The noise of battle, caused by both conventional weapons and magic, carried to ears. His eyes strayed towards the doorway which must lead to the east and the Cadhalla River, but strange sounds and vibrations carried to him through the air and rock. As Xander looked, he spotted a girl in an apprentice’s uniform; but the pristine white of the apprentices was stained red in many places from her shoulders to her waist.
Rolling to his knees while he didn’t dare to stand, the cadet looked to see Shaylene’s pale face. The blood appeared drained from her skin and he feared that she had been killed until he noticed her chest rise and fall slowly.
“Careful there,” a wizard in yellow cautioned passing him a glass bottle that had once held wine but now had only water. “You’ve used yourself up in this battle. Once they open the portal to Windmeer, we will send you there to recover.”
“I can still fight,” he said before coughing from the rawness in his throat. Food was placed in his hand and the cadet started to eat as his stomach complained that his reserves needed to be resupplied once more. The wizard was right. He was used up, but maybe eating would give him the ability to stay to fight.
The man in the yellow robes looked on him tolerantly and replied, “Well you can try to recover while we wait for the next gate. Windmeer is trying to fortify the wall while they work to attack the force to the north to drive them away. Once the enemy is pushed away we can try to fix the wall.”
It was an optimistic thought, but Xander stopped the wizard as he began to move away as the cadet asked, “Is Shaylene alright?”
Looking to the apprentice lying so still, he smiled at the boy replying, “She is done fighting today as well, but the girl will be fine with a little bed rest.”
He looked for Wizard Haylee and wondered if the girl’s mentor was still fighting. She wasn’t in sight, but he could feel and hear magic being used beyond the closed door of the tower. Wizards still lived to defend the Cadhalla part of the wall apparently.
Moving closer to his friend, Xander sat with his legs pulled up before him as he looked at her sleeping form. Her chest inflated and deflated steadily making him believe the healer’s words. If he could have summoned his healing magic to check the girl, the cadet would have; but his strength in that magic was weak and a single healing spell could drain him even if he was healthy and strong.
Xander wasn’t sure if it was because he was still lightheaded from over use of his magic, but the young mage thought the stone floor beneath him swayed and jumped as he sat. Though nothing seemed to shift with the movements he felt, the cadet was sure that he was correct.
Using the wall to climb to a standing position, the cadet kept a hand against the stone for support as he moved to the east door of the tower. Curiosity made the boy open the door, but he only meant to open it a crack to see what was happening outside.
A roar of sound pushed him back as his eyes watched a group of wizards working together to move tons of stone making it roll over their enemies within range of the spell. The wall remained attached to the massive tendril as it first swept up viles, trolls and burning monsters that he would later learn were being called fire urchins. Attacking the enemy behind them to the south; the wave of stone met resistance much to the disbelief of, not only Xander, but the wizards. He heard a couple voice dismay seeing a few armored viles dig under the moving stone to reemerge on the other side of the wave from newly dug holes.
Fire urchins seemed to burn their way through as some tried to climb onto the top of the moving tendrils while others managed to push through to the far side of the stone wave. Some of the trolls even survived as Xander watched the wave recoil as it turned back towards the north.
Looking ahead of the wave, the cadet saw the enemies which would have to fend against the rolling stone headed for them. As non-magical soldiers pulled back or moved west to the tower and wall beyond the stone assault, warlocks pooled their powers for two different spells. First, water from the pooling Cadhalla River rose up to strike like a snake. Hardened by magic, it split into a dozen spinning drills of water as the water struck the stone. Holes formed but the wave ignored the losses pulling back together moving inexorably towards the enemy to the north.
The second spell worked in unison with the water. Like the first attack was a feint to slow the stone and distract from the warlocks calling upon the north winds. Gusts whipped up and turned into a horizontal, twisting torrent of air. The power of the tornado pulled dirt from the ground darkening the swirl as it hurled towards the wizards.
“Get down!” he screamed but his voice was drowned out in the sound of stone, water and wind. A mage shield was called up as the cadet stepped back from the door. The blue magic sealed the door leaving Xander a perfect view as the wizards met the roaring tornado of wind.
While the tower shook with the power, earth wizards appeared to become one with the stone in the wall. Anchored and using stone skin to weather the storm those stood strong while half of the wizards reacted to the tornado in different ways.
Darkness shields formed by three of the wizards looked to absorb the wind as they ducked down behind the black holes in the night. Two more tried to create powerful wind screens as they tried to split the tornado. Spinning, brown, dirty air swept across the remaining battlements masking his sight for several seconds before it passed.
Three wizards were missing. Thrown from the wall, their broken bodies had been pitched into the darkness. The Southwall wizards didn’t give up as the earth wizards in particular didn’t give up in the face of the losses.
Balls and large spikes of stone flew free of the wave masked by the tornado and landed among the warlocks killing or injuring several of the enemy. It was a mere child’s tantrum in the face of the power of the dozens of warlocks still standing and readying for the next attack, Xander thought.
