Battle Mage Visions (A Tale of Alus Book 12) (65 page)

As he stood up, Sebastian was surprised that he wasn't dizzy. It had been one of the signs that he had pushed too far, but that and diminished vision were the final tells before he would collapse.

Ashleen pulled at him trying to make him retreat to at least try and recover a bit.

He looked at the smaller blonde looking up at him with worried blue eyes. "I need to..." the mage began.

Shaking her head, the wilder ordered, "You need to pull back and let the others do this. If you let go of the power you are holding, I am afraid that you will collapse. If you don't, it is going to kill you, Sebastian!"

Her magic had dimmed in the fight as well. Like him, the girl had pushed herself to the limit. The energy spread to him left the flow of power from the earth a trickle compared to normal. Ashleen naturally pulled from the ground until she no longer could. It was the warning built into the wilder's body apparently.

If she was exhausted, Sebastian knew that he must be as well. He had been fighting off and on for at least an hour. Now this fight against the Dark One pushed him to a point where he should never go. He let her pull him back to the doors. The mage held his gate and when more wizards came through to see them, they served as warning to the others.

Darius watched Ashleen pull Sebastian away. The mage's magic still felt strong, but it was written on his face. Using the earth was a cheat and could keep a wizard strong until they burned away. It was an ugly sight.

He had been there when a wizard, aged from use of the staff and earth, had been turned into a withered old man. Some couldn't live without the power and refused to take what had happened to them. A last pull from a staff would kill them burning their bodies away releasing the last of their magic. It was a suicidal path.

If Ashleen could temper the mage's inclination to use the magic, perhaps he would live to a ripe old age instead.

His thoughts returned to the battle inside the room. Their reinforcements were well timed. The initial group that had come with Sebastian was worn down except for Magnus. His power level was greater than the others or he had managed to use them to a degree to extend his ability to stay in the fight.

Other wizards took their places using rune shields, night shields and any other magic they had at hand to stop the attacks of the emperor. A front line protected the others giving up their strength to let the others push the warlocks and Dark One. Darius had helped and held a staff to the ground. Like Sebastian, the immortal wizard used the earth to feed his power. Unlike the boy, his body renewed itself when he should already be dead from exhaustion.

Grabbing Magnus as he let another take his place in the line, Darius asked, "What do you have left?"

Questioning the man's intent, the fire wizard replied, "I can fight awhile longer. What do you need?"

"We need to force the Dark One to use up his power. I am hoping that his new body won't be able to take the strain. Maybe he is mortal now."

The high wizard looked away to see Gerid tearing into the archers and other guards on the left. Cheleya looked to be conserving her power as well on the right with the other wizards from her city holding on for now. They fought the undead soldiers, but her muddy ground made it easy to defend.

"We can unite for a more powerful spell," Magnus suggested drawing the wizard's eyes back to him.

"Join with those attacking the warlocks. Use your power to make him defend or make the warlocks burn out trying to keep you from hitting him," Darius ordered before moving to the other side of the center formation of wizards.

"Cheleya, can you become a dragon once again and use your dragon breath on the emperor?"

The pretty, little, blonde haired girl exuded a sweet scent that made anyone near her feel protective and loving towards her. It belied the ferocious spirit she had in that slight frame.

Her eyes looked determined and the dragoness replied, "I can do it maybe one more time, but if he hits me like that I might not have a chance. I am a big target as a true dragon."

Her father Darterian placed his hand on her shoulder. "We can protect you for a moment or two. Do what you need to do."

Darius received her nod and added, "Wait for our distraction to attack him."

With everything in place, the high wizard looked across at the dark shadow. A few more warlocks had come to protect their master, but their ranks had been reduced as well. Both sides were now fighting a battle of attrition with only the Dark One seeming like an inexhaustible center of power.

It was time to see if his plan would work.

Palose drew his wraiths back to protect him. The soldiers couldn't reach the enemy thanks to the strange magic of the dragon girl. He had never felt anything like it and would have praised his enemy's hiding it from them; if he wasn't so frustrated.

The dark mage had put much of his power into raising the dead soldiers, but they were useless in a battle like this. Wizards and dragons used their magic to destroy any soldiers that he created. The power used wasn't paying off and only the magic of his wraith warlocks remained useful but they were running low as well.

When Sebastian retreated, he wasn't sure that he should remain any longer. The emperor fought on, but his forces were crumbling around him without his notice. Could Kolban be so strong that it didn't truly matter?

Palose doubted that even the Dark One's magic was enough to defeat an enemy continually refreshing their numbers to fight him. They would have won, but the portal in the far hall gave his enemies a chance. Without the stolen knowledge, Ensolus would have remained an impregnable fortress; but then Sebastian came to change everything.

Furious that he couldn't kill his enemy, the dark mage noticed a shift in the enemy's tactics. Magnus remained and seemed to be up to something. His eyes played tricks on him as the blonde haired girl with the gargoyles suddenly turned into a small dragon. It was almost funny. The creature was too small to be frightening, but then the pretty blue of her skin began to darken and turn black.

Fear found its way into his chest. His wraiths were immune, but the dark mage felt magical power building from the dragon, the wizards in the middle behind Magnus and a silver haired man.

A combined spell of magic resembled the strength of the Dark One's blasts. They had been crude weapons; but in a show of power, they served to frighten his enemies. Now the firepower of five combined wizards launched at the emperor. His remaining warlocks threw out their wards trying to protect their master. Darius' spell felt almost as strong before lancing in from the side forcing Kolban to deal with that spell even as Magnus' magic augmented by the Hollow Sword pushed past the warlocks' defenses.

