Out of the corner of his eye, Timmy saw a wyvern rider rush in to take advantage of their momentary distraction. He shouted a warning, and Beaky evaded at the last moment. As the wyvern raced past, Timmy lashed out with his shovel. The sharp edge of the weapon caught the gap in the wyvern’s armour, tearing open a long, ugly gash along its flank. As the wyvern recoiled from the unexpected injury, Beaky seized its rider in his talons. The wyvern turned to help, and Beaky tossed the rider aside and drove his beak down into the wyvern’s chest. Timmy had seen griffins pierce dragon scales with their beaks. A wyvern didn’t have a chance, not against a griffin as large and powerful as Beaky – and Beaky had gotten his name from Vicky for a reason. He had an especially sharp and deadly beak.
They flew upward to get a better view of the battlefield as the wyvern dropped. Timmy allowed himself a few moments to get his breath back, and from her white-knuckled grip on the saddle, he could tell Katie was feeling the strain too. Only Rembrandt looked nonplussed. The rodent had a serene smile on his face as though leaping off griffins to stab people was something he did every day. Well, at least one of them was having fun. Aerial combat was mentally and physically draining. It all happened so fast, but a single mistake could mean death. It felt like they’d been fighting for hours, but it had likely only been a few minutes.
Katie gasped. “That was…”
“Yes, it was.” He ruffled her hair, not that it mattered. The wind whipping past had her looking very much like a porcupine. “You did well. Just be glad you’re not up there. That’s even tougher.”
High above them, her glowing form shimmering like a second sun, Vicky was locked in combat against three Lords of Magic, all of them airborne under their own power.
Beaky snorted. He was absolutely confident that his mistress would win. Rather than worry about her, he turned his attention to the rest of the battle. It was time for them to enter the fray once more. His eyes gleamed as he spotted a particularly large and powerful drake amidst the imperial forces. It would be a real shame if something were to happen to it.
* * *
Vicky hadn’t always been able to fly so easily. Much like Katie, she’d originally used constructs made of light to serve as wings or platforms to stand on. However, she’d eventually learned to do something far more powerful. By completely saturating her body in light magic, she was not only capable of enhancing her physical abilities far beyond what light magic should have made possible but also capable of controlling her body like it was one of her light constructs. It was, as Timmy affectionately called it, her flying glow-ball-of-death form.
It wasn’t easy, and it consumed more power than her earlier methods, but it allowed her to fly with speed and agility that even Beaky couldn’t match while amplifying her other powers – and she was going to need those powers. Even for her, facing three Lords of Magic at once could be dangerous, especially since all three of them seemed to specialise in aerial combat.
One of them was definitely a wind mage, another was a summoner, and the third had the ability to transform his body into something resembling ash or smoke. Individually, she would have been able to deal with any of them, regardless of what their secondary magic might be. She was, after all, the most powerful member of the Council in terms of combat ability. However, the trio worked together extremely well, and the whole was definitely more than the sum of its parts. Indeed, she would have commended them on their teamwork if they hadn’t been doing their best to kill her. It did not help that the sky was full of friendly fliers, so she couldn’t simply blast away at them with her magic – not that Avraniel and Spot seemed worried about that. Then again, the dragon and the elf had advanced so far into the midst of the enemy that almost everyone around them was an opponent.
Streaking through the sky, Vicky dodged back and forth around lances and blades of wind laden with enough magic to pierce through steel like paper. An unlucky griffin was caught by one of the attacks and instantly cut in half. Only a powerful griffin like Beaky could have weathered such a powerful strike, and even then, he’d have to see it coming. Caught off guard, he would definitely be injured, possibly even killed.
And that was what made wind magic so annoying to deal with. It was basically impossible to see the wind, which meant she had to rely on her magical senses to detect it. The fact that the enemy mage could enhance the wind enough that it might actually be able to damage her in her current form was impressive enough, but he had also demonstrated the ability to unleash multiple attacks at the same time without any visible signs of strain. More wind came, and she felt the lances of sharpened air curve to pursue her when she dodged. Her lips twitched. Oh, she was really impressed now. Creating projectiles that could chase after her could not have been easy, and he was multi-tasking too, throwing up walls of wind and other obstacles to try to slow her down long enough for his stronger attacks to hit. But she was more than equal to the task, and she wove through his attacks and obstacles until she was in a better position to counterattack. Brilliant beams of light raced toward him, far faster than the wind he’d attacked her with. He dodged on instinct and let his winds carry him away, but her attacks bent in mid-air and turned to follow him just as his had followed her.
“Let’s see how agile you are,” Vicky murmured as she upped her speed and altered her trajectory to match his. She unleashed another radiant salvo of magic, and the Lord of Magic was forced into a frantic series of increasingly acrobatic manoeuvres to evade her onslaught. She smiled in approval – he was an excellent flier – and her smile only widened as he managed to reply with his own magic. She dodged the incoming attacks easily. His aim wasn’t quite as good when he was on the move, but he would still have hit any normal opponent. She tossed a few more beams of light his way and then moved to close the distance between them. If she could get within melee range, she should be able to end the fight quite quickly.
