"You could even do it instead."
Turning her head as she tried to keep her attention ahead of them just in case there might be enemy troops ahead of them, Megan replied, "Shh, you know that I am supposed to be playing at being just an average servant girl, Holdy. Keep your voice down in case we run into one of the servants or one of Amelyer's men.
"Not only do I want to keep what I can do secret for the mission, if it got out that I never told Amelyer what I can do the other soldiers might consider me a traitor."
Torva stated calmly, "Whether you can use magic or not you have already helped the general. It is a bigger concern that Echolus or one of those following him might find out that you helped Amelyer with magic. How are you going to hide this from the grand master?"
"I'll keep making it look like I am going to the spire at least until we can leave Ensolus for good. I've already withdrawn my savings from the bank in gold and silver. I bought a few gems from the merchants as well, just in case.
"I can be ready to leave in minutes, if it comes to that."
"My mother and uncle have done some of that as well," Holdy put in even if the conversation seemed more between his elders. "You are sure that there will be a place for them, if I bring them by portal?"
Torva answered instead, "I have talked with Master Lesolas. They are among those from the human quarter that he hopes will help Sanctuary become a self sufficient town as well."
"Are there elves without magic on that list?" Megan questioned.
"I don't know the extent of invitations given by Lesolas and the others, though I would assume so. There are elven apprentices who asked to save their families like Holdy. I am sure that they will bring as many as they can, even if they hope to make sure that everyone can contribute. Food and other stores have slowly been brought over to get Sanctuary through the first months. Winter won't let us grow any crops too soon.
"I have heard that there are even men being sent out to the farms south of the city for animals as well. There will be new farms at Sanctuary since Lesolas and the others took my advice. We will need a town and farms to support the school or we'll starve," he finished with a chuckle. It should have been obvious when the wizards had come up with the idea of escaping Ensolus, but they had thought of magic and forgotten the basics of living at first.
Holdy brought up a second evacuation plan as he said, "The tunnel is nearly finished. I hope that the eastern forts will be able to take in the refugees."
Trying to ease the boy's worries, Megan answered, "Those who leave will be fine, I am sure. It is safer to leave this cold cave than stay for those who are human and elf."
"Do you think Echolus will see the problem or do you think that he believes he can conquer the orcs and creatures of the west?" Torva questioned thinking of the group of humans and elves that were not looking to leave Ensolus. It was still believed that the grand master planned to become emperor, even if he had been less obvious in his schemes to do so.
"I..." Megan began but a sudden noise ahead of them made the young woman stop and listen. Her eyes stared at the hallway ahead of them and the passage crossing their path up ahead. The three were only a few feet from it when they spied the cause for the noise.
An orc soldier stepped from the hall to the right and, as more followed the creature, his head turned to see the three walking towards them. The wizards' feet stopped as the orc called out something in the guttural speech of the orcs that many of their race still practiced in the western part of the city. Megan didn't know many of the words, but the accusation in the word 'elves' didn't have to be translated as more of their kind hurried making even more noise as they poured into the supposedly safe hallway.
Torva cursed and the wizard hunter stepped between Megan and the growing number of orcs. "Stay behind me," the hunter ordered even as Megan felt his power grow quickly. Torva had worked with orcs for years and even learned much of their words. He knew what they had said and the disgust the creature had for elves. The conflict between Amelyer and Corven had brought the ancient hatred for the other races back from their past when Kolban's orcs had fought to defeat and enslave the elves. His empire had been built upon their ancestors' promise of allegiance after being threatened by his expanding forces. Few remembered that part of their history. Torva was from an old, royal family. They had served the emperor faithfully, but he had been reminded by his teachers as a child that the elves had once been a free people.
Without the power of the emperor to bind them together, orc turned against elf. Man would fight troll and goblin alike while the remaining beast races might rebel against them all. The empire was beyond fraying, and as the band of orcs brandished their weapons; the wizard hunter knew that their greatest enemy was not Southwall or its allies, but their old hatred of each other.
Chapter 27- Shadow Fighting
Words of power were uttered by Torva and darkness began to spread from his feet along the floor. He hadn't brought any weapons to the room in order to keep the wariness of Amelyer's guards from turning to suspicion of an assassin. Now the wizard hunter was left only his bare hands and his magic. The second was a formidable power, however, and Torva's fingers spread outward towards the orcs. Black strands separated and writhed as they lifted from the floor like shadowy serpents.
Some of the orcs stalled in surprise at his magic, but others charged the warlock hoping that the armor they wore would protect them long enough to get to the wizard to club him or skewer him with their blades. He had heard their threats in Orcish and knew that he couldn't hold back or the three of them would join the others killed recently within the Emperor's Spire.
Megan dropped back pulling Holdy with her. While she felt fear, the woman also felt comfort in Torva. He was a powerful warlock and he loved her. Surely his power could destroy a small army of orcs that had no magic to protect them; or so her heart told her.
