Sebastian cut with a spell of light as he closed from the other side. Night shields faltered before the sword’s power, but only after they had protected their masters. The battle mage met their blades with his and struggled to pierce their defenses.
When a warlock used a spell of light to the mage’s left, Gerid’s axe cracked and crumbled to dust. Reaching through the light, the giant caught the left wrist and twisted. A scream of pain, as his lower arm twisted breaking at his elbow and tearing the ligaments, cut through the air over the sounds of battle.
Sebastian twisted and turned parrying blades looking for his opening. A warlock was too slow and the Hollow Sword laced with lighting tore through his sword arm. A backswing cracked the breast plate while leaving a red line on the man’s cheek. He fell backwards and only the weapons of two other warlocks prevented the mage from finishing him off completely.
As the battle closed around the warlocks, Frell and the rune warriors struggled against their powerful magic, but it mattered little as they merely distracted the warlocks long enough for the rampaging giant to continue to break and maim the men. Refusing to lose, the warlock leader cast new spells of power. Strength and speed rippled through Lord Devolus. Red armor reinforced the black gear of his wizard hunters and a glowing red spear formed in his hands.
“Come at me, barbarian!” he snarled brushing aside the remainder of his warlocks. The spear brightened with his anger and cut through the air. The black club in Gerid’s hand vanished in its light before striking the giant in his chest. Surprised at the powerful attack and its devastating speed, Gerid stumbled backwards as he coughed up blood from his mouth. His breath stopped as his eyes rolled up into his head. His huge form went to the ground on his knees being supported only by the spear through his chest.
Cries of alarm from his men were echoed by Sebastian as he was pushed back in his surprise. The Hollow Sword parried the other warlocks’ weapons even as he saw new determination in their eyes. Their leader had disposed of the immortal and they believed that their power was still greater than his.
Moments passed as the rune warriors gave ground in horror at the Father humbled by these powerful magical creatures. Lord Devolus and his six remaining warlocks pushed their advantage driving the others before them. A warrior died as a magical spear pierced his rune armor. Another avoided death barely as his brothers managed to block for the wounded man as he rolled aside.
Just as the warlocks thought that they could take the battle back and win, a new roar started low and pushed out strengthening. Gerid’s eyes opened as his mouth howled. His hands gripped the spear pulling it from his chest.
Back on his feet, the giant turned to find Devolus unsurprised. The warlock had hoped the spear left in the immortal’s chest would finish him, but the legends had stated that nothing had ever kept the man down for long.
“Devolus,” the Grimnal spat blood from his mouth onto the ground. Holding the red spear, the man looked ready to use it against its creator. A wave of the warlock’s hand made it disappear before reappearing in the lord’s hands again. “I remember you from the castle.”
Calm cool eyes stared the giant down as Devolus replied, “My master dealt with you that day. Your men remained trapped in their prison until their undeaths. You simply surrendered to try and save your ship’s crew. That brought you all to this new prison.
“It was pitiful the way you gave yourself to us. I still think that we should have finished you then. You can’t leave a rabid dog alone, even in a cage, without fear of it one day escaping and killing again.
“This rabble put down your men in the castle the way you should have been disposed of back then. Now you want to help the ones who killed them? You are truly pitiful indeed.”
With a grunt of distaste, Gerid stated, “If they put them out of their misery, so much the better. Then I owe them that as well. As to putting me down, why don’t you try again?”
Laughing at his defiance, the warlock gestured to him and asked, “And what will you fight me with? I’ve destroyed your new weapons. You should have known that what we made could be taken away.”
“Lightning,” the battle mage’s voice drew both gazes from the men in the stand off. Fully charged from the ground and ready to burst, Sebastian rolled towards the Grimnal dodging his opponents’ reach and tossed the sword to the giant. “This was your grandson, Laran’s sword. It won’t break for you.”
