Metal Mage 4

by Eric Vall

  I called my magic to the surface and pulled a massive wall up between the dwarf and the ice giant as I tried to wrench the earth apart once more for Deli. I felt a painful stretch in my limbs as I split my magic, and it sent a sharp pain through my spine, but I fought against it and held my breath as the earth peeled itself open under my will.

  Finally, I heard Aurora give a vicious snarl, and a wall of flames erupted behind the giant that threatened Dorinick. The ruthless blue flames engulfed the entire bottom half of the giant and crumpled him at last as he sent a stream of enchanted ice flying into the black sky.

  Several dwarves, who had run to defend their general, now screamed and scattered as spears of ice fell from the sky. One shard pierced the helm of a fleeing dwarf, and I heard a desperate scream as the dwarf flailed in pain, and his skull bloomed with ice that locked him to his place as it spread and took over his stout figure.

  The dwarf collapsed in a frigid tomb, and the ice that held him spread across the ground and sought to overtake everything around it. Aurora hurled orbs of flames over the enchanted ice, but another scream came from the field at her back, and she was forced to abandon the dwarves to save another group who was trying to flee the wrath of two giants. Their torches were flung to the snow behind them as the giants screeched and overtook them. The beasts waited until they hovered just above the dwarves before they sent their spears of ice straight through the backs of their dwarven armor.

  Dorinick growled and sprinted across the field, and I tried to call him back over the shrill screeches of the giants that split the air. The last giant had strayed and loomed in the shadow at the edge of the trees, and I could see the hollow eyes of it tracking the general as he ran through the snow.

  The dwarf ignored me or couldn’t hear my warning, but Aurora overtook him and ordered him back as she sent her flames to engulf the giants who had cornered the fleeing dwarves. Then Mina and Deli leapt the trench I’d used to stop the ice that had hunted the young mage. They were with the half-elf in a blaze of searing white flames, and Dorinick finally slowed his run.

  Then I saw the hidden giant yawn in the shadows.

  “No!” I screamed and wrenched at the ground with all of my strength. The shudder that followed knocked all three mages to the ground, and Dorinick was thrown several feet into the air.

  The giant near the trees shrieked as it collapsed into the pit I’d torn beneath its feet, but its enchanted ice flew after the dwarf just before its head shattered against the edge of the hole.

  Dorinick came down hard into the snow and laid completely still.

  I bolted to the dwarf’s side as the ice raced me to him. The splintering sound of the spears grew ominously close, and I turned to see it form a wall that grew upward and then out. It seemed to be building into a heavy ridge above our heads.

  The ice cracked under its own weight, and I grabbed the limp dwarf against me as I rolled out from beneath the icy cliff. I heard it snap clear through the center, and the cliff fell with a heavy crack against the ground. My relief was short lived, though. As I watched the shattered pieces scatter in the snow, they immediately began to build themselves up again and relentlessly sought to crush us.

  “Shit,” I growled as I tried to pull the weight of the armored dwarf from the ground. I built a wall between us and the ice, but I could hear it pierce the other side, and soon it crested the top and began to form another cliff above us.

  I was about to crumble the wall beneath it when flames suddenly bloomed all around the edges.

  I finally began to breathe again as I realized the last giant must have been destroyed, but the sound I heard made my skin crawl. While I watched the fire consume the enchanted ice, I could swear I heard the shards wailing, almost as if they were dying under the flames.

  “What the fuck?” I breathed and leaned forward to be sure I hadn’t imagined it. The spears above me melted and spilled down the side of the wall, and as their trails dried up from the heat, the eery wails disappeared with them.

  Then the night was silent except for the heavy breathing of the mages who now joined us.

  “That’s it,” Aurora said as she fought to catch her breath. “The last one’s fallen. Mina, Deli, help me with the ice. Anywhere it’s spread, melt it down.”

  I nodded my agreement and watched them take off once more as I shifted to lay the dwarf I held on the snow. Dorinick’s helm was badly dented where he’d landed on it, and I used my metal magic to reshape the steel so I could remove it from his head without more injury. Beneath the helm, the dwarf’s face was covered in fresh blood, and I called for the dwarves to come over. Nearly two dozen had survived the battle, and they quickly joined me as they brought what torches they still held.

