The Archmage Unbound (25 page)

“Walter!” she yelled. “Isn’t there
something you can do about this metal beast?” That was when she spotted the
wizard, wounded and struggling to rise on the other side of the hall. The
sight distracted her and Dorian’s mailed fist caught the table leg on its next
swing. She struggled to pull it from his grasp for he seemed to be impossibly
strong.

With a yank Dorian pulled himself
upright and drew Ruth into his reach. Moving with a speed she hadn’t suspected
he caught her throat in his left hand and drew her face close to his helm as he
stood. Rising up like a shining colossus Dorian held her in the air while she
kicked desperately at him. She could see his face through the numerous slits
in his visor and the look in his eyes sent a shock of adrenaline through her
body.

“If you’ve injured either of those women
I will rip that head right off of your shoulders!” he growled through clenched
jaws. Turning his head he addressed the two men carrying Penny and Miriam,
“Put them down or I kill this bitch.” They stared at him helplessly, unsure
what to do.

Ruth glared at them while her face grew
red and her eyes bulged. Her mouth gaped as she struggled to speak. Thinking
she might give the order Dorian loosened his grip enough for her to breathe.
“Release me fool or I’ll have them killed…,” she choked out but Dorian never
gave her a chance to finish the sentence. With two long strides he lifted her
up and slammed her against the stone wall.

“Then you die first!” he roared. He was
beyond madness now and the men holding Penny and Miriam began to lower their
captives to the ground. Then Dorian heard strange words and a sledgehammer
blow of pure force struck him behind his knees sending him to the ground
again. In the course of the fall he lost his grip on Ruth’s throat, but his
gauntleted hand left deep bloody gouges on her neck as she fell free and went
tumbling away.

Rolling over Dorian rose up again. The
balding man, the wizard, was facing him again while Ruth choked and gasped ten
feet away. Dorian leapt at him but struck an invisible shield that barred his
path. Searching with his hands it seemed to block the width of the corridor.
Penny and Miriam were on the other side of it… along with their enemies.

The wizard, Walter was what Ruth had
named him, smiled and began backing slowly down the hallway. Ruth was rising
unsteadily to her feet, still gasping for air, and the two remaining soldiers
they had brought lifted Penny and Miriam again. Desperate Dorian slammed his
fist against the invisible barrier in front of him. Walter winced visibly at
the force of the blow.

Two steps and Dorian recovered his
sword. He had spent enough time with Mordecai to know the effect enchanted
blades could have, even on a wizard’s shield. Turning back one swing cut
through whatever held him back and then the resistance was gone. Walter’s eyes
grew wide in fear.

“Run!” shouted the panicked wizard. “I
can’t hold him!”

Dorian had almost made it to the spell
caster when another bolt of lightning struck and stunned him momentarily. His
entire body was tingling and pain robbed him of his senses for a second, and
then he began to advance again. “You’re going to regret that,” he said in an
ominous tone.

Walter stumbled back, fear written on
his face. Dorian could see the front of the man’s shirt was covered in blood
where the dagger had struck him earlier. In desperation the wizard uttered a
sharp phrase in an unfamiliar language and Dorian braced himself, but nothing
happened. With a cry he leapt forward to grab the older man, but his feet
suddenly flew out from under him and he fell to strike the floor, a floor that
was now as slick as ice.

The wizard moved quickly back, following
his companions, and as he went he repeated his incantation… ice now covered the
floor for thirty feet between himself and the almost helpless Dorian.

“What the hell?” Dorian shouted as he
tried unsuccessfully to lever himself up onto his arms and legs again. He
struggled desperately but only managed to flounder more spectacularly, his
frenzy making it even more difficult to find purchase on the ice beneath him. Every
second that passed Penny and Miriam were being taken further away as their
attackers carried them down the hall.

In frustration Dorian slammed the floor
with his fist, sending splinters of ice flying every direction. His hand found
solid purchase on the stone underneath. Inspiration struck and moments later
he was beating the ice with both fists to clear the ground. Within a minute or
less he was past the ice and running after them. Rounding a corner he found
nothing but an empty hallway, his foes were nowhere to be seen.

He bounded in the direction he assumed
they would have gone, the stairs… still he found no sign of them. Looking back
he scanned the floor and considered the doors he had passed. He could see
blood on the ground, probably the wizard’s. It appeared he was losing a fair
amount of blood. The blood stopped a good twenty feet from the entrance to the
stairs.

Squinting he examined the floor there,
hoping to find some clue, and as he stared at the area a second spot of blood
appeared, as if by magic. He glanced upward, suspecting they had somehow
climbed the walls, yet he saw nothing above. Dorian took another step, getting
closer to the mysterious area. He could hear someone breathing heavily…
perhaps several some ones.

Suddenly the light changed and standing
before him appeared the entire group. Ruth appeared to be helping to keep the
wizard on his feet. Said wizard chose then to speak, “Why the hell won’t you
just give up!?” Another strange word and lightning enveloped Dorian again,
sending pain shooting throughout his body. This time the surge of electricity
didn’t end immediately, it continued for what seemed an eternity as the wizard
focused his fear and desperation on him. “You should be dead already!” cried
the man, almost sobbing with emotion.

Yet Dorian did not fall, though smoke
rose from his armor and his body had begun to shake uncontrollably. More and
more the electricity seemed to be affecting him, though the armor blunted the
majority of its deadly effect. Eventually it was too much, and losing his
balance he collapsed onto the stone floor. His body grew still, as if after
the constant spasms his muscles seemed content to rest at last. Dorian
struggled to maintain consciousness.

