The Vitalis Chronicles: White Shores (38 page)

He drifted off to sleep, content and unwilling to believe anything so bad could ever touch this place.

“
Y
OU AREN'T SAFE
here any longer,” the Mage's voice came to Alisia through her dreams. “Awake, child, awake and take flight!”

She sat up in bed, Caspian's kindly face stricken by the potency of fear.

“What's going on?”

“You must rise. Ardin is already getting dressed. There's no time to explain, you must leave, now!”

She obeyed, getting up to dress as the old man hurried from the room and disappeared. She looked at the chair near her bed. On it was a small pack that appeared to be filed with food and various necessities. What was going on?

Alisia grabbed the bag and walked into the courtyard outside to discover Ardin waiting for her. Confusion mingled with the lines sleep had left on his face. He was wearing clothing that looked similar to her own. It was scarcely light outside. Her head was aching, working hard to remind her that she had been torn from a deep sleep.

“What's going on?” Ardin asked.

“I have no ide–”

An explosion somewhere outside of the castle shook the ground so hard they almost fell to their knees.

“Ok,” Ardin shouted over the din. “Now I'm awake.”

“Hurry children!” The Mage reappeared carrying another sack and a pair of elegant sheathed swords.

“These are for you in case you must defend yourselves. But we must hurry, there isn't any time and we may already be too late.”

They rushed out of the house and towards the cliff as another explosion rocked the walls. They could see bright purple and blue lights flare with the explosion and die as suddenly.

“What's happening?” Ardin demanded as they were ushered onto the stone balcony.

“They're testing the perimeter,” he said. “Soon they will send the full force of their attack, and when they do I fear my defenses won't hold for long.”

“Who are they?” Ardin turned. “What do they want?”

“An army the Demon has managed to conjure up somehow, and I imagine they want the two of you.”

The old man turned and waved a hand. As if in response, the far section of the balcony folded and began to descend to the water in a long staircase.

“Below you will find my boat, its sails unfurled, ready to depart. Simply cut the rope that ties it to the cliff and it will take you through the enemy's defenses and to safety.”

“Aren't you coming with us?” Alisia begged. “Please, there's so much I need to know! So many things don't make sense!”

The explosions beyond the walls were coming in more steady intervals, the groans and screams of dying creatures audible from where they stood.

“My place is here, child,” he said as he lay his hands on her shoulders. “Yours is to stem the coming tide. Find Tertian. He was among the Elders in the generation that was created after mine. You'll find him in the mountains you called home.”

“But how?” she asked as he began to push them towards the stairs.

“Ardin will take you there,” he said. “He has been entrusted with your life and will see you safely to it. Tertian will protect you and give you the time you need to prepare yourselves for what must be done. Now go!”

And with that, he turned and ran back towards the defenses with a speed that belied his age. Alisia hesitated, wishing she was strong enough to follow but knowing she could do little good. Not when the Mage was resigned to his fate.

They ran down the stairs to where a beautiful boat awaited. Above its moorings a series of the smoking lights had started glowing, lighting their way down the steps and to the boat. It looked as though it had been hand carved from a single piece of wood. Intricate botanic designs were carved into its hull and woodworking, of a kind that Ardin had never seen before.

As soon as they stepped on board, the staircase that had led them down lifted itself again and disappeared into the balcony that stretched above their heads. The boat floated steadily among the deep dark waves, almost as if unaffected by their violence. Somehow it managed to keep itself from the wall of the cliff on which any other ship would have been crushed over time.

Ardin found the long thick rope that tied the boat to a loop of stone in the wall. There was a tunnel next to it but where it led he couldn't tell. He wondered why they hadn't been brought by that route. But the thought was drowned out by another round of explosions above. They had turned more violent, if that were possible, and soon created a steady rumble as one rolled on after another.

He chopped at the rope with the sword he had been given. It was long and delicately crafted. It appeared unused to Ardin, who found it light but deadly sharp. No sooner had he cut the cord with it than the boat began to drift steadily away from the cliff. It began to pick up speed as the wind filled its sails, and soon the castle was in full view as they moved away from it.

Caspian ran to the walls, focusing all of his energy on the enchantments he had laid in place during the previous weeks. He had known this day would come; he never expected it to be this soon.

The First Mage ran through his house, grabbing his sword and buckling it over his robes as he strode through the front doors and faced the gates of his home. Hands up, palms out, he closed his eyes and began weaving new traps while strengthening those that remained. Slowly he lost ground, only able to create one trap for every four that were used, and soon he realized it was no good.

He put his hands out to the sides, imagining a shield around himself. Willing it to be so, the First Mage drew fire up from the roots of the earth and encapsulating himself in white heat. The walls crumbled near the cliffs. He could feel it before he heard them tumble down. He drew his sword and opened his eyes as the enemy soldiers began hammering on the door. It bulged once, twice, and again before the hinges began to crack.

The Mage began to recite an old war hymn quietly, slowly, under his breath; the words were all but lost to the cacophony of the battlefield.

Come foul stench and rotten soul

Leave your carnage in your throe

Writhe in torment, bleed and die

Righteousness shall bear death neigh

His stomach was electrified by an earsplitting crack; the stone of the walls shuddered as they began to shear. Hellish screams rose from his left and his right as the monsters gained sight of their prey. Like a mutated wave, they rolled on undaunted by the blazing shell around their enemy. Cruel weapons rose over stumped reptilian heads as they roared and pressed on. The gates burst open, splintering into a cloud of shards. The creatures beyond pushed forward, uttering guttural cries as the three black fronts converged on the fire.

