Death Mages Ascent: Revised Edition (Death Mage Series Book 1)

by Jon Bender

  When it was apparent that nothing was getting through, Jaxom ordered his risen mages to cease their attacks. “Give up, Serin. You can’t win,” Jaxom yelled to the man through the flames.

  “I should have killed you the first day you arrived at the palace, boy,” Serin growled. “You have proven to be more trouble than I anticipated. Or’Keer told me to remove you, but you hardly seemed the threat he thought you would be.”

  The man served the dark god? “You probably should have, but it doesn’t matter now. The Southerners will soon be defeated.”

  Serin let out a long laugh that sent chills up Jaxom’s spine. “You have no idea what you are up against. This little fight is but a sidenote in what is to come. Ale’adar is the first kingdom of many that will soon fall to my god. Even as we speak, the palace has been taken, and soon all within the city will serve Or’Keer or die. Whatever force is left after tonight’s battle will not be able to take the prize that we have claimed.”

  Fear ran through Jaxom as he recalled Alimar’s warning about servants of Or’Keer hidden within the city. “Surrender, Serin. I promise that you will be treated well,” he said.

  The other mage laughed again. “You still do not understand,” Serin said. Hearing a thump, Jaxom glanced to the right where a winged durgen bearing Alimar had landed. “I am glad you have shown yourself, Alimar. Or’Keer will be pleased to have both you and this upstart out of the way. He was not happy when he found out that you had betrayed him.”

  “Our deal no longer suited me,” Alimar said with a wave of his hand. “And the dark god made promises that he had no intention of keeping.”

  “Fool, what are your petty plans compared to the power that service to Or’Keer would have brought?” Serin said. “Kill the boy now. Perhaps my lord will forgive you.” Alimar did not move. “Very well, I was going to kill you anyway.”

  The former leader of the mages lowered his head and began to speak quietly to himself, praying. The darkness around him began to deepen and grow, as if Serin had become a blight in the night itself. Within seconds, the fire mage was enveloped in a blackness that hid him completely. In a panic, Jaxom ordered his risen mages to attack and cast the blight into the wall of fire. Darian and Alimar joined in the assault, but it did not matter. Nothing got though the defenses.

  Serin’s body doubled in size as a dark mass rose from within the circle of flames. Before he completed his transformation, two forms streaked in from the sky, raking at the darkness. On the durgen’s second pass, Serin lashed out with clawed hands, shredding the durgen in midair. The horse he sat on began to whinny and shift as the mage grew heavy. Serin brought his claws to bear on its neck, severing the horse’s head. Now standing over the carcass, the fire mage’s head rose just over the flames. His new body rippled with muscles, and his mouth had become a maw of black fangs large enough to swallow a man at the shoulders. Arms hanging to his knees ended in five curving claws as long as swords.

  Darian sent large bolts of ice to shatter on the creature’s head, while Alimar cast a long thick stream of white smoke to wrap around its neck. Nothing they did had any effect. Serin laughed, a deep rumble, at the futile attempts. The sound reverberated in Jaxom’s chest. Serin easily severed the white smoke with one swipe of a claw.

  “Jaxom, what do we do?” Darian yelled.

  Jaxom looked about at his allies. The two risen mages continued to hurl magic as Darian waited for an answer. Alimar had commanded the durgen into the air where he redoubled his efforts to no viable effect. Glancing down at himself, he realized he still wore the bone armor. He had become so used to maintaining the magical bonds that held it in place, he no longer even noticed it. Jaxom brought his eyes up to meet Darian’s and smiled.

  “Do you remember what happened after we had our match?” Jaxom asked. The other mage looked confused, but Jaxom had already command his two risen to perform the test that would detect a mage, the same test Darian had shown him that day in camp after their match.