He could hear the woman drawing the
exhausted wizard away, toward the stairs. The man seemed to have lost control
of himself and was crying uncontrollably now. “Shut up you damned coward!”
Ruth yelled at him. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I’ve never killed anyone before,” the
wizard answered in a voice that sounded devoid of hope.

“Nothing’s changed then imbecile!” she
shouted back at him. “He’s still breathing.”

Their voices grew more distant as they
descended the stairs and Dorian struggled to move. Though his body felt like
it was made of jelly he was desperate inside.
Move damnitt! Move!!
he
yelled inwardly at his stubborn muscles and slowly but surely his limbs began
to obey him again. Several minutes passed and finally he began to drag himself
forward, working his way to the stairs.

Within five minutes he was walking,
trying to navigate the steep staircase leading downward. More than once his
legs gave out on him, sending him tumbling down five or ten feet before coming
to a halt again, yet he refused to rest.
He wanted to know why I won’t give
up,
he thought, recalling the wizard’s panicked question…
because you
have my friends.

By the time he reached the bottom his
legs had become significantly more reliable. He noted that there were still
spots of blood scattered along the way, which made his task much easier. “You
should get that looked at,” he said quietly to himself, thinking grimly of the
wizard he had wounded. “Man could bleed to death like that.”

He followed the path out into the castle
yard; there the blood and heavy footprints of the men carrying Penny and Miriam
were even easier to follow. No one along the way seemed to have seen them.
“Rouse yourselves! Enemies in the keep! Close the gates!” Dorian shouted.
“They’ve taken the Countess!”

Men began running as he yelled. Guards
came alive on the walls, manning the battlements and scanning the surrounding
area. Others approached Dorian as he walked steadily across the yard,
following the trail of blood. Questions were asked but he had no time for
them. “Close the damn gates, they might still be inside!” he shouted.

As he drew closer he could see that the
trail had not yet reached the gate. They were moving slowly, invisibly, and
trying to avoid detection. Yet his eyes spotted the end of the trail, and more
fresh blood as they moved again. They were almost through the gate now. A
large collection of guardsmen had gathered beside him now. “They’re right
there, in front of the gate!” he yelled. “Fan out and search the area till you
lay hands on them. They’re invisible,” he ordered and men moved to obey.

Men looked at him oddly, as if he had
gone mad. “It’s a wizard or some servant of the dark gods, with the power to
render himself invisible to sight… and they’re right there!” he shouted,
pointing at the area they had to be in. As he spoke a boot print appeared on
the hard packed earth, the tread of a man carrying a heavy load. Having just
pointed in that direction a few of the guards saw it appear and gasps of
astonishment could be heard among them.

Dorian didn’t pause, sheathing his sword
to avoid the possibility of hitting Penny or Miriam he charged toward the place
where his enemies had to be standing. That was when all hell broke loose.

A shadow fell across the earth and
looking up he saw a beast straight out of myth and legend. The creature that was
descending was sixty feet in length if it was an inch. Dark green scales
shimmered in the afternoon sun and its wings seemed to block out the light.

Dorian stared at it in shock. “A
dragon?” he muttered disbelievingly. Cries of fear and dismay rang out as the
men of Lancaster keep took shelter. Such a thing had never been seen before
but they ran instinctively nonetheless. Within seconds the courtyard had
cleared and Dorian was left to stand alone.

The scaled monstrosity landed with an
almost inhuman grace and delicacy, barely stirring the ground as it came to
rest. Its forelegs were nearly as thick as Dorian’s chest, yet it made hardly
a sound, until its mouth opened to issue a challenging roar.

Dorian gritted his teeth as he fought
against his instincts. His legs had started to shake, yet he refused to look
away and somehow his sword had gotten into his hand. His mind had gone blank,
but deep within he could feel the stirrings of anger and despite his fear
Dorian began to walk forward. The first step was slow and hesitant, but each
one that followed was firmer and surer, and in a moment he was striding boldly
toward the massive beast, head up and unbowed. “I will be thrice damned before
I let something like you get in my way!”

Then the dragon drew itself up on all
fours and took a deep breath, staring squarely at Dorian’s approach. He
flinched and then stopped as it opened its mouth and exhaled, sending a wave of
searing flames out to engulf him.

Dorian crouched, keeping his head down and
shielding his visor with his arms until the blast of fire had passed. He felt
no heat from it and realized that once again his armor seemed to shield him
from more than just physical blows. In fact it had worked much better against
the flame than it had against the lightning. Standing again he charged forward
and threw himself against the great beast, seeking to pierce its breast with
his sword.

It was a complete shock to him when he
passed through the thing without the faintest resistance, as though the dragon
had been conjured from nothing but smoke. Light and shadow swirled around him
until he emerged from the other side. A glance backward revealed the dragon
still rampaging behind him but if he had any doubts about its solidity they
were dispelled as its tail swept through his chest while he watched.

Ignoring the phantom monster behind him
Dorian faced the main gate. No longer distracted by the dragon he spotted the
now visible abductors passing through the open castle entrance. The portcullis
was part way down but had stopped before reaching the ground, held up by some
invisible force. The wizard stood next to it, red-faced and sweating. It was
obvious that the strain of maintaining both the illusion and keeping the
portcullis from closing had pushed him to his limit.

Wasting no more time Dorian ran after
them, toward the wizard first, he understood now the man was too dangerous to
ignore. The older man watched him come, sweat running down his cheeks, as he
tried to do too many things at once. He was almost under the heavy steel
portcullis by the time Dorian reached him and he had already given up trying to
maintain the illusion of the dragon.

At the end, seeing he could not escape,
the stranger released the barrier that was holding the portcullis and threw
himself down, trying to roll under before it struck the ground. Unfortunately
for him, he didn’t quite make it, and one of the massive steel spikes ripped
through his right thigh, pinning him under the heavy metal.