The Sorcerer's Destiny (The Sorcerer's Path) (37 page)

Ghost shifted back into his wolf form the moment they touched the ground and loped beside Wolf as they raced for the cave. It was almost two miles to the southern base of the mountains, and they were at least a mile west of the cave entrance. Wolf ran at a pace between a jog and sprint, but when he heard the howls and calls of the ravagers behind him, he urged his body to greater speeds. As the ravagers rapidly gained on them, Wolf knew he would not be able to reach the cave before the ravagers ran him down.

Wolf felt a tingling at his side like static. He gripped the wolf-headed hilt of his sword and felt it grow warm to the touch. The half elf focused on the strange blade and felt energy pouring into his body and fueling his muscles. He urged his legs to move faster and they obeyed. The feeling of speed was exhilarating as the ground sped past, and Ghost had to increase his pace to keep up. Wolf knew he still lacked the speed of the ravagers, but he might just be fast enough to make it to the cave.

From the corner of his eye, Wolf spotted three of the creatures racing at him from the south, sure to intercept them before they reached safety. Ghost peeled off and struck the lead ravager in the chest. The two foes went down in a rolling, slashing, snarling mass. The other two were intent on killing the half elf and ignored the two creatures locked in combat. One ravager leapt at Wolf, its bone blade held back for a powerful strike. Wolf ducked low and whipped his black steel across in a swift arc, lopping off the creature’s right leg at the knee.

The second monster came in low, slashing at Wolf’s thigh. Wolf leapt, twisted in midair, and cut a deep gash across the ravager’s shoulder blades. He took a few stumbling steps as he landed but continued to race on. The ravager fell and came charging out of the cloud of dust it raised in its tumble. Wolf continued to sprint, knowing that if he stopped to fight the beast, the others would be on him in an instant. He tensed as the ravager bore down on him, ready to lash out the moment it came within reach. A black blur struck the killer as it jumped at Wolf’s back and took it to the ground. He cast a quick glance back, saw that Ghost had the creature by the throat, and knew the outcome was already decided.

The ravager lay still as Ghost raced just ahead of the onrushing horde. Wolf glimpsed Ghost out of the corner of his eye and heard the ravagers closing in behind them. He saw the dark cleft in the rock just ahead and leaned forward, demanding even more speed from his exhausted body. His legs felt numb, and his lungs burned with every labored breath. He let out a bestial snarl as he jumped through the narrow fissure just behind Ghost. Ravagers piled against the opening, slashing and clawing in their attempt to force their bodies through the gap. Wolf slashed at the arms thrusting into the cave and littered the ground with dismembered limbs until the creatures finally chose to give up their siege and gathered just outside, snarling, pacing, and occasionally taking out their frustrations on each other.

Wolf bent double trying to catch his breath then began shouting out and limping around the cavern. “Ow, hamstring cramps! My legs aren’t designed to go that fast!” He looked out at the ravagers pacing outside and at the spring near the back of the cave. “It doesn’t look like they’re going anywhere anytime soon. At least we have water. Not sure if we can eat those arms I chopped off. You want to take a taste?”

Ghost’s expression clearly indicated he did not. Instead, he sat on his haunches and began howling, its shrill cry echoing off the stone walls.

“Yeah, it’s going to take about ten minutes of that before I throw one of us outside to those things.”

Ghost cast him a sidelong glance but continued his vociferous calling. After twenty minutes of Ghost’s caterwauling, Wolf was about to chastise him once again, but responding howls from outside the cave cut off his complaint. Moments later, yips and cries filled the air, and Wolf heard the padding of innumerable feet strumming the ground. The ravagers ceased their growling and quarreling as hundreds of wolves plowed into their ranks in a fury of snapping jaws and flashing teeth. The two sides fought with wild viciousness, heedless of their injuries until they could fight no more. The ground and rocks were soon painted in blood, mostly that of the ravagers.

The battle was over in minutes, and dead ravagers littered the ground. The wolves did not escape without losses of their own, but not as many as Wolf first thought. Several fallen members of the massive pack began to stir and soon stood once again. Only the blood matting their coats gave any indication they had been seriously injured just minutes before. A big, silver female broke from the pack and approached Wolf and Ghost. She sniffed Ghost and began nuzzling his neck. Her body began to contort and she wrapped her now human arms around Ghost’s neck and hugged him tightly.

