Of all the things he had expected, this one was the least possible. What was Princess Alicia doing here? Wasn’t she supposed to locate the temple where the demon mages were being created? Almost as if his thoughts gave them life, two people emerged from the cover of the forest. They weren’t riding horses, but both of them ran at a speed which astounded him. He’d never seen a person run so fast. Who were they? What else were they capable of?
Vaguely conscious that Baahir was right behind him, he galloped towards Alicia who had clearly seen him. Seeing him appeared to fill her with some purpose, because she turned her horse around to face the creatures chasing them.
“We’ll have to make a stand somewhere, and this is as good a place as any,” she yelled to her companion. “And we have some help now.”
Her companion was grim-faced, and covered with sweat and dirt. And yet, Theodore sensed that he was a man he would want to have by his side in a battle. He took out a dagger, an odd choice for a weapon, especially given the circumstances.
“Should we try these then? Now seems like a good time to test their mettle,” asked the companion.
Alicia took off a similar dagger from her belt. “It’s as good a time as any. Theodore, these are demon mages,” the princess informed him in a calm voice. Sweat ran down her face in rivulets, but he had never seen her look as beautiful as she did now. “Don’t bother trying to kill them. They are dead already. Distract them while Kayleb and I find a way to destroy them. And beware, there is another mage coming in behind them.”
Theodore had trained the princess in the art of war. They fought many practice battles together in the castle courtyard. And it was his implicit trust in her that he obeyed her without question. As the demon mages drew near, Theodore let loose two tornadoes. With a ferocity born of years of practiced magic, the tornadoes spun the demon mages off their path, but could not manage to hold them in their cyclonic grip. The demon mages broke apart the spell without even pausing to do so.
Their magic was indeed formidable. Theodore surveyed the two mages as they ate up the remaining distance. They both wore black robes and tunics. Their faces were identically pale and their hair greasy. The eyes shone a bright red, and the lips were a light shade of blue. Corpses running on demonic magic, that’s what they were.
Far at the edge of the forest, another rider emerged from the shade of the trees. The rider sped towards them at a breakneck speed.
Ignoring the new arrival for the moment, Theodore turned his attention to the demons. “Let’s see what you got,” he yelled. He drew upon the wind surrounding them, causing it to become thick. The demon mages slowed, their faces looking grotesque as they strained to get clear of the spell.
“Freeze them,” he told Baahir.
The water mage understood the edict. Manipulating the moisture present in the thickened air, he froze it into a wall of transparent, solid ice. “That should give them something to think about.” He beamed at Theodore.
Within moments, the demon mages managed to break through the wall of ice. Baahir and Theodore hit them with spell after spell. Theodore made the air spin so much that they were ensnared in a dense cloud of dust. Baahir dropped blocks of ice in their path. Shards of jagged ice flew through the air, and pierced their bodies. Their combined efforts finally managed to slow the demons as they paused to take into account these fresh adversaries.
The counter attack by the demon mages blew Theodore off his feet. He jumped clear of his horse just in time or else the animal would have landed on him. Even though he had heard of their prowess, Theodore was shocked to see a demonstration. If one of these demons could fling him and his horse at a distance of several feet with just a flick of his hand, what else were they capable of doing?
Seeing this, Baahir, Kayleb and Alicia jumped off their horses. The demon mages were bound to attack the animals first and they didn’t have the necessary time or power to shield their mounts. The horses galloped off, as if sensing the mortal danger they were in. As the other rider drew near, she pelted Baahir with a spell, occupying his attention. The two engaged in a battle. The rider jumped off her horse, and Baahir and she were lost in a cloud of dust as they attacked and counterattacked each other.
Theodore, Alicia and Kayleb took on the demon mages. The demons appeared to spend little effort in conjuring a spell. A simple shift of their fingers bombarded the party with magic. Also, they were able to manipulate all elements, and it was almost impossible to tell what they would use next to assault their enemies.