With the sword in his hand, the giant leaped at Devolus. The red spear met his attack and each strike crackled with the sound of lightning. Red glass resisted breaking, but each strike was wielded by the power of a giant and the leader of the warlocks winced at each blow. Backing off to cast a spell, the magic struck Gerid refusing to take root as his power brought the sword unrelentingly forward.
Eyes darkening with evil intent, the warlock began to draw power into him a moment as he continued to struggle with the giant’s powerful attacks. His skin began to glow and crack with red lines of magic. As the spell neared fruition, the dark lord sneered, “You may think me beaten, but I won’t allow you to win.”
With that said, the man leaped at the immortal as his body looked ready to burst with the cursed magic. His spear blocked the Hollow Sword and the warlock gripped the giant as he willed the spell to explode. The power of the blast stopped every fight knocking fighters to the ground for hundreds of feet. Those closest to the warlock’s spell were cut from the magic and stone breaking beneath the destruction of the blast.
Sebastian shook his head picking himself up from the group. The nearest warlocks looked even more dazed. Their leader had just sacrificed himself to destroy the immortal enemy of their emperor. Punishment would fall to any who dared report such a thing to him and the emperor could be very petty in his anger.
“Sleep,” the mage ordered his spell drawing the warlocks’ attention too late. The nearest two men lapsed into slumber and the mage stumbled to the next men in black. Rune warriors finished those he couldn’t reach in time and Sebastian looked into the smoke and dust where the Grimnal had stood.
He spotted the glimmer of the Hollow Sword lying on the ground twenty feet away and reclaimed his sword. Turning back to the devastated ground, Sebastian watched as a large form slowly rose from the dirt. The giant stumbled forward and landed back on his knees, but Gerid had survived the blast of magic. There was no sign of the warlock anymore aside from the destruction that he had caused.
With the fall of their leaders, what little remained of the black army ran back to the pier and the ship anchored just beyond it. Tattooed warriors followed them leisurely, much to Sebastian’s initial surprise. When the massed black soldiers pooled near the end of the pier, a final trap was sprung. Harpoons lashed out from the water pulling in dozens to drown beneath the waves. More attacked from the ship including a few well aimed cannon balls from the center of the vessel.
During the battle on land, more of the merfolk had snuck aboard taking the few remaining soldiers unaware. A line of prisoners standing beside the rails as shields and possible sacrifices had been as stunned as their jailers. The sailors had readied the cannon and let those being forced to help below know of their freedom.
Seeing the enemy’s end begun on the pier, Sebastian moved to see Gerid. The giant’s skin was cut and torn as was much of his clothing. His beard seemed to be growing back before his eyes from the burnt remains.
“You survived?” the mage said half surprised.
“I tend to do that,” Gerid grunted as he tried to shake of the effects of the destruction magic. “The bastard took a good shot at killing me though. I have to admit that.”
Nodding, Sebastian stated, “It was a useless gesture thankfully and the rest of his men are dead or captured now. I need to help with healing those we can save. You might want to find your wife and a new set of clothes.”
“Now why should I listen to a child like you? Maybe I enjoy looking like this?” the giant chuckled and struggled to stand.
“Sui
t yourself, but I am going to check on the girl in my life before she gets mad at me,” Sebastian chuckled exchanging a wave with the man.
Chapter 35- Mourning Victory
The black ship turned slowly with the wind. For the warlocks onboard, it was mind numbingly slow as they wanted to destroy the wizards and their vessel. While the enemy had put up a good fight, the warlock Reiderev knew that the black ship’s power was the greater. The frigate couldn’t last much longer, but the mermen had proven problematic.
“Be ready,” their leader ordered as he paced alongside the rail behind a dozen warlocks. Two wizards captured from the Kardorian battleship stood for use as puppets with them. A younger water wizard and a large fire wizard stood under the thrall of a warlock, neither of whom he had bothered to learn their name since the man didn’t bother to name temporary tools it was pointless. “I want this ship destroyed on the next pass and be ready for those fish. They destroyed Hunter One. I won’t let them catch us unprepared.”
