Master Mage (29 page)

The normally resolute soldiers ran from
the dragon except the lone man in armor who stood as if a statue
unafraid of the great beast. As the dragon’s talons reached for
him, the armored man moved and made one swing with his giant axe,
and the dragon recoiled and tried to fly away to avoid the biting
edge of the metal blade.

Thad watched as the dragon tried to
rise into the sky but faltered and crashed into the ground only a
few hundred yards away from the main army. The soldiers rushed at
the beast as it lay on the ground, but a wreath of fire shot up
from around the beast, driving them back.

The armored soldiers walked slowly
toward where the dragon lay, and Thad couldn’t bear to stand and
watch the creature murdered. Jumping from the wall, Thad used his
magic to let him race across the ground at incredible speed. Thad
had never used his magic in such a way, but after seeing the dragon
aloft, he was sure that he could as well, though it was very
straining.

As Thad approached, the armored man
turned and looked in his direction and stopped his move toward the
dragon.

When Thad was less than twenty yards
away, he halted his approach and let himself settle softly on the
ground. Great beads of sweat coated his forehead from the exertion
of the flight only inches above the ground. The second after his
feet touched the ground, the soldier started toward Thad, his axe
held at the ready.

Now that it was only the two of them,
Thad could see the thin highlights of white metal in the man’s
armor. Direct magic would be useless against the man, and his sword
seemed merger against the armor. Thad tried to build the magic to
use one of his stone pillars, but his head instantly started to
grow light, and he was forced to release the currents. Thad tried
to think of anything that could aid him, but before anything had
come to mind, the axe was streaking toward his head, and he was
forced to dodge the heavy blow.

I really wish you would stop
and think. What did you think you could do? Even should you best
the armored soldier, there is a whole army behind him, waiting to
cut you down. You have done some foolish things in the past, but I
must say, this has got to be the most foolish of all.

“What should I have done, left the
dragon to be slaughtered after it had come to our aid?” Thad
muttered as he made a quick strike, the blade of his sword skipping
off the man’s armored chest, leaving not even the slightest hint
that it had been struck.

Yes, that is what you should
have done. Your death will add little meaning to the death of the
dragon save for how many bodies will be ready for the
pyre.

Thad pushed the thoughts of Thuraman
aside and focused on the man in front of him. He was large and
armored, but also slow, and he knew there had to be at least one
gap in the armor that he might strike. He needed to calm down and
watch and not simply react.

As the axe swept in at him, threating
to cleave him in half, Thad ducked and rolled under its blade. As
he moved under the man’s arm, he noticed that a very small portion
left unprotected. The gap was more than large enough for his blade,
but only when the soldier’s arm was up and outstretched.

Thad moved around, cautiously waiting.
It seemed as if the soldier knew what Thad was thinking as his next
attacks were all low and aimed toward his legs, giving Thad no
chance for the strike. After a few moments, Thad realized that
without a good chance, the solder was not going to use a large
strike and expend wasted energy.

Thad drove in quickly, his sword aimed
at the soldier’s face. His blade rang off the helmet, making not
even a scratch, but Thad didn’t let up. He continued his series of
attacks. The soldier countered with a downward thrust of his huge
axe, but Thad allowed in the gods’ magic, turning the upper portion
of his back to stone. He still felt the impact, but there was
little pain. After a few moments, Thad stepped back, breathing
heavily, dropping to a knee.

Thad could almost see the smug smile on
the soldier’s face as the axe was raised high. Thad waited until it
was at its top before using just a touch of magic to speed his
movement and strength of his strike so that in a second, he was
under the man’s arm, and his sword was racing for the small
gap.

His blade dug deep, nearly to the hilt.
As the soldier fell back, his axe dropping to the ground, the blade
of the sword was pinched between the armor, and the hilt was pulled
from his grasp.

Gasping for breath, Thad turned around
to find himself circled by the Rane army. During the battle, he
hadn’t noticed the soldiers surrounding him, but in the end, it
mattered little. Thad knew that this battle would be his last. What
did it matter if it came from atop the wall or down in the valley?
At least he had killed the soldier that had dogged them and claimed
many of his friends before he had a chance to kill the dragon.
Should the beast live, it might just help the rest of the Farlan
forces. Thad didn’t know if the beast would be able to continue its
fight, but there was always hope.

CHAPTER XXIII

At first, Thad didn’t know why the
soldiers waited to attack. Were they scared of him? He could hear
the sound of metal on metal, and for a brief moment, Thad feared
that his soldiers had followed him in his folly to the places below
where they had lost the advantage of the wall. It wasn’t until dark
shadows rose from the ground, striking at the men before him, that
Thad started to understand.

With renewed hope, Thad rushed to the
dead man and yanked his sword free. He hacked at the nearest
soldier, who was already in a panic, as the Vathari hoard cut
through them using the countless eons of fighting experience. No
race had better warriors than the Vathari. Thad doubted that even
the Katanga could hold up against their warriors.

Dark globes of dark energy surrounded
Thad, killing any Rane soldier foolish enough to come within his
reach. Laughing, Thad put away his sword and awaited his
friend.

“Must you always do what you feel is
right?” Sae-Thae said, emerging from the throng of warriors. “We
had hoped that the dragon would be killed. It is a great beast to
have at one’s side, but they are temperamental beings of fire who
love to destroy everything. They tend to take little heed as to
what they are killing. If not for its god’s demand, it would have
never even awoken from its slumber long enough to join us on the
field.”

“I didn’t think much about it,” Thad
replied. “Before I knew what was happening, I was already on my way
to save the creature.”