A demon mage weaved a fiery circle around them. The blue flames spread in a wide ring, their flames as tall as a horse. The fire burned and crackled with a vicious intensity but it didn’t stretch beyond its spherical boundary. Its purpose was clear; they were meant to be contained within while the demon mages picked them off one by one.
Theodore took out silver pellets from a pouch. He’d taken years to create and perfect this spell. With a practiced toss of his hand, he threw them towards one of the demon mage. Stray gusts of wind soared and looped, in and around his arms and legs. They froze in place, making the enemy immobile in a half-bent position with his arms tied behind him. “He won’t find this as easy to break.”
Alicia and Kayleb were fighting the other demon. One of Kayleb’s spell caused the earth under the demon’s feet to split and he fell down, but within a moment, he was up again. Baahir jumped into the fiery circle, his magical shield protecting him from the hot flames. Despite that, his robe caught fire. The water mage doused himself with a liberal dose of water and quenched the flames. But he was now exposed to his opponent’s magic.
Theodore joined the fray, giving an opportunity to his friend to create a new shield. Kayleb and he fought side by side, brushing aside spells as they tried to hurt the demon mage. Magically they could do little to harm the creature. It swept aside their spells with flick of its fingers. Fighting the demons was eerie. They made no sound or showed any emotion, but fought with a detached ferocity he had never seen before.
“On the count of three, make him fall,” said Kayleb as he stood by Theodore’s side.
Theodore didn’t turn his gaze away from his enemy. His hands moved with lightening quick speed to deflect the spells the mage was thrusting upon them. Sweat ran down his face and torso. He’d been burned on his hands and legs, and the wounds pulsated with throbbing pain that broke away his concentration and will. If they didn’t do something soon, the demon mages would kill them. They were indefatigable, but Theodore and his friends were not.
“I hope you know what you are doing,” he grunted. “I’m ready.”
“One, two and three,” counted Kayleb.
Theodore let forth an incredibly swift whirlwind at the same exact moment when Kayleb formed a patch of earth to rise right under the demon. The whirlwind hit the demon, and the bump made him stagger. He fell backwards.
With a loud yell, Kayleb jumped on the fallen mage. The dagger slipped through his stomach as easy as knife goes through butter. For the first time, the demon mage screamed. Its wild shrieks were accompanied by erratic spasms of his body. Within a short moment of time, it stopped moving. The ring of fire died a sudden death.
The demon mage was no more.
Theodore turned his attention to the other demon mage. He was fighting Alicia, even though one of his legs was still encased in Theodore’s spell. Frozen to the spot due his leg, he was showering Alicia with rocks that littered the ground. A few of them hit her on her chest, and she fell. A huge rock, the size of a wagon wheel, hovered over her head. It would have dropped, killing her if Baahir hadn’t deflected it with a powerful fountain of water that made it land a few feet away.
Theodore and Kayleb hit the remaining demon mage with everything they had. Calmly he managed to repel their efforts. Baahir joined them as they all assailed him from different sides.
A sudden scream erupted from the demon. While they distracted it with their magical weapons, Alicia had managed to creep behind him. Her dagger was
plunged in his calf. He fell down, howling as his leg turned a deep shade of black. His body shuddered, twitched—and within moments, he died.
All four of them stared at each other, unable to believe that they had succeeded. Kayleb’s left arm was bleeding. Blood ran down a wound in Alicia’s head, and she found it difficult to stand as one of her ankles had twisted. Theodore’s arms were burned. Only Baahir was remarkably unhurt.
Kayleb picked up the two daggers that were undamaged. He walked over to Alicia while Theodore checked on his horse. His animal was breathing its last, neighing in pain. Its front legs were broken. He killed the poor creature with a quick, merciful spell.
Baahir’s opponent was lying in the dirt. Theodore checked on her. She was not a demon, and she was still breathing.
“That other mage is alive,” he reported back. “She appears to be unconscious and is bleeding from her arm. She will survive though.”
“Gave me a good fight, that one,” said Baahir. “I’ll go finish her off.”
