Given the go ahead by his leader, Niklaus prepared his mind. The words of a spell were almost unimportant to a battle mage. Seeing what he needed in his mind, at least for the first try, was more important. Once the words were chosen, later attempts would use his words to instantly find the feeling he had this time.
"Become a griffin," Niklaus ordered using the mythical beast from their legends. A guardian of treasure, no one had ever been known to actually see one. Of course, many said that was because the creatures were so formidable that few rarely lived to tell of the encounter.
Niklaus' body began to shift and he fell forward as his hands became claws with talons and his arms became feathered legs. His vision shifted beyond the change in height from a man. His eye sight was stronger and more vivid than before. Strength flowed through him and wings swung down lazily testing the air.
Voices rose in surprise from the other cadets and wizards. Diplomacy wizards would help protect the healers while he was gone as well as the remaining mages. Now it was his turn to see what a griffin made real could do in the face of this dangerous army.
Lifting into the air, the griffin, with the golden body of a lion and white wings of an eagle, swooped down the hillside drawing several grayvens' black eyes. Two charged towards him. Trying not to worry over the fact that he was new to this form and about to fight beasts raised to be what they were, Niklaus decided that his human mind and battle mage instincts could shift the fight in his favor. It was his hope and, as the griffin met the two grayvens, the battle mage gave his challenge with a cry that rang out across the hills.
Chapter 35- Diplomacy War
The hills hid most of the fighting even from the air as the dragon mages swept in from the northwest. While the units were hidden at first, the sound of their battle already echoed throughout the hills spurring the aerial reinforcements forward near their maximum speeds.
Kel'lor and Cheleya set the pace and those who had been chosen as teams remained together. Katya was just behind the blond dragoness as she echoed Kel'lor's turns. Magnus glanced across at the girl from Kel'lor's shadow and the novice caught his look of concern.
While Katya knew she was the only novice in the class, she didn't want to be babied by the young wizard, though the girl was also uncertain of what she would do in combat. Iris and Arrimus were both only apprentices, but they didn't receive the same looks from the others or worried talk as they tried to decide if it was safe to return to camp. Everyone seemed to worry over taking a novice into an unknown situation. This wasn't a controlled training mission where she could be bailed out by her mentors.
Iris was next youngest, aside from Cheleya; but she and Arrimus had both been to the wall and were at least somewhat battle tested. They didn't receive the same concern, but Katya guessed that their elders might all wish to leave the youngest behind in relative safety. If there was combat with the emperor's forces south of the wall, that meant that there was no such place of true safety. A fortress had appeared south of the wall according to Falconi Martina and the rumors which had made it throughout the school and that was after a force had attacked Castle Windmeer using a portal inside the castle the previous year.
The great wall, known as Northwall, had been circumvented twice now in less than a year and most of the country didn't know it, but those in the school and among those guarding the country knew. Katya almost wished that she was still living outside of Mera in the comfortable ignorance of the farmer's life her brother had taken her from before the tournament.
Shaking her head as she tried to ignore Magnus and her worries, Katya readied her mind to fight if she must. A diplomat wizard was trained to end a conflict before it became deadly, but they were also trained to fight when it couldn't be.
As the final rise began to clear from their view; the battle made Katya gasp. The twelve flyers could see fire shields like a line daring to be crossed by a horde of creatures that made little sense to her mind. There had been pictures and descriptions of the Dark One's forces, but none of those descriptions covered these. Even the veterans were looking at each other perplexed by the enemy; and this was certainly a new enemy. They fought Southwall, so that made them their enemy automatically; but why had they attacked?
The questions of the enemy would weigh on their minds after the battle, should they all live; but no question remained of what they needed to do now.
Kel'lor and Cheleya dropped towards the back of the enemy preparing to bring chaos to their lines as the grayvens sought to do to their comrades. Most of the dragon mages followed suit, even as Katya pulled up looking over the scene.
A disturbance of air beside her as Iris and her purple wings pulled up beside the younger girl alerted Katya to her friend's pause. While they knew that their friends needed their help, the apprentice worried that Katya might not be ready for combat.
"Are you alright?" the green eyes of the taller red haired girl asked with concern.
Nodding, despite feeling anything but alright as she looked on the situation, Katya replied, "You should go on ahead with the others, Iris. I will be fine. I just need a minute to process what I am seeing."
The emerald eyes of the apprentice looked at the war raging below them and responded, "I don't think anyone can ever truly process combat, especially once they are in it. Stay back out of the way, if you don't think that you can fight.
"If you can't commit to what is needed, you'll wind up injured or worse. You don't want anyone to have to save you because you can't fight properly. It's scary so it happens."
The younger girl nodded and watched as Iris hesitated for a moment before diving after the others.
It was strange to Katya's mind that she wasn't feeling fear. Instead, the girl watched the movement of the combatants and she tried to discover what each side what trying to do.
She watched as Kel'lor and Cheleya led the dragon mages over the enemy line. Dragon breath spells caused havoc amongst the enemy army, but shields and natural resistance seemed to prevent much true success.
