Woad Children (Challenger's Call Book 3)

by Nathan Thompson

  I guessed at where he was going and raced inside the unfinished palace. I felt the temperature drop dozens and dozens of degrees as I ran inward, passing rows and rows of unfinished sculptures that I wouldn’t have had time to look at even if I wanted to.

  Finally I reached a large, round chamber that looked a little more finished than the rest of the palace. In the middle was a human-sized, floating crystal that the Hoarfolk mage stood to the left of. He appeared to be working some kind of spell that drew lines of blue energy from the nearby crystal and into a large, doorway-sized oval in front of him.

  Perfect, I thought as I ran forward. We had suspected that they would only be able to teleport back to their closest ice castle. Since this one was still mostly intact, the nobles wouldn’t be able to instantly get away if we chased them here. Even better, they had some other, more complicated means of escaping to deeper into their territory.

  That was just what we were looking for.

  The Hoarmage looked over his shoulder and saw me running toward him. His eyes widened and he began moving his hands and chanting more rapidly. I leaped to the side with the help of my enhanced agility. Once I had a better angle, I blasted at him with my stored lightning bolt. The spell cracked into him and knocked him away from his half-constructed portal. He smoldered, tried to get up, and was knocked down again by my stored fireball and last five finger-bolts. He landed some distance, groaning in pain, vital guard largely depleted. I rushed forward and punched him in the face, knocking the back of his head into the floor. He went limp after that, barely breathing and probably not in good permanent condition.

  Other nobles are all bound, Breena sent me. Val and Eadric had to kill the other knight, but the other ones out here were secured for now. I don’t know if they’ll survive their wounds without help though. Right now we’re helping Alum’s team with mopping up the minions.

  Alright, I answered. I got the last noble in here. Coming to help.

  Don’t think you’ll make it in time, Breena sent back, and I got the impression of another powerful lightning bolt discharging. They had to go all out with their tattoos, but they held pretty well. Just don’t expect them to fight again right away.

  That’s great news, I thought back. Let me check on the rest of the army and we’ll go from there.

  I reached into my battlelink and found that the Woadlands tribes had done perfectly well without my leadership. Apparently the loss of an eighteen-year-old commander didn’t count for much with a group of seasoned chieftains, especially since my battlelink had let them coordinate with each other with the same ease it had given me. There had been a few casualties, mostly due to the lightning from the hailstorm and the javelins from the larger yetis, but by and large the battle went perfectly. The people of the Woadlands could finally focus on one problem at a time. They made full use of that fact to throw the hammer down on Fuar’s weakest link, an unfinished ice palace she had thought to still be a well-kept secret.

  That kind of battle was supposed to be a rout, but I could tell that the army enjoyed the victory nonetheless. Wild cheers ran all the way through the battlelink, along with the chants of ‘Challenger! Challenger!’ or ‘Malcolm! Malcolm!’

  For a moment the praise almost went to my head. I shook to remind myself that this was only the first stage of the attack.

  I let the chieftains secure the area while I went back inside the palace. By now I found that my team had returned, and the unconscious ice fey nobles had all been bound with manacles created by Karim’s script magic. We dragged their bodies into the interior so that we could study the inside and enact the second stage of the plan.

  You’re sure this will work? I asked Teeth.

  Yeah, he responded confidently. Especially since we have four bodies to work with.

  If you’re wrong…

  Then you just do what you were planning earlier and wage a slow, careful war, knocking down the Tumult palace by palace.

  Ugh, fine, I thought, turning my attention over to Breena, who was still examining the crystal floating in the middle of the room.

  “Should I assume that gem is the power source for this place?”

  “Pretty much,” the fairy said as Karim came over and helped examine the structure. “That’s the problem with using magic to just whip a building together in a short period of time. They can be destroyed just as quickly, as long as you know their weak point. Like this, for example.” She pointed to the floating crystal, her eyes hardening. “There’s a person in there, in suspended animation. They’re being slowly drained of heat, and their loss of heat is what’s powering the creation of this palace. The palace itself is doing a similar thing to the land itself, which is increasing the strength of the Hoarfolk and their Dark Icon.”

