Mage- The Guardian's Oath

by S A Edwards

  Their magic withered. Frost melted and plummeted to the dirt.

  The Healer smiled and reached out, calling upon the rain. Water gathered, engulfing the Preservers in a wild, writhing ball. It catapulted them backward, knocking aside anyone in their path.

  A Beast caught my eye. Snarls spat through its bared teeth.

  Unease spread through me.

  It raced for me, claws extended.

  My foot stamped against the slush. Puddles transformed to ice and tore toward the sky in a gleaming wall.

  The Beast broke through it like nothing more than parchment.

  I leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding the powerful clench of its snapping jaws.

  My gaze fell on a Seeker, now locked in the jaws of the Beast.

  A cloaked Mage held out his staff. Purple threads grasped the Beast’s body. It released the Seeker and whined.

  Hunters surrounded me, features half-hidden under black hoods.

  Magical fear overcame my senses, clenching my heart like a vice, uncontrollable, overwhelming.

  “No!” Frost rocketed from me, snow flurried, and then gathered together. A head formed. Fur grew. Teeth extended.

  I gaped at my newly created Ursus in shock.

  The Seekers attacked. Battering winds bashed the white body of my Ursus, attacking my protector with viciousness that shouldn’t exist.

  The Ursus’ bones crunched, and it roared, slicing razor-sharp claws through its opponents.

  A couple more strikes from the Seekers had my Ursus on the ground. It disintegrated.

  A Seeker dragged the paralysed Beast closer with his purple light, leaving a trail in the mud.

  More Beasts attacked the remaining Seekers.

  I reached out, channelling the magic of my staff. Force stabbed through my palm and shattered his staff, destroying the tendril of light.

  The Beast stood, shook its head, and then leapt on the hunter. His scream tore through me, and his fear jolted every fibre, enhanced by my Seeker gift.

  Then, he fell silent.

  The Beast twisted, its eyes black, and terror rose in my throat. Feral and out-of-control, its threatening appearance far outweighed that of the other Beasts.

  It slunk forward.

  A rush of inky fur galloped past me and slammed into its side. Charlie’s jaw clamped over its neck. His claws scratched at its body.

  The Beast howled and struggled in Charlie’s grasp.

  He clamped down harder, and then released.

  It slumped to the dirt and lay still.

  Charlie’s breath curled through the thick air. His wide, brown eyes fixed on me.

  For a moment, we stood, staring at each other.

  Then, our connection broke, and he bounded off.

  A Preserver ran forward, her fingers outstretched. Shards of ice sprang from the tips.

  I dropped too late. Two spears slashed across my forearm and cheek, forcing a cry. Warm blood trickled down my skin and mixed with the scent of rain, sweat, and dirt.

  She attacked again.

  I leapt aside, rolled to face her, and pulled on my focus.

  Purple smoke encircled her, obstructing her from view. Then, it cleared, leaving no sign of her.

  The Shadow Realm would weaken her, the perfect prison, though I hoped she was pulled out before she died.

  All around, my allies fell, poisoned by the very kind who were supposed to be filled with compassion: The Healers.

  Sil stood a short distance away, immersed in battle with several Seekers. His water swallowed their tendrils, drowning out their light. The water rallied up like a snake, writhing in the watery plain.

  A cloud of darkness swarmed the water snake.

  It thrust its head to and fro, and the cloud disintegrated. Droplets flew from the creature’s body.

  The serpent stopped. Its focus settled on a Dark Mage, and struck, sending him rocketing backward, and then turned its attention to the Seekers.

  With one smooth motion, it wrapped its thick, glistening body around the group, drawing them together.

  Sil clenched his fist, and the water serpent tightened, holding them in an unbreakable grip.

  They struggled while its body spread and washed over their heads.

  Moments passed, and then it receded, merging with the dirt.

  The Seekers dropped.

  I raced to Sil. “Time to stop this rain.”

  “My thoughts exactly.”

