by Eden Redd
Symon nodded as he looked at his small spellbook and put it away.
“Mages, make sure you have some mana left. When we reach the gate, if no one answers, we blast it open. Clive, do you think you can seal it back up once we’re through?”
“I should have enough to reshape the ground into a barrier,” Clive said.
“If he can’t do it, I’ll be able to,” Vance chimed in.
“I said I could do it!” Clive growled.
“We are part of the same coterie. Clive, you will try as Vance covers you. You two are now partners so watch out for each other or you both will have to deal with me when it’s over. Got it?” Symon said with a commanding edge.
“Got it,” Vance said with an incorporeal smile.
“Got it,” Clive said begrudgingly.
“Good. Noss is almost finished. Once the last group of skeletons are raised, Nuria, you’ll create your fire elementals as we begin advancing. Everyone will stay together. If someone lags or begins to fall behind, those closest must help pick up the slack. We have one shot at this and we will succeed. Now, is everyone ready?”
All present turned and looked to the necromancer and his skeleton army. Ghostly skeletons stood with ancient weapons in hands from swords to maces. Pieces of chainmail hung from their bodies as dented helmets covered about a dozen heads. The rest were bone white skulls in shafts of sunlight.
Noss raised two clawed hands and gave a thumbs up.
“I’m not one for giving speeches. Be careful and stay on my tail. We lose you, you’re buying drinks,” Symon said with an incorporeal smile.
Heads nodded in agreement
“For Kinarth Academy!” Symon said with a mental shout.
“For Kinarth Academy!” the coterie mentally shouted back.
Symon turned and drew his sword. Zarra held her staff as the mages pulled out cards. Noss moved to Zarra’s side, a nervous look in his eye. The cleric gave him a reassuring nod. Skeletons lined up on either side of the coterie. Clive commanded the urth elementals to join the skeletons ranks. Vance mentally prepared his attacks. Nuria held cards in each hand, their trigger words already spilling from her lips. Flaming unicorns moved to the front, heads low and hooves clomping on the hard ground.
Symon glanced back at Dax and the mage nodded.
Sebastian Kinarth, watch over us.
“Charge!” Dax commanded.
Three unicorns rose up on their hind legs while kicking out their front legs. Neighs filled the air before the front legs came down and the three phantom constructs bolted forward into a charge, flames trailing behind them.
Symon swung his sword forward, “Advance!”
The spellsword bent at the knees and charged. The rest of the coterie did the same, as did the skeleton army. Flame elementals burst into view, one after the other as the coterie, elementals, and skeletons trotted into a full charge.
Dax moved, his heart beating wildly in his chest. Fear and excitement colored his heart as he focused on the tasks ahead. They had to breach a standing army and make it to the gate. Symon had a solid plan and the mage was in no way going to challenge it, even if he wanted to. Symon was ready for this and Dax had full faith in his friend.
In the massive clearing, a sukarr’s weird wet brow wrinkled. Its white eyes looked down, flames moving from deep within the forest. The phantom cocked its head to the side before it made a strange gurgling grunt. Several more sukarr lowered their gazes to their compatriot’s grunt. The flames in the distance seemed to grow brighter with each passing moment.
Ghostly eyes widened and screeches filled the air as three flaming unicorns burst from the forest’s edge, heads low and flaming horns pointed at the phantom army. Sukarr lurched into a charge, a cascading effect of awareness filling the ghostly army. Clawed webbed hands opened and closed as webbed feet propelled them forward. There was no intelligence behind their eyes as they charged the incoming unicorns. When the two sides met, shrill shrieks vibrated as the phantom sukarr were tossed into the air.
The flaming unicorns crashed into the bulk of the phantom horde like an axe on a piece of wood. Sukarr cracked and shattered as horns stabbed into chests. Phantom bodies exploded as the flaming unicorns pushed at them with powerful muscles. Sukarr rushed to the aid of their own, claws slashing at flaming armor and their hands shredding to ghostly wisps. Screams filled the area, but the sukarr would not be slowed. They pushed at their own, climbing over each other as they became a wall of ghostly scaled muscle. The unicorns slowed, pushing, stabbing, and slamming hooves into unguarded chests.
