by Eden Redd
Dax lowered his gaze to Nuria and smiled. “Despite our beginnings, I very much want to help you. We all do. If I knew you were safe, it would make the pain just a little less.”
Nuria looked down, “I’m sorry about your mother.”
Dax looked to the small flames. “I’m sorry about a lot of things. I’m sorry I can’t be there for my mother. I’m sorry you came to this world and now have to hide for the rest of your life. I’m sorry for everyone. I want to stop feeling sorry and try to make the world a place we all want to live on.”
“Thank you, Dax. Thank you for everything. You have no reason to be so kind, not from how I behaved to you before. I can never repay your kindness.”
Dax smiled. “Living a good life is payment enough.”
Nuria looked away. “Dax, do you have any mind protection cards?”
The mage eyed the beautiful mage and nodded. “I have a Mind Shield card. It’s not very strong, but I created it to help me in case someone tried to use Mind Sphere magic on me. Why do you ask?”
Nuria looked to the mage with a serious gaze, “If I ever say, I love you, use that card.”
Dax raised an eyebrow. “Is there a reason why?”
“My people cannot manipulate mana very well, but we have great psychic abilities. If… I can’t control myself, please use the card. It will help if any of my abilities are beyond my control.”
“This seems like an odd request,” Dax said, his brow wrinkling and his head hurting.
“Please, do as I ask if the time comes. This is the last request I will ask of you, my champion. Promise me.”
Dax didn’t look away. Mental gears turned, but the throbbing pains along his mind came roaring back. The more he tried to think, the greater the pain. It reached a point where a small dizziness filled his senses and the mage mentally calmed himself down.
Why does it feel like something terrible happened?
Dax looked to Nuria as she poked at the embers again. “I promise,” the mage said, an uneasy feeling sinking into his very soul.
Sixteen
The sun moved to its zenith, covering the island in brilliant light. Trees swayed to small breezes as forest critters watched from hidden places. A band of people marched single file under the tree canopy, shafts of sunlight lighting up the forest with a mystical atmosphere.
Dax walked, his head still throbbing in pain. The headache wouldn’t be so odd, if not for everyone else in the coterie experiencing the same thing. Every member from the group woke up at early light, stepping out of their tents, rubbing or clutching at the sides of their heads. The same complaint rose up with breaking their fast, a night of terrible dreams and headaches. Zarra did her best to try and heal several members of the group, but the cleric soon noticed that the pain was not a physical one she could mend. It prompted everyone to wonder if it was exhaustion or lack of water. The group drank large amounts of water as they broke their fast.
The only one to not complain was Nuria. The mage was silent, eyeing the group before her gaze slid to Dax several times, before looking away.
After camp was broken down and packed away, the coterie continued on their journey to the center of the island. Isani and Ressa climbed trees and corrected the group’s course a few times. The last time, they came down with smiles, the Lighthouse not far away.
The elevation rose with nearly every step. A few times, the group had to scale sloping ground with many jagged rocks sticking up. The travelling took its toll, but the coterie moved without a complaint. The prize not far away, they mentally prepared for the worst.
Dax thought back to the small talk he had with Nuria before sunrise. It burned at him in a strange way. She spoke like she had given up or was about to give up. The mage wondered if she was simply at the end of her rope, the stress of the journey and her uncertain future weighing heavy on her mind. Dax wanted to comfort her, but the exam didn’t allow any time to spare to explore their feelings. They had to survive and conquer the campaign or their very time in Kinarth would be in jeopardy.
Vance moved to Dax’s side. “Did we lose a whole day?”
Dax looked to his fellow mage, “What makes you say that?”
The spiky-haired mage kept his voice down as he spoke, “I’ve been trying to remember our journey here. I remember landing on the island, our first night and the first wave of Sukarr. I remember travelling for some time and…” Vance trailed off.
“I do feel like something is missing,” Dax added.
Vance nodded. “I have ten mana shards in my pocket. The Sukarr didn’t drop any. How did we get these?”
