Metal Mage 4

by Eric Vall

  The dwarf’s eyes grew greedy as I spoke. “Aye,” he growled. “We’ll catch ‘em off guard and break the bastards to pieces.”

  I chuckled at his quick enthusiasm and hoped the others would be of the same mind. “It’ll be dangerous,” I warned. “We don’t know what terrain we’ll be fighting in, or how many giants are up there. Plus, there’s the trouble of tracking down whoever the hell is behind this and getting my mage back.”

  Behind me, someone struggled through a cough, and I heard Dorinick’s gravelly voice next. “What’s dangerous?” he asked.

  We turned to see Shoshanne raise a glass of water to the dwarf’s lips, and I grinned as I went to his bedside.

  “Glad to see you’re awake,” I told him, and then I shook the hand he held out to me.

  His grip was weak, but not limp, and he offered me half a grin beneath his haggard eyes.

  Dorinick strained to prop himself up, and the Aer Mage helped make him more comfortable so he could sit up in the bed. He thanked the mage for her help, and she sent him a warm smile.

  “It’s my pleasure,” she told him.

  “Bout damn time ye’ woke up,” Thrungrig called, and even though his voice was sharp, he had a giant grin on his face.

  Dorinick laughed at this and waved the dwarf away. “I see they locked ye’ up as well?” he called back.

  Thrungrig grumbled and looked away.

  “Uh-huh,” Dorinick chuckled. “That’s what I thought.” Then the dwarf’s face returned to its usual seriousness, and he looked at me expectantly. “What’s this you say about a mage?”

  “Some strange things have happened since the battle,” I admitted. “First off, we killed the rest of those giants, and we didn’t lose any more dwarves after you went down.” Relief came to the general’s face, and I continued. “Then I went up to the mines and brought the mages and the Warwolves down to the capital, but something must have gone on in the night. No one seems to know what. No giants, but the main water source for the capital is frozen solid with some sort of enchanted ice. And Deli’s gone missing.”

  Dorinick’s eyes flashed. “The wee one?” he asked, and I didn’t miss the genuine concern in his voice.

  I should have known he’d be the guy to learn their names and actually give a shit.

  “That’s the one.” I nodded. “No one saw her go, and there’s no sign of any struggle in her room. Just vanished. Thrungrig and I have been talking it over. I still think there’s someone behind this attack, someone who’s controlling the giants and probably took Deli.”

  Dorinick nodded along as if he was of the same mind. “Aye. No sense in it otherwise. So you two are fixin’ to scout the northern lands for the girl?”

  “Not exactly,” I said and looked over to see the same greedy expression on Thrungrig’s face.

  “We’re bringin’ the whole damn fleet up there,” the dwarf assured his friend.

  Dorinick’s brows rose clear to his scalp, but he considered the words in silence for a long moment. Then he gave a decisive nod. “Don’t see a better choice. If we sit down here, they’ll just keep comin’. That much we know.”

  “Exactly,” I said. “Plus, Deli’s not gonna just ride in on some giant’s shoulder one day, and I’m not feeling particularly patient either way.”

  Dorinick gave a grunt of approval and looked to his friend with the sling on his leg. He cocked an eyebrow. “And you think you’re hoofin’ it through that pass on that leg, then?” he asked the dwarf.

  Thrungrig looked insulted and propped himself up in the bed. “The hell I need a leg for? I’m hitchin’ a ride on that contraption, you mark me.”

  I chuckled at the gleam in the dwarf’s eye. “So, you like Bobbie?” I asked him.

  “Ohhh, I like Bobbie,” he said with a devilish grin. “A dwarf wasn’t meant to plod about on a horse, no sir. I see it now.” He wagged his finger as he spoke, and the amount of conviction in his voice made me laugh outright.

  Dorinick gave a nod of hearty agreement as well, so I dropped my hands decisively to my knees.

  “Well, that settles it,” I said with a grin to each dwarf. “I’m gonna have to get to work the second these giants are done with. If you like it now, just wait until you’re in the driver’s seat.”

  “I look forward to it,” Thrungrig growled, but a gentle cough next to me quieted the conversation.

