The battalion of soldiers faced a massacre. They screamed with horror. Some of them had half their bodies melted away. One of the lizard demons took so many shots it lay collapsed and lifeless. The other two demons began to scramble up the hill in full attack. Their mouths of the demons shot out rivulets of energy, the very sound they emitted was impossible for the human ear to endure. Gabe’s Basi kept charging and made a tenuous leap. They clung to the head of one of the beasts.
Abha met the demon’s faces with a spitting fountain of round red energy. The demons stalled and shook their noses side to side — their heads had a single large pearlescent eye that registered no mood. Dahron sent a torrent of arrows with the intent to pierce the eye. Elias sent bolts of energy to aid Kanos’ mounting charge.
The battalion below came alive as their phantoms were bursting with furor. They turned and charged and abandoned their soldiers. The phantoms were screaming forward on their own with great distance between them. Kanos slashed and hacked at men, who lingered without power, as Gavin dove below and made easy work of their magicless attacks. He ground and dug them into a pulp.
Elias threw out a huge low, wide shield, and Kanos turned and ran down the length to keep the men from being surrounded.
Gabe’s arms moved with great control as he infused his creatures from a distance — they seemed quite capable of moving by his will. They pulled and shredded at the flesh of the demon’s throat they still clung to.
The loosened phantoms of the army, snapped from the dead, approached with great speed at the same time the demons plowed straight into the shield and smashed their noses.
Elias yelled, “It will hold against the barisee. But they will come around. I must strike.”
He raised his staff high into the air, and it shined down beams that struck both demons at once. They bucked and squirmed around — they turned and made their move.
Their heads reached out and never stopped reaching; their short arms extended as though with limitless reach. The lizard-like things extended and they struck out with their heads, which shot out torrents of venom. The venom struck the shields and sizzled; it began to cut through the defensive magic.
The demons shot out more venom in a spray that decimated everything it touched — the ground and soil fumed and burned.
The countless phantoms slammed into the shield and began to hover above it. Abha erupted like a volcano. His energy shot in a high arch, a torrent that fell overtop the shield and flowed onto the phantoms — they could not endure the sizzle.
Kanos stepped beyond the shield and began to charge across the length. As the demons turned to find him, he began to slash the barisee as his stallion charged.
Elias shouted with great power, and from his hand shot a radical light. The beam slammed into both demons and scorched their sides; they rolled over as they scrambled forward on their squirming sides to devour Kanos. His stallion rammed head-on, and its shields rebounded with the lizards; they bucked back from the slams that struck their opalescent eyes. The Basi flung hard against the shield and found themselves detached. Again, they charged.
Kanos pulled his horse broadside and leapt onto the demon’s back. Dahron began to assault its hind side with a stream of arrows. Kanos clamored up and pulled his sword high. He fell with all his weight and jammed the blade down into the center of the demon’s eye. The demon reeled, and its long body whipped from side to side with great ferocity. Kanos was rolled, and the demon’s massive body flattened his body many times.
Elias stared at the other demon and knew he had one move to make. He walked through his shield and lit his hand afire. He dared to reach and touch the whipping demon directly on its side. Elias delivered the strongest blow he knew, as the side of the demon’s body exploded open. A gaping hole caused the demon to nearly rip itself in half with flailing. The creature finally laid down and twitched to its death as the Basi ripped and kicked at the gaping wound.
Elias turned toward the demon that still wrestled with Kanos, seeing that help was truly needed. Elias sent his own body rushing forward with levitation and slammed the bottom of his staff against the ground. He sublimely uttered, “Govibrah Amia.”
The creature stood up and turned around and stared right at Elias.
The two gazed eye to eye.
Kanos raised himself and approached the belly of the beast. He ducked down and held his blade upward. He stood up and pulled with all his might as he zipped the blade up the demon’s body, until it was nearly severed in half.
Elias sent a ball of light forward that landed against the demon’s eye, and the pearly globe exploded on impact.
The phantom army wanted no more.
They turned and fled down the hillside.
The men eyed each other and walked forward toward the encampment. They found buildings empty of all forms of life.
They tread through the structures and found a low-dug entrenchment closed in with stone. They opened the doors and found a woman and two children huddled in the corner.
45.
The men freed the family and explained the evacuation. They found the stockpile of enchanted weapons, and Gavin planned to have them recovered after Cavohray’s guards were killed. The crew quickly prepared the woman and children to travel back with Gavin. He moved urgently to go back and recover Nox.
The men then sifted through the papers and spellwork and found the sordid room where the barisee must have fused themselves to humans. There were strange artifacts and blood sprayed across the floor.
Gabe, Ahbra, and Dahron intended to head straight home, which everyone understood. Elias gave them contacts to the guild of mages, so they were no longer forced to remain in isolation. Kanos milled through the fallen battalion and chose the finest greaves to cover his shins, and then more light rigid armor to cover his arms, feet, and torso. He poured over the barracks maps and saw that many of them tracked north, to the lowlands of the Malion nation.
Elias felt great tension in his farewells. He cared for each of the men and wished he could guarantee safe passage. He knew he must move on directly to the southwest, which Kanos understood.
Kanos said to Elias, “The phantom binding cannot grow… I have to track the origin — that dark magic didn’t start here.” His heart pulled already. “I think it comes from the Thons who gave magic to a sorceress named Rauak. I must head to Malion, where the Thons run wild, before that magic grows.”
Elias knew that meant farewell. He said sincerely, “It is a worthy fight for a battlemage.”
The men loaded bags with food, shook hands firmly, and jumped on their horses. They yelled goodbye as Elias turned southwest and Kanos turned and rode hard into the northern light.
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Adam Sea Klein has published multiple books for ages young and old. He is also an experienced artist. His books and artwork can be found at: www.AdamSeaKlein.com
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Mages of Avios 2. Battlemage Page 16