Dax’s hand slipped into his robe pocket and felt around. When he touched a small sack, he lifted it up and opened it. His eyes didn’t blink as they looked down at a handful of tiny mana shards.
“I checked with Fern and Zarra. They have ten mana shards apiece. I think we all may have the same amount. Did we fight something stronger than the Sukarr?”
Dax tried to think, his mind crying out in anguish. “Every time I try to remember, my headache gets worse.”
Vance nodded. “So, does mine. It’s very odd.”
Dax put the tiny sack back in his robe pocket. “Do you think another coterie used spells on us? Maybe they wanted to slow us down?”
Vance looked on. “I don’t know. If someone did use magic from the mind sphere, it could be the reason why we don’t remember. I just don’t understand why? We’ve been making good time and we are close to the Lighthouse. Wouldn’t they have done something to slow us down or even rob us? The professors said coteries couldn’t hurt each other, but surely they would have caused us an inconvenience?”
Dax thought back to Nuria’s strange request, the cabal and Clive, “Maybe it’s one of us?”
“Clive?” Vance barely whispered. “He’s the only one with an axe to grind.”
Dax looked down. “Clive can’t be that dumb to try something like that on all of us. It would have to have been an area of effect spell and pretty high degree at that. I’ve never seen him use Mind Sphere spells unless he’s been hiding it the whole time. No, it has to be something else.”
“It will slow us down if we start accusing members of our own coterie of anything inappropriate.”
Dax nodded. “We can’t do that right now. We may have to keep to the exam and sort it out when we’re finished. Do you have any mind protection spells?”
Vance nodded.
“Keep one at the ready. I have a feeling we may need it the closer we are to the Lighthouse.”
“Should we tell Nuria to do the same?”
“No, just me and you. Since we are dealing with phantom Illkith, we might need those spells to keep our sanity and help our friends.”
Vance nodded and slowed his walk, falling behind Dax.
Dax carried on, looking ahead to Symon. The spellsword led the way while everyone followed. Fern flew through the air, her fairy wings a blur. Shadows leapt from tree to tree above them, Isani and Ressa moving with silent stealth.
Dax looked over his shoulder to his companions. Vance followed with Noss, Clive, and Nuria behind him. The darkness under Clive’s eyes seemed to thicken like he was under some terrible strain. To the rear, Zarra moved with silent ease, her gaze meeting Dax’s and a small smile forming.
This is just an exam. The professors are watching us to see if we can come together and fight. If anyone did anything like mess with our minds, they would know, I hope.
Dax took no comfort from his own inner words. For all he knew, it could have all been part of the exam, mental games to confuse and cause doubt. They did have a mind maze trial in Butterpond, why not here? The storm of questions grew with no answers in sight.
Stay the course. We will have our answers.
Dax squared his jaw in temporary acceptance when Symon slowed ahead of him and raised a fist.
The coterie stopped in their tracks and knelt down. Fern landed on a branch and looked down with keen eyes. The rest of the coterie looked ahe
ad, waiting for Symon’s signal.
Symon stared ahead, eyes seeing past the trees to a much larger clearing. Ghostly bodies moved just beyond the trees, sunlight painting their transparent bodies.
The spellsword made a few hand signals and hunkered down.
Everyone moved. Dax, Vance, Noss, Nuria, Noss and Clive moved ahead and hunkered down together behind Symon. Fern fluttered through the trees as two shadows leapt ahead.
Symon made a quick hand signal. The group saw it, knowing that they were waiting for the scouts to return with information.
Dax looked beyond the trees, a barest glimpse of the Lighthouse’s white stone beyond the edge of the thick forest. Silence blanketed the area, the only sound cutting through it was the gentle swaying of trees to the breeze. Time seemed to tick on, the world standing still. Lungs held air as they waited for some kind of sign or signal.
Two shadows emerged from the surrounding brush and a fairy floated down and landed on Dax’s shoulder.