“Oh, my boy, I thought I had lost you all those years ago.”

Ghost shifted and returned his mother’s embrace. “Thanks to my friend, I was never lost.”

Luna turned toward Wolf who stood with a look of incomprehension on his face. “Thank you for being a friend to my son. Your kind and mine have long treated each other well, and I am grateful.”

“
My kind
never did much for me, but I’m glad we’re friends.”

“Do you know of the lupins?”

“Not until today.”

Luna smiled. “We are very reclusive and secretive by nature. Do not think ill of my son for keeping that secret even from you. You must have many questions.”

“Just one at the moment. Would it kill any of you to carry a pair of trousers?”

***

Jarvin’s war room was packed with weary and stressed officers and senior wizard advisers. Haggard faces with dark, sunken eyes from lack of sleep and poor appetites filled the room. Even Raijaun looked fatigued, his normally stoic visage creased with worry. Everyone had been busy from the moment the North Haven refugees began streaming through the gate. Units required shifting around the city and defenses thought complete revisited and reinforced. Everyone was on the highest alert, unable to predict when or how the attack would come, only that it would come soon.

“What are our scouts reporting?” Jarvin asked.

Colonel Cooper glanced at the papers laid out before him despite having memorized the figures. “Sire, our scouting parties have now encountered a fourth group of these ravagers and engaged them in combat. This battle took place this afternoon in the town of Briar Patch less than seven miles from Brelland. The citizens had long evacuated the town, but our men suffered forty-two percent casualties with twenty-seven percent fatalities against a force one-third their number. We do not believe any enemy escaped, but they are obviously drawing nearer the city.”

“What of the other scouting parties? Have they also encountered more of these creatures?”

“Not since yesterday. None of the units deployed to the south or east have reported any sightings. Our scouts to the north engaged a small band yesterday, but saw no sign of activity today. Our other unit to the west was due to report in nearly two hours ago but has failed to return. It could be they have also encountered resistance and are dealing with it at this moment.”

“It appears the enemy is drawing closer and sending forward units to possibly seek out weaknesses in our defenses. Order our scouting units to stay within two miles of the city. I fear we may have lost one now, and I see no need to increase the risk. What of our defenses?”

“We have doubled the number of mages near the gates, positioned several ballistae to cover the area, and strung chain and cable between every rooftop for five blocks in every direction. I believe the position is as secure as we can make it,” General Haskins responded.

The King nodded but his face showed the report did little to ease his anxiety. “Raijaun, is there anything you can tell us to help us prepare for what is coming? What can we expect in way of tactics?”

“I can tell you only what I saw at North Haven. The Scion army attempts, successfully, to overwhelm by numbers with no thought given to losses. They use their dragons sparingly to divert the attention of our wizards and cause widespread panic. Their greatest attempt at strategy was to split their forces and attack the city on a second front after fully engaging our army on the first. I would expect much of the same but with vastly greater numbers. I believe we have done what we can to counter that and the additional pressure I expect them to put on the gate.”

“My officers and I are concerned that we have left the walls too poorly defended, that without more wizard support we could lose them rather quickly.”

“Sire, if we lose the gates, our only option is to make peace with our gods.”

“If we cannot keep the creatures out of the city long enough to get our citizens to safety, it will not matter. You have our mages practically standing on each other’s shoulders around the gates. I want half of the additional reinforcements placed back on the walls. This leaves a powerful force around the gates without crippling our efforts at keeping them out until the evacuation is complete. If the dragons do strike at the gates, our people will repel them.”

“I do not think this is a wise move, Your Majesty.”

“Nor do I,” Allister agreed. All of the mages in attendance nodded with the archmage’s dissent.

General Haskins said forcefully, “It’s not your people who will be dying on the walls for lack of arcane support!”

“The hell they won’t!” Allister shouted back. “We may not have as much blood to spill as you bucket-heads, but it runs red just the same!”

