The Elementalist : Next of Kin: The Kothian Chronicles (3 page)

As the last of the enemy was piled up, Rylan was counting the cost of his victory. As was expected in battle, he had not been without casualties, although thankfully they were minimal. He had suffered five men dead and four injured, all of whom he hoped would make a full recovery. Considering the number they had killed, losing so few should be cause for celebration, and yet he knew this was just the start of what was likely to come his direction, and just a small scale skirmish to what was already taking place across Kothia. 

With more horses than they left with, mainly captured from the Bosarians, it at least allowed more of his own men to ride back to Dewston. They had originally thought of making camp for the night, but Rylan and his Captain had instead decided to ride slowly through the hours of darkness and return to their homes instead. He was surprised to see on their return just how many people lined the dark streets to applaud their victorious homecoming. They had only been gone the day, but it felt as if it had been much longer as he noticed a familiar face standing in the road ahead of him. His wife and daughter stood amongst the others cheering and clapping as they did, and despite his weariness, he afforded a smile and a wave.

Despite his tiredness, he still had things that needed doing as he gingerly stepped down from his horse, before handing the reins over to one of his stable boys. His daughter Deana quickly gave him a hug, which was mirrored by his wife. The debriefing of the battle could wait until morning, although he needed to write a note to his brother, and get that dispatched as soon as possible.

Chapter 4.

Ramon had sent scouts to check on the progress of the enemy that now approached his position at Denley. They had returned surprisingly quicker than he had hoped, which he knew could only mean one thing; the attacking Bosarians were much closer than he had thought. The enemy had at last made a move against him, after seemingly going nowhere for the past few days. On the plus side it had given the seer plenty of time to prepare defences, and decide where abouts to make his stand. On the downside, it meant the enemy had to be defeated quickly, to allow him time to return to Pitford in time for the mountain tribes making their attack.

On their arrival in Denley, Ramon had found the Garrison Captain preparing defences; a job he had continued since. They had decided it best to back themselves against the shores of the Great Lake, that way ensuring they could not be attacked from the rear, and ultimately meaning they could focus the strength of their smaller force at the front. The downside to this ultimately meant having to concede large areas of the town, allowing the attackers to pillage or destroy the unprotected buildings should they choose to do so. It was a sacrifice Ramon had to make, but did at least mean he could keep his forces compacted together.

He had set up his command tent beside the inn Darion and the others had stayed at just a few days earlier, and had been as shocked as they were, to learn the innkeeper was the old magician's younger brother. The large stocky built man had been given command of a group of locals, who had formed a militia to aid the regular soldiers of the town. Their job was to patrol further along the shore of lake, just to make sure none of the intruders decided to take a wide berth around the town and come that way.

Once the troubles started, Ramon knew he would have to join those at the front line, and with the enemy upon his doorstep that would be very soon. For now, he needed to ensure last minute preparations were being carried out. The youngest of his magicians and the younger members of the town militia were kept back from the front, with Ramon hoping he would not need them. Thomas, Darion's brother had allowed the main room in his inn to be used as a hospital. With a warm fire burning and the tables pushed together to act as makeshift beds, they were as ready as they were ever going to be.

The regular soldiers, he had placed with his stronger magicians, interspacing them as and where he thought necessary; he thought what a pity it was he did not have the likes of Darion and Maxim with him now. That pair alone could probably have accounted for the enemy in a single swoop. However, his biggest concern was not knowing what number, or type of magicians the enemy had, or whether they had any at all. If they did, then the battle about to take place might prove an even contest.

He rubbed his hands down his front as he could feel his palms sweating, the first sign of his nerves finally showing. He looked up as he heard the first shouting, a few hundred yards away, and knew he needed to move. Despite his years, he covered the distance quickly, and although a little out of breath, he stood to see the enemy approaching.

At first, it appeared as any normal army would line up, a solid line of infantry, forming a shield wall with a number of archers behind. However, Ramon noticed figures wearing dark cloaks intermingled amongst them, which he assumed to be magicians. He glanced left then right at his own defence, almost mirroring the opposition in their line up. He was certain there were more than a few nervous men in his ranks, some perhaps even scared of what approached them.