“Kill them all!” Symon shouted as he pointed a hand and loosed a bolt of lightning.
The bolt slammed into a sukarr, caving in its face as Symon rushed into the battle, a skeleton army pouring out from either side of him. Urth and fire elementals charged into the fray, flames and stones shattering and smashing anything they could get their hands on. Skeletons fanned out, their forces blooming from the forest edge and rushing the enemy.
Isani and Ressa jumped from the trees and hit the ground. The two rogues ran with the skeletons, their eyes on the main group in the middle.
Fern flew down from the trees, each side crashing into each other and the berserker licked her lips.
“Light the Torch!” the fairy shouted as her eyes grew crazed, rune covered mace in hand.
Dax pumped his legs, a card in each hand.
Name: Lightning Bolt
Element: Air
Degree: 3
Ability: Damage
Special Ability: None
Name: Time Speed
Element: Time
Degree: 2
Ability: Increase time for 30 seconds.
Special Ability: None
The mage held the cards close as he watched the carnage to the left and right of him. Skeletons were shattered with swipes of claws. Several skeletons were on a sukarr, stabbing multiple times before the creature melted away. Where the skeletons began to slow, urth elementals bashed through like juggernauts. Fire elementals flew through the air, blasting out streams of flames and destroying sukarr in small patches.
A thick lightning bolt streamed through the air, blasting through six sukarr in a blink of an eye. Dax turned to see a small smile on Vance’s lips as he charged his card and unleashed a torrent of lighting death.
Ranks breaking on both sides, sukarr rushed through those gaps. Zarra spun her white staff, knocking a phantom's head off its shoulders and slamming a blunt end into a chest, sending the fish man spiraling into the sky.
Noss rushed behind the cleric, his eyes wide as he tried to stay close. Light flashed, and a lightning bolt struck the ground next to the necromancer and sent him onto his back.
“Fuck!” the kobold growled as he rolled back onto his feet, his gaze catching an Illkith as it prepared to fire off another bolt.
“No!” the necromancer managed before a bolt shot toward him.
Zarra appeared before the kobold, the bolt striking her chest. The cleric stumbled back and turned her golden eyes to the kobold to make sure he was okay.
Noss had moved to her side, clawed hand up with a card in it. Black energy swirled before a thick bolt of energy blasted out. Zarra lifted her staff, white energy swirling at the time before it too blasted out. The Illkith swirled magical energies before two bolts struck it, blasting it away to nothing.
Noss looked up to Zarra. The wound along her chest closed and she reached out a hand.
“I can carry you?” the cleric smiled.
Noss shook his head. “No, we run together!”
The cleric and necromancer began running after their companions who had a little distance between them. As they rushed to join their friends, Fern blasted past them, her small mace shattering sukarr and Illkith with murderous rage.
“I AM DEATH AND I’M LAUGHING AT YOU!” Fern screamed as her mace bashed in phantom heads, one after the other.
Nuria and Vance blasted out spells as Clive directed his elementals. I
sani and Ressa moved like darting shadows, slicing at the legs and knees of the enemy phantoms and not looking back as their bodies fell.
Dax watched as one of his unicorns was pulled down, claws slashing at it. The unicorn made a shrill whine before it shattered. Symon moved into the breach, left hand unleashing lightning as his sword sliced across a thick neck. The spellsword’s face was a mask of determination, every swing of his blade true as he cut at the enemy like a skilled butcher. Ghostly limbs flew into the air as the spellsword’s running gait turned into a hard walk.
The sukarr pushed at the invading force. Clawed hands sliced at skeletons, shattering them into disintegrating bones. Urth elementals slowed as they were mobbed by the sukarr. A fire elemental burst into flames as lightning and ice blasts leapt from Illkith hands.
The advancement slowed as the skeleton army was nearly torn to shreds. Vance’s smirk was long gone, pointing his cards and unleashing magical attacks. Nuria’s arms moved in rapid succession, firing off spells and picking new targets.