“No,” whispered Alicia, holding her hand to the wound on her head. “We don’t hurt those who can’t defend themselves.”
“She would not have accorded you the same courtesy,” growled Kayleb.
“Nonetheless!” Princess Alicia was adamant.
“We will go find the horses then,” Theodore told her. Baahir went with him, and they managed to gather all three horses who had only gone as far as the edge of the nearby forest. They couldn’t find the enemy mage’s horse, and would have to manage with three mounts.
“What were these creatures?” Baahir asked as they led the animals back. “If they were demon mages, and if there are hundreds of more of them as you claim, it would take a lot more of us to destroy them all.”
“We did manage to annihilate them,” said Theodore, thinking about the daggers Alicia and Kayleb carried. What were those weapons, and where had the princess found them? If it wasn’t for those precious, no doubt, magical daggers, all of them would have died at the hands of those demons today. Their power was ferocious, unlimited and unnatural.
Kayleb had bound Alicia’s head with a scarf. She appeared a bit disorientated. “It’s a concussion,” Kayleb whispered. “She needs to rest.”
She tried to stand, but would have fallen if Kayleb hadn’t grabbed her around the waist. “I’m fine.”
Theodore handed Baahir the reins of his gelding. “You will have to go on without us to Iram. Tell King Seve everything; all that transpired in Aba and in this field here. I’m sorry, but I will have to stay with the princess until she is better.”
Baahir mounted his horse, his expression determined. “I’ll do it. As it is, I can’t go back to Aba.”
Theodore handed him a ring he wore on his right hand’s middle finger. “Take this. The king will recognize it is mine. He will listen to you. And thank you, Baahir, you saved the princess’s life today. I will never forget it.”
“We all saved each other,” said Baahir, and with a jaunty salute of his hand, he went off.
Theodore locked his gaze with Kayleb, not sure what the man’s plans were. He appeared determined to stay by the princess’s side. There was something going on there, but this was neither the time nor the place to discuss it.
“Should we bind and take that one with us?” He nodded towards the rival mage. “She may prove useful.”
Kayleb hesitated. “Leave her here. We can’t afford to waste time keeping guard over her. Is there a place nearby where Alicia can recover from her wounds?”
Theodore sighed; like it or not, he was going back to Aba. The princess needed medical help, and it was the best place to get it. His plan to return to Iram would have to wait. In the meantime, he would find out what she was doing here, and why this man was with her.
Chapter Sixteen
Alicia wove in and out of consciousness as they rode back to Izba’s base camp. Vaguely, she was aware that Kayleb supported her as they rode the horse together. He had his arms around her and the reins were held loosely in one hand. She wanted to sit up and take notice of their surroundings, but her body refused to cooperate.
The demon mages were more horrible than she realized. Zo had fought one of them, and lived to tell the tale. She missed her sister; there was something important she had to tell her. But Zo was so far away.
“Shh, my love. You will get to meet your sister soon,” Kayleb’s voice was surprisingly gentle. She hadn’t realized she was mumbling. With an effort, Alicia suppressed a groan. Her head hurt, but she didn’t want to complain and worry him.
After what seemed like a long time, they stopped. Someone carried her off the horse. There was a brief and somewhat heated discussion, and she was taken into a cool tent. Alicia felt a soft mattress beneath her, and she fell into a deep sleep.
Later that night she awoke to a single candle burning at the far end of the tent. In its flickering light, she saw Kayleb. He was sleeping on a blanket near the entrance, his hand on the sword that lay beside him. She was unbearably thirsty. Looking around the room, she found an earthen pot at the other end of the tent. Her tongue was parched. She turned, eager to get off the bed. A wave of dizziness overcame her.
“What are you doing?” He was beside her in a moment. “You need to rest.”
“Water.” Until she croaked out that single word, Alicia didn’t know how much effort it required for her to do the simplest thing.
He got her a cup of cool, clear water. She took a few careful sips. Alicia patted her belt, searching for a particular pouch. Unstringing it, she took out a pinch of amber, salt-like substance. With trembling hands, she put it in the cup and drank the rest of the water. The herb would accelerate her healing.
