A Sorcerer's Fist

by Guy Antibes

  “Me? Walk through a tunnel to find what was on the other side? Of course, I have, but that was years ago. Ciara would have known.” Pira frowned. “I miss her.”

  Ricky nodded and reached out for Pira’s hand. “Tell me about it.”

  “I remember walking through it. I didn’t know I had any power at the time. It was a few years before I met you.” She narrowed her eyes in thought. “I remember not needing a torch or a light. The tunnel was lit by skylights for most of it.”

  “So we can find it from the air?”

  “I think so,” she said. “We’d have to fly close to the towers.”

  “But only between two of them?”

  Pira nodded. “The pink tower to the easternmost University tower.”

  “We can look from ground level. That way, if we get caught by a sorcerers circle, we won’t fall to our deaths. I can’t do anything about a tunnel from up here.”

  Ricky communicated with both Mirano and Kened, telling them about the tunnel and explained what Pira and he were doing. He told them they wouldn’t need any help. Two people strolling around wouldn’t be noticed as much as a gaggle of fliers.

  They flew over where Pira thought the tunnel might be. Ricky spotted drains or something in a straight line from tower to tower.

  “We can go down there.” He pointed down to a small patch of weeds. They descended and were walking through the city, staying mostly in alleys, when Ricky came across a metal ‘drain’ in one.

  He looked down and saw glints of glass between the dirt below. He pulled up the drain and looked down at a thick glass square mounted in a metal frame. Pira dripped water from her small waterskin while Ricky leaned down and wiped the glass cleaner.

  “That must be the tunnel,” Pira said. “I remember square skylights. That is about all I remember.”

  Ricky nodded. “Should we go down?”

  Pira laughed. “You think you can fit through that?” she said.

  Ricky pursed his lips. “No. Were the skylights the same size?”

  She shrugged her shoulders.

  “I’m going to commit to showing our hand,” Ricky said. “Stand back. I may fall into the tunnel.”

  Pira did as she was told and covered her ears. Ricky knew the spell he would use, but he would need to exercise all his will to push so much dirt into the tunnel. He stood back a few feet from the hole and pulled out his wand. His voice filled the air, as he drew the proper resonance inside. When he felt it bursting, he exercised his will and commanded the tunnel to collapse.

  An explosion filled the air as Ricky backed up to keep from falling in.

  Pira looked over his shoulder and said something, but Ricky couldn’t hear a thing. He tried to take off, but his power was depleted. “I can’t fly,” he said.

  Pira gave him her hand and lifted them up and away from the towers over the square fronting the castle and headed south. She yelled, “Can you fly now?”

  Ricky shook his head and pointed to his ears. “I barely heard you.” He knew he had overextended his magic, and this time it had cost him his power. He looked back and saw a dust cloud over the tunnel and a few other places along the tunnel’s route. He must have blown out the glass skylights. But at what cost?

  Pira flew straight for the River Lironi and spotted Mattia’s army approaching the first bridge. She landed at the front.

  Ricky staggered as he landed and ended up sitting on the ground. He looked up at Mattia, Nania, Mirano, and Pira talking for a bit until the healer knelt down and put a hand to his ear. Ricky didn’t feel the heat of healing in his ear. He didn’t feel any power in his body.

  Then faintly his ear began to get warm. Mirano closed his eyes and the heat built up until he couldn’t stand it. He complained and pulled Mirano’s hand away.

  The healer touched his forehead, and Ricky couldn’t think anymore.

  “He is coming around.” Ricky felt relieved to hear Pira’s voice.

  “I can hear,” he said.

  “Mirano said your eardrums were in tatters. You were too close to the explosion.” She frowned as she took his hand. Ricky hadn’t noticed the tears in her eyes. “Your magic is gone.”

  “What do you mean gone? All I have to do is link to you.”

  “Try it,” she said.

  Ricky sang to implement deep-linking, but nothing happened. He tried to reach into her through her touch, but all he felt was the grasp of her hand. “I have nothing,” he said.

