He`d already made big stone doors at the gates of the walls. He thought well of that design, so he marked out places to put five of these doors, all down the hallway leading to the rooms of the emergency bunker. The demons would have to break down all five doors, one after another, to get to the people inside.

　　Now Fred built the doors, one by one, each closer to the entrance of the hallway. Each set of doors was huge, stone, thick, and could be swung by the pressure of a fingertip. Like the wall gates, Fred added greased crossbars to the inside of each doorway, and also added flanges to the floor and ceiling, ensuring that the door could only open outward.

　　Now Fred stepped back, and looked at his work. It wasn`t pretty, being all plain stone. But it was huge, and deep, and just what the refugees would need when the demons came calling. Fred was pretty proud of it, and couldn`t wait to show Jim.

　　Near dusk, Bang! went the teleporter pad again. Another greasy smoke cloud roiled into the sky, but Fred noticed that the bang and the cloud seemed smaller than last time. He looked at the site, and saw that the wizards seemed to be less concerned and more optimistic. "Good," Fred thought at them. "Keep going!"

　　Hello, Fred. Are you doing well?

　　"Hi, Jim! Yeah, come look at this bunker I made!"

　　Oh yes, it`s very nice. Quite large. Many humans could hide in here.

　　"Yeah, that`s the idea. All these refugees keep coming, and I don`t think they can run away when the demon army comes. So I made them somewhere to hide. With five doors!"

　　That`s very good, Fred, but you should also be thinking of your own defense.

　　"Okay&"

　　Uamanth is still alive, and still fighting for his life. But the demons are launching bombs into his domain, from quite a distance away, and he seems defenseless against it. And demon armies have now&

　　"Why doesn`t he throw them back?" Fred asked.

　　What do you mean?

　　"Well, I`ve been throwing dead demons around all afternoon. When I wasn`t building that bunker, anyway."

　　Please explain.

　　"Um, okay, I wanted to experiment with those demon bodies I buried. So I dug them up. AND, this is the cool part, I figured out that I have a problem grabbing them with my magic, but I can push them around no trouble." Fred went on to explain how he`d thrown the demon lumps out of his domain, and how he`d figured out that water washed away the numbing effect. He also repeated Kumbanaka`s idea about making it rain to help defeat the demon army`s blood tactics.

　　Fred, this changes everything. How amazing. You really are incredible.

　　"Well, I wouldn`t say&"

　　Many Earth Spirits have nearby water, or other water resources. This knowledge will empower them all. Perhaps save them. And the humans have weather mages. You can tell them. Use Kumbanaka. Have him get the word out.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

　　Fred, can you show me how you threw the "lumps"?

　　"Sure." Fred went out to the eastern fields, away from the human camps, and dredged up a big stone boulder, two spans wide. He did the shove/throw, and the stone leapt into the air, traveling about ten spans before thumping back down into the dirt.

　　Amazing. Do it again?

　　Fred did so. This time he put all his effort into it, and the boulder flew over thirty spans.

　　So you`re pushing the earth, underneath the stone?

　　"Yeah. I gotta push it into the air. That`s what I realized. When I was moving the demon bodies under the earth, it was hard. But if I made a hole above it or below it, I can push the demon into the hole easy. So I thought it was air. Push it into someplace with air in it, and it`s not so hard. Ya see?"

　　When you push, is it like your avatar? Your big hand?

　　"No. Well, mebbe. I didn`t think of that. I wasn`t thinking of my hand at all. Just about how hard it is to grab demon bodies and move them."

　　Brilliant. Every Earth Spirit needs to know this. Fred, it`s too late for two Earth Spirits, who were destroyed by demons today. A long way from here. But this information will save so many others. And I need to tell them right away, starting with Uamanth. I`ll be back in the morning. Good night.

　　"Okay, good night."

　　Fred turned to his "team". "Kumbanaka? Martin?" He called.

　　"Yes, Fred?"

　　"So, I just talked to Jim. He sez that two Earth Spirits have been killed by demon armies. And there`s another one, Umanth, I think, who`s being bombed to death right now."

　　"You know the demons are incredibly dangerous, Fred," Kumbanaka replied. "This situation was very predictable."

　　"Yeah, but I`m not giving up. Your idea to get wizards to make rain. That`s great. Jim said so. Can you tell the humans?"

　　"I can try. The humans I can talk to will listen to me. But I`m not sure any of the humans know that demon blood inhibits your magic. Conveying the concept that rain will help YOU, and thus help THEM& I can only try."

　　"Thank you," Fred said.

　　"Fred, did I hear you building new underground areas a few hours ago?" Martin asked.

　　"Yeah, I know there are gonna be lotsa refugees, and I didn`t want them in the way, so I made an emergency bunker."

　　"Bunker," Martin mused. "It`s an odd word. Perfectly clear, to a dragon, of course. You want to trap all the weakest humans below ground?"

　　"I want to protect them. If they can`t fight, they need to be somewhere else, and I don`t think they`ll be able to run away in time. When the demons come."

　　"Alright, I suppose that makes sense."

　　"Anyway," Fred continued, "Jim said that the demons were shooting bombs at Umant, from like, a long way away."

　　"Why doesn`t he just throw them back?" Martin asked.

　　"That`s what I said! Jim sez that these other Earth Spirits don`t know how to throw, and he`s gone to tell them. But so, how are the demons doing that?"

　　"Mangonels," said Martin.

　　"Trebuchets," said Kumbanaka.

　　"What are those?" said Fred.

　　"Siege artillery. Field pieces. Big contraptions that throw big things," Martin replied.

　　"Every army uses them," said Kumbanaka. "Especially when attacking walls."

　　"Can I fight them?" asked Fred.

　　"If you can see them, you can bury them," Kumbanaka replied. "But they do have a long range. Though I have to say, you have a long distance between your town and the eastern forts you made. I`ve never heard of siege artillery that could throw something that distance."

　　"So, they`ll have to get their& things& close enough to me that I can smash them."

　　"Remember, Fred," replied Martin. "You said the demons would spill their own blood to stop your magic. They could simply roll the siege machines to you on a road of their own blood. Then what would you do?"

　　"We could get the rain to wash it all. And I can throw rocks at it. And I can put trenches in the way."

　　"All good tactics. You could also tear down your bridges, and force them to cross the stream you redirected," said Martin.

　　"Oh, yeah, good idea," Fred replied. "I need you guys to keep these ideas coming, okay?"

　　"We will, Spirit," Kumbanaka said. "We are bound to you, and this place."

　　"And the demons are clever," interjected Martin. "We will have to think on our feet. And we have no idea about the composition of their army. They`re bound to have strange, surprising units that can catch us off guard."

　　"Geez," Fred said.

　　In the distance, coming up the road in the darkness, Fred noticed a large, new group of refugees. They looked a bit more wealthy, with more animals and wagons. But they also looked more scared and desperate.

　　"Lots of new humans on the road, Kumbanaka," Fred said. "If you get a chance, could you find out what they`re running from?"

　　"I shall. Though we may not like the answer."

　　In the morning, they had an answer.

　　"The demon army is close, Fred," Kumbanaka reported. "They`ll be here tomorrow."