Chapter Forty-One: They're Coming

Jasmine took off the coat's hood of her head to get a better view of things. She sighed seeing the storm in full force, something strong enough to ruin the forest, close to the village. She knew the worst was already over, but she still decided to do something.

Jasmine twirled the staff in her hands back and forth over her head and said "Crestdefall"

The tornado was surrounded by a greenish light, which pressured it from side to side, forcing it to shrink. Same thing happened to the clouds, as the greenish energy disposed of the bad weather. As for Jasmine, she was out of breath.

Her jagged breathing was noticed by Lenart, who had caught the unconscious Rolf. "Let's go back, that spell is way too powerful for you to use!" Lenart said, worried for Jasmine, as he should. The spell Crestdefall was a tier two spell, used as an act to suppress the world, specifically weather. It took almost all Jasmine's mana to perform the spell and just stop an already calming storm.

Some years ago many known mages had tried to use weather spells to bring an end to the winter and it became common knowledge. The Crestdefall was one of the spells invented and was spread around the country, becoming widely known. This was done in hope of somehow suppressing the winter, but it was all for nothing. Their relentless efforts didn't even leave a scratch in the weather.

Jasmine was a different case altogether. Her authority and talent in weather magic enhanced the spell's effect by a large margin, making it several times stronger than intended. This allowed her to accomplish her goal of suppressing the storm, something a tier two mage would have trouble doing with that spell specifically.

…

Jasmine and Lenart made small talk, while walking back. The bad weather was gone and the heavy rain no longer obstructed their view. This allowed the guards to notice them coming and prepare to welcome them.

"I heard they're going to start harvesting today, is that true?" Jasmine asked Lenart. She had been locked up in her room, doing research on magic and its effects. So she wasn't caught up to the worldly events for the moment.

"They were, not now though, maybe tomorrow. The weather kind of made the soil too wet and it would be annoying working in it, you know. Don't you remember those good old days, when the wet mud reached your knees, as you worked the fields. If possible we'd like to avoid that scenario!" Lenart said, while waving at one of the guards.

The people Rold had rescued, Including his son Rein waited for them, while the adventurers who'd simply been in the forest had returned to their own thing.

"How's father?" Rein asked, concerned for his father's well being, seeing the lack of his left arm. Seeing the kid's worry and guilt Lenart sighed and said. "He'll be fine, just take him home!"

…

After everything was taken care of JAsmine returned home and Lenart started talking with a serious Jantyr.

"Sorry buddy, but you have to start the harvest today, it won't be safe outside for a while and everyone will have to be inside the wall. Meaning the harvest takes priority, so that you'll have food!" Jantyr ordered, leaving no room for arguing.

"May I ask why my lord?" Lenart asked, Jantyr had after all been the one to order them not to harvest on such rainy days.

"The orcs, they're moving!" was all Jantyr had to say for Lenart to understand. Groaning loudly he stood up and walked towards the middle of the streets and yelled. "Everyone to the field and start harvesting!" then he returned to his conversation with Jantyr.

"How many days do we have left?" he asked, wanting to know what he was working with.

"Three days at worst, two weeks at best!" was Jantyr's answered, certifying the severity of their predicament.

…

Man or women, young or old, everyone was on the field. The tools were all occupied and some had to use their hands to harvest the vegetables. Those with tools dug up potatoes, those without them usually had to drag out the root vegetables, like carrots and other weird ones with magical properties, never found on earth.

There were also vegetables that grow on bushes and such, like tomatoes, which grew over the ground and not under. There was this vegetable called Springroot, they were pointy and almost looked like a combination of a paprika and a pear. They were firm and yellow, often used in stew, as they were required to be cooked in some way, just like potatoes.

The villagers worked their hardest, even adventurers, to harvest the crops before the orcs arrived, even if they didn't know they were coming yet, as mass hysteria wasn't the best tactic for dealing with a stressful, dangerous situation.

~Pov Jantyr~ (First Person)

I watched them run back and forth between the storage, underground and the fields all day long. They only rested when needed and worked when allowed. No one knew the reason for the urgency, but they understood how important it was, so they did their jobs without complaints.

As for me, I've been working hard at work. Recently I ordered Harold to place several of my totems throughout the forest, because for some reason my sight was blocked by some entity. I hadn't seen the village they live in at all and could only guess their numbers and I couldn't just send one of my worshipers to certain death. So instead I placed my totems around their village, or at least where I calculated it is and started spying on them. So far it's been working.

Today, after the orc died I saw over five tier one orcs run here and there outside the village, preparing for something and then I overheard them talking. "Village we must destroy" they said, now you might ask, how would you know? To answer that, I have one thing to say, I'm a deity! All languages in the world, spoken by somewhat intelligent beings, who have a meaning for their words can be understood. Which is pretty helpful. This allowed me to understand they're going to attack us.

Anyways, things are progressing smoothly and the harvest should finish before day seven, let's just hope they don't attack before that!