The Roots of Wrath

by B. T. Narro

  I tried to surprise him by dropping down on him from overhead and striking him with dvinia, but he glanced up at me and punched the air. Dteria struck me in my armored chest. It tossed me tremendously high into the air, the fort shrinking rapidly as pain radiated through my heart.

  With a slight dent in my armor, I let myself slowly cease to rise and begin to fall as I healed my chest. At least from here I was blessed with a view of the whole fort and its surroundings. Rohaer had reached the trenches, putting down planks of wood to get across with ease.

  They needed to be shot and those planks burned, and it seemed as if Byron had given the order to do so and ignore Valinox for now. Our archers rained death on our enemies, killing dozens of them in a matter of seconds. A large fireball I figured came from Remi struck a packed group of them, knocking the wooden plank off the trench as bodies spiraled away from the explosion.

  I wrapped dvinia around my body and slowed as I fell back toward the fort. As I pushed myself forward to descend back on top of Valinox, I witnessed him throwing his hand in Souriff’s direction and striking her with dteria. Her head whipped back as if she’d been struck in the forehead as she flew off the ramparts and down into our fort. Failina had given up on water and obviously decided to risk setting fire to our fort. She hovered above the archers and propelled a jet of fire down at Valinox. I could feel its heat as I soared toward the back of Valinox’s head.

  He punched the air toward Failina, his dteria rippling through her fire and striking her hard enough to send her spiraling deep into the forest. I could see Airinold pushing through our archers in his attempt to get to Valinox. I readied my sword over my head as I came toward Valinox’s back from the other way. As if sensing me, however, he fell flat to avoid me. My body splashed against the ramparts and bounced off. I was about to fall on a few of our men, but I caught myself with dvinia and pulled hard with my mind.

  Floating, I turned to face my enemy. Valinox was looking right at me and threw his hand in my direction. I could only create a rudimentary wall of dvinia with the time given. His spell broke through and struck me in the head.

  I awoke, dazed, with my ears ringing as Charlie pulled me up. “Heal yourself,” he seemed to be telling me.

  It felt like not very much time had passed as I healed my head and shook out my dizziness. Valinox had cleared most of the ramparts by then, with nearly all our archers now running to get away from him. It was because we had no way to defend them any longer. Only Airinold remained in front of the ballista, where Michael still stood with Reuben and Kataleya.

  Airinold, the huge demigod he was, lowered his body and turned his shoulder as Valinox cast at him. The powerful spell looked weak against the former demigod of dteria, Airinold’s resistance holding up. Valinox cast again, and Airinold slid back a few feet toward the ballista. Before he could cover the ground he’d lost, Valinox cast a third time and sent his brother back even farther. Then there was a fourth spell, and Airinold stumbled into Reuben trying to catch him. The demigod was too heavy, and they fell off the ramparts together.

  Valinox marched toward the ballista with his massive mallet up, ready to destroy the weapon in one swing. But that was the least of our problems.

  “They’re getting through the palisade!” Byron called out. “We need more arrows and fire.”

  Leon called out a reply, and I saw him standing on the ground near me. “Aliana, with me. Jon, you distract Valinox until the other demigods are able to help. Archers, back to your post now! Do not let them get through the palisade no matter what!”

  Kataleya showed off her power with a huge blast of water, but Valinox seemed to barely put any effort into blocking it with a shell of dteria. The water splashed off and rained down on many of us below. She gave up as Michael pulled her out of the way.

  “If he wants the ballista so badly,” Michael said, “let him have it!” He fired the huge bolt at Valinox.

  The demigod made a thick wall of dteria. The bolt pierced through, but the wall must’ve taken most of its speed away because although it struck Valinox with a loud sound of metal clanking, it did not pierce his armor. At least the force was enough to knock him back a few feet and onto his rear. I came down on top of Valinox while driving the tip of my sword at his face.

  The bastard was quick, though, rolling out of the way. My weapon got jammed between the planks of wood that made up the walkway of the ramparts. I gave it two good yanks, but I couldn’t get it out.

