Messenger of the Dark Prophet (The Bowl of Souls: Book Two) (14 page)

“Stay here with him until the Matron comes. I need you to do everything you can to keep him alive.” He ran from the rubble that used to be the professor’s home with a flame in his eyes and blaring purpose in his stride. He had an arrow notched and ready.

“I’m going to kill that thing.”

Master Latva was just beginning his speech when the sound of the explosion reached the crowd of wizards, students, and new cadets gathered in the main square. All eyes were looking in that direction, but no one was really alarmed. Explosions were not all that uncommon in the
Mage
School
. After all it was a place where young people were being trained to handle dangerous powers.

A couple of breathless guards ran past. Moments later every guard at the school except for a skeleton crew left on the wall came running into the square armed to the teeth.

There was another explosion echoed in the distance and the leader of the guards, a
Battle
Academy
graduate and veteran of many battles named
Alphonze
, jogged over to Master Latva and whispered in his ear. The two conferred for a moment and then
Alphonze
ran back to his men, issuing orders. There was a
murmur  in
the crowd as the students made suppositions about what was happening.

Master Latva was stunned by the news brought by the guard. How could a monster invade the school with all of their defensive preparations? With a stony gaze, he raised his hand to call the crowd to silence.

“Everyone, there is a situation. All students must report to the
Rune
Tower
at once and gather in the library. Apprentices, escort the cadets. Mages, make sure that no one remains behind. Faculty, half of you search the buildings outside of the tower to make sure that all students are cleared out, the rest of you, remain with me. The guards may need our assistance. Be quick, but orderly.”

There were startled gasps from the assembled students as the announcement was made, but Master Latva carried such respect and authority that no one questioned his orders. The students started to file out of the square in a semi-orderly fashion, when a scream pierced the air.

Latva turned to see the massive golem come around a building bordering the square. Its evil presence sent a shiver of fear through the students. Panic erupted through the crowd.

The golem saw the chaos its appearance fostered and roared in delight. It reached into the nearest building and tore out large chunks of masonry to hurl into the milling mass of people. The chunks of stone and brick crashed through the square, laying students low. Everywhere, people were yelling and running, jumping into fountains or leaping behind buildings, diving for cover. The hideous laughter of the golem hung over the square.

Despite the commotion, it was only seconds before a regrouping effort began. A fireball erupted from the crowd to engulf the golem and a lightning bolt echoed from the heavens, striking the thing dead center. This would have killed most living things, but this creature was built of elemental magic and shrugged off the attacks. Though singed, the golem continued to pelt the square with pieces of the building.

The monster’s attack was effective. Out of the fifteen full wizards that stayed behind to battle the golem, only ten remained standing. Qyxal and Vannya were among several mages that had remained behind to help pull the wounded out of harms way and heal them as best as they could.

Soon, the square was ablaze with fireballs and lightning strikes. With the smoke and flashes of light it was almost impossible to see. Arrows rained into the area where the golem had been standing. The shower of mortar and bricks thrown by the golem ceased.

After a few moments Master Latva called the attackers to a halt. Smoke and the smell of burning vegetation filled the air. It was hard to see if the attacks had been successful.

Then the silence was filled by an evil laugh and the golem charged out of the smoke roaring in defiance. Its body, once green and vibrant, was now blackened and smoking from the sheer power of the magical attacks and its frame was riddled with the burnt stumps of arrows. But the vitality contained in the golem remained undamaged. New bits of green began to sprout from its wounds.

The sheer mass of the monster caused the road to crack beneath its feet as it approached the wizards. The guards continued to pelt it with arrows, but the wizards had been unprepared for the golem to survive their first assault. They hurriedly began preparing new spells.

The golem was going to reach them before they were ready. Master Latva was about to send out a spell of his own when the elf mage Qyxal
realeased
his one offensive spell. The earth beneath the golem’s feet began to roil and shake, sending up a shower of rock and dust. The golem staggered to the side, giving the wizards the precious time they needed to prepare their next volley of spells.

Justan was staring at the ragged hole left in the building where the golem had landed when he heard the screams and the sounds of the battle in the square. He ran towards the awful sounds as quickly as he could while limping along on his tired legs. He entered the south side of the square just as the golem charged out of the cloud of smoke.

The wrongness of the destruction littering the square fanned the flames of anger already burning like a red-hot coal in Justan’s heart. In the back of his mind he could see Professor
Beehn’s
pale face as he lay dying in the wreckage of his home.

He pulled an arrow back to his ear and Justan could hear the power humming satisfactorily from the golden string. Justan saw that the golem was getting too close to the wizards for comfort and prepared to fire, waiting for just the right moment. The Jharro bow was eager to strike. As the golem’s balance was interrupted by Qyxal’s spell, he released.

The arrow hit the golem in the small of its back with concussive force, and knocked it sprawling into one of the fountains that surrounded the clock tower. The water hissed as the golem hit it, its body still smoldering from the fireballs the wizards had sent at it. As the beast tried to stand, Justan walked forward and sent another arrow into it, the force shoving it back into the water.

The wizards had recovered at that point and lightning strikes hit the fountain, blasting apart the statue at the center of it and sending shock waves through the water, causing the golem to thrash about. Strike after strike slammed into the golem, amplified by the water surrounding it. The smell of burnt wood and ozone filled the air and the golem grew still. It laid in the fountain face down, the water covering most of its mass.

