by Owen Elgie
Through the whip-crack of white light which was the event horizon of the bridge construct, I heaved our reptilian forms away to as much safety as I could think of.
We smashed to the ground at the entrance to the ancient citadel which stood at the mouth of the prison that Frederico had been charged with guarding. Frederico shouted out and swatted at the last few beetles which were still able to scrabble around over his skin. Smoke lifted from his body at numerous sites but I knew that he would be safe from harm. Fire Dragon after all.
Before I could make any move to check my own attackers, I was shrouded in a cloud of white hot fire of my own. Any of the swarming mass of beetles who had survived the previous hits of flame were left with nowhere to go and they were all torched to a cinder.
After a minute of roasting heat, which created a feeling of equal parts fear and, strangely, comfort, the flame abruptly vanished.
I slowly pushed myself up to a standing position and stretched my back out, flashing out my wings to their full extent to dislodge any charred remains which may have still been lingering in the folds. I brushed the last vestiges of the burnt beetles from me and turned to focus on the details around me.
Andrea stood before me in her crystalline Ice Dragon form, her hands slowly lowering from directly in front of her at chest height so that they finally rested at her sides. She shook her head and forced her concentration against a sudden and all encompassing, fatigue. I was able to feel her discomfort as it washed out in all directions.
Staggering slightly, she fell to her knees and struggled against a dizziness and nausea. She was breathing deeply after the effort of drawing in the power to create enough fire to be able to clear both Freddy and myself of the enemy. An Ice Dragon summoning the full power of a fire casting that size would have been experiencing a mighty amount of discomfort at best. In my own training, I hadn’t even been trusted with being instructed in the ways of calling the opposite powers of my line to my will.
By the look on her face, I really wasn’t going to enjoy those lessons.
“Did you get my message?” I asked as I tried to keep the urgency of the situation to the forefront of the conversation. She tilted her head slightly and pushed her fatigue away as much as she could, then signaled towards a gathering of troops off to my right. The big Aussie I had spoken with earlier was now barking orders to a collection of very young soldiers. He nodded once at me as our eyes met and saluted quickly before turning back to his duties.
The message must have got through.
I turned my attention back to Andrea. “We’re getting hammered out there. Have we heard anything from the troops still in the field?” I needed to know if our forces were still active but more than anything else, I needed to know that my friends were still alive.
“We have so far lost contact with twelve of the thirty troop positions.” There was no emotion in her voice, just the cold hard facts.
“We can bring those people who are still alive back inside the shield but we will lose the valley. If they are still active they can still be affecting some kind of defence against the Tayne. Remember, this prisons security is our ultimate goal.”
Our eyes locked together for a split second, emotion and opinion crashing against each other. Neither of us spoke, but for very different reasons.
Andrea blinked once. Her luminescent grey eyes bored into me. She looked at me as if she had just declared fact rather than opinion. She was absolutely certain of her own superiority.
In that instance, I realized that there was no reinforcement group on their way to our aid.
The temperature around me started to drop and small sparks started to crackle from my hands. My own superiority jutting out.
“We are not going to lose hundreds of people who could be saved just because they may be able to create a delay to a numerically superior force.” I struggled to remember to use language that would sell my case.
“Those people are more valuable to us in here forming the basis of our counter attack than used as cannon fodder. The valley is lost and hundreds of extra deaths will not change that fact.” I tried to gather myself. The last thing we needed was for me to lose control here. Aside from the physical damage I would do to all of the troops gathering around us, the damage I would do to my argument would be worse and that which would result in massive loss of life.
Before I could say anything else to strengthen my claim or Andrea could attempt to scientifically prove that she was right, Frederico joined the debate. The young Guardian strode forward and declared with the force of someone with true authority,
“I will not let my name be associated with the greatest massacre of troops we have seen in Argentina. How do we bring our people back?”
Smoke was starting to form plumes from both of his nostrils as he showed he was not going take no for an answer. My chest surged with pride for Frederico. He wasn’t going to be just another member of The Circle; he was going to try to look after his people. He was going to spread the wealth, so to speak.
Andrea’s eyes darted between us and I could make out the scenarios that were running through her mind, on her reptilian face.
Eventually, she looked at us each in turn, and rumbled,
“It is possible to retrieve all of the outstanding troops, but I will need both of your help.” Her eyes danced between us.
“And there will be no guarantee of success.”
I smiled and slapped Frederico a little too hard on the back,
“When is there a guarantee of anything?”
6
With only a hand full of well chosen words, delivered with just the right amount of growl from Andrea, the entry way to the citadel at the centre of the mighty magical shield over the Argentinean Hive prison was cleared of people and equipment in less than five minutes. Troops darted back and forth, attending to the tasks that had been assigned them, scuttling around in a fashion which was strangely similar to the insect creatures outside the shield.
