by Dean Cadman
“Don’t let him escape. Send everything you have at him. NOW!” Zedd shouted above the noise. Again the boy simply carried on walking away, as if they were hitting him with nothing more than rotten tomatoes. Zedd couldn’t understand it. Something was wrong here. Why would the boy-mage simply stand there and take all this punishment? His magic reserves would be devastated absorbing all their attacks, and why does he only send weak missiles to attack us in return? Maybe he was simply trying to give his friends time to escape?
Zedd noticed that ever since the boy-mage had started his slow retreat, some of their missiles were now missing their target. They needed to get closer, so every shot would count.
“Cease fire!” Zedd commanded. His men gladly followed his orders. In the short time they had been attacking, most had used well over half of their magic reserves, and were now feeling the effects of using so much, so rapidly. “Everyone, maintain your shields. I want one man on point, firing at the boy every five seconds. When you have fired ten times, switch with another man. We must keep up the pressure while we make some ground on him. Now move!” Zedd commanded his men. His men formed up into a tight line, and they started running towards the boy-mage, with the man on point firing magical-missiles every five seconds as instructed. The boy kept absorbing their shots without apparent effect, but he didn’t seem to be in any rush to escape, simply maintaining his almost casual walking speed away from them.
Only once did they lose sight of the boy-mage when a small crest blocked their view. Zedd expected him to have taken advantage of the momentary lack of incoming fire by increasing his speed, but when they once again could see him clearly, he was no further ahead than his previous walking speed would have carried him. Something strange was going on here, and Zedd needed to figure it out fast.
After another twenty minutes of hard running they had closed the gap to the boy-mage, but nowhere near enough. The path switched back and forth across the mountainside, each time rising higher and higher above them, and the boy-mage was still several levels above them. Zedd needed to catch the boy-mage at a much faster rate, especially if his men were going to be in any fit state to fight once they got within range of the boy. Zedd had been studying the way the mountain path had been constructed. He could clearly see a dip in the path up ahead of the boy-mage, and felt sure they would lose sight of him again for a short while until he later re-emerged further along the path.
“Hold your fire!” Zedd shouted. The man on point ceased firing, and they all came to a stop to await fresh orders from Zedd. “If any man here cannot levitate, raise you hand now,” Zedd said. Three men including Cole raised their hands, which was far better than Zedd had expected. The last thing Zedd wanted, was to be a ferry service for someone else incapable of levitation, but he also understood how exposed they would be in the air, and he also knew he could tap Cole’s magic if he needed it.
“Cole, you’re with me. You two, pair yourselves with someone who can levitate your worthless hides up the mountainside, and make sure you shield them on the way up. When the boy disappears from view again we move fast. I suggest you make it to the path he is on as fast as you can. You wouldn’t want to be still in mid-air when he can see you again,” Zedd said, grinning at the terrified looks on some of his men’s faces. He knew that it took a very powerful mage indeed to be able to levitate and maintain a shield of any kind at the same time, let alone one strong enough to withstand an assault from a mage as powerful as that boy. Zedd sent another couple of weak missiles towards the boy-mage while they waited for him to disappear from view again, not wanting him to become suspicious of their sudden ceasefire. As he approached the part of the path that would conceal him from them, and vice versa, Zedd sent one last missile his way.
“Get ready,” Zedd said watching the boy as he vanished from sight. He waited a few moments longer before issuing the order. “GO!” Zedd shouted, and before anyone else left the floor, he and Cole were on their way.
***
Renn stumbled backwards a little as the magical-missiles intensified in power and numbers. Several had impacted on Lusam’s magical shield, but the vast majority had been harmlessly absorbed by Renn’s blessed shield. They had stood still in the beginning, offering the Empire agents a target they couldn’t refuse, or miss. Lusam had projected his aura just in front of Renn to mask his presence, and their plan seemed to be working even better than they had imagined. They had expected the Empire agents to advance on their position immediately, but instead they had fired hundreds of missiles at them from their current location. A few moments ago the missiles had greatly increased in strength and number, and Renn now struggled to maintain his balance and accuracy intercepting them. A handful of missiles struck Lusam’s magical shield, and he too stumbled a little at the force of their impact.
“We have to start moving, Renn. I can’t absorb many more of those impacts, and if you’re knocked over they will see through our ruse when they spot two auras instead of just one,” Lusam said desperately.
“Aye, lad, you’re right. Let’s see if we can’t make them miss a little. I’m getting a little tired of being a punch bag anyway,” Renn replied as he took another dozen blows in quick succession. They both began their slow careful retreat, making sure to stay close enough to each other so they would appear to be only a single person from down below. Luckily they were still in the dark shadows of the mountain, otherwise their deception would never have worked so well, but they both knew that would change very soon now that the sun was rising fast.
They crested a small mound onto a flat section of path and momentarily lost sight of the Empire agents. Lusam took the opportunity to refine his shield around Renn, putting more power into the parts that had taken most of the strikes so far. Just as he finished the Empire agents once more came into view, and the missile bombardment resumed like clockwork.
“It seems like they want me dead pretty bad,” Lusam said with a nervous laugh.
