Two Necromancers, a Dwarf Kingdom, and a Sky City

by L. G. Estrella

  “Be silent,” Amanda hissed. “And be thankful I am leading the way because I can soak up much more damage than any of you. Unlike you, I can survive being stabbed in the throat.”

  She wasn’t wrong, Timmy thought, but he wasn’t going to say anything. Only an idiot would get between a stupidly powerful elf and an ancient vampire when they were arguing. Not far away, Katie had landed the zombie hydra-drake-basilisk. A handful of rats leapt onto the creature, and they pooled their magic to protect the zombie as it sought to drown the incoming reinforcements beneath a deluge of acid. The soldiers scattered as best they could, but the sheer quantity of acid made it all but impossible for them to escape unharmed. The archers who had threatened to bring down the mighty zombie only a few moments ago were now in total disarray, and many of them had decided to flee rather than face the zombie’s wrath. Another ballista bolt slammed into the zombie, but the rats’ magic was able to blunt the impact enough that the blow only staggered the zombie instead of ripping another hole in it. A well-placed boulder promptly took care of the ballista, courtesy of the rats on the walls that had commandeered a catapult.

  “Come on.” Timmy turned, and a sharp gesture of his shovel transformed some of the ground nearby into quicksand. It wouldn’t stop the soldiers for long, but it didn’t have to. The second they got bogged down, the zombie hydra-drake-basilisk would make short work of them. Katie was struggling to keep up, her short stature forcing her to take multiple steps for every step the others took. “We need to get into the central building now.”

  The central building loomed ahead of them, and Timmy winced. Of course, there were more people there. Archers attacked the instant they came into view, and Timmy drove his shovel into the ground. A series of impromptu walls jutted upward to ward off the attacks, and Katie began to tear cobblestones out of the ground and hurl them using her shadows. He grinned. She’d gotten better at that – much better. She might not have the range of a catapult, but her accuracy was excellent. He yanked his shovel out of the ground and used his earth magic to rip half a dozen cobblestones loose, so he could toss them at the archers. As the cobblestones flew through the air, he shattered them with his magic, enveloping the archers in a thick cloud of dust. The archers couldn’t attack them if they couldn’t see or breathe properly. Gerald stumbled into him, and Timmy reached out to steady the bureaucrat.

  “Gerald, are you okay?”

  The bureaucrat clutched at his frying pan, and Timmy was glad to see it wasn’t bloody. Gerald had been at the centre of the group with at least two ninja rats protecting him at all times. In a situation like this, his ability to pull things out of storage was invaluable.

  “I think so.” Gerald had a frazzled air about him, and his eyes were wild and barely focused. “I mean… I’m not dead. Yet.”

  “That’s the spirit.” Timmy slapped him over the back and flicked a shard of rock at an archer on a nearby building. The man screamed and fell off the roof, landing on another solider. Ouch. “Avraniel, get over here. I need you to do something about the gate.”

  The elf hurled one final blast of flame at the guards behind them and then ran over with Spot at her heels. The dragon’s jaws were covered in gore, and he was grinning from ear to ear. Trust a dragon to enjoy all of this mayhem. “Yeah, yeah. Get out of my way, idiots.” She took a moment to steady herself and then thrust both her arms forward. The air in front of them rippled as a wave of heat enveloped the gate. The archers along the walls went up in flames, and the magically enhanced metal of the gate shimmered as the runes and seals carved onto it flared and then evaporated one by one. The gate began to glow and then melt, and Timmy heaved one of the makeshift walls he’d created at it. The slab of rock tore the half-melted gate off its hinges.

  “Hey!” Avraniel growled. “I was melting that!”

  “And I’m speeding things along. We don’t need to melt the whole thing. We just need to get it out of the way.” Timmy looked back. More guards were coming. He knew for a fact that his zombie warriors and zombie marksmen had been fighting non-stop in a bid to cut off reinforcements since Gerald had put them on the walls, so the sheer number of guards in this fortress was truly ludicrous. Lord Tarrick didn’t have a security force. He had a whole damn army. “Gerald, summon Borris. We need someone to hold the line while we’re inside.”

