Battle Mage: Forging New Steel (Tales of Alus Book 9) (54 page)

“Reflex, hawk vision,” the cadet chained a pair of spells together as he strung an arrow from the collection standing in the quiver against the wall ready for the archer.

The first arrow flew true catching an orc through the eye. None of the emperor’s soldiers had chosen to wear a helmet apparently believing that they were walking onto safe ground. A second arrow was strung and being drawn back before any of the soldiers could start. Nearly mirroring the accuracy of the first, the arrow took the opposite eye closer to the nose of a second orc.

A trio of arrows from the soldiers watching the same place caught the last orc in three places. One to the chest ricocheted off of the breastplate, while the second caught the left arm turning the orc with the force of the strike.

As the orc’s body turned the third arrow went through the exposed neck from one side to the other. Dropping to its knees in shock, the orc was still alive and tried to stand even with the arrow head protruding from the other side of its neck.

Xander timed his third arrow waiting for the moment to release. As the orc stood up to begin its turn towards the glowing doorway, he sent the shaft hurtling towards the creature. Doing his best to end the orc’s misery, even if it was an enemy; the arrow broke its nose near the bridge entering the skull knocking the soldier onto its back where it shook twice before it died.

Chapter 30- Positions Change

Shaylene stood just behind Xander as he looked through the gap in the wall. An archer’s defense, the wall was one continuous line of teeth starting just above the cadet’s waist. With nomads, he didn’t doubt the safety the stone would afford; but if the dark army had sent warlocks and wizards, it would come down to the power of Southwall’s wizards to add their protection to the stone to make it hold.

“Now what?” another archer named Volmer asked aloud as they looked down on the glowing doorway.

The light of the faltering day was shifting towards gray making the magical gate even more noticeable. A golden glow, the light was warm and inviting making Xander wonder at the magic used. How could such a pleasant sight be used for so much trouble by the emperor’s forces for hundreds of years? It was a thought that could make one sad.

“We wait,” Brennan stated from three gaps further down the wall.

The apprentice’s hands touched Xander’s back as she lifted on tip toe trying to see past the mage as he held an arrow on the string ready for another enemy to dare use the gateway. Whispering to him from behind, Shaylene praised him with awe, “You got them through the eyes, so quickly. How did you do that? I thought battle mages used swords and shields.”

“Every mage is given a chance to find a weapon that works best for them,” he said over his shoulder to the girl. “I can use a sword and a lot of other weapons, but I grew up using a bow.”

A gasp from the girl meant that she spied what Xander suddenly had as well. Leading with a massive shield, the next to dare the doorway was a powerful troll. With a body shield to protect him, arrows would be unlikely to harm the huge monster of the dark army.

Arrows launched from the other soldiers as Xander looked for a target on the monster. The wood blocker could absorb the arrows indefinitely, but the mage noticed part of a shoulder exposed before letting fly. Catching in the chainmail on its upper arm; the steel head broke through the protection digging into the flesh of the troll’s arm. It recoiled in pain revealing its foot for several inches. A second arrow caught the outside of its foot making the monster howl.

While the shot was less accurate than he wished, many would say that it was an excellent shot.

“Move over. My turn,” Shaylene said sounding almost giddy for the chance to attack the enemy. Backing up a couple steps, Xander witnessed the apprentice call forth a massive fireball and release it towards the troll.

In spite of the size of the flaming mass, the girl’s aim was suspect and it crashed into the ground ahead of the troll. Luckily, the ball wasn’t held together well, so after it struck the ground it spread chaotically catching the shield. On fire, the troll’s shield masked the sight of the monster making it even harder for the mage to see any openings.

Another fireball launched from the tower hit the troll solidly on the shield driving the monster back a step.

“Wizard Haylee is much better than me,” Shaylene sighed knowing who had thrown the spell with perfect accuracy and power.

Watching the troll holding its ground as arrows began to fly from further down the wall and from the tower as other archers tried to catch an opening, Xander thought that it was about to retreat.

“My turn,” he stated before channeling one of the new spells brought to White Hall the previous fall. “Air lance!”

The shaft of concentrated wind was thrown like a spear, but the cadet’s will drove the lance to strike true. With the force of a gale wind, the burning shield absorbed the hit cracking without giving. The power was enough to bowl the troll over even as it reached the glowing door to disappear back into nothing.

Arrows followed the troll striking the golden portal where they disappeared as well.

Pushing out her lower lip in a brief pout, the girl declared, “Well, that was less than satisfying. Now what will they do?”

More archers and those who could cast magic began to flow to either side of the tower waiting to see what would happen next, since the doorway remained open.

Only moments later what looked like two walls drove through the light blocking his view of most of the gateway. Armored viles, already hard to kill and virtually impossible with arrows, held giant shields nearly as big as the creatures holding them. They ducked behind them looking like massive armadillos partially balled as they sunk behind the shields. A third shield nearly as big followed taking the center as a troll hid in the overlap between the viles.

When two orcs snuck through the door, they were virtually invisible to the defenders on the wall. Each had a body shield though they looked miniscule next to the larger creatures holding thick defenses in front of the gate. They each grabbed a stone and shouted to the creatures guarding their backs to begin the retreat.

Fire crashed into shields or struck the ground as the five shielded creatures hurried north in a retreat. Shaylene’s aim remained a bit inaccurate as she aimed for the viles and the fire disappeared into the golden light. Unlike the stray arrows entering the portal, this wasn’t ignored and suddenly the light disappeared.