Fear intensified as a black dragon with giant, furled wings drew back to breathe fire.

Palose cast his gate immediately pushing his wraiths through it even as he hid behind the magical door.

Yellow fire turned blue as the dragon's breath continued to heat the room. The emperor's defenses were all that remained. Warlocks collapsed under the weight of all the enemy spells and the dragon fire. The magic faded, but the fire continued to force the Dark One to hold his shields.

As Palose watched, he could feel what the old wizard had tried to do. Within the shroud of shadows, cracks began. Fire from within began to burn inside the dark cloud. The dragon continued to breathe fire and the wizards who had been defending threw their magic into the attack as well. So much magic from so many sources and the fire of the dragon continued for so long.

When it could breathe out no more, the black dragon was forced to stop and take a breath. Its eyes locked to the black cloud, Cheleya waited for the emperor to fight back. The wizards stopped waiting to see if they had done enough, but kept enough magic to defend themselves against the monster known as the Dark One.

Palose could feel it. Darius smiled grimly as the Grimnal walked towards the wizard. Both immortals knew that the job was done.

Light speared through the shadows and fire began to consume the boy's body inside that cloud. He refused to release the spell concealing him, but Palose could feel the pain. The emperor was dying. The body that had taken centuries to make perfect, wasn't perfect after all.

Magic consumed the emperor turning him into a pillar of fire. The shadows finally peeled away leaving a figure collapsed onto its knees screaming in pain. The booming voice was gone as a young man's magic consumed him, but it wasn't just a boy. An ancient being could no longer hide or fight as the emperor stopped screaming in death.

The fire began to break up as the body began to turn to magic. There was a last dying flash as the magic turned blue and winked out of existence. Only dust remained to be seen on the stairs. Other burned bodies of his warlocks and guards lay near the small pile of dust, but nothing more remained of the emperor.

Palose looked over at the immortals with their silver hair. Darius gazed across at him. The dark mage and his gate were the only things remaining besides the forces arrayed against the emperor now. His eyes held pity, but Palose simply sighed and stepped through the light to disappear from sight.

Sebastian watched as the emperor fell to the combined powers aligned against him. Darius had tried to destroy the Dark One once before with his magic and the tools of other races from the emperor's old world; but ultimately had failed by sending him to the void. A prison, but not a death sentence, he had turned his sights on destroying their world. He had become a weaker creature as even the Dark One couldn't defeat age and death.

Leaning on Bairh'loore to help keep him up, the owl suddenly felt tired.

Darius turned to see the mage and smiled wearily. "He's gone... finally. We finally beat him."

Placing his black club against his shoulder, Gerid asked, "So do we tear this city down now?"

Sebastian was the first to answer, "Not everyone in Ensolus is evil or intent on destroying Southwall. We can send envoys and troops to discuss surrender. Maybe we can finally make peace with them now that he is gone."

Looking at the mage, Magnus reminded him, "They're still fighting over Litsarin. Are we supposed to just send them a letter telling them the emperor is dead?"

Darius listened to the silence around them and said, "I think that they might already know."

The silence sat over them for awhile and Sebastian decided, "Let's use the gate to Hala while I can still hold it. We need to find the other teams out in the city as well and send them home."

Magnus asked, "Do you think there are any others out there?"

Sebastian could sense a few auras that he knew well and nodded. "Yes, there are survivors for now. We need to get them all home. I don't know if the locals will want our heads for killing the emperor or will want to reward us, but they no longer have to live in his shadow."

There was little more to say and the weary wizards and mages retreated through the glowing doorway until only Darius, Ashleen and Sebastian remained.

Darius looked at his face and, in particular, his eyes.

"All that use of the earth and you still look fine. We'll have to keep a close eye on you to make sure that you haven't hurt yourself using all that extra power," the high wizard said feeling hopeful. Some of the aging affects could come later though, he knew.

"I feel fine, though I'm a bit tired."

His hold on the earth's energy had faded to a trickle, though it was still there. Sebastian was pretty sure that he no longer needed it and didn't have to fear falling over either. The food was already inside of him nourishing the mage.

Darius nodded and asked, "Do you want me to do it?"

The wizard meant the gates to find the others from Southwall and their allies out in the city.

"I'll take the north and east," Sebastian said. "You take the west. I don't have anyone I know as well there, but they're to the north of my gate in the fields."

Nodding Darius called up another doorway and stepped through it.

"Shouldn't he have taken some guards?" Ashleen asked with a bit of worry.

"The shadow cast by the emperor is gone. His magic could be felt everywhere. I think the fighting's stopped."

Closing the gate to Hala, Sebastian opened a new one near Elzen. "Come on. Let's bring our friends home."

The owl returned to Hala. Elzen had accompanied them to find Rilena and Serrena. The party to the east hadn't had that much to worry about after the undead attackers actually. Those in the human and nearby orc district had mostly waited it out to see what would happen. They followed the emperor because they had to and their homes were in Ensolus.

Warlocks and most of the soldiers had moved south or north to check on the fortress. The same barrier wall designed to keep enemies out had filtered their ranks too much to help quickly. Within the fortress, the Dark One fell before most could find their way close to him.

The north had been quiet since the last wizard hunters were repelled. Warlocks were smaller in number anyway since magic was rare to any of the races in Ensolus, just like Southwall. Only the west had been bad.

Darius had found a large force of allies gathered to the west of the center city where humans, elves and orcs resided away from the creatures hidden to the west. Armored viles, trolls, fire urchins and more had come from the west to heed to the bells. They were trained to fight for the emperor and his magic held some sway over them in a way that he more rarely used on the more intelligent races.