  Mirano stood over him. “You’ll be able to stand now. I had to rebuild your inner ear.” He gave Ricky his hand, and Pira and Mirano pulled him up. Ricky watched soldiers file past him. The dizziness that put him on the ground before was gone, but he felt as he did when the sorcerers’ circle deprived him of his magic.

  “Will it come back?”

  Mirano shrugged. “No one knows what makes up a sorcerer’s power. You overextended more than ever before. Sometimes a burned-out sorcerer gets his magic back, and sometimes he doesn’t. I’ve never rebuilt an ear before. Maybe that has something to do with it. I don’t know.”

  “I still have my sword.”

  His hand went to his hip and found he wore an empty scabbard. His wand case was gone, as well. He had no weapons except his bare hands and his teeth. “Is there an extra sword?”

  “Do you want my wand?” Pira asked.

  Ricky shook his head. “I can’t extend the blade. A sword works better.”

  Mattia showed up, carrying shields. “This is for you, Ricky.” He tossed a sword and a long knife on the ground and handed him a long narrow shield. “Wedo and the woman healer’s husband came up with these. The shields have come all the way from Samira.”

  “I’ll need them all,” Ricky said. “We can’t link with anybody,” he said.

  “I figured that one out, already,” Mattia said. “No use crying about it now. We have soldiers entering Sealio. Zaria’s men have destroyed troop emplacements along our route and the other two paths to the castle.”

  “I can still fight for the Order and Naparra,” he said.

  “And what about me?”

  “And Pira.” He said, putting his arms around her. “I don’t need any power or deep-linking to have you know my true feelings.” He kissed her lightly and buckled on his weapons. He picked up the shield. “Am I stronger?”

  Mattia chuckled. “They came up with a way to make a lightweight shield that will shed firebolts. It is some kind of insulation material that metal workers in Vorria use. Wedo had two sorcerers fly with him to Okansil and back with enough material to make a few hundred shields for our front lines. You’ll need one until your power returns.”

  Ricky nodded. He had finally gone too far with his magic at the most critical moment of his life. “I’ll need a horse,” he said.

  “One is coming from the rear,” Mattia said. “I want you to ride in front with me. Pira can ride on your horse behind you, so she can take off at a moment’s notice.”

  Ricky had to accept his new status and had no time to feel sorry for himself. He still was much better than average with his sword, although he no longer had an advantage of being able to ride with a sorcerous shield to protect him from behind.

  Mirano trotted up on the other side.

  “Sing the spell for a sorcerous light,” Mirano said.

  “I have no power.”

  “Humor me,” the healer said. “Go on.”

  He sang.

  “That’s awful,” Pira said. “You are way out of tune.”

  “It sounded right to me,” Ricky said.

  “It wasn’t,” Mirano said. “Your hearing has changed. When your power comes back, you will have to adjust your singing. What worked before, no longer does. That is part of the problem. The other part is dependent on how thoroughly you scoured out your magic. It could come back at any time, but when it does, you’ll have to learn to adapt to your new hearing. Your sensitivity to resonance might have changed.”

  “So there is hope?”

&
nbsp; “There is always hope. Even if your power doesn’t return, you are still a special person.”

  Ricky grunted. “Special for some, not so special for others,” he muttered.

  He felt a punch in the back. “You forgot I’m listening to your every word, Lord Special. Very special to me.” Pira leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his chest. “We are matched, even if your power never returns. Stay focused.” She hugged him tighter.