  The risen each raised a hand and directed a flow of energy into Jaxom who could already feel his power growing as his body absorbed the power. Darian must have caught on to what was happening because Jaxom soon felt his friend’s energy added as well. What was most surprising was that a fourth flow connected with him, further feeding the power that was now coursing through him. It was nothing like he had ever felt before. He thought that he could reanimate an army of soldiers. He fought the impulse to revel in the feeling of power because they did not have the time. He cast his hands out and down, and the ground around him erupted. Thousands upon thousands of bones ripped from the earth to spin around him in a hurricane of white. He felt himself begin to grow as the bones attached themselves to the armor he already wore, shaping a body of white to match the creature Serin was becoming. Centered at the chest of his creation, Jaxom created limbs. He formed a long, sword-like appendage on the right arm. Two glowing holes in the head allowed him to see outside of his self-made tomb.

  Jaxom saw that he had finished his new body just in time. The flame wall around Serin had gone, leaving the shadow creature Serin had become. “I see you have learned some new tricks, boy, but they will not save you,” Serin said in a strange rumbling voice. Jaxom wanted to reply with a witty retort but realized he had no means to project his voice as the fire mage had done. “Nothing to say? Just as well, the sooner we finish here the sooner I can return to rule over my new city in the name of Or’Keer.”

  Jaxom was grateful that the man had taken his silence for stoicism. He might very well have died from embarrassment had Serin known that he could not speak in his current form. With a quickness Jaxom had not expected, Serin launched himself forward, swinging a clawed hand. Bringing the bone sword up, Jaxom caught the claws on its edge and felt the bonds holding it together weaken slightly. He redoubled the magic to make the bonds hard once again. Jaxom brought his free hand up to punch the dark creature, but Serin caught it with his other hand. With both arms now locked in place, the monstrous maw bit into Jaxom’s shoulder, tearing away bones by the dozen. Knowing he could not last long under such abuse, Jaxom thrust Serin away. Serin rushed again only to be met by a swing of the bone sword that carved a rent through his chest where his true body was. More cautious now, the transformed fire mage circled to the left, forcing Jaxom to turn with him when the creature lunged, swiping with its claws. Jaxom brought his arm up to block the attack while thrusting low with the sword, piercing the creature’s leg. Jumping back, Serin was obviously less sturdy on the limb than he had been, and even as the wound began to close, Jaxom could see that it was doing so slowly. Pressing the advantage, he swung the sword in a downward arc that the creature tried to block but losing one of its claws in the process. It retaliated with the other hand, raking more bone armor from Jaxom’s chest. Deep within the protection of the many layers of bone, his true body felt the impact of the claws send waves of pain through him. Lashing out with a fist, Jaxom connected again and again with the dark creature’s head. His blows snapped many of the teeth and almost ripped the low hanging jaw away completely. Changing tactics, Jaxom aimed for the core of its body. With the sword still entangled with the left clawed hand, Jaxom pounded away at its chest even as the claws ripped more of his own bone protection away. The duel had turned into a brawl as each man struggled to be the first to get to the other.

  In the end, Serin retreated, releasing his grip on Jaxom’s sword and stepping back. With the wound on his leg halfway closed, he looked even more unsteady than before. Serin turned to swing at the risen ice mage, tearing his body and the horse he rode apart. Jaxom instantly felt the loss of power and knew Serin had found his weakness. Commanding his remaining risen mage to retreat to a safer distance, he hoped that Alimar and Darian would do the same. Serin lashed out at Alimar, trying to snare him from the air, and the other death mage narrowly avoiding the attack by climbing higher.

  Jaxom charged forward, trying to keep Serin’s attention on him. His bone constructed body react
ed more slowly to his commands now. Swinging his sword in a wide arc, he connected solidly with Serin’s shoulder, tearing deeply into the darkness from which it was made. Serin responded with a flurry of swipes, ripping away more bone armor with every hit. Jaxom struggled to keep pace but found it harder and harder to both fight and maintain the bonds holding the armor together.

