by B. T. Narro
They’ll all be killed. She was overcome by panic as she tried to figure out what to do.
She kept her back flat against the tree, facing toward the rest of the forest and away from the army as she took a few deep breaths in hopes of calming down.
She thought she felt something. Someone was nearby, cloaked with invisibility.
It was Valinox. He had seen her spying, and now he was coming to grab her. He would probably have her killed.
There was no point in running. All she could do was try to come up with a lie.
He was close now. She could see the invisible silhouette walking right up to her.
“Meet me fifty yards west,” whispered a woman with a strained voice.
She gasped. It wasn’t Valinox.
Eden nodded stiffly, her breath stolen from fear. She felt the invisible woman moving off, and Eden soon lost sight of her.
Eden inhaled deeply as she realized who the voice must belong to. She checked her surroundings, then watched the forest floor as she moved as swiftly as she could. She stepped in between traps and over a tight string. Eventually she was in the clear with many trees between her and the encampment.
She looked around for Eslenda. The elf suddenly appeared about ten yards away. She motioned for Eden to come to her.
Wait. Eden didn’t move. Hadn’t Eslenda visited the king since Eden’s betrayal? She must know the truth about Eden. She looked the other way as she considered making a run for it.
But if she ran, that would mean leaving the king’s sorcerers to fend for themselves. She was not going to let that happen.
She found her courage and walked the rest of the way to Eslenda. The elf had on a thick tunic, black, with the hood down. She showed Eden a disapproving look.
“Explain yourself, traitor,” Eslenda demanded. “Why are you spying on this group?”
“Valinox knows I’ve turned against him. He left me near Gourfist. He expected me to die.” She spoke confidently. “I made it back on my own thanks to this.” She held up the Induct stone.
Eslenda took it from her hand. The elf looked around quickly for anyone watching, then peered closely at it. She motioned like she was going to toss it away.
“Don’t, you stupid elf!” Eden grabbed her arm.
Eslenda already had a disapproving look, but now the lines on her face deepened even more. She handed back the Induct stone.
“Your mind has been warped by dteria.”
It was true. Anger had taken control of Eden’s actions when she thought the elf would take away her stone. Even though she could never win a fight against the elf, she had been ready to hurt Eslenda if she’d thrown the stone away. Eden hadn’t realized until then just how strong her instinct was to protect the stone. Now she couldn’t imagine parting with it.
“My mind may be warped,” Eden said. “But I plan to use everything I’ve got to help the sorcerers, and I think you’ve figured this out. That’s why you haven’t killed me already.”
“No, I haven’t killed you because you would make noise, dark mage.”
It tore at Eden’s heart to hear her entire identity summed up with those two words. “I’m not like the others with Valinox. I’ve only been using dteria for a little while. I was scared when Valinox approached me long ago and convinced me to help him. I didn’t know there would be so much strife. I didn’t know there would be so much death. I want to make up for the damage I’ve caused. If you don’t let me help today, all of the king’s sorcerers might be killed. They are coming to rescue those who were captured. You must know that, don’t you?”
“I have assumed such, yes. I wait for their strike. It’s you that causes me indecision. Tell me something, dark mage. Can you feel Valinox’s enchantment like I can?”
“Yes, but it’s not like yours. I have to be closer to feel his.”
“His enchantment is very strong. What does he have with him, do you know?”
“A gem from Nijja herself. It maintains his invisibility for him.”
“Did you see him get this from Nijja?”
“I did.”
The elf muttered something in her language. She looked off toward the encampment, not that she could see anything from here.
“You were with this group. You pointed at me for them,” Eslenda accused. “They shot at me.”
“I’m sorry for that.”
“They missed. Was it on purpose?”
“Yes, they wanted you to tell the king so that he would send an army into the forest and they could be killed. They planned to take Koluk after. Did the king ever send in men?”
“No. He figured out the trap. Are there other enchanters in their group who can detect me?”
“No.”
“Fine. I have decided I will allow you to fight with me. We will strike together. What weapons do you have?”
“Um.” Eden was pleased but a bit surprised. “I don’t have any weapons.” She thought about maybe going back into the forest to look for another cantar, but the many traps were likely to disable the beast before it got through to Rohaer’s troops.
Eslenda looked into Eden’s eyes for a short while before she bent down behind a nearby tree and brushed away a pile of leaves. There was a bow, a quiver with arrows, a sword, and a dagger.
“Choose your weapon,” Eslenda said.
Eden swallowed past the lump in her throat as she bent down and picked up the dagger. She figured it wouldn’t be long now before the fighting started. She didn’t feel ready. She had never fought against anyone or anything before, and this would be a battle.
“Explain something, dark mage,” Eslenda said as she pointed in the direction of the encampment. “That group is vulnerable, even with their traps. What am I missing? I have only counted a hundred of them. How can a group that small be confident that they could defeat an army sent after them by the king?”