  “I can’t stay focused when I can’t breathe,” he said.

  ~~~

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  ~

  A s the army made their way to the castle, people looked out of windows and began to gather on the sides of the streets. Ricky heard a few curses, and some shouted traitor, but most eyes were wary, and others were encouraging and waved as the soldiers marched by.

  He would have loved to link with the others, but with him out of action, linking pretty much came to a stop except for Siria and Mirano exchanging information. Siria accompanied the army on the left.

  Every so often fliers found a pocket of guards and returned with a report. Ricky told Pira to take to the air. He wanted to fight, to redeem his inability to contribute the way he wanted.

  A Gruntalian appeared flying straight down the street. He suddenly dropped to the ground. Ricky rode ahead. “Full shields, Pira,” he said.

  The man was injured, and Ricky could do nothing. Mirano arrived and brought the man around.

  “He will be okay. I will levitate him to the side of the street.”

  “Lord Valian?”

  “I’m here,” Ricky said.

  “We have captured the training grounds. As you thought, the guards tried to break for the castle, but only a few made it past our lines. We are holding fast until we receive more orders.”

  Mattia rode up. Ricky relayed the information.

  “There must be a sorcerer circle just ahead,” Ricky said. “They shouted out their position for us.”

  “Why don’t you take a squad of shielded troops and eliminate the threat?”

  “I’ll do just that,” Ricky said.

  He pulled the shield from the horse he shared with Pira while Mattia gathered twenty others to support Ricky. They advanced nearly to the spot where the Gruntalian sorcerer fell.

  “Form a vee,” Ricky said. “We don’t know exactly where they are.”

  They all locked their shields and proceeded, crouching down. Ricky spotted five figures on a roof to their right. “Point right. We are heading into that building. March quickly now.”

  A firebolt slammed into the shield wall. Ricky could feel the heat slip through the gaps in the shield, but they endured the attack. The men protected each other as they rushed into the protection of the building. Ricky saw three sorcerers run up the stairs.

  “Keep your shields pointed up the stairs,” Ricky said as they began to climb the steps. Another firebolt slammed into them. The soldiers around him wore helmets, but Ricky didn’t, and he could feel his hair singe. He rubbed the top of his head and grimaced.

  They reached the final narrow flight. Only two could ascend at the same time, and even then the shields had to overlap. Ricky kept his head lower than the man next to him. They burst onto the roof. Another bolt of fire was followed by a blast of wind. Ricky pulled the man with him closer to the sorcerers.

  Ricky plunged his sword into the gap and felt it stop at a shield. “Push! Push!” he said. A front of soldiers surrounded the five men.

  “Shove your shields under the sorcerous barrier and push up,” Ricky said. The sorcerers cried out. They were too close to Ricky and his men to use their power. Ricky felt the sorcerers rise like a bubble, and then he pushed into thin air. A few of his fellow soldiers pulled him back. One of Ricky’s men pushed too far and fell three flights, landing on the pile of sorcerers.

  Their shield had disappeared, and Mattia’s men finished them off. Ricky and his men descended.

  Mattia had them gather around him. “Now you know how it is done. You won’t need Lord Valian to show you the next time.”

  “Mirano, get the details from Ricky and notify Siria.” Mattia grabbed one of Zaria’s men assigned to him to do the same with the column on their right.

  Ricky quickly described the technique they used and gave them two more tips, keep their heads down and make sure the gaps were closed.

  Mattia turned to Ricky. “See? We don’t need your power; we need your experience and your mind.”

  “Valor,” Pira whispered in his ear, once Ricky was mounted again. “Knights have valor, Sir Ricky.”

  He suppressed a scowl as they continued on ahead. He wanted to be one of those in the air, but the only way he could fly would be to jump off a building and drop to the ground below.

  The flyer returned saying that Zaria was going to have battle sorcerers view the rooftops ahead along all three routes.

  Zaria himself flew to Mattia, pointing to a rooftop. Ricky dismounted, but Mattia stopped him. “You don’t have to fight the Sealians by yourself. You led the first team and showed them how to do it. Now watch to see how well you taught the others.”

  Ricky gritted his teeth as he watched another twenty soldiers appear on the rooftop a few buildings down. Another circle of sorcerers fell to the street where Mattia’s troops finished them off.