  Shoshanne looked at me apologetically. “I think your plan is a good one, Mason, but I don’t think Dorinick should be going anywhere right now. He still has a lot of healing to do.”

  Dorinick looked ready to argue the point, but I wasn’t about to second guess the young healer. In the short time I’d known Shoshanne, she had more than proved she knew what she was doing.

  “How soon can he be up?” I asked the Aer Mage.

  She looked the dwarf over for a minute with her lips pursed in thought. Then she turned her warm eyes to me. “You can have him in the morning, but no sooner. And I’ll have to look after the bandage during the journey.”

  I felt my gut clench lightly as she spoke and gave her a gentle smile. “I don’t know if you should come, Shoshanne,” I admitted. “We don’t know what the conditions will be, and if anything happened to you--”

  “I can understand that,” she interrupted, “but I’ve been talking with Aurora, and I think I can help in the battle.” Her eyes had a familiar and sexy challenge in them as she spoke, and I was beginning to realize I was powerless against it.

  I ground my jaw and willed myself to ignore it. “How?” I asked.

  “Aurora said the giants need to be distracted,” the Aer Mage said as a smile came to her face. “Why should it be left only to the dwarves? The snow is light, and I can use my wind to throw it anywhere I want. I could even blind them with it and--”

  She was probably about to say something even more awesome, but I pulled her in for a kiss before she could get to it. Her lips were sweet like vanilla, and she let me get a taste of her for as long as I wanted as my hand knotted in her curls. When I let her go, she was glowing from head to toe, and she quickly brought her hands to her cheeks.

  “So, I’m coming with you guys?” she asked with a chuckle.

  “Oh, you’re coming,” I laughed and sent her a dirty wink.

  The woman gasped and slapped my arm in mock insult, and I heard Dorinick give a hearty cough beside us.

  “Yes well,” he said with a pointed look, “perhaps we should get on with the healing, yeah? I wanna get the hell out of this bed as much as you’d like to get in it.”

  “Oh shit,” I snorted. I hadn’t expected the dwarf to match me in my filthy humor, but I added it to the list of things I respected about the guy. “Alright, alright, I’m gonna make myself scarce.”

  I rose and shook the general’s hand, and I could tell his strength was already returning. Then I joined Cayla and Thrungrig.

  “You listen to Shoshanne, and you’ve got a good chance of getting out of bed as well,” I told the dwarf, but he just waved me off with a chuckle.

  “Speaking of which,” Shoshanne said, and she came over. The caramel beauty sent a sly glance to the silver robed dwarves who drifted around the room before she silently disassembled the sling that locked Thrungrig’s leg in place.

  The dwarf’s eyes bulged as a dreamy sort of smile came to his face, and he looked at Shoshanne as if she was a saint. “Oh, I’ll do any damn thing ye’ ask of me, miss,” he assured her.

  “Good,” she returned with a smile. “Don’t move from that bed.”

  Thrungrig nodded and settled in, and I rolled my eyes.

  Once she returned to Dorinick, I leaned close to the dwarf. “Better listen to her,” I whispered. “She’s got a tea that’ll knock you flat on your ass.”

  Then I turned to lead Cayla out of the infirmary and left the dwarf to himself.

  “She’s such a love,” the princess sighed once we were back in the gilded hallway.

  “Yeah she is,” I agreed, but some
thing in the tone of the woman’s voice made me curious. “Hey, after I left the mines, did you two … ”

  “No, unfortunately,” she giggled and looped her arm in mine. “Some guy showed up and rudely insisted everyone jump to attention.” She sent me a coy smile, and my imagination ran in about ten directions at once.

  “Well, that’s a damn shame,” I laughed. “Next time, just tie him down and teach him a lesson.”

  “I’ll do that,” she purred, and I couldn’t resist the heat in her eyes.

  I hooked the slender woman under her ass and lifted her up so her long legs wrapped around me. Then I pinned her against the wall behind a giant dwarven sculpture and delved my tongue between her lips. She let out a soft moan and nipped at my lip with her teeth, but then she pushed me gently away.

