Battle Mage Visions (A Tale of Alus Book 12) (62 page)

"If we are almost there, then we should all take a moment to catch our breaths," Falconi Martina stated. She was the highest rank and most veteran of those joining him.

Sebastian looked around him and noted that most of their wizards appeared out of breath as she had warned; but the falconi looked as ready to fight as ever.

"We'll walk, but be ready to fight. Another armored vile could come through a wall at any time."

The wizards reached into the packs at their hips or drank from canteens. It was a chance for them all to prepare for an extended fight. If this was the Dark One of legend, then it meant they would be facing a force beyond anything any of them had faced so far in their lives. Their forces were spread thin throughout the fortress, the squad who knew dragon magic were likely to be the only ones to find him soon. Sebastian knew that he could call a portal to bring reinforcements, but they needed time to orient themselves coming through the gate. The emperor could take them out before they could try to help if the owl timed it incorrectly.

Even walking, the distance to the chamber holding the Dark One shrunk quickly. A larger force of orcs joined the trolls before the last door leading to the emperor. Sighing at the sight, Sebastian readied to attack before leading the charge once more.

The clash was the most vicious yet. All the guards were armed with black armor and weapons. Their elemental magic was virtually useless, but light charged their Hollow Swords. Recharged on the walk down the hall, the dragon mages met the enemy in a brutal exchange. Light cracked armor. Black swords crumbled meeting Hollow Swords filled with light as well; but the enemy had the numbers and was still strong.

A sword glanced off his arm bouncing up cutting his cheek. It narrowly missed his eye even as the mage turned his head away to avoid being blinded. His defensive runes were tight to his skin for now. He needed room to fight and the shields would hamper his attack; but the mage pushed it towards the orc with the excellent luck.

Pushed back by the glowing orange runes, the orc's threat was minimized for now.

Falconi Martina leaped up past him on the right striking down on a troll's head with her sword. The helmet cracked as she cut him with an overhead slash driving the blade through the headgear through the skull and down almost to the nose. Its weight pulled the Hollow Sword from her hand as it fell to the side.

The woman cursed and rolled as she landed to cut at the orcs behind it with a blue mage shield out of instinct. Catching the black armor the shield faltered, but it had surprised them enough to let the falconi grab the handle of her sword. Wrenching it free in a splatter of blood and brains, Martina pulled back avoiding more weapons.

Sebastian drove forward with his rune shield giving her the space to withdraw and ready her next attack. The two mages began to drive the defenders back while the other men used their magic through the gaps between them or over their heads. Soon they were up to a pair of decorative doors.

The remaining guards were forced into a much larger throne room. The ceiling was high above them and the room opened up revealing a new trap. It wasn't unexpected. The Dark One was bound to be guarded and he had enough time to find a space conducive to defending himself.

A deep voice rumbled through the room to greet the dragon mages. "You are finally here. Good, now you can die."

It was the Dark One's judgment, but Sebastian and the others entered the chamber with their shields and swords ready. His eyes swept the room seeing more guards along the walls. Warlocks stood to either side of a shadow that held power that seemed somehow bright despite the darkness enveloping it. Magic that felt like that which he could pull from the earth was embodied in the single figure making those who guarded him pale; but they were clad in wizard hunter armor and powerful as well.

"Buy me time. It's time to bring help," Sebastian stated stepping behind the others a moment. Their half a dozen, already worn down from fighting their way to the Dark One, couldn't hope to fight so many along with the emperor.

"Door," he breathed creating his gate in the hallway behind them.

As if the word had been the signal, magic and guards attacked. Men and elves serving the Dark One joined orcs and trolls to try to crush the five shielded dragon mages in a burst of power. Warlocks unleashed their magic, but the Dark One waited a moment to see if they would be swept away without his help.

Night shields came to life taking the magic aimed at them and sucked the elements into the darkness. Light spells lanced out from the warlocks guarding the emperor from the stairs that they stood on and shattered the shields as the guards moved into attack range.

Rune shields replaced the night keeping the men at bay and swords lashed out cutting at their dark armor. Faces told the tale. The dragon mages' determination made them hold the line. Martina had the power of a mage, but the sword and runes made her the wizard's equal.

The wizards had power but weren't the warriors a battle mage was, but their weapons and magic made them powerful. Their various shields dealt with the attacks and their swords held light to beat the enemy back.

But they were outnumbered and the enemy also had power, magic and tools to fight back. The Dark One lashed out. Darkness struck the line. Their runes weren't elemental magic, but his power made them buckle and step back as their bodies felt the first taste of his magic. The sun had come to ground to burn them away, but they managed to hold on waiting for the assistance they needed very desperately now.

Sebastian returned. Bairh'loore was in hand and planted against the stone floor. He felt the power of the earth in the staff. His runes filled nearly to bursting while Bairh'loore held even more power within the staff. The jewel at its end glowed like fire. Nearly like a small sun itself, the mage felt the power beyond his own readying to fight back harder than he ever had before.

"Be careful, Sebastian," Darius stated walking towards the line. His grandsons had his back as well as two mar'goyn'lya and a handful of wizards most of which had the amulets of che'ther around their necks. "If you take too much power, he won't have to kill you. You will do it yourself," the immortal wizard warned.

"If it means killing the Dark One, then I will do what needs to be done."

"Sebastian, do what you need to do," he heard Ashleen's voice and turned his head in surprise.

"You're not supposed to be here," he stated before returning his eyes to the enemy who waited watching the new arrivals as they moved behind the shields of the dragon mages.

"I go where you go," Ashleen stated and he felt her power begin to grow. Lightning rippled along her skin and her eyes turned nearly white with the light of her magic. The power of a wilder who could unleash a fury of magical damage stood beside him.

