Balancer (Advent Mage Cycle) (25 page)

Without waiting for anyone to respond to Eagle’s question, I turned sharply toward the barrier and checked with my magical sense. My eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. “I don’t believe it! The barrier
does
stop at ground level!”

Everyone abruptly sat up, looking at me in excitement. “Then you can take us all directly inside?” Xiaolang demanded.

“No, Captain, think bigger,” Eagle chided with a crooked smile. “If he can manipulate the ground under that barrier, then what’s to stop him from just
moving
one of the sigils out of place? That would send the whole barrier crashing down and we can maneuver how we want to.”

How
do I keep missing the obvious solutions? “Eagle,” I choked out, “that’s brilliant!”

“I do have my moments,” he answered with false modesty.

Xiaolang pivoted abruptly to Dassan and ordered, “Gather everyone who’s in fighting shape and get them moving.” He turned back to me with another sharp spin on his heels. “Garth, take that thing down!”

“My
pleasure
.” I closed my eyes and did my own scrying to determine where the nearest sigil stood. I was in the south corner of the city, so I expected to find one not too far from where I stood. It took only seconds to locate it—only a few hundred marks ahead and to the left of where I stood.

With no finesse at all, I grabbed hold of the ground the sigil sat on and
yanked
. The sigil tore to the side, actually toppling because of the forceful wrench. I jerked back to my immediate surroundings to see the barrier splinter and dissipate like shattering glass.

From inside the inner city, wails of dismay and panic carried on the wind. Hearing the Priests’ reaction filled my heart with predatory joy.

“Garth,” Xiaolang waved a hand to catch my attention, “take everyone straight to the Palace. I don’t trust desperate men.”

With a nod, I gathered up the team and every magician that was able to fight—and that turned out to be a good two dozen people. Wrapping us all up in a cocoon of magic, I headed straight to the palace at high speed.

Chapter
Seventeen: A Fallen Order

Xiaolang had me bring everyone up at the edge of the Palace grounds. As soon as we were above ground, the earth firming again under out feet, he grabbed me by the arm, eyes and voice intense. “Go find Vonlorisen and Vonaudaxen and get them out of here. Take them to a safe location. We can’t risk them.”

I understood what he was saying, and I knew he was right, but “What if they try tapping into ley lines again? You said it yourself, they’re desperate men!”

“We have six Mages with us,” Xiaolang pointed out impatiently. “I think we can handle it.
Go
, Garth!”

Chatta darted in, throwing her arms around my neck for a quick, hard embrace. “Be careful.”

“You too.” My arms ached at the loss as she stepped back, but I made myself turn and focus. Where were the king and prince? With so many magical signatures distracting me, it took long seconds for me to pinpoint Vonlorisen’s location. I’d never searched for Prince Audax before, so he eluded me. He could’ve been off the palace grounds for all I knew.

Regardless, I could at least lay immediate hands on Vonlorisen. I took off in a dead run for the nearest door. Even after my dozens of trips here, I quickly became lost. I realized that the original palace was simply added onto as they needed the extra room, and no one really planned the additions, but couldn’t someone have at least
attempted
to make the renovations logical? I quickly gave up trying to remember the multitude of turns and hallways I took.

I kept half of my attention on Vonlorisen’s location, switching hallways at random as I felt I needed to. The other half of my attention stayed on my surroundings, as I in no way wanted to be caught unawares by a renegade Priest or some other Star Order fanatic.

I finally came to a hallway that I recognized. This was where Vonlorisen’s private study was. I’d been here often enough to know it well. A Wizard stood guard just outside the door. He had to be from Coven Ordan, as he looked Chahiran even with the black robes he was wearing, but I didn’t recognize him. That didn’t hold true for him—his blue eyes lit up with recognition when he saw me. “Magus!”

“The King?” I demanded.

“Safe inside,” he assured me. “Prince Audax is in a different location, guarded by my friend Mian.”

“Air Mage?” I verified.

“Yes, that’s right.”

So these two were the ones responsible for the barriers, eh? “I’m taking the King out of here to a safer location. Contact your friend and have her take the Prince away as well.”