However, before she could get any closer, a swarm of strange, misshapen creatures that vaguely resembled otters with reptilian wings flew toward her. Her eyes narrowed. These creatures were eldritch beings of some kind. They weren’t too big – only the size of a dog – but unearthly energy poured out of their mouths. She increased her speed and focused on her agility as she flitted through the hail of attacks. She could probably withstand being hit, but it was always better to be careful when eldritch entities were involved. Her caution turned out to be well warranted. The sea below her churned as the strange energy warped and distorted the water. She banked sharply to avoid another wave of attacks and then unleashed several long, broad blades of light. The attacks sliced cleanly through the creatures, and she pointed with one hand. A burst of light enveloped a section of the sky and devoured the last of the creatures, and she pressed on.
However, the summoner was already calling forth more creatures, and a huge whirlwind was headed her way. Vicky dropped and skimmed the surface of the ocean as bolts of superheated gas began to explode all around her. That wasn’t the wind mage’s doing. It must be the third of her opponents. Her eyes narrowed. He wasn’t very far at all. She dodged one more attack and then shot straight up, a shield of light forming in front of her to bear the brunt of his attacks as she closed in. Beams of light lanced toward him, but he dissolved into smoke and ash and vanished.
Vicky chuckled. This was beginning to get annoying, but it wasn’t all bad news. With all of their attention on her, they couldn’t help their comrades. Aerial battles could often be swayed by only a handful of powerful combatants. If she could keep these three occupied or even eliminate them, the battle should go Everton’s way. As the trio regrouped above her, Vicky decided to up the stakes. She’d been mostly content to dodge and counterattack. It was time for her to take the initiative.
The glow around her intensified, and her magic stirred in earnest as she flooded her body with power. The air cracked as she bolted upward. The three wyvern riders that tried to bar her path evaporated as she pierced through them like a huge, glowing lance. A shockwave ri
ppled outward at the speed of her ascent, and she drew one arm back as if to throw a punch. The wind mage reacted first. He shoved his teammates aside, gathered as much of his magic as he could, and dove to meet her. The force of a hurricane was at his beck and call, and he used it to try to blunt her charge. She didn’t care. Even as the seething barrier of wind fought to hold her back, beams of light rushed in from all directions. One of the mistakes people often made was thinking that she had to fire her beams from her body. She didn’t. She simply chose to because it was easier and gave people a false sense of security. As his attention shifted to dodging the unexpected attack, she focused more of her magic in her fist and then punched the air in front of her.
The maelstrom of wind he’d put up to hold her back shattered. The resulting backlash sent him tumbling end over end through the air as the summoner sent more eldritch monstrosities to try to buy him time to recover. Vicky let her magic burst outward from her body, instantly disintegrating the creatures closest to her as she dove after the wind mage. A thought unleashed a dozen spears of pure light at the summoner. She was vaguely aware of him dodging as the monster he was riding on jerked to one side and then folded its wings to dive, but she didn’t need to kill him, only keep him distracted long enough for her to finish off the wind mage. Even so, the spears changed their paths to pursue the summoner, and he was forced to call up yet more abominations to fend them off.
The wind mage had finally managed to recover, and he gestured sharply with both hands. A blade of tearing winds – the might of a storm condensed into an attack the width of a human hand – rushed up toward her. Her glow brightened, and she charged right through the attack. Above her, the clouds parted, sliced cleanly in half by the technique. To his credit, the Lord of Magic still had the presence of mind to dodge her first attack – a fist that would have turned him into a cloud of blood and gore – but he was unable to avoid the shafts of light that struck from his blind spot. The winds he’d wrapped around his body would normally have repelled even crossbow bolts, but her light was far more deadly. He might – maybe – have been able to weather the blows if he had consciously reinforced his magic to better protect himself, but he never got the chance. One beam pierced through his heart, another pierced through his skull, and the third cut through his spine. He was almost certainly dead before he’d even realised what had happened, but it was better to be safe than sorry. She conjured a sword of light and used it to cut him in half.
Above her, the summoner gave a cry of fury, and she raced up toward him only to be enveloped by a massive cloud of ash. Her lips curled. No wonder the third Lord of Magic hadn’t intervened earlier. He must have been setting up this attack. The cloud of superheated ash and smoke that enveloped her was at least a mile wide. It was like being caught in a volcanic eruption, and she couldn’t help but admire her opponent’s technique. The heat alone was enough to melt steel, and the ash and smoke would have easily incinerated the lungs of anyone who had to breathe. Moreover, the ash was moving at a tremendous speed, which was perfect for tearing flesh from bone. There was even lightning crackling through the cloud, most likely due to the movement of the ash.
It was a truly splendid attack, likely the work of a lifetime of practice.
It also didn’t matter.
In this form, she didn’t need to breathe, and her light-infused body was unbelievably durable. The seething ash raged against her glowing form, unable to leave even a scratch, and her magic flared. Like the sun banishing the darkness of the night, light spilled outward and tore apart the cloud of ash and smoke. Nearby, the Lord of Magic tumbled through the air as he tried to get his bearings back. He clenched one fist and punched in her direction, and a massive fist made of ash and smoke appeared to mirror the motion. She sliced the fist in half with a blade of light and forced him into a harried retreat with a deluge of shining projectiles. A moment later, she was at his side. There was no way he could outrun her, so he used his magic to turn his body into ash and smoke. She grinned and poured magic into her fist. It didn’t matter what he turned his body into. Her light magic should still be able to harm him while her astral magic gave her something to aim at.