The Tayne force was still crashing into the shield wall over the entrance to the prison but the number of impacts was starting to grow. They had gone from being an intermittent explosion to creating a steadily building percussion with each massive detonation ripping through the air around us all with ever growing menace.
None of us were sure how the ghost-like Tayne had managed to become such a potent threat to the magics we had deployed but, by the expressions of people as they completed tasks assigned to them, they were creating the very real concern that they were going to be able to bring down the shield.
I scanned the troops, then swung back to face Andrea and Frederico.
They had both reverted to their human forms and were pulling on loose clothing which had been rushed to them. A painfully young looking trooper was stood holding one more set of neatly folded field attire, obviously meant for me.
I took the hint and brought my form back to my human shape and quickly gathered myself into the on-hand uniform. Moving quickly to Andrea’s’ side, I looked on hoping to learn how we were going to proceed. She wasted no time in her explanation.
“I need to create a link between us to build a Cascade Bridge complex” Andrea stated matter-of-factly over the sound of enthusiastic troops and the still deafening pounding of the Tayne on the shield wall.
Frederico and I looked at her without any fragment of comprehension. Andrea rolled her eyes at me.
“We are going to combine our collective power to open multiple bridges to all of the remaining sites in the valley.” Frederico and I took that information in much more readily. She continued without further interruption.
“We can create a group of bridges and open them wherever we need. We need to focus our magics together to be able to complete the task but Frederico has the tools to complete the task with us in the fortress.” As she finished her last words she gestured over my shoulder.
I turned round to stare back in the direction she was indicating and noticed the large Aussie soldier we encounte
red earlier, making a bee line through the activity towards us, carrying a large wooden trunk. He made no attempt to avoid anyone who may have crossed his path and casually barreled through and over two shocked troopers.
He skidded to a halt before us and lowered the trunk down, trying his best to infuse the gesture with as much ceremonial reverence as he could manage despite the obviously heavy burden.
Andrea beckoned us all forward and continued her explanation.
“We have access to many weapons at each of our estates. This will allow us to maximize our efforts, both in the rescue of our soldiers and the repulsion of the enemy.” Andrea’s thick accent wrapped itself around the words and infused them with a strident feeling of anger and impending retribution. That same feeling rose within both Frederico and myself and we could practically touch the sensation. The temperature began to drop around us as the rage of our magic drew in power in preparation. This was going to be some weapon.
She reached forward and flipped open the heavy wooden lid of the trunk to reveal the weapon which was going to help us not only retrieve our surviving troops, but also climb back into the battle.
We crowded around the trunk with a growing feeling of awe and were greeted by the superpower that Andrea expected us to deploy to the maximum effect.
“Banus Stones??!!?” Boomed Frederico with blatant incredulity in his voice. Before us all, was a trunk full of rocks. There was no buzzing sensation of bridled power, no feeling of barely tethered force which we could unleash to devastating effect.
Just a trunk full of stones.
He crossed his arms across his chest and looked at Andrea without hiding his frustration. “This is a magical map. We know where everyone is already.”
Andrea wasted no time trying to placate the young Guardian.
“You have listened far too much to the teachings of the newest of us,” she nodded at me. “With this ancient tool, we will be able to pinpoint our people and channel our power exactly to launch our rescue. We will also be able to use this power to highlight the enemy energy focus points. We need the ability to deliver a surgical strike to all of the enemy forces and this “magical map” gives us just that ability.”
For the length of a heartbeat she stared between both of us as forceful support to her point. She continued without further pause as our silence ceded the argument to her.
“Gentlemen, we need to move now to reclaim our people. I need you both to give me your power to drive what we need. Do what I say and we will be able to save the people we have in the field that you have both said are vital to what we are.”
There were no more uncertainties for us. Frederico beat me to the sentiment we were both feeling,
“What do you need us to do?”
“We need to charge the map field with as much energy as we can so we clearly view our troops. We’ll be adding our ‘human’ energy into the map to locate the other humans within the field of the map. After we picture them all, we can use the locator stones on the “map” we create to become a virtual locus to our combined Cascade castings.”
“Doesn’t sound that complicated,” I said. Andrea stopped in mid-motion of unloading the smooth, dark stones. Her response left me in no doubt of what she was thinking.
“Creating a single Cascade Bridge requires focus and energy. We are going to attempt to create eighteen bridges over a very wide area. This has the potential to be lethal to all of the troops outside the barrier but also to the three of us. We are all going to be shoving every last vestige of energy we have into the working to attempt this rescue. If we are unable to create a stable enough conduit through the stones, none of the bridges will open and we will lose everyone outside. There is also the very real chance that we will exhaust our supply of power before we can draw the bridge complex into existence and our magical being, the power essence of what we are will be drawn into the map. In short, this process will draw all available power it can find, even if that kills everyone driving it.”
Maybe it was a little complicated.
Frederico was looking a little pale at the revelation of the inherent dangers of what we about to try.
