Battle Mage Broken Empire

by Donald Wigboldy

  The three sat in silence a moment considering the hunt master and whether he truly was looking for a different man with great magical strength to back as a leader of Ensolus and the empire. Megan recalled Lesolas' first questions and chose to return to them since there was little to report.

  "Torva told me that they have found a couple places that might be serviceable for a sanctuary, but he was hoping to find something better. The best location found so far is still pretty close to Garosh's fortress and likely to be found by Southwall too easily. He believes that we need to find a more sheltered, more out of the way place to build that has good resources as well."

  Her forehead wrinkled and Megan considered one of Torva's thoughts for a proper school asking Lesolas, "If we escape with a good amount of students and teachers that hope to find some peace, do we take those without magic as well? A school of wizards and apprentices might be good for safe studies, but can it sustain itself without a town of skilled crafters or farms for very long?"

  The master turned his eyes towards the ceiling thoughtfully as he mused, "In other words, how much good land do we need? Do we find a way to bring farmers and livestock which will need good land to grow crops and feed the animals? If we can't reliably resupply the school, we will be forced to either return here or go begging to Southwall. I am not sure either option would go over well for those of us who have chosen to leave the empire, however."

  Both women didn't like the idea of having to go begging from either choice and, considering the possibility that whoever would take charge of Ensolus might declare them traitors, meant maybe there was no choice for them at all. Once they left the empire, those who left would have to hope Southwall wouldn't decide to destroy or imprison them should they go begging.

  Fordenna spoke her opinion for the three, "The apprentices have families that they might wish to help escape the cave as well. Many of the humans stuck in the eastern corner might want a new place to live, especially if things become violent. If there are too many men hoping to be emperor there will certainly be fighting. The innocent will likely be in as much danger as the armies trying to place their leaders on the throne."

  As the thought of their intended flight continued to remind them of the weight of the repercussions, the three wizards found the possibility of failure a dark proposition. Master Lesolas considered the idea and said, "If Torva returns without being able to reach me, tell him that I agree with the decision to find farmable land also. Our sanctuary can't be just a single school if we hope to last for any length of time."

  They didn't have too much more to say about the idea of the sanctuary which had to be self sufficient if they hoped to make a go of their new lives and soon Master Lesolas led the women to the dining hall for lunch adding to the appearance of simply visiting with his former students. Any watching the master, who might believe he was working against the grand masters, would see their meeting as social and hopefully Echolus and his followers would think nothing of their meeting.

  As the day lengthened, Megan's thoughts turned to Torva as she hoped he was safe and hopefully finding the answer to their prayers.

  Chapter 16- An Exchange in the Market

  Holdy had left the school only to pass the library by instead of continuing his search for new magic. There was tension in the air as the apprentice moved closer to the neighborhoods consisting mostly of orcs. The sector closest to the human ghetto was populated by military families meaning that they were a more elite kind of orc, at least to the minds of the humans and elves living around their zone. Unlike the orcs living in the west near the breeding pits, these were often multigenerational families with soldiery as their main income.

  They were considered more or less civil as well, since they worked alongside the other races in the army. The three humanoid races seemed to be comfortable around each other, but there were occasional blow ups although the same could be said within each race's communities as well. Of the three types considered intelligent races, orcs were often considered the most crude with more volatile tempers in comparison.

  Now as the apprentice walked south of the library, he was surprised to see an increase in traffic and most of the men walking the street were orcs. They eyed the boy as they moved north or south along his path as if they were deciding if they needed to address him in some way. Holdy guessed that the look of his clothing kept the men, mostly soldiers, at bay.

  He wasn't sure why there was that feeling, but after a few frowns at his sight, Holdy was pretty certain that he wasn't mistaking it. They walked in small groups for the most part and some might hide their feelings, but there were those who made it obvious. Since he was merely walking past, the apprentice wondered why there seemed to be any animosity towards him at all.

  The noise of voices raised in shouts came to him before he reached the human market. He had planned to see his mother and talk more with his uncle. It had been a little more than a week since Holdy had spent time with them and discussed his worries for his family.

  Poultus hadn't seemed to believe that, with the emperor dead, the city wouldn't find a way to pull together to find a new leader. As a man of considerable wealth, perhaps it was simply that he had become too comfortable in his life to think that something could change inside the stone city.

  They had still discussed possible contingency plans, but the human quarter had nowhere to go. If there was danger that came from the orcs, the humans would be trapped between the creatures attacking and the stone wall of the cave. It left the salvation of the human quarter to Holdy, since only magic could possibly do anything to exact a possible escape under those conditions.

  His thoughts and worries seemed to be coming to some form of fulfillment as the young apprentice walked into sight of the market his mother's stand shared with the other human vendors. It wasn't restricted to humans per say, but the clothing his mother sold was in proportion to the other human men and women that frequented the area. Orcs had their own markets and, like the human sector, they catered to their own.

