As soon as they stepped into the nearest bar, they found an isolated table near the back of the room, and began to speak.
Kanos repeated Cavohray’s story and said, “He’s devastated, and they are strong in number, building a battalion armed with swords like this.”
The men agreed that it must be stopped. While Nox insisted he would go too, Kanos didn’t like the idea since Nox was not a magus. Reluctantly, he gave Nox the small vial of orange potion and a warning about how devastating the effects were and how ravaged his body would be after drinking the potion.
Nox said, “I have to get my blades. I will also have a food pack and water for our trip. Give me an hour to negotiate with Lowl, so she’ll run my tent.”
The men sat at the table and quietly counted the ways a battalion could take their lives. Kanos said, “Will this be like fighting an army of beasts as you did?”
Elias replied, “I don’t think so. The beasts fold beneath my type of magic. The phantoms don’t enjoy it. Sorcerers are more difficult, and I have not tested it against an army of people yielding swords such as yours, much less enhanced by phantoms.”
Kanos said, “My dagger couldn’t harm those horsemen… but I think this sword will do the job. I’m honestly not sure. Watch my back in case I’m useless.”
Gavin said, “We can always bail. Anyways, all directions are ours, since I have the sky — they’ll be glued to the ground.”
Elias said, “I hope that’s true. But if they come unglued… perhaps I’ll smash them down.”
36.
Nox arrived with a frame pack filled with food reserves and water skins. The men loaded up, and Nox dropped the frame next to the trash bin as they left. They went to retrieve Kanos’ and Elias’ horses from the inn, then went to the merchant stable to retrieve Nox’s calm gelded grey horse and Gavin’s black stallion, which bucked and reared at the hands of the stable guide.
Elias said, “That’s a man’s horse… it may be too manly!”
Nox laughed as Gavin tried to calm the stallion. “He always goes for the big bad horse.”
Gavin hollered, “He’s sturdy as a lockwood tree. I’ll give him that. But what a pain in the ass! Down boy!”
Kanos reached up and grabbed the reign. He pulled a little and held his arm locked. The stallion’s eye found Kanos’ stare, and it simmered down. Gavin said, “Well, well, would you like to buy a horse?” Kanos saw the horse’s build and nodded, “How about a trade.”
Gavin quickly agreed and took the painted horse and felt great relief as he jumped on a calm horse. He said, “I put in three hard months trying to calm that wild steed. Not worth it!”
Kanos said, “He’s upset. He wants to roam.” Kanos pet the long dark face a few times and slowly turned aside. The horse gnawed at the bit, showing clear discomfort. Kanos decided to relieve the bit and removed it completely. He re-fastened the harness to go easily around the stallion’s face and tossed the bit to the side.
Gavin said, “You’re crazy!”
Kanos leapt on the horse with a single lurch. The horse was huge, quite tall and stout, and it did not move as Kanos leapt aboard. Kanos lightly lifted the reigns and spoke, “Easy, strong fella.” The horse turned left with a pull. Kanos took the reins and leaned right, and the horse paused and then decided to turn right also.
The men were quite surprised, including the stable guides, who clearly had nothing but trouble with the stallion all along.
Kanos turned and smiled then turned again and with a call, his new stallion kicked and led the band of men out of the market.
Elias yelled back to the new guys, “Follow him. He’s good at this.”
The men followed the main road, and Kanos found the trail split. They moved south around a rocky pass and through a canyon row. There were others traveling within the canyon row, and they traveled with ease, as the four men galloped vigorously down the silted road.
As the narrow canyon passage broke open to a sunny slope, they moved away from the southern side of the market. They saw the mountain row that must be passed.
The horses charged quite vigorously across the shallow valley, and when they approached the lightly wooded hillside, they punched straight into the shade. They saw the scattered men, who seemed to stand as guards or scouts. The men had dim purple lanterns lit by magic. They began to raise their lanterns high using poles nearly 15 feet in length.
Elias yelled, “They’re passing a signal up the hill.”