“There is a clearing with forty Illkith and over two hundred Sukarr,” Ressa hissed.
“They are in squads, simply standing and waiting. We only had enough time for a glance, but there might be more. The field has only a few trees and large boulders. Beyond that, the Lighthouse is standing, but we didn’t see anyone manning the wall surrounding it,” Isani informed.
“I searched the forest around us and didn’t see any other phantoms,” Fern whispered.
Symon took in the information and rubbed his chin. “Over two hundred Sukarr and forty Illkith? Even with a surprise attack, I’m not sure we have the numbers to take on such a large force.”
“We can’t be the only ones here. Maybe there are others here just like us, but not sure if they should attack,” Fern added.
Symon nodded before he looked to Isani, Ressa, and Fern. “Stay to the edge of the forest. Keep an eye on the enemy and stay hidden.”
Symon turned his attention to Dax, “Do you still have that Mind Speak spell?”
The mage nodded.
“Cast it so all of our minds are connected. After that, Fern, Isani, and Ressa will be able to send us information on the enemy.”
“I’m not sure of the range, but I should be able to do it,” Dax smiled.
Symon nodded and looked to Noss, “Can you raise an army?”
The kobold gave the spellsword an nervous glance.
Symon gave a warm smile. “It’s okay if it might be too much. We just need to know what we can do on our side before we commit.”
The kobold nodded, “I think I can raise about fifty skeletons, but I will not have any mana left. We run the risk of being discovered the more skeletons I raise.”
The spellsword nodded. “Fifty is a good number and might be just enough. We’ll worry about raising them when we get to it. We just have to be sure we have a sizable force before we charge.”
Clive shook his head, “We really are just going to charge at them? The Sukarr will tear a skeleton army to shreds if the Illkith just don’t blast them first.”
Symon gave the large mage a hard stare. “Instead of complaining, find me solutions or you can stay behind.”
Clive let out a gruff chuckle. “Fine, I can provide support with about eight urth elementals. They will be enough to help the skeleton army.”
Symon nodded before looking to Vance, Nuria and Zarra. “Nuria, I know you can create elementals. Some fire ones would be a great help. Vance, I want you to be our cannon. Disrupt the enemy’s ranks with as many spells as you can muster. Can you do that?”
“It’s what I’ve been trained to do,” Vance said with a half-smirk.
“Zarra, I need you to fight with us, protecting the mages and our esteemed necromancer.”
The cleric nodded. “I will defend all.”
Symon nodded and looked to Dax, “We will need some cavalry to break their ranks. Do you think you can create three unicorns with that fire armor again?”
The mage grinned. “Only three?”
Symon returned his friend’s smile. “Three should be enough. I don’t want you using all of your mana because it might be a hard battle to the main gate. The unicorns will be the tip of the spear. The skeletons and elementals will guard our flanks and everyone else will be in the middle.
“Isani, Ressa, and Fern, when the attack begins, you will join the core group and help defend against any phantoms that break our ranks.”
The shadow elf, fairy, and dranar nodded in agreement.
“If we don’t obliterate them, they should be sufficiently disrupted for us to make it to the Lighthouse. If there are any coteries lying in wait, they may join us but we have to be the leading group.”
“When do we want to put the plan into action?” Vance asked.
Symon eyed everyone with a wide smile, “We begin now.”
Heads nodded in agreements as bodies stood up. Cards were pulled from robes and arcane whispers filled the small area. Noss held a card in each clawed hand, mystical words falling from his mouth. Ghostly skeletal hands rose up from the ground, a few at a time, clawing to the surface and standing to their full height. The cards in the kobold’s hands flickered before the necromancer pushed mana into them again and began reciting the incantations again.
Clive did the same, cards in his hands and speaking the words. Energy poured from his cards and sank into the ground. Dirt, gravel, rocks, and sand mingled together until two urth elementals slowly began to rise up. Humanoid bodies took form as the elementals reached their full height and bowed to the large mage.
