by V. St. Clair
To his distant left, Hayden saw Bonk and Slasher descend from the tree level and land softly on the ground near one of the posts that chained magical creatures, taking care only to move when the sorcerers in the camp were looking the other way so as to go unnoticed.
Cinder, Hayden felt the force of that realization like a blow to the gut. They’ve found Cinder and they’re going to try and free him.
The Magistra was about to turn them in that direction when Hayden said, “Can I walk around and see some more of the camp? This is really very impressive, and I want to be able to give my father a complete report. I’m sure he’ll be eager to join with your cause when he hears about your impressive accomplishments here.”
Looking gratified, the Magistra said, “Certainly, let us look around some more…” and led him and Oliver off in the opposite direction from their familiars, moving to another grouping of mage-cages.
There has to be something I can use on the Magistra to get us out of here alive…what are her weaknesses?
She had the upper-hand from a magical perspective, there was no denying that. If all of the mages were freed from their cages and in fighting condition, they would have superior numbers, but that was a rather lofty set of assumptions since he had no idea how to accomplish either objective right now.
She’s arrogant and prideful, Hayden acknowledged to himself. She was quick to show off to me and Oliver once she learned who I was. She likes being flattered…
He wasn’t sure how to use that just yet, but it seemed like a weakness worth keeping in mind.
They stopped when a sorcerer approached the Magistra in a hurry and rattled off something in their native language. A flicker of agitation crossed the Magistra’s face, but then she turned to Hayden and said, “Excuse me for one moment, I need to confer with some of my captains.”
“Problems?” Hayden solicited with interest.
“Only a minor annoyance,” she assured him, turning to follow her captain back to a group of sorcerers who were standing around a campfire about twenty feet away.
Taking advantage of the time alone with Oliver, Hayden whispered, “Arm anyone you can when no one is looking.”
Oliver fell into step beside him and said, “What kind of harebrained scheme are you plotting now?”
“I don’t know yet, but we have to do something.” Hayden stopped in front of someone he recognized, wearing dirt-stained Council robes. It was Calahan, chairperson of the Council of Mages. He looked a hundred years older than the last time Hayden had seen him, slumped over in chains with deathly-white skin and lines creasing his face as he was drained of magic.
The sight of him seemed to stir something in Oliver, who looked absolutely horrified as he whispered, “Cal?” to the still figure in the cage.
Calahan tilted his eyes up with visible effort in response to his name, and it looked like he wasn’t sure whether to believe Oliver was real or not. He mumbled something incoherent and then slumped forward once more.
“This is horrible and graceless,” Oliver said with disgust. Keeping his back to the Magistra and her colleagues, he drew a wand and some powder from Hayden’s backpack and dropped them onto the ground, using his foot to casually slide them through the bars of the cage as they continued on.
“Even if we arm everyone in this camp—which we don’t have quite the weaponry for—it’s going to be useless unless we can get rid of the Suppressors,” he pointed out.
Hayden eyed the nearest crystal with a frown and said, “I know. We’re going to have to break them before they catch us if the others are going to stand a chance.” He didn’t mention that he wasn’t sure if any of the caged mages had the strength to stand up, let alone fight, after going so long with their magic being drained continuously out of their Sources. He knew from personal experience how exhausted a person was when their Source was depleted, and how long it took to replenish.
They dropped a few more weapons off in front of unknown mages in cages before they saw someone else they recognized. Hayden’s stomach dropped as he encountered Masters Asher and Kilgore.
Both of them appeared to be in a deep sleep, almost comatose, though they were holding their Mastery Charms discreetly with one hand. Hayden was surprised that the charms hadn’t been taken from them when they were captured, but then maybe the Magistra didn’t know what they were, or else she didn’t think it mattered whether they were wearing them or not.
Both Masters looked pale and less substantial than usual, dangling in awkward positions in their cages, the golden magical siphons visible through their shirts.
“Asher?” Hayden’s voice cracked as he said the name, kneeling down in front of his mentor and praying that he was still alive.
The Prism Master slowly opened his eyes and focused on Hayden, and then his surroundings. His eyes widened in horror.
“Why’re…you…here?” he mumbled, nearly incoherent.
“Oliver and I came to rescue you all.” He knew how stupid it sounded as soon as he said it. The task of rescuing anyone right now seemed insurmountable. Thankfully Asher didn’t have the breath to spare for lecturing him on his stupidity, though he looked like he was considering it.
“I’ll think of something, sir, I promise,” Hayden assured him, reaching into his own belt and removing a clear crystal prism, slipping a hand through the cage and placing it inside the fold of Asher’s shirt, out of sight.
The Magistra approached as he was standing up.
“What are you doing?” she asked suspiciously, startling Hayden.
“I know this guy,” he admitted. “He used to be a friend of my father’s, before he betrayed him. I wasn’t sure if it was him, so I knelt down for a closer look,” he explained, and Master Asher looked between him and the Magistra in confusion, obviously trying to figure out why they were acting so chummy.
“Oh?” the Magistra raised her eyebrows. “Does it bother you to see an old acquaintance brought so low?”