  Seeing Valinox about to cast at me while lying on his back, I didn’t bother trying to block him. Instead I fired my own cluster of dvinia at his face. I struck him in the nose, blood spurting out, and sent him rolling off the ramparts while he got me in the stomach. My Valaer steel absorbed most of the blow—the normal chainmail under my armor helped as well—but it still sent me over the wall.

  I caught myself in the air and tossed myself with my mind so I would land on the ramparts again. I witnessed Valinox just below me smashing one soldier with his mallet and then another, shattering their bones through their leather armor.

  Airinold rushed him and tried to block an attack with his sword, but the mallet was too powerful. It visibly broke Airinold’s arm as it went through his blade and struck him. Failina had returned, her face bruised and bloody. She landed in front of Airinold and drenched Valinox in fire, but he protected himself with dteria.

  At least it gave Charlie enough time to sneak up close enough and begin turning Valinox’s armor into liquid with his outstretched hand. It took a while for Valinox to notice that Failina was only distracting him as he looked down in shock at his armor melting away. I thought he would turn and go after Charlie, so I landed in front of our metal mage, but instead Valinox struck Failina in the mouth with a blast of dteria—her teeth shattering as she spun away and seemed to be unconscious.

  Valinox then appeared to notice something I hadn’t.

  Michael almost had another bolt loaded in the ballista. He swore loudly as he saw Valinox look up at him. Valinox flew up and landed right in front of him, the entirety of his armor left behind as a silver puddle.

  “Now, Hadley!” Byron yelled.

  Hadley chucked a curse stone at Valinox and ripped the curse out as the stone hit the ramparts at his feet. Valinox looked down at it, then up at Hadley with a wicked grin.

  “Think I need sorcery to destroy all of you?” Valinox said. “You’ve just made it even easier for me.”

  Leon bravely rushed him from behind as Michael—far more nervously—readied his sword for melee combat. I ran to the ramp to get up there myself, using my two legs for once.

  The mana break curse might’ve made it easier for Valinox to kill us, like he claimed, but it was our only chance of getting through his defenses. He had dismantled our entire defense on his own. The curse should have been used as soon as he landed on the ramparts, but we had underestimated him.

  Michael attacked as Leon arrived on Valinox’s other side. Valinox turned to face both of them as best he could, his back to the spiked wall. He blocked Leon and dodged Michael, then kicked Leon away as Michael attacked again.

  Valinox grabbed the hilt of Michael’s sword with one hand and swung his hammer with the other. My friend barely got his arm down in time to block it as it collided with his ribs, but I was certain it still broke his bones as I heard a sickening crack, sending Michael tumbling over the wall.

  When I made it up to the ramparts, I could see Rohaer was in the process of destroying the palisade as they held up shields to block our arrows and fireballs. Michael lay between them and our fortress, looking like he wasn’t able to move.

  “Help!” I heard Callie shriek. “They are trying to kill the king!”

  It couldn’t have come at a worse time.

  A glance over my shoulder showed me the king’s guards on the ground with blood around them, but I couldn’t see into his tent to know what was happening. At least I didn’t see Rick among the injured or dead.

  Souriff still hadn�
�t gotten up, and now Airinold held his badly broken arm as he crouched over Failina, who, like Souriff, also didn’t seem to be moving.

  Leon engaged Valinox on his own as I tried to get there. He somehow outmaneuvered the demigod and managed to stab Valinox in the leg, but Valinox aggressively and without regard for his own defense used the chance to slam Leon with his mallet. There was another gruesome crack as it hit Leon’s side and he tumbled over the wall in the same fashion that Michael had.

  I couldn’t decide between attempting to engage Valinox, going to the king’s aid, or attempting to get Michael and Leon out of the path of our incoming enemies before they were certainly killed. I was compelled to help the king because of my oath, but I knew that he—along with the rest of us—would likely die if we didn’t stop Rohaer’s invasion.

