebuchets collapsed, their ballistas crumbled, and the siege towers burst open. But she could feel Nightwing's pain through their connection. With each siege engine he destroyed, he had to fly low over the troops, which meant that he was vulnerable to the arrows. And after half a dozen dips, the arrows started hurting.

Nightwing blew one final gust of fire at the troops around the siege engines, before retreating. He did not destroy everything, but he more than halved their progress and demoralised the enemy army.

"They are afraid." His voice spoke in Arden's head. "And they should be." He seemed to be enjoying himself, but he would need a bit of time to recuperate.

--

Arden could tell that things were different on the night of the first assault. There was a buzz in the air and when General Aldo said he believed the Yrantans would attack the next morning, sh had to agree.

"Hey." Kogan approached her that night, inviting himself up as usual, but with an uncertain look on his face. "I'm going to fight in the infantry tomorrow, boss, if you don't mind. It just feels like I should be there. You have your bear and your dragon to protect you, I cannot be a better bodyguard than them."

- Let him do it.
- Don't let him.

 

[Yokai]

》Let him do it.

“Good, let them be afraid.” Arden’s murmured in response to Nightwing’s comment. They should be frightened and they shouldn’t have attacked her home. To say that she was proud of her dragon would be an understatement but the General was right, this had only accelerated the process and the battle would be upon them soon enough.

That night her mind was preoccupied, as it had been almost every night as of late, with thoughts of the coming days. Kogan’s presence was a welcome reprieve and when he stepped into the room her initial smile of greeting was filled with warmth. It slipped almost immediately from her features at his request before she hurriedly shoved it back into place.

“Ah. You -- you don’t need to ask my permission, Kogan.” Arden reassured him with a quiet sense of reluctance. Because it would be selfish of her to keep him from the battle; Kogan was a strong fighter and he deserved the chance to protect his home just as much as everyone else. “I’m not really your boss anymore either.” She added, attempting to mask her unease with humour as she reached up to flick his forehead.

 

[ArcticFox]

"No, you are not, are you?" Kogan said, approaching her. His arms wrapped around her and he kissed her forehead, surprisingly gentle. "You are my Wizard." He said with a smile that quickly turned savage. "And I'll be sure to rip off some heads for you in the coming battle." And he picked her up quickly, tossing her onto the bed.

--

Arden got up early and found herself standing on the wall with the soldiers before the sun rose. Kogan was there somewhere, in the crowd. Jace and Alexei were too, both fighting for their homeland. But she could not see either of them. Sure enough, she saw that the enemy soldiers were also awake, gathering in large groups as they received last-minute instructions.

The Blackcliffe soldiers looked very nervous. They were heavily outnumbered and they knew their only chance of success was through their Wizard. She couldn't see Emperor Cassius, but she knew that he was out there somewhere.

The enemy used the sun's rising as a signal to attack. The mass of bodies was like a flesh-filled tide washing up against the wall. Not all of the attackers were human; many orroks fought among the Yrantan soldiers. Arden's soldiers shot arrows and dumped boiling oil onto the enemy below in an attempt to stop them from using long, flimsy-looking scaling ladders to breach the wall.

- Use your fire spell on the enemy.
- Use your healing spell on your soldiers.
- Use your Wizard's staff to conjure lightning.
- Use a different artefact / spell.

 

[Yokai]

》Use your fire spell on the enemy.

Somewhere in the chaos below resided the Apple of Discord; somewhere in the Yrantan army lurked Arden's weakness. She needed to determine how close the artefact was to block her magic. While the incoming ladders were of a more pressing concern at that current moment, she could use it to gauge her range of abilities.

Arden focused on conjuring a firestorm to rain down on the Yrantan troops below. They would inevitably breach this wall but the longer they were at the bottom, and Blackcliffe was at the top, then the more exposed they were to attacks. She just needed something big and with a lot of heat. Maybe then they'd see why she'd chosen a dragon as her familiar.

That was if it worked, of course.

 

[ArcticFox]

She rained fire down upon the enemy. The amount of death she caused was astounding and the damage was greatly increased by the enemies' tight formation. She watched as the dead bodies piled up below the wall. Every time a ladder reached the top, enemy soldiers climb up it like ants. Blackcliffe's troops were forced to fight them hand-to-hand until the ladder could be pushed off. There were many deaths on both sides, but Arden's magic thinned the seemingly endless numbers significantly.

An enormous explosion signaled the arrival of the Yrantan siege engines. She could see five large trebuchets in the field, just outside the range of the Blackcliffe archers on the wall. Time seemed to slow down as one large boulder soared directly toward her and struck the wall at her feet. She had to wonder if the enemy aimed at her on purpose.

The world shook and Arden find herself falling as the wall crumbled beneath her.

- Attempt to jump clear of the crumbling part of the wall.
- Call Teddy for help.
- Call Nightwing for help.
- Call anyone nearby for help.

 

[Yokai]

》Attempt to jump clear of the crumbling part of the wall.

