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As much as I’d have liked to revel in how well that shield worked, I could still feel the energy building from the boats. The simmer thickened the air, and I felt the churning, volatile nature of black magic. I had to stop it if I didn't want our forces to be completely overtaken.
I ran across the roof and jumped to the next one, then the next one, putting me as close to the lip of the residential area of the city as I could. I longed to run to the docks, but I feared what losing my vantage point would do for my ability to target the enemy magic users.
Gripping my magic, yet again, I urged it into another protective shape. I knew the magic users had to be on guard for me now, but I hoped the distance would do me good, that they would think it was just a one-off enchantment or a ruin spell carved into the ground that couldn't be activated again.
I concentrated on that invisible feeling that was far too easy to fall into, then I yanked on my magic and pushed it out of me, but instead of a line across the beach, I instead made a series of crescents, curving around the front of each boat just a few feet away from the bows of their stupid warships.
I tried to pull the color out of my shields to make them as much of a surprise as possible, and it must have worked, because a fireball and a streak of lightning slammed into it, reverberating through me. Not painfully, but just enough to let me know that they were there.
It was satisfying to watch the magic users either recoil or begin to look around for where the shield could be coming from. Although my distance was certainly an extra challenge, it also proved to be my advantage. They’d be able to sense my magic and figure out my location soon enough, but every moment of anonymity was an opportunity.
More spells hit my barriers, bouncing off in different directions, but none of them went toward the Blath fighters. I saw Darla getting ever closer in the corner of my eye, but it wasn’t quite enough, given that she hadn’t stopped and tucked herself somewhere safe yet.
I let my shields drop, and it did send a ripple of amusement through me to see the magic users below react with mild confusion, some of their necks craning this way and that, as if they didn’t quite believe what they were sensing. Good. If I wanted to make a difference in this battle, I needed to constantly change how I was defending my fellow soldiers. It was the only way I would be effective for more than a few moments. As long as my brain could cook up something new, I would find a way to switch up my defense and keep them on their toes.
A second or two after the enemy magic users sensed my shields were gone, they refocused their energy on my allies, and on aiming at my mate. Darla was still moving, so it was on me to mitigate any damage.
Once more, I threw out my shields, but I also changed how they worked. Instead of forming solid walls or little circular scoops in front of the boats, I cast the widest curve I could, like a slide on a child's playground. But instead of going straight down as one would hope, this went up, up, up, and curved behind the ships.
I had no idea if it would work, but my hope was that their spells would glide along the gentle curve of my magic, trying to find a weakness, before erupting right out the other end, straight at their awaiting backsides.
I didn't have to wait long before several of their spells cut through the air. As I suspected, most dissolved into nothing or exploded into hot pockets of magic the moment they contacted my shields. But a few of them, a select few, angrily traveled up the curve of my impromptu loop de loop, only to come rocketing out the other end at the enemy spellcaster’s backs.
Most jumped out of the way, but that was the key word: most. The few that didn't suddenly found themselves affected by the spells that slammed into their backs or their sides as they turned.
It was difficult not to pump my fist, but I reminded myself that actual victory was far off. Still, at least two of the magic users were now on fire and sprinting toward the edge of the boat to dive into the water.
Three down, far too many to go.
In a bout of fortune I certainly hadn't expected, there were a few of the spellcasters who didn't realize what had happened and followed up with their own attacks immediately after the initial volleys were released. Exactly like the first round, a majority of them disappeared into the ether, but a handful made it all the way through my impossible curve of magic.
The groups on the boat erupted into what looked like some agitated screaming from where I was standing. I had no doubt the more focused soldiers were yelling at those who’d stupidly fired the second time, but I used their ardor toward each other to again travel to a different roof a little farther along. By the time I scrambled into place, I saw that Darla had finally stopped, tucked between a pillar below the dock that went down into the water and an outcropping of rock with sand all around the bottom.
This time, I guided my magic into a different shape and gently sent it over to my friend. I made sure it wrapped around her softly, and I echoed that same shimmering type of enchantment I saw the fae use. It wasn't identical, but it was definitely akin to it, and a moment later, I envisioned a blank beach where she stood.
She was still quite visible to me, yet I could tell that my spell had taken hold, and whoever was on the other side wouldn't be able to see her. I was under no errant impression that everyone would be fooled, considering how I wasn’t that practiced in illusory magic. But what mattered was that the majority were indeed hoodwinked if they didn’t look too closely. The last thing I wanted was for one of them to be able to notice her bright Blath-supplied clothing and turn their attention toward her.
I had no idea if Darla sensed my support or not, but I did know the instant she tried to use her influence, because one moment the closest two boats were still at the edge of the water, the next, they were lurching backward at full speed.
I was no ship engineer, but I had a rather good idea they were not supposed to be reversing in the water that quickly. That had to be Darla.
I grinned like a madman as both ships turned, the magic users at the front scrambling or trying to hold onto things, shouting once more, then went straight forward into the two boats closest to them.
It was a catastrophe! Wood flew everywhere, the other boat’s engines rearing to life as they tried to figure out if they were under attack or not. But I relished the chaos, knowing we were helping the frontlines.
Speaking of the frontlines, it was time to join them, or at least get closer. While Darla could only do so much within her range, she’d bought me enough time to at least help a little bit before I had to concentrate on the magic users once again.
Although my last experience shifting into my wolf form had been far from pleasant, I let myself slip into my animal body and jumped down from the roof onto a closer balcony, and then to the ground.
I didn't quite make it to the beach before I popped back into my humanoid form, but I was far closer. My stomach roiled at the quick shift, but I had a reason for the rushed transition. That was because I saw a group of five or so Blath citizens, only two of them with actual weapons, trying to bring down a minotaur.
Those particular cryptids were powerhouses, difficult for even a pack of wolf shifters to take down: tall, strong, and intelligent, not to mention brainwashed by generations of loyalty to the Vekan crown. While they didn't have long distance magic, sharp teeth, or claws, they often boasted melee weapons that could cleave straight through a human and plenty of different types of cryptids.
So, while the group of Blath warriors had done well by surrounding the minotaur, it was clear they were not prepared for when the cryptid swung his oversized axe in a circle, forcing them to dive out of the way or get bisected.
There was one other advantage minotaurs had over many other types of cryptids, and it was that mental, illusionary, or emotional spells didn't work on them. Only physical spells did the trick: fireballs, electric shocks, or blasts of acid. A minotaur could take a whole lot of damage before getting forced to retreat, let alone knocked unconscious.
I knew I didn't have time to physically take it on, and even if I threw a dozen fireballs, that wasn't guaranteed to bring it down.
