Chapter 741: POV Zoi

“Gods dammit, I said get us fucking closer! I need a clear shot!”

“Lady Kerr, please, I must insist—”

“Shut your fucking mouth you waddle-faced sterva! Go fly out of the gods damned airship and complain to general eats-his-own-taint because I don’t give a fuck!”

Maeve watched as the Seraphim recoiled in horror, clearly not used to the kind of language that Kerr was capable of dishing out. She couldn’t blame her. The string of obscenities that the therion had been pouring out of her mouth for the past few minutes had been truly legendary. If Maeve wasn’t currently shitting her own goo out of her whole body in panic, she probably would have been applauding the creativity.

“Maeve!” Sabina shouted from the cockpit of the Leviathan. “I’m sorry, I’m trying to pilot us closer, but tell Kerr that when we go so low we’re going to draw fire and—”

“I can hear you!” Kerr shouted, her voice loud enough to come through the open door and carry all the way to the half-elf. “And we have Aila’s fucking special shield so bring us in closer!”

That was true. Aila and Jadis had been careful to make sure that both of the airships had received Magister’s Greater Force Shield for their protection, and it had already come into use several times. The damned sniper Demon had taken a few shots at them, fortunately to no effects, and some of the flying Demons had come close earlier in the battle. Still, they had generally kept the airships high in the sky, at an altitude where most ranged attacks would not be able to reach them. However, if Sabina piloted the Leviathan so that it was in line with the upper stories of the Opaline Palace’s domed tower, then they would absolutely be in range to take damage from more conventional spells. The palace tower was simply not all that tall.

“Ma’am, I have received a message from Bridget,” Sinia reached out to her, holding the paper she had written the coded symbols onto for translation. “She is calling for reinforcement from the Hero!”

“Fine, convey it!” Maeve waved the human back to her console. “Keep the messages going!”

“Ma’am,” Otho called out to her, “Generals Salvius and Ovinius are again demanding to know what is going on?”

“Tell them we’re taking out some high value targets, then tell them to shut up and stop clogging the system with their stupid questions!”

“Where are you going!?” Sinia squealed as Maeve left her seat at the central console. “We need you!”

“I’m needed more elsewhere,” Maeve said in a tone that she knew she had borrowed from Jadis. “Calvus! Gallo! Get over here!”

The two Seraphim who had come with Severina to report enemy movements were still just standing around uselessly in the cabin, too confused about what was going on to do anything of any use. Grabbing hold of their shoulders, Maeve pulled them back to the central console and shoved Gallo into her seat and Calvus into the spot next to him. He’d have to source his own seat, unless he wanted to take Gallo’s lap, which was a situation Maeve couldn’t care less about in that moment.

“Here! Follow the instructions!” she pointed at the detailed pages that were hanging on the device above where a person was meant to put their hand. “Cover these stations!”

“Wait, I’ve never done anything like this before!” Gallo shouted in a panic, but Maeve had already turned away.

“You’ll figure it out!”

Rushing to the fore of the airship, Maeve ducked inside of the cockpit to check on Sabina.

“What do you need?”

“Nothing right now!” Sabina replied in a panicked tone. “Maybe a hug because I’m really worried about Alex and Jadis and Severina and I saw Meli and Thea and Aila go inside that window right there and then that possessed Seraphim followed after them and so now, I’m really worried about all of them, too, and I can wait on that hug until after I know that they are safe and—”

“Bring us down and around right on level with that window,” Maeve told Sabina before grabbing the vision helmet that she had enchanted from the seat next to her. “Keep us as level as you can.”

“I’ll try!”

Maeve pulled the helmet over her head, forcing some of her limited magic into the device to activate it as she ran through the cabin towards the open port door. She ignored the calls of the four sitting at the central communications console, just as she ignored the mad laughter of her cruel God itching at the back of her mind. Of course, the bastard would think all of this chaos was funny. It was pure comedic gold if you didn’t care about any of the people who were at risk of dying. But Maeve did care. And she didn’t think any of this was funny, not at all.

She was honestly scared shitless.

“Stand still, you flying bitch…” Maeve heard Kerr mutter as she ran to join her at the front of the portside deck. “Merde!”

“Where are they?” she asked while trying to adjust the view in the strange helmet.

“Second from the top, you’ll see them. Not Alex or Jadis, though, but everyone else. They’re moving around too much, I can’t get a good shot!”

Using the enchantment to close the visual distance, Maeve focused on the arched windows where Kerr indicated and quickly spotted the chaotic battle ongoing within. To the fore, she could see Meli fighting with Vitus, the possessed Seraphim with red wings. He looked like a walking corpse, which Maeve attributed to the battle that Severina had earlier with the possessed avatar earlier in the morning. A net of webbing had tangled with right wing as well as what looked like Thea’s aegis spell, which seemed to be causing him some imbalance. Meli, while obviously injured, looked like she was at least giving as good as she was getting, though Maeve wouldn’t call her clawed attacks exactly effective against winged corpse.

