Game Master in Another World

I took the brief moment of calm as an opportunity to speak with Captain Grisham.

“Now that we have the wagons flowing, what else do you need done?” I asked, firmly taking control of Juliana's body.

“Well, since you are offering, what I truly need is someone to watch the approaches for signs of an enemy counterattack,” Grisham replied, scanning the treeline. “It may be unlikely this soon, but we must take every precaution.”

Captain Grisham was clearly a practical man. I figured this was a task we could easily manage.

I wanted to try the shape-shifting ability myself. I dug through Juliana’s memories, searching for exactly how she initiated the spell. But all I could find was... intuition? It wasn't a rigid formula or a spoken incantation; it was more like an innate, primal feeling.

I tried picturing a kārearea falcon in my mind's eye, but nothing happened. I tried to physically imagine our body changing. Again, absolutely nothing. It seemed tapping into high-level druidic class mechanics wasn't as simple as just wanting it to happen.

Defeated, I surrendered. Juliana, could you please change us into a kārearea? I asked internally, relinquishing my grip on her mind.

Juliana’s serene smile returned. She simply leapt into the air, and before our feet could even touch back down, our bones snapped and shrank. We transformed seamlessly, immediately catching the morning wind and soaring up into the sky.

Being a bird of prey granted us absolutely breathtaking vision. We soared hundreds of metres high, yet we could pick out individual pebbles on the dirt road below—details that would be utterly impossible for human eyes. From this vantage point, we watched the massive caravan slowly progressing through the village, the line of wagons snaking miles back into the lush countryside.

Scanning the horizon to the east, we could make out a sprawling, monstrous encampment. Hundreds of thick grey plumes drifted into the sky from their cooking fires. This had to be the main staging ground for the Forlinth army.

Even further east, I spotted long, dark lines of infantry and cavalry slowly marching toward the main camp. Reinforcements were already gathering for the impending siege. Seeing the sheer, expansive footprint of that camp truly hammered home the terrifying reality of Darius's warning. The army we were about to face was staggeringly huge.

Juliana effortlessly caught a warm thermal updraft. We circled within it, climbing higher into the clouds before gently gliding lower again. Soaring like this was incredibly peaceful. High above the death and the war, my mind began to drift, slipping into a quiet, meditative calm.

After what felt like only a few minutes—but was more likely an hour—we spotted a massive formation of cavalry leaving the main camp, heading directly toward us.

Luckily, I managed to notice them despite the meditative trance of drifting calmly in the sky.

Juliana, can we get a closer look at that formation?

Juliana tilted our wings, diving toward the rapidly moving troops. As we got closer, our enhanced vantage point gave us a terrifyingly clear look. They were moving at a full gallop. The vast majority were heavily armoured knights, but scattered amongst them were several figures wearing thick robes and carrying staves. I quickly estimated the total number. There had to be around one thousand men.

It was incredibly unlikely that a force this large was just out for a routine patrol. Somehow, they had found out about our supply train. I must have completely missed their forward scouts whilst I was distracted.

We banked hard and looked back at the wagon train. There were still hundreds of carts that hadn’t even reached the village, let alone the safety of the city walls. There was absolutely no way they were going to survive a cavalry charge from a force this large.

We quickly folded our wings and dove back toward the village. Captain Grisham needed to be warned immediately.

We found him near the village well, speaking to a local farmer. We landed right next to him, the bizarre sensation of snapping back into our humanoid form startling the poor farmer.

I aggressively seized control. We needed precise, military communication here. “Bad news. We have a one-thousand-strong force of enemy cavalry approaching from the east, moving fast. I think our caravan has been made.”

Captain Grisham’s face instantly dropped.

“We are going to lose most of the caravan at this rate. I will send a runner to the city immediately, but we need to slow this force down. Even stalling them for one minute could be the difference between success and total failure.”

I nodded firmly. We had managed large forces before; surely this would be fine.

Captain Grisham ran to the nearest soldier, barked a rapid order, and the man spurred his horse, galloping off down the road toward the city gates.

Grisham then swung up into his own saddle and motioned us over. “Are you coming?”

I released control back to Juliana. She simply smiled. “Yes. I would appreciate the lift.”

