Chapter 78: So It Begins
In Athedal, arrays were not merely magical circles drawn across the ground. They were letters of power arranged according to precise instructions, with every line, symbol and connection carrying a specific meaning.
A single mistake could change the entire function of an array or render it useless. There were two broad states in which an array could exist: active and dormant. The difference between them was simple but strategically important.
An active array already possessed a source of Aether, usually supplied through Aether Crystals embedded within or connected to its formation, allowing the spell written into the array to activate immediately when its conditions were met. A dormant array, on the other hand, was nothing more than letters of power properly arranged without an attached power source. It remains completely inert until it comes into contact with mana.
That distinction was precisely what made dormant arrays so useful for ambushes.
The usual formation was to place a dormant array first and conceal it beneath dirt, sand or vegetation, then establish an active array farther ahead. An enemy approaching the active formation would trigger it as soon as they entered its effective range, and the resulting surge of mana would ripple through the surrounding area. That mana could then awaken the dormant formations behind the intruder, effectively sealing their retreat.
Someone could walk into the battlefield believing they had encountered a single magical trap only to discover that the path behind them had suddenly become a series of activated spells.
Grash had already sensed several active arrays within the cave when he first arrived.
That alone had been enough to make him cautious.
Now, with the dirt swept away, his suspicion had been confirmed. There were dormant arrays beneath the ground.
"Chief, are you truly certain that child is responsible for all of this?" Rudor stared at the exposed formations with an expression that bordered on disbelief.
His mind kept returning to the same problem.
That boy was barely three years old. It was already frightening enough that a creature so young could understand the letters of power to the degree Ka’z had demonstrated. But arrays were different. Knowing a few runes was one thing. Understanding how to arrange those runes into functioning magical formations required knowledge, precision and an understanding of magical principles that most practitioners spent years developing.
Even if the child had been practicing from the moment he left his mother’s womb, Rudor couldn’t understand how such a thing was possible.
Grash glanced over his shoulder and met the shaman’s eyes.
"Among everyone we fought yesterday, only he could use runes. So who else would know?"
Rudor’s mouth opened slightly before closing again.
There was no answer.
Grash returned his attention to the ground, studying the dormant formations with renewed interest. The child’s survival was one problem. The fact that he had apparently spent the entire night preparing this much magical infrastructure was another.
"Destroy the arrays." Grash ordered.
"Yes, sir!" The goblins chorused.
More soldiers immediately moved forward. Daggers were drawn, and they began carving through the exposed formations. Some scraped away the lines while others deliberately drove their blades into the most important sections of the circles, creating deep gashes through the carefully arranged letters of power.
They didn’t need to understand what the arrays did.
They only needed to ruin them.
Once the formation was desecrated, the arrangement of the letters was no longer complete. It was no different from someone carving meaningless gibberish into a rock and expecting the words to suddenly become a spell. The goblins methodically destroyed every formation they found, making certain that none remained intact enough to function.
Grash watched them work without interfering. Once they reached the cave entrance, however, his attention shifted forward.
The enormous opening stretched into darkness, its interior so deep that the morning light barely penetrated beyond the first section. Several glowing arrays were already visible across the floor, their magical patterns openly illuminated rather than hidden beneath dirt.
Grash’s eyes narrowed.
Then he noticed what stood in the center.
Two piles of charred remains had been impaled upon crude wooden stakes, deliberately positioned so that anyone approaching the cave would have to see them.
The first body was almost impossible to identify. Its face had been melted nearly beyond recognition, and whatever flesh remained had shriveled beneath the heat.
The second was different.
Although heavily burned, enough of the body remained intact for Grash to recognize the shape.
His eyes narrowed further.
"Boi."
His fists clenched.
The goblins behind him instinctively became quieter.
Boi had been one of their own. He had fought alongside them, followed orders and marched into battle believing the Ashmork Clan would emerge victorious. Now his corpse had been deliberately displayed at the entrance of the enemy’s home.
Grash stared at him for several seconds before a thin smile appeared.
"That little devil does know how to send a message."