It took too much effort to keep her eyes open. Alicia lay down, aware that Kayleb was beside her as she sank into blissful oblivion again. She dreamt about the demon mages, their misshapen, hollowed faces, and the speed with which they lashed out spells. There was a pit filled with lava, and thousands of demons hovered just below its surface. Her fractured dreams gave her little peace.
In the morning, the headache was still there, but it was dull. She felt a bit dizzy and lightheaded. Rest was the best cure for this concussion. Within a few days, she would be ready to travel again.
As she remained on the bed, taking in her bearings, a man burst into her tent, and ducked, narrowly avoiding getting his head chopped off. Kayleb’s sword missed his neck by just a few precious inches. Kayleb attacked him, but he turned and exited as fast as he had come in.
Kayleb and Alicia stared into each other’s eyes. “Who was that?” she asked, happy to note that it didn’t take as much effort to speak today.
“I’ll go find out,” he said.
After his departure, Alicia took the opportunity to wash herself with the bucketful of water that stood in one corner. She changed her clothes and combed her hair. Her stomach rumbled, and she realized that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast the previous morning. Feeling marginally better, she walked out of the tent to find something to eat.
The bright sunlight hurt her eyes and made her headache worse. The camp comprised a large square-shaped, wooden fence that had two gates at each end. Tents were erected around the boundary, and in the middle of the clearing was a pavilion, probably belonging to the commander of the tent. A makeshift building at the far end appeared to be the kitchen. There was a long line of soldiers waiting in front of it. She decided to join the throng and get something to eat.
Kayleb and Theodore were nowhere to be seen. Alicia walked towards the kitchen, but was waylaid by two men. “Princess? The commander would like a word with you.”
Alicia turned, and was reassured to find Kayleb standing at the entrance to the central pavilion. He looked annoyed. She followed the men, but stopped once she reached Kayleb.
“What’s going on?”
He scowled at her. “You shouldn’t be walking around.”
“Please come inside, Princess.” Theodore came outside. He guided her insid
e, and introduced her to the commander of the camp. “We seem to have a situation.”
“She is not going anywhere,” said Kayleb. He held his sword in his hand, as if ready to hack off the head of the first person who made any attempt to move towards her.
“The princess seems quite capable of making a journey,” said the commander.
“She just got up. Two days of hard ride will send her back to the bed,” countered Kayleb.
Frustrated, Alicia put her hands on her hips. “Will somebody please explain to me what’s going on?”
Theodore ran his hand through his hair. “Queen Catherine of Masaba has requested that you join her as soon as possible in Aba. She has sent her men to escort you back, and they demand we leave now.”
Alicia raised an eyebrow. “Demand?”
“The queen impressed upon us the need for haste, Princess,” said one of the men. He was wearing a tunic embossed with an eagle, the royal bird of Masaba. “It’s imperative that you reach Aba at your earliest convenience.”
“Today is not convenient,” snapped Kayleb.
“Please.” Alicia raised her hand. She had never met Queen Catherine, but her message seemed to suggest a dire situation. “We will leave right after breakfast. That would give my companions enough time to gather our supplies.”
Kayleb swore. Theodore looked resigned, and the camp commander appeared relieved. Alicia wondered if his orders required for him to forcefully send them to Aba if she refused to come.
“Thank you, Princess. We will ready our horses.” The two men bowed and left.
Alicia left the tent. “I will get your breakfast,” said Theodore while Alicia walked back to her own tent. She sat on the bed, and stared at Kayleb who was glaring at her with ferocity.
“Need I tell you that it’s inadvisable for you to undertake any hard journey in this condition?”
Alicia sighed. He was right; she did feel weak. A concussion took time to heal. Ideally, she should have rested for two days. But this was not an ideal situation. They were running against time, trying to be ready for a looming, bloody war. “This is not the time or place to antagonize anyone, especially a queen. She could be a useful ally.”
The Warrior Mage Page 20