“Aye, lad, that they do,” Renn replied, bracing himself against the massive impacts. “At least some of their shots are missing us now.”
“I know that’s supposed to make me feel better, but somehow it doesn’t,” Lusam replied with another nervous giggle. Suddenly the bombardment from below stopped and the mountainside fell into an eerie silence.
“Renn, can you see what they’re doing down there?” Lusam asked, still back to back with Renn and unable to see for himself.
“It looks like they’ve finally decided to come after us, lad. They’ve started running towards us,” Renn replied calmly.
“Well, I suppose that was inevitable. I suggest we keep moving, it’s a long way to the cave at this speed,” Lusam said, guiding Renn backwards up the mountain path. A moment later the magical-missiles resumed, but this time only single shots, and evenly spaced by five second intervals.
It continued that way for another twenty minutes, with the Empire agents slowly gaining ground on them. Renn kept Lusam informed on their progress, but neither of them were overly concerned at the speed which they were being caught by the Empire agents. The missiles once again stopped coming, but only for a short time, and were resumed moments later just before they lost sight of the Empire agents again.
“You better take a look at this,” Renn said suddenly. Lusam spun around and looked over his shoulder. What he saw turned his blood cold. The Empire agents were levitating themselves up the mountainside, and were now almost at the same level as they were. Lusam mentally kicked himself for not thinking about that possibility. How could he have been so foolish not to have even considered that they might do that?
“I know you’re weak, but now might be a good time to send a few missiles of your own,” Renn said frantically. Lusam could see eleven agents in total; three groups of two, and five single auras, all levitating towards the path they were now on. Strangely, only the groups of two had shields activated, the other five agents didn’t. Lusam wasted no more time, and sent powerful missiles directly at the five u
nprotected agents. One of his missiles missed completely, impacting the rocks further along the mountainside. Three of his missiles hit their intended targets, each one killing an agent on impact. The final missile also struck an agent, but not before he had created a magic shield around himself. Although the missile didn’t kill him, a moment later he died anyway, as he struck the ground below, unable to re-establish his levitation spell in time.
“Well done, lad, you got another four of them,” Renn said grinning, “I think it’s time we left now though.”
“I think you’re right, let’s get out of here. Stay in front of me, and stay close so I can keep you inside my shield,” Lusam replied, just as the first missile struck his shield with such force it sent him sprawling to the ground.
Chapter Six
Zedd watched as the first missile narrowly missed one of his men, and instead impacted on the mountainside behind them. Then a moment later three missiles found their targets, killing another three of his men. Then a fourth man all but killed himself, when he fell from the air and landed with a sickening crunch on the rocks below, only because he had tried to erect a shield for protection and was unable to reactivate his levitation spell before he hit the ground. Zedd let out a scream of frustration and rage. Frustration that he was surrounded by weak fools, and rage because he considered the men to be his, and no one but he had the right to kill them, least of all this boy. Now he had only six men at his command.
Zedd gathered the few men he had left and started the hunt. It only took a moment to reach the flat part of the path and regain sight of the boy-mage. What he saw enraged him beyond anything he had ever felt in his life. The boy-mage wasn’t alone, the paladin was with him. Suddenly it all made perfect sense. How could he have been so foolish? No one could have survived that amount of magic thrown at them. No one except a paladin, that is. Zedd roared an almost primeval scream of rage towards the boy-mage and paladin, then sent forth his wrath in the form of a series of magical attacks. The first missile struck the boy-mage with such force it actually lifted him clean off his feet and sent him crashing to the ground in a cloud of dust. The paladin must have heard or felt the impact, as he turned around just in time to avoid the second missile hitting him square in the back. Instead he took it cleanly in the centre of his shield and staggered backwards with the force of the impact.
Zedd’s head felt light with the huge amount of magic he had just used against the boy-mage and paladin, but there was no way he was about to let them escape again.
“Fire at will. I want them dead!” Zedd roared at his few remaining men. Each man started to send their own missiles towards the boy-mage and the paladin, who by this time were now back on their feet and fleeing for their lives. There was still maybe a quarter of a mile between the two groups, but they were certainly much closer than they had ever been since leaving the outskirts of Stelgad.
The boy-mage seemed to be protecting the paladin with his magical shield as they both ran for their lives. ‘Foolish,’ thought Zedd, ‘that would only expedite his exhaustion, and play right into his hands.’ He couldn’t believe how many shots the boy-mage had taken, and yet he not only drew breath, he still had the energy to run. ‘If he had been born in the Empire, he would surely have become a member of the Darkseed Elite,’ Zedd thought to himself begrudgingly.
***
Lusam could hardly stand, but he knew he must. He had to, or Renn would die too, and he had also promised Neala that he would return to her alive. I must make it to the safety of the cave, he kept telling himself. Deep down he knew the cave no longer offered any of them much protection. It was now little more than an inconvenience for the Empire agents pursuing them, now they were so close behind them. Once they had passed through the cave, they would once more be able to attack Lusam again at will, except this time he would have to protect Neala and Alexia as well—something he knew he could no longer do.