A chorus of ‘yes, sirs’ followed from his men. Reiderev would not let simple wizards best him. The humiliation would be too much.
As he paced waiting for the two ships to cross paths once more, a blinding flash appeared from nowhere near the steerage cabin before a thunderous boom followed. Rubbing his ears, Reiderev and his crew moved to investigate thinking the enemy had found a new weapon to attack the ship.
From the light, a dark form stumbled forward and the warlock recognized his commander’s tattered armor and unusually red face.
“Lord Devolus!” the warlock cried out hearing the name echoed from the mouths of his men. He rushed forward to help support his lord. For him to appear in such a fashion using one of the most powerful of curse spells, could mean only one thing.
“Reiderev, prepare to take the ships home,” Lord Devolus ordered with a raspy voice gone hoarse from the power of his last spell.
“Lord Liev lost Hunter One, the remainder of his forces are fighting from the beach. This is the only ship left in the fight, my lord. We were about to defeat the frigate now. If not for the sudden help of these merfolk sharks, we would have joined you already.”
Snarling in anger, Devolus shouted, “Then take this ship back to Ensolus, you fool. Our prisoner has found too many powerful allies here. Now take us back at once, so I can bring a stronger force here to crush these insolent creatures!”
Looking at more than a dozen corpses on the deck from the use of the short range use of the gate spell, Reiderev was unsure just what sacrifice would be needed to return to Ensolus. Lord Devolus solved his unasked question as he pulled the two puppet wizards and threw them towards the center of the ship. “Start the ritual,” Devolus ordered as he pulled out a knife with magic writing along the blade.
“But, my lord, shouldn’t we try to pick up Lord Liev before we go? I’m sure that we could sacrifice someone other than these wizards also,” the warlock said trying to halt the battered looking lord. What had happened on the island to bring the powerful warlock to this state was unknown, but Reiderev could tell that whatever it was had him rattled. It was his position to try and restore rational thinking before it was too late.
“Liev can find his own way home or not. It was his responsibility to manage my flagship and he lost it. Let’s go,” he ordered even while the nearest of the portal warlocks began to chant the spell. They didn’t dare defy the powerful lord of the wizard hunters and were ready when the man stabbed the first of the puppets. “If the master wants these wizards, he can have one of our resurrection wizards perform that ritual. For now, it is time to go home.”
The knife went into the second wizard’s back while the first wizard’s cry of pain dropped him to the deck. Blood poured from both wizards as they gave up their strength for the dark magic. A new gate formed more powerful than those used in the battle. As the black ship passed through the portal, the dark lord looked at the ruin of Hunter One and muttered a curse heard only by Reiderev, who could say nothing.
Liam cursed as he saw the black ship disappear through another portal. They had been about to cross paths for another pass when the ship had disappeared in the light.
“Everyone keep your eyes open for the second gate!” he warned knowing that everyone aboard knew the drill by now. The black ships would disappear and reappear to cross paths firing their cannon, which left the water wizard confused. They had been about to fire anyway. Had the enemy decided to change paths to match theirs instead?
Minutes passed and the Sea Dragon continued to look. The captain asked for orders and Liam could only guess. “Take us south towards the beached ship. If the second one doesn’t appear soon, we can assume that they must have withdrawn for some reason.”
Ashleen spoke as the command was passed, “There was an explosion of light on their deck just before they passed through the gate. Do you think that had something to do with them disappearing?”
The question had no answer from Liam as he continued to watch for its reappearance. He guessed that the portal spell took immense power, but had no idea how many times the enemy could continue to cast the gates and at what cost.
Closing on the abandoned ship, Liam watched as the remainder of the black forces stood their ground on the beach. Trolls and orcs stood blocking for the warlocks against the rune warriors in the ocean. Shields blocked the attacks completely and the black armored unit remained untouched for several minutes since landfall.