  I shifted my attention to the sky. The drops made me squint and stung my fresh wounds. My hands rose to the clouds. I could sense every particle, every pure element in the downpour.

  Sil’s magic made my skin tingle.

  I tugged on the clouds, drew the moisture toward me and separated them.

  The rainfall halted.

  Countless twinkling stars littered the sky. The moons shone brighter and larger than ever before.

  Thick mist covered the ground.

  Enemies sprinted toward us through the still bodies, kicking up mud in their wake.

  I sent heat through the mist. Fire ignited on contact with the clothes of the opposition. They screamed and dropped to the wet ground, then rolled through the muck.

  My neck prickled.

  With scarred face and dark eyes, a Seeker roamed forward. The stone on his staff gleamed.

  He paused, free fist clenched.

  “Seeker,” I said, “you’re mistaken in your loyalties.”

  He thrust his hand out.

  I ducked.

  His wave of power skimmed my head.

  Fire extended from my fingers, encasing him in a tomb of heat and light.

  His hood whipped back, his hair flapping in the heat. He slammed the end of his staff against the dust, diminishing the flames.

  “You’re on the wrong side,” I said.

  Purple light extended from his stone, reaching out with torturous tendrils.

  My smoke engulfed me, removing me before the paralysis took hold, and deposited me behind him.

  My arm locked round his throat. Ice blasted from my fingers, and his staff crumbled under his grasp. The stone dropped and smashed. Magic jolted through me and sank back into the ground. “Listen to me,” I growled.

  “I will when you’re trapped in a Hellion prison.”

  He grabbed my arm, twisted, and wrenched me over his shoulder.

  My smoke caught me before I hit the ground, and I re-emerged in front of him. My cheeks flushed with anger.

  “You like prisons?” My fingers gripped his arm, and I called the Shadow Realm’s smoke. Darkness closed in. Whispers sounded all around us. I released him. “Good luck with this one.”

  I slipped out, and the cry of battle returned.

  In the distance, a thick cloud of darkness covered the wasteland. Shouting and cries of alarm resonated within the blackness.

  A section cleared, revealing numberless bodies lying, unmoving in the mist, with Tenebris standing in the centre.

  Something huge and black with red eyes and bulging muscles burst out of the obscurity.

  Sweat broke out from my pores.

  There was no mistaking the Hellion, towering above all others on the field. The Daemon had used the medallion.

  Now all hell would break loose.

  57

  The sheer size and appearance of the Hellion convinced me it belonged in the prison. Covered in razor fur, a snout, and mouth with upturned fangs, the Hellion stomped forward.

  My heart thudded at the sight of it.

  Shrieks from the surrounding people tore through the night air.

  The Corrupted stared, their black markings unmistakable in the moons’ glow.

  Lena stood to one side, her hair ruffled and her eyes full of determination. Her own victims lay on the mud with a layer of ice over their still bodies.

  Frost blasted from her fingertips and crept up the Hellion’s legs, freezing them in place.

  It jerked, and a foot broke free.

  Glacies ran in to assist.<
br />
  Together, they increased the frost, encasing the Hellion in a sparkling, crystal cocoon.

  I added my ice to theirs, increasing the strength.

  Orator joined us. Smoke coiled round the ice and hardened into black chasma.

  Everyone around the chasma became still.

  “That was too easy,” I whispered.

  “Indeed,” Esté said.

  I whirled to him, surprised at his sudden appearance.

  “There is a reason the Hellion were locked in the prisons,” he said. “Nothing else would hold them.”

  The chasma shuddered, and then shattered in a clash of sound. Ice and chasma clattered to the ground in a sparkling shower of shards.

  I gasped.

  The Hellion stomped straight for me.

  Friends and foe alike scattered before it.

  It stamped on a sheet of ice, killing the people trapped within. He sneered and kicked at fleeing Seekers, sending them flying through the air.

  I ran backwards, shooting fire, ice, and water as fast as I could. The effort drained what little energy I had left.

  Villagers threw arrows and spears. They stuck out of its thick hide like blades of grass, doing nothing to slow the creature.

