“Forward,” said Will, effortlessly casting his voice along the line of soldiers. The sergeants and officers took up the command, and a second later the shield wall and spearmen began to advance. Sorcerers followed behind them, using spells to pick off still-living demons in the distance while the spearmen handled those close at hand.
Will glanced back to make sure Selene and the trolls hadn’t moved, and he was reassured to see them still maintaining their position. Past them, the ritualists had sunk to the ground, exhausted by the release of the ritual they had spent all morning building. Even their elementals had been exhausted by the massive working. Janice was still standing, but she was leaning forward, hands on her knees as though she was trying to catch her breath.
Will didn’t like what he saw. They need to begin on the next ritual now. He hadn’t received a report from the spotters watching the other side of the city yet, but it was a good guess that a second swarm had been sent out to circle around and hit them from the side or rear. It might take them an hour or more to cover the necessary distance, but that wasn’t much time when it came to building up the necessary power for the ritual. Every minute was crucial.
Janice looked up, meeting his gaze again, and he cast his voice quietly to her ears. “Drink the elixirs. I don’t know how much time you have.”
She nodded and began issuing orders to her assistants, who quickly began drawing vials from their belt pouches. Back in Cerria, they’d obviously thought him a little insane for insisting that they create their own turyn elixirs, but now that they’d used up everything they had, it didn’t seem quite so silly anymore.
Looking forward once more, he saw that the front line had moved almost a hundred yards. They still weren’t meeting much resistance, but farther away there were some that had recovered, and fresh reinforcements were still pouring out of the city. The fight was about to become much harder. Will lifted his hands and signaled for a fighting withdrawal, while simultaneously casting his voice to some of the officers. “Pull back to our original position. Let the sorcerers punish them while they regroup to advance. We don’t want to overextend.”
Firebolts, light-darts, and other ranged spells continued to strike the demons as the soldiers slowly retreated. Will could only watch, feeling somewhat useless. Despite his abilities, there wasn’t much he could do beyond using simple ranged attacks like the light-darts spell. Without an exceptional source, he had no more power than any of his sorcerers.
A realization struck him then. Other than their one attempt at defense, the demons hadn’t used any magical attacks. Madrok warned them, thought Will. It made sense. He’d given similar orders to the sorcerers. If the demon-lord took the field, they were to stop all attempts at magical attack or defense, other than force spells. Otherwise Madrok might do the same thing and turn their power against them.
A messenger ran up to him. “The spotter at the eastern gate reports a large group left the city. Given their circular route and rate of travel, they’ll probably need thirty minutes to get here.”
Will nodded. “Any word from the west side?”
“No, sir.”
He sent his voice to Janice. “Be ready in half an hour. They’ll come from the east or possibly our rear.”
He couldn’t hear her reply, but her expression said enough. Janice was shaking her head.
“I know it’s too soon,” he told her. “Give it as much as you can. There may be another group coming from the west; ignore them and focus your attention on the eastern side.”
Janice stared at him for a moment, then finally nodded in resignation. Will sent his voice to Selene next. “There’s a group coming from the east. The ritualists will handle it, but I think there may be another group coming from the west. Keep the trolls in reserve for the west side.”
Selene shook her head, but he couldn’t hear her. After a moment, Will felt a warmth in his chest and realized she was using the heart-stone enchantment. Activating the connection, he saw her face appear in front of him. “The trolls are here for you, not for flank defense.”
Will shrugged. “Madrok hasn’t come out. If he stays in the city, I’m going to have to switch to Plan C.”
She frowned. “I don’t like C.”
Plan C involved Will trying to sneak through Myrsta and destroy the spell-engine—alone. For some reason, it had been the least popular of their contingency plans. By way of comparison, Plan A had been designed for the demon-lord and his minions leaving the city to attack them together. In that situation, they would have kept their magic use to a minimum, including cancelling the ritual. Their focus then would have been on defense while hoping that Will and the trolls could overcome Madrok.
Obviously, that hadn’t happened, so at the moment they were following Plan B, which had worked out pretty well for them. Able to freely use magic while the demons couldn’t, the battle had been all roses so far. But if they didn’t defeat Madrok or destroy the spell-engine, it was all for naught.
The main problem with Plan C was that he couldn’t bring any allies, namely the trolls, with him. The number of demons within Myrsta was almost certainly still enough to overwhelm them, and there was no way Will could hide them with magic. The second problem was that currently there wasn’t a way for Will to enter Myrsta either, hidden or not. The walls were intact, and the magic that protected them also prevented magical ingress, whether from above or below.
He’d prepared two ethereal travel spells on the off chance that it might allow him to bypass the wall, but he suspected the wards had that covered as well. Probably, his best chance was in attempting to bring down the wall himself, but that wouldn’t be stealthy, and he would have to be right next to it to attempt such a thing. His third prepared spell was an iron-body transformation, which wouldn’t help at all, but there was no way he would consider a battle without having the potent defensive spell at the ready.
“Are you listening?” asked Selene.