He crouched down and picked up a fist sized piece of rock from the ground. He rolled it once between his fingers before standing again.
"Well, let’s send ours."
Without hesitation, Grash threw the rock into the cave.
It flew several meters through the darkness before striking the ground.
Bang!
The instant it landed, the first array erupted.
The ground exploded beneath the impact, throwing chunks of stone and dirt into the air and spread outward, striking several active arrays that had escaped their earlier sweep.
The cave entrance suddenly erupted into a violent display of magic. Jagged earth spikes tore from the floor. Blades of compressed wind shot through the darkness.
Water whips erupted from hidden channels and lashed violently across the entrance. Flames burst from the ground while stone fragments were hurled through the air with enough force to shatter rock. Each activation triggered another formation farther ahead, creating a chain reaction that seemed to stretch deeper and deeper into the cave.
The goblins instinctively raised their weapons and stepped backward but Grash didn’t move. He simply stood outside the entrance and watched the chaos tear through the first section of the colony’s defenses.
Rudor slowly approached him, his eyes fixed on the spectacle. Now he finally understood why Grash had brought only a small group.
Had the entire Ashmork army marched into this place, the soldiers would have been too numerous to carefully examine the terrain. The front ranks would have triggered the first formations, the mana ripple would have awakened everything behind them, and the resulting chain reaction could have caught dozen inside the narrow cave.
The kobolds hadn’t simply prepared a few traps.
They had prepared a battlefield designed to punish an army for entering recklessly.
Rudor’s eyes shifted toward Grash.
The man beside him was terrifying when wielding an axe, but that was only one part of what made him dangerous. His foresight in warfare has always remained unparalleled
"Let’s head back. We have done what we came here for." Grash suddenly said.
Several goblins turned toward him in confusion.
They had destroyed the arrays near the entrance, confirmed the presence of more deeper inside and watched the remaining formations activate. But they hadn’t actually entered the cave.
Rudor was about to ask why they weren’t going farther when he remembered the condition of his chief.
They could always attack tomorrow. There was no reason to push Grash any further today.
"I agree, Chief. We can always attack tomorrow when the sun is up. For now, you should have some food and rest." Rudor said.
Grash ignored him. His gaze remained fixed on the dark entrance. There was something about the cave that bothered him.
After several seconds, Grash finally turned away. He walked down the path without another word, several goblins immediately following behind him while Rudor gave the remaining soldiers a signal to withdraw.
The cave remained behind them. But Grash’s smile never completely disappeared.
Meanwhile, deep within the Vaal’kor colony, the sudden explosion shook the sanctuary hard enough to send dust raining from the ceiling.
Several kobolds immediately looked upward and Kurg swallowed hard.
"Don’t tell me..."
Ka’z frowned as he turned toward the distant passage.
His divine perception couldn’t reach the cave entrance all the way from here.
Kong’gong had no such limitation.
The old man remained seated, his gray eyes staring toward the distant darkness as though the stone walls weren’t even there. He remained silent for several seconds, listening to something only he could perceive before finally nodding.
"They are here."
The room became still and Kong’gong turned toward Ka’z.
"But they only destroyed the arrays you set up at the entrance and beyond. We will have to rely on the ones deeper in the tunnels."
Ka’z slowly nodded.
"It wasn’t unexpected. We literally stole the knowledge from them, so naturally they can detect it."
His voice remained surprisingly calm.
Setting up the arrays had cost him time and effort, but it hadn’t drained his mana. In truth, the work had been useful for another reason. After the deaths of so many Vaal’kor, Ka’z had needed something to occupy his mind, something that allowed him to focus on a problem he could actually solve.
Ru’k, who had been sitting with his arms folded tightly against his chest, suddenly straightened.
"So we are under attack?"
The bravery he had displayed earlier seemed considerably harder to maintain now that the enemy was actually outside their home.
Lan’ka glanced toward him.
"No. They’re most likely going to set up camp and attack tonight or tomorrow. But it seems we don’t have the luxury of holding this meeting anymore."
Lan’ka rose to his feet and Ka’z was already standing. The time to talk was over, it was time for war.