The Wizard nodded in understanding and pushed the door open, only sticking his head in long enough to say, “Magus Rhebengarthen is here for you, Your Majesty.”

I stepped quickly into the room, pausing just inside the doorway. Vonlorisen stood behind his desk, which lay buried under a thick stack of maps, parchments, and books precariously stacked one upon another. The king himself looked even more haggard and sleep deprived than the last time I’d seen him, and that was saying something. But when he saw me, his eyes lit up with hope. “You’re through! The barrier?”

“Destroyed,” I assured with a feral smile. “I’m here to take you to a safe location until we’re sure the Priests are all rounded up. An Air Mage will see to your son.” I wanted to yank him into action, and stopped my hand before I could actually do so.

Vonlorisen lost no time coming around his desk and sprinting for the door. He slapped the door aside, snapping out orders to his Wizard guard to follow as he ran. I stayed on his heels with no real effort, as I was more physically fit than he was.

We changed hallways three times in quick succession. Vonlorisen turned another corner, reaching a door made of elaborately carved wood. He yanked it open, stepping out into an open courtyard.

I cleared the door and got my first look at the private garden. This garden didn’t have the meticulously kept look that so many in Alvacon did, but rather had a more natural feel to it. If I didn’t have the imminent descent of powerful Priests hanging over my head, I might have spent a few moments enjoying the peaceful feel of the place. As it stood, I ignored the trees, flowers and shrubbery and started scanning the area for possible breach points.

The King turned to me and asked, “Is this a strong enough connection to the earth for you to work you magic?”

“Yes. We’ll take the earth path.” He gave me a confused look, and it was only then that I realized I’d never really explained my ability to travel in the earth. He’d seen me pop out of the ground at various times, but I’m not sure how much information they had about that particular method of mine. I crossed mental fingers and hoped he wouldn’t panic on me, wrapped us up in a cocoon of magic and went down.

He didn’t panic, which was a blessing as I was going
far
too fast to pause and issue any reassurances. I could feel the earth crack and groan in protest as I forced my way through. Even though I hadn’t made any conscious decision, I instinctively headed toward Del’Hain. But I couldn’t go that far—it would take too much time. It would take a half a day for me to go to Del’Hain and back. As it stood, I was nervous about leaving everyone to battle the Star Priests for more than ten minutes.

I paused right where I was, hovering somewhere near the Hain-Chahir border, and turned to him. “Forgive me, I instinctively went towards Hain but in truth I don’t know a good place to leave you. I don’t want to stray too far from Alvacon. I need to get back there as quickly as possible.”

“So taking us to Guin is out of the question,” Vonlorisen stated while thoughtfully rubbing at his jaw.

“It would take a half a day to go there and back.” Even with me going at an insane speed.

“Is there no place closer to that?” Vonlorisen pressed.

“Well, Guin had houses built along the border, like way-stations. I’ve dropped off magicians there several times. Would you be willing to stay there for a few hours?”

Vonlorisen didn’t even pause to think about it before nodding in agreement. “That will suffice. Go.”

I started us moving again, this time angling a bit more northward for the nearest way-station. When we rose above ground, I checked the two-story house from stem to stern, but didn’t feel anyone in there. Apparently it had been abandoned when Guin had released us from our mission. Just as well. I didn’t want to explain to anyone who this was.

Vonlorisen watched me expectantly. “I’ll be back for you as soon as it’s safe,” I assured him. “If that doesn’t happen by the end of the day, I’ll find a way to send word to you.”

“Thank you, Magus,” Vonlorisen replied.

I took it as a dismissal and raced back to the palace at top speed.

~*~

Shad heard Xiaolang’s order to Garth but didn’t pay a lot of attention to it. His eyes were trained on the area around them. They were right on the edge of the Palace grounds, which meant they had a very tall iron fence at their backs and nothing but elaborate administration buildings in front of them. With the convoluted, crisscrossing walkways between the buildings, and the side doors that seemed to lead in and out of the palace at random, the place was like a very elaborate maze. Trying to find all of the Priests in this section would be a tall order for just one team. No matter how well led or trained the team.

He turned to Xiaolang only to find the other man already watching him. “We need to split into two teams.”