“Enough!” Jarvin shouted over the bickering. “There is no yours and mine. We are all fighting the same foe and dying to their blades. I will not allow any schisms between my forces. I agree with my officers and feel we have cut too deeply from the wall’s defenses. That is all.”

Allister leaned in and spoke lightly as he and Aggie walked with Raijaun out of the war room. “How critical a mistake is the King making right now?”

“I cannot say with certainty that he is making a mistake,” Raijaun replied.

“Do you think he is wrong?”

“I think the Scions realize that the gates are the greatest obstacle to achieving a swift victory and see their destruction as paramount in the coming offensive. Just because they have chosen not to use any sort of real tactics does not mean they are incapable of such.”

Aggie said, “Jarvin did not specify who we move back to the walls.”

Raijaun nodded. “He did not. We will leave our best mages at the gates. I will contact Headmaster Florent and advise her to do likewise.”

***

“Was it as bad as our training?” Jerry asked as he stood staring out at the darkness beyond the walls.

“It was so much worse,” Kari answered. “They were so fast and vicious. They climbed up the walls and just kept coming no matter how many you killed. The worst part was the smell. Ellyssa and the others never prepared us for the smell of death.”

“I’m just glad they brought some of us back to the wall. If it’s half as bad as you say, we’ll need everyone we have hurling wizard fire to hold them back.” Jerry leaned forward against the parapet. “Did you see that? It looked like something moved near the farthest fire.”

Kari looked out at the large bonfires casting orange light over sections of the surrounding area outside the walls. Shapes flitted around the glow of the fires, their silhouettes darker than the softly illuminated ground around them.

“Hopefully just some animals. Let’s light ‘em up.”

The two wizards grasped a tiny tendril of the Source, shaped it into a simple spell, and sent it arcing over the wall. When the white balls of light reached the desired location, they burst into miniature suns, destroying the darkness for hundreds of yards in all directions. Within seconds, dozens more streaked across the sky and brought an unnatural daylight over most of Brelland.

“Dear gods, we’re all going to die!” Jerry shouted.

Ravagers packed the field for as far they could see. Hundreds of thousands of remorseless killers charged the castle walls, their blood-curdling howls loud enough to shake the stones beneath the defenders’ feet. Massive trebuchets immediately began launching colossal stones and flaming cisterns of oil followed by the smaller catapults and ballistae.

“Hold yourself together and follow your training!” Kari shouted and began weaving her spells.

Snapped out of his shock, Jerry followed her example, fought through his terror, and began hurling magic at the approaching horde. All along the wall, destruction rained down as magic, arrows, stones, and fire slew the invaders by the hundreds. Despite the incredible onslaught, it was like throwing stones at a lake. Ravagers instantly filled every void created by the brutal attacks and piled against the walls in mounds of bodies clawing their way to the precipice despite the defenders’ unyielding brutality.

***

“Fire up the gates and watch the skies!” Ellyssa shouted as alarm bells rang throughout the city.

Brelland boasted three magical gates to facilitate the evacuation of nearly a quarter million people packed within its walls. Paired obelisks stood midway down three wide avenues leading to a large, circular plaza. It was deemed the best area to facilitate the evacuation of so many people, but it left them vulnerable to attacks from above. Cables and chains stretched between rooftops and iron tower frameworks to hamper dragons trying to land in the plaza and destroy the gates, but they did nothing against their magic or terrible breath weapons.

Thousands of citizens already crowded the streets and began pushing toward the gates before the mages charged with their operation could even activate them. A massive camp lit by torches and magical light replaced the cityscape behind the gates as the portals sprang to life. Wizards sent lights streaking into the sky as dragons swooped down and began spewing fire and hurling magic at the scurrying forms below. Wards flared throughout the plaza as the mages erected magical barriers like huge umbrellas against the rain of destruction.

The dragon’s assault was intense as the enormous creatures swooped low, struck at the humans, and raced away into the night in a series of unending sorties. Wizards not tasked with defense lashed out with their magic, forcing the dragons to evade and making it difficult for them to unleash their fury with any accuracy. Huge ballistae launched spears with enough force to punch through even dragon hide, and catapults flung lengths of chain or cables capped with iron balls to foul wings.