Battle Mage Visions (A Tale of Alus Book 12) (61 page)

Sebastian killed an orc. Many doors had been jammed shut, but the warning bells had set the hornets' nest on fire bringing the orcs and goblins of the fortress garrison to life. Now magic and swords had to kill the smaller monsters of the emperor as they attacked.

Some cowered and hid, but too many of the creatures were out with their weapons delaying his force greatly. Worse, they had lost a few good men to wounds or death. The enemy had surprising numbers here.

Gerid moved close and swatted an orc aside with a club. "Can you sense the emperor?" the giant asked holding his left side.

Fire and other spells lit up a group of orcs. Magnus with four other dragon mages worked as a team near the two men. Falconi Martina took point as the only battle mage among them. Her use of the Hollow Sword as just a steel weapon was enough to shatter entire lines of orcs, but charged with elemental spells, the sword wreaked havoc before her.

"Cover me a moment," he told the giant. His sight was increased with his magic and the mage found the strongest sources in two points above them. "There are two extremely strong warlocks above us. The strongest is likely the emperor."

"Can you slip away and make sure that he doesn't escape? Take a small team and cut through to him. The rest of us will handle this and spread out as planned."

He doubted that only a few men could stop the emperor. The Dark One had survived over and over, even when those before him had believed his evil ended. Gerid had told him of a small force that had sent him to the void from the elves old world. Darius had been there as well as a couple other immortals and a dwarf king in his special armor.

They didn't have the magical items of that band, but they had the magic and skill of battle mages and the wizards of Southwall. Gerid and Darius still thought that they had a chance. He had one more trick up his sleeve to deal with the Dark One as well, so maybe they could do it. The mage knew the people he needed most.

"I'll take the dragon mages with me. Try and catch up when you can," the owl stated and slid through the fighting like a dancer on the dance floor.

"Magnus, Martina, we need to go!" he called loud enough for them to hear.

"We're kind of busy, Bas," Magnus retorted using the Hollow Sword to amplify his magic. Sebastian had outfitted the wizards with him with more of the weapons, while Martina had been using one since the dragon mages joined the fight in Litsarin.

"We need to go or the Dark One will escape," he warned.

Falconi Martina turned to order, "Follow him, Magnus."

Sebastian added, "The others can handle this. We just need to cut through to the stairs and get to the emperor."

"Just," Magnus scoffed, but the wizard joined him as the two battle mages turned up their attack taking point to drive through the enemy before them.

Sebastian used his powerful rune shield first bullying the creatures out of their way. Martina and the others cut at any who tried to get behind the owl as his sword slashed forward sending a fiery swath through the heart of those in front of him. They were the furthest forward of his people and the mage watched as orcs and goblins screamed flailing at the fire or rolled on the floor in front of them. Moments later, they found the stairs.

With the wizards and mages behind them pushing back any orc fool enough to pursue them back down the stairs, Sebastian led the way forward. A door at the top was locked. Apparently the enemy had moved ahead of them to try and stop the infiltration force from going any further.

The Hollow Sword paired with a charge of fire tore through the heavy wood door like it was paper. Splinters and chunks of wood sprayed outward into a small group of guards hoping to keep them at bay.

Some fell from the fury which had destroyed the door, but there was still fight in the others. They wore the treated black armor of wizard hunters and absorbed the elemental spells like fire. The splinters of wood had slid off the metal armor and swords were leveled towards the six coming up from below.

"Light," Sebastian ordered dragging the sword along the floor bringing the power of the earth into the sword as it rang against the stone.

His sword met the enemy and slashes to their shields and armor left gashes in their defenses quickly. The others called light to their swords as well. Only Magnus slid the sword along the floor copying the mage. He had figured out the trick as well. Sebastian only hoped that the fire wizard didn't make the mistake of using the power within himself. His destruction magic would be increased, but the repercussions would shorten the man's life significantly from Darius' many repeated warnings.