The first of the orcs slashed at the shadows while Torva manipulated the snakes like a puppet master. Swords slashed through shadows, but the serpents didn't fall apart as they struck the creatures. Armored chests were pressed back, but the metal was strong and took the damage without letting the wearers come to harm. The power of the shadows was enough to drive the orcs back a step or two, but they recovered to fight against them with their physical weapons once more.
More orcs poured into the hallway and sought to get around the shadow magic of Torva.
He was a talented warlock and his use of the darker spells had led him from the elements to magic which fed on wizards' spells. These orcs couldn't use magic, but they were strong and all wore armor. In the confines of the hallway, he couldn't let loose as much as he might wish.
Another problem made its self known to him as Torva manipulated his shadows, the amount of energy used up by helping Holdy hold the gates hadn't been fully restored. He could already feel a slight emptiness in his stomach that food couldn't completely fill. The food he had eaten in the general's rooms had helped, but it couldn't recover all that he had lost in such a short time.
A second problem surprised the three from behind.
Coming from the same direction, the hallway behind them suddenly spilled out several more of Corven's men. Megan felt arms like iron suddenly grab her from behind. One encircled her neck, while the other looped beneath her arm across her chest to help hold the wizard in a tight embrace that threatened to snap her neck or crush her chest depending on how the orc might shift his grip.
"Stop or she dies!" the raspy voice of her assailant ordered Torva as he pulled her to the side. Torva couldn't remove his attention from the orcs in front of him or they would easily take him down. His shadows continued to do their best to fend off the orcs ahead of them. The hunter didn't dare look as Megan and her attacker though it pained him to ignore the danger. He could only hope that the young woman would be able to protect herself or perhaps Holdy might save her instead. To stop his fight and follow the order wasn't even a consideration since the wizards knew that to stop meant
that they would all surely die as well.
Murmuring a spell hidden by the noise of the fighting and shouts from the orcs, Megan touched a hand to each of the orc's arms. It screamed out incoherently and the girl felt it release her as the sting of cold became unbearable to the creature. Ice crystals could be seen expanding from the place her fingers had pressed against his skin. The wizard's spell was enough to flash freeze much of its forearms, but they could still move freely.
The young woman slapped at the orc catching one of its arms where it had frozen causing frozen skin to break free to fall from the orc. Its new screams held even more agony than the first and made its fellows balk in surprise. Stopping in their tracks proved fatal for more of them as Holdy waved his right hand towards them. Wall stones responded to the apprentice's spell sliding from the right to slam into the opposite wall with three of the orcs caught between. The force was such that only the red ooze of blood spraying from the edges of the freed stone reminded them of those pressed between the moving rock and the stone wall.
Though he felt the vibration in the floor from the power of Holdy's spell, Torva was forced to nearly ignore what went on behind him. The wizard hunter released the power of the shadows without mercy, since he knew that his enemy would give him none. Serpents struck armor pushing the orcs back. Knocked off balance, the hunter skewered an orc's arm expanding the darkness horizontally severing the limb. The clang of its sword hitting the floor was nearly drowned out by the creature's screams. Another tendril became a hardened spear that shot upward through the soft skin of the upper neck ending its life as the shadow continued through the brain.
Dropping the second victim, the serpents drove the remainder of the orcs back instilling fear in the beasts, which had no idea of what to do in the face of his magic.
Behind Torva, Holdy continued to wield the stone as the wall broke up into smaller pieces that were thrown at the other orcs beyond the first victims' remains, while Megan wondered if she should do more. The teacher watched her student act and wondered if the time for hiding her true self was over now.
"This way! Come on, you two," Torva ordered as the other orcs fell back from his magic.
Pushing the attackers back, the warlock's mastery of his spell turned the tables on his enemies. Megan pulled Holdy by his sleeve even as the boy released his hold on the stones letting them drop to the floor shaking it with vibrations that they could feel through the stone beneath their feet as the three hurried along the path Megan had been taking them before the ambush.
A roar as a troll leaped from the hall that the orcs had come from surprised Torva. The warlock barely had the time to pull the shadows around him like armor. Momentum and the beast's power drove the man into the wall as it cut off his path. Falling to one knee as the man reeled from the assault, Torva barely kept his wits about him. His magic protected him with the shadows forming a buffer between the hunter and the troll. It swung a beefy arm and the warlock raised his hands to intercept the swing pushing it back with his summoned shadows.
Again Holdy called on the stone of the spire to attack the troll as well. A block from the ceiling struck the creature a powerful blow on its thick skull dazing the monster and halting its attack giving Torva a moment to recover.
Surprising the orcs, Megannah chilled the air in an instant creating spikes of ice. Wind drove the projectiles making the fragile ice into deadly weapons. Orcs fell and even the troll's thick hide took deep wounds in its side and arm. The ice broke outside the wounds, but most left two to three inches of frozen water inside adding frost damage to the pain.
Holdy moved another wall blocking off the remaining orcs behind them where the creatures were readying for a counter attack. Walled off, the wizards concentrated on the remaining orcs and troll in front of them.
As the troll's senses recovered from the block of stone to the head, its wounds began to register making the beast howl. Unlike many of its brethren, this creature was more of a bully than a true soldier. When its strength and size had failed it, the troll's morale broke causing the beast to back away down the hall from which it had come. Arms raised before it in case it should be attacked again, the troll retreated leaving the orcs to fend for themselves.