  With his mallet, Valinox struck one of the spiked tree trunks that made up the wall of our fort, knocking it loose from the others and causing part of the walkway of the ramparts to dip as if it would soon collapse. I would deal with him quickly, get to my comrades, then help the king. I was about to rush him to prevent him from destroying more when something stopped me.

  “Fire!” Byron ordered, and a slew of arrows came from the other side of the ramparts. A few embedded themselves in Valinox’s unprotected body. He didn’t seem to be in pain as he yelled in anger.

  Showing his teeth like an animal, he began pulling arrows out as he hopped off the ramparts, finally.

  With the curse still disabling mana around here, I jumped over the wall and rushed toward Michael and Leon on foot. Michael seemed to have one side that wasn’t injured, his right. He stood guard over Leon with an unsteady stance as Valinox charged at the both of them, arrows sticking out of his body.

  I ran after Valinox and soon felt that I could use mana again. But so could he. Valinox put up a wall of dteria that caught a few arrows fired from our archers retaking their positions on the eastern ramparts. Then a massive bolt from the ballista drove into the ground just behind the demigod, startling me. I looked up to see Reuben behind it and cursing himself for his poor aim.

  “At the army!” I heard Byron yell. It turned my attention to where parts of the palisade had broken down completely and enemy sorcerers began streaming through.

  Michael tried to push Valinox away with wind, but Valinox deflected it with dteria. Lifting his mallet overhead, Valinox rushed Michael, who looked ready to defend himself and Leon from the attack. But it wasn’t necessary as Leon, seemingly unable to get up from the ground, blasted Valinox with a fireball. Valinox must’ve thought Leon was too injured to cast, as he looked to be having trouble breathing.

  The force of the fireball somersaulted Valinox’s arrow-filled body backward toward me as he left a trail of steam behind. I thrust myself at him with a lift of dvinia and descended upon him with my sword.

  Something struck me midair hard enough to hurl me into the wall of the fortress, dislocating my shoulder from the extreme impact. One of Rohaer’s dark mages, no doubt. They were close!

  I healed myself as I ran toward Michael and Leon. They limped in my direction, moments away from a stampede of sorcerers and soldiers about to trample them. I hurled myself over and landed near them. “I’m getting you both out of here at the same time, but you have to cover me!”

  They turned and made a barrier of wind and water respectively. Sorcery, mostly in the form of dteria, along with a few fireballs, slammed into their walls as I wrapped my arms around their injured torsos, feeling bumps of broken bones where skin should be smooth.

  Both screamed in agony as I clutched them tightly and hurled myself back into the fortress. I had to use just about all the strength I could muster to get the three of us over the wall, and I didn’t have it in me to ease our landing in the slightest bit. We slammed down among our troops, Leon and Michael screaming in pain.

  I looked around for my peers and found none of them here. The only minor victory we could claim was that Valinox was probably too injured to continue the fight for a while after absorbing many arrows and Leon’s fireball, but I saw signs of Rohaer having reached the wall as fire roared up over the edge from below, forcing back our archers. We needed casters there to protect them.

  I healed Leon first. It took a precious whole minute to mend his broken bones and the other damage to his organs. Then I started on Michael; all the while we heard a woman yelling for help from the king’s tent. I wondered if it was the queen.

  “Jon,” Leon was telling me as I healed. “See what’s happening in the king’s tent. Michael, you and I have to stop them from burning down the walls at all costs.”

  “Got it,” I said as Michael and Leon hurried toward the ramp.

  A few more men than before lay dead near the opening of the king’s tent, while others nearby were in the midst of a sword combat. Unable to recognize who fought to protect his majesty and who didn’t, I hurled myself between all of them, knocking over a number in the process and flying into the tent.

  A crowded brawl like in a tavern was the confusing scene before me. Many wounded lay against the sides of the tent, awkwardly attempting to stop their bleeding by themselves as their backs pulled on the fabric and stretched the roof.

