Greenfern wishes me to pass along his steadfast intention to stay. And… I do think sending the young ones away now would be premature. The situation makes me uneasy, but it is difficult for me to say why. Perhaps simply because it is so unusual? I am hesitant to cower away like a hatchling, scared simply because something is new.

  -Intercepted transmission from Voices for Non-Citizens

  The giant orange monster was shredded, chunks sent flying in every direction. We were far enough away and high enough up that the only ones that made it to us were small, golf-ball-sized missiles that bounced harmlessly off the Force Shields protecting us. Larger projectiles splattered against the walls of Fort Autumn, bundles of meat and chitin the size of basketballs and softballs, but - critically - not large enough to survive on their own. My Life Sense range was large enough to confirm that all the monster bits that had been flung our way were dead or dying.

  That wasn’t true of every chunk. Closer to the smoke cloud, I could see larger monster bits, some the size of people and other the size of cars, writhing, shedding mass, and surging toward us once more. Whenever two surviving chunks came in contact with each other, they paused long enough to link up, slotting together like eldritch horror Tinkertoys.

  If they could.

  Almost everyone guarding the walls of Fort Autumn had ducked down to shelter from the explosion. The moment it was over, they’d sprung forward, charging out even as the noise of the blast echoed, putting all their might into slashing apart the smaller monsters before they could rejoin into a stronger whole.

  Beside me, Vince shifted his weight, adjusting his grip on his sword.

  I put a hand on his shoulder. “Vince…”

  He glanced back at me. “I know. I know. I’m staying put. It’s just hard being so… passive.”

  “I can’t argue with that,” I said.

  In front of us, a huge mound became visible in the dissipating smoke, and for one insane moment I thought that - in spite of the clear monster fragments everywhere - we hadn’t done any damage at all. Obviously, that wasn’t the case. As it writhed forward, it became clear that while the monster bore no visible injuries, it was far smaller: 20 feet long, 20 feet tall, and barely 30 feet in length.

  It took no effort to run the calculations. It took a little to translate my overly-precise answer into something that sounded more natural, but it was getting easier with practice. I made an Announcement.

  The explosion destroyed almost 90% of its mass! It may look big, still, but it’s almost dead! Let’s take it down!

  The wall defenders charged forward, joined by a steady stream of evacuees leaving the Quarry, dozens more joining the attack each second.

  I tapped the Force Shields still surrounding us, continually refreshed by their casters every time they faded. “Let’s take these down. There’s no evidence it has any ranged attacks, and we do. Gavin, let’s see those archery skills!”

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “Yeaaaaah!” Gavin cheered, bounding forward to stand next to Vince, whose bow was in his hands before the shields were even down. Micah stood beside them, carefully cycling through his offensive options before settling on targeted Shockwalls, the electric barriers carefully positioned to disrupt and slow the Threat segments every time they tried to readjust.

  As for myself, I used my Telekinesis, sending out chains to tangle the monster’s movement and lifting chunks of rock and debris and trying to squeeze them into crevasses created as the monster shed mass and reformed. It didn’t require my hands, so when Cassie tugged at my belt I reached down to lift her up, and she sent a few fluttering feline Summoned Seekers to join the attack. Were they effective? Not that I could tell. But I was happy Cassie was earning Points.

  This Threat may not have had much offense other than its strength and bulk, but damn did it have defense. Even under the combined onslaught of hundreds of powerful defenders, it crumbled away slowly, still the size of a large van when it pushed its way through the gap the stoneshapers had made in the walls of Fort Autumn.

  That was the end of the road for it, however.

  It damaged the stone walls as it pushed through, widening the gap, but the stone flowed up from beneath, lifting it off the ground and locking it in place, dozens of legs churning uselessly in the air.

  It was trapped for a bare second before leaning on its modular nature, splitting apart into dozens of man-sized centipedes. It was a horrific sight, but ultimately futile.

  Most of its “offspring” were cut apart the moment they separated from the main mass, and the most successful made it only fifteen feet before being tackled and pummeled to the ground.

  I closed my eyes for a second, focusing on Life Sense. A few night leeches lurked in the shadows, and I felt a gasbag briefly appear overhead before a gunshot rang out and ended its miserable existence, but I couldn’t sense anything from the Threat’s remains.

  We got it. Great job! Threat down.

  I pulled my gas mask down, taking a deep breath of fresh air and letting out a heartfelt sigh. “Great job,” I repeated to my kids and defense team. A horrible thought struck me. “Marie, any more of these in the area?”

  “Uh…” the woman straightened. “I’ll look.”

  “Ask Flip to do a flyover. These are big enough that she’ll be able to see them from pretty far away.”

  Marie gave me a thumbs-up, and moments later I saw the airman soar high into the sky, high enough that she was barely a speck when a rogue twotwo went for her and forced her to dive back down, executing evasive rolls and swoops until the crowd of allies below picked off the stealthy Titan chasing her.

  Flip landed in the Tower, hands going to her knees as she tried to catch her breath.

  “Spot any more?” I asked.

  “Five,” she panted. “I think. And… well… actually, Marie, can you double-check me? One was down by James Clemens High School and another was almost to the corner of Gillespie and Balch, and a third was just north of 72, just past that place that sells gravel. I didn’t get a fix on the others.”

  “Can do. What am I checking-” Marie cut off. She glanced quickly at Flip, then shut her eyes again, her forehead knitting up in worry.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  Flip frowned. “Well… I’m not sure. I didn’t get a great look. But they didn’t look like they were heading for nearby Shops or Points Siphons.”

  “They’re… not.” Marie said. “At least not those three. Each one of them is headed straight here.”

  (Up to Bk. 5, Ch. 10) * * * * * * *