  Two dwarves stooped to examine the general’s head, and Thrungrig shoved to the front to put his hand beneath his friend’s jaw. Then he let out a sound of relief.

  “He lives,” he assured us, “but he loses much blood. We must get him to the capital, quick.”

  I whistled sharply, and Bobbie’s engine roared from the trees and across the field. Then the dwarves lifted Dorinick into the sidecar, and I helped Thrungrig to climb in as I realized he limped badly on his own.

  “What about the fallen?” I asked the group of dwarves, and their eyes dimmed behind their helms.

  “We will tend to them,” one assured me solemnly. “Go now!”

  I called to the mages, who seemed to understand as they waved me on behind their flames. Then Bobbie kicked forward and sped over the hill and back toward the gates of Aurum.

  Every street of the great city was lit, and a throng of dwarves met us as we entered the gates. Thrungrig ordered them all aside, and we fought the crowds to get to the infirmary as fast as we could. Dorinick hadn’t regained consciousness, but his blood now covered his neck and dripped down the cuirass that shielded his chest with ornate steel.

  “Bring ‘im to the fortress. The elder’s keep their best doctors there,” Thrungrig hollered over the engine.

  I nodded and let Bobbie work her way through the frantic crowd. They’d seen the mess of Dorinick’s skull and assumed the worst when no dwarves followed us into the gates. I didn’t have any time to explain, though. I just needed to get Dorinick to safety.

  At the ruby-gilded doors of the fortress, Thrungrig ordered the guards to let us by, and they didn’t hesitate once they saw the state of the general.

  The commotion of Bobbie’s engine as it echoed through the entrance hall caused several dwarves to appear from the various rooms of the fortress. One of them was Dogra, and the elder let out a sound of terror when he saw his nephew.

  Thrungrig strained to help me lift the limp dwarf from the sidecar.

  “Where’s the infirmary?” I demanded of the nearest dwarf, who jumped under the fierceness of my gaze before he quickly pointed to a hall behind me.

  Dogra was at my side now, and he pulled me onward.

  “Here! Bring him here,” he said as he gathered his long velvet robes and hurried through the gilded halls. The infirmary was behind a prestigious pair of silver doors, and within it the beds were filled with dwarves whose bodies were nearly fully casted.

  They must have been the injured who’d escaped from the previous battle, and those who could move their heads followed the body of Dorinick as I brought him to an empty bed.

  Several dwarves in long silver robes were at my side, and they brushed me out of the way as they began to check the split in the general’s head.

  “He lives,” one of them muttered, and Dogra clutched at the bed behind him for support.

  Then his harried eyes found mine, and he tried to speak with a measure of authority. It didn’t quite work out for him, though. His voice was thin and shook with fear.

  “Wh … what happened?” he asked. “Where are the others?”

  “Most lived,” I quickly assured him and stood at his side. “Ten giants came, and they’re all dead now. My mages are reigning in the ice they left, and the
dwarves are tending to the fallen.”

  He tried to process my words as his glance darted between his bloodied nephew and the silver of my eyes.

  I didn’t know if it was technically allowed, but I placed a reassuring hand on the shoulder of the elder and felt his entire frame tremble under my palm.

  “Don’t worry,” I told him.

  The dwarf ceased his constant checking on Dorinick and tried to hold my sights steadily. “They are dead?” he asked nervously. “You are sure?”

  “Positive. As for Dorinick, his helm took the brunt of the fall,” I told him. “He led an impressive front. His troop broke the giant’s lines and made it possible for my mages and I to finish them off.”

  Pride came to the elder’s face, but it didn’t replace the fear I saw there. He nodded at my words, then turned back toward the silver robed dwarves.

  “How is he? What is the damage?” he demanded.

  The dwarves cleaned the wound on Dorinick’s head, but one responded over his shoulder as he worked. “The wound is not fatal. He will live and be as he’s always been, but we must stop the bleeding. He should wake by the morning.”