Xiaolang nodded before he could even get the full sentence out. “You can take Eagle and Aletha and any magician you wish. Take the east side. I’ll take the west. Make sure that you have someone staying in contact with my team. I don’t want anyone slipping through the net.”

Shad threw him a very sloppy salute, waved to Eagle and Aletha to follow him, and then went to the nearest group of magicians that were just now arriving on scene. He called out to the ones he recognized as he moved forward at a half-jog. “Janae, Bornemeier, Loewen, Bos, with me! Grab anyone you’re comfortable working with! Everyone else, go with Captain Xiaolang!”

His team formed up quickly around him, as they had for the past several months. Only three new faces joined up, but Shad recognized them easily enough as he’d seen them come and go. The stodgy looking man with the straggling beard and bushy grey hair was an Elemental Mage by the name of Bylund. The gangly, tall young man that looked as if he never ate was a Wizard, Samant, and according to rumor was a savant at offensive fighting. The last one was Tara, a Fire Mage that Shad knew from experience you didn’t want to irritate. She looked like calm person, almost bookish, really. She had an average build to her with straight black hair and wire thin glasses perched on the tip of her nose. But this was the same woman that had burned clean the sigil only hours ago because of sheer frustration. Behind that stoic expression was a short temper on an even shorter leash.

This was good group to have. He knew enough of their personalities and abilities to guess how they’d react and be able to deploy them. He turned to Loewen. “Loewy, keep in contact with Xiaolang’s team. We’re going hunting and we don’t want any of our lovely prey to escape.”

She dug out a Caller from her shirt pocket in response and started talking into it with rapid speed.

“Eagle, watch our backs. Samant and Aletha, take anything you see coming from our right side. Bylund and Janae, you’ve got the left. Bos, you’re with Eagle. The rest of you, with me,” Shad ordered. “Listen, we’re not here to take prisoners. These men are pure evil. If you see ‘em, take them down as quickly as possible. Tara, you keep an eye on everyone. If anyone seems to be having trouble, you fry their opponent. I don’t want casualties. We’re taking this place piece by piece, working out way toward the center. Crystal? Alright, let’s go.”

As they started off for the nearest main walkway, Shad hauled in Bornemeier close. “You use that triangle of yours to search inside the buildings. I don’t want to breach a building unless we have to.” Not that breaching wasn’t fun in its own way, but it would take too much time.

“Because doors are not our friends?” Bornemeier asked quite seriously.

Shad shot him a wicked grin. “That’s part of it.” He just loved the younger generation. They were
so
impressionable. “But searching buildings takes up time, time we don’t have. We’ll only go in if we have to.”

“What about property damage?” Aletha asked from behind him. “No offense, Mages, but working with Garth has taught us that when magicians fight, stuff gets clobbered.”

Good point. Shad pretended to think about it for a moment. “Well, Xiaolang didn’t say anything about that one way or another. So, try not to set anything on fire or knock buildings over. But if it happens…it happens.”

Tara let out a snort of amusement. “I now understand why Bos likes to work with you.”

Shad shot her a wink over his shoulder. “I’m more fun than the other captain. Alright people, don’t stay in this tight group, but keep within sight of each other!” So saying, he sped up his pace a little to help put some distance between the team.

The main problem with the layout in front of them—aside from it having absolutely no rhyme or reason—was that it confined their possible routes. Most of the time, the walkways were in between two buildings, or walled of courtyards. It only allowed a person one of two options—forward or backward. In Shad’s line of business, they called it a fatal funnel.

“Captain?” Bornemeier’s face was drawn together in an expression of worry. “Is something wrong? You’re frowning.”

“This whole path is a fatal funnel,” Aletha answered, her eyes still searching the area in front of her. “Even our crazy captain doesn’t like those.”

“They take the fun out of things,” Shad agreed. “Bornemeier, I’ll explain, but keep those eyes of yours on that triangle. I don’t want people sneaking up on us.” He glanced over to make sure the kid had obeyed the order before his eyes started searching the narrow path ahead. “Alright, have you noticed how close these buildings are? And the walls that block you from taking anything other than this path?”