Dread filled Dax as he watched. Their advancement was slowing down to short steps. A second unicorn fell, shattering from a mob of sukarr. Urth elementals crumbled as they took too much damage. Fern shattered sukarr skulls, but even the tiny berserker was barely escaping grasping webbed hands, eager to take her down. The battle slowed, but the fighting grew frenetic. They had reached just halfway to the gate, but the army of sukarr and Illkith seemed to grow.
“Pull… together!” Symon ordered.
The coterie began to pull together. Bodies closer, blades and spells firing in all directions. Dax fired off a lightning bolt, shattering several sukarr phantoms instantly. The battle was beginning to turn and the mage tried to think of a way to save them all. The dread grew as he could see, all of them weren’t going to make it.
Symon, we have to…
Dax stopped his thought as he looked to the spellsword. Symon’s back was to the group but the mage could see his friend sheath his sword. Holding his hands to his sides, they began to vibrate when just past him, the last unicorn faltered as claws came down on it.
“Symon!” Dax shouted.
“Stay back!” Symon shouted before energy arced along his arms.
The sukarr pressed their attack. The fish people clawed the last unicorn until it shattered to nothing. The crazed creatures rushed toward the spellsword as he stood by his lonesome. To the left and right, the last skeletons and elementals began to fall. Vance was like a turret, blasting out magical bolts. Nuria blasted any creature within short range. The two of them managed to keep the sukarr at bay, but only barely. Ressa and Isani moved like acrobats, slicing and cutting, but they were a hair from being overwhelmed. Zarra’s staff flashed, striking down phantoms as Noss stayed behind her, dagger in hand and eyes wide.
Lighting arced along Symon’s arms before his own eyes blazed with power.
“Advance!” the spellsword shouted before lifting his arms, light blazing around it.
Dax watched in astonishment as the spellsword bolted into a charge, a barrage of lightning blasting out from his arms into a cone effect. Every sukarr rushing him was blasted away. Some bodies burst to nothing, but others were thrown like they were struck by cannonballs.
Symon roared as he charged, cutting through the sukarr ranks. Energy whirled around his arms as bolts of lightning surged. Holes were blasted through phantom bodies and before they could fall, Symon knocked them away with his charge. The spellsword began to sweep from right to left, destroying anything in his path.
“Come on!” Dax shouted, rallying the coterie.
Eyes drank in the spectacle as Symon rushed into battle, blasting everything in his path. With the gate in sight, the spellsword roared before the lighting around his arms faded and soon vanished.
Symon fell to his knees, weakness filling every cell in his body. Eyelids were heavy as his shoulders slumped. He could barely keep his head up, his body ready to fall into a deep sleep. The gate stood a mere hundred feet away and the spellsword couldn’t muster enough energy to stand.
Dax pumped his legs, his sights on his friend. Cards away, he held out his hands as he huffed. Symon wavered before he began to tilt to the side. As the spellsword began to fall, hands grabbed him and held him up.
“I got you.” Dax huffed as he put his friend’s arm over his shoulders and pushed up with his legs.
The mage struggled, getting himself and Symon to their feet. The spellsword couldn’t say a word, his body growing limp. Dax gritted his teeth, marching forward, one foot at a time.
“We’re going to make it!” Dax growled.
Shadows rushed up on the mage and spellsword. Dax ignored them, his gaze squarely on the gate. The weight seemed to lessen. Dax looked over as Clive took Symon’s other arm and helped lift him up. The three of them began to move faster, the rest of the coterie blasting and slicing at anything that got too close.
“Almost there!” Nuria shouted.
Zarra turned her head and looked back in alarm. “Fern!”
The berserker was in the middle of a horde of sukarr, laughing and pummeling fish men to their phantom deaths.
“Get to the gate! I NEED MORE BLOOD!” Fern laughed before her body flashed.
Landing on the ground in her five-foot tall frame, she moved like a wild animal. Mace swinging, she bashed anything within arm’s reach. Sukarr shrieked as her mace bludgeoned them to nothing. Fern’s wild eyes drank in each phantom death and she wanted more and more.
