Chapter 24

"Can't you blast them all off with fire?" Ash asked Hailey who he had seen before throwing a fireball at a goblin.

"I can't use a bigger spell, others might get hurt, and this whole place is made of wood," said Hailey ducking under a flying goblin arrow. Maya and Sarah were fighting at the front with others still trying to break through the goblin wall. 

"I don't think we have any other choice, if they open that hole any wider we'll be overrun by goblins, and everyone behind us will die anyway," said Ash. Maya shrugged off the goblin near her and Ash quickly sank his sword in its back before kicking him away. Maya clasped her hands together and concentrated hard, Ash felt high amounts of magic suddenly ripple through her it came out of somewhere inside her and flowed into her hands and then outwards in the form of red and blue flames.

The flames condensed and swirled into a ball, twice the size of the one before. The surrounding air suddenly got much hotter. Ash felt scared at that moment, maybe this was a bad idea, he had no idea the real extent of destructive power her attack could hold. But the ball made of fire was so hot and red now it seemed ready to explode and blast all of them away. But he didn't have too much time to think he had to keep the goblins off her back while she aimed. 

Hailey shouted at the other elves to duck and take cover, and then she released the fireball, she let a small hole at the back of the ball open from which fire spilled out propelling the ball forward at a fast speed. It hit the goblins near the hole and for a second the immense light blinded them, but they all moved backward because of the heat. Hundreds of the goblins screamed even the one inside the hole, a pillar of fire rose to the ceiling, the flames caught onto the wall and some rained down like rain. But still, most of the damage was taken by the goblins. 

The hole was now covered by flames which seemed to be doing the same job as they wanted. The goblins who had escaped were taken care of one by one. Ash had just turned his back with the others to check on the situation outside when a roar rocked them from behind. Through the blanket of flames on the hole, a big figure emerged, its back on fire, it was roaring and ready to kill everything. Its skin was redder than other goblins or maybe it was because of the fire, its tusks were also as big as its size, and its face somewhat looked like a pig, this must be a hobgoblin. It was anything but small, almost reaching the ceiling, when it moved its steps rocked the earth by its sheer weight. Besides Ash, Hailey had spent too much of her mana and was having difficulty even standing, others had also been using mana to fight and were not ready to take on a monster like that alone. 

Ash had to do something, he was the only one who seemed to have another destructive long-range affinity, only his was much more difficult to control and produce. Fire was everywhere, it was made of heat, which was in our body, so he understood it, but lightning? It flowed in clouds miles above their heads, and he had no idea what it was, or what it was made of, he had only ever seen it. What would it be like to feel it running through his body? The shock the magical stone had given him before, did heat his body and the only other thing he had felt was a painful buzzing. 

But taking inspiration from Hailey he dug deep. He tried to remember that feeling and the spark inside him, which was flowing in a corner like a worm. He clutched the hilt of the sword in both of his hands, it responded and glowed blue, the spark inside him responded to the stone, the magic that started flowing in him, some of it came from within him and some from the stone, it didn't have the same intensity as before, and it seemed different. Now the question was how would he use it, he certainly couldn't make a ball with it yet, he wasn't even sure that would work.

Ash opened his eyes and saw that the sword he was clutching in his hands was vibrating too. The metal of the blade seemed to be acting as a conduit for the lightning, as he poured more of the magic outwards, the blade was able to absorb and hold it, vibrating stronger, he poured more, now sparks were appearing on it here and there, he had never seen lightning like this before. He poured the last of the magic into it, the sparks grew, and the sword was glowing blue now. He couldn't do anymore, he gripped the sword in one hand, spread his leg, used his back and arm to aim it at the hobgoblin's head, and threw it like a spear. As soon as it left his hand, it cut through the air like real lightning, creating a large crackling noise that almost shook the whole hall and everyone looked with wide eyes, the sword found its mark. It collided with its head with great momentum, the hobgoblin fell quickly after that, its head burnt black, its body seemed to be squirming still, the speed of the sword had cleaved through its hard skin and buried the sword to the tilt. Ash couldn't guess what killed it first, the lightning or the sword. The sound that the attack had made was so unfamiliar that it made the attack look much more dangerous than Hailey's.

Even though he knew it had less mana in it, but lightning in itself seemed to be a condensed form of energy that had a more striking bang. Everyone was silent for a moment.

"Let's get out here, the hall will collapse on itself soon, all the attacks have weakened its roots," shouted Maya and they took the citizens out safely before the ceiling could collapse. The sun was setting now, and it seemed like the initial attack on the wall was over as no noises were coming from the walls. 

"Take them to the other's shelters," Maya ordered the guards.

"Come on, let's see how many of them are alive," said Maya and they headed towards the gates.