Renn was now at Lusam’s side, attempting to run backwards whilst blocking as many incoming shots as he could with his shield. It proved quite ineffective, as he found himself stumbling backwards over the many unseen rocks littering the path.
“How are you holding up, lad?” Renn enquired breathlessly.
“I’ve been better,” Lusam replied, just as another two missiles struck his magical shield.
“You’re taking far too many hits, lad, we need to make them miss more. If we don’t, you’ll never make it to the cave alive,” Renn said, almost stumbling over yet another rock.
“I agree with you. Any ideas?” Lusam replied desperately.
“I think so, but you’ll need to be behind me, and shielding us both. Hopefully if my plan works you should have far fewer shots to block.”
“I’m all ears,” Lusam replied.
“Well, we need to see the incoming missiles to be able to avoid them, that’s obvious enough, but me running backwards doesn’t seem to be helping us much, because we are forced into running a straight and predictable path. What we need to be able to do is see the missiles coming and dodge them by zigzagging down this path, that way avoiding being hit by as many as possible,” Renn said. Before Lusam could reply he was struck by three more missiles, and once again Renn found himself lifting him out of the dirt and half-carrying him down the path. Lusam spat out his mouthful of dirt and gave a mirthless laugh.
“How can we run, zigzag, and see what’s coming from behind us in time to dodge it if we are facing forwards?” Lusam asked confused.
“Because of this,” Renn replied, holding out his shield. He spun it over in his hands to reveal the inside of the shield, and Lusam could clearly see an almost mirror-like finish to the metal. “If I use my shield as a mirror, I should be able to see the incoming missiles in plenty of time to guide us in the opposite direction, but you will still need to shield me too, just in case I miss an odd one.”
“Okay, let’s try it. Anything is better than this,” Lusam agreed, taking yet more impacts on his shield. Renn moved in front of Lusam and held up his shield so that he could see what was coming from behind them in its reflection. Almost immediately he saw two missiles heading their way.
“Move left!” Renn shouted, and Lusam complied. Two missiles went flying past harmlessly to their right.
“Nice,” Lusam said, relieved to have dodged at least those two missiles.
“Right!” Renn shouted, and once again Lusam moved in time to avoid being hit. Their new tactics proved so effective that Lusam only had to absorb one impact from the next ten or twelve volleys, and Renn knew the Empire agents would soon also have to change their tactics. Renn had tried to put himself in the position of the enemy leader and knew exactly what he would do in his place, so when it happened, he knew exactly what to do in response. Renn had surmised that the only option left to the Empire agent in command would be to send a whole bunch of missiles at the same time, so as not to leave any room for Lusam and Renn to avoid them. He was right, and with a huge grin of satisfaction on his face he shouted, “Down! Lie down!”
Both of them hit the ground on their stomachs, skidding to a halt as seven missiles flew harmlessly above them. Renn quickly got back up and dragged Lusam with him.
“They won’t like wasting seven shots at a time,” Lusam said, laughing at the imagined faces of their enemies.
“I wouldn’t laugh just yet,” Renn said. “If I’m right, they will send another volley just like that last one, except this time it will be at ground level. Yup, just like that…Down!” This time Renn remained standing until Lusam was on the floor, then he quickly lay across the top of him, with his shield pointing towards the incoming missiles. One missile impacted on Renn’s shield, and six others skimmed the ground, three each side of them. Again Renn was up and hoisting Lusam back to his feet long before the next volley came.
“It won’t take them long to realise that each time we hit the dirt like that, they gain ground on us, and the closer they get, the less time we will have to react,” Renn stated.
�
��What are you suggesting?”
“You’re not going to like it, lad, but I think you’re going to have to absorb one of those seven missiles until we get closer to the cave. I’ll keep watching them. If they start sending single shots again we can dodge them instead. Do you think you can handle a few more shots?” Renn asked.
“I don’t see I have any choice. The cave is another ten minutes away at least, and if we keep stopping, they will be on top of us before we reach it.”
“Okay, lad, let’s try and pick up the pace a little if we can. I know you’re tired, but so are they,” Renn said putting a hand on Lusam’s shoulder for encouragement. Lusam nodded and braced himself for the next impact. He didn’t have to wait long, as another missile impacted on his shield, and another six flew by harmlessly.
Five minutes later Lusam was on the brink of exhaustion, all thoughts except survival long since gone from his mind. He knew they were getting closer to the cave by the vastly increased number of rocks that littered the path all around them, and found himself absent-mindedly wondering how they had all got there. Of course, it was obvious once he thought about it: they had come from the mountainside above. Suddenly he found himself looking up at the rock face to their left, and could clearly see the huge number of unstable rocks perched on the steep sides of the hillside.
“Wait!” he called out. Renn stopped dead in his tracks and turned with concern clearly evident on his face, half-expecting Lusam to have collapsed behind him. “Shield me for a few seconds, I have an idea,” Lusam said. Renn didn’t waste time asking questions, he simply moved behind Lusam and prepared to intercept any incoming missiles. Lusam searched the hillside above them for any loose looking rocks and quickly found a large area that looked suitably unstable. He formed a fireball in his right hand, adjusting the spell in his mind so that it would explode on contact, and sent it hurtling towards the unstable hillside.