  “Why does it feel like every one of our enemies gets ahead by turning another person into a prisoner, fuel, or resource?”

  “That’s just how monsters like to build their empires.” Breena shrugged. “Does it work differently on Earth?”

  Silence.

  “No,” I finally said, wincing as I thought about just how many empires on my planet had sprung up through variations of that same idea. “Can we still save this person?”

  “Yes.” Breena nodded firmly, flying around the crystal as if she was looking for a weak point. “That’s a thing almost every monster in the Expanse realizes. Your slaves stop being useful after they die.” Breena looked outside. “They are pushing this one to their limit, though,” she added worriedly. “We should hurry up and get them out.”

  “Go for it,” I replied, and Breena began pointing to spots on the crystal for Karim to write script over. I turned my attention to the unconscious bodies on the floor. “I’m going to work on phase two.”

  “Um, good luck,” Breena said awkwardly, sparing a glance in my direction. “Be careful.”

  “Aye,” Merada agreed as she stepped over. “I’ll watch him.”

  “Me too,” Val volunteered, opening her backpack to let Ball-ee peek out. As far as I knew, the other two new Ball-ees were currently working with the healers in my army. But the primary Ball-ee had insisted on staying close to my team. The little jelly was peeking out at me from Val’s pack.

  “Di-rec-tive?” it asked, cocking its head-appendage at me.

  “Help the person inside the crystal recover when he or she gets out. Do the same for any other prisoners here. And, uh, keep me alive if I do something stupid.”

  “Di-rec-tive!” The little jelly nodded confidently.

  I turned one final look at the dark blue portal still sparkling next to the crystal.

  “That should hold, too,” Breena said without looking. “For now, at least. That kind of spell can be paused before it’s finished casting.”

  “Can anything come through it yet?” I asked carefully.

  “No, and it’s just a one-way portal anyway. They can’t pull reinforcements here until the palace is finished.”

  “We’ll watch it anyway, just in case,” Eadric said as he and Weylin walked in front of it. “Go ahead and get to work, Lord Challenger.”

  I knelt down the first unconscious body, the knight I had battled before, and had Teeth help me cast Vein to Vein.

  Blood was a far more feared Ideal than the Foundational or Connecting Ideals. It wasn’t that it was a more powerful Ideal, not exactly. A Master of one of the four Foundational Ideals could do things blood magic just couldn’t, such as napalm an entire city with Fire, reposition one of the global jet streams with Air, reconstruct that napalmed city with Earth, and cause or stop a tsunami with Water. Blood magic couldn’t do any of those things on its own, and it didn’t need to for people to fear it.

  Because it could save or end lives far more subtly, and in some ways far more easily, than any of the Foundational Ideals. An experienced Blood mage could walk into a room of sick people and immediately both reinforce their vital guards and reconfigure their bodies so that they could recover and never get that same sickness again. That
same Blood mage could walk into a room of healthy people and suck their vital guards completely dry while imparting a blood-based sickness that they’d probably never recover from. It took time to reach that level of power, but the reality was that a Blood mage could do either of those things far more subtly than an equally powerful mage versed in destruction or healing magic. Partially because of that, it also had a number of abilities at the more basic levels that even scholars didn’t know about.

  For instance, at the Journeyman level, it could borrow memories and magic.

  And although my Blood magic had lagged behind the rest of my Ideal magics, the last Rises had been more than enough to push it into that rank.

  I knelt next to the first Hoarfolk and cast Vein to Vein, letting its Journeyman signature power take from the knight’s mind, consuming part of the monster’s brain in the process.

