Into The Ruins (75 page)

Until Carif attempted to enter the building, the blocked spell worked more to the disadvantage of the defenders than the attackers.  Lyes quickly disabled the glyphs allowing all Casters within access to their magic.  He saw the crystal start to glow.  They could cut it off again should the need arise.  He could already hear the sizzle of
Brightfire
being returned from nearby windows as those inside fired back.

Like the castle, the very stone that had been used to construct the Guild headquarters had been infused with magic power to make it resistant to attack.  It was nowhere near as strong as Carif’s residence had been, but it didn’t simply crumble and break away at the first touch of the magic beams.  More than anyone, Carif had to be aware of this, and as a result had brought her most powerful allies along.  In addition to herself, the three remaining members of her Eight could wield the powerful green energy beams.  In addition, Mande, someone she had planned to elevate to the Eight when this was over, also was able to produce the destructive beams.  She was here as well, and busily blasting at the structure.

Carif knew the building would have to be destroyed.  It would be unwise and unsafe to attempt to capture it.  It didn’t matter.  While she would have liked to recover certain items from inside, she suspected they were already gone.  She had copies of most of the important items anyway.  She also knew, even if she were to triumph over the forces the Queen now had against her, the next Guild would not be here in Nals.  A new, more protected location would be their new home.  She already knew where, but there was little point in thinking about that now.

While the Guild had been built with judicious application of magic to make it impenetrable, the envisioned attackers had been those without power, not wizards of strength equal to or greater than her own.  The area around the Headquarters had been designed for grace and beauty, and to allow clear firing angle and little cover for any army that attempted to storm the facility.  That meant few places to hide, at least for large groups.  There were a number of statues, hardened against wear, which also meant they were resistant to the more usual beams of magic, as well as a large fountain, and a number of old and tough trees with very large trunks.  All were useful cover for herself and her friends, as they popped out of
Doorways
, unleashed a blast of fire, then disappeared into another
Doorway
, to reappear nearby. 

Already the building was showing signs of weakening as beam after beam of the powerful magic was shot into the foundations.  Yathi had blasted away a large section of the top floor in response to a beam that had been directed at her.  Carif was certain that whoever had shot at them from the window that had once been there had not survived.  Ensay unleashed a bright green beam in response to an attack at her last location.  Still moving a little stiffly from the knife wound that had not properly healed, she turned and dived through her
Doorway
just before an unusually intense blast of
Brightfire
shredded the tree trunk she had been using as cover.  The tall tree that had stood for several centuries cracked and tumbled to the ground as its base was destroyed.

It was important to keep moving, Carif thought, as she sent her own beam into the base of the structure, causing a series of cracks to propagate up the side near the impact point of her attack.  Carif looked fierce, and almost ten years younger today.  The fight had invigorated her.  Confrontation had always agreed with her, and she was filled with hate and anger at those who had opposed her.  She would eliminate those who had dared to replace her as head of the Guild, and hopefully take from them the symbol of her organization as well as many of the more capable Casters who were left.  She hesitated longer than she should, sent off another blast and was pleased to see a whole section of wall collapse as she turned and dived through the
Doorway
which would take her to a spot behind a statue on the opposite side of the Headquarters. 

The beams of magic were coming from almost every window now.  The defenders would shoot, dive away from the window, and move to another spot to shoot from.  Frequently the spot they had just vacated was bathed in multicolored light as the attackers responded to their firing.  Below, in the courtyard, the places that Carif and her companions could hide were slowly being whittled away.  The trees had all been destroyed.  They weren’t resistant, and each blast took one down.  Lyes had targeted all on this side of the building, whether anyone was hiding there or not.  The trees he’d destroyed would no longer be useful for cover.  Most of the statues glowed brightly from repeated hits, and several had lost heads or arms.  He didn’t know how many more hits would be required to destroy one of them.  They were surprisingly resilient.  If he or any of the other defenders had been skilled with the same energy being directed against them, this would have been over.  Unfortunately, the destructive green energy was something that Carif and her friends were the sole masters of.

Ardra was looking out her small window seeking a target when she happened to see a small figure appear in the open a short distance behind one of Carif’s Casters.  They couldn’t be separated by more than a dozen paces.  The Caster must have heard something, surprising given the level of noise, but she turned and launched a green beam directly at the individual who had materialized behind her.  Even as the beam was forming, Ardra realized the figure was Nycoh, the lead wizard from the Three Kingdoms.  Shouting a warning was pointless.  It would be over before Ardra could form the words.

As the beam erupted from the Caster, Yathi, Ardra now realized who it was, a wavy distortion formed between the two women.  Ardra wasn’t sure what happened, but the beam wasn’t deflected or eliminated, but seemed to turn back upon itself.  It struck Yathi solidly in the chest.  One moment the woman was there, and then she wasn’t.  The woman, her staff, everything, was gone in the blink of an eye.  Even as the beam was reflected, Nycoh was on the move, diving into an opened
Bypass
she’d created on the far side of the statue Yathi had been using for cover.  Ardra had no idea where she’d relocated to.

Carif must have seen where she’d gone.  She shouted something to Ensay, and the two of them directed green fire toward a spot that Ardra couldn’t see.  She shot her own beam of
Brightfire
at Ensay’s position, but the woman was well protected and was able to hunker down and continue her attack unabated.

Ardra had been too intent on what was happening outside, and would have been killed by the blast that Shym sent into the window that Ardra had just fired from if Suline hadn’t dived at her and dragged her into a corner away from the opening.  The blast that shook the building caused a section ten paces in width to fall away, exposing the innards of the building to the open air.  The two women crawled quickly into the hallway and down the stairs to a lower level.  The upper floors were all but gone, and were entirely indefensible.