“Not really,” Hayden shrugged. “He was a traitor, like I said, and we were never really close to begin with.”
“If you don’t mind, I need to end our tour a little short and return to my tent in a few minutes. You picked a very busy day to visit me, Hayden.”
“Alright,” he nodded, allowing himself to be led away.
It killed him to turn away from the Masters and leave them in agonizing pain, but he allowed the Magistra to continue steering him around the campsite to examine the animals and mages who were being used as fuel for the Suppressors, walking briskly to make good time. He only hoped that Oliver had managed to slip Kilgore some elixirs and hopefully an energy infusion or two while their backs were turned.
“Why is this a particularly busy day for you?” Hayden solicited once the Magistra announced it was time to wrap things up. “You seem to have everything pretty well tied up here; I can’t imagine why you haven’t already invaded the mainland.”
She graced him with a genuine smile and said, “I’ve been waiting for the bulk of my forces to arrive from overseas for weeks now; invading an entire continent takes much more manpower than holding a forest; my advanced parties only came months in advance so that we could secure lines of entry through the Forest. Today is a busy day because I’m expecting the boats to arrive any time now.”
She paused to let that sink in, and Hayden tried to look pleasantly surprised instead of horrified.
“Stick around and you might get to witness the beginning of the real war for conquest,” she motioned for him to follow her back towards the hillock that overlooked the main campsites.
Of all days to get here, Oliver and I had to show up on the day of the invasion.
That ended his internal debate on whether they could leave and come back with reinforcements when they were better prepared. If they didn’t do something before the ships full of sorcerers showed up they would never be able to overcome their superior numbers.
We have to contain them in the Forest. We can’t let them hit the mainland or we’ll never
round them all up…if we can just take those stupid Suppressors out of play, then maybe the other animals that live in the Forest will be able to come help fight as well.
He was still trying to rack his brains for a plan when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. Turning, he saw a nearly transparent outline of something large slinking through the camp, slipping its neck between the bars on a cage and breaking the bonds holding the mage’s wrists with a sharp snap. Hayden blinked hard several times, wondering why he couldn’t see the creature properly except when he turned away and used his peripheral vision.
The mystery animal moved on to the next cage and repeated the process.
Whatever that is, it’s freeing our mages so they can pull out their spikes. It’s on our side…
Unfortunately the snapping of chains was loud enough to draw the attention of both the Magistra and some other nearby sorcerers, who narrowed their eyes in suspicion and looked around the campsite, apparently unable to locate the source of the noise. Hayden wasn’t sure whether they could see the outline of the creature or not, but guessed not since they were all looking in different directions. He tilted his head to the side again and caught the animal’s true appearance through his peripheral vision. He nearly gasped in recognition.
That looks like Felix, only bigger…
Just as he began to convince himself that it was impossible for Zane’s familiar to be in the Forest of Illusions with them right now, Zane himself appeared at the edge of the campsite, throwing a rock at the closest sorcerer with surprising accuracy and hitting him in the head.
The Magistra turned her gaze to him just as Tess flew into the clearing on the back of Mittens, who looked more like a tiger than a cat at the moment as he pounced on the nearest enemy. Since Tess’s familiar was known for lolling in sunbeams, waiting to have his belly scratched, it was a little startling to see him clawing enemies’ faces with the ferocity of a lion right now.
The Magistra shouted something in her native language and the sorcerers grabbed their weapons and turned to fight the newcomers. Hayden could hear more of their enemies hurrying over from the other side of the camp and knew he had to do something before his friends died horribly in front of him.
Oliver tackled the Magistra from behind and threw her to the ground, landing hard on top of her and immediately divesting her of any visible weapons as the two of them launched into hand-to-hand combat. Hayden was looking for an opening to kick the Magistra when he heard Bonk and Slasher emit the most high-pitched, unearthly, soul-wrenching sound he had ever heard in his life, loudly enough to attract the attention of everyone in the campsite.
Hayden clapped his hands over his ears, certain that his head was going to explode, but instead it was the cages that fell apart at the seams, the cuffs falling from the mages’ wrists inside as the metal was ripped away from itself in every direction. The dragons finally stopped screaming, took hold of Cinder’s limp body in their claws, and flew off into the trees, disappearing from sight.
As a few mages pulled out the spikes in their chests and stumbled to their feet, Hayden turned and ran as fast as he could towards the nearest Suppressor crystal, only one thought on his mind now:
If I can break the crystals then our mages will have a fighting chance.
He only hoped that enough of them had the strength to fight. As it was, they had the superior numbers only because the Magistra had left so many of them alive as captives to power the Suppressors. If they could regain control of the Forest of Illusions before those boats of reinforcements showed up from the north, they might stand a chance of winning—or at least holding them off until more help could arrive.
He heard someone shout at him as he leveled his violet prism at the first crystal he came to, but the blood was pounding in his ears too hard for him to make out the words. He twisted the prism around so fast that it made his eyes hurt from trying to process all the arrays there, finally finding the one he wanted and channeling his will at the crystal.
“Break!” he yelled, but nothing happened. It still felt like he had cotton stuffed in his Foci, blocking the bulk of his magic from coming out.
