Brooke’s heart lifted as she saw over sixty warriors running people away or fighting and killing any who dared stand in the way. One boat had gotten away, but the other seven large ones were being overrun by a swarm of angry tribal people. Brooke went and killed two who tried to sneak up behind a warrior in a fight. The Bamana chieftain from before gave thanks and the warriors held the docks as the last of the captives hurried. Only one warrior was killed in the escape and the victor didn’t live long to enjoy a victory. She yelled “WARRIORS! To the boats! Everyone is free! Head for home!”
Brooke rushed up with Lanna nearby. They ran up a ramp and the last person aboard kicked off the ramp as someone hacked on the ropes till they cut free. The two found Moril awake and gripping a bloody knife. She grinned, boasting she got one before falling unconscious again. Lanna and Brooke laughed as Zatal gripped their shoulders and smiled more than they ever saw from him.
Some sailors were forced to make the boat set sail at the threat of death and knew none of these people would hesitate to follow through. The boats all pulled away with the freed people and even some slaves who had been sold had hurried, realizing it would be their only chance.
“WHAT IS THAT!!!” Someone screamed at the top of their lungs and Brooke with many others looked up into the sky with dropped jaws.
Once Megdline had left to work on Brooke, Cage started on his plan and walked confidently towards the southern side of the city where the richest of Bepop resided. Cage noticed how people stared at him and he had to admit, Sean had a point, going shirtless really drew attention where people covered up or wore livery to make themselves feel superior to everyone else. Another brothel of higher quality had prettier women who seem to want him more readily than the one near the port. Though their clothes were more scandalous, they were clean and more healthy, but he could see they were all still slaves by the collar. He ignored them and hoped they would get away in time. Cage continued looking for the targets he found earlier by magic. It wasn’t long before finding the estates of wealthy lords.
The district he found himself is more open with shops catering to many needs as even shop owners used slaves to do all the work and heavy lifting and they reaped the benefits. Slaves worked without getting anything of worth returned. They were lucky to even be fed. And if a master is displeased in any way they beat the person nearly to death, or sometimes succeed. They then just go buy another. Cage saw this more than twice along his way and fought the urge to do the same to the owner. He knew any mistake to his calculations would result in the death of Brooke, Meeka, Megdline, Frill and himself so he was careful. It is an unfair and unjust system, but he walked on and didn’t do anything.
Forced slavery just rubbed him the wrong way.
Cage located a place where there was much commerce from vendors wanting to get whatever the rich people would buy. The mission began and he started moving around in such a way that even while shirtless, people forgot him as soon as their eyes left him. He made his way to one of the mansions and walked around the white, privacy walls and when none were looking, Cage jumped and in a moment, memorized the building’s three stories, bountiful grounds, sculptures and even three patrolling guards circling around the house to keep thieves from hopping the fence and sneaking through the back. It was exactly as his magic detailed it from afar. The hard work began.
Cage took a seat after ordering an apple from a vendor and slowly ate with his eyes closed. Other people didn’t think much of it, but they couldn’t sense he was working magic. He began sending a spell to the foundation of the mansion that would create an upwards explosion and rain down the entire building with fire which would spread to other nearby buildings. He added some safety measures and a countdown to go off a little after the noon hour. The spell would begin a fire in the basement which would quickly spread and before the explosion would go off it would sense when everyone escapes. Cage didn’t want to be seen as a terrorist like those he killed back home, even if these people did deserve it, but the slaves didn’t. Most were innocent and forced to do things they couldn’t choose to do. The spell set up easily enough and Cage noticed a mage looking everywhere through the crowd that worked so powerful of magic. He moved on before being spotted.
Lightheadedness was remedied by drawing on his gems just enough to take off the edge. Another mansion also received the same spells.
Towards the end of the fourth layering on a large inn Megdline arrived. He asked “How goes it?”
“Last I saw of Brooke she was well on her way to the north.” She sent her magic and said. “Good work. You set it to go off if there was any tampering to the spell did you not?”
