Chapter 63: Chapter 61: Battle at the Camp

Regina had a hard time counting the attackers coming at them from the forest. Partly, that was because of the weather and the poor visibility it entailed. Some of them were also using magic or Skills. Besides the blue shield, which she was guessing or at least hoping would fade over time, someone pulled up clumps of earth and hurled them at the palisade. Others emitted brief flashes of light, shifting gusts of wind that didn’t quite get lost over the storm, and even rumbles in the ground.

Luckily, their palisade held pretty well. They’d driven the stakes deep into the mound of earth making up its base, and the Workers had used their melding ability to have them hold together. Regina heard parts of the palisade creaking, and it seemed like a section of it almost bent inwards because of the impact, but it held.

Her drones paused, then intensified their efforts. Regina sent another carefully aimed Firebolt. This time, she aimed for a group of two attackers away from the shield. They dodged and rolled, but she still managed to catch them with the backblast of the explosion, and one man visibly staggered when he got back to his feet.

Regina frowned. It looked like fire wasn’t going to work very well, given the weather. That was a shame, especially since fire and related things was one of her best weapons.

She’d had some time to prepare, knowing it was possible that an attack was coming. She was pretty confident that, while she probably hadn’t done nearly everything she could have, she was pretty much ready. Sure, some things might not work now. Still. Regina grinned at the approaching humans. She would take every one of them that walked away from this as a personal failure.

“Volley on my command!” Ben called out. He paused for a second, then. “Ready, set, fire!”

A hail of javelins and a few arrows rained down on the humans, catching a few of them. Not every projectile that hit, even outside the shield, actually did anything, since many of the attackers wore heavy armor or used Skills or other ways to protect themselves. Still, she saw at least two slow and one go down. And the shield began to fade.

But the cleared area around their palisade wasn’t large, and the attackers now started to reach it.

Regina set her feet, glancing down at herself one more time to check that she was ready. She wore pants, a shirt and a cloak, since she wouldn’t be able to fly, anyway. She carried a bag slung over her side and had her polearm in her left hand as a backup. It should be a good fit for defending herself, hopefully.

The humans were clearly stronger than they should have been. A few vaulted over the ditch before the wall in a single jump. When they tried to scramble up it, the drones met them with their blades.

Regina held back for now, watching and assessing the clash. She had the impression that their counterattacks had scrambled the humans’ charge, the surprise attack they’d obviously planned. But they rallied quickly. Then a soft sound from above, almost lost to the wind, made her remember they weren’t alone, and she looked up.

A small flock of birds circled down from the air above. A Magic Missile caught one of them in the center, completely unaffected by the wind or rain. The bird sank down faster until it apparently managed to right itself.

“Len, Lea, Zoe, up above!” Ben called out.

A pair of light javelins and an arrow quickly arched through the air, seeking out the birds. Two of them were hit, one in the wing and one in the body. Regina watched carefully, prepared to cast another Magic Missile or even a Firebolt. Luckily, it didn’t seem to be necessary. Another hail of projectiles rose up, this time much more poorly aimed, but large enough to make up for it. The group of War Drones Zoe had taken charge of, throwing spines from the Shooters, Regina confirmed with a glance.

Then a cry pulled her attention back to the wall around her. One of the drones was wounded. Ina, who’d been throwing stones, since they didn’t have enough proper weapons for everyone. Regina quickly hurried the few steps towards her and laid a hand on her shoulder, activating her healing Spell.

After she was done and stepped back towards her old position, she glanced at her mana.

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