Chương 434: 464 - Earth and Sky I

Maia collapsed into bed next to Leon, a sigh of satisfaction escaping from her lips. Both she and Leon were in his relatively small bedroom in the leading ship of the fleet doing their best to make up for every second they'd lost when they'd been apart. When they were alone, clothes came off and they practically glued themselves together. Now, they lay in bed basking in the afterglow.

"I… I love you," Leon whispered as he tried and failed to steady his breathing. Even for mages of their power, they'd gone so hard at each other that they both needed a few seconds to catch their breath. Maia giggled softly, cuddled up closer to him, and responded in a voice as light and melodic as a wind chime, "I… love you, too… Leon…" The two were silent for a long moment after their shared declaration, unable to form any more words, simply enjoying each other's company.

It was almost five minutes before Maia spoke again, and this time her breathing had steadied, though she continued to press her well-endowed figure into Leon, unwilling to separate from him in the slightest.

"How much longer until we arrive?" Understanding what she was asking for as she had asked this same question at least once a day since they'd set off from the Gulf coast almost two weeks prior, Leon answered, "We'd reach the capital in a few days if Calabria wasn't in the way. As it is now, we'll get to Calabria tomorrow. We'll probably have to take the city, but with us, I can't imagine that'll take longer than a day, but then we'll wait for the rest of the fleets to catch up.

Shouldn't take much longer than a week for that to happen. After that, we'll move on to the capital. So, it'll be about a week and a half at the earliest before we'll be able to see Elise again."

"That's not soon enough…" Maia complained, but Leon didn't think she was being overly serious. They'd both agreed to move with the fleets just in case anything unexpected got in their way. Neither had seen Elise in almost half a year, but as much as they wanted to reunite with their fire-haired lover, they'd both agreed that doing something reckless and getting themselves injured, killed, or captured in an attempt to see her sooner was counter-productive.

Better to be cautious and reunite properly and permanently rather than doing something stupid and having to leave again—assuming they managed to see her at all.

"I understand your impatience, every fiber of my being wants to be with her again, too," Leon said, slowly running one of his hands through Maia's light brown hair.

"We'll get to be with her soon, though. Just a little bit longer." Maia began to sensually stretch her body out, intentionally rubbing her body up against Leon's as much as she could.

"Anyone who gets in our way will wish they hadn't…" she said as she gave Leon a predatory smile. Leon was almost concerned about the implications of that smile until he saw the look in Maia's eyes. He saw no violence there, only heat and desire, and he realized that that smile wasn't her looking forward to violence, but rather something else entirely.

Knowing that their break was over, the hand that Leon had been using to hold Maia close against him drifted downward, stroking her back all the way down to her shapely rear. Once there, Leon grabbed ahold of her and flipped her over onto her back. Maia gasped in delight and wrapped her long bronze legs around Leon's waist, ensuring that they stayed locked together.

With a provocative smile, Leon leaned back onto his knees, pulling as far away as Maia would allow, then set his hands upon her breasts, stroking and kneading, lightly flicking her nipples. Maia moaned with pleasure and desire, but as Leon began to lean back in, aiming to seal her lips with his, they both suddenly froze as a wave of magic power washed the ship.

Both irritated that they had been interrupted by someone using their magic senses again, they were on their feet in but an instant, clothing appearing over their bodies so quickly it was almost as if they hadn't been naked in the first place. They knew that what they had felt was no friendly aura, it was the magic senses of a powerful mage, at least seventh-tier, and within that power, they could feel a potent killing intent—whoever had been the source of that power was no friend of theirs.

A moment later, alarms began to ring out on the ship, loud high-pitched squeals created by magic that began to wake the entire ship from slumber—it was almost midnight, so most of the crew had been asleep. Now, the ship began to rock as sailors, marines, and soldiers began to spring from their sleeping arrangements and prepare themselves for battle. Leon and Maia simultaneously projected their magic senses. Their waves of power rushed up the river, without the smallest stone on the shore going unnoticed.

They saw nothing of note for several miles—the landscape was relatively hilly and well-forested—until their magic senses caught up to the scout ships that sailed ahead of the main fleet. These ships consisted of three war galleys and a dozen other smaller boats well-suited to riverine warfare. And all these ships were burning.