Torva was quick to take advantage of their comrade's weakness and the shadow serpents struck the remaining orcs as one. Like the troll, those which didn't fall retreated after the fleeing giant.
Breathing hard, the wizard hunter waved the other two ahead of him. "Come on. Let's get out of here before more come to take a shot at the elves and wizards."
The three hurried to the next stairwell and descended to the next floor. Only a single stairway remained between them and the base floor where they would find the front doors. Freedom was so close, but the wizards discovered that Amelyer's soldiers weren't as in control as they had hoped.
Dead soldiers wearing both the red and the dark brown of the two generals could be seen lying in the corridor. With them were several servants who had been caught in the crossfire of the enemy soldiers.
"It's getting worse fast," Megan said quietly as they warily advanced along the blood slickened floor.
Torva nodded. "If Amelyer's troops don't work their way out of the spire and city, it will be a full war within a week, I'd say. Rorsted warned us that the creatures from the west side of the city have been pushing out from their usual confines also. Likely they are following General Corven, which means that as a half orc he can add more numbers to his army.
"Head to head, Amelyer and Corven's armies would be evenly matched; but with the west added to them the elves and humans will be outnumbered drastically."
"The orcs from the military zone have been attacking the human quarter also," Holdy reminded them. "If they are also acting out as a distraction for the general, he might have even more."
Megannah added with a frown, "I don't understand why Echolus and Zarl haven't chosen a side. Do they plan to follow whoever wins out or do they think that our magic will be enough to subdue so many? Neither have the power of the emperor to dominate as many of these monsters as they would need to and without General Amelyer as an ally I can't see how they might hope to take the spire or city for their selves."
Noise of more fighting came from down the hall and Holdy finally asked, "Perhaps we should just open another gate to the school?"
Torva sighed and feared that the apprentice was right. They had done what they could to hide Megan's abilities as well as why Holdy had been brought into the spire. With so many enemies, the wizard hunter was worried that he wouldn't be able to keep the other two safe just by himself. Thinking of the troll and additional forces hitting them from both sides, he realized that it had already been proven true since Megan and Holdy had fought to save him and their lives during that fight.
"Do it, Holdy," the hunter nodded.
"Hold on," Megan interjected before the boy could try to cast his spell. "Don't bring us to the school. I would like to see this tunnel you hid from us. Maybe seeing it will give us a better idea of how to help Colonel Jeris with his plans. Take us there first."
Looking a bit uncertain about the idea, Holdy still did as his teacher ordered. A golden rectangle appeared in the air letting Megan and Torva disappear from the hall only a moment before the caster of the gate followed suit.
The three wizards stepped into a dimly lit room. Even though it was morning and the sun shone outside, the light was from the east and the house was in a corner of the cave city that would only receive the faint reflection where it was hidden in the southeastern corner.
Torva entered and immediately felt something that was familiar yet it shouldn't be here, or so he thought.
Noticing his shoulders tense and his posture take on the readiness of a fighter preparing to defend himself from a foe, Megan quickly glanced around looking for trouble. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, the girl whispered, "What is it, Torva?"
"Someone's used magic here recently."
Holdy shook his head w
anting to shrug the worry off as the boy stated, "We've been using magic to create the tunnel. That is probably what you are feeling."
"No, it is more recent than that. I can feel the magic you and your friends used in that direction," he said pointing towards an open door that led to a bedroom. It was the room which backed against the cave wall and was the inner opening to the tunnel the apprentices had made. "I know this magic as well. It was where the princess was taken, so we can expect another fight."
Shaking her head in confusion, Megan didn't dispute his senses. Torva was a wizard hunter and one of those whose sensitivity to magic made him great at his job. The use of a wizard's magic or the lingering feel of a recently cast spell could draw the hunter to his prey. Few warlocks had the instincts of Torva and only the secret way of internalizing magic that Megan had used to evade notice in the spire could hope to fool someone like him.
"Does that mean Southwall has come back?"
Holdy moved his fingers casting a quick observation spell. Touching his hands to either side of his head activated the magic letting the boy see magic much easier than his natural senses might, if they could even catch any sign of this at all.
Frowning at what he saw, the boy said quietly, "I know this magic too. It's..."
Footsteps from the bedroom came sounding light but quick until a girl with reddish blonde hair pulled up short as she stopped in the doorway spotting the three outside. Holdy knew this girl as well, but she was under a disguise created by a magic spell.
"Warwitch Oween?" Holdy cried out in surprise.
The girl looked too young to have earned the title of warwitch and she had even been a teacher before being sent to Litsarin and the war going on there. Her apparent physical age confused the other two wizards, but Megannah blurted, "That's Oween?"
It hadn't been that long since the warwitch had left for the war and both women knew each other from their time in the school. Megan even knew Oween from her days as an apprentice, though the other woman had been a few years older than her and been promoted before her accordingly.
Battle Mage Broken Empire (Tales of Alus Book 14) Page 36