  After scoring several strikes of his own, Jaxom was able to break away from Serin who now seemed much faster than he was. “Give up now, boy, and swear your loyalty to Or’Keer,” Serin said through his shadow body. “The power he will grant you surpasses even what you now control.”

  Jaxom wished he had thought of a way to communicate, but he saw that his lack of a response appeared to unnerve Serin. The fire mage now seemed less sure of himself. It was just as well. The only responses that came to mind were curses, and how Serin’s mother should never have spread her legs for his father. The delay caused by Serin’s hesitation gave Jaxom time to formulate a new plan. He charged with his sword out front, leading the way. With Jaxom’s movement slowed by the loss of power, Serin easily grasped the sword and turned it aside before it even got close to its mark. Just as Jaxom felt his body being pulled to the side, he released the bonds holding the sword in place leaving a stump of bone in its place. With Serin now off balance from the sudden shift in weight, Jaxom slipped within his reach. Colliding heavily, his bone body slammed into Serin’s, taking both down with an impact that shook the ground. Climbing his way up, Jaxom straddled the creature’s waist and rained down blows on its chest. The traitor tried to fight back in a series of panicked slashes, tearing more of the armor away from the arms and shoulder. One swipe tore away the part where Jaxom had placed the eyes, effectively blinding him. He continued to pummel Serin’s shadow body. Jaxom felt the body shift underneath him, trying to take advantage of his blindness, but he refused to let go. Jaxom clamped down his bone legs, securing the traitor in place. He never stopped blindly hitting over and over again until the surface began to soften. Finally, his fist hit the ground as the shadow body dissolved below him. Willing the head of his armor to reform, which was easier now without the added strain of holding the sword together, he regained his sight to find the crumpled form of Serin unmoving beneath him.

  Raising his head, Jaxom looked for his friend and Alimar, finding them both safe. With the threat over, he released the bonds and his armor fell away until all that was left was a pile of bones. The two other mages stopped their flow of magic. If not for his remaining risen mage continuing to channel him magic, the sudden loss would have brought Jaxom to his knees. When he felt that he was ready, he commanded the fire mage to stop as well. The loss of so much power left a hole inside of him that he desperately wanted to fill again.

  “I do not know how you learned that, but I am glad you did,” Alimar said, grimacing at Serin’s still form. “To think that one of our own would lower himself to serve a god is shameful.” Raising a hand, Alimar released the blight over the dead mage’s body, covering it completely. When he withdrew his cast, nothing remained of the traitor but a blackened spot on the grass.

  “There are more of you?” he asked Jaxom.

  “As far as we know, we are the only two,” Jaxom replied.

  “But were did he come from, and why is he here?” Darian spluttered.

  Jaxom raised a hand, staving off his friend’s questions. He had questions of his own for Alimar, but they would have to wait “There will be time for answers later. Right now, we still have to win this battle. If Or’Keer has taken the city, we will be in much more trouble than we are now.”

  “I want to hear everything once this over,” Darian replied. Jaxom looked to Alimar, who was sitting calmly on his risen mount. “Can you tell us how the battle is going?” he asked.

  Alimar seemed to go into a trance, his face blank and devoid of emotion. It was an eerie look and made Jaxom wonder if that was how he looked when gazing through a risen’s eyes. “The Southerners have lost most of their men on the left and many are fleeing from that area. It would seem that much of their force was concentrated on the right in a gamble to overwhelm that side quickly. They lost,” the death mage said.

  “How would they know that Serin would be there to aid them?” Jaxom asked no one in particular.

  “He was likely in communication with servants of Or’Keer who were embedded within the enemies’ own ranks. They must have hoped that the two sides would destroy each other, leaving the rest too weak to oppose them,” Alimar replied.

  It made sense. If what Serin had said about Or’Keer attacking the city was true, whoever survived the night would not have the strength to retake it. “We should return to the right flank to aid the men there,” Jaxom said.