  Boris was one of Katie’s greatest creations – a zombie designed to hold a position for as long as possible against anything the opponent could throw at him. The majority of his body had been cobbled together from the remains of an extremely rare species of giant clam that Katie had paid an exorbitant sum for. His apprentice had then painstakingly grafted on parts from salamanders while creating small holes in the clamshell that would allow flames to escape. She had then added a variety of parts from various venomous and poisonous creatures, along with organs designed to let Boris spew those toxins into the air. Finally, she’d asked him to carve runes and seals into Boris’s shell, both on the inside and the outside. Considering how hard Boris’s shell already was – it was comparable to dragon scale, albeit far thicker and heavier – it had taken him weeks to complete the task.

  But it was worth it.

  Boris was basically immobile. His tremendous weight made adding legs a risky affair since even a small amount of damage could lead to them buckling under him. Instead, he relied on a number of tough, fibrous tentacles that could be extruded from the bottom of his shell. But even with those, he could only move at a snail’s pace. What made Boris dangerous was his unmatched durability. He could shrug off multiple direct hits from a catapult, and not even magically enhanced ballista bolts could pierce his shell. His lack of mobility made him all but useless as an attacker, but as a defender, he excelled, provided he only needed to defend a single location where the opponent would be forced to approach him.

  Gerald put Boris right in the middle of the path leading to the central building. The path itself wasn’t much wider than the zombie, so anyone who wanted to get past would have to deal with not only large quantities of fire but also clouds of toxins. For standard infantry, it was basically a death sentence, and even mages would struggle to get past since he could project his attacks a reasonable distance.

  “Let’s go,” Timmy said. “Boris and some of the rats can cover our line of retreat. We need to keep moving.” At his words some of the ninja rats veered off and began to fortify the area. They might not be big, but the traps they could set up were absolutely fiendish, and putting explosives everywhere was fine. Boris could take being caught up in the crossfire. To help them out, Timmy reached out with his necromancy and raised some of the fallen soldiers as zombies. He couldn’t afford to waste the time and magic required to make them anything better than shambling corpses, but they should buy the rats some time to establish their defensive position.

  “I wonder how many more men he has,” Old Man drawled. There was a slight look of exasperation on his face as they pushed through the ruined gate and fought their way past another clump of guards. His sword had barely stopped moving since they’d arrived, and Timmy was morbidly curious to know how many people he’d killed. Old Man was a gentleman, but he was also exceedingly good at killing people. “Because even I am beginning to think this is absurd, and I spent my entire youth fighting in the largest war my nation had ever seen.”

  “Dumb bastard must waste most of his money on guards.” Avraniel had drawn her daggers. Inside the fortress, she couldn’t risk using her more powerful attacks, or she could bring the building down on them. However, a dagger heated to a white-hot temperature was perfect for close combat. She glanced back and growled. “Spot, stop playing with your food. We need to move.”

  The dragon stopped nibbling on a downed guard and hurried after them. He would have looked adorable gambolling along, but he was covered in blood, gore, and ash. His silver eyes blazed, and Timmy knew that the fighting was getting to him. Dragons lived for battle, and this could well be the bloodiest battle Spot had ever been involve
d in. Blood dripped from his jaws, and the heart-warming sound he made when he saw another group of guards was utterly at odds with what happened next. Spot hurled himself at them like a ballista bolt, shattering shields, armour, and bones alike before he began to rip and tear at anything he could reach. It was a reckless way of fighting, but it worked because Old Man, Amanda, and Avraniel were right behind him to keep the dragon from being surrounded and overwhelmed.

  “You know,” Katie murmured as she stepped over a mangled body. “It’s easy to forget that Spot is a dragon sometimes. He acts kind of like a big, scaly dog most of the time.”

  “It’s a good thing he’s on our side.” Timmy ruffled her hair. “And it’s not like you have to worry. You’re basically his teddy bear.”

