All their plans for the gorge—the hidden tunnels, the rockslides, The Rat Hag's subterranean forces—all of it was now useless.
Black Cloud pointed at the retreating convoy. "Brother Marsh, unleash the thickest fog you can. If the fifty Legendary Archers can't see, they are blind, and no threat to us."
He pounded his chest. "My warriors will handle the direct assault. You need only provide cover."
"You Fiends are insane," Roric Marsh spat, but he vanished into the woods. The sound of croaking frogs intensified.
"Brother Corvus," Black Cloud ordered, "prepare your flyers. Once the roads are blocked, you strike."
Corvus grunted and disappeared.
Finally, Black Cloud turned to The Rat Hag. "Corvus's forces will hit them in waves. After the tenth wave, your ground troops will swarm them."
The old hag said nothing, simply melting away into the shadows.
BOOM...
In the lead carriage, now the rear, the three commanders exchanged a look. The sound of a massive rockslide had echoed from the direction of The Seven-Mile Gorge.
"They've cut off our advance," Agent Kaelus said grimly.
"If they've blocked the way forward," Master Jiang added, his hand already on his bow, "they will block our retreat. They're making their move." He was out of the carriage in a flash.
Kaelus followed, and the two of them leaped onto the roof of the carriage, scanning the unnaturally thick fog.
Moments later, a rider galloped back from the front of the column. "Commander! The road ahead is blocked! A landslide!"
Just as we expected. Kaelus and Jiang shared a look.
The convoy ground to a halt. Men were sent to clear the rubble, but it was a futile gesture. The enemy could trigger another slide at any moment.
"Signal the archers," Master Jiang ordered a subordinate. "Target: the surrounding woods. Fire arrows. Full draw. Ten volleys."
"Yes, master!"
"Master Jiang, what are you doing?" Kaelus demanded.
"I'm burning this forest to the ground," the old archer said, his voice flat.
"Are you mad?" Kaelus hissed. "An uncontrolled fire in the Wastes could be catastrophic! And if it spreads beyond the Sacred Boundary Pact, not even the Guild can protect you!"
"I am a soldier, boy. I care about victory, not consequences. The enemy is all around us. Let's see how they like fighting in a furnace."
The fog was now so thick that visibility was less than thirty feet.
Suddenly, a series of whooshing sounds cut through the air. From his cage, Elias saw streaks of fire arcing from the convoy into the mist.
From above, it was a spectacular sight: dozens of flaming projectiles piercing the fog like fireworks, landing in a wide circle around the trapped column.
Where they landed, they ignited instantly.
From their treetop perch, Black Cloud and White Orchid watched in horror as fire arrows rained down, some streaking past their heads. "What are they doing?" White Orchid cried.
"They're trying to burn us out," Black Cloud snarled, his face contorted in a mask of rage. "The lunatics!"
Fire was the ultimate terror for any creature of the forest. Soon, a thousand small blazes dotted the landscape, their orange glow eerily diffused by the thick fog.
On the carriage roof, Master Jiang raised his hand. An archer beside him let loose a piercing whistling arrow.
In response, the Legendary Archers scattered, melting into the woods, climbing trees, their bows drawn, their eyes fixed on the glowing fires in the mist.
One of them, perched high in the canopy, glimpsed something above the fog—a squadron of dark shapes circling in the sky.
had no idea what they were, but he knew it was wrong. He leaped from the tree, scrambling to get back and report.
He never made it.
High above, a hundred giant eagles, each with a wingspan of nearly twenty feet, began to circle. At a silent command, they released the rope nets clutched in their talons.
The nets opened, and the stones—five or six heavy boulders per net—came hurtling down.
The sky began to scream.
Master Jiang and Agent Kaelus looked up, their faces pale. They could see nothing through the fog.
The archer who had seen the eagles was still running when a shadow fell over him. He looked up, and the world exploded.
BOOM!
A boulder, falling from that height, hit with the force of a catapult. The ground shook. Horses screamed. Even a warrior of the Knight Tier, caught unaware, was instantly obliterated.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The barrage was relentless. The earth trembled under the constant impacts.
Master Jiang raised his Wyrmwood Bow, the Rainbow Silk string glowing as he drew it back. He fired straight up.
CRACK! A boulder exploded in the mist above them, raining down a shower of deadly shrapnel. Kaelus, with a wave of his hand, created a kinetic shield that deflected the fragments.
"What's happening?" Commander Favian yelled, scrambling out of the carriage.
The words had barely left his mouth when one of the terrified horses beside him simply… vanished.
One moment it was there, the next it was a red mist and a shower of gore that splattered across the Commander's face.
Kaelus grabbed him, leaped from the carriage, and dragged him to the relative safety of a large tree.
Master Jiang, meanwhile, launched himself from the rocking carriage roof, soaring a hundred feet into the air.
He burst through the top of the fog layer and saw them—the eagles, circling at an altitude just beyond his maximum range. With a roar of fury, he loosed a volley of three arrows, a futile gesture of defiance.
The convoy dissolved into chaos.
Soldiers broke ranks, screaming, scrambling for cover. Squires, who had never imagined such horror, ran blindly, their cries lost in the thunderous impacts. Horses, mad with terror, trampled men and carriages alike.
BOOM!
Elias was thrown against the bars of his cage as a boulder struck their carriage. The world went white. His ears rang. The carriage splintered, the wheels shattered, and the entire structure collapsed onto the road.
The iron cage, though dented and twisted, held. The terrified horses, freed from their burden, bolted.
His head spinning, Elias struggled to his feet. He saw the Guild guard, the one who had locked them in, hesitating outside.
"The key!" Elias screamed, his hand outstretched. "Open the door! Let us out!"
The guard's eyes met his. He glanced at the carnage around them, a look of grim resolve on his face. He turned and ran.
Elias was about to curse the man's name to the heavens when he saw it—a dark shadow falling from the sky. The guard looked up, his face a mask of terror.
BOOM!
The man was gone. Just a red smear on the muddy ground.
Elias stared, speechless. He slowly retracted his hand. Yelling was pointless now. The key was gone. They were trapped.