Beyond them and much further inside the building, Maeve could just make out Thea, Aila, and further back, Roul and Severina. To her, it looked like Roul had Severina in some kind of grapple and while the bleeding Seraphim was struggling hard, the therion had clear control of the engagement. He was keeping Sev between himself and Aila, which Maeve realized after only a moment of thought, was the smartest thing he could do. The mage couldn’t cast any of her spells directly at the man, not without hitting Severina. So, just like Kerr, Aila couldn’t get a clear shot.

“What are you doing?” Kerr said through gritted teeth, not once taking her eyes off the fight happening through the slowly nearing tower.

“Helping,” Maeve answered as she pulled one of the enchanted bolts from its rack and loaded it onto the ship-mounted ballista.

She didn’t quite remember all of the color-coding on the enchantments that Sabina had set up, but she was pretty sure that the white-banded bolts were ones that produced a pure Arcane effect. Something without an elemental effect seemed best to her, as she didn’t know what kind of Fortitude either opponent had. Resilience wasn’t usually as high on most melee combatants, so an Arcane shot to the face would probably do the most damage. With a thought, Maeve activated her Penumbral Boost, choosing Dexterity as the focus for the skill.

Angling the ballista wasn’t easy. Maeve had never operated any sort of heavy military equipment before. The mechanics of a catapult or trebuchet were about as foreign to her as sailing a ship or milling wheat. But she could understand the concept of point and pull the trigger well enough. With her siege weapon aligned, Maeve waited for the right opportunity. Sabina was bringing the Leviathan closer while keeping the port side facing the tower, which meant that the vessel was slowly circling from the south going east. The spiked knight could keep Severina between himself and Aila, but not also her and Kerr at the same time, not when the airship was drifting to the side.

“Right… about… there…” Kerr whispered before pulling her bowstring back in one smooth motion, then letting her arrow loose.

Maeve followed suit, pulling hard on the trigger at the exact same moment, and—”

“Shit,” she cursed, realizing that nothing had happened.

Was the wooden handle not the firing mechanism? Had she done something wrong? The string looked tense. Should she—

Pulling on a wooden lever that was attached to the winching mechanism, the break holding string in place was released and, with the loosing hook already pulled, the ballista fired immediately. Maeve could only watch in horror as the enchanted bolt soared through the air, its trajectory roughly in the direction she had meant. But with seconds passed, the finely tuned aim was absolutely off, guaranteeing that something would go horribly wrong, wherever the bolt might hit.

Following the projectile’s flight through the open window of the palace, Maeve felt like the world had slowed down to a strange, almost dreamlike speed. Through the window she saw Meli and Vitus pass by, their combat more like a crawl as the ballista bolt hurdled over the Dryad’s spider-like lower body. Further still the dangerous projectile went, missing both Aila and Thea by a wide margin, though Maeve could the moment it entered both women’s field of vision by the way they startled. Then, closing in on the two engaged warriors, Maeve tracked the bolt as it neared the open left side of the spiked knight at what looked like a glacial speed, but really at what had to have been a blistering blur of movement. For a moment, Maeve thought that the bolt might actually hit her target.

A spiked gauntlet whipped around an instant before impact, backhanding the incoming projectile and knocking it to the side, causing the bolt to fly past the two at an odd angle, missing both Roul and Severina completely.

Maeve internally cursed at her own incompetence and Roul’s damned power, but she couldn’t fault her luck entirely. As the therion deflected the ranged attack, he released his grapple on Severina, giving her the chance to push away from him. A spray of blood followed her rapid retreat from the knight as his spiked armor tore at the Seraphim’s body, but she still got away. Then, Maeve yelp in sympathetic surprise as spectral chains burst up from the ground and wrapped around the woman, holding her in place and preventing her from retreating further.

What Maeve had mistaken for inaction on Aila’s part had actually been a careful alternate use of her spells. Of course, she realized at the sight, rather than attack directly, she had put her arcanist traps all over the ground, making it so that Roul couldn’t move without tripping them. Using the lethal versions would have risked Severina’s life all the same as a force bolt, so Aila had used the non-lethal chain variety instead.

It was just a product of Destarious’ fickle fortunes that Severina had fallen into one of the traps first, and Roul was still free. Not just free to move, but free to draw one of many weapons strapped to his body, which he turned upon Severina’s immobilized form. Even so, Sev still had a chance, as she could see Aila already had her staff pointed at the knight. All she had to do was—

The sudden explosion that rocked the ruined hall reminded Maeve that just because an enchanted bolt did not hit its intended target, that didn’t mean the magic effect wouldn’t trigger against whatever else it might strike.

Apparently, Sabina had chosen white as her marker for air magic instead of Arcane, as a burst of powerful wind magic swept through the open floor space. Both bodies and debris were tossed from the epicenter of the explosion, creating a jumbled mess that was only made worse by the triggering of even more of Aila’s chain traps. Aila, Thea, Meli, and even Vitus were all knocked across the floor and captured in the bursts of spectral bindings.