Come ye demons, come ye here

On this eve shall light draw near

Waves of demonic flesh were instantly incinerated as they approached, never making it within yards of the shield itself. More pressed on, steadily gaining ground as the Mage's power was absorbed and spent.

COME TO ME AND TASTE GOD'S WRATH

TASTE MY BLADE AND END YOUR PATH

WITH YOUR FATHER SHALL YOU LIE

COME AND SUFFER! COME AND DIE!

T
HE EXPLOSIONS WERE
decreasing in frequency and Ardin could see the wall start to crumble in places. Soon they could see dark figures pouring through holes in the walls around the castle, rushing to find the magic user and silence him once and for all. Bright white lights began to flare from the other side of the castle where the Mage put his hand to the final defense. Alisia joined him as they watched the battle unfold in the increasing distance.

There was a moment of silence as the castle itself seemed to inhale sharply. Then with a sudden burst of released energy, the whole place erupted in a vortex of light and swirling mists as the castle was leveled and the hill cratered.

Alisia wept on Ardin's shoulder as he stood there stunned. For Caspian, the White Mage, the first and last of the Three, was no more.

T
HE SHADOW KING
watched the assault on the castle with a growing sense of frustration. They weren't going to make any attempt to capture the Mage or his guest. They were going to level the whole place. Rank after rank steadily marched up the hill, only to be incinerated or ripped apart by the various enchantments surrounding the hill. Soon they were flooding towards it, hundreds of repulsive creatures throwing their lives away so as to weaken the magic that protected their enemy.

It wasn't the loss of life that bothered the Shade, nor the destruction wrought on the structure once they began to make their way through. He considered both parties in the battle his enemies and he didn't mind if they spent their energies fighting each other. What bothered him was the obvious intent of the assault. There was no leadership going to the front, no commands being made to show quarter. Simple destruction was on their mind.

He wasn't going to have his way after all. The Demon had seen through his treachery and wasn't about to allow him to get the power he sought without making a deal for it.

Finally the Mage appeared through the broken gates. He hurled balls of white fire at the onslaught of monstrous creatures that lumbered or hopped up the hill towards his home. He grabbed debris and flung it by the ton at them after they breached the flanks of the castle and died upon his shield. But still they came.

Many died discovering new enchantments in wait, but more poured in by the hundreds.

Where all these creatures had come from was beyond the Shade, but it was impressive. Terrifying in its own right. He hadn't believed the Demon's forces to be replenishing like this. And before long the Mage was overwhelmed. Crude
MARD
was brought close enough to have its effect, and jagged rusty blades shoved deep within his body until its life could no longer be contained.

He shielded his eyes as the hilltop was engulfed in the resulting concussion. How such an eruption occurred with the
MARD
present was beyond the Shade, but he had always assumed the passing of a Mage's soul somehow breached the gap. Nothing was left on the hill outside the crater save burned rubble and smoldering corpses.

He struck the ground and cursed in frustration. How could he have been so stupid? Where would he find the power he needed to restore his people? Turning to the Demon was not an option in his mind. That was one boundary he would never cross.

And then he saw it, a single, small white sail as it crested the horizon. It was brief, but through the haze he could tell exactly what it was. Being sure to avoid the remaining creatures in the bloodied remnants of the army below, he ran south. There he would join the ship he hoped still waited for him.

For the Shadow King yet had prey to hunt.

“
W
ELL
,”
SAID THE
witch doctor. “I've done what I can for you.”

Bill, Tom, and Clive sat on a low, broken bench in the healer's hut. They had been there a couple of days and were mending well enough to move about, but Bill didn't suppose they truly looked all that healthy.

“The Titans will be back for you soon,” he said. “They've been off monitoring a little bit of the Master's business and should be ready to escort you to him soon enough.”

“Who exactly is your master, then?” Bill ventured to ask.

He had thought about running on occasion, but the thought of trying to steal past all of those people in cages revolted him into staying put. He had no idea where he was, let alone where he would run to, and he didn't want to end up joining those poor bastards. Escape seemed impossible to him.

The witch doctor's hunched figure writhed grotesquely as he laughed at the question. The various trinkets and amulets he wore clinked and rattled as he did so. He seemed almost as mad as he was ugly.

“That is an incredible question. One that I don't feel truly deserves an answer.”

He continued to laugh quietly to himself as he packed his instruments away into an old, ruined leather sack. It looked like it was made from the same leather that he had wrapped around his forearms, each prickling with small spikes and hooks. They continually caught his ragged cape, which was secured to a rusty collar around his wraith-like neck. The spikes and arrows coming out of it looked as though they might create some symbol when seen from above.

“They will come for you here, so wait here. I won't be around to stop you from leaving, but I would imagine you can... well...” he stumbled over his choice of words. “Imagine what would happen to you if you attempted to leave.”

Dissatisfied with the way that sentence had come out, he simply grabbed his bag and sulked on his way out, shaking his head and mumbling corrections under his breath.

And just like that, the three of them were alone. The vacuum of the mad healer's lost presence pressed on them.

“I think we ought to try and make a go for it,” Clive said finally, breaking the silence.

“I think you ought to shut the hell up, Clive,” Bill snapped. “That's what I think. You ain't seen the cages filled with naked wretches out there! I did, and I don' wanna end up like 'em.”

“Then what do we do?” Tom asked weakly. He almost looked like he would topple over.

“I ain't sittin' here waitin' to die,” Clive said as he stood, still a bit wobbly himself. “No, mate, I'll take my chances with yer damned cages.”

“Clive, don' you do it!”

Clive turned around to scoff as he reached the door. “Have fun with yer mighty Titans, like the things really exist.”

He turned back to walk out the door but found his path obstructed by a tall, gray, muscular creature whose immense wings were folded neatly behind it.