  One more stride, and he stood before me.

  Terror froze my feet. I caused this. I gave the Daemon power to release him.

  The Corrupted shot fire, water, ice and smoke at the Hellion.

  I pulled the image of the Shadow Realm to mind. Smoke encompassed my body. The scene blurred.

  Something clamped tightly around me, dragging the battlefield back into focus.

  The Hellion tightened his huge hand around my waist and held me before his blood-red eyes. The ground lay a long way beneath me, the people tiny from the height.

  Needle-sharp, short fur dug into my hands and body like spears, sending stinging pain shooting through my muscles.

  He smiled, revealing yellow fangs. “He said if I destroyed you, I could keep my freedom.” His deep voice echoed in the recesses of my mind.

  I trembled with fear. I wasn’t ready to die. This wasn’t what I wanted. Spots formed in my vision. Dizziness threatened to overwhelm me. Intense heat burned at my skin. I struggled, failing to wriggle free.

  Blue light flashed in my periphery.

  The Hellion roared, and his grip loosened.

  I fell.

  Cold collided with my back.

  Below me, flawless ice curled downward, guiding my descent.

  I skidded to a stop at the feet of Glacies, and she yanked me to my feet.

  Behind us, Vitora kept the Hellion at bay. Bright blue fire swirled around him, blocking his path and erupting in bursts from the whirling vortex. The flames scorched his body wherever they touched.

  He flailed, snarled, and swiped at the fire.

  “How do we stop it?” I shouted to Esté.

  “The Hellion prison, but he won’t step through the Gate willingly.”

  “Then, force him.”

  “We can’t.”

  I gritted my teeth. “Open the Gate. We’ll trick him inside.”

  He shook his head. “Even if that worked, I can’t close it alone.”

  “We don’t have a choice, Esté.”

  He reached out.

  The ground opened up, a gaping hole of darkness mere steps from the Hellion.

  Vitora’s flames were torn apart.

  He swiped at her.

  Her magic trembled with the impact, and her back slammed into the dust.

  Sil raced toward her.

  The Hellion rushed for me again, his eyes crazed.

  Charlie and Custos collided with his body, tiny compared to the Hellion.

  Glacies leapt into action, sending a wave of frost at the Hellion’s head.

  I added blue flames and channelled my focus on the creature, ensuring a protective shield remained over Charlie and Custos.

  The Hellion’s claws found Custos.

  He careened across the wasteland and crashed into the ground. His long, brown fur shrunk, and he returned to human form.

  Glacies’ ice shattered. Shards scattered outward.

  The Hellion swept my flames aside, knocking me back with fierce wind.

  He kicked out, knocking Charlie to his side, and pressed his huge foot on his body.

  Charlie yelped.

  I froze in horror. Memories of failing to protect Lallana flooded back.

  Charlie’s gaze clamped on me, the usual sparkle in his eyes fading.

  Fear clamped down in my throat, and anger boiled inside me.

  The Hellion sneered and increased the pressure.

  I screamed. All my emotion exploded in a ball of energy and heat. Dust leapt from the ground.

  The Hellion shot backward with the wave. He roared, a sound of pure fury and menace, and then vanished into the gaping darkness of the Gate.

  It closed.

  Charlie staggered to his feet and shook himself.

  I raced to him. “Are you hurt?”

  He nuzzled me with his thick, warm head, and then looked at Esté. He snarled, and his teeth snapped.

  “Woah. Charlie.” I slipped between them.

  He growled at me.

  “What’s going on?” I asked. “He’s on our side. He’s the Keeper of Light.”

  Charlie pushed me, and I staggered. “Don’t, Charlie. We need him.”

  He fixed Esté with a menacing glare, then re-joined the battle.

  “What was that about?” I asked.

  Glacies gaped. “You forced the Hellion through the Gate.”

  “Is that bad?”

  “No one can be forced to pass.”

  “And the Gate closed,” Esté said. “I didn’t do that.”

  “Well, then, how?” I asked.

