by Aaron Thomas
“Again, like we had a choice,” Warick spat. “Our arrangements have been made. All we need now is an army in which to hide our wizards inside. Where is your army?”
Sahara took a moment to look around, “They’ve been with you all night. You did not see them?”
Both wizards looked at each other and back to Sahera. She gave a small smile of satisfaction, and with a quick thought, her army began revealing themselves. From inside of shrubs, shadows, and trees, they climbed. Pulled themselves out of mud and out of ruined buildings. She watched through all their eyes at once but not focusing on a single point. Thousands of the soulless stood just outside of their hiding spots waiting to be struck down by the surprised wizards that formed a perimeter of the camp.
Even though it was still the dark hours of the morning, Sahera knew Warrick's face would be red with fury. Alexander turned about, taking in the number of soulless she had amassed before they came to an agreement. She knew they were scared and she hoped that the fear was enough to make them control themselves.
“My men are ready. What is the plan?” She asked while crossing her arms to keep warm.
Warick was finally able to form words, “You had no right mingling your forces with mine!”
“You had no right planning to kill me when all I have offered is to destroy my army to save the lives of thousands,” Sahera said calmly.
Warick opened his mouth and snapped it shut before opening it to speak again, “You still should have recognized the sensitive nature of our alliance. We are the Elder Wizards, and our privacy needs to be respected whether or not we plot your demise for our safety.”
Sahera gave a small chuckle, “Elder Wizards? I have been in this realm longer than you’ve been alive and I lived outside of the elemental realms before that. I am your elder, Warick. Next time you plan the demise of an ally, try to look in a water trough to see if they are listening.”
With the mention of water, her last unrevealed soldier pulled himself upright and began walking away to the front line.
“I have told you before that I am your ally. If I wanted to kill you I would have done it already,” Sahera said as she started to walk away.
Warick followed a few paces behind, “You haven't heard our battle plan. Do you want to hear it or are you going to lecture me on how much wiser you are at using magic?”
Sahera stopped and turned towards the two men as Alexander walked between them and faced Warick. Sahera couldn’t see his face but could imagine a few pleading looks the wind wizard was giving the old man.
“Sahera, please allow me to tell you our ideas,” Alexander said, turning towards her. “To start with, I made a trip into Zepher to get information and what I learned has saved us great losses. Dylan has set a curfew in the town. No one is let out after dark until first light. Anyone outside is killed where they stand.
“The rule was meant to keep me from attacking,” Sahera said.
Alexander nodded his head, “That’s exactly what I thought. He’s prevented an army sneaking in during the night. If you go marching during the day, the townspeople will recognize your army and sound an alarm.”
“We have to attack during the day then,” Sahera said.
Alexander nodded his head, “Yes, so we planned on waiting till first light to advance. When that happens, we will pull carts in with wizards in the back controlling elementals. The elementals will mix with your soulless and other wizards. The wizards we send with you and your men will serve only one purpose. They will control the elements so Dylan’s elementals cannot. We’ll be acting as mediators and a magical shield so your men and our elementals can gain us entry into his castle.”
“If your mediators should start to fall, we will all be doomed,” Sahera said.
“We thought you might say that,” Alexander said. “Which is why we’ve spread out our wizards and just as you suggested, we will mingle them in with your soldiers. As a back up, our elementals controlled by the wizards in the carts will be able to pick up any area lacking in protection.”
“What of Dylan’s army?” Sahera asked.
“From the time I was in Zepher I saw not one single guard. The townspeople I questioned said there was no guard. Looking at his castle I saw no troops, only a moat, and high castle walls,” Alexander explained.
“Of course, there is no human in his army,” Sahera knew he would cut out the unexpected nature of humans in a fight with her. “I meant elementals. Have you seen anything since arriving?”
“I’ve kept my eyes open to the wind, but as you know a good wizard can go undetected if they act naturally enough, especially one in elemental form,” Alexander said.
“Enough. We have a couple more hours until sunrise. Alexander, take Sahera and introduce her to the wizards that will protect her. I need to ready the rest of the men,” Warick said as he started to back away. “Sahera, move your soldiers away from our camps.”
Alexander held out his hand to lead Sahera away. In the direction they were traveling, Sahera used her magic link to search for the wizards that would be assigned to her. She managed to find three solitary wizards standing a couple dozen paces from the road. She wished she noticed them before so she could listen in to their disdain for her.
Alexander approached and started to point one out as if she couldn’t tell what they wielded by their choice of colored robes.
Sahera held up a hand, “There’s no use in telling me your names. I won’t remember by the time the fight has begun, and it will be a detriment trying to remember then. Names will only slow us down, which is why I won’t be telling you mine. I am a soul wizard, and I will do my best to disguise you amongst my soldiers.”
“We’ll do our best to protect you,” A female wizard said as she gave a half bow. “Stay near us, and we’ll prevent magic from reaching you.”
Sahera gave a small chuckle, “If you know Kapal, the supposed magic immune, preventing magic from touching me is impossible. Do not pretend that you aren’t fighting a man that you yourselves trained. Dylan will be one of the most merciless enemies any of us have ever faced.”