He couldn't worry over the fire wizard now, however, as the fighting intensified. They were slowed, but the enemy was too few here. Leaving the dead, the dragon mages moved forward drawn towards the powerful aura of the emperor.

Chapter 33- The Emperor's Magic

Palose discovered the room to be a disturbingly feminine display. Acheri looked ready to fight wearing a simple shirt and her underwear. The dagger in her hand had a jeweled handle, but the blade looked real enough.

"Palose, thank the gods," he heard her say as his vision continued to clear. The ongoing use of gates made his mind clear faster, but his vision remained a little blurry beyond the initial affects.

"Kolban told me to take you out of harm's reach. Get dressed and gather whatever clothes you want that you can carry. We need to leave quickly."

Her face tightened angrily and the princess waved the knife at him as she refused. "No, I must go to Kolban. My brother will need me. The enemy might have a chance against one of us, but not both of us."

Palose moved close. It was part of the emperor's instructions to the resurrection man. He grasped the girl's left hand, the one with the shining ring and said, "We must go. He was emphatic that you shouldn't try to help him this time."

"Palose, I am warning you! He is my brother... and me... I can't leave him!" she shook her head vehemently. Her dark, blue eyes looked a little confused. Acheri was both a part of the emperor and a separate being. He was her brother and yet they had once been whole.

He lifted her hand to his lips and said, "It will be alright."

Kissing the ring, he watched Acheri's eyes glaze over before rolling back in her head. Her bare legs turned to liquid collapsing the girl who he barely managed to catch in his arms. Her physical reaction wasn't the thing that perplexed him the most.

While her ring flashed brightly it caused him to close his eyes for risk of being blinded, but when he reopened them Palose easily noticed that Acheri's aura had dimmed. Looking at any of the siblings was like looking at the sun even without trying to look for their auras. Now he could find magic just above that of a normal battle mage. Her ring flashed and he noted the power of her magic echoed there as her full strength for a moment before it disappeared.

A woman, one of the princess's hand maids, came into the room and saw the mage holding the girl.

"Kolban sent me for the princess. She just collapsed for some reason. Maybe the strain of worrying over the warning bells was too much for her?"

The woman didn't cry out or sound the alarm. She walked closer and he noticed that she carried a bag to them.

"The emperor had me make this bag for her. He said to give it to you when you came for her," she stated looking unsure what else to say.

"Did he say for you to come?" the mage asked unsure of whether her handmaid was part of the deal.

The older woman shook her head.

"Then do your best to hide yourself. The enemy is within the city," Palose warned before calling up another gate.

He took the bag after throwing Acheri over his shoulder. She remained in her state of undress, but it wouldn't matter. The princess could be taken care of where they were going anyway. They went through the portal disappearing from Ensolus again.

Shaking his head, the dark mage struggled to clear his senses and noted that it must be his need for food and drink. Too many gates and the necromantic spell were beginning to take their toll on the man.

"Palose?" Sylvaine questioned seeing his portal back into his command tent.

Setting the bag down, Palose then carried Acheri to a cot set up in the tent. There were more for his team of wraiths and warlocks, but he only needed the one.

"I need some food and drink," the mage said sitting down on a cot next to the one holding the princess.

"What is wrong with her?" Sylvaine asked as Oween moved to bring him some food and a pitcher of drink.

"I did as the emperor told me. I kissed the ring on her hand and then she seemed to lose most of her power. He must have set up a charm to dispel most of her magic. If she isn't as powerful, maybe Kolban thought that she would be more manageable while I take care of her?" he finished taking a cup of juice and a thick sandwich filled with meat, cheese, and vegetables that the warlock quickly made for him.

Sylvaine looked around them and he could hear the sounds of war.

"Is the battle getting closer?" he asked.

Nodding to him, it was Oween who answered, "The enemy made a strong push. Nalack told us only a few moments ago that he could see some of our forces in retreat. The enemy is following slowly probably to catch their breath and regroup."

