Apprentice

by Nicholas Hale

  Before he could cut off the strand, he suddenly felt a tug inside his stomach. His body started shaking as he felt the strand widen into a tunnel. What the hell was happening, he thought as he felt the strand widen into a large tunnel and draw in more elemental fire into his body.

  No, this was too much!

  He would burn away, he thought as he felt his body get hotter. Summoning as much resolve as he could, he cut off the connection. Before he could chant the third part for the release, he felt his hand catch fire.

  Lorian screamed as it burned. Through the pain, he held his concentration and invoked the words for the release.

  A river of fire flew out from his hands, setting the entire room ablaze.

  His hand was still burning as he hit it against the ground and rolled over it to try and smother the flames out with his robes. It took a few moments, but the fire did die away. At least on his hand, he thought, as he looked up and saw the small inferno that he had created. He felt a strange sense of satisfaction as his hunger was sated. Lorian realized that the emotion was not his own. All he felt was the raw fear of having nearly been burnt alive.

  The Azhurai...

  "Mog'rath..." he said.

  Somewhere inside his body, Mog'rath was still alive. Although Lorian was unable to think of any way to communicate with him, he knew this was true. The Azhurai had accomplished its goal of a continued existence for now. As had he, he thought.

  It would take some getting used to, but apparently his physical body too underwent some changes to accommodate the fused essence that it now contained. The hand wasn't burned too badly.

  He heard a loud crash. Orcus and Auros, he thought.

  The sound was coming from right outside the laboratory. He ran towards the entrance. He was glad to be able to move normally again. He stepped out of the laboratory entrance and saw Auros. One blink of an eye cleared his vision and he was able to quickly find Orcus the hamster. He was scampering on the ground as quickly as he could while Auros was releasing bolt after bolt of lightning, trying to strike the hamster.

  "Lorian! Help me!"

  The hamster scurried between his legs and started climbing up his robes. Auros was almost upon him. Lorian held out his hand as Auros charged up to release another bolt of lightning. This time targeted at Lorian.

  Lorian felt suddenly overcome with rage.

  Except this wasn't his own rage he was feeling. He felt shivers running through his entire body and felt his face contorting. He could feel his eyeballs bulge out of their sockets and his back begin to hunch. His lips curled up and the skin on his face was pulled back. He felt two long gashes on his back, as if he had been slashed by two swords.

  He gave a guttural growl and thrust his hand forward towards Auros. The oracle was out of reach, but Lorian's surprise turned to horror as he felt his burned hand transform. All he could feel was something trying to crawl out of his skin.

  Within moments, his hand was transformed into a monstrously long and shadowy, black claw. The claw extended and wrapped around Auros. He could feel the smooth metallic skin of the oracle as the claw closed. He felt his own hand hurt as the claw crushed the life out of the oracle. The metallic skin of the oracle shattered as Lorian held it and crushed it with all his might.

  "St-stop!" yelled Lorian, although the words seemed to be coming out of his throat rather than his mouth.

  The claw raised the oracle to the ceiling and brought it down with incredible force crushing it into the ground, shattering the floor and breaking whatever remained of the creature. He felt pain as parts of the claw hit the ground.

  Lorian screamed. In an instant the claw shrank back and Lorian fell to his knees gripping a mangled hand.

  "What the hell was that?" he yelled. He opened his eyes and saw that two of the fingers were broken and bleeding.

  "I'm not sure I know," said Orcus, who had crawled up onto Lorian's shoulder. "But it worked splendidly! Could you do it again?"

  Lorian looked up and saw the shattered oracle in a small crater in the ground. Parts of its metallic surface had large cracks through which a silvery white fluid was oozing out. Probably blood, he thought. Lorian felt a strange sense of satisfaction looking at Auros.

  "Mog'rath..." he said. The Azhurai harbored a grudge towards Auros for nearly destroying it. It seemed that the feeling was strong enough to manifest itself through his body.

  He still didn't completely understand the changes to his body. He tried clenching his fist. It still hurt.

  Curse the Azhurai! He had hoped that some of the changes involved some form of enhanced regeneration.

  "Fools..." said a weak voice. Auros.

  No! thought Lorian as he felt a sudden surge of violence in his body.

  "Stop!" he commanded and knelt on the ground.

  The shaking subsided. He felt his mouth fill up with the coppery taste of blood. He had bitten his tongue while trying to exert control over his body. Somehow the mere mention of Auros was enough to send his body into fits of rage. Lorian tried maintaining his composure as he approached the broken oracle.

  "You have but sealed your fate. I can see you have undergone some form of transformation, but you would be mistaken in thinking it gives you any advantage at all against the master."

  Lorian raised one hand and pointed it at Auros. There was no need for his anger this time. He remembered the first images of the oracles that Orcus had shown him. He felt both sickened and overcome by pity as he saw what Amadeus had transformed the peaceful creature into. The last elemental spell he had cast had more than filled his elemental well to the brim. He didn't want to connect to the elemental planes so soon again. Especially after what happened the last time. He still needed to understand how to control the connection. The air surrounding Auros began to heat up and caught fire.

  "My death will become your undoing."