As the men galloped on with great speed, they saw the first of the shadowy phantoms reeling through the woods beside them.
The men didn’t dare to stop, unsure of how many phantoms could emerge. The ambiguous tailings of the barisee flailed as though propelled by energy. Their floating bodies were quite fast, and the faster they flew, the longer they became.
They began to swim though the air like dark eels — their faces, once ambiguous, became massive energetic sets of teeth.
The bodies of the phantoms took on deeper undulations, and they veered ever closer toward the men. The sound from phantom’s mouths became quite vile, as horrendous gasping chomps were made so large it could have ripped the side off a horse.
Elias raised his staff and called aloud, “ Unumbrus Vio Laayyyyy.” His staff sent up a bond of energy just before the running group. A sphere sent a shock of energy that sheered against the phantoms quite severely. They veered away and took a while to surge back towards the men.
Elias sent flying spheres of faint light bounding for each phantom, but their long bodies rolled around the shots.
Two barisee moved to attack and ran straight for Kanos and Nox.
Kanos held his new sword and pulled his stallion right towards the monster, which turned head-on. As the crash was about to occur, the black stallion’s chest took no blow; an energy emerged, a hardened shield that sent the phantom careening to the side.
Kanos leapt off his horse in a split-second decision — he rolled sideways with his sword extended. The long blade sliced the flying phantom as though it was made of physical meat. The black body was sent to the ground, splayed open, and nearly severed in half. Kanos turned and ran to mount his horse, which lowered its rear for a running leap.
Kanos pulled the reigns lightly, and the horse knew exactly where to go — his depth of endurance flowed, and he kicked wildly to catch up to the crew in a profound sprint.
Elias still led the charge, and he was sending out repeated strikes to keep the barisee from killing Nox. Nox turned his horse from side to side as a phantom chose him to follow. Gavin sent out huge bumpers of rushing shield, which suppressed the attacks of two other phantoms quite easily.
Kanos and his stallion charged with a speed that seemed to increase with time. Kanos realized he was on a mage’s stallion enhanced in magical ways. He wondered how Gavin got the horse as they charged up behind his flying shields.
Elias turned around on his horse, and with both hands outstretched, he loosed a flow of tepid elion energy. The phantoms found the undulations to be quite vile as the power counteracted their own flow. They shrieked as Elias reached back and drew from the 4 Corners Magic and pulled out the only spell he understood from the annihilation field.
Elias sent out a vicious static, red-grey smoke as black sparks emerged. The phantoms squealed and diverted into the ground to escape the energy that made the air intolerable.
Kanos rode by and ran his blade left — he ran an 11-yard spinal cut down the length of the left barisee. He lifted his blade and plunged it to his right — his long reflective sword split down the face of the second fallen phantom.
The final phantom turned and fled screeching into the forest. The men continued their quickened pace, before they finally slowed down. The horses heaved and snorted as they breathed. The large black stallion sounded otherworldly as its large lungs heaved.
Kanos yelled, “This horse has magic.”
Gavin yelled back, “Yeah, that’s why I tangled with him for three months; seemed
worth it. I thought you could tell.”
“Where did you get this stallion?” asked Kanos.
“Well… the horse was stabled for months — I was told the mage that owned him was killed. The guy I bought him from, well honestly, I think he stole him,” said Gavin as he chuckled. “The man said the horse hates him — so I traded for a crate of distilled spirits. Not bad! But, turns out the horse only liked me a little better than the thief…”
“I don’t think you can force this creature like a horse,” said Kanos. “He senses energy. It’s like… I have to ask him.”
Gavin replied, “Well, you can keep him, especially if we’re fighting together… really… ask a horse?”
Kanos said with a smile, “You’d be surprised what you learn when you ask.”
Gavin said, “Well, this isn’t my first day in Avios. I think I saw you feed him snacks.” The men all laughed as they rode slowly up the remainder of the mountainous hillside.
37.
As the crest of the hill was finally met, the men peered over the top. There was a slew of men at full attention, and arrays of spears were waiting 400 feet away.