We grabbed his outstretched hand and pulled ourselves onto the back of the horse behind him. He galloped fiercely up the side of the slow-moving caravan, shouting to rally his vanguard.

We now had a total force of twenty men to fight a vanguard of one thousand. It was certain suicide for Captain Grisham and his unit, but the man had thought of the starving villagers before he even considered his own life. It filled me with a profound sense of awe to witness how selfless someone could truly be.

It didn’t take long for us to see the enemy force cresting over the open fields in front of us. I could see the stark terror on the faces of the few men riding beside us, but still, they spurred their horses forward at a full gallop.

As we closed the distance, a volley of arrows began to fall around us, thudding into the dirt. Still, we charged.

“Break left!” Captain Grisham roared.

Our formation rapidly banked left, running perpendicular to the charging enemy to draw their attention. However, only half the enemy cavalry followed us; the remaining half ignored our feint and continued directly toward the vulnerable caravan.

I could hear Captain Grisham click his tongue in bitter frustration. “Lieutenant Toombes! Split off and chase that right flank down! Delay them at all costs!”

Half of our tiny vanguard split off, doubling back in a desperate attempt to chase down the massive force heading for the wagons.

“Now for the hard part. I certainly hope you are worth five hundred men, Lady Juliana,” Captain Grisham shouted over his shoulder, violently turning his horse to face the charging soldiers.

Another heavy volley of arrows fell around us. The rider to our immediate left took a shaft directly to the head, slumping backwards off his horse.

We were now in range. Juliana raised a hand and cast a massive Wall of Thorns directly in the path of the charging cavalry. We could hear the sickening, loud crunches as the front line of horses violently collided with the magical barrier, screaming in pain.

Immediately, three glowing magical bolts shot out from the enemy ranks, heading directly toward us. Juliana leapt off the back of Grisham's horse, trying to dodge, but the bolts sharply curved mid-air, tracking our movement. All three slammed directly into our back. A sharp, searing burning pain ripped through our body.

Before we could even recover, another nine magical bolts flew toward us. Juliana desperately threw up a magical shield, and the projectiles smashed harmlessly against the shimmering barrier.

Up ahead, I watched a jagged bolt of solid ice punch straight through the chest of one of Grisham’s men. He fell off his mount, rolling to a lifeless halt on the bloody ground.

I could see Grisham desperately engaged in melee with a heavily armoured knight. He managed to drive his blade straight through the man's neck while continuing to push through the ranks. However, the rest of Grisham’s men weren’t so lucky. Their light messenger armour provided practically zero defence against the arrows and heavy weapons levied against them. Out of our original ten, only three remained in the saddle.

We didn’t have a second to think. A large column of men broke off and charged directly at us. Juliana cast a massive Wall of Fire directly on top of the approaching column. Several horses panicked and tried to stop, violently bucking their riders off their backs and straight into the roaring flames. Their agonizing screams pierced our ears.

We rapidly cast another spell. Thick vines shot from the earth, tripping several more horses and causing their riders to fall with sickening crunches as armour awkwardly hit the hard ground. However, it simply wasn't enough. There were still at least one hundred heavily armed men charging us directly, their swords raised to swing.

Suddenly, I felt the horribly familiar, paralyzing sensation of an enemy caster trying to magically restrain us. Thankfully, our high stats resisted it, but immediately, several more overlapping restrain spells were cast in our direction.

Then, a massive fireball roared toward us. We dove to dodge, but we weren't fast enough. The explosive flame burst against our side, severely burning our left arm and leg.

As the smoke cleared, the riders were already upon us. We ducked under a vicious sword swing, then brought up our scimitar to desperately block a heavy downward blow. Moving entirely on instinct, Juliana grabbed the reins of a passing, riderless horse. I felt the immense, agonizing pain of our shoulder violently wrenching as the momentum dragged us, but she somehow managed to swing her leg over and pull herself into the saddle to continue the gallop.

Several more bolts of magical light flew out from the enemy ranks, slamming hard into our back. Again, a blinding, searing pain coursed through our entire body.

We were not winning this. If we stayed here, I could only see one possible outcome: Juliana was going to die.

We needed reinforcements—something that could match the sheer number of enemies before us. Then I remembered. All those years ago, I had accidentally summoned a pack of wolves.

Juliana, get us in the air, now!

