Battle Mage: Forging New Steel (Tales of Alus Book 9) (59 page)

Worry for the wall between the two towers made his feet start towards the western tower, but Falcon Gareth was suddenly at his side.

“Reinforcements are here,” the older man stated gripping the smaller cadet’s shoulder. His sword was sheathed in fire and still intact, Xander noted ruefully. He hadn’t thought of the protective sheath of magic during the fight proving once more that the cadet needed more experience. Unfortunately, he looked to have more fighting to do yet this night, so the boy would have time to learn more about himself and his magic. “The army to the north is closing with their warlocks and archers again. Keep your shield out and your head about you, boy. This isn’t over by a long shot.”

“The wizards?” Xander began.

Gareth interrupted thinking he meant the new wizards, “Reinforcements from Blackwall who used the second gate inside of the tower. It’s a good thing that foreign wizard set up those gates. We might actually be able to survive this and drive the enemy away.”

“What about the wall over the river?”

“I’m not sure. Now get to the north parapets. This isn’t the time for conversation,” the falcon ordered even as his eyes began to assess their preparations for the next wave.

The whistle of arrows flying in from the north was nearly masked by the thunder of the assault by the warlocks as they struck the stone face trying to batter the already suffering wall. Xander felt pain from his right arm before instinct made him sink down behind the protective stone.

Armored viles backed by trolls and the new, more massive, crag trolls struck the front line of the battle mages from Hala. Sebastian could see the attack from the crest of the hill as a little over sixty mages were pushed back in the initial rush of the much larger monsters of the dark army.

Swords covered in fire bounced off of armor plate. Those using the air lances tried to find weak points, but there were so many of the enemy that trying to just meet the attack proved futile.

He had watched the first attack of the air spears from the mages from a distance. A few of the monsters had fallen, but this line had already turned thanks to his air cannon spells. It was his fault that they had lost the benefit of a true ambush. Wanting to make up for his mistake, even though removing the enemy weapons was arguably more important; Sebastian started to move forward until Westlin’s arm reached out barring his path.

“Stay here, Sebastian,” she ordered. “You are the only one who can open more gates. We need you to contact Hala, and to open up the new gates for the army and wizards to follow.”

Staying out of the fight was against the battle mage’s nature, but he knew that she was right.

A handful of mages were arrayed in a semi circle around the owl and he knew that Westlin had chosen them to guard him now. It wasn’t just from making sure he was safe using the air cannon earlier. Probably she and Falconi Neven had decided the matter before leaving to have the woman keep an eye on him. He had become too valuable an asset to get deep into battle now. That he had been allowed to see the nomads, was almost surprising in retrospect; but his knowledge of runes had been needed more, he guessed.

With a big sigh, the mage made the portal rune open to take out Bairh’loore before planting it before him. He would need the strength of the earth to open those gates.

Sebastian first looked to the east and performed his first distant opening of a gate. The golden glow of a modest opening formed on the eastern shore. It connected with Hala in the assembly area of the wizards. He would need the portal wizards help to bring the army.

“Door,” he ordered as the mage made out the first forms exiting the portal. A second gate opened in the shelter of the hill northwest of his. The tight valley between the hills would open facing the battling mages, but was still far enough back for the moment to be safe.

“Two at once?” one of the mages questioned aloud in awe.

Westlin looked at the younger man noticing the strength of aura increased several times beyond that of a normal mage. It was also well beyond what he usually revealed during the meetings between him and his fellow corps members.

Her eyes glanced to the staff with unasked questions. She had been one of those to share the secret information of using a staff to draw power from the earth and its dangers; but that didn’t mean that the woman didn’t wish to try it. For those who didn’t know, most just assumed the staff was to help him stand as his strength disappeared.

More wizards poured through this gate and two moved to the side gesturing as they chanted words of power adding their magic to the door. To Sebastian’s surprise, dozens of Southwall’s soldiers began to stream out of the golden glow. He supposed that there had been enough time to order the army to move to the wizards’ gates while they had run over two miles to find the forces attacking the wall.

Looking across the river, Sebastian noticed a similar phenomenon. Soldiers encircled the enlarged gate. Archers took position on the nearby hills and began to fire on the enemy to the north while men in armor glinting in the moonlight formed a semicircle a few hundred feet around the glowing portal as more troops continued to arrive.

Sebastian released his power letting the wizards do what they had already been trained to do. It was amazing how quickly certain wizards took to the magic and Darius’ teaching had been instrumental in that.

Looking at the enemy between them and the wall, the mage suddenly thought that they looked too few to stop the increasing army of Southwall.

Palose slipped below the hill as he spied the first portal. He thought to try killing anyone using it until the second gate formed on the west side of the river. His vantage point on the hill had allowed him to see both though the army fighting in the shadow of the wall could not. It also told him where these battle mages originated. These were not just some random force that Southwall had begun to keep near the wall. The enemy had discovered portal magic and was using it to great effect.

The dark mage performed the gestures for a smaller gate and stepped through to disappear into the silver light.

His destination wasn’t in the portal chamber this time. The emperor had approved of a single gate point in the castle, but it was guarded and watched day and night. Starting at the appearance of the gate, the orc and troll guards were ready to spear him until they saw who it was.

Resetting into a wary position as he let the gate go, Palose said, “I need to speak to the generals and emperor.”

An orc led him through a hall until they came to a doorway guarded by two large trolls. He hurried through the doorway spying Kolban with his generals standing behind a table covered with open maps pinned flat. Colored wood markers rested on the maps and as the dark mage neared he noticed that some seemed to be moving of their own accord.