A man with a gray-streaked beard cleared his throat, “We know who we’re fighting and we’ve been given our priorities to carry out during the fight. Just make sure you’re doing yours, and we’ll see the end of this battle before the lot of us are dead. If you're lucky, we’ll let you live long enough to share your other historical events.”
Sahera smiled, “Just one last question then. Would any of you like to give me your soul so your bodies can continue to fight if you should fall?”
She didn’t wait for an answer as two of the wizards paled at the suggestion. At least she knew what they thought of her. She walked until her group of wizard’s shadows disappeared in the fog. She knelt down and took a rest in the middle of the roadway and felt the tears streaming down her face. She would have loved to see grandchildren before she died, but now no one would ever see her as a grandmother.
She stayed there until the stones buried beneath the dirt started to dig into her knees. She welcomed the pain and wiped away the tears as they graced her face. An hour later she heard footsteps approach and stop a few paces away. Using the vision of a nearby soulless, she could clearly make out Alexander’s form standing behind her.
“Do you seriously mean to consume our souls?” Alexander asked.
Sahera used the sleeve of her black raven feather-lined cloak to dry her face before she stood to face him. She took a deep breath and approached him.
“I don’t really know what happens when people die. Most of the time I can feel their bodies reaching out for a spirit to cling to. My magic allows my spirit for bonding with the body and uses it as a vessel. Once the connection to the body is made, I can tell it what to do. I can transfer wounds, age, and even strengthen them. I do not consume souls, but this is what the world has labeled me. Alexander, I am using the magic the world has given me to do what I think is best for those around me,” Sahera said in a quiet, gentle vo
ice.
Alexander seemed to understand as he nodded his head, “If I fall, use my body to save the others. Hopefully, I won’t be needing it for where I’m going.”
“Where are you going?” Sahera asked sarcastically.
He cleared his throat, “You said Dylan collects the spirits of the dead and those spirits have managed to take control of his body from the inside. In the last hour, your offer to take our bodies for use has given me a lot to think about. If I die on this battlefield, it doesn’t mean that my fight is over. If what you say is true, I will go to Dylan and fight these spirits from the inside. Perhaps I’ll be able to aid you or the real Dylan in some way.”
Sahera looked at the wind wizard, skinny and frail, standing in front of her. One man of so many truly understood what it would take to defeat a spirit wizard.
“I fear that if my presence is discovered in Zepher, it won’t be long till we find ourselves fighting a different kind of fight,” Sahera said.
Alexander gave her a determined look and followed by a nod, “Come. Let’s go get a bite to eat before this battle starts.”
Sahera nodded her head and followed the skinny wizard. Meals were being served out of the inside of a tent where a magical flame heated a beef stew. She assumed it was so their enemy wouldn’t see the light from the flames but as she watches no smoke trailed up from the flames. The armies had done similar things in the past, but they were always smoked out of the tents by their efforts to hide their fires. It was nice to see the Elders show a little resourcefulness at perfecting the ability.
Over the next hour, wizards came and went back to their positions. The soulless grabbed berries and vegetables they found growing in the area and ate in the dark. Alexander introduced her to every wizard that came for food. Some ignored her like she wasn’t there. Others studied her face, she was sure it was so they could eliminate her when Dylan was no longer a threat.
When Sahera exited the tent, she saw the Elder Wizards had changed out of their robes and into common clothes. Most were given a shield and sword to carry to help them be disguised. Sahera made her soldiers start collecting axes, pitchforks, shields, and any manner of weapon they could find. Her fighters needed to match the wizards as much as possible. Her desires were manifested as orders in her troops, what she thought, they did.
Warick came out of the fog like a ghost, followed by a massive rock bull close behind. He walked straight towards Sahera, wearing a frustrated expression on his face. “We’re ready to begin the march. By the time our forces reach the city, it will be dawn.”
Sahera smiled slightly, “I will do my part. I hope to see you in the center of Zehper’s castle when this is all done. May the Brights watch over you.”
As she turned to go, she heard Warick say, “The Brights would destroy you if they were watching.”
Sahera did not stop to comment. Instead, she silently commanded her force to walk towards Zepher. She watched through a thousand sets of eyes as they slowly lumbered forward towards their second deaths. Alexander and the rest of her protectors jogged to catch up. The bearded wizard grumbled under his breath, but Sahera couldn’t make out the words.
Alexander stepped up beside her, “Can we stop at an inn for a moment? I need to warn an innocent girl.”
Sahera's pace slowed, “Yes, but if you have her leaving town, could you ask a favor of her?”
Alexander smiled, “Yes, of course.”
Sahera pulled a small scroll out of her robe sealed with the imbuement symbol of a soul wizard; a skull.
“I need her to take this to Leviathan,” She said, handing him the note.
Alexander nodded and ran into the inn. It didn’t take but a few moments, and he returned to the march. It was slow and quiet in the fog as they walked through the massive city streets.
Thousands of soulless soldiers marched in the city, wearing only the clothes they were killed in. An army this size would normally make noise that could rumble the ground. With Sahera’s army, there was no speaking, no commands, and no confusion; there was only the sound of footsteps on the cobblestone street.