Dax turned his head. “Fern!” he shouted.
“More… more… more… more,” the berserker chanted with a mad giggle.
The fighting grew to a fevered pitch when shouts filled the area. Fern glanced up in annoyance as lancers filled the sky, spears pointed down. Lightly armored men and women came down, spears stabbing through phantom bodies.
“Take them down!” Miranda shouted her command as she launched into the air and back down, spear point shattering a phantom skull.
Fern watched as two coteries joined the battle. Spells blasted at the backs of sukarr while spellswords, fighters, and berserkers rushed into battle.
“They are all MINE!” Fern growled before caving in a sukarr skull.
Dax looked to see the coteries smashing and engaging the last remnants of the phantom army. A small smirk crept into his cheek before he turned his head forward.
The group reached the gate, Isani rushing ahead and slamming the butt of her blade on the thick wooden door.
“Open up!” the shadow elf shouted.
The door didn’t move.
Vance stepped closer, card in hand. “I’ll open it.”
The moment he lifted the card with the trigger word on his lips, the door opened slightly.
“Keep… fighting,” Symon said weakly to Dax’s ear.
“We’re almost there!” Dax said as the group pushed on the door and nearly fell in.
A courtyard opened up before them as the group rushed in.
“I have to go back for Fern,” Dax said to Clive as he pulled away.
The large mage took hold of Symon as Dax marched to the gate, cards in hand. The mage’s eyes widened as he saw the sukarr and Illkith nearly destroyed. Fern walked toward the gate, mace in hand and a crazy look in her eyes. Each step was filled with power as she stepped closer.
“That was beautiful,” the fairy smiled before her legs gave out.
Dax rushed ahead, put his cards away and grabbed her. The fairy made happy, bubbly sounds as Dax pulled her back to the gate. The pair stepped in, Fern barely able to keep her head up and not lose the stupid smile on her face.
Exhaustion set in and Dax fell, Fern on top of him. The mage looked to Clive, Vance, and Nuria over Symon. Noss was thanking Zarra. Isani and Ressa held each other in a tight embrace.
Beyond the group, a table stood with two chairs. Counselor Skullcut and Professor Frost sat in each chair, teacups in their hands. The pair looked over at the students huffing and puffing.
&nb
sp; “You passed the first test. Welcome to the Lighthouse!” Counselor Skullcut said a wide, scarred grin.
Seventeen
Haggard students stepped through the main gate. Tired eyes and slumped shoulders filled their ranks as they came in, found a grassy spot on the ground and sat down. Aside from Symon’s coterie, another thirty students made their way in, some falling to their hands and knees while others stared blankly at nothing.
Counselor Skullcut and Professor Frost stood up from their chairs and put their teacups down. Professor Frost began an incantation as the Counselor made his way to Symon’s group. They crowded around the now sleeping spellsword and berserker, Dax between his two best friends.
Skullcut knelt down, his keen eyes on Symon and Fern before a small smile appeared. “I can see that Symon used his barrage attack. That attack is taught as a last resort in battle for spellswords. It drains mana, but it also taps into your own personal life force for a brief moment. It allows the surge, but it takes a terrible toll on the body.”
“Will he be okay?” Dax asked.
Skullcut nodded. “A good night’s sleep will help him recover, but we don’t have time for a good night’s sleep.”
All eyes among the coterie widened a little.
The counselor looked to the sleeping fairy. “She must have been exhausted. Berserkers can still stand and fight after lighting their inner flame. You all made good time to get here. I’m actually surprised your coterie was first.”
Lips parted among the group, ready to ask a slew of questions. Skullcut seemed to anticipate it because he raised a scarred hand to stop them.
“The exam is not over. You all did well to get here, but the trophy crystals are still below the Lighthouse. Time is running out and more students will soon arrive.”
Professor Frost’s hands moved in elegant motions before her eyes flashed with power. Energy poured upwards from the ground in several places. The wisps of energy wavered and flickered before they came together. Light flashed and several chests lined the inner courtyard. Chest lids opened and light reflected off glassy surfaces.