  After a hideous slog through seemingly endless waves of guards, they finally reached the hall that dominated the interior of the building. To Lord Tarrick’s credit – and Old Man’s exasperation – the crime lord had saved the best for last: an ambush timed to hit them after they’d expended as much energy as possible. It wasn’t a bad idea. In fact, it was what Timmy would have done if their positions had been reversed. Lord Tarrick wasn’t stupid. In a battle like this, winning was more important than fighting fairly. As soon as they reached the middle of the hall, well over a dozen mages emerged from hidden passageways and unleashed their power in a dazzling display of magical fury.

  Timmy threw Katie behind a pillar and then dove behind one of his own. “I just don’t understand how he can afford to hire so many people. Sure, he’s a crime lord, but this is ridiculous.” He had reinforced his pillar with as much of his magic as he could spare, and it was doing a decent job of weathering the assault. Not far away, Katie had gotten back to her feet. She was not happy about being thrown, but she understood the necessity of it since it had probably saved her life. Gerald was beside her, and the bureaucrat had called forth dozens of protective charms to strengthen the pillar they were using as cover.

  “If he’d been less evil and made less enemies,” Katie said. “He could have saved most of the money he spent on guards. He could have retired to a nice, warm island somewhere.” Gerald handed her a metal sphere of some kind, and she lobbed it in the general direction of the enemy mages with her shadows. It landed with a metallic clang and began to spew gas everywhere.

  “What is that?” Timmy asked. One of the mages tried to clear the gas away with wind magic, but Timmy struck a shard of broken stone with his shovel and let his magic do the rest. The wind mage dropped like a puppet with its strings cut, and the others staggered back, clawing at their eyes and throats.

  “It’s made using chilli peppers,” Gerald replied. “Its based on something I confiscated while I was assigned to the border for a while. The ninja rats examined the original device and improved it.” He blinked as tears welled up in his eyes. The wind mage had died before he could disperse the gas, but he’d managed to blow a bit of it their way. Several masks appeared in Gerald’s hands. “Put these on. The gas is extremely unpleasant. One of the other bureaucrats accidentally set off the original device. We had to evacuate the office.”

  Timmy and Katie each donned a mask and tossed the others to Avraniel, Amanda, and Old Man. Spot, of course, just looked at the spreading cloud of gas and ambled forward, not the least bit bothered by it, so he could spew fire into the disorganised ranks of the enemy. Being part corruption dragon came with some nice benefits. To Timmy’s relief, Spot was being careful not to set too many things on fire, and Avraniel was using her magic to contain the spread of the flames. He covered his face with one hand. Why couldn’t she do that on their other missions?

  “Let’s go!” Timmy shouted. “Hit them while they’re still disorganised.”

  People often pictured battles between mages as grandiose affairs with two powerful mages standing opposite one another as they hurled fire, lightning, and all manners of attacks at each other. That was true – sometimes. More often than not, however, battles between mages degenerated into stalemates, with neither mage able to overcome the other. At that point, access to a heavy or pointy piece of metal and the skill to use it properly could be decisive.

  He and the others piled into the mages and their escort of guards. With their opponents still badly disoriented by the gas, Timmy and the other were free to seize the initiative. He fought alongside Katie, using his shovel to club, whack, and stab anyone who got in his way. His apprentice was right there beside him. Her shadows might not have the range of Avraniel’s flames, but they were very durable and perfect for close-range combat. Anyone who got too close was dragged to the ground or simply batted aside as Katie seized control of the shadows in the hall. It was a fighting style she’d worked on with Sam since the eldritch horror used his tentacles and ability to shape his body in much the same way. And although she couldn’t actually transform herself into a whirling mass of blades, claws, tentacles, and teeth, she could do a reasonably good imitation of Sam with her shadows.

  “What a glorious mess this is,” Old Man drawled. To Timmy’s disbelief, he barely looked winded. There was a light sheen of sweat across his brow, but that was it. Timmy was breathing heavily, and his back was damp with sweat. He knew for a fact that he was in great shape, so Old Man must have a trick or two up his sleeve. He’d have to ask him about it later. “But I do believe we’re getting toward the end of it.”