“A difference in numbers wouldn’t matter because they are prepared. They are some of the most powerful sorcerers Rohaer has to offer. The only thing that threatens them is a massive force. But given such an occurrence, the group would just retreat deeper into the forest. They’re ready to outlast anyone pursuing them. They have two water mages for thirst and hygiene, and a fire mage for fire. They have a ranger for hunting. They have fifty strong dteria mages who can stop arrows for the rest of their group, and they have many skilled archers. Valinox wanted my help because there aren’t many enchanters in Rohaer. One might think that a counter to their small army would be charging horses catching them off guard, but dark mages have an easy time against such a strategy. They are all strong enough to knock over a horse and its rider. They are ready for anything. They have been for a long time now.”
“What about Valinox? Is he still afraid of killing?”
Eden shuddered as she remembered the gruesome scene he had left behind in Fyrren.
“I wouldn’t say he’s afraid of killing. He’s only a little scared of Gourfist, but that seems to be diminishing quickly.”
“Quiet!” Eslenda held up her hand. “It’s beginning.”
There were voices in the distance, aggression in the air.
Eden watched Valinox land in the middle of the encampment. “They’re coming,” he announced. “There are a hundred archers with them. No matching colors or symbols. Endell?”
“A hundred? Are you sure?”
“I said there are hundred, so there are a hundred! You said the troops sent by the king are still far away, so who are these archers?”
“I have no idea. When will they arrive?”
“Soon. What is your plan now?”
“It depends on how many are sorcerers.”
“There’s no way to know without getting closer, which I will not do until it’s time. Souriff and the king’s sorcerers are leading them. I agreed to help you kill Whitley Yorn, and you didn’t follow through with your promise to kill Jon Oklar. Now you claim you have no plan when you told me that you are the best military strategist in Lycast. Did you li
e to me or are you just stupid?”
“They will lose, demigod.” He turned and announced to the listening army, “They have not given into our demands and have found reinforcements somehow. Kill the prisoners and prepare for combat.”
“Come on!” Eden told Eslenda as she darted around the trees, jumping over bear traps and strings. She didn’t know if the elf was behind her. There was no time to check. Charlie was screaming in horror as an archer took aim at his chest. He was so far away!
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“Did you hear that?” I asked Souriff after faintly hearing Charlie’s distant scream for help. “They’re killing them now! Take me into the forest this instant!”
“You and I will be destroyed by arrows, Jon,” she answered way too calmly.
“Just drop me from high up if you are afraid! Right now, demigod!” I jumped on her back.
“Fine. Hold on.”
We lurched into the air and it felt like my stomach swallowed my organs. Narrowly avoiding tree limbs, we burst through the canopy of the forest at lightning speed. Souriff started to descend shortly after, taking us back down toward the treetops. I could see nothing below them, everything a blur.
Souriff dipped suddenly as something whooshed over our heads. It had to be Valinox. He no doubt had tried to collide with us in the air. I was glad Souriff had felt him coming, because I’d had no idea.
All of our previous planning was worthless now. We had come up with many strategies to tackle the unknowns that awaited us, but I could hear my peers screaming their throats raw. They needed to be saved. Now.
We broke through the forest canopy.
“There, above!” shouted our enemies as they pointed at us, so many of them with bows. I could tell they had been waiting for us to come through the treetops by how many were already looking up.
I clung to Souriff tightly and tried to make myself small as arrows flew past us. It was only because of Charlie’s screams that I was able to immediately locate him tied to a tree a ways off. I was closer to Michael’s metal cage, but I figured I wouldn’t have any way of getting him out without Charlie. Then I located Aliana and Reuben, my four peers at opposite corners of the large encampment, a number of tents and campfires in the mix.
“Drop now or never,” Souriff said. “I’m flying away.”
I didn’t know if that meant she was retreating or landing elsewhere, but I knew what I had to do. I let go of her back and started to fall.
An arrow flew right in front of my face, nearly breaking my concentration as I made a flat sheet of dvinia sloped beneath my feet. Falling fast, I struck my energy with my feet. I guided it in Charlie’s direction, using the momentum of my fall to propel my body like I was sliding down through the sky. I fell back against the energy as I pushed it toward Charlie with my mind and stretched it to cover my back. I might’ve felt like I was on a large and fast swing if I hadn’t been the one controlling it.
I changed my trajectory in the air as more arrows missed around me. Soon I was practically flying horizontal. I was going too fast to keep track of Charlie as I avoided smacking into a tree with a sudden lurch to the side.
I didn’t know how to stop or if I’d already passed Charlie. It was hard enough to avoid the trees without looking around. I flew out of the encampment, losing control of my momentum but refusing to let myself drop, for I had a plan. The strain on my mind was immense, but I had built up my stamina just for moments like this.
Still sitting on my curved slab of dvinia, I turned in the air and flew back the way I’d come. Zipping into the encampment faster than I could sprint, I didn’t bother changing course as I flew feet-first into an archer trying to load another arrow for me. His eyes bulged with surprise as I kicked him in the chest.
It slowed me enough to let my energy disperse as I landed. I looked in the direction where Charlie had been, but there was just a pile of ropes in front of his tree. I scanned the encampment I was running into as I made a shield of dvinia to block two arrows.
Souriff was not here with me, and I didn’t see or feel Valinox nearby, either. I had the attention of the entire enemy army, but I was still on the outskirts of their encampment. Most of them were more than twenty yards away.