Elias signaled back to the travelers to wait. He did not want to draw headlong into battle after the horses only just recovered. He reared back his hand and sent out a long wide wall, as a strong shield condensed before the crew.
Arrows sailed through the sky.
The arrows that arrived from overhead went straight through the shield. Elias took an arrow into the side of his left arm. He could hardly believe it as he ripped the shaft from his tricep.
“They’re enchanted…,” he yelled as the men were nearly all struck down. They pulled back and charted sidelong across the slope at full speed. Kanos felt his horse hunger for battle. He hoped the creature could handle what came next. Nox was in a panic, so Kanos yelled, “When we strike for battle, the potion goes down. Stay close to Elias. His attacks are strong.” Nox yelled, “Uhhh, what about those arrows!?” Kanos snapped back, “It’s the best we have. He’ll figure something out, and listen, don’t be too proud to bail.”
Gavin yelled out, “I’m going up.”
Gavin set himself free of his horse and never touched the ground. His body propelled with great resolution into a streaming forward flight. His speed was four times the speed of the horses as he flew like a bird in a direct maneuvering line.
Elias led the men on horseback around a stone mantle that enshrouded the upper mountain. They paused and turned, found their space, and planned to use the rock wall as an anchor.
The men rode to the edge and gazed across the increased distance; 1,000 feet away clamored the armed warriors in full alarm. The spearmen were marching steadily, the archers moving swiftly behind them.
Elias said, “120 men, give or take. This is only their first reserve.”
Kanos calmed his horse and barked, “We can wait to be skewered or ride the wake. I say we charge.” He pulled out his blue trinket, the item received from Reave. He felt his energy peak and anticipated the sudden boost, knowing a dire hangover would be his at the end of battle, should he live.
Elias jammed the reins of Gavin’s horse into a crevasse in the cliff. He said , “Nox, don’t leave my side unless my energy begins to cause you harm. Stay behind the shield; somehow, I will learn to break the enchantment of those arrows.”
Nox was quite afraid. He clasped the orange potion and stared at it. He was suddenly terrified of losing the small vial. As soon as Kanos and his stallion kicked above the ridge, Nox moved along with Elias. He tipped up the orange potion and felt the tingling warmth run down his throat.
As the men charged, they didn’t flinch. With 300 hundred feet to go, the 1/3 battalion stood in wait — their long spears were set to pierce.
From above, Gavin surged down with tremendous speed, and 60 feet above the ground, he stopped and levitated. The archers sent loose a barrage of arrows. Gavin raised his hands and put out his dim round shields. The men below stared in awe as they watched him test his skills.
The arrows arced and found their straight direction. Gavin could have zoomed away, but he held his shields, and at the last moment, he spun around.
His shields bowed wide, and the arrows took flight against the inside arc. A dozen arrows followed the curve and broke loose on the other side of the bowing energy. The arrow flight was redirected down below — the arrows rained down upon the spearmen, who scattered in panic. The wall of spears was diminished greatly as the charge of the three horsemen was just about to mount.
Elias threw out a sizzling shield that snapped loose — its energy inverted, and the static flowed out against the men. The shield flowed through and scorched a dozen soldiers, and strange energy broke loose from their bodies. The shriek of phantoms was heard, as the shifting shrouds of energy made clear that barisee shared a life upon each body of the warriors.
Elias yelled, “It is a phantom army just like the six horsemen in the valley.”
Kanos and his stallion slammed against the crowd like beasts without a second thought. The black horse plowed a brutal blow, and soldiers were made to fly sideways across the field — the strange shield of the horse had great power.
Kanos began to swing his massive sword, and the blade sliced like a mage’s dream, a razor of bloody impact that lopped off limb and armor. The stallion reared with no ambiguous intention. It steered to slay more men. The hosts of barisee were terrified the more they fought — their strikes were impotent against the stallion’s shield. Kanos thought in a ragged second… “ Cavohray withheld his greatest skills when he made their armor.” Kanos, however, swung the blade of the finest build. His every strike was infused with energy, not just of himself and not just of his trinket. He realized the stallion amplified his own signal, an effect he never could have assumed. The blade sounded like a violent weapon. Its sheering could be heard from a mile away. It sung with a high-pitched note as it lopped off leg and arm.