A long stone bridge had been built across the river, similar to the one that Leon and August had used to escape the Central Territories at the start of the war, but that one was much farther north if it even still existed. It spanned the entire river, its arched supports allowing the river to continue flowing beneath it while rising above the water like a stone wall, ready to block the passage of the fleet.

On that bridge Leon and Maia could see hundreds of knights waiting for them, watching the scout ships burn and sink into the deep river. Nowhere could either of them see the mage that had sent out that pulse of magic power. The knights on the bridge were led by a couple of sixth-tier mages, but the rest were much weaker—none of them had the power to startle Leon or Maia as they had been by that pulse.

Without missing a beat, the two darted out of Leon's room and out into the hall where a groggy Alix and relatively more alert Valeria were already poking their heads out of their doors.

"Wha's goin' on?" Alix mumbled in sleepy confusion.

"I don' hear us bein' attacked…"

"The forward scouts have been annihilated," Leon quickly informed them.

"We're heading up to the deck to prepare to defend this ship."

"Got it," Valeria said, conjuring her armor out of her soul realm. Leon found himself a little jealous—his armor was still heavily damaged, more than Legion blacksmiths could fix. He'd have to fight without armor until the capital was taken and he could get a Heaven's Eye smith to perform some repairs since the only other armor he had—consisting of cheap mail and gambeson—wasn't enchanted enough to be worth the light restrictions to his flexibility it would demand.

Alix was a little more sluggish getting ready, but in less than a minute, she was out in the hall with most of her lighter armor on and looking far more alert. Once the four were ready, they began sprinting up to the deck of the ship, stopping only once so Leon could release Anzu from his cell. Once they hurtled out from beneath the deck, they found dozens of marines already there ready to repel boarders and preparing some of the ship's weapons, which amounted to a single trebuchet and a pair of mangonels.

The ship was large enough to carry a crew of hundreds—bumped up to about fifteen hundred with many Legion soldiers hitching a ride—but it still wasn't large enough to have its own Flame Lance. Those were reserved for the dreadnoughts, the fleet capital ships, which were too massive to sail the same route that Leon's detached fleet had taken.

Fortunately, Leon could see the rest of the ships in the fleet—numbering a little over a hundred—preparing their own weapons, though that mostly amounted to marine archers and rams.

"Get into the water, I'll keep in touch from there," Leon whispered to Maia, who nodded back and in a flash was over the side of the ship and in the river. Since she'd returned, Leon had taken some old advice from Xaphan and asked her to teach him her ability to speak into other people's minds. Xaphan himself was reluctant to do so, citing Leon's 'lack of power', which Leon took issue with. Maia, however, was only too happy to teach Leon what she knew.

He hadn't managed to get a good hold of the technique, yet, but thanks to their bond after she told him her true name, it made things between them a little easier to make up for his lack of skill.

"What should we do?" Valeria asked. Leon glanced around, noting that there didn't seem to be any enemies on the riverbanks. They were all concentrated further upriver, at the stone bridge.

"Wait here, I'm going to check in with the Legate," Leon replied. He had been given command of the mission by August, but he knew next to nothing about ship warfare, so he was more than happy that a fleet Legate had been sent to command the ships of the fleet. The ship's bridge was located in a tower near the center of the top deck, about four stories high. It wasn't a wind-powered ship, leaving no need for a mast, unlike many of the war galleys that accompanied them.

In a single bound, Leon jumped from the deck of the ship all the way up the command tower and through the large observation windows of the bridge, taking advantage of the fact that they hadn't yet been closed.

"Sir Ursus!" the Legate cried out in alarm as Leon appeared, landing among the bridge crew.

"Do you know what's happening?" Leon asked.

"I have a good idea…" the Legate replied. The two quickly caught each other up on what they knew. Leon, as it turned out, had more information, and didn't learn much from the Legate.

"… but who sent that wave of magic senses?" the Legate asked as their explanations finished.

"And why would they do that? They tipped their hand and showed us what was ahead…"

"Whoever it was, I think they may have wanted to draw our attention to that bridge," Leon said.

"Regardless, they were powerful, at least seventh-tier. Given the presence of that bridge and the power I sensed in that pulse of magic senses, I think we may be dealing with the Earthshaker Paladin. And if we're unlucky, then Sapphire might be here, too." Leon could hear several of the younger knights working on the bridge fail to suppress gasps of fear, and the expressions of many of the older knights grow far more serious.