  Her blue eyes had a lusty cast to them, and I was about to move in for another taste when she softly said, “Patience.”

  I groaned and pinned her a little more forcefully against the wall.

  The princess chuckled and dragged her slender fingers along my neck.

  “I talked to Aurora about the room she got for us,” she said, and a sparkle came to her eyes. “I hear the bed is big enough for four.”

  I swallowed as I caught on. “Is it?” I asked, and I reluctantly let her loose again.

  She chuckled as her feet found the ground and nodded to me. “Mmhmm,” she purred. “And I’m in charge of making sure you make it there on time tonight. So, you better finish whatever it is you’re up to today.”

  With that, the princess sauntered down the hall, and the sway of her hips lured me to follow. I took a deep breath and gave my beard a thorough scruffing to get my blood moving in a more productive direction before I followed her with those thigh high boots into the entrance hall.

  Haragh and Aurora stood near the large staircase and were talking with a pair of dwarves. They turned when they saw us, and the half-elf looked much less worried than when I last saw her.

  “How’s Dorinick?” Haragh asked up front.

  “Awake,” I assured him. “He’ll be up by the morning, and Thrungrig’s fixing to join him.”

  “Good,” the half-ogre said with a grin. “Most of the mages are getting ready to train with Aurora, and the rest are just finishing up the thawing.”

  “You got it sorted?” I asked the half-elf, and she rolled her eyes.

  “Of course we did,” she chuckled. “You brought me twenty Ignis Mages. I don’t care what kind of ice it is, it doesn’t stand a chance against twenty of us.”

  “I’m counting on it,” I told her. “We’re moving out in the morning.”

  “Really?” she asked with sparkling eyes. “What’s the plan?”

  I filled them in on the conversation I had with the dwarves in the infirmary, and the two were wholly on board, although the two dwarves who listened next to us looked bewildered by the plan.

  Aurora noticed their expressions and turned to introduce them.

  “This is Norig and Jaka,” she explained. “They train the soldiers, and they’re gonna let us use their training field to get the mages ready.”

  “Thank you,” I said and shook each of their hands. “That’s incredibly helpful.”

  “It’s nothing,” Norig insisted, but his eyes were still wide. “You say you’re going through the northern pass?”

  “That’s right,” I replied. “The general doesn’t see much sense in sitting around here waiting for another attack. We need our troops ready by the morning.”

  “Then we should get right to the training,” Jaka said and motioned for us to follow as he led the way toward another side hall. “I saw your mages at the battle last night. If you get these new ones to coordinate as well as they did, then I believe you really have a chance of ending this once and for all.”

  “You fought with us last night?” I asked, and the dwarf nodded enthusiastically.

  “Oh yes, we both did,” Jaka said proudly. “My wife thanks you for your service, too. She was certain I’d be lying dead in a field by now.”

  “Well, I thank you both for your service,” I told him honestly. “You and your troops impressed the hell out of me last night. Will you be joining us in the north?”

  “If that’s where the battle’s at, then I sure will,” Norig said as we came to a heavy steel door. “Wouldn’t miss it.”

  The dwarves used their backs to open the giant door, and on the other side was a large field enclosed in high stone walls. It reminded me of a football field, but it didn’t have any paint or grass. Instead, it was made of finely ground gravel, and the top most ridge of the wall was entirely embedded with rubies.

  “Will this do?” Jaka asked, and I couldn’t believe it was even a question.

  I cleared my throat and tried not to gape at the pristine place. “Yeah, it’ll do,” I said and raised my eyebrows to the half-ogre next to me.

  Haragh returned the gesture before he shook his head and said, “I’ll just go get the mages and uh … bring ‘em here.”

  I chuckled as he left, and then I followed Aurora to the center of the field.

  She and the dwarves worked together to arrange logs and large targets around the field, and I used my Terra magic to move the heavy boulders that flanked the four entrances to the field. The half-elf instructed me on where they should go, and I quickly realized they were the stand-ins for the giants.

  A few minutes after we’d finished setting up the training field, all of the mages filed in through the steel doors, and Aurora called Mina over to give the young mage her instructions. Then the two of them split the mages into groups, and I was assigned to the Terra Mages.

