Another round of catapults fired from the ships. The behemoths immediately turned out of the wind after firing and tried to dodge the second round of catapults from the Sakovans. One ship was hit with two loads of burning material and its sails went up in flames. It drifted freely as the crew tried to put the fires out. Even as the first row was retreating, the second row of Motangans ships started heading for the city.
“How long can your mages keep up the wind?” asked General Manitow.
“Not indefinitely,” Lyra replied. “It takes a great deal of power to fight nature. The winds are against us.”
“They are aiming their catapults at the mages,” the general declared, “not my catapults. They are not afraid to lose ships this close to shore. Can you move your mages back?”
“Tell them to drop the wind,” Lyra ordered the mages next to her. “When they start it up again, they are to slowly back up so their position keeps changing.”
LifeTender and ValleyBreeze relayed the information to the mages. When the second row of ships got within range, Lyra gave the order to summon the wind. Moments later, lightning flashed in the clear sky. The lightning bolts slammed into the beach where the mages had just moved back from. Lyra gasped in horror as the lightning bolts blew up huge clouds of sand.
“Tell them to shield themselves,” Lyra said to her mages. “Every other mage is to shield himself and his partner.”
“That will cut the wind in half,” warned ValleyBreeze.
“Do it!” shouted Lyra. “They can not keep up the wind for long anyway. I will not sacrifice our mages at this stage of the battle.”
“A wise call,” commented General Manitow as he pointed out to sea. “They are lowering small boats and have dropped their sails.”
“Dropped their sails?” echoed Lyra. “They will be easy targets for our catapults.”
“I know,” nodded the general, “and so do they. They are sacrificing the ships to get their men ashore. Use your mages for other tasks. The battle has changed.”
Lyra ordered the mages to retreat as she watched balls of fire impacting on the Motangan ships. Hundreds of small boats dotted the water as the Motangan ships used their catapults to bombard the city. Sakovan archers raced to the waterfront, dodging missiles that were slamming into the buildings of the city. Lyra looked out at the first row of ships and saw that every one of them was burning to one degree or another. The Sakovan catapults were firing as fast as they could be reloaded, and the Motangan behemoths were taking a beating, but hundreds of small boats kept rowing towards the shore.
“Tell the mages to concentrate on the small boats,” instructed Lyra. “Fireballs are preferred at this point.”
“Third wave coming in,” warned General Manitow.
Lyra looked out to sea and saw a new wave of leviathans dodging the burning and sinking hulks of the second wave. The smoke rising into the air from the burning buildings and the burning ships was growing thick. She saw her mages aiming fireballs at the small boats with qualified success. Some of the small boats were capsized and a few were burning, but there were far too many of them to hit them all.
As the small boats got closer to shore, the Sakovan archers opened fire. Thousands of arrows flew into the sea and rained down on the small boats. Suddenly, Motangan mages started throwing fireballs of their own from the small boats.
“Third wave is lowering their small boats,” announced General Manitow.
The catapults of the third wave were aimed at the Sakovan catapults. The behemoths fired as quickly as they could reload even as the small boats were being lowered and filled with soldiers.
“Their aim is excellent,” scowled General Manitow. “We are losing our catapults quickly. Our archers cannot keep up either. There are just too many of them, and they are being driven by a leader who is not concerned with losses.”
“Are you saying that Alamar is lost?” asked Lyra.
“Not yet,” General Manitow shook his head, “but I doubt that we can last the day. The Motangans will lose thousands of men trying to get ashore, but they will succeed.”
Lyra looked at the harbor and saw bodies floating everywhere. Some of the small boats were piling dead shipmates on the bow of their boats to hide behind, while others were throwing the dead overboard. All of the second wave ships had sunk, and many of the third waves ships were burning, but the Sakovan catapults had gone silent. The Motangan catapults were now targeting the city buildings. Sections of Alamar were aflame, and soldiers raced around trying to put out the fires. Temiker appeared alongside Lyra and shook his head.
“It is time for you to start making preparations to flee the city,” Temiker said softly. “There is little you can do here. Alamar is finished.”
“It’s too quick,” Lyra shook her head. “There are too many of them. I thought we could hold out for a few days at least.”
“Their commander is clever,” shrugged Temiker. “He found a way to overcome every obstacle. The Sakovans may hold onto Alamar for another day, but no longer. There is no need for you to be here, though.”
“His advice is sound, Lyra,” interjected General Manitow. “There is a lot of fighting left before the Motangans take Alamar, but it is foolish to endanger you. We will make them pay with a high body count. You can trust me to accomplish that.”
“I will leave,” Lyra agreed, “but not until the Motangans land. LifeTender. ValleyBreeze. Come with me.”
Lyra moved swiftly off the roof of the building. LifeTender and ValleyBreeze followed her closely, and Temiker panted to keep up. The Star of Sakova made her way down to the waterfront. Over a thousand archers peppered the Motangan small boats and hundreds of mages threw fireballs. The Motangan catapults aimed for the archers and the mages, leaving the entire waterfront area in ruins.
Lyra halted near her group of mages. Her eyes slowly scanned the seas until she found a Motangan mage in one of the small boats. She raised her arm and pointed at him. A blast of power shot from her fist. It soared over the waves and hit the mage squarely. The mage was blown from the boat, a fist sized hole punched clear through his body.
“Aim for their mages,” shouted Lyra. “Let the archers concentrate on the soldiers.”
Lyra’s eyes sought out another black cloak and blew him away. The rest of the Sakovan mages also concentrated on the black cloaks. Within minutes there were no fireballs coming from the small boats of the second wave.
“You have such power,” Temiker remarked with awe. “Try that force bolt on one of the small boats.”
Lyra nodded and aimed for the nearest small boat. Her bolt ripped through the bow of the small boat and the soldier behind it. The boat immediately began sinking and the soldiers abandoned it. Lyra targeted another small boat, but she aimed along the side of it. Her force bolt tore the side off the boat, immediately capsizing it.
“You are just trying to delay your departure from Alamar,” chuckled Temiker. “Keep that up and none of the Motangans will reach the shore.”
Fireballs erupted from the small boats of the third wave. They were all aimed at Lyra. LifeTender and ValleyBreeze had erected shields around Lyra, Temiker and themselves. The shields glowed brightly as a dozen fireballs impacted them.
“On second thought,” frowned Temiker, “taking out their mages is a better idea.”
Lyra nodded as she shifted her concentration to the small boats of the third wave. Temiker joined in as they targeted the black cloaks. The catapults from the Motangan ships suddenly started striking the area around Lyra. Temiker knew that the magical shields around Lyra would not protect her from the catapults. He grabbed her and dragged her back.
“Now,” Temiker said forcefully, “it is time for you to leave.”
A catapult load splattered on the beach not twenty paces away. Flaming debris peppered the mages, who screamed and leaped back. Lyra sighed heavily and nodded.
“Organize the mages,” she said to LifeTender and ValleyBreeze. “Continue attacking the Motangan mages if you can do so safely. Have them fall back when it is no longer safe to be where they are. I do not want to trade mages with the Motangans. That means preserving our mages is the priority. We will need them for the rest of this war.”