  In one go, he emptied all the fire stored inside his well into an explosion around the oracle. When the fire subsided, all that was left was a pile of boiling silver liquid.

  "You shouldn't have done that..." said Orcus.

  The little hamster seemed to have found a foothold on his shoulder and seemed comfortable there.

  "I thought you hated him?" asked Lorian.

  "I do. But that's not the point. We guard his most prized secrets. One of his former apprentices, driven to desperation and seeking escape, had captured me and tried to pry out information against my will. Thankfully, my master found him in time. But ever since then, he has placed an array of protective spells on both me and Auros."

  Before Lorian could clarify the meaning of the words, there was a loud rumbling, followed by the clatter of weapons. The rumbling began to grow louder and its cause burst out into view.

  Four skeletal warriors. No, six. There appeared to be more pouring in from behind them into the corridor.

  "Isn't this the sort of thing you're supposed to tell me before I killed him?" asked Lorian angrily as he turned to face his opponents.

  "I tried to! In fact, I had a few things I was thinking of telling him before you rushed ahead and killed him!"

  Three of the warriors leapt towards him at the same time. His previous attempt at a fireball had been dangerous and almost burned off his hand. As he tried understanding what had happened during that particular casting, he made a few assumptions and had even come up with some strategies for spellcasting. He, however, did not want to try them out for the first time in an actual battle.

  But against three very agile opponents, he decided it was worth the risk of trying it out. As before he made the connection to the elemental plane. This time too, as expected, his body began pulling in much more than he wanted to.

  Earlier, he had panicked, but this time, instead of trying to sever the connection, he left it alone and began the release phase. One large ball of fire shot out from his hand and struck the nearest skeleton setting it afire. The fire was still pouring into his body. This time instead of casting the complete sequence of an el
emental spell, he went directly to the third phase and released another fireball. This one struck the same skeleton on the shoulder, causing it to explode. A third one aimed right between the remaining two skeletons. One of them, while still afire, managed to reach him. He rolled on the floor, avoiding its blade, releasing a final fourth fireball before his connection to the elemental plane was severed. This one he released towards the new group of skeletons that had entered the corridor, setting half of them ablaze.

  He was shivering as he stood up. Four fireballs from a single call to the elemental planes. He had never even imagined such a thing possible. One part of his brain began calculating possible strategies with this newfound power when he heard a scream in his ear.

  "Look out!" yelled Orcus.

  Instinctively he brought up his hand while casting his most familiar spell. His blade. The blade materialized in time connecting with the massive flail of a skeleton warrior. His already-wounded hand gave way and he felt pain as the shock of the impact traveled through it.

  The pain quickly gave way to anger.

  He felt it again. The feeling of his skin being peeled off of his face. As if something was trying to come out from inside. However, this time, he realized, it was his own anger. Gritting his teeth, he cast his most powerful spell.

  The river of fire. It was an extravagant waste. But something in his mind told him it was the fitting punishment for these base creatures that were defying him so. He felt his fingers burn as he released the fire. He followed the same principle as before. One single connection, with multiple releases in bursts.

  He did not know how long the stream of fire from his hands lasted. But the smoke finally cleared and he saw what he had done. There were piles of charred bones everywhere. Parts of the corridor had been burned black.

  "What the hell did you do inside that chamber?" asked Orcus.

  Lorian felt his face relax. His jaw hurt. As did his entire body. He was suddenly tired and nauseous. He suddenly wondered if he was dying again. If the infusion had been temporary. Yet the rational part of his brain told him it was common fatigue from excessive spellcasting.

  "Not that I'm complaining," continued Orcus, "but you really shouldn't have done that. We need to get out of here quickly."

  "What now?" asked Lorian, still panting.

  "The master's forces are organized into spires. Each spire of the castle houses one single army. The one we are in now hosts the wraiths of Gambol. A plane of mortals that was unfortunate enough to be caught in the planar wars. They served primarily as a food source."

  "Food source?" Lorian shuddered.

  "Well, that is the part mortals unfortunate enough to be born into the lower planes generally play in the planar wars. But their remains were risen as wraiths who served."

  "Disgusting, but it still doesn't explain why we need to get away from here."

  "Auros's body. The protection spell is a ward that attracts all of the master's active minions towards it. And it appears the wraiths of Gambol have been called to battle by the master. They move to the terrace to aid him, but the ones that feel the pull of the protection wards make their way here."

  "I'm guessing most of them are already on the terrace? Where they can't feel the wards?"

  "Er...that's the problem. The master's spell is quite ingenious. Each minion summoned by the ward gets tainted by the ward itself. If it falls in battle, it adds to the strength of the call and…um...summons more minions."

  Lorian cursed at Orcus and grabbed him in his hands. The tiny hamster tried running away, but Lorian tightened his grip.

  "Each minion?" he asked, gritting his teeth. The terrified hamster nodded vigorously.

  "Damn you!" cursed Lorian, squeezing the hamster, but being careful not to hurt it too much but just enough. "Why the hell can't you tell me these things before—?"

  A loud crash interrupted him. Lorian groaned as he heard the same rumbling noise.

