TEN YEARS LATER

  Loch looked up at the concrete structure. The graffiti had been removed, the cracks patched. Parts had been reinforced and reconstructed. Odiorne State Park was filled with similar bunkers, all built during World War II. They’d never been used, the guns removed, but the bunkers had remained.

  He’d gone there with the family a couple of times over the years. Trees had grown between the bunkers and the shore, blocking the view of the ocean. The trees were gone now, removed by either the Connection or the Clan Brady workers.

  Standing halfway between the bunker and the shore, Loch looked at the large opening in the bunker, watching as a metal tube extended out from it. The Spirit Cannon’s barrel was about two feet in diameter, the length increasing as it was pushed forward. Loch smiled, looking down the line at the other bunkers, seeing similar cannons.

  Smaller cannons were set up with earth protection, created and molded by Elementalists. The towers were being finished, wooden with metal plates covered in protective runes. The beach was filled with soldiers and Adventurers, gathered in small groups. There were tents and other structures, fire pits being made.

  Turning to face the horizon, Loch couldn’t see the ships but he knew they were coming. Clan Yoshi was coming.

  “What do you think?” Loch asked Diana Brekhov as she walked over.

  The blond russian, the second strongest person there, after Loch, looked out over the sea.

  “The defenses are good. It is nothing that Clan Yoshi has faced before but they have numbers. Oroku Yoshi hasn’t just allied with invaders, he has conquered them, adding to his numbers. Clan Yoshi has fought their way across what was Asia and Europe.”

  “I’m glad you and yours managed to get here,” Loch said. “Without your warning, we wouldn’t have been prepared.”

  “I am also glad,” she said, looking at him with a viscous grin. “As long as we stop him. He has a lot to answer for.”

  The two walked toward the bunker. The heavy steel doors were open, Loch leading Diana through the bunker to the fields beyond. He remembered there being a forest around the bunkers with miles of walking trails. Now the trees were gone, fields of grass stretching out from the bunkers to the old road. The fields were filled with more tents, hundreds of them. Loch could see his people; the humans, elves, anura and even the surviving orcs that had joined Clan Brady when their warchief Gul’Dak had been killed. People from all the Clan Brady Northwood Territories. Northwood, Concord, Hopkinton, Dover and the rest. It was probably time to rename it. The push was for the Brady Republic, but Loch wasn’t sure he liked that name.

  He saw a lot of familiar faces, people that had been his allies and friends for a decade now. Brian Jefferson stood with the rest of the Bannermen, all of whom had gotten strong through the years. Drew was on the edge with Elora, talking quietly. Jake and his wife, Taylor. Kim Hudson. Robert Daniels and some of his elite fighters from Concord. So many others. He wished Darren Holmberg was there, but the man was in charge of all of the Northwood Territories defenses. Even though an army was attacking, there were still dangers surrounding all the cities. They couldn’t strip all the defenses.

  And if they failed at the beach, someone had to lead the remaining resistance.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  To the right were a couple hundred that kept themselves separate from the rest. The survivors of Diana’s Clan, the ones that had come with the warning, that had run from the push of Clan Yoshi.

  “Dad,” Harper called out, walking over with Kelly. “We got the latest from the scouts.”

  “The ships are about a day out,” Kelly said, nodding in greeting to Diana.

  The two women had taken an instant liking to each other.

  “There’s a lot of them,” Harper said. “One hundred.”

  Loch shook his head. It was more than they had thought. There was no help for it. They had an army coming to take over their lands and from all accounts, Oroku Yoshi was a despot. Loch would not let Yoshi take over The Northwood Territories. Yoshi's days of conquest were going to end.

  ***

  The cannons boomed, a long stream of energy launching out, flying across the distance to crash into one of the ships out to sea. The ship exploded, wood and metal flying into the air, crashing back down into the water with large splashing. Another cannon fired, and another.

  Casters and Archers on the towers launched Abilities, aimed at the first lines of Clan Yoshi attackers. Yoshi casters fired back, arrows and a wide variety of colors, back and forth.

  Loch watched the line of attackers advancing. Hundreds of them. His numbers looked small compared to the mass of Clan Yoshi. Another ship exploded. Loch hated the loss of life, but he knew it meant that many less soldiers attacking his. Those already on shore were met with his defenders. Metals clashed against metal, the glow of Abilities lighting up the afternoon.

  Ships were anchored just off shore, more Yoshi soldiers disembarking, making their way to shore. Abilities and arrows struck the ships, one of them exploding. The shards and splinters struck the Clan Yoshi soldiers, killing many.

  Loch looked left and right, seeing the lines of his soldiers ready to join the fight. Diana was on his left. Harper and Kelly on the right. Looking over his shoulder, Loch could see Piper in the bunker. She’d just come back from a strafing run, using an inkgriffin to fly over the water and her wands to bomb the ships.

  He could remember, it seemed like not that long ago, when he’d been afraid of sending Piper into danger. Now, he wasn’t happy about it and still worried about it, but aside from pure Levels, Piper was the strongest person in the Clan. Even with a Level difference, there weren’t many that could fight Piper one on one, not with all the summons she had and their versatility. She was resting, regaining her Spirit, before she’d make another run at the ships.

  “Harper, grab Davis and your people, head south down the beach and come at the soldiers from the sides,” Loch said.

  “Got it,” Harper said, running back toward the bunker to gather Davis and the their group of soldiers.

  He didn’t worry about the northern flank because the land handled that, turning back out to sea to form a natural barrier. It helped funnel the Yoshi soldiers into the defenses Clan Brady had set up. Those defenses were taking out large numbers of Clan Yoshi’s soldiers but there were still a lot of them.

  A group of orcs in Yoshi armor, burst through the Brady lines, spreading out along the beach.

  “Diana,” Loch called out, pointing.

  “Da,” she said, shouting at her men.

  They charged down the beach at the orcs.

  “Should we join them?” Kelly asked.

  “Yeah,” Loch said. He turned to the Brady soldiers gathered around him. “NORTHWOOD!!” he shouted, Activating Breaker’s Banner and Aura Of Attack.

  The two Abilities spread out along the beach, covering the hundreds of Clan Brady soldiers and allies. They started swinging their swords harder, blocking more blows. Stamina was restored. The Northwood chant spread along the beach followed by another.

  “WARBREAKER!!”