“I did, but something’s got me worried.” He said as they walked together towards the last target.
“I’ve also noticed a large number of mage’s myself.” She spoke in low tones among the crowd. “It seems I wasn’t the only one to notice and overheard that Emroc has successfully pushed the Empire off the Tribal Plains and a few of their mages were to come here for the guilds and wait for instructions from the empress or one of rank in the empire. I doubt we will have it easy. One or two mages might be around we might have to deal with. Let us just hope they won’t be skilled first class sorcerers.” Megdline kept walking.
“How many do you think there are?” Cage asked.
“It doesn’t matter. We will be gone before they choose to arrive. Ah, the last place. I figured how you designed the spells. Let me do this one and conserve your strength.”
“Thanks. I’ve used up nearly half of what I stored this whole time. Be sure to make it starts in fifteen minutes and detonate in nineteen. The first two will go off in about five minutes. The next two will trigger a minute and three after. This will keep attention down here instead of to the north.” Cage explained as he laughed, acting like she made a joke. Megdline laughed back for a moment.
“It is done. We better leave and get somewhere far away.” Megdline said and they soon found themselves near a courtyard in the heart of Bepop. A great fountain trickled and beautiful carvings really made the place nice. Megdline sat down on a bench to close her eyes.
Beneath the blinding hot sun, Cage noticed a golden glow underneath the bench Megdline sat on. He knew why her eyes closed and she sat so still as a Familiar voice said “Yes, he is fine.” Frill said as he magically appeared and jumped onto the bench with her. Megdline summoned him. Golden eyes swept the area to get a feel of what awaited. He meowed “I assume all is prepared?”
“Yep. Any second now.” And Cage asked “How’s Sean?”
“As I just told my partner, he is fine. Sean is waiting by the fire we left as coals. He restarted it and will wait for us nearby. He mumbled that he didn’t like to be left behind again. He forgot I understand and said he is afraid to lose another set of parents. I will give him respect, the boy didn’t cry, but he is hurt that he couldn’t help… Oh, is that your doing?” Frill pointed a paw.
Smoke began to rise in a single column as there was a lull in the sea breeze. The smoke thickened and grew darker. Someone in the crowd shouted “Fire!” and many men rushed off in that direction to see what they could do to help, but one of the spells allowed people out, not in. Some fools nearby actually panicked even though it was so far away.
Next, All hell broke loose as the mansion exploded when all was safe and no one would be seriously hurt or be trapped inside. A pillar of fire erupted and sent burning debris in every single direction. Some of the smaller and lighter particles dropped down into the centre where Cage and the other two stood. People screamed, but Cage grinned. Frill said “I guess subtle never heard of you, eh Cage?”
“Guess not. The spell was bigger than I expected. It works though. Attention achieved.” Cage chuckled. Then the second rising of smoke started and it detonated soon after. “I guess someone tried stopping the spell. It went off too soon. People were likely inside when that blew.”
People fled for safety, not knowing which building would explode next. Some
believed an army was attacking and others stood in shock. The third and forth went off, giving enough time for people to escape before blowing to kingdom come. Other buildings started catching fire and panic ensued. All went according to plan. Then the fifth building blew and some light debris landed gingerly on Cage’s bare black shoulder. He brushed it off.
“Shall we get going?” Megdline asked. “Brooke should have plenty of time for fleeing now and… oh no.”
“What?” Cage asked and turned around as two mage’s were flying on what looked like a blue and a red surfboard. A parrot flew like an arrow beside the red rider and the man on the blue also carried a medium size dog. In an instant, Cage saw the men holding a rock in one hand and a straight seeker’s thread of white light aiming right at him. “Well, it seems it is play time.”
The two mages sped right at them and landed on the other side of the rapidly vacating area. Cage noticed the mage from before, the one with a fetish of blowing up dresses. It seemed he recognized Cage too. “You?!” the man accused.