"We need to be ready for an attack from either side of the river the entire way north," Leon continued.

"You're saying that this is a trap, meant to lure us further upriver where they have an ambush party waiting?" the Legate asked, before nodding to himself a moment later in agreement.

"We have nowhere else to go, there aren't any other river tributaries of note between us and that bridge, none that we can use to go around it. If we want to proceed, we're going to have to go through that bridge, and that means they could ambush us anywhere between here and there." Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

"I could see Earthshaker building another bridge south of us to lock us in if we overcommit to this…" Leon mused aloud.

"If our ships get boxed in, we might take too many casualties to take Calabria… We could even lose the entire fleet in the worst-case scenario…"

"We do have options, though," the Legate said.

"We have an entire Legion spread out among our ships and no reason not to let them off…"

"I like that thinking," Leon said, smiling. He could think of nothing better than fighting with solid ground under his feet, though he wanted to stick close to the river where Maia could cover him.

"We let off a few thousand soldiers on either side of the river, leave a few ships behind to cover our rear, and then make for that bridge!" The fleet had land support from the noble retinues that had shadowed them from the coast, but the nobles were eventually forced to take other routes. The land around the Naga was just too swampy for them to keep up with the ships, so they'd peeled off to take some backroads north.

The fleet wasn't slowed down by them, but it also meant they couldn't provide the fleet with support from the riverbank.

"Sounds like a plan," the Legate replied.

"Sir Ursus, if you could stick with us here on this ship, I think that would be for the best."

"Huh?" Leon was surprised to hear that. He wasn't keen on fighting on the ship, even one as large and steady as this one was. He was already having to constantly use the old technique that Xaphan had taught him to stave off motion-sickness, he wasn't looking forward to trying to maintain it and fight at the same time.

"I guarantee that this ship will be at the center of whatever engagement is going to happen," the Legate explained.

"Whoever is leading this attack will almost certainly strike here. Sir Leon, we're going to need a mage of your caliber here with us, if only to lead the assault on that bridge if I'm wrong." Leon suppressed his urge to grimace, but he could see many of the bridge officers subtly glancing in his direction, anxiety written all over their faces. He didn't like it, but… he couldn't abandon these people.

The Legion he was traveling with was an experienced eastern Legion, he could trust them to do their jobs once on the riverbank. The Legion fleets, however, were far less experienced, and he could see the need to have a powerful mage backing them up. Or, more accurately, leading them.

"I… can do that." Leon carefully controlled his tone to project nothing but confidence, smothering any and all disappointment he felt in agreeing.

"Thank you," the Legate said with a strange smile. Or one that Leon found strange, at least. It seemed far more genuine than those he usually received from nobles and higher-ranked Legion knights, and it unnerved him a bit. But it also gave a warm feeling in his chest that Leon couldn't identify. Perhaps the joy of acceptance? He couldn't say. Regardless, he said, "I'll be down on the deck, I'll leave the rest to you."

"Yes, Sir," the Legate replied, only a moment later barking orders to signal the plan to the rest of the fleet. In only a matter of seconds, Leon was back on the deck and had Valeria and Alix caught up on the plan, but they weren't the only ones who needed to know. He directed his thoughts toward Maia, toward his river nymph lover, letting thoughts of her fill his mind. He could feel her location on the ship's right, even with her as intangible water.

He then projected his magic towards her, not as magic senses, but in a pulse that wasn't too dissimilar. Rather than projecting his awareness, it was his voice and his feelings that he was sending. He could feel his bond with her resonating, aiding him in his wish to communicate with her. [Maia… can you hear me?] he silently whispered, hoping that he did everything right. [I can hear you,] she whispered back, her voice filling his mind and steadying his heart.

Leon smiled at his success, then gave her the plan, too. [… so be ready, this ship will be the first to make contact with the enemy.] [It doesn't have to be like that,] she replied. [I could be the first to make contact…] Leon was hesitant to agree, he didn't want to rely on her for everything, but as he looked around at the assembling soldiers and marines, he set aside his pride. [Go do some damage, my love,] he said. [But be careful. Come back to me uninjured.] [I should be saying that to you, my mate,] she replied, relishing the title she used for him. And then she was off, rocketing upriver, literally in her element. Leon almost felt sorry for the knights that were holding that bridge, they had no idea what was about to crash into them. Maia swiftly left the slower and more cumbersome ship behind, but the fleet followed her with as much haste as they could. About five minutes later, though, the ship suddenly and violently shook as if it had run aground.