“Get ready to use the longboats,” Liam gave the order. If the mermen could continue to harass the enemy, then his wizards could split that attention and give their new allies a chance to finish the warlocks. It was a bit risky going after a unit designed to capture or kill wizards specifically, but they had resisted two ships worth of power too many times to remember. A force of less than fifty total, along with the mermen assisting, would be no match for what he would bring.
Annalicia questioned his thoughts, “Do you think that we should split our forces? The other ship could return.”
Shaking his head, the wizard replied, “If they were planning on returning, they would have shown by now. Either their spell stranded them somewhere between gates, which means they won’t be back, or they went somewhere else entirely. Perhaps they retreated for good.”
Mecklin surprised them as he turned Liam and pointed towards the warlocks on the beach. “Look!” the battle mage ordered and Liam looked on in shock as three of the warlocks drew blades and stabbed three of the orcs in the back. Power rose as the creatures fell screaming to the ground bleeding out onto the sand.
Another smaller gate appeared through which the remaining warlocks abandoned the shore. The rest of their forces fell back though a few lost focus on the rune warriors in the ocean to be pulled into the water before they all could leave. Only the dying orcs left on the beach remained of the wizard hunters and the gate faded away.
Seeing the last of the armored trolls and orcs disappear from sight, Liam knew that his belief was correct. This was not a simple change of position. This was a complete rout and withdrawal by the Dark One’s army.
Cries of victory came from the water and the Sea Dragon as well. Liam changed the direction of the longboats. He led a team to the beached vessel and looked for survivors. A dozen sacrificed bodies had slid to the rail of the tilting ship and, though they checked for more survivors below deck, no living soul was left to find.
Ashleen cried out when the bodies of the dead were brought to the shore by the mermen. Like the sacrificed men she recognized from the Carnivore’s crew, two faces in particular were well known to the girl. Deiclonus and Lord Romonus were pulled on shore and lay with those of the enemy. Warlocks and their minions became nothing to the wilder, who had lost both her mentor and the employer. She wondered briefly where Wendle and the others she knew from their trip to Hala had gone. If the ship that disappeared held them, then her friends were most likely as lost as the dead were to her.
Several of the mermen had begun to explain their involvement i
n the battle to Liam and the rest. It was a relief to know that Sebastian and the others had managed to find the Grimnal and gain his help.
After they had recovered, the Sea Dragon escorted by the new allies set sail to the south and the village hidden from sight.
Sebastian wiped his brow before taking a drink from a glass of prapple juice. Apparently among the items the Grimnal had taken with him on his original voyage was a variety of seeds including those from the prapple tree. The juice was refreshing and held nutrients to help resupply the mage as he continued to try and heal the wounded among the warriors that had fought at his side.
Frell had been his first patient. Bleeding from a blow to her head and several nasty wounds on her arms and legs, Sebastian had been mildly surprised to see the woman still on her feet after the blood loss. He had made his patient eat as well. Healing required both the healer and the one being healed to have the strength to survive the magic. If the patient were too far gone, even magic couldn’t heal without most likely killing the patient in the process.
It had taken awhile for him to finish the magic and by that time food and drink had been brought to the battle field. Yara had asked for someone to bring them as the girl had gone straight to work healing the men and women as she came to them. She had also taken charge ordering those still in relatively good condition to begin bringing those they could move safely and warn of those they dared not.
Nara joined the healer offering both her energy and helping heal the less injured. As a nature wizard, the woman had picked up a few basic healing skills since her kind both used nature and worked to help it. The two women saved as many as they could, while Sebastian did what he could working from his end of the field.
More assistance came from the ocean. A handful of shaman used their amulets to walk the beach using their own variation of healing magic. Using amulets and components taken from the sea, the men and women worked their spells with similar skill to the young healer. Dozens were saved that would have surely died without the aid of magic.
Battle Mage: The Lost King (Tales of Alus) Page 46