Fern, Isani, and Ressa pounced into the air. The fairy took flight while the two rogues climbed separate trees. When they were high enough, they began leaping from one tree to the next, soon gone from sight.
Dax pulled out a card and used his word of power.
Name: Mind Speak
Element: Mind
Degree: 2
Ability: Speak via thoughts
Special Ability: None
The mage pictured everyone in the coterie and when the words finished leaving his lips, mana flared. Connections sank into his head like burrowing worms and when they latched onto his mind, they spread out and connected to other minds. Voices and thoughts came out in a jumble, blending together until they became a stream of consciousness. The mage pulled on the invisible reins and thoughts became orderly as the entire coterie mentally became one.
Can everyone hear me?
“Aye!” came from Fern, Symon, Vance, and Zarra.
“Yes.” came from Nuria, Clive, Noss, Isani, and Ressa.
“Fern, Isani, and Ressa, spread out and make sure you have a wide view of the area. We want to make sure we have line of sight to the gate. Report any changes as we prepare,” Symon directed.
A feeling of heads nodding filled their minds.
Noss continued to pour mana into his cards, raising skeletons at a much faster rate. The kobold was focused as the undead rose up in packs of three.
Clive’s shoulders drooped as he rattled off trigger words, several more elementals rising up. When he reached eight, the mage put his cards away.
“Eight urth elementals ready,” Clive said through their connection.
“Fire elementals will give away our position if I create them now. When we start moving, I’ll have a half dozen joining our army,” Nuria said.
Symon nodded.
“Be at the ready. We will begin our run soon,” the spellsword mentioned.
Dax put away the Mind Speak card and pulled out two more cards.
Name: Unicorn
Element: Life
Degree: 3
Ability: Charge/Horn/Trample
Special Ability: None
Name: Fire Armor
Element: Fire
Degree: 1
Ability: Protective Armor
Special Ability: Inflict Damage on contact
The mage held each card and whispered the trigger word for one. Mist flew from the card and slammed onto the ground. A horn
appeared first before a stallion’s body emerged from the parting mists.
Dax spoke the next trigger word. Horse armor appeared out of thin air. It burst into flames before clamping onto the steed. The unicorn was at ease as flames writhing along its body, head and neck. A hoof clawed at the dirt as the mystical creature was ready for battle.
This isn’t a time to conserve mana. We have to get through that phantom army at all costs.
Dax pulled 400 mana from his personal pool and charged the cards. Mists flowed from the cards, another unicorn appearing and fire armor clamping onto it. The mage channeled another 400 mana, energy spiking into the cards and releasing the spell effects for a third time.
Name: Dax Sage
Class: Mage
Health: Normal
Mana: 600/1400
Mana Shards: 10
Dax looked over his remaining mana, hoping it will be enough to add new phantom constructs and spells.
Before the mage stood three unicorns with flaming armor, ready to follow his every command to the end.
Across the standing woods, Isani was hidden among thick tree branches. The shadow elf looked out from her shadowy spot, eyeing the army of Sukarr and Illkith. The phantoms swayed in the daylight, their blank eyes staring at nothing. The Sukarr’s mouths hung open as if in a trance.
Isani looked from side to side, scanning the area and mentally preparing for the battle to come when she noticed something wavering in the small distance. Red eyes narrowed as she saw a blue flame leaking from a large crack in the ground. The sukarr around it seemed like they were sleeping as they swayed. The fish people looked to it with almost divine worship. A second ticked by and the shadow elf leaned her back against the tree trunk with a dash of concern.
“There is a mana flame leaking from the ground. I think the phantoms gathered here are feeding off of it, that’s why there’s so many,” Isani mentally spoke.
“Is it in our direct path?” Symon asked.
“No. It’s off to the east. I can see the main gate but I don’t see anyone manning it,” Isani replied.
“I see the gate,” Ressa added.
“I can see it too. I’m hovering just at the tree line and I think I see some light smoke by the light tower. There have to be people there already,” Fern said.