Will blinked. “No. Sorry.”
“You get in trouble when you start thinking on your own like that,” she warned.
“Trouble is how I met you.”
“You still have the weapons, right?” she asked.
He nodded. “You cast the spell on them yourself right before I stowed them away in the limnthal.”
She looked nervous. “What if that was a mistake? I should have let you cast them yourself. What if they don’t operate properly?”
Selene was referring to the fact that her impatience that morning had caused her to cast the new spell for him since he was taking too long putting together the unfamiliar construct. Afterward, he had then had to take ownership of the magic on the two war hammers in the peculiar way that Arrogan had taught him. The end result was the same as if he had cast the spell himself, but it still made Selene nervous. “Then you should have been patient and let me do it myself,” he told her. When he saw her anxiety visibly increase, he hurried to add, “It will work fine. Trust me. I’m linked to the magic on those weapons just as though I cast the spells myself.”
“You’d better be.” She left unsaid the fact that if he wasn’t, the spell would kill him, whether or not it succeeded in doing damage to its intended target. “Forget Plan C until after the flanking attacks. Madrok may appear once those fail.”
He nodded. “Then do as I say and use the trolls against the western attack—and don’t put yourself out there with them. Stay behind the shield wall.”
“Worried about me?” she asked.
“Of course, but I think staying near the trolls is the safest place to be, as long as you don’t enter combat directly. I worry more about Janice.”
“Even though you set your best friend to guard her?”
“Yeah. Tiny is big, but he’s no troll, and when they hit our lines, they’re going to be hell bent on taking out the ritualists.”
“Just pay attention to your business and don’t get distracted,” she advised.
Will stuck out his tongue. “Same goes for you. S
tick to the west side. After the flank attacks are defeated, I’m heading for the wall, so don’t be surprised.” He deactivated the link before she could argue.
Chapter 59
The remnants of the main assault hit them long before the flanking groups appeared, but they were nowhere near as intimidating as they had been before the tactical ritual had wiped nearly three-fourths of them out. The soldiers in the shield wall held their ground, and the main-line sorcerers behind them deployed force-walls at strategic points, behind the first groups of demons to make contact.
That had been Bug’s idea, and a good one, even though he had turned traitor in the end. By placing the force-walls farther away and at alternating distances of twenty and thirty feet, they disrupted the enemy charge, forcing them to sacrifice their momentum by moving sideways to bypass the barriers. Meanwhile, the demons that were already within the force spells were partially isolated and easy prey for the spearmen.
Demons died in droves, though they did have some successes. A few of the big ones managed to reach the line, and there was little the much smaller humans could do to stop them from crashing through the shield wall. In each case, a combination of spears and focused fire from the sorcerers eventually brought down the giants. The shield wall itself reformed even before the incursions were defeated, as the third line reserves stepped in to take the place of those who had fallen.
It was something only veterans could have accomplished, for no amount of training could substitute for the cool-headed experience of warriors who had already seen several battles. Will felt his heart swell with pride as he watched them, though he felt guilt every time he saw one of them fall. Every death was his responsibility, and it didn’t help that he knew they were dying merely to try and draw out the demon-lord.
A shrill, unearthly wail floated across the field, and Will looked over to see that the eastern flanking group had finally arrived. They weren’t as numerous as the main assault group had been, but they made up for it in size; most of the new demons were the size of cattle and they had obviously been chosen for their longer legs and speed.
Looking to the west, he saw a more numerous force approaching from that direction. They had farther to travel and were composed of a more chaotic mix of sizes and types. It looked as though they would arrive several minutes after the eastern group, and Will wondered if he had made the correct decision. It might be better to have Janice and the ritualists attack the western group. The trolls would probably handle the big ones more easily, he thought.
But it was too late for that. The tactical ritual required time to set up, and the focal point for it had already been decided. Changing it now would be impossible. Judging by the turyn swirling above their heads, Will guessed that the ritual would only have a quarter of its previous power.
He hoped it would be enough.
Returning his attention to the battle raging closest to him, Will saw that yet another oversized demon had broken through the line. Without thinking, he sent a volley of five light-darts burning into the monster. Several spears struck it from the side and two firebolts burned into the demon’s head before it finally fell.
It was a few seconds later when he realized he hadn’t taken the time to construct the spell, nor had he had it prepared it. He had reflex cast the light-darts spell. A grin split Will’s features. Well, it’s about damn time, he thought joyfully.
If they were to win, he had to be at his best for the final battle, but Will couldn’t help assisting the soldiers under his command. Pacing himself, he sent volleys of light-darts into demons who broke through, and thanks to his relentless practice, he rarely missed targets that were within two hundred yards. Naturally, it helped that most of those that broke through were pretty big, but he still felt good about his aim.
Since he was watching the battle in front of him, Will was taken by surprise when Janice’s ritualists released their latest assault against the eastern flankers. A flash of light swept the field, followed almost instantly by a thunderous crack that signified the death of hundreds of demons.