Carif had seen the crumbling of the upper floor out of the corner of her eye as she continued to direct fire toward the  spot where the wizard named Nycoh had taken cover.  It wouldn’t be long now.  Nycoh was pinned down, unable to make a
Doorway
while under attack from herself and Ensay.  Carif didn’t know how the wizard was able to turn the beams of energy.  It shouldn’t be possible, but whatever magic the woman used, seemed to be able to adapt to the incoming beams and drive them off in random directions.  The surrounding hillsides were taking quite a beating from the deflected magic.  At least she wasn’t able to direct the energy back at the Caster as she’d done with Yathi.  Carif suspected if only one of them had been attacking, she might have had more control.

Another beam of
Brightfire
struck the edge of the fountain which provided Carif cover from the building.  She’d have to move before long, but if either she or Ensay broke off, the other might be killed by the cursed woman.  At least the defenders were now shooting from lower floors, making their angle less effective in reaching her position.

Suddenly Carif realized that she was in danger from a new direction.  It was coming fast, but nowhere near as quickly as magic.  An arrow!  Someone had fired a crossbow bolt at her.  She rolled aside and momentarily dropped her attack against Nycoh as she used her magic to push the bolt to one side.  She could sense the resistance to her attempt.  The bolt was spelled against magical interference, but she was stronger than most.  With a supreme effort of will she was able to force it to one side.  It glanced off the stone edge of her cover a mere hands width away.  Even as she sighed in relief, the arrow she hadn’t detected because of her concentration on the bolt, flew true toward her chest.  With only a moment to act, Carif exerted her magic and was able to push the lighter shaft aside.  Unfortunately, not far enough to miss.  The arrow struck her in the hip, the pain making her scream as the tip buried itself deep into the bone. 

Carif didn’t waste time searching for the archers.  She realized that Ensay had already fled, knowing she needed to do so as well before Nycoh could recover from defense to attack.  Carif saw a familiar face sending a powerful beam of energy at her remaining Caster.  There was little time.  She would be targeted in seconds.  Grimacing and clenching her teeth, Carif opened the
Doorway
and crawled through just before the beam of energy obliterated the side of the fountain where she had been hiding.

“She got away!” Rigo cursed angrily.  They had also failed once again to capture one of the staffs they sought.  All those with the ability they wanted had fled.  He had been distracted by one of the Casters who had attempted to attack Kaler and Daria after they had shot their arrows.  Otherwise he’d have taken down the former Saltique before she’d made the
Bypass
. 

“I hit her,” Daria said with great satisfaction.

Rigo hadn’t seen the hit, but Kaler nodded agreement.  “It took her in the hip,” he confirmed. 

“Too bad it wasn’t in a spot to anchor her,” Rigo mused sadly.

“She detected the arrows and acted on them.  She’s very competent to have done so with everything else that was going on,” Kaler said.  “I would have expected her to have forgotten to pay attention to such things.”

“She’s not going far,” Daria said with satisfaction.

Rigo looked at her.  “What do you mean?”

“Unless she is better than the other healers around here, she’s not going to last long.  I coated the tip with poison.”

“What kind of poison,” Rigo asked.

“The same stuff I used on the Duke some years ago.  She isn’t going to be an immediate problem.”

Nycoh took that moment to arrive.  “We need to get back to the castle,” she said.  “They are still fighting there.”

Rigo looked back toward the castle on the far side of the hill.  A large section of the side facing them had crumbled.  His heart jumped to his throat.  That was the wing where Mitty had her rooms.  Hopefully she was long gone. 

He made his
Bypass
and hurried into it with Kaler and Daria right behind him.  Nycoh had already left, her arch fading as Rigo’s was formed.

They stepped onto the wall on the far side of the castle.  Fire was still being exchanged between the castle defenders and a group of Casters bunched together behind a sturdy stone bridge below.  They had learned the tactic that the castle defenders were using, and had grouped together so they could watch one another’s back.  Five thick beams of
Brightfire
lashed out at the wall to Rigo’s right as he watched.  Fortunately, none of these Casters appeared to be skillful with the destructive beam favored by Carif and her senior people. 

Rigo sent his own beam at the bridge, ripping out a few stones, but unable to penetrate.  Maybe if he linked, he could gain the level needed to blast through.

As he watched, Nycoh stood up to the edge of the wall and held up her staff horizontally.  Rigo found it odd that she would bother with the staff, as their magic didn’t require such assists.  Suddenly several hundred fireballs came into existence and blasted toward the bridge.  Each was somehow denser and brighter than any Rigo had seen before.  He’d seen a skilled wizard launch a half dozen or so, but never anything like Nycoh was doing.  The balls struck in and around the bridge, ripping the stone and pounding through the thick surface the attackers had been relying on for protection.  He saw several struck by the fire and flash into nothingness.  Panic was apparent, with several running into the open where they were cut down by the wizards defending the castle.  Rigo saw a
Doorway
form, and was certain a couple of the attackers stepped into it before the entire area suddenly turned bright red and a fireball fifty paces wide engulfed the spot where the defenders had hidden.

The silence that followed was total.  After a few minutes, one of the defenders walked over and said.  “I think that’s the last of them.”

Rigo looked at Nycoh.  “I’d like to know how you managed some of that.”

“I’ve learned a bit,” she admitted. “My power is growing.  Beyond what I can explain.”

Lyes and Ardra suddenly appeared.  “The Headquarters is a loss.  We lost more than a dozen of our people.”  Rigo could see the anguish and anger in her eyes.  “I’m told that Carif escaped.”

“Perhaps not,” Rigo said.  He told her of the poisoned arrow. Ardra looked at Daria with approval.