Apprentice

by Nicholas Hale

  She had done her best to prevent the hordes of minions from taking flight and reaching Gawain, but she saw that it was pointless. Any who were lucky enough to make it past her spells were shattered by random offshoot spells emanating from the skies. She noticed that the minions struck by Amadeus's spells seemed empowered, as if they were feeding off the black energy to become stronger. Fortunately, they were still no match even for the stray spells released by Gawain.

  She took the few moments of respite she got to gather her strength and focus her spell-addled brain. She needed to decide what to do now. There were more of Amadeus's minions reaching the sky from some of the other castle towers. But the bulk of them, it seemed, were heading down into the tower.

  And then there was the dragon. It would get free soon. But the question was, what it would do once it was free? Rhaen had noticed that several of the black clouds floated toward the dragon, trying to empower it perhaps. But it seemed the crucifixion was strong enough to prevent the dragon from interacting with anything around it. She wasn't sure how long the crucifixion would last, but it did give her time to prepare.

  Gawain could stand against Amadeus now, but if the dragon were free, they would be in danger. She leapt of the roof and began to fly toward the dragon. She took effort to use the swirling clouds to hide herself from any of Amadeus's minions. One of the worst things was that they were capable of was communicating with and calling other minions. She didn't want to start a battle so close to the vortex caused by Amadeus and Gawain.

  She reached the struggling dragon. The golden spears impaling it were much thinner and appeared to be fading away by the second. She had maybe a few minutes to prepare her own spell. It would not be as grand or as effective as the crucifixion, but it would certainly cause much damage to the dragon and give her a head start in battling it.

  It involved placing wards in strategic locations around the sky. The wards would serve to disorient the dragon once it was free.

  She was almost done when she heard a massive explosion to her left.

  Even against the loud noise of Gawain and Amadeus's battle, this one stood out. She turned around startled and saw that the tower she had been battling on a few moments ago had massive plumes of smoke coming out from its side. It seemed like a part of the tower was on fire.

  Chapter 55

  "What kind of stupid idea was that?" asked Orcus.

  Lorian was wondering the same thing as he leapt out of the hole in the side of the tower. He was more surprised by the fact that the oracle turned hamster was still hanging on to him through the last few minutes. He was completely out of the tower and was falling towards the ground now.

  The enemies inside were endless. Even though his newfound ability to chain spells was remarkable and had mind boggling possibilities, there was very little it could do against a hundred undead warriors at once. Having been overwhelmed to the point where he couldn't concentrate long enough to cast a spell, he brought up temporary shields to give him time for one massive spell. This time he decided he would pull in as much energy as the link would allow him to. Apparently, his connection to the elemental planes was strong enough to keep the link open indefinitely. He could feel that it hadn't diminished even a little through all the time he had been gathering up the fire.

  What did have a limit, however, was his body. Before the undead warriors broke through the last shields, he could feel his body burning from the inside. He was more surprised at being alive after casting the massive fireball than the amount of damage it had done. It had destroyed almost all the enemies in the room, but more filled up as soon as the first few waves had fallen. His body still smoking, he had no option but to run and leap out of the fiery hole he had created in the side of the tower.

  As he fell towards the ground, he saw that the undead minions had followed him through the hole and were now running down the side of the tower. They were extremely tenacious, and had abilities that would have surprised him greatly, had he not faced them before in battle. Orcus had warned him right before he cast the last fireball that if he released it, he would be attracting minions from the other towers as well. And sure enough, he had been right.

  Running down the side of the tower were several of small, fast gibbons he had faced in Amadeus's arena. A small distance away from them were skeletal warriors mounted on undead winged steeds. He could stop at any moment with a simple flight spell, but he would be torn apart by his enemies.

  This wasn't the first time in his life he was in free fall. Although they seemed alien and impressive to commoners, flight spells were easy enough that they could be mastered by most mages within the first two years of their starting magic.

  What was harder and took both time and practice was being able to control flight and maintaining concentration enough to cast spells while in the air. There was always the risk of falling when one got wounded while flying. While he was still at the Shadow Spire, he had been sparring with some of the other apprentices when Master Thaugmir had somehow dissolved the floor underneath them. In seconds they found themselves in complete free fall, hurtling towards the ground.

  Although all of them were advanced enough in magic, not one of the apprentices including him could maintain concentration long enough to cast a flight spell. Fortunately, it had been planned by Thaugmir and there was a magical cushion of sorts at the base of the tower. This exercise had continued—even while they slept—until all of them were able to instinctively cast a flight spell while in free fall.

  And then Thaugmir had made them practice without the cushion on the ground.