Turning to his left, Will saw that more than half of the large demons on that side had collapsed and weren’t likely to rise, but the rest were still coming forward, although their movements were more erratic now. The sorcerers tasked with that side put their force-walls up according to plan, but the end result was much less effective.
The tactic had been meant for more human-sized opponents. The force-walls blocked many of the large demons farther back, but the small number that were within were still powerful enough to shatter the shield wall. Spears and spells slammed into them, but often too late, as their heavy clubs swept soldiers aside like dolls. The first attackers died, but by then their fellows had made it through the gaps in the force-shields.
If anything, the forced spacing caused by the barriers helped keep the demons from getting in each other’s way or hitting their fellows with their long, heavy weapons.
The shield wall was in tatters, and the central portion collapsed entirely. A wedge of demons forced themselves through and headed directly for their main target, the exhausted sorcerers who had slain so many of them just moments before. Will sent light-darts into them as quickly as he could, but there were too many for him to stop. The soldiers and sorcerers on either side did their best, but they followed their training and focused on restoring order in their own sections.
The middle was open, and the demons were now shifting to focus their efforts there. Will looked for Selene and the trolls, but he saw that they had already moved to the eastern side in preparation for the other wave of demons. They had no way to reach the western side in time to stop the formation from disintegrating.
The first demon to reach the sorcerers in the center was a four-legged monstrosity that had snatched up a soldier and was using the already-dead body to batter any and all in its path out of the way. It struck down the final defender and reached the helpless sorcerers.
Most of them had pulled back, but one had moved forward—Janice. Will saw her clearly as she stared up at the demon looming over her. She looked tired, and for the first time the white shock of hair made her look old rather than exotic. He could tell she had nothing left, but somehow she managed a force-wall anyway.
The demon’s makeshift corpse weapon fell apart when it slammed into the force spell, but that didn’t deter it. Its fists were literal battering rams. Janice bent and picked up a longsword that was obviously too heavy for her and scraped together the turyn to cast a silver-sword spell on it. The force-wall collapsed under the weight of the demon’s blows before she could lift the weapon to defend herself, though.
Will’s light-darts bored holes through the demon’s side, but they weren’t enough to stop it. Clawed fists came down, but before they reached Janice, one of the soldiers leapt to her defense; a massive man in mail and breastplate with a long spear in his hands.
Tiny seemed almost to fly through the air before slamming his spear into the quadrupedal demon’s chest. Big as he was, his mass was enough to drive the weapon entirely through the demon, which finally had the sense to collapse.
The one following after it had a better weapon, a ridiculously large iron sword which it swept horizontally through the air at the man who had just slain its comrade. Tiny had no weapon, his spear being fully embedded in the dead demon on the ground before him, nor did he have a shield. Even if the massive sword struck his breastplate, it would probably kill him just from the shock of the blow.
The blade stopped dead in the air, just inches from his chest, and Will could see the telltale turyn of a point-defense shield vanishing a moment later, though it wasn’t his. Was that Janice? His suspicion was confirmed when she moved forward a moment later and blocked a second attack the same way.
Tiny dropped an empty glass vial to the ground while at the same time Janice fended off two more attacks. She had already dropped the bespelled sword for him, but as Tiny lifted it from the ground, her luck finally ran out. A third demon had come
at her from the side and she failed to stop the spear it held in time.
Blood flashed through the air like a grotesque red flower as the spearhead passed through Janice’s belly and emerged from her side. Will felt his heart clench in time with the scream of rage and horror that tore free from Tiny’s throat.
And then a new beast entered the battle as Tiny brought the blazing sword around to cleave the head of the demon who had slain Janice. Nothing had changed about his size or appearance, though Will knew that beneath his armor Tiny’s veins had turned black under the influence of the dragon’s heart potion he had taken.
With the fiery silver sword in hand, John Shaw, the gentle giant known to his friends as Tiny, went berserk and tore into the oncoming demons with no care or concern for his own life. He cut through the first massive demons as though they were children, and somewhere along the way he found a second weapon, a mace with a black iron head, to occupy his left hand—and still, even with two weapons, it wasn’t enough to give vent to all the rage and despair in his heart.
With the potion feeding his fury, Tiny’s strength and reflexes were enough to make even a vampire jealous. He cut and smashed a path through demons several times his size and showed no sign of stopping. Will could almost believe his friend might singlehandedly dismantle the demon advance and continue on to kill them all, but Tiny wasn’t the only soldier who had been tasked with protecting the sorcerers at the center.
They’d been caught on the back foot, but others followed Tiny’s lead, downing the same potion and racing into battle behind him. The exhausted ritualists cast the silver-sword spell on their guardians’ weapons, and the tide quickly began to turn. Over the span of a minute or less, the demons’ advance faltered and then fell apart.
Tiny was beyond logic or reason, and he left his companions behind as he cut and slashed his way to where the shield-wall should be, and there he seemed happy to fight until he died or his potion ran out, which would amount to the same thing.
Disciple of War (Art of the Adept Book 4) Page 52