  The elder finally stopped his trembling, and then his eyes fell on Thrungrig, who’d finally limped his way into the infirmary.

  “Thrungrig, take this bed,” he said at once and motioned for another silver robed dwarf to help.

  “That’s not necessary, elder Dogra, I’m just--” Thrungrig started to protest, but the miner was taken hold of by the dwarf healer, who firmly led him toward a bed without a word.

  I chuckled as Thrungrig was lifted onto the sheets and looked uncomfortable in the caring hands of the infirmary.

  “Alright just … just be gentle will ye’?” he muttered as he settled on the bed. “I don’t need no casts, just a bit of a wrapping, and I’ll be on my way.”

  With Dorinick’s skull fully wrapped in healing poultice and gauze, and Thrungrig’s leg being casted against his will, I was finally able to let my own nerves relax a bit. The chaos of the battle still pumped through my veins, and my mind raced through images of the fight as I tried to track the tactics of the giants and what we did that worked or didn’t work well.

  I couldn’t forget the sight of the fleeing dwarves as the spears of enchanted ice pierced their backs and devoured their bodies. The image made my gut clench, and I made a snap decision.

  We couldn’t wait for the ice giants to attack again. We needed those catapults here and ready to go.

  I went to Thrungrig’s side and spoke quickly so I could get on my way.

  “I’m taking Bobbie and heading back to the mines,” I said. “We need to get those catapults here, and fast. I’ll get everything prepared and bring them and whatever mages have arrived with me. We’ll be in Aurum by tomorrow.”

  “You sure?” the dwarf asked as he winced against the tightening of his cast.

  “Positive,” I assured him. “We just scraped by today, but I’m not risking it again. We need more mages, and we need to get the dwarves out of the fray. Tell Dorinick when he wakes that the catapults are on their way.” With that, I shook Thrungrig’s hand and left the infirmary. In ten minutes, I’d made it back through the city and had Bobbie at full speed as we headed for the mountain pass.

  Thrungrig’s mine glowed with torches as I approached, and I could hear the clang of hammers falling heavy on steel. Bobbie’s engine must have echoed up near the caves, because Cayla, Shoshanne, and Haragh waited at the workshop entrance for me. Their eyes were eager as I cut the engine, and I quickly assured them that everything was ok.

  “We won this one, but we lost several dwarves,” I told them. “Where are we at with the Warwolves?”

  Haragh motioned for me to follow him down the path. “Done. Just finished the last of the diamonds, I think. Let me know if you think we need more, but the dwarves are loadin’ them into carts on the catapults so we can move it all at once.”

  We came to the field, and I saw torches had been planted all around the edges to illuminate it fully. The three catapults looked even more epic since I’d left, and I paused to admire the craftsmanship. The Warwolves stood ominous against the black sky, and I gauged their size against my memory of the giants. Then my eyes caught on the glimmering ammunition stacked in the cars on the launching platform.

  “Damn,” I laughed as I trotted up to get a closer look.

  The diamonds were as big as the stump we’d tested the day before, but they were expertly beveled into gleaming boulders, with their edges razor sharp along the geometric cuts that formed their shape.

  “Haragh, you’ve outdone yourself,” I told the half-ogre, and he grinned casually at the sight of his work. “You didn’t have to make them beautiful, you know. They’re gonna be shattering against the skulls of giants in a day.”

  “Yeah well, anything worth doing is worth doing right,” he said with a shrug. “Besides, the dwarves seemed to like it.”

  I chuckled and clapped a hand to the half-ogre’s shoulder, then turned to the field. I didn’t have to look long to catch the number of mages I saw. “The reserves are here then?”

  “Aye.” Haragh nodded. “Twenty Ignis Mages, ten Terra Mages.”

  Just the words brought a smile to my face. If the four of us had taken ten down, then thirty mages plus three Warwolves would fucking decimate the giants once and for all.

  “Good.” I nodded. “Because we’re moving out, now. Let’s see how the wolves handle.”

  “Now?” Haragh asked, and I could tell he had hoped he’d at least get a night’s rest in.

  I knew it must be midnight by now, but the image of the fleeing dwarves hadn’t left me for a second.

