The Turquoise Queen by Pedro Urvi (animal farm read TXT) 📕

immediately before the clash occurred, and realized that they were likely to lose because of poor positioning. In battle, formations and correct strategy were as important as courage and skill with weapons, if not more so.

“Line formation!” Sven ordered.

“In three lines!” Gatik added.

“Back into formation! Now!” Sven repeated.

The soldiers at the ends went obediently back to their positions, but the center of the lines was sheer chaos. The Specter was finishing off all the soldiers around it, either by freezing them alive or by stealing their souls and taking them with it to an abyss of terror they would never come back from, and which their faces would show forever.

“Stay in line!” Sven was still shouting. He knew this moment was crucial.

The Wild Ones, the Tundra Dwellers, the Arcanes of the Glaciers and the Semi-Giants roared at the tops of their voices and moved forward.

“Rangers, release!” Gatik ordered.

“Get away from the Specter! Keep the line!” Sven shouted to his own soldiers.

The Rangers tried to reach the Specter, but just as with the soldiers, their efforts were in vain. The arrows either went through the incorporeal areas of its body, or struck ice, but did no more than chip it.

“Use Elemental Fire arrows!” Gatik ordered. Water or Earth arrows would do nothing, but fire might be able to affect it, since it was partly ice.

The Rangers nocked fire arrows, aimed at the Specter and released. Each arrow produced a small explosion, followed by a flame. When several arrows struck it at the same time the burst of flame produced was enormous, and this was followed by another when the remaining arrows were fired. The Specter stopped and gave an abysmal screech, a mixture of rage and pain. Fire certainly seemed to affect it.

“More fire arrows!” Gatik insisted.

While the Rangers kept the Specter occupied, the Norghanian soldiers went back to their original formation. They managed to form into three lines to confront the enemy forces, which were coming upon them with deafening, icy shouts.

The Rangers went on releasing fire arrows, but although the explosions and flares of fire seemed to hurt the Specter, they could not succeed in making it burn. Its body was partly formed of ice, and the frost it was producing eventually put out the fire which covered the ice. They fired and fired until they had used up all their fire arrows.

“Use the Air Arrows!” Gatik ordered.

When the Rangers did so, the discharges hit the Specter with every arrow, so that once again it screeched with rage and pain. And yet, just as had happened with the fire arrows, they could not produce any significant effect on it.

“Release all your Elementals!” Gatik called. By now he was desperate.

The results this time were even worse. Arrows of Earth and Water had no effect on the being from the Frozen Continent.

Lasgol was watching Eicewald as he chanted more strongly, joined by the other Ice Magi. He could see them concentrating hard, eyes shut. He could barely feel his feet, which were freezing. He focused on keeping his arms up and holding fast to the Eternal Snowflake, which seemed on the point of bursting into a thousand crystal shards, so intense was its radiance now.

The Norghanian soldiers and the enemy line crashed together with an impact of steel and wood. A moment later, amid deafening cries and brutal blows, steel and wood met flesh. The fight between the two armies resembled the clash of two herds of stampeding wild horses. Meanwhile, in the center, the Specter was once again unstoppable, wreaking havoc among the Norghanians.

In the front line the Norghanian soldiers delivered blows with their axes from behind their shields. The Wild Ones, bigger and stronger, were not afraid of them and in many cases overcame them by brute strength. In others, the skill and training of the soldiers enabled them to overcome their opponents. The Dwellers hurled their javelins against the Norghanian lines as one, and though the soldiers tried to protect themselves with their shields, many fell dead or wounded. Those who were not hit hurled themselves at the Dwellers, who now felt the fury of the Norghanian infantry.

The fighting between the two sides became fiercer with every slash, every sword-stroke, every accurate shot. The Peoples of the Frozen Continent fought with greater strength and brutality, while the Norghanians had more military understanding, better training and greater skill with weapons. The Semi-Giants were a brute force of Nature. With a single blow of their colossal axes and clubs, they could kill two or even three Norghanian soldiers. The soldiers did their best to evade the blows and went for their colossal opponents’ legs, seeking to fell them as if they were huge trees. Only when they fell to the ground could they jump on them and kill them.

The Arcanes of the Glaciers had stayed a little behind, conjuring powerful spells from the Frozen Continent. These confused the Norghanian soldiers’ minds. Some were left stunned, as if they had been hit on the head and did not know where they were. Others fell asleep on the spot under the influence of a powerful spell which made it impossible for them to stay awake even in the midst of a brutal battle. But the worst of all was when the Arcanes managed to dominate the soldiers, who then turned against their own comrades. The ones being attacked did not know what to do. They did not want to kill their own comrades, and yet if they did not manage to stop them, they would lose their own lives,

Gatik realized this. “Kill the Arcanes!” he ordered his Rangers. “Don’t let them cast spells on our men!”

With their great marksmanship The Royal Rangers managed to kill the closest group. When the Shamans saw this, they protected their own people with spells of protection against attacks with piercing weapons.