The water of the river surged up, buffeting the ship and crashing up onto the deck. Half of the marines and most of the soldiers on the deck fell over, some who were too close to the edge even going overboard.

"What the fuck?!" Alix shouted as she hit the deck. Valeria barely managed to keep on her feet, but from the way she was glancing around in panic, Leon could see Alix's sentiment mirrored in her. With a quick pulse of his magic senses, Leon saw the issue: a massive stone wall had erupted from the riverbed and crashed into the underside of the ship. The ship was too sturdy to take too much damage, but Leon could see that many of the lower compartments had been breached and the ship had been halted in place.

A moment later, Leon saw knights and men-at-arms appearing on either side of the wide river, rushing down from the cover of the trees to the riverbanks. The bridge continued to rise, pushing the stem of the ship higher into the air, until the ship began to slide backward, its magic engines failing to push it over the bridge. It took only a few seconds for the bridge to rise above the water, giving the Octavian knights on the shore more than enough opportunity to attack the ship.

"ARCHERS!" Leon roared, his aura towering and his voice commanding and authoritative.

"ON YOUR FEET AND GET SHOOTING!" His command was obeyed without complaint. Hundreds of archers began to shoot down at the advancing tide of knights and men-at-arms. Unfortunately, these men and women attacking the ship were well-armored, and few fell to the hail of arrows. The mangonels and trebuchets had a little more effect, hurling exploding stones that killed many and hurled even more into the river, but the Octavian forces continued, undaunted.

Before they even reached the halfway point, Leon's gaze slid back up to the tree line where he could see many more knights carrying small boats down to the river. They weren't going to rely only on the bridge to reach the fleet. Behind Leon's ship, the rest of the fleet began to react, firing arrows and their own ship-borne weapons, but having only marginal effect due to their range.

Leon could see even more Octavian forces down the river were appearing upon the nearby hills and were hastening down toward those ships, too. However, Leon couldn't spare them any more thoughts, for a moment later, a huge pillar of stone erupted from the riverbed right next to the ship, carrying several dark figures several dozen feet above the deck. Leon's expression darkened.

His hunch was at least partially correct, for he recognized the foremost of those people: the Earthshaker Paladin, his blond hair shining in the moonlight, his classically handsome features shaped into an arrogant smile as if everything on the deck beneath him was also beneath him. The expression alone was enough to make Leon instinctively want to take the Paladin's head. The Paladin wore the gleaming white plate armor of his station, but in his arrogance, he'd left his head bare.

He and his companions had been hiding under the river the entire time, though how they escaped Maia's notice Leon had no idea. Regardless, here they were. Leon's eyes slid off Earthshaker for a moment and landed upon his allies. He recognized most of them as the nobles who abandoned August, though he had no idea what their names were.

'Damn traitors…' Leon thought, feeling a slight ironic thrill at his use of the term. [Maia,] he said, projecting his voice to his river nymph lover. He could sense that she was building up for a massive attack on the Octavian forces holding the bridge. From what he could tell, the sturdy stone bridge was about to be washed away as if it were made of twigs. [Leon,] she said back. [We're being attacked here. No need to worry, keep going, but keep an eye out for another seventh-tier mage, a user of water magic.] [I can't imagine this other mage would provide anything resembling a challenge, so if you're in trouble, don't hesitate to call, I'll be there in only a moment.] Maia's voice was tinged with concern for him, but Leon wasn't worried at all right now. [I can handle this. Don't worry, I won't be prideful if I end up biting off more than I can chew. If things turn bad, I'll call for you.] [You'd better…] Maia whispered as she let loose with her power upon the unsuspecting Octavian bridge force.

Leon wanted to watch, but he had other things to deal with, so he turned his attention back to his ship and its immediate surroundings. During their brief exchange, Earthshaker's stone pillar stopped rising and the Paladin and his people jumped down, crashing onto the deck of Leon's ship.