There were maybe a dozen archers continuously firing at me. I blocked their arrows with dvinia, but I couldn’t hope to keep this up for too long and still be useful by the time the rest of my allies arrived.
I ran for cover behind a nearby tree, but I stepped in a bear trap I hadn’t seen.
I screamed as I fell over. I was quick to pry it off. I tossed it aside and healed my ankle first, then my bloody fingers. I was as quick as possible, but I couldn’t stop thinking that my peers were probably being killed right now.
I rushed out, already feeling the fatigue, as I held up another barrier of dvinia. I spotted Charlie, finally, and I was surprised to see the company he was in. Eden and Eslenda led him around the edges of the encampment, the girl and the elf blowing back enemies with dteria and wind.
“Shoot the metal mage!” Endell was screaming from the center of the encampment.
The archers turned away from me and focused on Charlie. They were set up in one large group at the center of the encampment, guarded by sorcerers in black robes I assumed to be dark mages. Their commander stood in their midst, the most protected out of everyone.
Eden and Eslenda sprinted with Charlie, Eden practically dragging him by his hand. Eslenda turned her attention toward the archers and brushed her hand across the air. A wall of water stopped six arrows in their tracks.
They were making their way toward Michael. He was the first of two others, Reuben and Aliana, who were positioned far from each other. Michael and Reuben were both bloody but still standing. Michael had clearly blown back someone who had managed to stab him a few times. Reuben was still fighting with a swordsman, dancing around his small cage and grabbing the blade with his hands to keep from being impaled. He also had an arrow sticking out of his ass.
Then I located Aliana. She was lying on the floor of her cage and wasn’t moving.
“Shit!” I yelled as I made a run for her, going around the encampment the opposite way that Charlie and the others were headed. I didn’t notice any arrows in Aliana, but her clothes were red with blood. She had most likely been stabbed like Michael and Reuben, but she hadn’t been able to avoid the blade as well.
A woman with a confident expression rushed in front of me, blocking my path. I headed straight for her with my sword ready, knowing it could be a mistake. What was she?
Her hand started dancing through the air, and an enormous ball of fire formed. Damn. I had hoped for dteria. I thought about blocking it with dvinia, but it just kept growing and growing. I could no longer see her on the other side.
I took the barrier of dvinia I had made to absorb it and wrapped it around my body instead, adding the note of G and commanding it with my mind. I took off as she casted at me.
I rose up over the heat, a burning smell reaching my nose as it singed my arm hair. I soared over the fire mage and landed behind Aliana’s cage.
“Aliana?”
“Jon?” she said weakly.
“Thank god you’re alive.”
“It was mostly an act,” she said. “But I am bleeding a lot.”
“Kill the healer!” yelled Endell, as I noticed him pointing at us from the center.
I fell flat to the ground and reached through the cage, grabbing Aliana’s extended hand. I closed my eyes as arrows banged against the metal bars and thudded into the ground around me. My mana coursed through Aliana’s body, finding her injuries. She had been stabbed in her arms many times, her legs less, and once at the top of her chest, above her heart. I imagined she had collapsed and feigned a more severe injury to get her attacker to stop. It was a risky choice, but it had paid off.
The injury to her chest was severe, however. I repaired her as quickly as I could, but it took a lot out of me.
“Aliana?” I as
ked, panting for breath.
“I’m much better,” she said as she lifted her head up.
Arrows pattered all around us. “Stay down and cover your head,” I said.
She yelped as an arrow went into her arm.
“Pull it out,” I ordered.
Keeping her head down, she yanked out the arrow. I healed her wound.
“Hold!” Endell yelled. “Leave the healer for now. Slay the metal mage before the rest arrive. Everyone focus on him.”
Charlie yelled out in fear.
I pushed myself to my feet, holding onto the bars of Aliana’s cage for balance. I had nothing left for the moment. I was useless, completely drained, as I watched Eslenda and Eden stand in front of Charlie as all of our enemies rushed toward them.
“I’ll come back with Charlie,” I told Aliana between breaths.
“Don’t worry about me until then.”
Many of the sorcerers had some choice words for Eden, a few of the men issuing obscene threats about what they were going to do to her when this was over. I figured Souriff was elsewhere with Valinox, and that was the only reason he wasn’t putting an end to this himself, but I wasn’t sure she would be able to stand against him for too long with his invisibility spell.
Charlie reached Michael’s cage and melted the bars in mere moments, but the engagement between his helpers and the rest of the army had already begun.
There were too many enemy sorcerers for the four of them to face alone. I made my way over to Reuben’s cage as I kept a nervous eye on my allies. It was all I could do as I recovered my stamina.
Eslenda stood out among the others, her sorcery stronger than anyone else’s as wind was her magic school of choice. When it came to sheer force, wind had the best power per mana usage. I could see that many of the swordsmen charging my allies were sorcerers as well. They were trying to disrupt my allies with dteria, but none of them could get close enough for their spells to do much besides ripple the clothes of my allies. Not only could Eslenda make a shield of wind to stop arrows, but she threw back anyone who stepped within ten yards.
