Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 922: Ambush ()

An unusual chill roused Neveah from a fitful sleep, and she awakened with a quiet gasp. She sat up in her tent, glancing at the empty space beside her.

"Nightmare?" Jian asked, looking over worriedly.

He sat at his desk a short distance away where he’d spent the entire night scanning through a pile of scrolls containing scout reports and reports from the other front lines, particularly the dunes.

While the battle at the fodder grooves had tilted in the favor of the fourth squadron,

The battle at the dunes grew fiercer by the day and just a few days before, the dragons from Fort Inferno had sent in reinforcements. The reinforcements from North’s end would arrive in another few days.

Kaideon had sent in constant reassurances. Their defence stood strong. Even so, Neveah could not help her growing concern.

She must have done a poor job of hiding it, because Jian had barely gotten any sleep, studying the map of the dunes.

She walked over to him, leaning down and pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "Get some sleep. I’ll take over."

"In a moment." He murmured, "Kaliana stopped by. It was hard enough getting you to sleep, I had her return later."

Neveah revealed a small smile, "I’ll go see what she needs." And then she grabbed her coat, venturing out of the tent. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

It was just the crack of dawn. The sun was yet to rise and so the air was still rather chilly.

For some reason, it still felt chillier than usual. There was something off, Neveah wasn’t certain why.

"Kalix!" She called to a dragon lord who had just emerged from a tent. "Contact Imagor. Tell him I need him."

Kalix inclined his head, his gaze going unfocused.

Neveah glanced up, squinting slightly. She noted a thick white mist swirling beneath the clouds. Frowning, she let her instincts guide her, wandering through the camp.

After a short time, she stopped, glancing around, she realized she was close to the mage tents.

She walked over to the mage unit that was already hard at work, reinforcing the barrier that surrounded the camp on all sides.

It was like a cocoon, enclosing the camp above. From beyond the barrier, intruders would see nothing but a deserted clearing.

Meanwhile, a camp large enough to accommodate a few dozen dragon lords was right within.

"Your Grace," The mages greeted, bowing low.

Neveah nodded. Reaching a hand out, she summoned a strand of magic, and felt for the barrier.

It reacted to her touch, glowing slightly overhead. It felt weaker than it had last night, even while it was currently being reinforced.

There was a disconnect somewhere. Neveah investigated further, summoning even more arcane.

It was then she sensed it. A foreign magic... dark and sinister, seeping into the barrier slowly.

It was like an infection, silent, barely noticeable. But she could feel the darkness expanding, growing, and then, like it could tell she was prying, it surged at her, crawling over her skin.

Neveah pulled back with a gasp.

"We’re under attack!" Neveah hissed, "The barrier is compromised! All mage units, cast full power!"

Mages poured out of their tents, taking up positions to reinforce the array.

Imagor, Cassian and three other dragon lords jogged over to Neveah. "Veah! What do you sense?"

She glanced over, wincing. "Contact the scouts. They’re in danger."

Imagor nodded, his eyes going unfocused. "I can’t reach them." He said grimly,

Just then, the first loud shriek echoed through the silent forest.

And then, a powerful sound wave exploded, sending a tremor through the barrier.

Neveah stepped forward, drawing in a breath, she reached in and released as much magic as she could muster into the barrier to force out the foreign magic.

The mist cleared, revealing a swirling portal of black smoke roaring overhead.

The mages looked up in horror as hundreds of skitters rained down from the portal, latching to the barrier.

The skitters spread their hideous tentacles and joined the shrieking symphony.

The barrier blocked off a measure of the impact. Even so, the shrieks were deafening, releasing powerful sound waves that grew stronger as their numbers grew and the skitters spread even further.

The mages were more affected. A few fell to their knees, clutching their ears, unable to withstand the ear splitting sound.

"Cassian! Eidon! Kalix! On me!" Imagor roared, leaping into the air, and shifting into dragon form.

They released torrents of flames, setting the barrier ablaze. Dozens of skitters dropped like flies. But more black portals opened up at different points, so the numbers were quickly replaced, and the tiny forlorn beasts grew even more deafening.

As mages wavered in the dozens, even more mages joined the effort to keep the barrier strong.

Neveah felt the exhaustion creeping in steadily. She pulled her magic back, turning to find Jian had already arrived with Dante and Estelle in tow.

She jogged over to him. "Imagor lost contact with the scouts. I believe they might be under attack."

"We can’t get past the sound waves if we don’t take out the portals. And the mages can only hold for so long."

"I’ll clear a path." Jian nodded.

His eyes moved to the portals tearing open in the skies and he clenched his fists.

The temperature around them dropped steadily. A layer of ice spread from his feet, and Neveah watched as the edges of the portals froze over, the ice pulling together on itself, and forcing the portals closed.

Over a dozen portals crashed in a burst of sharp ice shards. Neveah summoned a barrier, preventing the ice shards from raining down on them while Jian concentrated on closing the rest of the portals.

Imagor and his subordinates made quick work of the skitters still latched to the barrier and as the shrieks quietened, the sound waves finally stopped.

"How did they get past the scouts?" Estelle asked in dismay,

Cassian shifted mid air, landing on his feet. "Kirgan led a scout team. I’ll track him."

"Go." Jian nodded.

But it was apparent to them all, that the forlorn army knew their exact location now.