  However, Lorian had never trained with enemies falling along with him. He saw that the gibbons had gained on him. One had leapt onto him and latched onto his robes falling along with him. Instinctively, Lorian cast the only spell he knew to put distance between himself and his opponents. The impact air. It appeared he had the same benefits of an unnaturally large reservoir even with air spells. The bubble of air exploded right at his feet, blowing away the gibbon and several of its companions. But Lorian felt his body jerk as his speed increased. He was now hurtling at a far greater speed towards the ground.

  No! It was happening again! Mog'rath.

  He felt the skin on his face pull back. He felt the two gashes on his back. He brought his hand to see if it had transformed again, but it appeared normal. The gashes on his back, however, hurt intensely for a second, till he found that he had stopped falling.

  His face was inches away from the ground till he saw that he was no longer falling. He appeared to be gliding across vast ground. There were sudden violent flashes in the sky that briefly cast a shadow. His heart skipped a beat and he felt a lump form in his throat when he saw his shadow. There appeared to be two large wings behind him. He turned his head and saw two withered leathery wings protruding from his back.

  "What exactly did you do in that chamber?" asked Orcus. "First the claw, and now this."

  "I'm not entirely sure I know," answered Lorian truthfully.

  "I hope you have some more surprises, because we're going to need them."

  Lorian turned around and saw several skeletal riders chasing after him. Some of them were hurling their spears at him. Lorian shifted to avoid them.

  "You! All you've done so far is complain!" said Lorian.

  He could feel the hamster move up and latch on to his neck.

  "You must have seen them before. Why don't you tell me their weaknesses or anything useful at all," he said, avoiding another lance thrown at him.

  "I'm not sure I have all the powers I did when I was in my true form."

  "Try!" yelled Lorian.

  He felt the gash on his back hurt a little and saw that one lance had pierced straight through the wing. He was glad it didn't really impede his flight.

  "The ones chasing us are from the third tower. The Riders of Aurnoch. They're from a mortal plane quite close to yours, in fact."

  "I don't give a shit where they're from, you blasted hamster! How do I kill
them?"

  "Their mounts. The master couldn't find many essences of their winged steeds in order to infuse. Although the bodies are of the true steeds of Aurnoch, the essences infused into most of them are those of more common fare. So their—"

  "Wings," completed Lorian.

  He knew enough about the infusion process to know that the substitute essences did not fully exploit the bodies they were infused into. The main reason Amadeus's infusion process worked so well was that the creatures retained all their experiences and their knowledge in their essence. However, they were not fully capable of learning how to use organs they did not have in life. If the essences in the mounts did not know how to use their wings, they would be purely functional. And if they were merely bone and nothing else, a weak but well aimed spell should be enough.

  Fire spells were too much of a drain on his energy, and moving at this speed, they would be too hard to aim. Air spells were out of question. The last thing he wanted to do was alter his course and crash into something. Lightning spells were good for precision strikes. They were almost instantaneous and struck at the exact point aimed for—provided the point stayed still. Sure enough, although the rest of their bodies were moving with vigor, the wings of all the horses moved in the same mechanical motion.

  Six quick strikes sent down six of the closest skeletons crashing into the ground below. There seemed to be more, but they were far away, giving him some breathing room.

  "The master had planned on splicing the essences of the common horses with several species of large birds from other planes, hoping to create a good substitute. But the winged mounts were not at the top of his list of experiments."

  "I should be glad for that then. I don't see the rest of them," said Lorian.

  "They don't venture away too far from the towers," replied Orcus. "And most of the calling wards are still near Auros's corpse, so they should be bound to that location, unless the master directs them otherwise."

  "I think he might be a little too busy to direct them at this point, so we should be safe," said Lorian.

  For the first time, Lorian looked at the sky.

  It was filled with golden and black clouds. A thunderstorm of magic with bright flashes punctuating it. Near those clouds was a massive skeletal dragon with five golden spears impaling it from all directions.

  He had always been appreciative of magical battles. And it appeared a truly powerful one was underway right now. He was sure Gawain and Amadeus were fighting each other with everything they had.

  The smell of charred bone permeated the air, but he could smell something different. His nose began twitching as he felt a familiar scent fill it.

  He changed direction to follow the smell. There was something overpowering about it. He simply had to find its source. He felt his mouth salivate at the thought of the smell. That had scared him to some extent, but a part of his brain said he had to see what it was.

  "Where are we going?" asked Orcus. "And why are we heading back towards the towers? We should be going towards the void entry chamber."

  "I don't think I really know. I'm just following a smell."

  "A smell?"

  "I know it sounds ridiculous, but I think I have to go there. Something tells me I need to."