Her punch had enough force behind it to turn a hill into powder, and her astral magic let her see the look of horrified disbelief on his face as the blow landed to deadly effect. As she drew her fist back from the fatal strike, a massive winged creature tried to ram into her. She rolled away from the attack and flicked her hand out to one side. Instead of beams, ribbons of ultra-thin, ultra-concentrated light enveloped the monster. She tightened her hand, and the ribbons followed suit. The eldritch monstrosity was sliced into dozens of pieces, and the summoner hastily tried to bring forth something else. She didn’t give him the chance. Instead, she hit him like a meteor, and he went tumbling out of the sky. The only reason he was still alive was because the creature he’d been riding on had sacrificed itself to take the majority of the attack. Even so, the force of her attack sent him hurtling toward the naval base, and he was forced to summon yet another monster to try to break his fall. He was only partially successful. He and the creature he’d summoned crashed through several buildings before coming to a rest in a crater more than fifteen yards across. She tilted her head to one side. Impressive. He was still alive. Whatever he’d summoned must have been incredibly durable. Well, she could fix that. She pointed and a column of light thundered down from the sky like a hammer.
Looking around, Vicky shifted her attention to the battles taking place on the ground and in the sky. Her aerial troops had the upper hand, and Avraniel and Spot were leading the charge, terrorising anyone they could reach. It wouldn’t be long now before the empire’s fliers were forced to retreat. However, their dwarf allies on the ground looked as though they could use some help. She turned, picked out a dozen or so targets for her magic amongst the empire’s forces, and blasted them out of the air before she began her descent. The dwarves down there had been fighting for who knew how long. She’d be glad to offer them some help.
* * *
Old Man took a moment to catch his breath, and his lips curved into a rueful smile. His old age truly had begun to catch up to him. In his prime, he could have fought all day while using his magic without a care in the world. Now, it was a different story. Of course, he wasn’t the only one who was tired. Everyone was.
He and the others had launched successful raids against many of the naval base’s other weapons and defences, and the Sky City had seized the upper hand. It was hammering away, whittling down the last of the base’s defences and pulverising anything it could hit. The fleet had been forced to divert – yet again – as the cosmic fungus turned to fight off the ships that had been pursuing it. Unfortunately, the power of the Sky City’s weapons made them too dangerous to use once the enemy got close enough to Old Man and the others. Thankfully, help was on the way.
There was a blinding flash of light, and coruscating beams of effulgence rained down on their opponents. Armour proved to be no help at all, and soldier after soldier fell. In a matter of moments, quiet had fallen over the battlefield. He nodded in acknowledgement as a glowing woman floated over them. She casually batted aside a blast from one of the naval base’s few remaining cannons before crippling it with her reply.
“Councillor.”
Vicky smiled and lowered herself until she was almost touching the ground. A force of some kind seemed to emanate from her. It brushed aside dust and other debris as the light she emitted pulsed in time to the beating of her heart. Her brows furrowed, and her glow reached out to envelop him and the others. Immediately, he felt better. It wasn’t the same as being completely healed or genuinely rested, but it had definitely taken the edge off his weariness and eased his aches and pains. He grinned. No wonder Timmy thought her magic was ridiculously unfair. It not only provided her with incredible offence and defence but also the ability to heal – and that was just her light magic. She was undoubtedly capable of even greater feats if she drew upon her a
stral magic as well.
“You and the others have been working very hard. You have my thanks.” Vicky turned toward the king. “Your Majesty.”
“You’re a welcome sight, councillor.” The king chuckled tiredly as his remaining elites secured the area. Many of them had fallen, but those still standing carried themselves with unmistakable pride. They knew how big this battle was, and to have survived it and emerged victorious was the stuff legends were made of. Above them, the fierce aerial battle was coming to a conclusion as the imperial forces began to break away – not that Spot or Avraniel seemed keen to let them go. It was strange, but Old Man had noticed that larger aerial battles often went more swiftly than smaller ones. “It would have been nice to have you at the start of the fight, councillor, but I’ll take what I can get. It seems the battle is won.”
“The battle, yes, but not the war.”
Vicky glanced up at the Sky City. With the empire’s aerial troops fleeing, the fortress was finally free to begin its retreat. It wasn’t speedy by any means, but it would soon be out of the range of the naval base’s weapons – what few were left, anyway – which meant anyone attacking it would be at a grave disadvantage. The Sky City maintained a steady barrage as it retreated, and the cosmic fungus turned to pursue it, only to stumble as it was caught by a stray blast from the naval base. It turned, roaring in fury, but the damage it had taken was dire. It was only a matter of time now before it fell, and its attacks lacked the power they had possessed earlier in the battle.
Two Necromancers, a Dwarf Kingdom, and a Sky City Page 59
