Stealing Sorcery

by Andrew Rowe

  “You wouldn’t believe the number of mornings I’ve had that thought go through my mind.”

  “You’re right, I wouldn’t believe you had that many thoughts.”

  “Ouch.” Landen slapped him on the shoulder affectionately, chuckling. “What’s that for, anyway?”

  “I don’t really want to talk about it right now.”

  “Fair. Not like we’ve got a lot of time – now that you’re here, I think we’re going to get started shortly.”

  Velas leaned back against the stone wall of the outside of the coliseum, watching the exchange with an amused grin. “If you two are done flirting, maybe we can get back to planning?”

  Landen shot a glance at Velas. “I thought you enjoyed watching.”

  “I do, but now isn’t exactly the best time.” She folded her arms. “Somebody want to fill Sal in?”

  The rest of the platoon glanced around at each other. There were no volunteers.

  Velas rolled her eyes. “Fine, I’ll do it. This one is pretty simple, but it’s going to be a huge pain. Once we get in there, they’re going to hand us seven flags, as well as stands for each of them. We’ll have seven minutes to set them up on our half of the arena.”

  Landen walked over to the wall, leaning up against it next to Velas. “Platoon 1 will be doing the same thing on their side at the same time. We’ll be able to see each other, so it’s not a stealth game. Once the seven minutes are up, the goal is to capture or destroy the other team’s flags. We’ll have a spot on the far side of our end where we can drop off anything we captured.”

  “Oh, sure, now you want to talk,” Velas elbowed Landen in the ribs and he returned the gesture. “Anyway, captures are two points, destroying an enemy flag is worth one point. We’ll only have seven minutes to capture or destroy as many flags as possible – while they’re trying to do the same to our flags.”

  “And we can put our flags anywhere on our side of the arena?”

  Velas nodded. “Yeah. If we put them all toward the back, they’ll be harder to hit from a distance, but clustering them together means it would be easier to snag more than one at a time.”

  “One more pretty big snag.” Landen folded his hands in front of him. “If you hit anyone with an attack or a spell – on your own team or the other team – you lose one or more points. Of course, if you throw yourself in the way of an attack and get hit by it, that’s on you. Also, you lose one point if you destroy one of your own flags.”

  Taelien scratched his chin. “How do they determine how many points you lose from hitting someone?”

  Velas’ eyes narrowed dangerously. “Don’t even think about it, Sal. We’ll all have barriers on – you’re not going to be able to take someone out of the competition with the sacrifice of a single point.”

  The swordsman nodded in reply. “I’d rather not do something underhanded like that anyway, but it was worth considering – especially since they might try it on us.”

  “Uh-huh.” Velas glanced at Landen. “Am I forgetting anything?”

  “Not really. We just need a solid plan – they have a lot more ranged firepower than we do.”

  Terras, Keldyn, and Wandering War all on one platoon – yeah, they’ve got us beaten at range. No question. I don’t even know how we could defend against that.

  Taelien pondered for a moment, folding his hands together. “Can we move our flags after the match starts?”

  “Yep. Already planning to have our defenders do that – it’s probably the only chance we have at keeping any of our flag safe.” Velas pointed at Asphodel. “She’s in charge of coordinating the defenders.”

  “I take it the three of us are running offense, then?”

  “Actually, we’re not quite settled on that. Is that the Sae’kes or your fake?”

  He tapped the sword on his left side. “The real one. You want me to use it?”

  Velas nodded. “You can cut through spells with it, yeah?”

  The swordsman grinned. “I don’t need a special sword for that.”

  “But you’re better with it.” Landen pointed at the sacred weapon. “I’ve seen you train – you react faster when you’re holding it.”

  “And I doubt you can cut through any spell you want with an ordinary sword.” Velas tilted her head downward. “Fire, yeah, I’ve seen that. You’re a flame sorcerer. But what about Keldyn’s conjured blades, or Terras’ lightning?”