“What is it, Palose?” the emperor asked gruffly without even bothering to fully look at him. Aides were taking notes and running from the room with new orders.

“Southwall is using portal magic to reinforce the Twins, your majesty. The force behind the wall needs help or it will be wiped out as soon as the rest of the Southwall army arrives. They already fight a force of battle mages distracting half our forces with more troops arriving through portals close to the wall.

“I think wizards have arrived on the wall as well, since there has been a strong push from there against the southern force.”

He expected the news to at least slightly surprise the youthful looking emperor, but as the boy before him nodded confirmation; Palose wasn’t rewarded with any such revelation.

“I had supposed that Southwall had finally discovered the magic,” the boy with the light brown hair said without giving away much of what he was feeling. His gray eyes seemed unmoved by the information as he asked, “Have you set new points closer to the wall so we can send our own reinforcements?”

“I can bring one gate on the east side of the river. I left stones there when I returned here, your highness. If I return, it would be child’s play to open another to the west. We could use two portals to pinch the enemy between our forces,” Palose stated having already thought how he would react to the enemy’s new ability. It was either work to outmaneuver the novice portal makers of Southwall or give up and retreat, in his mind.

“Open your first gate in chamber one,” the emperor ordered with little emotion. He wasn’t rushed, but Kolban was firm in his command. “The portal warlocks will hold the gate while you open the second position and open up the second gate in the other chamber.

“Now go,” the boy added with a wave of his hand brushing him off as if he expected action from the mage.

Palose turned casting a gate before disappearing through it to emerge in the first portal chamber from the stone arch. With his jaw set as he tried to decide if Kolban was treating him as a mere lackey in front of his generals or if it was how he was truly viewed him, the dark mage opened the first gate and stepped through as the first battalion of reinforcements rushed to join the battle behind him.

Chapter 33- Broken Wall

The battle for the Twins continued to escalate. Xander stuck on the wall was caught in the middle of the worst of the fighting, but as he crouched behind the protective battlements, the cadet looked back at the reinforcements and considered himself lucky.

Wizards for the most part had few of the protective blue shields of a battle mage up to protect their backs as they pushed the enemy back to the south. Several fell to the stone without moving again as arrows came over the wall from the enemy. Xander was lucky that his shield was still up as a few bounced off as he ducked, but only after taking an arrow in the right, upper arm.

It hurt tremendously nearly making the cadet forget to maintain his shield. Only repeated training and self preservation managed to keep him from losing his magic protector.

Gareth pushed himself on one leg to join the boy in cover. Arrows sprouted from his right shoulder and lower left leg where the volley had caught the falcon in the open. He had tried to protect the wizards he was closest too, but one of them lay dead and another struggled to move to join them with an arrow in the lower back.

Xander lunged forward letting the blue shield drop to pull the man dressed in red wizard robes into the shelter of the fortification.

Breathing heavily, the wizard thanked him before saying, “The south side is vulnerable, but I saw the monsters turned to fight another force. I think there are battle mages attacking them from behind.”

The wizard winced and tried to kneel. He couldn’t lie against the wall with the arrow protruding from his back and lying on his face on the stone was hardly enjoyable either.

Xander sucked in a breath and prepared for something fairly new to him as well as most battle mages.

“Heal,” the cadet said touching the wizard’s back. His mind reached into the man’s body and nearly recoiled at the pain coming from the arrow lodged there. He felt the wish of the man’s flesh wanting the foreign object removed. Muscle and skin seemed to part enough for him to pull the shaft free, head and all.

His magic worked quickly to knit the pieces back together. A quickly worked spell, Xander was able to make a dark, pink scar all that was noticeable after healing the wizard. It had to be quick, because as he released the magic; the cadet’s vision darkened and he became woozy.

Exhausted from fighting already, the healing magic could nearly make him pass out when he was fresh so even the simple wound was nearly impossible for him now. Xander shook his head trying to clear the dizziness.

A canteen found his hand and the hand lifted both to his lips for a drink. Bread was pushed into his other hand and he quickly ate.

“You can heal?” the wizard questioned in surprise as he obviously had.

“A little bit,” Xander replied sounding tired, since he was. “I can treat basic wounds as long as they aren’t too severe.”

Gareth nodded and said, “It is better than most battle mages can manage, though his skill is still limited. The boy is just a cadet and learning his magic after all.”

It wasn’t much praise, but Xander didn’t care. He wanted to pull the arrows from the falcon as well, but didn’t think he had the power to do so.

“Sorry, sir, but I don’t have enough left to handle yours yet,” the cadet stated looking at the older mage still seeing dark spots.

“Don’t try it,” Falcon Gareth said shaking his head. Sweat droplets had begun to drip from his forehead down his cheeks with the pain now. He was trying to be strong, but Xander thought his mentor was unlikely any more fit to fight now than he was. “There are a few healers in the tower. We’ll need to make it there or suffer until they can get to us.”

The man’s eyes flicked to the tower looking worn from the battle. Magic and projectiles fired by magic had put several holes in the upper part of the tower, Xander noticed wearily. Like the wall’s defenders, Northwall was injured and getting worse as the battle continued.

“Push them back!” voices called in worry from beside him. The enemy had made another assault on the wall from the north. The stone beneath him shook with each attack making it impossible to know if the source was close to him or further away. Without the cannon fire, Xander guessed that the current distress shaking the wall was from close by this time.