“Yep! Me!” Cage yelled back, smirking.
Frill yowled and worked magic as he rushed as fast as he could, making the ground shake under his weight. The dog barked and went to meet Frill head on and was knocked down. Frill’s paw swiped and tore out a large chunk of flesh from the pooch while also snapping off a rib. The dog yelped and managed to kick the cat off. Blue healing magic instantly healed the dog as he tore into Frill with little success. The parrot managed to use its magic to sink its talon’s in Frill’s back and fly up, but it could not hold the enraged cat for long as he manipulated his weight and used honed skills over many battles to sink his teeth into the bird and use immense strength to rip the bird’s head clean off. Frill crashed into the ground and the dog took chase after seeing Megdline give him some mana to instantly fix a broken leg.
Cage didn’t have time to stare as he conjured a barrier cloak around himself and ran towards the two with excitement and a grin. The men felt his magic and made barriers with which to stop him. Cage laughed and felt the adrenaline flow. He first went after the man in red and jumped during a cartwheel to increase the power of his kick while making a trail of blackness follow the move and shatter the man’s barrier. Cage did a tumble and double-kicked the man’s knees, breaking them in the wrong direction, from the ground. Cage rolled with the motion and as the man started falling he gripped the man’s hair and violently twisted while jerking the head back to break the neck. Neither he or the parrot got up.
Megdline took up the other mage’s concentration by sending powerful spells to first break the barrier while he did the same against her. Flame, lightning, debris and rapidly fired spells were sent to destroy the other’s defenses and kill. The man was getting overrun by her strength and the rate at which her spells were created and fired at him. Cage jumped aside for he didn’t want to get in her way. She did simultaneous spells to test what he blocked while also pummeling him back and down. Her topaz glowed angrily as she fought with focused and calm determination while standing her ground. The man and Familiar were ill prepared to face such adversaries and he knew it as even Cage could feel the barrier he made weakening, no matter how much he drew from his gem sapphire.
To not go down without doing something, he raised his hand to the sky and shot a large blue light that pulsed and drew attention. “No!” Megdline shouted and shot a gold flame from her fingertips at the man and it tore through the barrier and set him ablaze. The dog died immediately as his partner did, before the flaming corpse even hit the ground. Megdline yelled “Cage! We must Jump out of here now. That was a beacon for every mage in the city to get here!”
She aimed her staff ahead of her and began to work a spell as a bloody Frill and Cage rushed to her side. A red archway popped in the open area and out stepped a woman and panther Familiar. Cage ran harder. Then he felt more magic being worked on a citywide scale. Megdline’s archway broke down and her grey eyes went wide. She said in a defeated voice “Bepop activated a spell which prevents Jumping outside the city… We are done for.”
To add more proof to her words, fifteen more archways of varying color appeared all over the open centre. Out of each one stepped a high level mage and only two didn’t have a accompanying Familiar. Mage’s were allowed to jump within the city, just not outside. The situation became critical and even Cage knew it wouldn’t be possible to outrun these casters. Because of the hopelessness, Cage felt a rush of excitement as a grin reappeared. “I bit off more than I can chew, but it doesn’t mean I won’t enjoy the flavor.” He looked between the two friends and said “It’s been fun. I’ll hold them off for as long as I can. You two better fly off like a bat out of hell. Tell Brooke and Meeka to take care and that they brought joy to my heart, even if it was a short romance. Go!” He yelled.
All of the remaining power in the gems surged into him and it made him feel full with a headache. He understood why it was so dangerous to take in so much. He strengthened his skin tight barrier and laughed as he ran to the nearest mage who tried knocking Cage down, but the amount of power didn’t do a thing. Black fire churned around one fist while black lightning crackled around the fingertips of the other. The first man was pierced through the chest by the lightning and it took a heavy toll on the mana he had absorbed. The barrier was what made it harder to get through. Green flames sped and washed over Cage, but his magic cloak protected every inch, even his hair. He ran at the woman and shot the black, combat fire and it defeated her flames and the shock of such a thing broke her concentration and her barrier weakened enough for the fire to slip through and consume her.