  “Conjured swords might be tricky,” Taelien admitted. “I don’t think they’re made of metal, so I probably can’t just annihilate them with a tap. The Sae’kes would be better for breaking those, sure.” He scratched his chin. “As for lightning, uh, you’re probably on your own there. Flattered you’d think of me as a counter to that, but even if I could split it, I’m not fast enough.”

  Landen pressed his hands to his cheeks in mock shock. “I must be dreaming. Did you just admit you couldn’t do something?”

  Velas pinched Landen’s arm. “Nope, guess he’s just finally cracked.”

  “Hey, I’m not that bad. I admit my weaknesses all the time.” Taelien folded his arms.

  The other two just stared at him silently.

  The swordsman sighed. “Okay, fine. I might like to brag a little. Can we move on?”

  Landen laughed. “Just giving you a hard time, Sal. Okay, no parrying lightning. But you think you can handle Keldyn’s sword?”

  “Please tell me that’s a euphemism,” Velas winked at Landen.

  Taelien let out a sigh, choosing his words deliberately. “I can break any sorcerous weapons he conjures if I use the Sae’kes.”

  “You could at least try to play along,” Velas complained.

  “But I don’t think I should use the Sae’kes at all,” Taelien continued, ignoring Velas’ insinuations. “First, it’s dangerous. And second, I’d be concerned they’ll call it cheating.”

  “Doubt the latter,” Landen clasped his hands together in front of him. “You’ve spent a lot of time training with it. I’d say being able to use the sword is a legitimate part of your skill set. As for the former, well, be careful?”

  “Gonna have to agree with Lan on this one.” Velas stepped forward and tapped the sword on the pommel. She made a perplexed expression after she took her hand away, stepping back and shaking her head.

  “Overwhelmed by the sheer power of my sword?” Taelien chuckled.

  Velas was uncharacteristically silent, tilting her head away.

  Well, that wasn’t weird or anything.

  “I’ll, uh, consider using it. But you should put me on offense either way – I’m resh at blocking.”

  “We know,” Landen replied with a nod.

  “Thanks for the support. You’re just a font of emotional validation today.”

  “Glad to be of service. Anyway, the real question is where we put Vel.”

  Velas glanced back, nodding, but maintaining a distracted expression. “Yeah. After all, I’m the fastest, the strongest, and the most beautiful.”

  Landen glanced at her and gave a scoffing chuckle. “Of a team consisting solely of yourself, maybe.”

  “She’s got a point,” Taelien noted, drawing both of the others to look at him. “One out of three, anyway. She is the fastest. At least at making innuendo.”

  “I – I don’t even know if I should be offended by that.” Velas put a hand over her chest.

  “Probably,” Landen offered helpfully.

  “So, speed. If Velas takes defense, she’d probably be our best bet at keeping a flag safe – maybe even more than one. She’s just vastly more maneuverable than the rest of us.”

  “Although, to be fair, Asphodel can anticipate attacks and just stand where they’re not going to be,” Landen pointed out.

  “That’s going to be less effective against lightning – I think the only real way to defend against Terras is going to be moving too fast for her to target, or finding a location she can’t hit. Are we allowed to leave the arena once the test starts?”
/>   Velas shook her head slowly. “Cute idea, but no.”

  “Probably just have to block the flags with our bodies, then, so she’d have to hit us at the same time as the flags.”

  “That’s what we were planning on.” Velas pointed at Eridus. “I asked Eridus if he could make a shield out of water – he’s a water sorcerer – but apparently he’s more specialized in shaping than calling. Can’t conjure enough for an effective barrier.”

  Barriers, huh?

  Taelien grinned. “I think I have an idea.”

  “Well,” Velas shifted her hands to her hips, “That sounds terrifying.”

  ***

  The crowd in the coliseum was much smaller this time – only a couple dozen paladins and the usual officers and judges.

  “Line up in the center,” Colonel Wyndam ordered, her voice echoing throughout the stadium.

  A broad white chalk line had been marked in the center of the arena, neatly dividing the stadium into halves. The platoons lined up facing each other, awaiting further instructions.