“You always did seem to like the
company of ill-natured brutes,” Sae-Thae said, laughing. “Like the
dwarves. I believe this might be the first time in history we have
fought with them instead of against them. I do hope there is
nothing against that in our religion, though as long as we are
fighting, I doubt that our god will mind much.”

“I am glad to see you, my friend. I was
not sure if you would come to our aid or not. I had thought our god
had forbid you from amassing against humans?”

“He does, but it seems that he has
little love for the Brotherhood and likes you a great deal, so upon
his order, not only did we march, but twelve other Vathari cities
as well. We have brought more than a hundred thousand blades for
you to command. Our god has told us to follow your orders as if
they were his own until you release us,” Sae-Thae said with a
slight sparkle in his eye. “You have more power over my people than
even the councils. You could make your own kingdom if you
wished.”

“That will be up to my queen,” Thad
replied. “Even I must take orders from someone.”

“I hope you do not release us too
soon,” Sae-Thae said almost disappointedly. “It has been a long
time since we have had a large battle, and my people are enjoying
it immensely. Do us a favor and allow us a few more battles so that
our younger ones may have stories to carry on to the next
generation.”

“We shall see, my friend. We shall
see.”

The battle was short-lived as the
Vathari had come as a surprise not only to Farlan but also to the
Rane army as well. Greatly outnumbered, Rane had retreated, but not
before they had lost over two-thirds of their number to the
combined ferocity of the Vathari and the dragon, who was now once
again soaring through the skies, looking for another
target.

Thad marched with Sae-Thae at his side
back to the capital, where the queen awaited them, standing outside
of the city gates. As soon as Thad drew near, he could see the look
on her face and knew that sometime, hopefully later, he would have
to deal with her anger.

“So this is your queen,” Sae-Thae said
before Maria had a chance to utter a word. “Much smaller than I
would have thought. Could never understand why you humans let
someone command you that cannot best you.”

“You should try me,” Maria retorted,
her hand going to the sword strapped at her side. “You might find
me more of a challenge than you would think.”

“At least she has a bit of fight in
her,” Sae-Thae replied approvingly.

“That she does,” Thad said, laughing.
“She has more than a bit of it at that. She has even been able to
bring my dwarven friend to heel on more than one
occasion.”

“True,” Sae-Thae said, looking
perplexed. “That is astounding, Your Grace. I have always thought
the dwarves couldn’t be housebroken. How did you manage such a
feat?”

Maria looked at the two and shrugged
her shoulders. “It was simple. I threatened to have all the ale
within my queendom poured into the sea. Now are we going to stand
around all day in the heat, or can we go back to the palace, where
I can get out of this dreadfully uncomfortable attire?”

“Then let us retire to this palace of
yours. We have much to discuss, and being under the sun for
extended periods of time hurts my eyes,” Sae-Thae replied, offering
his arm to the queen.

Thad and the others awaited the queen
in one of the larger banquet halls, where a great feast was being
prepared for them. Having not expected to survive the day, the
queen had gone all out in order to welcome her new
guests.

When Maria arrived in the hall, Thad
could see a slight wetness to her hair. Thad couldn’t believe she
had left them waiting so that she could bathe, but then again, he
never claimed to understand the queen’s mind. Some things she did
never seemed to make sense to anyone else but another
woman.

Sae-Thae was given a seat of honor near
the queen, where she bombarded the poor mage with countless
questions. Sae-Thae didn’t seem to be bothered; instead, the mage
seemed to almost enjoy the deluge of questions. Thad tried a few
times to interject when the Vathari mage was on the verge of saying
something that could get him into more trouble with the queen than
he already was, but each time, he was silenced by a steely glare
from Maria.

When the topic turned to the war, all
eyes turned to the mage and the young queen. “So what shall we do
next? Do we destroy the army that runs back for its own borders or
maybe take Rane for our own?” Sae-Thae asked without a hint of
humor to his voice. It was as if the mage was asking something as
simple as if they should have wine or water with the evening
meal.

“I don’t know,” Maria said, her lips
pursed in thought. “It might be nice to expand my queendom, and
Rane is a very rich country. Then again, Farlan is a small country
with very few borders. If we expand and take over Rane, it might
not be long before its neighboring kingdoms decide they would each
like to expand.”

“Your Majesty, if you have a moment, I
wish to speak with you,” Killian said, surprising Thad.

“What is it, Master
Killian?”

“It might be best if we speak in
private, Your Majesty,” Killian replied with a look of displeasure
on his face.

“I am sure that anything you have to
say will not be taken amiss among this company,” Maria assured him.
“You have fought well for the Queendom of Farlan, and none can say
you have not only upheld our agreement but went well above what was
expected.”

“It is about Rane,” Killian said. When
the queen made no move to excuse them, the large warrior let out a
heavy sigh and took a deep breath. It was the first time Thad had
seen Killian acting as if he felt out of place. “I once told you
the story of how my people were once simple workers of the land. In
truth, that portion of land lay at the northeastern border of Rane.
We have fought long and hard in hopes that one day we might once
again have a homeland to call our own, but as skilled as we are, we
have never had the numbers to strike against those that have taken
it from us. Now I see a great army ready for conquest yet no drive
to really see it through. I can see it in your eyes, Your Majesty.
You are done with the war, yet I would ask that you push on and
remove the threat forever.”

Maria picked up a small glass of wine
and quickly drank it. “What should I do with Rane once it is under
my control, Warmaster?” Maria asked, her tone heavy. “If I march
into Rane and burn her to the ground, then one of the other
kingdoms will march in and claim it for their own. If I try and
hold it, then they will still march, and we have too few to protect
its massive borders and holdings.”