No, I won’t let this happen. I have the biggest Source anyone has ever seen, and I will break this stupid crystal if it is the last thing I do.
His anger cleared his mind, and he concentrated on the crystal harder than he had ever focused on anything and shouted, “Break!”
The Suppressor shattered, fragments of crystal slicing his arms and pants as they flew past, drawing blood. His Focus-correctors burned like they were on fire, and he was sure they were scalding his skin, though he was afraid to look. Despite the pain, he immediately felt the effect of the destroyed Suppressor: that wet-blanket feeling that had been hovering over him since he stepped into the camp lessened noticeably and his Foci felt a little clearer.
There was an uproar as he took off running towards the next crystal. He thought he heard Master Asher shout something, but he couldn’t hear what it was over the noise of the fighting, and suddenly it seemed as though every sorcerer in the forest was descending upon him, determined to stop him from reaching the next crystal.
Hayden knew that the defensive charm he was wearing wouldn’t be enough to stop dozens of attacks at once, and cast a shielding spell with his prism just in the nick of time. The moment he finished the spell he felt it shatter from the force of the sorcerers’ magical attacks.
Shield! Hayden repeated in his head, throwing up another wall of protection just in time for it to be torn down. He kept casting as fast as he could, watching his violet prism slowly become consumed as he leapt over a campfire and dodged a sorcerer who lunged at him. Other mages were coming to his aid, and he saw someone wearing Council robes cast a protective spell at him just before being skewered by a sorcerer’s spell and falling to the ground.
Heart racing, Hayden was forced to stop running as six enemies approached him from different directions, blocking his way. They kept sending magic at him, some of them nicking their arms to draw blood for their power while others used wands, powders, and weapons Hayden had never even seen before. All he could do was keep shielding himself while his violet prism diminished and his attackers closed in on him, standing between him and the second crystal.
Growing desperate, Hayden grabbed a wand from his belt and considered which spell to use when he wasn’t able to shield himself anymore, though he knew it would do little good against six people at once.
Tess raced past him from behind and began throwing powders and elixirs at anyone she could hit, causing bursts of fire and small explosions that would have been a lot more impressive if her magic was at full strength. A shadow fell across Hayden and he looked up in time to see Mittens leaping over his head and landing in the fray, pouncing on the first sorcerer he came across and scattering the others momentarily.
“Hayden, GO!” Tess yelled at him when he showed signs of wanting to help her, and he took off running again without question.
I could really use some help taking out these crystals, he thought while he ran, shielding himself and ducking magical attacks constantly. Surely the others have figured out that they’re the thing stopping up our magic by now…
But no one else appeared to be heading for them, so he continued to fend off a barrage of magic until he reached the second crystal.
“Break!” he barely had the breath to say it out loud, but the crystal still shattered just like the first one had, and yet again he felt a wash of power return to him and heard a triumphant yell from the mages on their side.
His Focus-correctors were a different story. They burned him so badly that he could feel blood on his wrists, and he dropped to his knees on the ground as spots of dancing light obscured his vision and he nearly passed out. His violet prism had been entirely consumed by the last spell, and he felt tears slide down his cheeks as he slumped forward, staring uselessly at the ground and trying to regain his wits.
Someone grabbed him by the back of the sh
irt and pulled him roughly to his feet, and his first thought was that a sorcerer had gotten hold of him and wanted him to be standing up when he died. Then he realized he was looking into the faces of Oliver Trout and Master Willow.
“Go get the other crystals, NOW!” the former barked at him, looking a lot worse for wear with his bruised, split lip and a cut above one eye.
“My arms…” Hayden mumbled numbly, blinking hard several times as Oliver shook him out of his stupor.
“GO!”
“We’ll help you,” Master Willow sounded nearly as harried as Oliver, reaching into Hayden’s belt and handing him another violet prism to equip. Despite the fact that Willow was in his fifties and had been tortured for months on end, he looked surprisingly energetic—though Hayden supposed that adrenaline would help with that in the short term.
Used to following orders from the Masters without question, Hayden stumbled back into action, reaching into his belt for one of his precious healing elixirs and downing it in one gulp. The pain in his wrists diminished enough for him to clear his head and keep going, and with Oliver and Master Willow on either side of him he began to speed up and search for the next Suppressor.
“What happened to the Magistra?” he asked Oliver in between casting Shield spells on himself.
“She got away and disappeared into the woods,” he admitted with a scowl, before turning his attention to fighting the next round of sorcerers that approached them. Hayden continued to shield himself while his companions engaged in vicious battle with everyone they encountered, and as Hayden looked around he saw that more magical creatures had come to their aid and were fighting for them around the campsites as well. That was a good thing, since most of their mages were still in pitiable condition and had their powers halved as long as the other two Suppressors were intact.
Hayden spotted the next crystal on the other side of the hillock and took off running, leaving his companions behind and focusing on nothing but getting to it before anyone could stop him. He barreled through a duo of combatants without slowing down, lungs screaming with exertion as he gulped down air and willed his body not to give out just yet.