  Dozens of orcs in leather armor wielding weapons raised their voices in shouts threatening vendors and customers alike. It took a moment for Holdy to hear clearly enough to realize that the orcs were working in smaller groups as they attempted to extort money from the humans there.

  "Hand over the money now!" one of the brown skinned men ordered holding out his hand palm up towards a middle aged man cowering behind his counter. His wagon of pottery and other simple household items was spread onto wooden counters that could be folded up to be returned to his wagon. Though temporary in design, the vendor had been a regular here for years Holdy knew from helping his mother.

  "I-I-I can't! How will I live? I need this money to pay for food, my home and to replace what I sell with new goods. It is winter. If you take all my money, how will I live?" the merchant asked pleading with the orc despite his fear of their strength and weapons.

  "Like I care," the lead orc replied angrily. "Now I told you to fork it over, old man!"

  The merchant somehow managed to pull back further, though the wall hadn't moved behind him.

  "What are you doing?" Holdy asked managing to control his anger. He just hoped that his voice, barely past the age of cracking, would sound authoritative to match his being a wizard, albeit an apprentice.

  The orcs glanced at the boy, still likely growing into his full height and weight. He had looked overweight, pudgy some might say, only a few months ago before growing a few more inches. His weight had barely changed and Holdy no longer looked fat, but he was an apprentice used to working his mind more than his body. Compared to the broad chests and thick muscular necks of the orcs, the wizard was still quite scrawny looking.

  "Stay out of it, boy, or you'll get yourself hurt," the orc said managing to not sound that threatening after being surprised to hear anyone standing up to him. It was more a warning to avoid pain than a threat to deliver it.

  "As a wizard of Ensolus, I must ask you to stop threatening these people an
d return to your homes. The emperor's men will come for you if you don't desist from this thievery." He thought that his explanation was both reasonable and calm. It should have made sense to anyone. The emperor's dungeon was known to house those who disobeyed like this after all.

  "Pfft, the emperor's dead and without him we'll have to look out for ourselves. The outer towers still block the path outside, so no more supplies will be coming from outside for a long while. Only the strong will survive comfortably," the orc informed the boy. "As to being a wizard, you look closer to the age of a baby sucking its mother's breasts."

  Holdy had been moving his fingers on both hands. To a casual observer, it might have looked like he was moving them nervously or in a way to perhaps limber them up to crack his knuckles. "I am a wizard and as I already told you, go home."

  Two of his fellow soldiers turned advancing towards the apprentice. "I warned you, kid," the spokesman reminded him with a shake of his head already beginning to look at the merchant to threaten him once more.

  "I warned you also," Holdy stated before several words that made less sense to the orcs were uttered. Spells required words of power and they were not in the common language of the men from the north. Though the emperor had come as a conqueror, he had used his magic to integrate his people with the locals for speech. With all the humans added to their cities, it was simpler to change to common than attempt to make their new allies change to the old languages of Litsors since the old world had many races and languages anyway.

  Whether the orcs had any idea that he was casting a spell or not, they were close and threatening the young apprentice. It only took a moment, however, for the magic to manifest. The orcs closest to him cried out as the stone beneath their feet seemed to turn to jelly. There was resistance, but they sunk to their knees quite quickly. Before his attackers could try to pull free, the ground hardened to stone once more.

  A second spell made their weapons, still in hand, turn heavy. The weight pulled their arms down until their fingers could no longer grip them. Stone shook with little tremors as each weapon fell to the ground.

  The orc who had been speaking hadn't been rooted and though four orcs fought to unearth their legs, he was left with two others. They turned to face him as worry crossed their previously angry and unshakable faces. Now they believed that Holdy knew magic and it was a kind that was quite formidable.

  "Release them or... or," the soldier fumbled for a threat or order that wouldn't sound like a child hollering helplessly.

  "Go back to your homes or I will make sure that all of you are confined here until you can be removed to the dungeons," Holdy ordered with a flick of his hand. They couldn't tell that the apprentice maintained his power over the earth. His reach wasn't infinite, but the apprentice could sink the last three closest to him easily enough at least.

  Some of the other groups of orcs noticed the apprentice. Some heard his voice and looked uncertain.

  To his surprise, the spokesman's remaining comrades thought that they would call his bluff. They rushed towards him hollering what he guessed were supposed to be war cries. While still beyond their trapped members, Holdy softened the ground once more under just the two orcs. To their surprise, they were rooted in the same way as the others leaving just their leader and the distant orcs unaffected.

  He had to recast the spell which enchanted their weapons making them become many times heavier than before.

  Stepping back from the merchant's counter and Holdy at the same time, the speaker had no words this time. Luckily for the orc, the sight of their comrades sunk in stone inspired the other bands to help. While they charged forward hollering at him unintelligibly, the leader only looked at those running to the orcs trapped in stone.

  Holdy began a new spell. As the orcs began to near the first group, stone vines grew from the ground. There were flowerlike growths on the lines and, as the orcs came closer, spikes lanced out from the strange flowers. Two foot long, the shafts flew towards the oncoming orcs in warning. It would be their last, Holdy knew, but not because he was growing impatient.