Taking a deep breath, Palose finished the bite and said to Oween, "Let the others know that we are pulling back to the tent. Are they in the battle yet?"

"We kept them back as reinforcements. I don't think the other commanders appreciated it, but if your undead soldiers are the last line of defense to save their lives, they won't cry about it then."

Shaking his head, he stated, "You and Nalack are going with the girls to protect them at the safe house. I'll take the rest back to Ensolus and see if we can help the emperor push Southwall back. They're inside the fortress already."

The women around him gasped at the revelation. It was unheard of to even think that the emperor could be defeated. Ensolus was supposed to be impregnable.

"Get the others back here including the puppet men," he ordered the warlock. Oween was co-leader with Nalack, though Balish and Tongold were the combat leaders since they were soldiers, so they would know to pull back at her word.

As the warlock left them, Sylvaine asked, "I thought that you were just supposed to get her to safety. Won't he be angry if you go back?"

"You're more worried that I am going back and could get killed," he replied with a grim smile.

"I can't resurrect you if you die. The books don't even say if that is possible. Can someone once raised, die and come back again? Have you done that yet?"

He shook his head. "I'm not sure anyone has since all the other resurrection men were killed because of the distrust of their masters or because they had turned dangerous."

That brought up the unasked question of whether the magic would turn them mad or if history was merely written by those who wished to keep others from using the magic. The masters said that they were dangerous, but from Atrouseon's suspicious mental state at the end, he wouldn't doubt that many had never turned evil or dangerous at all.

It was a problem for another time, so Palose said, "Just get ready. After a moment for the food to kick in, I'll send you all to New Oapril."

"Your safe house is in Southwall?" the girl asked him incredulously.

"I doubt anyone will start looking for us there too soon. It isn't the only one I have, but I am still working on finding a better one for us. We'll be fine there for a time."

"And what about her?" Sylvaine asked of the unconscious princess.

He shrugged and replied, "We take care of her like Kolban asked."

Elzen watched the approaching warlocks with interest. They would seem to be moving at a leisurely pace for the casual observer, but he doubted that they had the conditioning of a battle mage or Southwall soldier. Running haphazardly towards the emperor's castle, if they were even sure where the danger announced by the bells was, would only serve to make them easy targets to an enemy. Instead of running, the warlocks had moved out in groups of twenty spread out five across and four deep. More units had split to parallel streets with other groups staying back cautiously following the one before it.

Their numbers were in the hundreds, but the mage could see the young students looking nervously at their veteran leadership. These weren't all seasoned warlocks or wizard hunters. Kids younger than Elzen by several years looked more ready to hold their elders hands in fear than fight, but he wouldn't discount that these were all warlocks even so.

"Ready an attack," the falcondi in charge of his group said quietly. They had yet to be noticed in the dim light of the city. Spires cast even darker shadows and only mage sight or Sebastian's runes on the soldiers could dissipate the darkness of early morning in the cave.

"There are children with them. Do we try going easy on them?" an air wizard he didn't know asked in turn.

A sigh preceded the falcondi's opinion, "They are all our enemies. If you go easy on them, they might kill you when you turn away or kill one of your allies here."

The closest group stalled bumping into each other as those behind the front row failed to still see them. Warlocks began to cast their spells and the falcondi responded in kind.

"Take them down," the man ordered before the night lit up with fire.

Other spells joined in and battle mages armed with the owl's runes formed their shields before their outstretched left arms. Night shields and the blue of the original mage shields created a strangely colored wall that received the first barrage before the mages charged.

Soldiers in light armor and guarded by defense runes joined the mages while wizards began to exchange spells with the other warlocks.