The remaining fourteen started attacking him in different ways. He could feel his strength fading fast and began dodging and countering spells, but when he stopped one, a dozen took its place. He glanced to the side as he heard animals fighting to notice Frill engaged, and though he is fierce, his power alone against such numbers is too much. He also noticed Megdline furiously engaging three mages and barely held them back. He smiled, knowing they wouldn’t leave after all they’ve been through.
Because they didn’t go, he fought harder, even as more archways appeared to join in. Cage decided to go basic and fight since he didn’t have the strength or the skill in magic to fight so many. Blackness encircled his fists as he ran towards the nearest individual. The Familiars that didn’t tear Frill apart went for Cage, but his skills knocked them out or made them miss. The shattering spell helped end two more mages before two dogs clamped down on Cage’s legs and made him fall. Their teeth couldn’t pierce his cloak barrier, but then a chimpanzee landed on Cage’s back and began pounding fists that weighted hundreds of pounds. Other Familiars began landing and fighting Cage. He yelled and expanded his barrier into a perfect sphere to remove them. He got up to be attacked by offensive magic that drained his dwindling reserves faster.
“Ahh!” Megdline cried out in anguish and Cage looked over to see a large chunk of her shoulder missing. Blood gushed and he knew that kind of pain would make her lose concentration and wards were only as strong as the caster.
He ran to her and passed through her barrier somehow, probably because she thinks of him as a friend. The mages saw weakness and began fighting and focusing on them since they stood together. Megdline began a healing spell to fix the wound or dull the pain so she could resume the fight, but by the time it would take for her to recover, it would be too late.
Cage stood in front of her and encompassed Megdline in a barrier of his own while spreading his arms out to the side so that when his shield breaks he would use his own body to protect her. His grin vanished as he hardened his barrier while screaming from the amount of magic he poured into it. More mages were still jumping in and adding their strength to the others, battering against his shield.
Megdline gasped for air as the pain lessened and she looked up to realize Cage stood before her, protecting her. On his back, the mark had grown to almost twelve rings as he fought to keep them both alive. Loud explosions, electr
icity, colored fire all struck Cage’s shield and she felt the staggering magnitude thrown against him and yet the shield he made held, but even she knew he was giving his last effort to hold out against impossible odds for a few brief extra moments.
Hope seemed lost.
Then there came a noise unlike any other.
One so loud, the air and ground shook from the daunting force. It was a shrill roar that rattled a person’s very soul. The attacks stopped and the entire city looked up. Even Cage’s eyes shot skywards as a darkness consumed the centre. What his eyes saw barely could comprehend it.
It was a gigantic yet beautiful monster.
The body spread pure white wings. The great wings extended close to more than a half mile across with a body length close to four hundred feet. The enormous size engulfed the area in shadow in which Cage looked up from. The wings were covered in white feathers so magnificent that the sun outlining it looked to sparkle and have an otherworldly glow. In fact the wings took up most of its length from the shoulder area to the waistline. The body alone was as large as a grand mansion and looked lean with sleek, robust muscles like some kind of panther or lion. Instead of paws for hands, they were an odd facsimile of a human hand with curved claws like the talons of a raptor. Large, feline paws made up the back feet with slightly curved talons for toenails. The four great limbs spread out as if to land. The beast had a large barreled chest to support the lung capacity required for it to fly or even survive. Pure white fur covered everything that the feathered wings did not. But it was the head that was most out of place. It had the head of a great bald eagle as it looked down upon them. Cage’s jaw dropped as he met enormous eyes… For he knew them. They were the same sapphire blue eyes that have consumed his thoughts every time he relaxed.
Familiar's Ancient Throne (Book 2 of the Death Incarnate Saga) Page 40