Like having a night light or lantern vanishing from sight, Xander’s eyes played tricks on him as a purple blur remained etched into his vision for a little while longer. It mattered little as the cadet hadn’t bothered to fire an arrow. There were no openings to catch the enemy to try and pierce their armor. He had heard of other mages driving the air spears well beyond an arm’s throw, but the cadet was still trying to master that technique.

“What are they doing?” Evan asked, who like Xander, hadn’t wasted his arrows. The archers had fired less understanding the futility of their attacks for the moment.

The cadet thought about the matter and said quickly, “Either they have given up on trying to use the portal, or they have taken what was used to make it.”

“The stones?” Shaylene questioned. “They did all that to reclaim the stones?”

“More likely they did it to move the stones out of our range. Once it is beyond our attack, they can bring their army here without any worries.”

The soldier, Brennan, asked, “But why do they need that? They already marched an army to within a couple miles of the Towers.”

That question the youth could not answer.

Palose stood with his eyes closed waiting with the army inside the chamber. The warlocks remained ready beside the portal anchor and watched as the dark mage was using his magical senses to try and decide when to open the gate once more.

Unlike the warlocks, Acheri stood impatiently before him with a pout on her lips.

“Well?” she asked without expressing the full question.

“It’s still moving. They need to move it beyond the range of the wizards’ spells as well as the arrows.

“Once it stops, I will assume that they have set the lodestones again,” Palose answered without opening his eyes. The princess knew how the magic worked and how sensitive the mage was to the movements of the stones. He had known when Sebastian moved the anchors in Banosh and again when the cities had become lost to him.

The girl tapped her booted foot anxiously before beginning to pace in front of the dark mage.

When the stones halted, Palose gave them a moment to make sure that they were finished. His eyes opened and he nodded.

“I will go through and set a new gate on the south side of the wall before I reopen the portal here,” he stated for the warlocks who would hold his gate open once Palose was certain that he could enact the plan, even if it was being modified. His battle mage training had made him know to come to a battle field with a plan, but be ready to adjust with the flow of battle as it changed.

Acheri didn’t look happy to see him go, but she was a princess and he was just a resurrection man after all.

A quick casting of the magic created a new, smaller door in front of Palose. He stepped through to find that he was in the slight valley created between a pair of short hills.

Looking to the sky, the dark mage saw the darkening sky and first twinkling lights of the stars appearing as the day moved towards night. A lack of light played into their strategy, but they had planned to be in Southwall on the march to the wall already. He had been deceived into walking into a trap without ever noticing it.

Had Sebastian chosen to simply move these stones rather than destroy them as he appeared to have done at the other points? It was certainly a trick that would not surprise him to have come from that mind.

The gate winked out behind Palose and he took in the small unit which had accomplished the movement. Soot blackened their skin and the shields had been damaged by the magic used against them, but the five looked relatively unscathed even so.

He ordered them to join up with the army marching this way. The orcs would let the general know to stall the attack for a little longer.

Looking to the south, Palose couldn’t see North Wall, but he had no doubt that air wizards would be working to keep track of the movements of the army. If they had followed the five unit squad to see what they planned, the surprise of his next actions might have less impact; but if it was done correctly Southwall would quickly find the Twin Towers in dire straights.

Taking the stones in hand, the dark mage used one of his rival’s spells, “Air lance.”

Sealed inside of the shaft of air, Palose tried to make it nearly invisible before calling on his stealth spell. He hated the idea of taking a long walk through the clinging grass and bumpy ground using the limited senses he would have under the influence of the spell, but it was better than facing the might of the wizards, mages and archers of the wall.

He set off half blind. The only positive point of using the strange phantom sight within the stealth spell was that the darkening light outside didn’t affect him in anyway. Night or day, the senses one gained and lost using the magic weren’t affected at all.

Crossing the distance trying to remain lost in the valleys of the hills even with the spell in place, Palose eventually stood to the west of the Twins. He used the gap between the Twin Towers and the next one to cast his spear over the wall. Pushing his skills as far as he ever had, the mage had to literally have blind faith in his throw; because the next step would be crucial to the attack.

Slipping back out of easy arrow range, the dark mage quickly cast his portal spell placing it between him and any defenders which might spot him in time. His stealth spell dropped to cast the portal making Palose a target, but he had become an expert at casting the magic and could do so as fast as anyone.

He could just make out the calls of warning from the wall after the glowing doorway drew their eyes to what he was doing. It was almost better that they did notice his activity to the north first, since it was connected to the stones blindly cast into Southwall by his spear. As arrows left bows, the dark mage stepped through the gate disappearing before the first shafts dropped to the ground short of their target. A fireball cast frantically from closer to the next tower would not even find the gateway as Palose released the gates to avoid being noticed where the air spear had landed.

Turning to look to the north to see how well he done shooting the spear without sight of his target, Palose found that he had been lucky. The second gate had landed in the depression between the slight hills, though standing on his toe tips the mage could see the wall on an angle to the northeast. Since there were no further alarms, he had to assume that whatever glow the second doorway had made must have been missed with the distraction to the north.

Palose reassumed the stealth spell after gathering the lodestones and moved to a safer place to begin calling up the next portal to Ensolus. Their second army would need space to assemble for the attack from behind the wall. Caught between two forces, the Twins would surely fall. The towers and wall were designed to keep the enemy out from the north. Doors on the south side would be much more vulnerable than the twenty feet thick magically enhanced stone of the wall.