Elzen just hoped as he directed his shield before him that their people would make sure to cast their spells over his head. Quickly it didn't matter, however, as he sprinted into the front row of warlocks. Four were older and most likely teachers or veterans staying in the city. The fifth warlock looked younger than the mage was, and he wore simple brown clothes. If he was in Southwall that would have made him an earth wizard or maybe a researcher; but this was Ensolus and Elzen doubted that he was more than an apprentice level. The boy was certainly green and untested looking ready to bolt.

A fireball was cast by the apprentice with his eyes closed as he pulled back with his upper body as if trying to dodge a punch to the face.

"Sleep," the mage ordered the spell taught to him by Sebastian. His palm clamped over the boy's face instantly keeping the warlock's eyes closed as the apprentice collapsed onto the stone street.

His shield, retracted towards his skin, remained glowing just inches away.

"Shields," he called over his hands. The knife runes were tempting, but Elzen was a healer now. Fighting was fun for him, but combat was serious business. Too many of these were children being tossed into a fire fight that they were not ready for by any means. He couldn't bring himself to kill them, if at all possible.

Flames came for him in a torrent forcing him to face a more veteran foe that had hidden behind the boy. His shield rose instinctively turning the flames towards another warlock. Catching fire, he heard the scream even as the warlock dropped to the ground unable to defend himself against the oncoming attackers.

His harpoon left his right hand looping around the warlock's neck in front of him. The fire stopped and Elzen pulled the man towards him with the barbed wire biting into his neck. Face met rune shield hard dropping the warlock as the battle mage removed the rune line before his victim could drop to the ground.

Not stopping, the mage was into the next line seeing more frightened faces. There were no more adults before him. Refusing to kill them as the children cowered back unable to even cast their spells, Elzen used his sleep spells to drop more of them.

A fireball caught one of the young warlocks and she screamed in pain falling back. Her shield had crumbled. The girl's pain and fear rendered her magic useless.

"Night," he called enveloping the girl in black magic. The flames were drawn into the night. Either it worked to knock her unconscious also or the pain had been too much. If he wasn't stuck in a fight, Elzen would have healed the girl. These children weren't their enemies. They were cannon fodder for their elders.

The first group was nearly disabled leaving him a clear view of the next squad. Older warlocks altered their aim towards the victorious mages and soldiers stepping over the first squad.

Shield raised, Elzen led the charge into the next set of warlocks.

Raven Leros and his group of mages formed a wall between the first bits of resistance as they swept towards the west. They were to meet up with the larger force waiting there. Those hitting the gate rooms should have already fallen back towards them also.

Poking their enemy, the Southwall troops and their allies were the distraction and holding forces. It was believed that the monstrous part of the Dark One's army would come to the defense of those closer to the cave's mouth. Armored viles, trolls and more would be hard to hold if they had the kinds of numbers expected from the reports. Even their largest unit was unlikely to be enough against a city filled with beasts.

Wizards fired magic over them scattering soldiers. No warlocks had found them so far. His force had been small and was split in two besides. The other half of his force was meant to meet up with those coming from the east. Each group needed to keep moving to avoid being pinned down and wiped out.

The west should have built defenses, but if the city's center defense came at them from behind, they too would move. Mobility and surprise were their best allies.

It was like he could smell the magic of a large group of warlocks coming from the central towers.

"Keep moving," he ordered as the enemy recoiled from the wizards' attacks. "We need to keep away from those warlocks."

No one questioned his leadership, but the raven realized quickly that there was another source of magic moving to cut them off, even if it was unintentionally. He doubted that they knew which way his group was headed, but perhaps they hoped to attack the western defense from behind.

Leros led his men and women at a pace that he hoped the wizards could maintain or they would surely be cut off. It wasn't long before the man watched the wizards falter. They couldn't maintain the pace of the battle mages. Their training was much less physical. Mages needed stamina to offset their other weaknesses.

His eyes looked for a defensible position slowing the troops to allow the wizards to try and catch their breath. Without the wind to call a spell, they would be defenseless and in fact useless.

"Get ready to defend," he ordered as his mages slowed fanning out to watch multiple directions. The city was too large to speed from one spot to another. On the other hand, his enemies would have the same problem most likely.