  Pindor waved at me from the middle of the crowd, and I motioned for him to join me. His grin stretched from ear to ear when I welcomed him with a clap on the shoulder.

  “Wanna give a demo?” I asked, but I already knew he’d only nod eagerly.

  He did.

  “Good.” I grinned, and then I turned to the mages who stood at the ready. “Now, last night I was the only Terra Mage out there, but it gave me a real good sense of how badly I need you guys,” I told them outright. “We’re gonna be running offense and defense, but we need to try and hone our work so we don’t interfere with the Ignis Mages. They’re the ones who are gonna finish the giants off. You’ve all been filled in on the issue with the ice they spit out, right?”

  The mages nodded, and I was pleased to see I had their complete attention.

  “Good. Now, I’ve been thinking over it, and we might have the best chance if we use our circuits, so Pindor and I are gonna give you a demo, and then we’ll break up and get to practicing.” I made Pindor walk about twenty feet away, and then I called out to him. “I want you to join me in a circuit, and see if you can mirror what I do,” I hollered, and he sent me a thumbs up.

  I let my magic spark to the surface and felt the young mage join me as I did. His strength caught me off guard again, and I was glad I’d chosen him for the demonstration, because I was curious what the kid could deliver these days. Without giving any visual clues, I bolted to the right and scaled a pile of logs, before I came down onto the gravel and drove my fist into the ground. Pindor mirrored me with nearly perfect reflexes, and as his fist connected with the gravel, a trench ripped the center of the field clean apart in a matter of seconds. It was twice as wide as the ones I’d created the night before, and I grinned to the young mage whose eyes bulged out of his head at the sight of it. Clearly, he didn’t know how strong he’d gotten either. I sent him a wink, and by the time I stood up, the Terra Mages had already begun talking excitedly, and most had chosen their pairs.

  “I want you to practice this with everything,” I told them. “Your walls, your trenches, boulders, everything. Use your circuits to read one another and move like one, but remember to stay aware of your surroundings. The Ignis Mages will be relying on you not to drop them ten feet down.”

  The mages chuckled and went to work, and I turned to see Norig an
d Jaka standing pale with their jaws dropped beside the gouge I’d ripped through their field.

  I gave them an apologetic smile. “Uh … don’t worry,” I said, and I quickly closed the trench up. “We’ll return it exactly how we found it.”

  They looked at me blankly, but eventually they nodded.

  Across the field, I could see the Ignis Mages dart over and around the obstacles in the training field, and my eye snapped to a flame that arched at least thirty feet into the sky. I’d never even seen Aurora make a flame so big, and I quickly sought out the mage it’d come from.

  Kurna, the same brawny mage who’d driven the Warwolf with Pindor, wiped the sweat from his brow and turned to speak with the half-elf.

  I grinned. “This is going to be fucking epic,” I sighed, and Haragh chuckled over my shoulder.

  “He’s somethin’ huh?” the half-ogre asked. “I’ve known him since he started at the Order. You should see what he can do with an orb of fire.”

  I turned and sent him an eager smile. “Oh, I wanna see.”

  We spent the rest of the day going between the Terra and Ignis Mages, and we eventually decided to combine the practice in order to help the mages with their coordination. Several Ignis mages fell into pits, and more than a few Terra mages got lightly burned, but by the time the sun was setting, we’d managed to go at it for a full hour without a single misstep.

  I released the mages to find food and rest once the night brought the more frigid temperatures with it, and I was working with Haragh and Pindor to fix the field when a gilded guard came to deliver a message.

  “Princess Balmier has sent me to inform you,” the guard began, but he looked uncomfortably to the side and cleared his throat before he continued. “To inform you that … you are late for bed.” He was clearly irritated to be sent on this errand, but I thanked him kindly just the same.

  Then I turned to Haragh with a sheepish grin. “So … ” I tried.

  The half-ogre waved me off with a shake of the head. “Go on, get,” he chuckled. “You won’t catch me on the wrong side of that woman’s rifle.”