  “Your king has gathered the troops no longer needed elsewhere and reinforced them already. From what I can see, it will not be long before the Southerners are in full rout. Many of their mages are either dead or gone already,” he said.

  “We still need to help them. Are you willing to fight with us?” Jaxom said.

  “I have no choice. I have already thrown my lot in with you. It is only logical that I ensure your king wins here, as long as you and he are still willing to accept my proposal,” he said.

  “Corin and I have been speaking of it,” Jaxom said.

  “Wait a minute, what proposal? What are you two talking about?” Darian asked, bewildered.

  “I will explain everything later, I promise,” Jaxom said.

  “I bet it is a very interesting story,” he replied. Jaxom looked at the ice mage for moment, considering how far he could trust the man then dismissed the notion. He had proven himself many times over.

  Jaxom climbed onto the durgen behind Alimar, then turned to look Darian. “You will have to ride back with the fire mage.”

  “I will be right behind you,” he replied. Jaxom command her to obey Darian. The durgen used its six powerful legs to leap into the air where the wings took over, lifting the two men into the night sky.

  From the high vantage point, Jaxom could see that Alimar was right when he said that Corin had rallied his forces. The Southerners were for once outnumbered, with many already running in the direction they had come. To his left, the Ale’adarian soldiers were cleaning up the last remnants of resistance, and large groups of the enemy had already surrendered. He had no idea what Corin intended to do with the prisoners, but every man who gave up now was one less they had to fight. Above the men still fighting, Jaxom saw durgen sweeping in low, attacking the enemy that remained. Catching sight of two that carried riders, a great sense of relief washed over him. Over a dozen of Alimar’s durgen still flew over the battle. “When this is over, I hope you will show me how you create those enchanted stones,” Jaxom said to Alimar.

  “If we are to build the school, I will teach you what I know, so you can instruct others,” he replied.

  Moments later, they landed. Jaxom climbed down and Alimar took to the air again. The Ale’adarian army now surrounded groups of Southerners who were struggling to extricate themselves from the fight. The defenders did not seem willing to let them go easily. Moving through the battle carefully, Jaxom was able to avoid becoming entangled in a fight, stopping only long enough to help where it was needed. Magic streaked overhead, and he caught the occasional glimpse of a golem lumbering through the field.

  It did not take him long to find members of the Guard surrounding Corin, with Celia and Nelix next to him both shouting orders. The king was not fighting himself. The Guard would never allow that, but he was in the middle of the battle to show his men that he was with them. When the first Guardsmen saw Jaxom approaching the protective ring, they stepped to the side allowing him to pass. Corin sat atop his horse next to Celia, talking to one of his commanders about rounding up us much of the cavalry as possible to chase after the small groups of retreating enemy soldiers. The Southerners were retreating, but not as a whole, and many of those groups would turn bandit on their way back south. Corin wanted to
avoid any more destruction and looting. The Commander brought a fist to his chest in salute before turning his horse to leave the area protected by the Guard, using a horn to sound the signal for cavalry to rally as he went.

  Jaxom approached his friends. Celia jumped down from her saddle and grabbed him in a hug, laughing. “We have to stop meeting like this,” she said. “Yes, we really should not make this our usual greeting,” Jaxom said, smiling. “I am happy to see that you are all right.”

  “Corin made it just in time. Any longer, and the Southerners would have finished us,” she said.

  “It should have never gotten that far. Even after they put all their extra men here, we should have never come so close to losing,” Corin said, joining them on the ground with Nelix beside him. His blond hair and beard were disheveled, and his face was covered in dirt streaked with sweat. Apparently the Guard had not been able to keep their king from all of the fighting. Jaxom was again proud to call the man his friend. “Celia and her men killed four of their mages. What I don’t know is what happened to Serin and the mages with him. They should have been countering the enemy casts, not leaving Celia and less than a hundred cavalry to do it.”

  Jaxom described everything that had happened. When he got to the part about Serin and the other mages attacking from the rear, his friend’s face darkened with anger.