  He turned and looked at the smoldering bones. His spell had traveled into the stairwell obliterating whatever was inside there as well. He honestly had no idea how many of the undead he had dispatched with his last spell. This time, he heard many more footsteps and weapons. He released his grip on Orcus, letting the little creature scurry back inside his robes.

  More skeletons. These were the ones he had seen on the terrace that had engaged Rhaen. Massive armored skeletons, each with a spear in one hand and a flail in the other.

  He quickly began preparing his spells as he saw more of them joining in. Too many of them. And there was too much open space. He was vulnerable from many directions.

  *

  Rhaen saw the last of her opponents disappear from the terrace.

  Just moments ago, the vast hordes she had been fighting on this terrace suddenly turned around. The one she had been facing raised its head to the sky and gave a guttural battle cry before pivoting and following its companions into a trapdoor, disappearing into the castle from whence they had appeared.

  This was somewhat inexplicable, but she was not one to complain. She had lost sight of Lorian shortly after freeing him, but she could still feel his life essence. It had continued to dwindle when she saw him running into the terrace, but she had been too overwhelmed by the undead to give chase.

  She even considered casting a binding spell on him to keep him in place. The idiot.

  She had been worrying frantically and had been completely shocked when she felt his essence flicker away for a moment. A moment where she thought she had failed both him and Master Gawain completely.

  But then it returned. It seemed healed at first, but there seemed to be something strange about it that she couldn't quite make sense of. She now realized that it was pulsating—growing and diminishing in bursts. And it didn't help that the most recent burst in its growth happened at the same time the minions withdrew. She wondered if Lorian had somehow caused it.

  Summoned minions were normally very easy to deal with—for any mage, let alone a Lumenar one. Amadeus's hordes, however, had many qualities that set them apart from your typical summoned undead warrior.

  Almost all mages knew that summoned undead had a pattern to their behavior. Their movements, their attacks and even their size and build were very similar. Here, she could see no pattern whatsoever. Every one of them had their own attack pattern. Some of them fought with axes, while others fought with swords. They rallied around leaders, and some even taunted her before attacking. She could have sworn she saw one of them make a lewd gesture at her while grabbing its crotch. Such behavior among risen undead was unheard of.

  Even if you could raise minions with such characteristics, no mage would do so because it was an absolute waste of magical energy. There was also a vast difference in their strengths. It was impossible for her to know which of them were stronger and which ones were weaker until she faced them in battle. What was bothering her even more was how Amadeus could maintain control over such a vast army, while still battling against Master Gawain.

  Rhaen fell to her knees gasping for breath. She hadn't considered being pushed to her limits this soon. Although she practiced with the Lumen every day, it was never the same when you used it in battle. It was much more tiring than conventional magic. There was simply no trick to learning the Lumen the way there was with other schools of magic. Your body simply had to get used to it.

  She was thankful for it, however. Had she resorted to the usual elemental spells, she would have been overwhelmed and ripped apart. Although there were several spells written down exclusively for the Lumen, none were as strong as Lumenar shields. Amadeus's black pillar of light had torn through the shield to strike her, but the shield's residual magic on her body was still strong enough to prevent her from being fatally injured. Normal shield spells always had a hard limit to the amount of force they could withstand. The beauty of the Lumen was that the shields were only limited by the caster's ability. Gawain's shields, however, were even able to withstand the black breath and claw of the undead dr
agon.

  Catching her breath, she turned and looked at the sky.

  Complete chaos.

  The sky had been a clear gray when they first entered the scarred doorway. But now it was full of swirling clouds. Gold and black. In between the clouds she could see flashes and hear deafening cracks as if there was a violent thunderstorm.

  The dragon still seemed to be held in place by Master Gawain's crucifixion spell. It tried straining against the spears that held it pinned in the sky, but to no avail. Rhaen hadn't mastered the crucifixion spell yet, but looking at its effectiveness, she made a mental note to double her efforts towards mastering it.

  The Lumenar fragment had fallen down to one of the terraces, wounded. She did not know exactly what Amadeus had done to it, but it had been weakening right from when she had first seen it. She could feel the energies leaking from its body when she first held the chains that bound Lorian.

  At first she thought the fragment had been healed once the runic circle had been destroyed, but its movements slowed as time passed, and it wasn't able to keep up with Gawain and Amadeus. She decided that was probably a good thing. The fragment had done far more damage than good.

  She quickly leapt aside as she saw a spire of black lightning strike the floor.

  An offshoot spell.

  It appeared both the combatants' magic had taken a life of its own in the sky. She looked at the clouds swirling around like snakes trying to crush each other. More deafening cracks and flashes of light shone through the magical clouds.

  If she were not here today, she wouldn't have believed it. She was witnessing what was quite possibly the greatest battle between mages that had been fought in at least a thousand years.

  She had considerable command of the Lumen. Perhaps more than any other person in Norvind other than Gawain himself, but she found herself at a loss for words as she saw the spectacle unfolding in front of her.

  What was more terrifying than the Lumen fully unleashed, was the fact that there existed a man who could stand against it. Amadeus. What was he? To be able to fight on equal footing with Master Gawain, considered one of strongest mages in the known lands.