  A team of paladins entered the arena, bringing out seven flags and stands for each team. The flags themselves were nondescript – blue for Platoon 1 and red for Platoon 2 with no significant markings. Taelien was amused that Susan Crimson, who stood across from him, would be fighting against the team with the red flags.

  The flag poles, unfortunately, were wooden – immediately nullifying one portion of Taelien’s plan. The stands were wooden as well.

  Each platoon had seven members remaining, and thus, each was initially handed a single flag. Taelien glanced over the other platoon, noting that The Wandering War was the only member of the opposing team that wasn’t wearing at least half-dozen sigils from the previous contest. Unconsciously, he reached for the red ribbon on his chest.

  “When the first gong rings, you will have seven minutes to position your flags and yourselves. When the second gong rings, you may begin to attempt to capture or destroy the opposing team’s flags. When the third gong rings, the contest is at an end.”

  “Marginal damage to a flag will not constitute destruction, but splitting a flag in half, burning more than a third of the surface, or otherwise significantly harming the flag will be sufficient.”

  Taelien grinned.

  “May the gods watch over you all. Lieutenant, you may begin shielding the candidates.”

  Second Lieutenant Banks began walking from candidate to candidate, casting a single spell. “Dominion of Protection, form a shield to protect this candidate from harm.”

  Interesting – she usually uses an armor spell, not the shield. I suppose she doesn’t want us getting hurt at all here. Probably wise, given how dangerous some of these people are.

  After shielding five candidates, the second lieutenant waved to another paladin, who stepped forward and took her place, shielding the next three. It took two more paladins to ensure all of the candidates were protected.

  Once all fourteen applicants were shielded, Lieutenant Banks turned and saluted the colonel. The gong sounded moments later – and both teams began to run.

  Platoon two headed straight for the back wall of the arena. Taelien split off to the left, drawing the Sae’kes - and jamming it into the stone floor.

  Taelien was pretty sure he heard gasps from the stands.

  I really hope they don’t make me pay for this.

  As five runes burned on the sword’s surface, the translucent aura around the blade disintegrated rock without difficulty. And so, carefully concentrating, Taelien began to dig.

  Extend.

  Reshaping the aura around the Sae’kes was a relatively simple task. In this case, he commanded it into a spear-like shape, rotating the weapon and plunging it downward to burrow deeper into the stone.

  Creating a space with the right dimensions to fit the flag took him just under a minute. He could have worked faster, but that risked making a wider hole if his concentration slipped – and in this case, precision was their greatest defense.

  Condense. The aura contracted back into its normal state around the blade.

  Sheathing his sword and moving to the next spot took him several more seconds, while Landen moved to carefully fit the flag into the hole that Taelien had created.

  As Taelien began repeating the process to make a second hole, he watched Landen carefully wrapping the flag itself against the wooden shaft to minimize the damage to the cloth while he sheathed it in stone. Making the second hole felt faster, but that may have just been the more rapid pounding within his chest.

  Asphodel moved to bury the second flag, while Landen finished burying the majority of the first flag and slipped the flag stand onto the top of the shaft, upside down.

  Taelien would have preferred to avoid the flag holders entirely and bury the entire flags, but Landen and Velas had been convinced that “putting the flag in the flag holder” was a necessary step in the rules – they just didn’t have to put it on the proper end.

  As he completed his third hole, Taelien glanced at the opposing team’s half of the arena, where he could see Lysen forming domes of ice around his team’s flags.

  Not a bad defense, but we can break it.

  More worrying were the half-dozen golden swords already hovering in the air. Keldyn Andys was holding his right arm out straight, an intense look of concentration on his face.

  Resh. Guess he can make more than one of those at a time.

  “Eridus!” Velas shouted. “Change of plans! You’re on offense with me. Landen, stick with Teshvol.

  Taelien kept moving. He was in the midst of cutting his fourth hole when the gong rang.

  Let’s hope that’s enough.