"You've come to try again, immortal wizard?" the deep echoing voice asked Darius sounding amused. "Will you send me to the void again? Who will you sacrifice this time to do it?"

Frowning at the dark shadow as it kept growing and shrinking in size. It altered shape and form, but always masked whatever was within. Sebastian couldn't tell what the Dark One was, but his magic continued to burn brightly within the shadows.

"We imprisoned you, but you refused our mercy," Darius stated in return. "This time we've come to kill you and end your threat. There will be no second chances for you this time."

That made the deep voice laugh and it seemed to come from everywhere. "Maybe I don't need a second chance this time. You don't have the relics of elves and dwarves to help you now."

"But I brought dragons instead of asking for the toys one kept in its trove," Darius stated. "Now, attack," the high wizard ordered quietly beginning to cast a spell.

A blonde haired, slim girl ran past changing into a blue che'ther as she did. Stone seemed to change to mud under several guards and reformed in an instant at her will. She had no amulet, but Cheleya had been helped by Sebastian to use a rune version to transform. While large, the che'ther body wasn't the largest of her kind. As they watched, however, the small blue dragon began to darken and grow.

Wings grew out and her claws swiped at the guards closest to her.

Sebastian did his best to ignore the strange feeling of fear radiating from the black dragon. It was a primal urge to run in the face of a true dragon. Some of the guards flinched and were quickly crushed.

"Impressive," the voice boomed before lashing out with a blast of magic. There seemed to be no element, light or darkness to it. Pure energy, the power struck Cheleya's dragon form knocking her back into the wall behind her. The fortress shook and stone fell.

Stunned, the dragon shrank back shrinking quickly down into the little girl she had been to start. The mar'goyn'lya and one of the che'ther males jumped out to protect her as Darius lashed out at the darkness.

His magic struck the shadow but more laughter followed. Unimpressed, the Dark One sent his magic into the group standing before the door. Sebastian used his pent up power releasing his shield runes. The orange glow expanded to block for them all, but the force of the emperor's blast succeeded in making the mage use up so much power that as the attack winked out, so did his shield. A single powerful blast and Sebastian knew that everything feeding him wouldn't be enough to make him anywhere near this monster's power.

Lightning lashed out along with the spells of those brought to battle the Dark One. His warlocks defended and countered. Wizard hunters jumped into the fray clashing with the dragon mages.

Sebastian held Bairh'loore with his left hand and fought the guards with his Hollow Sword. Still seeing stars from the breaking of his shield, the battle mage continued to defend himself and Ashleen. His arm burned, but the owl knew that he could reform the defensive shield again, though not as powerfully as he just had. He was still in the fight, but wondered what they could possibly do to stop the warlock's power.

Chapter 34- Death Closes In

Rilena turned hearing a scream from behind her. Feeling like she was seeing death literally, the woman was appalled at the bodies given life. She could that they had been diseased or frail to cause their deaths, but the raised puppets of the dark mage had power beyond what they had in life.

A wizard was caught from behind never having seen the threat coming. An aged grandfather clothed in rags grasped his arms as the remaining teeth in his mouth bit into the man's neck. Blood sprayed from the wound as the wizard tried to fend it off.

Multiple stabs with a sword from one of the battle mages dislodged the undead monster, but it continued to fight while their band was soon fighting a dozen more. Rilena saw a child, thin enough that she could see ribs and its hip bone standing out jaggedly through its skin. A girl that couldn't have been more than eight, she thought. Its eyes were sunken and glowing red. Finger nails tore at her shield even as tears came to the mage's eyes.

She twisted bringing her blade horizontally across the little girl's neck severing her head from the body. Freed of the necromancy magic animating it, the girl's body dropped like a puppet without strings. Her head rolled to the side. It was a good thing that the rest of the undead were being dispatched around her as Rilena had to turn and wretch away the food she had eaten before coming to Ensolus.

Serrena came to her aid, patting her friend on the back. "Come on, Rilena. She was already dead. You didn't hurt her. You released her from the torment of a necromancer's spell."

Nodding, it didn't truly make her feel any better. Averting her eyes from the dead child, Rilena noticed that the other puppets had nearly been taken care of. Two wizards were down as well as a battle mage. Bite marks to the neck of the wizards were killing them. She was no healer.

"I'll make a gate," their portal wizard stated quickly and quietly. "The owl set up a gate outside the hospital in Hala. Can someone help them through?"

Rilena wanted to volunteer, but knew that she had to stay. She couldn't have carried any of the fallen easily and her skills could be used in Ensolus. No longer feeling as positive about what they had to do here, the battle mage still wished that she could go home; but her friends were battling who knew what in the emperor's city. She couldn't let them do it all when she was a battle mage capable of fighting.

The gate opened. One of the wizards and two of their stronger men carried the injured through. Rilena thought that it was probably too late for two of them. The injuries were severe, but perhaps a healer's magic would still surprise her.

She suspected that the healers would be very busy by the end of the morning. Many wouldn't ever return to Southwall alive and that was as long as they could defeat the Dark One and escape again. They had come to cripple the empire, but it would come at a cost.

Once the three had returned, the squad moved onward. It wasn't long before living soldiers crossed their paths. Fighting adults: soldiers, human, elven and orc never sickened her the way it had killing the used body of a dead child.

The mage pushed on and the fighting grew as more and more squads of the enemy looked to end the threat of Southwall.

An explosion of stone as the building nearest the raven exploded from a warlock's attack made the man shelter in the defense of his shield. New runes had been added and Sebastian had instructed him on what they could do. After four decades as a battle mage, he was learning more new spells and runes than he had in the previous decades combined. It made him feel both rejuvenated and old somehow.