“Sure, my Lord. But this is going to hurt; those casters are going to fire everything they have at us,” Juliana responded out loud, her voice unnervingly calm.

Okay. Make a forest. As large as possible.

Juliana smiled. She began a rapid incantation. A moment later, where there had been empty fields, a massive arcane forest violently erupted from the earth. I could hear sickening thuds and panicked neighs as charging horses collided with thick trunks that hadn’t existed a second earlier. We, however, phased harmlessly through the magical wood as if it weren't even there.

Juliana shifted into a tiny, inconspicuous starling and took off into the air. Down below, it was absolute chaos. Through the canopy, we could make out Captain Grisham completely surrounded by enemy knights—bloodied and battered, but still fiercely fighting.

Further ahead, I could see the other five hundred cavalry rapidly bearing down on the vulnerable caravan. Several terrified drivers were already abandoning their carts to run toward the city. There was no sign of the detachment Grisham had sent earlier.

I mentally grasped for that bizarre, god-like sensation of creating an encounter. This needed to be an immense number. Two thousand. One thousand for each group.

I focused on the cavalry nearing the caravan. The world suddenly began to twist and shift, the air shimmering as if something fundamentally unnatural were occurring. With a flash of displaced reality, one thousand snarling wolves abruptly materialized directly in front of the charging cavalry. The sudden, impossible ambush sent the enemy horses into a blind panic. The feral wolves immediately began tearing down mounts and riders alike, plunging their ranks into absolute, bloody chaos.

I quickly looked back toward the enemy force trapped in our arcane forest below. Again, the world warped and shifted. Another one thousand wolves spawned into existence amongst the trees, immediately leaping upon the disoriented soldiers.

We need to save Captain Grisham. Can you become a griffin?

Juliana mentally nodded. She beat her tiny starling wings, climbing high above Grisham's position, before instantly dropping her wild-shape. Back in her Nhalyri form, we began to free-fall through the sky. Plummeting toward the earth, she started another incantation. As it finished, our bones cracked and morphed once more. Thick feathers sprouted, our eyesight sharpened immensely, and we continued our dive as a massive, predatory griffin.

Several soldiers looked up, their eyes widening in horror as they saw us diving. “Griffin!”

Six magical bolts of light flew up at us. They struck our thick, feathered hide, but the pain wasn’t nearly as intense as before. We swooped down, effortlessly snatching the heavily armoured Captain in our massive talons before powerfully beating our wings and flying back toward the safety of the caravan.

“Thank you, Lady Juliana! I would not have lasted much longer,” Grisham shouted over the rushing wind. “Your druidic magic is truly astounding!”

As we flew over the chaos of the battlefield, the enemy's numbers had already thinned drastically. Several surviving soldiers had broken rank and were desperately retreating. Looking down, I watched an enemy mage fighting for his life against five ravenous wolves while pinned under his dead horse. He managed to burn three of them to a crisp, but the surviving two quickly tore his throat out.

We dropped the exhausted Captain Grisham back near the safety of the caravan before taking to the air once more.

Below us, the battlefield was rapidly evolving. Most of the Forlinth knights had lost their mounts and were now desperately fighting the wolves on foot. The heavily armoured knights were faring the best; however, they were now outnumbered at least five to one.

I watched as one hulking knight took a sluggish, desperate swing at a wolf. The beast easily dodged the blade, while a second wolf lunged in and clamped its jaws around his sword arm. A third beast grabbed his other arm, and the two animals began to violently tug at him. A fourth wolf leapt up, latching onto his heavy helmet and ripping it completely off his head. Unable to defend himself, the knight could only shriek as a fifth wolf clamped its jaws directly down onto his exposed skull. We could hear his agonizing screams echo over the field as he died.

Across the blood-soaked grass, hundreds of wolves were already feasting on the bodies of horses and men alike. Some of the unfortunate soldiers weren't quite dead yet, writhing in terror as the feral beasts tore wet chunks of flesh from their legs.

Then, my blood ran absolutely cold as I spotted a massive, horrifying problem.

Having finished off their immediate prey, several hundred ravenous wolves had broken off from the main pack. They were now turning their glowing eyes toward the meaty draft horses of the caravan and breaking into a full, predatory sprint.

The very creatures I had just summoned to protect the supply train were now set to spell its absolute doom.

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