  Sweeping his sword through the stone, Taelien charged toward the enemy platoon. Golden blades tore through the air toward his four flags that remained exposed.

  Too fast!

  He lurched to the side as he ran, trying to catch the blade with his own, but Keldyn twisted his arm to the side and the golden blade changed its course, arcing around Taelien and continuing toward its targets.

  Cursing, Taelien kept running, heading for the nearest dome of ice – and, as he approached, realizing that there were far more than seven of them. The ice was thick enough to be opaque with an unnatural sapphire sheen.

  He split the first dome open with a forceful swing, but as he recovered from the strike he knew he had met no resistance from a flag within the ice.

  Where did I see the first ones being made? Could they have moved the flags after I saw them?

  He rushed around the shattered dome toward one of the ones he had seen Lysen forming. A golden blade flashed through the air in front of him, forcing him back a step. The pause caused him to lose his momentum, and he noticed Keldyn grinning as he redirected the blade, sending it toward the other side of the arena.

  “Try that again, Andys.” Taelien shifted his path, turning toward the blade sorcerer. He swept his blade through another glacial defense as he walked, but that dome was empty as well.

  A crash of thunder signaled one of Terras’ blasts landing, but Taelien couldn’t see if it had hit home. He continued to walk toward Keldyn, the other man turning toward him.

  “You should have let that sword hit you – it would have cost me a point.” Keldyn turned his arm toward Taelien, another golden blade appearing in the air above him. “I won’t make that mistake now, of course.”

  The blade flashed forward, stopping an inch from Taelien’s throat.

  “Of course, if you cut yourself, it would be your own fault.”

  Taelien stepped forward – not into the blade, but around it – and snapped the fingers of his left hand shut around the blade. His grasp was quick, but careful, avoiding dragging his skin across the edge and triggering the defensive barrier. The golden weapon was solid to the touch, emanating faint warmth, but he could not extend his senses into the blade, indicating that it was not metal.

  Something stirred at the back of his consciousness as he felt the project
ion against his skin.

  “Thanks for the gift. I think I’ll hold onto this for a while.”

  If he tries to move the sword now, he’ll risk cutting my hand and losing a point.

  Taelien winked at Keldyn, sheathing the Sae’kes and turning around. With his right hand free, Taelien grabbed the hilt of the golden blade. It was unnaturally light, but not truly weightless. He twirled it in his hand, searching the battlefield until he found the target he considered the greatest threat – Terras.

  She looked to be in deep concentration, holding her hands skyward.

  Taelien grinned and charged.

  He wasn’t strictly certain that hitting Terras with Keldyn’s weapon would count against Keldyn’s team – but he knew they wouldn’t be sure, either.

  And that meant he was an effective distraction.

  Even as he sped toward Terras, a wall of ice began to manifest in front of him. Jerking to a halt, he turned and spun to see Lysen holding his hands together to make a “V” shape, wisps of frost shimmering around him.

  And, right behind him, Taelien caught a blur of motion –Velas moving with Eridus, taking advantage of his distraction. They landed right next to a dome, Eridus immediately putting his hands against the surface – which shifted from water to ice.

  Velas grabbed the flag from within and jumped. A hail of airborne blades followed her, but a second burst of mid-air motion carried her too quickly for the golden edges to follow.

  As Lysen’s ice continued to form around Taelien, he lashed out with the golden blade, but it proved ineffective against the frost. Awkwardly, he shifted the golden weapon into his left hand and redrew the Sae’kes, hacking a path through the ice as it formed around him.

  Lysen stepped closer, closing his eyes. The ice pushed in closer, leaving no avenues for escape. Gritting his teeth, Taelien relaxed his focus on the blade, allowing its destructive aura to widen. The fifth rune relinquished its light, and then the fourth and third.

  The broader aura lacked the potency to slice stone, but it was more than enough for the ice. The swordsman laid into the ice with rapid strokes, carving broad gashes in the ice as it pressed in around him. He felt frost beginning to form around his ankles and calves, sending a shudder down his spine.