An instant later, Earthshaker threw a pair of fist-sized stones into the air, which promptly exploded, showering the surroundings with stony shrapnel and killing a handful of the Legion soldiers and marines who the Paladin had landed amongst.

"LEON URSUS!" he bellowed, conjuring a halberd from his soul realm and pointing it directly at Leon.

"COME FIGHT ME, 'BARBARIAN'!" Leon was only too happy to accept this challenge, but he took a moment to address his retinue, first.

"Deal with the others as you see fit," he growled as lightning magic filled his body.

"We've got your back!" Alix vigorously declared, drawing her sword and moving to engage one of Earthshaker's nobles. Valeria and Anzu did likewise, as did several Tribunes who were also on the deck. Earthshaker was unable to come to the defense of his allies, for in the blink of an eye, Leon appeared in front of him, his Adamant weapon already raised and falling down on him, the blade sparking with golden lightning.

The Paladin raised his halberd and just barely managed to block, though the force behind the blow forced him down to a knee. A few small bolts of lightning arced off the blade and sent root-like burns snaking along the plate covering the Paladin's arms, but he didn't seem to care. He dug his heels into the wooden deck and pushed, using the considerable physical strength that his earth magic granted him to force Leon back, their weapons locking together.

"That was weak!" Earthshaker taunted, his handsome face twisted in a mocking smile.

"I expected more from a member of House Raime!" Leon immediately disengaged, his surprise momentarily sapping his strength. Earthshaker cackled like a madman as Leon gained some distance, the rest of the Augustine troops on the deck making way and giving the two dueling Paladin-level mages as much room as they needed to fight.

"And now… you run!" Earthshaker shouted in between guffaws.

"I can't imagine my information is correct! How can this savage be the heir to House Raime?! No, you're nothing more than a foreign upstart, a nobody! Your magic means nothing! Your blood is weak and ignoble!" As the Paladin ranted, Leon conjured a lightning spear in his offhand and hurled it at him.

For a moment, it seemed like Earthshaker was about to try and take it, but at the last possible moment, the Paladin ducked and let the bolt fly right over his head and strike one of his comrades right behind him, killing the fourth-tier Octavian noble instantly. Earthshaker glanced over his shoulder, shrugged, and turned his attention back to Leon.

"Nice throw," he admitted.

"Now, savage, I will give you one chance to tell me where my father is, and if you do that, I won't sink your little toy fleet." Earthshaker stared at Leon, completely disregarding the screams and the clashing of blades and the dying all around him. The Octavian troops on the bridge had come close enough to drop ramps and board the ship and were already pouring out onto the deck despite the best efforts of the Augustine archers to stop them, but Earthshaker had eyes only for Leon.

Leon took a deep breath to steady himself. It seemed that the rumors started when he unleashed his power fighting Duke Duronius had spread. If that was the case, then there was no reason to hold back. He smiled and began to channel the power of the Thunderbird without restraint. His body began to sparkle and pop with lightning, the golden lightning turning into streaks of silver-blue as they forked all over him.

His aura grew to match his power, rising to reflect the divinity that he had inherited from his Ancestor. Within his soul realm, he could feel both Xaphan and the Thunderbird turning their attentions upon him as he, for the first time since he'd learned how to conceal his powers, consciously called upon his unfettered magic. [Embrace my power, Leon!] the Thunderbird suddenly implored, her voice echoing from every corner of his mind. [Defeat this man and prove yourself worthy to be the sole inheritor of my legacy! Hide no longer! Show these pathetic imbeciles the power of our Clan!!!] Leon disagreed with the idea that he had anything to prove, but this wasn't the time to respond. Thankfully, Xaphan's statement was a little more subdued, but only just. [I've got fifty-fifty odds on you fucking this up, boy,] he growled. [Personally, I think I'm going to bet on you coming out ahead.] [Thanks,] Leon replied sarcastically. Earthshaker had murdered Trajan, Leon wasn't going to let this opportunity pass him by.

Earthshaker was going to lose this fight. Leon could allow no other possibility to exist. To that end, he decided that he'd answer Earthshaker's demand in the only way that seemed appropriate. Leon let his power rush into his blade, causing innumerable arcs of silver-blue lightning to erupt from the blade, and charged.