The door was pushed closed surprising the cadet from his revelry and he noticed Falcon Gareth looking worn before him.
“Keep the door closed, cadet. The wizards will open it if they decide that they have to retreat, but I doubt that will happen,” his mentor finished revealing the steel of eyes that had seen battle and refused to give in against it. “You can’t do anything there and opening that door will only put the rest of the wounded at risk. Keep it closed.”
The dark brown eyes peeked from under black hair over his equally black mustache and goatee looking stern. This was a warning from mentor to student and veteran to a child, he thought.
“I didn’t see, Wizard Haylee,” the cadet stated as his blue eyes flicked to the apprentice still lying unconscious on the floor.
Gareth replied with less harshness, “In a battle like this, you will find a lot of those you know are gone when it is all said and done. Preparing for those losses is a thing that no amount of training can prepare you for in White Hall.”
The falcon slid down the wall to sit once more beyond the reach of the door.
Moving to sit beside Shaylene, as if he could hope to guard her against the powers struggling to destroy them outside; Xander waited to see whether the tower would hold together until Windmeer opened the next gate.
Chapter 34- Mercy
The combined spells of water and air used against the stone tentacle made the dark mage turn to see what was causing the mist in the air. While the river was close by there was little reason for it to cause any spray to reach the man standing on the hill east of the battle for the Twins. Seeing the lack of true results, Palose thought the spells nearly worthless.
Southwall’s wizards continued to use the broken stone of the wall as a weapon and the loss of three wizards too inept to defend against the attacks would hardly be missed in the dark mage’s opinion. They had accomplished little and the enemy could gain hope from surviving the combined attacks of dozens of warlocks.
He shook his head as the man scanned the field of battle. Palose could see that, while the addition of the two battalions had pushed Southwall back initially, the forces of Ensolus were slowly givi
ng back the ground that they had won with their arrival. The wall over the river had been destroyed, but the wizards now made use of the rubble as a weapon and the stone no longer clogged the Cadhalla letting the slowly pooling lake drain off to the south as nature had planned.
If he was in charge, Palose thought that he would have the warlocks pool their resources to flatten the two towers. Without them at their backs, the wizards would likely falter in their defense. Even earth wizards needed something to defend and, without the towers, they would realize that they only held a worthless bit of stone.
A glint flickered beyond the forces on the west side of the river making the dark mage call up his distance vision spell. If he could pick out the oddity in the darkness beyond the armies, something significant was likely afoot.
Using his increased vision, Palose spied a force of hundreds of mounted, armored knights. In a time where wizards and warlocks magic threatened to turn a battle against even armored knights, there were still those soldiers who aspired to become a legend in battle. With lances in hand and steeds to drive them onward, the plate armor clad soldiers had the power to kill even monsters like armored viles and crag trolls.
He wondered if the knights would be the only reinforcements for those already arrived from the south. Every time he looked around there seemed to be another gateway bringing Southwall’s forces to the battle. Palose had heard the resignation of Kolban and his words stating that eventual usurping of Ensolus’ magic had to happen. While many wizards had been recruited to close the gates, it had only been a matter of time before they turned them around he supposed. In fact, from that point of view, the dark mage had to say that the Dark One had managed a good run.
Sighing as Palose began to lose interest in a battle that he didn’t need to fight; the mage looked along the wall to the east. If knights came from the west, then the odds favored other cities sending more reinforcements; so seeing more movement advancing quickly along the wall was hardly a surprise to him. Even though he couldn’t see past Northwall aside from the gap over the river, Palose had a feeling more armies were on their way to deal with the larger assault force there.
Time was against them and the empire wasn’t ready to bring more troops to the fight. Kolban had chosen to start the war for Litsarin nearly a week ago and most of his forces were already committed there, after all this was only supposed to be a distraction for Southwall. They would believe that the emperor wished to hit them hard enough to break the wall to try and attack the guardian cities. It was an easy enough supposition to give Kolban the credit of wishing to crush his ancient enemies; but he was already trying to weaken the country by using spies to incite riots in the southern cities.
It was all to distract and weaken Southwall so King Alain couldn’t respond to the takeover of Litsarin. Without Sileoth’s help, the country occupying the southwest corner of the continent would be nearly alone when the emperor chose to attack in earnest.
Palose watched as the rear guard spotted the enemies along their flank to the west. Soldiers prepared to make another defensive line as the Ensolus’ soldiers took on the next wave. He wondered how long the warlocks would choose to stay in the fight. There were portal casting warlocks among those brought to the fight. Kolban had understood that they would be overwhelmed by Southwall since they were more prepared to defend the wall than the dark army was ready to push the battle.
To his surprise, the mage watched as part of the wall west of the western tower began to collapse. Even with reinforcements, the defenders hadn’t been able to keep the viles, warlocks and crag trolls from tearing out the lower portion of the wall. Without its base, the bricks began to fall bringing down more to eventually collapse a twenty foot expanse first. Then a second smaller section only thirty feet beyond met a similar fate.
