AK - The Alchemy Kingdom

Tael woke up with a splitting headache, barely processing what was happening around him. He tried to stand up but realized he was tied. After failing to rip the vines off, he started to focus on his surroundings. Strangely, he couldn’t remember what happened before he lost conscience, but his current situation was self-explanatory. He counted five soldiers also tied around him, though there could be more outside of his sight’s reach.

While the archer went through ideas of how they could survive and escape, one of the soldiers on his right woke up and started to scream. Tael was ready to calm down the man when he saw what was scaring him. A glowing humanoid being was approaching them. The creature had the common features of Humans. Maybe its nose was thinner and its fingers longer than one might expect, but not to a level that would classify it as non-Human. However, its glowing skin told them that it wasn’t Human.

Although Tael was also scared, it was mostly due to his current situation and less because of the other party’s appearance, after all, they lived in a world of many races, and he wouldn’t be the one to judge others based on looks. So, he was able to stay calm and analyze the scene as objectively as his predicament allowed.

Fortunately, the shining being didn’t seem to care about the soldier’s reaction. The others woke up from the commotion and also had desperate responses, but Tael managed to calm them down. Apparently, being with people they trust, even in a dire situation, was somehow comforting.

Seeing that they were no longer panicking, one of their captors decide to approach.

“How did you make that explosion, Human? You are no Mage…”

The question was clearly directed at Tael, who unknowingly frowned at the (female?) captor’s accent. The sentence was correct, but the rough accent revealed that the common tongue wasn’t her native language. Fortunately, as a team commander and a Councilor, the archer had a script ready for this kind of situation.

“That’s just our power… To whom do I have the honor of speaking? Are these binds really necessary? I can ensure you that we mean you no harm.”

The Fairy observed him curiously before giving a strange high-pitched laugh.

“Human, you do not remember us, do you? I do not want anything from your kind besides information, so there is no use in being polite. We know how your “people” handle diplomacy with other races. We, the fae, the radiant sun clan, and I, Advika, are not Human minglers. So do not waste your filth words trying to lie. Once you are in the presence of our illuminator, you shall speak everything.”

Tael didn’t expect such a strong reaction. This race was probably also hunted by the Serions. However, aside from hate, he also heard disgust in the tone and eyes of his captor, something he had seen countless times in the eyes of the Kingdom’s Guards. Fortunately, the Fairy left them alone and joined her kin in a strange glowing circle.

The archer didn’t see any chance to escape right now, but he would be ready to act as soon as an opportunity appeared.

***

“Ready?”

The soldiers hesitantly nodded. They had a mission, a plan, and weapons, but they were far from confident. Their training didn’t prepare them to face this kind of enemy. They even had formations and countermeasures against Mages, but they never expected to fight against illusions.

The Fairies didn’t have strong attacking power, but they used illusions to move unseen as easily as they breathed. Since they could walk and talk, they were taught how to passively manipulate the light around them to create a simple illusion, hiding their presence.

Fortunately, the command had prepared a plan to deal with it, or at least to render it less effective. The plan, however, was based on a successful surprise attack. If they couldn’t catch the Faries unprepared, it was better to give up on the attack. Since the enemies couldn’t be seen, they would use the locator to track the light signatures. Even so, they couldn’t fight and adjust to the movements in real-time. So, the team was counting on an overwhelming initial attack.

As if attacking invisible targets wasn’t hard enough, they still had to be careful not to harm the captives, which meant not shooting at any enemies close to their friends. The plan was to deal sufficient damage from a safe distance. That’s why Sania took all the available archers with her. The biggest obstacle would be the high-level Faries since they could launch strong medium-ranged attacks. Hopefully, their previous estimation would be correct, and they would have to deal with only one powerful enemy.

The team waited for the night when the Fairies would be supposedly weaker. Fortunately, the enemy was concentrated in a ten-meter radius and kept their distance from the captured. Sania moved to the side while the soldiers stayed at the front, both hidden at a safe distance. Then, she gave the command to start the attack.

The darkness of the night and the unseen threat made the soldiers shiver, but that didn’t prevent them from advancing as planned. They moved in two layers and five parallel groups of one defender and one archer. After moving a little over ten meters, they stopped. The first layer of defenders knelled on one knee in front of the archers and activated their shield’s barrier. Not two seconds later, the first volley of arrows flew towards the invisible target.

In an instant, the calm night became a spectacle of colorful explosions. The explosive arrows caused a small-area surge of magic energy that reacted with the Faires' light element. The small vortexes of bright colors burned its surroundings, launching back everyone close enough.

The confused and scared Faries barely reacted before the second volley of explosions rained on the lucky empty spots that weren’t hit in the previous attack. Though the targets didn’t drop their hiding effects, screams and a handful of bodies being thrown around confirmed the success of the attacks.

While the third volley of arrows whistled to hit the still untargeted spots, a sudden light ray traveled through the night and collided with one of the blue barriers. The temporary barrier formed by the Contain Rune in the shield flickered before disappearing, but the shield remained undamaged.

Sania was waiting for this moment. She activated the Arrays on her spear while tracing the origin of the light attack. The enhanced spear shined as it flew towards the target even faster than the arrows. A high-pitched painful scream echoed through the night and earned a devilish smile from the spear demoness, but the situation soon changed as an intense light turned everything in a 300 meters radius yellowish-white.

The attacks stopped as the soldiers were temporarily blind. Samia yelled a command to retreat without deactivating their defenses. The bright dome lasted only a few seconds but left the non-Faries visually incapacitated for over a minute. They feared being attacked, so they held their shields firm while retreating in the uncertain path.

Fortunately, as soon as their sight returned, the operator started to report:

“They are moving to east fast… Our soldiers didn’t move… Some targets too.”

Sania considered pursuing the fleeing enemy, but she couldn’t evaluate the unseen situation properly. The Faires that remained behind could be dead or hurt, but they also could be buying time for those who ran. Her priority was to save their soldiers and avoid causalities.

Approaching the remaining six signatures wasn’t easy. They quickly located three who were dead, but the others were a potential risk. Fortunately, they had containing arrows, which could be used to restrain up to four individual targets. The containing arrows, cages, and net all had temporary effects to form barriers after being charged with a bubble crystal.

With their soldiers released, the team searched the area and waited for the morning to moved back to the tower. Two freed captives had severe wounds, but healing and vitality potions kept them from fatal danger. Even so, they had to be transported in LCs, as their Faries’ prisoners also had. Since they didn’t have many available hands, Sania chose to leave the bodies behind, but only after retrieving their crystal cores.

Thankfully, each team carried at least five LCs. The portable version of the wooden carrier was made of rough fabric enhanced by Lightness and Toughness Runes to make it durable enough. They could carry up to 200 kilos without the risk of tearing it, which was sufficient for their purposes.

The Faries didn’t seem to weigh more the 30 kilos. Even the biggest one, who was hit by the spear, shouldn’t have more than 50. Nevertheless, the rescue mission was a success, and they even got some spoils.