  “Keep an eye on Gerald, will you?” Timmy asked. “We’re making a break for those doors at the far end.”

  “Of course.” Old Man tipped his hat at Timmy and stabbed an opponent neatly without so much as breaking his stride. “Take care and good luck. We’ll hold them here.” He paused. “And be wary. Lord Tarrick has yet to show himself. We know he is not a coward or a fool, so he must have at least one more surprise in store for us.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind. Come on, Katie.” Timmy gestured for his apprentice to follow him. “Let’s go rescue a princess.”

  * * *

  Katie ran alongside her master. They had both removed their masks now that they were away from the hall and the gas. It wasn’t easy keeping up, but all of the missions they’d completed lately had done wonders for her fitness. Moreover, she could use her shadows to move much more quickly, pushing and pulling herself along. Finding the princess on their own would have been difficult, especially without Chomp. Her master had decided not to take the three-headed dog with them. His size would make him an easy target, and he didn’t have the experience or stamina required to fight in such a large, extended pitched battle yet. Fighting larger groups of weaker opponents required a different set of skills to fighting a handful of stronger ones. After a few more missions, he’d be ready, but her master wasn’t going to risk Chomp unless there was a good reason. Unlike Spot, the labyrinth hound could not laugh off swords, spears, and arrows. For once, Avraniel had agreed with her master although she’d promised the despondent dog they’d begin his training right away, so he could come along on their next big mission.

  Thankfully, they didn’t have to find the princess without help. They had Rembrandt. Her favourite rat was an expert bodyguard and assassin, which meant he was excellent at sensing people. Given a rough description of the princess – a girl similar to Katie in age but with smaller reserves of magic – it shouldn’t be too difficult for him to find her in a building full of adults. If they tried to conceal her, then he should be able to sense the concealment and lead them to it. A rush of movement from behind them drew her attention, and she turned to see Spot coming after them. He must have come along in case they ran into trouble. As he sometimes said to Katie, it was better for her to bring a dragon along since she was squishy. Dragons were not.

  They reached a richly decorated antechamber, and Katie sent tendrils of shadow ahead. The guards stationed there went flying into the walls, and she continued to run. They were probably still alive, but they’d hit the walls pretty hard. She doubted they’d be getting up any time soon. Before they could get any further, Spot grabb
ed her cloak in his teeth and yanked her back. A wave of sound washed over them, and Katie staggered, ears ringing and head spinning as she fought to stay on her feet. Rembrandt tapped her cheek to get her attention and gestured, and Katie hurried to follow his suggestion. Her shadows thickened and clamped over her ears before more shadows did the same for Rembrandt and Spot. Her master had seemingly shaken off the attack, and he gestured for her to continue toward the other end of the chamber. She couldn’t believe he was so steady on his feet – he’d been further ahead than her and must have taken more of the full force of the attack – but he did have an extremely high tolerance to pain.

  Another wave of sound rippled outward, but a chunk of the floor jutted up to ward it off. Her master was on the move a moment later, creating a series of makeshift walls, so he could close the gap to his opponent. The other mage, a tall man in dark robes, was equally quick to retreat, unleashing withering blasts of sound. A particularly powerful blast actually shattered one of her master’s walls, and her master grimaced before creating another, reinforcing it with more of his magic to heighten its durability. The other mage used her master’s momentary pause to retreat further. He must have noticed the blood and gore on her master’s shovel and realised that fighting him in close combat was an awful idea.

  Katie got to the door and gave a cry of frustration. Of course, it was locked and sealed. She got to work, mind whirling into action as she sought to disable the magical protections built into the door. Beside her, Spot gave a roar of fury and hurled himself forward. There was a flash of light, and the dragon bounced off the door. With a growl, Spot unleashed a short, sharp burst of black flame. The corrupting fire began to eat away at the magic on the door, and Katie hurried to further destabilise it as Spot threw himself at the obstacle over and over again. His fifth attack all but ripped the door off its hinges, and Katie shoved it aside with their shadows.