New stone embankments formed low walls between them and the east. The buildings would serve to slow anyone down, even warlocks, but they wouldn't resist magic for long. Leros took a quick drink from his canteen and watched as his wizards grabbed food from their packs also.

The enemy hadn't altered course. They would actually miss them, but the warlocks and whatever troops moved with them would hit the western forces shortly ruining whatever defense they might have been against the monsters.

He took a falcon's shoulder and ordered, "You need to outrun them and alert the others. Go as quickly as you are able, son."

"I'll go with, sir. Two are more certain than one," another volunteered.

"Go, the rest of us will catch up as soon as we can."

With that the two falcons disappeared down the street to the north before turning west again.

The raven could hear fighting in the distance. It seemed to echo throughout the city and perhaps there were that many battles, but he had a feeling that the echo would also serve to confuse their enemy also. He could hope so and did. Leros waited for his wizards and waited for the next of the Dark One's forces to find them.

A troll backed away cut by the Hollow Sword charged with lightning. Skin and fur smoked from the hit, but it wasn't even close to dying. The owl wished that there was a better way to destroy the massive trolls, but they had been designed to be magic resistant. Their skin refused to burn. Lightning wasn't strong enough either, but it was still enough to harm them for now.

Magnus and Embrell worked using fire, but their efforts weren't enough for the eight trolls which had discovered them. They wore black armor breastplates and helmets, but hadn't apparently felt it worth putting on the rest since the creatures didn't know what they were facing and wanted to be there hurriedly.

The enemy aura wasn't far away now. He could feel it like ants running across his skin. The Dark One was so powerful that the owl wasn't sure what could be done to defeat him. He was going to have to call on their secret weapon, but not until the dragon mages fought their way into the emperor's lair.

A rumble from his left barely alerted him to a new danger. The wall crumbled and massive claws extended into the room. An armored vile turned towards the dragon mages and swung for the closest of them. Sebastian used his shield to deflect the creature's dangerous claws away.

There was little room to maneuver in the hallway with the massive creature pushing its way through the wall. He was stunned that they had brought even one of the beasts into the fortress. Whether it had been there as a guard or had been brought by a portal warlock, he didn't know; but as it pushed them back swinging its dangerous claws that could cut through stone like butter Sebastian knew that it didn't matter at the moment.

"Air lance," the owl called up the weapon he had found most useful against this kind of monster in the past.

He went for a weak spot in the neck, but found black armor. The spell was absorbed cutting his weapon in half.

"Dragon claw," Magnus cried out sending a red energy claw into the monster. It was a strong push and nearly toppled the creature backwards, but it was heavy and powerful.

Pushing against the dragon spell, it was the wizard who had to give up his attack.

It gave Sebastian another idea. "Dragon wings," the mage called and was answered with bird like wings on his back.

He turned letting the left wing swing forward towards the armored vile. His magic wing left a deep cut as it passed and Sebastian released the energy feathers driving them into the wound. The monster cried out pathetically and tried to protect its exposed belly. The initial wound hadn't been that deep, but the extended feathers were driven deeper towards its organs. Armored shredded, both natural and metal, the monster lunged back into its hole frantically.

The monster couldn't risk another wound or having the damage made deeper. Cutting its losses, the beast would look for help elsewhere; but its time in the fight was already over.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, the mage watched as the trolls gave way retreating down the corridor.

"Do we pursue them?" Embrell asked breathing through his mouth. Formerly just a wizard, the man had become more thanks to the spells he had learned from the mar'goyn'lya and che'ther. He didn't have the stamina for fighting that a mage had, but he had bridged the gap a bit like the rest of the wizards following Sebastian.

The mage looked for the emperor's aura and noted that the trolls were heading for it as well.

"Unfortunately they are going the right way to block us," the mage stated with a sigh. "Come on, we're almost there."