  “Now,” I told him firmly. “We lost ten dwarves today, and Dorinick is laid up with a split skull. Thrungrig’s in a cast as well. We need to get to the capital before anything else comes knocking.”

  The half-ogre understood my urgency immediately and left to ready the mages who practiced their maneuvers all over the field.

  I turned to Cayla and Shoshanne next and led them back toward the workshop. “Grab anything you think we’ll need,” I instructed them. “And meet me by Bobbie in twenty minutes.”

  They nodded quickly, but I caught their hands before they could sprint off toward the halls of the caves.

  Cayla smiled and tucked herself under my arm, and Shoshanne meekly followed her lead.

  I kissed each of them in turn and let the soft sweetness of their tongues ease my nerves another measure.

  “We missed you,” Cayla purred in my ear, and Shoshanne nodded her agreement with pink cheeks.

  “I missed you, too,” I murmured with a grin.

  “How is Aurora?” was the princess’s next question, and worry creased her brow.

  “Don’t worry,” I chuckled. “She handled herself like she always does. Saved Dorinick’s life and half the others as well.”

  “Sounds like our girl,” Cayla said with a proud smile, and I laid another kiss on each of my women before I sent them off to get their things together.

  As I watched them walk away, someone tapped my shoulder, and I turned to find Yaxin and Durigh. I blinked in surprise at the sight of them. In all the commotion, between the Naga attack, the catapult construction, and the summons to the capital, the tradesmen had slipped my mind entirely.

  “Hey there,” I greeted with a smile as Yaxin reached out to shake my hand. “I know it’s only been a day or so since we last saw each other, but it feels like weeks.”

  Yaxin chuckled. “Yeah, well that tends to happen when ya go marching off to war.”

  I grinned. “Marching’s not really my style,” I said as I jerked my thumb over my shoulder in Bobbie’s direction. “Everyone’s gearing up to head out. You hitching a ride on one of the Warwolves?”

  The tradesmen shook their heads in unison.

  “We ain’t soldiers,” Durigh replied. “We can hold our own if our lives depend on it, but between yer damn contraptions and m
ages, not to mention the dwarves, we’d just be standin’ in the way with our thumbs up our asses.”

  I laughed at the trader’s colorful prose. “I’m sure you’d find some way to be of use.”

  “We have,” Yaxin grunted, and he puffed his chest out a little as a proud grin stretched across his face.

  I raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

  “Thrungrig gave us orders before ya left for the capital,” Durigh responded as he tucked his thumbs into the waistband of his pants. “We’re to remain behind with a handful of dwarves to keep an eye on things here at the mine. We’ll be pullin’ up some extra metal in case ya need it for the battles to come. Ain’t much glory attached to it, not like decimatin’ ice giants and savin’ the dwarven capital, but it’s honest work, and someone’s gotta do it.”

  I smiled and clapped the trader on the shoulder. “Sounds like an honorable job. Besides, you faced off with fire beasts down south. I think you’re allowed to sit this one out.”

  The two men snorted.

  “Can’t say we mind sittin’ on the sidelines too much this time around,” Yaxin remarked. “It’s too damn cold up here for our rich southern blood.” He sniffed in distaste as he wrapped his arms around himself and shivered dramatically.

  “Besides,” Durigh added, “I’m sure the dwarven elders were none too happy to see yer smilin’ face at first. We’ll just wait for you to pave the way with a nice solid victory before we go showin’ our ugly mugs in Aurum. We’ve been told the elders can be … a tad anti-human, and we ain’t got your flashy powers to show off and persuade them.”

  “Yeah, but you’re the ones who got me and my mages this far,” I pointed out with a grin. “Without you leading the way, we never would have met Thungrig, and Aurum would’ve probably been buried in ice by now.”

  The tradesmen blinked in surprise.

  “Huh,” Yaxin grunted. “Didn’t think of it like that.”

  “The elders will,” I replied, “once I mention it. And once we’ve dealt with these damn ice giants, we’ll call you up to the capital so we can all reap our rewards. There’ll be a nice roaring fire and a feast at the very least.”