Immediately Arden wondered whether her fire spell had given her position away. There was no way that that boulder had been accidental because the Yrantans didn't get to heavily outnumber them and be super lucky. That just wasn't fair!

Still, Arden did not have much time to think on the matter before she was practically throwing herself to the side in an attempt to get to safety. It all happened so fast that she didn't have time to call for her, she only had time to react.

 

[ArcticFox]

She was fast enough to jump clear of the rubble. All that horseback riding and lurking around enemy territories proved useful. Still, the hole in the wall was spreading fast and she felt her foot slip on a loses stone. Someone grabbed her by the shoulder as soon as she jumped away from the hole, steadying her and keeping her from falling to the ground far below.

It was General Aldo - he strained for a moment longer before several other soldiers were able to grab hold of the two of them. They pull them both back up to safety.

"Damn it!" General Aldo exclaimed, pointing down at a concentrated clump of enemy soldiers. They had a large battering ram on wheels and they were moving it quickly toward the front gate.

"That thing will smash down our portcullis in a few swings unless you can stop it." The general said.

- Call for cavalry to ride out and destroy it.
- Place more archers above the gate and shoot it down.
- Cast your fire spell on them.
- Use your Staff of lightning.

 

[Yokai]

》Use your Staff of Lightning.

Arden survived the boulder through some semblance of luck, and with more than a little help from General Aldo and his soldiers. Her quiet breath of thanks was lost to the winds because they now stared down at a new threat that had emerged from the hoard. Honestly, she didn't even know what a portcullis was but she figured Aldo meant that they were going to knock down that big ol' front door they had.

"Guess it's your time to shine, Watson my love." Arden said to the silent staff in her hands. She'd carried him for so long now that she'd almost forgotten he was magical. Maybe she should have saved him for a bigger battle but right now the pressing concern was stopping the enemy from breaking through their walls.

Arden took a deep breath, ignored her pricklings of fear -- this wasn't the time to be afraid of a little lightning, she couldn't afford to be afraid of her own magic anymore -- and cast out a large storm. The lightning intending to strike down the battering ram that was headed their way.

 

[ArcticFox]

She waved the staff over her head and the clouds swirled and darkened. She brought it down a powerful swing pointing it at the target. The peal of thunder filled the air and the lightning struck where she aimed. Unfortunately, just before it hit the ram, the lightning faded away.

Arden realised immediately that it must be the magical apple Emperor Cassius still had. He had directed the magic-nullifying force, keeping the ram safe from her magic, which meant that he was somewhere close.

- Call for cavalry to ride out and destroy it.
- Place more archers above the gate and shoot it down.
- Call for Nightwing, risking him getting injured.

 

[Yokai]

》Place more archers above the gate and shoot it down.

No!

"The Emperor must be close by," Arden informed the General, feeling surprisingly furious and cheated. That meant Watson's attack was fruitless and she could not rely on the staff for the rest of the battle. What an entirely useless endeavor. Arden debated throwing the staff away but ultimately decided against it. Watson was good company whether he was useful or not.

Pushing her anger aside she focused on the battle at hand. They needed to halt the progress of the battering ram but sending out a troop of calvary was basically assured suicide at this point. Archers did not have a guarantee of bringing down the ram before it broke down the gate either. In fact, she doubted it would work at all.

"Get the archers over the gate and bring that thing down!" Well, it wasn't like she had a better plan.

 

[ArcticFox]

The general was very nervous about this plan. It was true that it would be safer for the defenders to stay on the wall, but if the ram wasn't destroyed and the gate was smashed open, Blackcliffe would fall.

"Okay, yes." General Aldo agreed after only a short pause.

Arrows flew and the soldiers carrying the ram begun to die. The high concentration of archers in conjunction with the pots of boiling oil being poured down from above slowed the ram considerably. The enemy troops only got a few strikes against the portcullis as soldiers holding spears stabbed their weapons through the bars.

The Yrantans dropped the ram into the mud and retreated before the portcullis was destroyed. The Blackcliffe soldiers on the wall cheered as the enemy troops hurried back to their own camp. Many of the Yrantans escaped with their lives, but it was worth it, since there were no Blackcliffe fatalities at all. Without anything to hold the large ram, the enormous wooden log was useless, the front gate was safe.

The Yrantans retreated for the day.

- Go home to rest.
- Look for Kogan.
- Look for someone else.

 

[Yokai]

》Look for Kogan.

It seemed that they had survived yet another day. Blackcliffe was still standing and, even better; nobody had died! That was all Arden could have really asked for and the subsequent exhaustion made her lean heavily against her staff. She really shouldn't be allowed to make big decisions; not that she didn't enjoy giving orders but when lives were on the line it stopped being fun.

Arden reached out to pat General Aldo's shoulder as she passed by on her way towards the gathered infantry. Talking to somebody who was alive and normal -- and not looking at her like she was going to win them this war -- would be nice right about now. Kogan was naturally her preferred choice.