  At this rate there wouldn’t be many sorcerers left to fight, Ricky thought, as they continued down the street. A sheet of flame shot over their heads, but this time flying sorcerers combined their own firebolts from different directions and finally wore through the shields, destroying another set of sorcerers. Two of Zaria’s men drifted down to land on the street, their power depleted in much the way Pira’s had been at the Tower.

  Finally, the Towers loomed over the rooftops. Ricky could see the trees in the large square in front of the castle. The streets calmed down as the fighting dwindled.

  Mattia called Ricky forward. “Do you want to chance Pira’s tunnel?”

  Ricky nodded. “I’ll need a sorcerer who can fling firebolts and ten flying sorcerers with sacks. We have a pile of bricks to get rid of.”

  Ricky, Nania, and Zaria followed Pira down a side street. She turned into a wider street where the column on the right had just passed. A cluster of guards stood in their way, but they didn’t last long fighting against the battle sorcerer’s spells. They continued until they reached a street that was on the other side of the castle. She headed north and stayed a few streets away from the walls until they ran into a large unit of Gruntalians.

  “We are awaiting your orders, Lord Valian,” the officer of three hundred men said.

  “Do you have battle sorcerers?”

  The man nodded. “Lend me one or two and one hundred of your men. Everyone will be fighting soon enough.”

  Ricky led them to the old warehouse. He examined the dirt and didn’t see a horde of new footprints.

  “Zaria, have your flyers load up on the bricks. You know what to do with them. Probably take out the soldiers on the ramparts first.” Ricky switched to Hessilian. “Move out of the warehouse after we have gone into the tunnel. Give us a count to 200 and then have one of your sorcerers throw a firebolt at that pile. It will either explode, or it will alert a sorcerer in the castle that someone has disturbed the materials. Either way, enemy troops will be drawn to the warehouse. You can engage the enemy at your discretion.”

  The officer saluted.

  “Let’s get to work.” Ricky helped fill the sacks with bricks.

  Zaria asked to have the sacks taken outside and lined up so his flyers could pick them up. Ricky nodded to the flyer who would escort them, Nania, and Pira. He asked the sorcerer if she knew how to detect spells.

  “I do. We all know how, just for something like this, but on a battlefield.”

  “We are on a battlefield,” Pira said.

  “I am loath to say this, but you will have to go first,” Ricky said.

  The sorcerer dropped into the hole, followed by N
ania, Pira, and then Ricky.

  “I see nothing. We can proceed,” the sorcerer said.

  They moved through the tunnel. lit by a bright light that Pira spelled. The ladder still stood, and the sorcerer pronounced it safe from sorcery.

  Ricky examined the ladder and noticed dislocations of the grain. It was almost like something Wedo might have done. He grabbed a rock and tapped the rung. It split in two. He smiled and shook his head.

  “We will have to repair these. An expert sorcerer dislocated each rung above the first two. I imagine we go back and find a ladder, or we have to use sorcery to repair it.”

  The battle sorcerer stepped forward. “I can fuse things,” she said as she went to work. She even repaired the broken board.

  “I could have done that,” Ricky muttered, “if I had any power.”

  “I heard that,” Pira said.

  “You first, unfortunately,” Ricky said.

  She reached the top. “Nothing here, either.”

  “We have to hurry,” Nania said. The trap door opened and they quickly ran through the bathroom and into Pira’s former bedroom.

  Pira put her ear to the door. “There are men on the other side,” she said.

  Ricky quickly covered the trap door and directed them behind the draperies in Pira’s room just before they heard an explosion.

  The men grouped in Pira’s sitting room flung the bedroom door open and rushed to the trapdoor, carrying a ladder, and then filed out through the tunnel. Pira’s rooms were empty.

  “Did you get a chance to count?” Pira asked.

  “No more than fifty,” Nania said. “They are going to get a nasty surprise.”

  Ricky went back to the bathroom and examined the trapdoor. He summoned the sorcerer.

  “Fuse this shut. We don’t want them sneaking up behind us,” he said.

  “Good thinking, Sir Knight,” Pira said.

  They were in the castle. Pira took them to a servant’s room where they entered one of the secret passages. Ricky could hear the hoarse calls of officers directing men over the clomping of boots on the stone floors.

  Pira led them up, down, left, and right until Ricky had no idea where they were. She slid open a peephole. Pira looked on. It was the king’s library. Men had gathered, but Ricky couldn’t see King Leon. These must be reserves. He listened in until he heard a familiar voice. Gobble Bangatelli was warning them about Ricky.