Neigh!
The horse shrieked and flailed its front legs before settling down before the trio; Lenora, Drifus and Monsor.
Their respective armies stayed behind as per tradition.
"Lord Drifus," the horse rider hailed. Her helmet covered most of her face but her ears were exposed: elf. "I thought you were dead." She spoke frankly and with curiosity. Yet the flare in her voice indicated it was nothing more than mockery.
"…"
"You are in violation of the international treaty," Monsor said. "As is ZABRUZA!" He spoke a bit louder than usual so everyone in the back could hear.
Almost all the soldiers out there were exclusively elves. However, a handful humans and demi humans could be seen in their ranks. In other words, they were soldiers from Zabruza helping the elves.
"Hmm… we don't believe so," the female elf said. Her armor glowed in a faint silver, air sizzling. "This land belongs to Her excellency and thus, it is evident we reclaim it. There is no violation." Confident, booming almost.
"Stop this," Drifus said. "There is no need to continue this. We're ready to intercept you and it'll only increase casualties."
"But my lord," the elf let out a mocking chuckle. "You have already attacked us and thus declared war. Although," she paused. "There might be one way to avoid the war."
"That is?"
"How about you personally escort us out of this land and explain to Her excellency yourself? I'm sure you could convince her; you were her favorite once."
Drifus attempted to say something but his mouth didn't move. His hands shook a bit but before he could tremble for real, Lenora had grabbed his hand. And she'd grabbed him firm. "Why don't you crawl back into the hole you came out of and tell your whore of a queen to fuck off."
Eyes bulged. Neither of the two elves expected such words. No one in their right mind would slander the empress of Elfrieda. As long as they wanted to live that was.
And yet this woman, this lowly human dared to utter such….
"You wretched-" The elf unsheathed her sword with a shing and made her horse rise up high, effectively giving the signal to attack.
Lenora smiled, and a wand manifested in her hand. "Pause," she whispered.
"Pause?" The female elf stared.
Huh? But… it's supposed to-
"ATTACK!" The elf screamed.
"No no, it's supposed to- PAUSE!" She screamed again but to no avail.
"I should have known!" Drifus grabbed her and together with Monsor they ran for their walls as fast as possible. "Cannons FIRE!!!" Monsor screamed.
Boom!
Before long they were atop the walls thanks to Lenora's cape and the cannons fires. Fire balls, water balls, ice spears, even lighting descended and blasted both sides.
And while Lenora thought the actual war would look a whole lot more chaotic, it was rather simple. Only the very people at the front were fighting or firing while the rest were more or less just caught in the whole thing without knowing what to do. They were just there chilling.
It was mostly due to the fact that the attacking army was several times more massive than the defending one. The elves had no real incentive to actually pour all their resources trying to overwhelm the small fortress city. Sooner or later the defendants would crumble and victory would be assured. Or so they'd thought at first.
However-
Ice pillars dropped from the heavens on two corners of the battlefield and whenever someone walked past said pillars, they froze solid.
It happened so frequently the elves had come to a standstill. No one dared to step forward. And the battle became more or less a magic throwing contest.
"Is it me or is your magic a whole lot stronger today than usual," Lenora eventually said.
"It is," Drifus confirmed. "And it's all thanks to you, Lenora."
What the hell do you even mean? Lenora first met the elf two years into the war. The man had been a long captive and was malnourished and nearly dead. She set him free on the condition that he'd help her sneak into the elven fortress city of Ethail. And he kept his promise but ended up dead trying to protect Lenora. He was a good man, useful, and loyal, hence Lenora freed him first.
But she sure as hell didn't expect the man to be this capable. Surprising but a welcome surprise.
"Good, because I plan on borrowing your powers for everything I'm about to do next."
"What are you planning to do. You called the empress…. What are you planning?"
"So, every elf tends go a bit ballistic whenever I mention that the empress is a whore, right?"
Drifus winced but nodded. "Yes. I felt as though you were stabbing my heart."
"There's a reason for that. She's placed a curse on all of you. Even you, Drifus, you'll just give into her whims if she called you to her room."
"But she's-"
"She's a whore Drifus. She's laid with many men, and would try to seduce anyone who might be useful to her. Even women, even demihumans."
Drifus's shivered, perhaps with fury. But where was this fury even coming from? He couldn't tell. But he could tell, it wasn't his own. "It sort of makes sense… yet, I don't want it to be true."
"I know. Anyway, getting back to point, I slandered her precisely to piss off the elves and force them to attack us immediately. This way they would be busy attacking us while my wand-"
Before Lenora finished horns sounded in the west distance.
Reinforcements from the neighboring lands.
They weren't supposed to arrive for another day yet here they were.
"Ah, so you wanted to use my flashy magic to signal our allies!" Drifus exclaimed.
Meanwhile, Lenora who more or less planned on her wand's pause magic to work – which certainly did not work- couldn't manage a single word. Not even one.
How'd they even come this fast?
But that's when something dawned on her… even the last time, there was a war. And this land lost. But there was definitely a war. It wasn't a one-sided massacre. Focus, focus. Now was not the time to get lost in thoughts.
"Lord Monsor, coordinate with the allies and let's stop the elves from invading us. If we can keep them outside for long enough, they should run out of supplies and retreat," Lenora said. "Although I have a feeling they will retreat tonight."
"What makes you so sure?"
"I have a plan," she boasted.
Drifus face palmed himself. "Not again…" he mumbled.