A cheer erupted from the guards and work immediately renewed to get the square clean of wounded. Justan switched to his mage sight. He could see the ebb and flow of the magic in the plant golem. The creature still pulsed with immense power. But it was weakened and the flow of magic within it was fractured, running in awkward directions. He rushed across the mangled pavement to the wizards that were standing in the center of the square. He headed for Master Latva who stood nearby also watching the golem with concern. Qyxal beat him there.

“I think we damaged it, Headmaster,” Qyxal said, but he must have been watching with his mage sight too. With a start, he pointed. “Wait! It’s absorbing strength from the water!”

Master Latva reacted quickly and raised his hands, sending a swirl of energy into the water, freezing the fountain solid. Qyxal breathed a sigh of relief as the power levels of the golem became muted. The elf bowed to the headmaster and went to help Vannya and the other mages care for the wounded.

Justan nodded in satisfaction and turned towards the headmaster. “Master Latva, I think that I might be able to explain what happened here.”

“Yes, son?
Go ahead.” The wrinkles of sadness and frustration faded from the ancient wizard’s eyes for a moment. He placed a hand on Justan’s shoulder. “I think we could all use an explanation about now. Somehow I’m not surprised that you are the one to offer it.”

The other wizards present gathered around to hear.

Justan didn’t have time to speak further before the fountain exploded. The golem erupted into motion again. Ice shards flew everywhere, pelting the square. Justan instinctively covered Master Latva with his body and his head rang as an ice chunk glanced off the back of his skull. His ears buzzed and his vision blurred.

The golem stumbled out of the remains of the fountain a gruesome sight. Its body was still blackened in spots, but bright green sprouted from it in other places. Black filth and slime oozed from the wounds in its body and fell to the ground with clumps of melting ice. The golem’s head showed the worst effects from the battle. Arrow stumps and burn marks covered its visage and there was a vivid pulsing crack running the length of its face. Along the crack a writhing line of roots reached out, joining with one another and pulling as if to heal the scar. Deep within that ravaged face
glowed
two eyes that burned with madness.

The guards realized that the wizards were not yet ready to continue the battle. Half of them made a perimeter around the wizards, led by Zambon, who looked like he ached to be charging the beast head on. The other half charged at the beast hacking away at it with swords and axes. Foremost among the guards to attack were two mighty warriors: Riveren and the leader of the guards,
Alphonze
.

The guards took up what was known as The Behemoth Strategy. This was the strategy taught by the academy for use when fighting a creature much bigger, stronger, and slower than you were. The idea was to dart in and strike, then dart back out of the way of the monster’s fists, so that your companions could attack it from the rear.

This strategy was only partially effective in this case because the golem was too crazed and erratic. It wasn’t following any particular pattern, just flailing its limbs about randomly at anything that got within its range. Any blow that the golem landed, even if only a glancing hit, was devastating.

Five guards fell or were knocked across the square before they wisely pulled back. Riveren and
Alphonze
continued to hack away at the powerful golem. Their strikes did little if any damage, but they were determined. Riveren with his heavy axe scarred the legs and body of the golem, while
Alphonze
using his dual hand-ax style, hacked away at its knees. They figured that if they could take away the golem’s mobility, then the wizards could easily destroy it. Their work was done in perfect harmony, keeping the golem off balance and distracted.

The golem roared and laughed madly as it swung its gigantic fists and legs out in an attempt to destroy the puny things that irritated it. Riveren knew that his attacks weren’t very effective. Then something caught his eye and he saw a better tactic.

He looked to his commander.
Alphonze
met his gaze and knew what Riveren was thinking. With a slight nod, the leader of the guards gave Riveren the okay to make the attack.

Alphonze
went into a flurry of moves, leaping and striking at the golem, getting its full attention. Riveren slipped behind the mad beast. He knew that his previous attacks were ineffective and only saw one flaw, the great crack in the golem’s head.
Alphonze’s
distraction was giving him the time he needed to do this just right. If he messed up he knew that he would probably die.

Alphonze
darted in and out of the golem’s reach, concentrating fully on keeping the monster occupied while Riveren finished his attack. It took every ounce of skill he had to keep out of its reach. Then as he was leaping away, the golem lunged forward and caught him by the leg.

The beast roared in triumph and lifted its prize into the air in front of it.
Alphonze
looked into the golem’s hideous eyes without fear, swinging his hand axe again and again into its face, severing tentacle-like roots.

The guards and wizards gasped, seeing the peril that the leader was in, when Riveren made his move. Riveren ran up behind the golem and jumped up, using its hip as a spring point. With both hands over his head, the guard put all of his considerable strength into one mighty chop. His heavy weapon sank several inches into the back of the golem’s head.

The golem screamed and swung around, whipping
Alphonze
about like a rag doll. Riveren dropped to the ground behind it and scampered away on all fours. The crack on the golem’s head had widened, now stretching around to the place where
Riveren’s
ax had sunk in. The golem saw Riveren escaping and threw
Alphonze
. The leader of the guards narrowly missed, flying past Riveren to smash into the base of one of the fountains with a sickening crunch.