It was a major accomplishment, but it was too late as the knights tore into the defensive line. The viles and other soldiers had to turn to defend themselves while abandoning any further destruction.
There was no turning around of the wall’s ruin. The wizards to the west weren’t earth wizards apparently and many bodies were dragged down in the fall. The tower was isolated, but even it was looking ready to topple now. Still it remained standing with defenders along the parapets raining arrows and spells on the heads of any enemy they could spy. Targets were numerous and they never ran out of those needing to be killed.
The second force from the east attacked. Magic preceded the soldiers as wizards and battle mages did their damage from the side even as another line had to be created to defend.
Palose shook his head.
It was almost over now. When the first gate sprung up to the west, he nodded knowing that the dark army was defeated even as they fought to avoid their deaths.
Warlocks disappeared through the glow first followed by the closest soldiers and monsters. Word must have passed through their lines as they retreated while the powerful viles, trolls and fire urchins gave way to Southwall’s attacks. The monsters did their best to kill more even as they retreated.
More gates opened within the eastern forces before following the same pattern as the west. Palose continued to watch content to do nothing beyond recording the defeat with his eyes. When the last of the rear guard that could escape did so, the warlocks left the gates open daring Southwall to follow. They could kill anyone stupid enough to believe that they could push the attack beyond the magical gates.
The sound of battle began to subside; even from the north it was obvious that the warlocks had begun to lead the army in a retreat. He was unsure if they would just draw back in a march or try to escape by portal. With Southwall’s defense of the Twin Towers, there was little reason for the larger army to remain. Kolban wouldn’t try to do more here.
His feint had pulled Southwall together and revealed their knowledge of portal magic as well. The world had become smaller and more challenging for both sides. Palose wondered how long it would be before more of his lodestones were found and destroyed. He had thought of a plan if the one targeting the gates had managed to track his magic, but it would have to wait for a little longer.
For now, the dark mage’s duty was finished at the Twins.
Palose gathered up the shadows by calling on his stealth spell. The dark mage disappeared into the night. He would walk to the south for a little while before using a portal. If he wasn’t careful, an archer might spot him in the darkness and fire an arrow before he knew it.
It was the excuse that he told himself, but if he was truthful with himself; Palose just wasn’t ready to go back to Ensolus yet. The night was beautiful away from the destruction of the wall and the dark mage smiled as he walked deeper into Southwall.
Xander had felt the tremor as more of the wall fell apart to the west. The tower was becoming an island defended by fewer and fewer men and women. It shook with the impact of warlock’s spells and threatened to fall like the wall on either side as monsters tore away at the stone. Armored viles and crag trolls were hard to kill and once dug into the stone of the wall; they could dig onward without risk aside from falling rock.
“Time to go,” the healers stated as a new gate appeared. “If you’re well enough to help those still injured, please do your best to do so.”
He didn’t have to be told to help. Xander felt much better and believed that he could have fought if the healers had allowed him.
Pulling his mentor to his feet first, Gareth told him quickly, “I can make it on my own. Grab your friend. I know that you want to, though why you are spending time with a wizard is beyond me.”
The prejudices of wizards against battle mages remained even after word of the mage defeating wizards in the Winter’s Edge tournament made it to the other cities in Southwall. While some never let the differences affect them and who they made friends with during their career fighting for the country, too many still had that mentality which kept them from coming together in a more positive and powerful way.
It wasn’t a worry the cadet ha
d. Shaylene was his friend and it didn’t matter what title they were tagged with or who held more magical power.
Lifting the girl from the floor gently, Xander was surprised at how light she was and how fragile she seemed. Shaylene still hadn’t returned to consciousness which worried him, though the healer had told him it wasn’t something to fret over since the apprentice was already magically healed. Magic still had limitations after all, but the cadet knew he couldn’t risk using his healing spell to check her for now.
The glow called to him and the cadet stepped towards it with the girl in his arms. Her head rested on his shoulder and he felt her breath tickling his neck. They were going to Windmeer and safety, the cadet thought. She would receive better care than magical field medicine, though he didn’t doubt the healers’ abilities.
Silver light surprised him and his vision caught what he thought were islands in the distance. There was no land beneath his feet, but in an instant his momentum brought him back to darkness. Xander felt more stone under foot and quickly noticed stone walls around him. A castle loomed to one side while a protective wall with towers held the other. He was in a castle courtyard. They had traveled hundreds of miles in an instant and had arrived in Windmeer.
“We can take her now, young man,” a voice called to Xander startling him as he tried to take in his surroundings.
He noted a healer in her yellow uniform. The wizard smiled at the cadet, but he shook his head replying, “It’s alright, I can carry her wherever you want. You don’t need to waste anyone else on her. She’s very light and I can carry her.”
If she was surprised by his answer, the wizard didn’t show it. A battle mage cadet showing concern for an apprentice wizard might seem unlikely, but his kind had been protecting her kind since the origins of the corps. Wizards just didn’t like to admit that they needed anyone with lesser power than themselves.
Battle Mage: Forging New Steel (Tales of Alus Book 9) Page 48