  The apprentice could already begin to feel the strain of the use of his magic. These spells were not simple castings for a wizard, even one comfortable with earth and stone. Magic that could cover large areas and reshape the land were draining even for masters. Holdy didn't have much in the way of food to add to his magic reserves either, so his warnings would become lethal from now on merely because there were so many orcs and he needed to be efficient with his remaining power.

  "Go home! This is the last warning that I'll give you!" the apprentice shouted and magic enhanced his sound almost without his thinking of it. Such magic was less of a drain, but it could harm a person's vocal chords if used too long.

  It wasn't enough for the obstinate orcs. His magic should have scared them off, Holdy thought, but as nearly a dozen of the creatures continued to swarm towards him, the apprentice was forced to implement the next part of the spell.

  Smaller stone thorns grew out from the stone vines and as they struck the orcs closest to him, they shredded armor and flesh alike. Even the thick skin of the orcs wasn't enough to stop the five inch thorns from stabbing deep into their bodies. The weight of the stone vines also slammed them to the ground breaking bones even as they bled from multiple wounds.

  Behind the lead orcs, the forgotten warning projectiles created dozens of spears that became a deadly hedge which more orcs impaled themselves on as they rapidly formed, four foot long spikes. It was a massacre that the boy had hoped to avoid, but they had given him little choice. They believed one lone wizard wouldn't be enough to stop them. If they had been closer and able to strike him sooner, they would have been right, the apprentice knew. Wizards manipulated great and powerful spells; but, without protectors to cover them, they needed to keep their distance from an enemy. Unlike Turless, Holdy hadn't been to the battle mage training sessions with Palose. He didn't know how to use a sword or have the kind of magic that could keep him safe in that kind of close quarters battle.

  With half their number wounded or dead in an instant, the remaining orcs saw the slaughter and decided to finally heed his ordered warning. While most ran, Holdy noticed the vocal orc still standing behind his men in stunned disbelief. The apprentice called out, "Hey, you, give the others a warning. Stay in your own areas and leave the other races alone. We will fix the towers and other damage. If you add to the troubles in the city, you can expect imprisonment or death.

  "Now get out of here!"

  The orc jumped and ran heading towards the orc blocks to the west.

  Letting out a sigh of relief, the apprentice looked at the merchant who stared at the orcs held by the stone or pummeled by his magical vines and said, "Send someone to the emperor's castle and tell them that there are orc robbers here that need dealing with."

  The man started at being addressed, but nodded quickly before heading into the nearest shop. Many faces looked out into the street from behind their doors and windows. Some had already given up to the orcs, but luckily for them, Holdy had arrived only a little after the extortion had begun.

  Looking for his mother's stall as he walked around the trapped orcs, Holdy ignored their cries for revenge or calls to be merciful. The apprentice wasn't willing to risk releasing any of them until others arrived to take them away. Freed they might actually dare to try attacking him again. He was too cautious to risk that chance.

  Renelley saw her son, the carnage he had created with only a few spells, and appeared torn between worry for his safety and worry for everyone else's. Being the mother of a wizard made her see him as her little boy, but he had been taken away for a reason. Magic in the untrained was dangerous and had to be contained before worse disasters than what she had just seen could occur. He was trained to use his spells precisely. A wild warlock or wizard might have the power to collapse the city if his magic manifested itself in such a destructive way. Until they were contained by wizard hunters, their true potential was hard
to know without an accident happening.

  "Holdy... are you alright?" the woman asked still looking shaken. While the orcs hadn't threatened her yet, she had seen what they were capable of as well.

  "I'm fine, though I could use something to eat and drink, mom."

  Her eyes furtively glanced side to side looking towards the other merchants. These were her peers, but few had realized that Holdy had become a wizard. It was strange since they knew that he had left because he had magic, but until they had witnessed his power, the truth of it hadn't truly sunk in yet.

  She suddenly pulled him closer and behind some of her wares. The clothing was displayed in various ways. Some were simply in racks, while others were hung. Forming a screen, the woman warned in a lowered voice, "Holdy, what have you done?"

  Frowning at the question, the boy replied, "I tried to be civil, but they attacked me. I had to defend myself and in doing so the market. Since I am a wizard, it is my job to maintain order in Ensolus, even here."

  He found a pitcher filled with water, but it had been out too long. Turned nearly into solid ice, the wizard sighed and used his magic to thaw it quickly. Renelley opened a box beneath her counter and offered her son a sandwich.

  Taking it without comment, the wizard barely noticed the taste as it disappeared down his throat. It restored a bit of his energy taking the edge off of his need.

  "Has this happened before?" he asked inquiringly.

  The woman shook her head. "There have been some fights near the border area, but they had never ventured this far into our part of the city. Why would they attack and rob us?"

  "With the emperor dead and no strong leader in his place, I am afraid more of this will happen. If there isn't a new emperor soon, I have a feeling that it will continue to get worse."