  Before I broke out of the dungeon, this act would have horrified me. It gave me all sorts of ‘evil necromancer’ vibes. Now, though, I realized that I was going to have to kill these fey anyway. Letting them die painlessly in their sleep, and in a way that would help me save hundreds of thousands of lives, was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up in good conscience.

  The fey’s brain matter passed into me, and I found I couldn’t take most of it. A lot of the Hoarfolk’s nature was just too alien to me, and the information passed by in a confused jumble. I did learn a few useful tricks, mostly about combat. I wouldn’t be able to keep the memory of his specific techniques but interacting with them still let me refine my overall swordsmanship, even though I eventually would forget the cause for it.

  More importantly, however, I was able to glean what he knew about the rest of the Tumult. Locations of the other ice palaces, numbers of troops, names and faces of higher-ranking Hoarfolk nobles. That was about all I got from him before his mind went silent.

  Grimacing but determined, I moved on to the next one, the one I had knocked out inside the palace. This one had more memories to him, whether because he was more trusted or just older, I didn’t know. But in addition to refining my Water and Air magic slightly I was able to get a much better idea of how many total Hoarfolk warriors I was dealing with. The knowledge made me happy, because I was able to confirm that the army wiped out here was a noticeable percentage of their overall force.

  Even more importantly, I learned the portal spell he was trying to cast.

  That almost made this next phase a success then and there, but the truth was that this particular Hoarfolk wasn’t able to cast the spell on his own, which meant he had to borrow power from the slave in the crystal to complete the ritual.

  That was something I still had a problem with. I’d kill an enemy combatant to save my own people’s lives, but if I had to start killing some of the people I needed to save things would get awful and confusing very, very quickly. I moved on to the next wizard, the one Val and Eadric had knocked out. This one had much of the same information, and wasn’t much more proficient in magic than the other guy had been. That left the senior mage, the one Breena had somehow managed to knock out, instead of char to a crisp, with her massive lightning bolt.

  This one’s mind was much more difficult to take in. He was further along than the other three in all areas: age, intellect, and overall knowledge. If I hadn’t started with the three easier leaders, I wouldn’t have been able to grasp this last guy at all. As it was, though, I was able to learn the name and faces of the Hoarfolk inner court, the precise location of said court in the Woadlands, and—best of all—the procedure to cast the teleportation spell without sucking the life out of an innocent bystander.

  That was all I got out of him before I destroyed his mind. Well, almost everything. I did get images of him performing all sorts of horrible torture on captured Woadfolk and elves, so good riddance to the bastard. I stood up and looked over just in time to see the crystal cracking apart under Breena and Karim’s careful use of magic. As the crystal shattered a shivering elven woman fell to the floor. Merada caught the woman before she could land and wrapped her with a cloak, whispering gently to her as Ball-ee hopped over and began releasing a warm, soothing vapor all over the place.

  A few moments later, cracks appeared all over the unfinished walls, and chunks of ice fell from the half-finished roof. Light shone through the windows as the clouds overhead dissipated.

  “Do we need to evacuate?” I asked, looking around worriedly. Breena shook her head.

  “The ice over our heads is thin. Most of it will evaporate before it even hits the floor. See?” She tilted her head upward as the ceiling hissed from the sun’s heat.

  “Let’s have someone come help us check for the prisoners,” I said next. “Phase two was a success, by the way.”

  “Really?” Breena asked. “You got the location of their court?”

  “And the means to strike there immediately.” I nodded. “I can only bring a small force, though.”

  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Wes,” my fairy adviser cautioned. “The source of a Tumult isn’t as easy to deal with as the source of a Trial. And even then, we were pretty lucky last time. If you had a dozen more Rises I wouldn’t worry so much. I’m serious, Wes,” Breena added worriedly. “This isn’t going to go like the fight with Raw-Maw went. Even if the Dark Icon stays out of it this time.”

  Avalon, I sent. Status report.

  Status is ready, the planetary computer replied. Shelter is standing by for final phase of the Challenger’s plan.