Panning towards the mage line, she watched as blue shields fended off weapons wielded by powerful arms. The line was no longer a true line as it bent creating a rounded line as the mages tried to pick up the numerous enemies attempting to skirt the edge of their protection. The hills to either side were steep, but the fleet rams often tested the edge leaping up the slopes. Only wizards watching the attempts held containment, but as she watched, Southwall seemed to give ground a step.
Their total numbers weren't that different, the novice noted. It was just how they used them. Battle mages were the only melee combatants so far for Southwall, but the entire force of the enemy appeared willing to attack at any time. Wizards weren't trained to fight the way soldiers and mages were, so they used their magic with distance and relied on the battle mages to act as their shields. In turn, they shielded the mages as well.
It was like witnessing a combination of shield and spear. Even a weapon like a spear could defend when the shields weren't enough.
She watched the black and gray creatures, which would be called grayvens after the battle by the survivors, as they passed over the wizards' defensive wall to land among the novice wizards. A few mages were among them as well, but she watched as her fellow young wizards used defensive spells to try and save their lives. Few used their magic to fight back. They merely hoped to survive even if they needed to huddle into a ball beneath a defensive spell for the duration of the fight.
A griffin fought against two of the grayven circling and diving in to attack. It was a tentative fight as the golden lion faced off against the black panthers. The eagle faced the shrikes valiantly and Katya assumed that Niklaus had figured out how to become a brighter version of the enemy's flyers. Another grayven seemed to be disrupting the others attacking them drawing the attackers off of the novices.
Katya nodded. She had an idea of what to do, but it was dangerous.
"Dragon scales," the novice called on the defensive armor of the dragon mages.
It was better than stone skin, the popular protective spell of the battle mages, since it didn't hamper movement.
With a coating of red scales drawing her clothing into her skin, her armor was thick enough to turn a blade. Protected by the magic, the little blonde dove through the air heading for the enemy forces. She didn't cast dragon breath or hurl fireballs. Her plan wasn't to fight the way the enemy expected as Katya withheld attacking with fire or dragon spells. She hoped to catch them off guard and remain unnoticed until her magic was needed.
Like a swift missile, the girl landed just behind the main force even as she began to hum. It was a diplomacy wizard spell that Katya planned to use. One theory among the wizards practicing diplomacy magic was that they could change an entire war, if they were given the chance. A diplomacy wizard's magic wasn't restrained by line of sight or blocked by shields, but most were willing to follow their roles to remain among the other wizards letting them dictate how combat went.
Her voice began to rise even as Katya's wings remained ready to protect her further. The words made no sense to those who hadn't studied them, but such was their power that only the meaning was felt as the wizard sang her song.
The nearest of the beasts weren't fighting and turned to respond to the sound. A couple hobgoblins looked ready to cut her down, but only for a moment before their hands lowered their weapons and they began to sway with the tune. An ox started to push past the smaller creatures and lifted a massive club. Katya wasn't sure if her armor could take the blow of something so powerful and her wings shifted readying to defend her.
Cheleya had shown her how to harden the wings for either a shield or swung swiftly they could cut through even some armor. The ox wore plate over his chest, arms and thighs. Boots and gauntlets had metal scale designed to resistant cutting blades, but Katya only had her wings... and her song.
She could see it in the monster's eyes as the music lulled him to her will.
Gesturing to the first three under her control, the girl never stopped her song as she pointed for them to attack their comrades. The disruption from the rear as three hobgoblins were cut down by her mind slaves was subtle at first. A ram turned at the feel of blood on his skin and cried out as the ox crushed his skull with the club making even more turn.
While those closest to the four mind slaves first called out to the creatures steadily pushing towards the battle mages' line through their comrades to stop, more soon spotted the girl. Her song was indiscriminate. A ram shook his head a moment before coming to a stop. More hobgoblins screamed trying to drown out her voice, but another stopped and began to swing its cutlass back and forth towards his comrades. Those who tried to fight back risked succumbing to her song, but if they didn't they risked being cut down by their own people.
The ram was directed to stand guard for her. Another ox joined them before Katya began moving along the back of the enemy's forces.
Those who managed to resist her song still had to face the ox and ram. Those who succumbed to her song fought their own men, killing some or being killed in turn. Her bodyguards weren't in control of their bodies in the same way. They were almost filtered as their thinking was fogged by the novice and her magic. With that as a problem, the ram was speared by another of its kind from a distance. It was chanting loudly to counter her words and magic.
Others began to follow suit in an attempt to prevent the wizard from controlling their minds, and it was a good plan if just her voice was at fault for the magic working. The yelling did help and prevented as many from giving in to her will, but even so there were those who suddenly began lashing out at their fellows. Those who forgot to continue screaming against her magic would falter in their defense. Some were cut down and others joined her magic creating chaos amongst the enemy.
When the man with the dark blue skin suddenly appeared before her, the girl was only slightly surprised. She had seen what looked like a blue version of the elves, who had been with Darius, standing on the hill. He was their leader, she thought, and apparently his mind was stronger than those who served him.