Some of the chimneys had begun to push smoke into the air. Sahera could smell bread baking mixed with the familiar smell of fresh rain. Dogs could be heard barking as they attempted to wake their owners to alert them of the passing masses. Sahera was happy for the fog, for now; it prevented the townspeople from being too curious about the movement outside their windows.
She knew that in a short time the fog would be a hindrance to her wizard friends and her soldiers. They wouldn’t be able to see water or earth elementals attacking them. Only the water and wind wielders would see the attacks coming. Sahera’s thousands of sets of eyes only saw a gray blanket of confusion as they tromped towards the castle.
The silence caused the sound of Sahera’s blood to pound the rhythmic beat of her heart, deep in her skull. Swallowing and trying to overcome the fear of battle, she tried to focus on the sound around her but only found the beating drum no one else could hear.
Leading the march, the first of her soldiers arrived at the moat’s edge and watched as the water inside twisted and churned unnaturally. She looked up and saw a looming figure standing in an arched gateway to the castle, barring its entrance. The unnerving stillness of the enemy elementals caused a streak of fear and caution to creep up her spine.
Glancing around, Sahera saw a small barn at the back of one of the buildings and ran for the gate. Using the soldier's eyes, she watched as her wizard assignments followed her. She unlatched the gate and ran through the courtyard until she found the entrance to the barn. No one tried to stop her, but her wizards did shush each other as they chased her down in confusion.
Inside the barn, Sahera began pacing. The horses and chickens that resided inside moved out of the way at the sign of new occupants.
Alexander closed the barn door and crossed to her, “What’s going on? Why are we here?”
Sahera ignored his body but tried to answer him, “Something is wrong. His elementals are there, but they do not attack. I need to concentrate, to figure out his game.”
“Sahera, he doesn’t attack because he can’t. We control the elements on this side of the water. I can feel the wind being controlled by our wizards,” Alexander said at a whisper in his attempt to reassure her.
She stopped pacing and sat down in the middle of the barn.
“He can still attack, but not as well. Why is his elementals just sitting there?” Sahera asked out loud to no one in particular.
As soon as the question left her lips, she knew the answer. Dylan was searching for her and the other wizards. He was marking them as they stood at the moat.
“Keep a watch as best you can. He’s sorting out the wizards from my soldiers, and I must warn them,” Sahera said as she laid down in the hay.
Alexander began climbing a ladder in the barn and looked out from a higher vantage. The other wizards followed, except for the graying man with the age-speckled beard. Still he looked up at the others as if he wanted to join them at the window in the barn.
Sahera closed her eyes and gathered as much concentration as she could on the thousands of dead soldiers standing haphazardly along the moat. Reaching out and finding each body she began to command them.
As Sahera’s lips moved, so did the thousands of undead soldiers, “Do not move. Do not speak. He is watching for us to make a mistake.”
The sound of thousands of voices speaking in unison rang out in a thunderous wave as it bounced off the castle's walls. Sahera did her best to move as many different soldiers as she could. Some moved only their eyes, some turned their head, others scratched an itch that wasn’t really there. She moved them so that they would look as natural as the Wizards.
When she was ready, she focused on one of her soldiers and made him turn his torso around to look at another behind him. The soldier turned back, and she waited, but nothing happened. She was becoming frustrated and forced another soldier, still a few paces away, to
step towards the water’s edge. Before his foot could crest the edge of moat, an ice-like spike pierced the soulless’ chest and raised the body a few feet off the ground before stopping to let him dangle.
Sahera transferred the soldier's strength amongst the others before letting the body fall limp and rest upon the spike of ice.
Alexander whispered from above, “The water spike, take it, and it will be controlled by our wielders.”
Sahera smiled and sent two other soldiers to hack the ice spike apart so it shattered against the stones where their army waited. Soon, the small pieces of ice rose up and formed a man. The newly claimed water was now being controlled by one of the wizards lying in a cart hidden somewhere in the city.
As if that was the cue, the Elders controlling elementals walked them forward to stand amongst the sea of soulless soldiers. A stone gorilla, a flaming soldier with gleaming red armor, a lion made of ice, and a formless torrent of twisting fog amongst others joined in the standoff.
From the barn’s loft above the female wizard spoke, “Why don’t they attack us?”
Sahera, lying with eyes closed amongst the straw answered in a whisper, “Just like us, his elementals keep a barrier of magic that we cannot penetrate. He is forcing us to attack so we waste our men and energy.”
“So what? Do we wait?” The woman asked.
“We cannot wait. His elementals never tire, and they never hunger. We are forced to attack him on his ground. When we start, he will kill the wizards he’s found among us,” Sahera explained.
A loud roar drew Sahera’s attention as a flaming sphere was released from behind her army and over their heads. It lit the dim morning streets as it passed, slamming into a magical barrier at the water’s edge. The sphere burst and sent a shower of flame cascading into the water of the moat where it disappeared.
Sahera cringed as a bolder was launched by the Elder’s gorilla elemental only to be turned to sand as it struck the castle wall, leaving not a single scratch behind. The gorilla’s scream that followed seemed to have a small effect as only loose dirt fell from the castle walls.