Ramon was taken aback as the enemy came to a sudden halt in a crescendo of noise, as the soldier's shields came together as one. There was a short pause on both sides as nothing happened and an eerie silence fell, the calm before the storm. Ramon took a sharp intake of breath as suddenly a wall of flame some twenty feet or more in height appeared between the two sets of soldiers. Despite calls for the defenders to stand firm, several ultimately turned tail and ran.

For a moment, Ramon thought of calling a general retreat as the wall of flame slowly neared. His fear the enemy had magicians of great power was seemingly proving to be the case, and worse still, it would appear they had an elementalist, he just hoped it was not Maxim. He watched on carefully, as the flames flickered just a little, and he did not know why, but something did not seem quite right. As those beside of him started taking steps backward, he stood still holding his arm out concentrating.

Using his skill in negating certain magic, he afforded a smile as the wall of flame vanished with a flash of light. He scanned the enemy ranks to see if he could spot the magician responsible for the illusion of the fire, and spotted a man with both hands held up, looking rather bemused as to why his magic was failing him. "Stand firm," Ramon shouted down the lines, as those who had stepped back, started moving back to their posts.

The enemy had made its first move, nothing more than a trick intended to strike fear into his lines. Now it was his turn to act, and he glanced to a small group of four young men and a young woman, all holding hands with one of his more senior magicians. After seeing just how successful linking had worked during the king's rescue, Ramon had seen sense to utilise the practice during the short time he had been given to prepare. Rather than have individual magicians using their limited skills against the enemy, he had three such groups set up, where by five were linked to one, giving that person substantially more power than they would otherwise have. The few practice attempts they had managed had shown some quite incredible results, although due to the nature of the spells being used they were very draining, and as a result, Ramon knew he had to use them sparingly.

The magician turned to one his groups of archers; he knew these were not magical, but would likely prove to be as influential on the battlefield as they were. After waving his arm right, then left, the two banks of bowmen, about forty in number raised their weapons. Ramon dropped his arms down and within a few seconds, two small but deadly groups of dark feathered arrows arced upwards. As previously discussed in their briefings, the archers launched a second volley, before relaxing their bows. Arrows were another commodity that would have to be used with care.

Ramon watched on as the enemy shield wall grouped tighter together, as many of the arrows were merely deflected aside. He also noticed a cloaked man raise a hand skywards, and watched as several arrows heading his direction merely stopped mid-air before falling harmlessly short of the target. Another magician he thought, and one with the some kind of arcane power, able to shield from attacks. Depending on how well this man had been taught, Ramon considered him one to keep an eye on. He knew as well as most, that any arcanist of note was a dangerous one.

His attack of arrows was not completely wasted, as he did notice at least two areas of the enemy line become disorientated for a few moments, probably he thought due to one or more of the arrows striking home. The attackers though were quick to reply with their own volley of arrows, and Ramon was forced to duck down as an arrow slammed down just yards from his position.

With the battle so far being a game of cat and mouse, with each side seemingly testing out the other, Ramon waited a few more seconds before playing one of his trump cards. One of the group of linked magicians, he had indicated to a little earlier, were clearly now ready to release the mass of energy being created out of sight of enemy eyes. He gave another little nod their direction, and the more senior figure amongst them thrust a hand skywards.

Ramon watched. Affording himself a smile as a cloud of energy drifted up and forward. It was clear the enemy were unsure what to do, as the shields were called to link up. Ramon smirked, knowing shields would not help them in this matter. The cloud suddenly burst down, as what could only be described as forks of lightening crashed downwards. Some merely hit the ground, such was the randomness of the magic involved, but Ramon knew if cast over an area, some of the bolts of raw energy would strike the enemy. His theory was correct as a dozen or more, seemingly safe beneath their steel cover of shields, were hit causing a gap in the enemy lines.