But not Roul.

“I fucking hate you Destarious!” Maeve screamed as she tossed aside Sabina’s helmet and threw herself over the balcony of the airship.

Maeve couldn’t fly. No skill she possessed gave her that ability, either from class or her race. However, as Madoc had taught her a long time ago, there were things that a Fetch could do with their body to cheat the natural world as the gods had made it. One of those things wasn’t exactly flight, but it was close enough for a person who was falling through the sky.

Spreading her arms out wide, Maeve’s body shifted, flattening out into an extremely thin sheet as her limbs took on the appearance of bird wings that lacked feathers. Instead of flying, Maeve glided across the gap that lay between the airship and the palace, crossing the distance in only a few moments. She didn’t bother taxing her already flagging stamina by using Penumbral Boost again. Increasing her Strength or Agility would be pointless; Roul would sap them away anyway.

Landing hard against the stone wall just under the arched window, Maeve transformed as she scrambled inside, shifting her form so that she was as large and imposing as possible, purposefully hoping to grab attention from the spiked knight who was even in that moment advancing on the still restrained Severina. He did turn to look at her, just for an instant, before seemingly dismissing her entirely as a threat he raised a flanged mace high over Severina’s head.

Maeve didn’t shout anything as she threw her arm forward. She couldn’t think of a witty insult or angry challenge. She was too frazzled from everything that had just happened in the past thirty seconds. But she was still in possession of enough of her faculties to push the malediction dagger she kept hidden inside of her body up her arm and out of her hand, letting the deadly weapon loose as it reached the perfect point of her limb’s arc.

The dagger spun through the air, barely a sound made, on a perfect course to strike directly against the knight’s head. For the first time in her life, for one moment alone, Maeve prayed to Destarious for a drop of good fortune.

As Roul’s fist rose to deflect the dagger in the same way as he had the ballista bolt, Maeve grinned.

“Thank you very much, you asshole.”

The spiked knight let out a shout of pain, recoiling from the blow as the blade of Maeve’s enchanted dagger bypassed his armor and sunk deep into this hand. Roul was too experienced to completely drop his guard at the sudden agony that the malign dagger imposed upon its victims, but he was distracted for a moment, which was enough.

Severina’s leg kicked out, striking Roul on the side of his knee, forcing him to fall back and reposition. As he did, he put himself in perfect line with Aila’s pointed staff. The massive spike of Arcane power lanced out, hitting the knight in his shoulder and sending him tumbling back across the shattered floor. By the time he landed hard against the curved central column of the tower, Aila, Thea, and Severina were all standing, their chains having been dismissed.

To his credit, he didn’t say anything. No curse, no jeer, no retort. Roul simply rolled to his feet and fell back into the open archway, disappearing down the curved flight of steps that led into the depths of the Demon-controlled tower. Before Aila’s second spell had reached him, the spiked knight was gone.

“Are you okay?” Maeve said as she hurried over to Severina.

The Seraphim looked like shit, with jagged holes in her armor and blood pouring down her body. She had her hand against her chest, though, and Divine healing was being applied in bursts as she fixed the wounds with her paladin’s magic.

“I’m fine,” she replied in a shaky voice. “Where’s Vitus?”

Spinning around, Maeve looked to where she had last saw the possessed man and Meli tumbling across the floor. In her haste to save Severina from Roul, she had forgotten about the other serious threat in the room.

Meli stood on her eight legs, one clawed foot pressing down on the back of the ruined corpse that had once been a Seraphim. She had taken the man’s sword in one hand and she was calmly checking the body, seemingly to ensure that it was truly dead. Maeve could see that there were several arrows sticking out of the corpse that had not been there before, in both the head and the torso.

“You got him?” Maeve asked as she moved towards Meli.

“No,” she replied sternly. “I have not received a notification.”

“Then just cut his—”

Maeve’s words were interrupted. Again. From the piles of broken rubble and debris that littered the ruined hall, a large Demon with many long tentacles launched itself out of hiding, aiming directly for the back of Aila’s head. Before it could touch her, Thea spun and slammed her shield into the leaping attacker, sending it flying back against the same stone wall that Roul had disappeared behind when he had retreated down the stairs. Before the long-limbed demonic squid could fall to the ground, an arrow struck it dead center in its eye, pinning it in place like a giant macabre noodle.

“Thank you, Kerr,” Maeve waved at the open window. “You got her!”

“Right,” Aila said, eyes wide as she turned away from the limply hanging Demon. “Where do we go from here?”

“An easy enough answer,” Severina said as she leaned down to the floor. Ignoring her sword that lay broken amidst the rubble, she instead picked up a long, curved blade that was a match for the one that Noll wielded. “We go down those stairs, kill Roul and Twisted Desire, and save our Demon from her reckless stupidity.”

“Jadis is somewhere down there as well,” Meli pointed out in her usual mild tone. “She went through a lower wall.”

Severina let out a small, tired breath.

“I suppose we can save her, too.”