“How will we know if we are approaching that level?” he asked but instead of his voice trembling with the obvious fear he would be feeling, it instead strode on with a calm sense of purpose. I could see that he was battling with the internal dilemma he would have hanging over his head like the Sword of Damocles for the length of his ‘service’ as the Guardian. He was trying to weigh up the importance of the bigger picture against what his own demise would mean. He was thinking about his little sister.
That pricked at my own familial memories as those people who had had a direct effect on my life in bringing me to this point sprang to mind. Had they ever weighed up their own lives against the task they had faced? Probably.
Andrea continued her preparations as she spoke.
“We will know that the bridges are opening but,” she closed her eyes momentarily “but, there is no signal that a caster is in danger. From what I can see, those who have tried something of this kind have simply fallen, they have just stopped.” No emotion, just fact.
Great.
Before there was any further discussion, another Tayne hit the barrier but the concussive blast from the impact seemed to shake the ground all around us. Every eye in the compound swung up to see the small wisp of smoke that was the Tayne’s scorched body, drifting skyward in the low dusk light. The tiny creatures were proving to be suddenly successful in the attack.
The singular plume of smoke, though, wasn’t all that held every gaze transfixed as if locked in amber. High above the rushing troops, surrounded by a spreading crimson cloud within the power matrix, was a brightly lit, ragged edged crack.
For a split second, no-one moved or even seemed to acknowledge the image that they were staring at. Andrea broke the collective trance.
“WE ARE BREACHED! SEAL THAT CRACK NOW!” exploded into the eerie lack of action which had descended on the camp. Everyone was fast to react to Andrea and they moved to the repair of the damaged shield, and in a matter of only a handful of seconds since the order had been called out, at least ten beams of brightly coloured energy had shot towards the crack and were knitting it back together.
Andrea smacked Frederico and me, firmly, back to the task before us.
“We have no time to build into this. We need to complete this as fast as we can.” She promptly sat on the floor, crossing her legs beneath her and began to draw in deep breath after deep breath, obviously pulling in all of the power she could muster.
Frederico was quickly down doing the same before I could move, determination draped fiercely over his expression as he copied the actions of the more experienced Guardian. I quickly joined them and began to pull in everything I could in preparation.
“Focus on the view of the valley. Picture the people we have on the field of battle and sense their locations.” Andrea was calmly explaining what we needed to do despite the shouts and commotion spilling around her.
I lifted into my mind the faces of the team of soldiers who had been supplied from my own estate and started to feel for their presence outside the shield wall. It took me less than ten seconds to be able to find them and I was quickly confronted by the image of a huddled band of men and women fighting for all they were worth against the familiar beetle-like creatures which were still spilling out of the corrupt enemy bridge. I could feel the ‘wrongness’ which was coming off the yellowed ring as it lent on my view of the battle.
“Pass the image of the people into one of the stones on the map; let the stone lock as the location.” Andrea was directing our movements.
I did without any further encouragement. Summoning a view of the stones in my mind’s eye, I wrapped the still moving picture of my troops around it and willed it onto the map. I risked a snatched glimpse of what was happening between the three of us to see seven stones stood on their ends at different points round the map area marked as the val
ley around us. Looking at the map, I was able to feel that the one stone I had managed was sitting alongside six of Andrea’s. Frederico was still working on his first and the beads of sweat on his face and the erratically pulsing veins in his neck showed that he was struggling. If he was doing the best he could, I would have to pick the pace up to reel in some of his slack.
Closing my eyes again, I returned to the task and with the two other Guardians, summoned up group after group until I couldn’t feel anything else outside. I pushed to find anything I could but there was nothing more than what had already been found. Andrea spoke before I had opened my eyes.
“We have them all. Now push your power into the map working and we will open the bridges. Don’t hold anything back. We need to use everything.” The Russian accent still purred from Andrea and I could pick up a steady hint of deep frozen anger in her voice. I took one steadying look into the map and forced out all of the power I had to build the bridges just as Andrea and Frederico did.
The air within the map wavered and started to fizz and crackle as a mighty amount of focused energy washed into and through it. The stones all started to glow purest blue/white and within a heartbeat, I could feel the bridges opening up around the valley.
One by one, the familiar snap/hiss of power and the smell of ozone burst into being and the sense of relief from the people who had been near them quickly followed. The complex was active but we had to maintain it long enough to effect a rescue. A single bridge gateway was hovering in the main courtyard where we were based and it was soon acting as the funnel for all of the other bridges to pour their contents from.
At the edge of my mind, just swimming around the limits of my awareness as I held the magic as strongly as I could, I could start to make out the shouts of troops and the sensations of magical weaponry being loosed. People were calling for medical help, for more firepower, there was a bustle as more and more boots hit the ground and they were also intermingled with the shrieks and clicking of the enemy who must have followed the retreating troops through their salvation. The battle was going to be brought inside the barrier.