His attack hit in three other places, and although Ramon did not consider himself any kind of military genius, he felt pleased with his efforts so far. With at least a score or more Bosarian soldiers now taken out by his magical attack, he ordered another barrage of arrows. Two volleys of shafts were sent skyward, and although generally most were merely brushed aside, those that fell near the gaps did cause further casualties.

Ramon was thinking he had the upper hand, and as things stood the enemy had not shown him anything he could not deal with. However, that thought was soon pushed aside as he watched the opposing ranks split, leaving gaps in their lines. He watched a dozen or so cloaked figures step out from behind the cover of the shield wall, wondering what they were preparing to send his way next. There were several flashes of light, which were repeated a second later only right in front of his own lines.

Within a few seconds, at least two dozen men from his front rank were unceremoniously dumped in two piles in gaps in the enemy line. "Teleporters," he uttered to himself as he watched another batch flit back and forth grabbing men from his ranks as they returned. "Duck down!" he shouted knowing such magicians could only move to where they could see. He hoped if they could not see their target's they would be forced to guess where to move.

Ramon reacted swiftly as he saw a blur of light appear right in front of him, and a figure make a grab for his sleeve. Staying calm and focused, Ramon utilised his own ability, and the enemy teleporter looked rather bemused as to why he was left standing holding Ramon's arm. The soldier beside the Kothian magician quickly dispatched the teleporter, thrusting his short sword deep into the man's chest.

The enemy lines closed the gaps, and Ramon was once more left watching. He had lost a good thirty or more men, and only been able to take down one enemy in response. He was about to order another attack by his linked magicians, when the opposition showed just how cruel they were. With the enemy shield wall opening up again, only now showing off those captured during the teleporters attack. Ramon had little option but to delay his response, as his compatriots were blatantly displayed, subjugated and forced to kneel between and among the enemy troops. If he attacked now he risked hitting his own men, something he was unsure he could bring himself to do.

The enemy had no such qualms about attacking again, doing so by releasing several more volleys of arrows. Ramon hoped his defences would give enough cover against such attacks, although he did see at least one man succumb to it. Knowing he had to think quickly, he gave a predefined signal to a group of his linked magicians, as two of the groups merged to make one larger one.

With five men linked via his left hand and five via his right, Ramon had to pause and wait for the right moment. Having never actually attempted what he was about to do while linked, nor on anything but a few rats, he was not even sure how well it would work, if at all. Feeling the combined energy of the magicians slowly and carefully run through his body, he waited until he thought he could hold no more. With the knowledge that too much power sent to him could and would, likely kill him in an instant, he tried to judge a happy medium. Enough to cause the spell to be powerful, not so much that he risked his own life casting it.

Ramon raised his hands and concentrated as if his life depended on it. Discovering his ability to see into the future, was a similar kind of power to those controlling minds, he had started experimenting. After his moral dilemma about practicing on another human being, he had decided to use rats instead. However, in his trials he had failed miserably to control the minds of even the smallest creatures, what he did discover was something he could only describe as a side effect of him trying, and it was this very side effect that he hoped to produce on a much larger scale right now.

A heavenly glowed appeared around his body as he started to release the mass of energy siphoned to him. Focusing on the minds of the enemy just a few hundred yards in front of him, he sent forth that power. Within just a second or two, the centre of the enemy infantry lines collapsed. Shields and swords dropped to the ground as men held their hands to their heads, screaming in agony. Unfortunately, it also affected those Kothians captured by the enemy teleporters, but as far as Ramon had worked out, the effect would eventually wear off.

After barely ten seconds of casting the spell, Ramon ceased, his stored power all but depleted, as were those that had channelled theirs into him. He felt his legs wobble, and knowing he had played his main hand, he watched on wearily as hundreds of the enemy were floored, rolling around the ground in pain. Those enemy troops not affected cautiously, but quickly retreated, not sure how to react to such terrible magical powers. What they did not, or could not know, were that even if Ramon wanted to repeat the procedure, he would not be doing so anytime soon.