  Screams filled the air, too many for me to make out anything in particular. There was little room to draw swords, many of the soldiers brawling with their fists or wrestling on the ground. I heard the sound of water on the far end of the tent and noticed splashing above many heads in the way.

  “Kataleya?” I yelled as I started to push through.

  “Stop the healer!” someone called, and soon many turned my way.

  It then became clear how outmatched the king’s men were when at least a dozen men split off from beating our soldiers senseless to charge me. I charged right back at them with a barrier of dvinia around me. I plowed through men and overturned furniture as loyal soldiers to his majesty rejoined the fray. It didn’t take long to reach the other side of the tent, where I witnessed Kataleya and Hadley standing in front of the royal family.

  Callie was desperately in need of healing as she sat against the corner of the tent. Her mother and father held their hands over her neck as blood seeped out. They all faced the same man, Kataleya’s brother, who looked to be having trouble standing as he crouched on one knee and his chest heaved for breath.

  He pushed himself up as he saw me and picked up a bloody sword from the ground. No doubt the weapon had been used to cut Callie’s throat when she had defended her father against him. Rather than attack me, he turned and cut a deep tear across the wall of the tent. Then he hopped out.

  “Jon, look out!” Hadley warned.

  I turned and jumped away from two men trying to end my life with their swords. Like everyone else in this tent, they had on a blue tabard of Lycast. But they were not our men.

  Kataleya blasted one back with water as I finished off the other with my sword. When the one she had struck got up, he turned and fled out of the tent. It seemed to start a trend of them giving up, as many other soldiers ran out after him. Soon all that were left were the men who had attempted to defend the king, and many showed life-threatening injuries.

  I started to heal Callie. The cut across the side of her neck was deep. I was certain she would’ve bled out soon without my intervention.

  “What happened?” I asked. Perhaps the answer would tell me if Alecott would soon make another attempt on the king’s life.

  “I rushed in as soon as I heard the princess scream,” Hadley said. “Kataleya’s brother had already gotten through the guards.”

  “How?”

  “With dteria,” Hadley said.

  So he’s another goddamn dark mage.

  I finished healing Callie and glanced at Kataleya. She watched the opening in the tent as if expecting her brother to come back at any moment.

  “I tried to stop him,” Callie said, holding up her burned hand that I had failed to notice. “But he’s very powerful. He suspended me with dteria and
cut my neck. He would’ve killed my father had Hadley not arrived.”

  I healed her hands as Hadley seemed to be looking around for something. She marched over and picked up one feather of Gourfist.

  “I had to use one along with Valinox’s blood just to stop Alecott,” she said. “I have feathers left, but no blood. They won’t be any good without more of it.”

  “Your curse stopped his dteria?” I asked.

  “It just weakened him. He tried to finish what he started, but Kataleya came to our aid.”

  Just about everyone else in the tent had made their way over to us by now. I could see many more needed healing, but there wasn’t time. “I can only heal those who are about to die,” I said, pushing through those who had walked over because they would all clearly live.

  There were two men nearly passed out from blood loss. One was Rick. I closed his many deep cuts and repaired his internal damage.

  “Thanks, Jon,” he said.

  “You must hurry back to the fray as soon as you’re done,” the king told me as I started healing the other.

  “I will guard the royal family and be ready to call for help,” Kataleya said. It was the first time I had heard her speak during this whole ordeal. I figured she was just as shocked as the rest of us at finding out her brother was a dark mage.

  At least I hoped she was shocked. If not, then that meant something even worse than her brother betraying us.

  First her cousin, now this.

  I left the tent and glanced around.

  “Oh god,” I muttered in horror.

  We were about to have a lot more to worry about than an attempt on the king’s life, unless I could do something about it.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  With the mana break curse no longer hanging in the air over the eastern ramparts, we might’ve been able to hold off Rohaer, but they had climbed up onto our ramparts by then. Davon stood in the middle of the walkway, heavily guarded by sorcerers in metal armor. It appeared that nearly all of our archers had given up, and I saw why as I charged in.