The girl felt his magic and noticed his mouth working a counter spell to her own. It was a battle between the two for who controlled the army. Some of those fighting because of her magic suddenly stopped as the spell was broken. Unfortunately their comrades couldn't see the change quick enough and simply cut them down as they tried to regain their minds and understand their surroundings.
Katya used her wings to leap up onto the ox bodyguard's shoulders. She stood using her wings to keep her balance and took command of the creature more directly. The ox's movements became more controlled, though it was Katya's use of a puppeteering spell which made him do her bidding now. She dropped her siren song and made the ox attack the dark elf directly, but two more oxen jumped to protect their leader.
A shield caught the club, while the second struck her guard's shield in turn.
Katya whistled sharply causing the attacking oxen to stall briefly as her magic tore at their minds for just a moment. It was a pause that let her guard strike over the shield killing one of the oxen. Her guard's shield thrust forward knocking the other attacker back into the enemies behind the defender who had been hoping to help stop the girl.
The dark elf had stepped to the side and his magic changed quickly to a new spell. Fire roared towards Katya and her guard. She released her puppet as she sprang into the air. Her wings thrust and used the 'Dragon Gale' as magic made the breeze into a massive gust threatening to topple the dark elf and those closest to him.
Frowning at the girl, the dark elf recovered to cast a new spell at her as she lifted higher into the air. Spears were thrown and Katya used more wind driven by her wings to cast them away with a defense of dragon air magic.
Before the dark elf could finish, however, Katya smiled and looked to the south. It was a change in the left flank of Southwall's line and it was also the direction of Cheleya's attack. Followed by the remainder of her team, the dragon mages sent more dragon breathed fire into the enemy. The elf stumbled as an ox ran into him raising its shield to protect the two of them in the nick of time.
From her vantage point in the air, Katya noted that most of the fighting seemed to be turning in Southwall's favor. Those fighting the battle mages were now losing ground. Her attack and those of the aerial fighters, the dragon mages, had sown chaos into their ranks. Only the power of the oxen and rams prevented a rout. They were still pressuring the battle mages who were fewer now. The fighting had thinned the ranks of both sides, but magic offset the physical size of the enemy they faced. With only the dark elf capable of using magic it seemed, even this army's strength and numbers weren't enough to break an army consisting of half veterans and half novices.
Katya watched as the leader looked around him and signaled a retreat. The sound of a high pitched whistle sent half of the remaining soldiers into a quick retreat the way they had come. With half their forces in retreat, the rest of the line began to give way.
A second whistle came in a quick pattern. The grayvens retreated but attacked the lines of wizards and mages trying to sow discord among their troops as well. Wizards' fire and other spells drove them away, but it was enough to distract Southwall's defenders enough for the remaining enemy to break and retreat after their fellows.
Niklaus raked the grayven along its side with his talons and banked away twisting his body before either his target or the one chasing him could catch the shape changer. This body moved quickly and in surprisingly agile ways despite its size. Luckily, the cadet had also been able to adapt to its abilities quickly as well.
When the monsters suddenly retreated, the boy in griffin form was left unsure of what to do. They struck at the novice line and he thought one of the beasts plucked a young wizard from the ground as well. Worried that the poor novice would be dropped from a great height, Niklaus thought to give chase.
It was a foolhardy endeavor as several of the grayven turned on him to intimidate the griffin. His instincts kicked
in telling him to back off. There was no wisdom to dying for one person when there was little likelihood of his actually saving that person. Some might call his inaction cowardice, but Niklaus couldn't make his wings continue forward.
The flock of grayven disappeared with the army behind the tall hill to the west and the cadet thought to look at what the enemy had left behind.
His breath caught in his chest seeing bodies scattered along the ground. Many were those of the beast army, but Niklaus noticed many who were once human lying on the ground too. They had healers with them and he could only hope that they could save most of the lives of the wounded.
As his adrenaline began to drain, his body began to tell him of aches and pains. He had been fighting off the grayven over and over after trying to keep them from his friends. A couple had attempted to attack the group surrounding the healers, but magic from the ground had been enough to drive their unsupported assault away from the fragile wizards.
The group of novice wizards with the light support of battle mages had been the bigger target and the last victim had been pulled from that line. Niklaus hadn't caught who it had been. All he knew was that someone sporting white had been captured and drawn away in spite of his best efforts.
Landing proved a bit difficult as Niklaus tried to put weight on his two pair of legs only to have his right front give in pain as it sought to support his weight. A cry of pain came from the eagle's beak sounding part bird with the throatier growl of a lion blended into the complaint.
Niklaus let go of the griffin form and found himself on his knees. His right arm had a bloody gash even after changing back to his human body. It was a point of knowledge he hadn't been sure of before, after all the cadet had never willingly wished to hurt himself to find out such a thing.
"Are you all right?" Falcon Elijah asked hurrying over to his student. His hands grasped his shoulders trying to help the boy right himself.
White Hall (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 10) Page 54