  “It’s okay, we won’t be alone,” I said carefully. “I’ll be able to open up another front as soon as I get there.”

  “You sure?” Breena asked suspiciously. More ice cracked and evaporated over our heads. “What do you have planned, Wes?”

  “Avalon showed me a new way to draw in power,” I replied, trying to tell her just enough so that she wouldn’t yell at me later. “I’ll be able to bring in all kinds of help after I get there. I know it’s risky, but,” I added quickly, as she started to summon her ‘mad Breena’ face, “I just saw inside these guys’ heads. According to what Avalon’s telling me, we should be able to handle the risk.”

  “Wes, I’m not sure we even have to take this risk,” Breena cautioned. “Now that we’ve won here, we can just draw this Tumult out the normal way. I can help you get stronger, and the Icons can help us coordinate the overall war. If we can advance to destroy enough of these palaces, we might even be able to let the Icons finish off the White Witch directly.”

  “That all sounds really smart,” I admitted, “except for one thing. In the weeks we’ve spent here so far, how many new Challenges have cropped up in the other five worlds? How much time has passed in those places? Have Rhodes’ people managed to create more Trials and Tumults? Are they already influencing existing ones? How much are they Descending, by causing all of this devastation? And, is there a way they can find themselves back on this world? What trouble would they cause here while we’re dealing with the Hoarfolk invasion?”

  Stell had obstructed some of their portals, but if we could find Pathways and new routes, so could they. Breena blew out air in frustration.

  “Knit and darnit, Wes,” she swore fairy-style. “I hate it when you’re right. Okay, let’s go over exactly what you’re planning. So that we have enough time to be mad about it.”

  “Hear, hear,” all three Testifiers said in agreement.

  Grieved and wronged, I laid out my master plan…

  CHAPTER TWENTY: WOAD CHILDREN

  The spell wiped from my mind as I completed it. The shimmering blue circle widened and stabilized, just big enough for me to walk through.

  Just so you know, Breena sent me. I still hate this plan and so does everyone else. If this works, you’re helping Guineve make every single one of us ice cream. With sprinkles, she added firmly.

  Everyone of us as just you guys? I asked. Or you guys plus the Gaelguard, or you guys plus the entire—

  No more clarifying! she sent firmly. Now go through
your stupid portal and don’t die!

  I earned that, honestly. I’d have been super mad too if I was her. I took a deep breath, checked to make sure all my spells and gear were still ready, and then stepped through the swirling dark blue disk.

  It was like stepping through frigid ice water, even with my environmental spells and my innate resistance to cold. I had just enough time to shiver, and then I was suddenly through the other side.

  The first things I saw were shadow and blue fire.

  The heatless blue light gave just enough illumination to show me a world of blue ice and snowy marble. Tiles of rock-hard snow flecked with some kind of blue crystal ran under my feet. Long, fluted pillars gilded the walls, decked with more torches of blue fire. Hanging high over my head were chandeliers lit with the same heatless flame, though I could see neither the ceiling nor the chains they hung from.

  Between the pillars, lining all about the shadowy room, was the royal court of the Hoarfolk. Here and there massive yeti-men stood armored in plates of ice and carrying large glaives made of similar material. Behind them, some distance away, were small throngs of Hoarfolk nobles much like the ones I had killed earlier, only these looked to be dressed in formal-ball wear, without armor or magic robes.

  Apparently they had not been expecting company. White-haired heads turned as I landed on the ground. Some looked at me in curious surprise, while others looked annoyed at the interruption, despite the fact that they were already just standing around in a circle anyway. A quick look to my left answered my question.

  I had landed just next to their source of entertainment. Locked inside a giant, clear crystal were several small children of different ages, genders, and races, the youngest being a dark-haired human girl no older than five, and the oldest being a red-haired elven boy no older than ten. They wore clean, but thin rags, and they were all shivering as they looked at me with terrified eyes.