Nox struck the helm of battle, a man not like himself. The potion made his eyes so fierce he could feel a great new tension. He pushed into battle against five men immediately. Before his horse could be slayed, he leapt off and drew his two blades. The soldiers, aided by their barisees, prepared to take down an easy target. They saw Nox led with no magic.
Nox began to move the blades at a pace no man had ever seen. His arms swung in perfect arcs, and his rounded blades began to sheer with violence of an abnormal kind. The soldiers fought with great intensity, and their weapons were deflected by Nox, who seemed to see before he swung. He was made a rabid animal by his potion, but beneath the beast, there was a man of world class reflex and a speed of muscle no one could contend with. He moved through ten men easily and surged on for more.
Elias was amazed to see how well Nox fared, and so he turned his attention to the mass of battle. Gavin began to surge into the crowd, and with his shields, which were impervious to all enchantments, he bashed men by the quarter dozen and drove them deep against the ground.
Elias maintained a total forward drive. He flung back each man he saw with attacks directly at their stomachs. He tried to find a way to breech the connection between the soldier and their barisee. He could make the men weak enough to double over with no further will to fight. The phantoms began to sense the attempts to prod the weakness.
The soldiers closest to Elias found their phantoms erupting and reducing their bond. The beastly faces of their hidden demons began to surface. From their bodies extended much larger floating facades, the faces and torsos of their spellwork creatures.
Everywhere Elias looked, phantoms were arising from the soldiers touched by his undulating shield.
Gavin saw the new danger from above and drove a single plow from one side of the battlefield to the next. He expanded his shield to full force and put a massive central lane right through the field. Gavin’s flight ended with him quite close to the ground. He tumbled and rolled a dozen times before a final pulse of shield could make him stop. Elias saw
Gavin stand up and cease to fly — he was aware that the limits of levitation were expended. Elias began to drive his battle towards Gavin in order to protect his life.
Kanos found the left side of the battle and began to work straight down the line. His stallion plowed onward, and the soldiers grew quite wary. They began to keep more distance and found themselves unable to inflict any damage at all.
Soldiers began to disperse and flee around Kanos.
Elias drove through the left side of the crowd that Gavin split. Nox began to assail the same batch from the other side with a fervor so deep he was foaming at the mouth. There was blood coming from his arms and legs from many cuts.
Elias saw the damage and sent loose a razor wire of energy so deep and lasting it sheered the heads of eleven men — his strikes were growing stronger.
Gavin began to press against the rear of the crowd. He pulsed his shields and pushed them toward the center. Two dozen men were being surrounded. Elias sent up his staff and hollered at the top of his lungs, “ Mevay Octa Avion, Esse Sevion.” A ring of light was raised from the ground.
The light ignited and raised into a dome. The dome encompassed dozens of soldiers. Nox sprinted out from the wall and sent himself into the clearing. Gavin saw this and did the same.
Elias belted out, “Opta Neviosa.” His staff sent upward a beam of light straight into the endless air above. The beam vanished for a moment.
The soldiers knew their doom was near.
The beam of light returned and struck the dome and fused the light around the men.
Inside the dome, a percussion of light and sound exploded. A shockwave was sent around the entire battlefield. Inside the dome, the bodies of men were shattered in an explosion of flesh. Their blood and gore stay suspended for a moment and slowly fell onto the ground. The lighted dome expanded slowly, and the shined light evaporated into the air.
The remaining soldiers that Kanos fought could not bear the sight. Their phantoms could not hold them any longer. They were shocked with total fear. They broke the pause with screams of horror as they scurried east, knowing their death would likely still follow.
Mages of Avios 2. Battlemage Page 13