  “I do not know,” Esté said.

  Glacies twisted, sending ice at an oncoming foe.

  The ground shook. Stones bounced and clattered on the dust.

  A creature burst from the ground, bright blue and covered in scales.

  “Sapientia,” I whispered. She had come to help, one of the oldest beings in the land. Now we really had a chance.

  Wings flapped, and she soared toward the sky.

  Bolts of light catapulted from her wings in all directions, striking the ground and anyone standing near.

  Deep blue flames coursed from her mouth at carefully chosen targets.

  Tucking in her wings, she dove and drilled back into the earth, leaving a large crater behind.

  The moons’ light dimmed, and crimson red spread across the surface of the smallest moon, mixing with the silver light of its twin.

  “No.” Turning from Glacies and Esté, I raced across the wasteland and past the frozen victims of Lena, toward the cliff.

  Ahead, Cupitor stood, surrounded by his enemies. His eyes were closed. His expression one of concentration. Purple tendrils stretched from his fingers, his staff, his body.

  It wrapped round his opponents, twisting around their bodies like chains. It paralysed them and drew them in until the darkness claimed them.

  Shivers carried down my spine at the memory of my own experience.

  A Refiner approached, eyes on me. No sign of a red ribbon showed on her arm. Her fireball tore toward me.

  Heat blazed against my face. My hands dropped to my side, embracing the fire. Orange light engulfed me, stabbing every inch of my flesh.

  The Refiner smirked.

  I turned the flames blue, and her eyes widened.

  “Is that all you’ve got?” My hands stabbed forward, and the fire streaked toward her, punched her stomach, and forced her back across the mud.

  A Seeker faced me, staff outstretched.

  Charlie leapt onto him, knocking him to the floor. He looked at me, one giant paw on the Seeker’s still body. His head jerked at the moons, then he growled.

  I sprinted toward the cliff. Beasts surrounded me, tearing a path through the throng.

  One galloped
toward the cliff and scaled half the side in seconds. The Beast leapt from the rock, claws extended, and plunged back into the army.

  A narrow slope extended from the cliffside, leading to the cave.

  I bounded up it. My legs screamed.

  Force cracked against the rock, crumbling the path ahead.

  I leapt over it and skidded in front of the cave opening.

  The crimson moon glared on the rock, and the clamour of battle continued, but I didn’t look back.

  58

  The chill air in the cave brought goose bumps to my arms, and the diluted sounds of battle cried behind me.

  Rock surrounded me and gaped above to the sky. Thousands of stars glittered, and red and silver light filtered down.

  I swallowed the lump in my throat.

  Someone shifted in the shadows.

  “Zantos?” This was the last thing I needed right now. “What are you doing here?”

  He raised his eyebrows.

  I bit my lip. Was I supposed to know why he was here? Had he come to see me fail, just like he had with the Seekers? But after his previous rage, there must be more to his plans than it appeared. “The Council never planned to harness the magic, did they?” I asked.

  “I knew you’d figure it out eventually.”

  “Why would you do this?”

  He flicked back his cloak, and crimson light touched his cheeks. “A Keeper is born of pure magic. I am bound by its laws. Harnessing the power will set me free.”

  “Then, you can pass through the Gates.”

  “That … and much more.”

  “Subjection?”

  He smirked.

  “Why?”

  “I’ve been a slave all my life, opening Gates, watching them live, bound by the laws of magic. It’s time the world returned the favour. I see, since you’re here, that you saved me the trouble of sending the Hellion back after the Daemon released it.”

  I assumed the Daemon would release himself. It made no sense to free the Hellion. “But you saved my life,” I said. “Back when the Head tried to take control.”

  He shook his head. “Bound by its laws. I had no choice.”

  “So, the tunnel to the Council chambers, offering me more power … you hoped to trip me up?”

  “Eliminating the threat.”

  “Wait. Hubert was working for you,” I realised. “You wanted me to make his gift dormant so I’d become Hunted.”

  He shrugged. “And it worked, up until now.”