  "It appears you've gained some attributes of the demon whose essence you took. The claw, the wings. And now the smell. If I recall correctly, the Azhurai was fond of several essences from the higher planes. The infused essences are too tame for you to feel such a strong sense of smell."

  "You think it could be human?"

  "I said higher planes. So stronger than a human."

  "A powerful human, maybe?"

  Lorian was filled with a sense of dread. Gawain was fighting Amadeus, but Rhaen was nowhere to be seen. He hoped that she hadn't been struck down in battle.

  "Perhaps," replied the oracle, "But I would say it's something still more powerful."

  "The godling?" asked Lorian.

  The hamster nodded. Lorian had suspected it the first time. As soon has he felt the scent, his mind wandered towards the godling.

  "You could train that sense of smell, you know," said Orcus as they flew.

  "Right now?"

  "No, I should teach you about it sometime. Along with sight, oracles also possess keen senses of smell and hearing. We also remember smells and sounds along with the sights we see. Distinguishing scents is like separating colors when you possess a strong sense of smell. Your kind is just not used to it. Scents are far more varied than colors and sounds as well."

  "Interesting," said Lorian. "I guess I have a reason to keep you around after this then," he said, letting out a small laugh.

  His body had undergone some strange transformation. It didn't take much to understand that the infusion with Mog'rath was the cause of it. Each time the transformation began he felt the skin on his face stretch, like the demon wanted to tear out from inside him. Fortunately for him, that hadn't happened, and each time it happened, the transformation had been beneficial to him.

  He was still wondering about it when he saw the source of the smell lying on a small terrace of one of the towers.

  Sure enough, it was the godling.

  Lorian landed next to it and felt the two gashes on his back stop hurting as soon as his feet touched the ground. But it was anything but relief he felt as he looked at the wounded godling.

  It was missing an arm, and its golden armor had been cracked open in several places. There were large pools of a black corrupted substance floating over its body. It still appeared to be breathing.

  Lorian resisted the urge to bite into its exposed flesh, such was his hunger as he looked at it.

  He reached over and held the creature's helm with both his hands. Through the golden sheen of the skin, he could make out features that were very close to his own. It looked like a much older likeness of himself.

  "The master actually suspected this," said Orcus, letting go of his sleeve and hopping over his shoulder. A tiny beam shot out from the creature's eyes and he could see a very small image of Amadeus's head.

  "—breathed life into it. At its very core, the godling is merely the pure essence of Horus. Its human characteristics are completely derived from Subject twenty-one. It seems to have amassed enough of his essence before Subject Twenty-one was bound to the simulacrum, to absorb several of his characteristics. Of note are many similar patterns in the way they fight. The dominant use of fire. The abnormal physical agility uncommon in casters. The scythe it holds, although golden in appearance is a variant of the same spell Subject twenty-one used today against the gibbons. I am convinced that the key to capturing the godling lies with exploiting its human side and, thus, with Subject Twenty-one."

  Horus. So, the dead god that formed the source of the Lumen had a name.

  He had never heard that name before. Lorian reached over to the scythe that lay at the wounded godling's side. The form might have been slightly different, but the spell itself, as Amadeus had mentioned was the same. It seemed vastly superior to his blade, which would last only a few strikes. Lorian remembered how the godling had dismembered numerous foes with it.

  "What do you know about Horus?" asked Lorian.

  "The master mentioned the name a few times, but only in passing. There was always a guarded hesitation when he used that word."

  Looking at his own body lying on the floor made him uncomfortable, but the scent began to get stronger. He could feel the familiar transformation again. The gashes on his back, and the skin on his face. His hand began tingling as if the claw would appear once more. Lorian held the fallen godling with both of his hands. It looked large but was light enough that he could carry it in his arms. Either that, or he was physically much stronger now. It was hard to tell.

  The gashes on his back hurt more, but as much as he concentrated, he hadn't the faintest clue as to how he could get out his wings.

  "Mog'rath," said Lorian once again, cursing the name under his breath.

&n
bsp; Realizing that the wings wouldn't come out at his command, he cast a flight spell. He started floating toward the top of the tower. Slowly. He didn't want to drop the godling.

  They were silent for a minute, until Orcus spoke.

  "Your wings are almost twice as fast as this—in case you were wondering."

  "If I can get them out in the first place," replied Lorian in frustration.

  "Where are we going? I really hope it's not towards that..."

  Lorian looked at the sky. The explosions grew louder as they floated towards the chaos. As did the intensity of the flashes.

  Both the mages seemed to have had their work cut out for them. If either came out on top, it wouldn't have been an easy victory. He could see large groups of undead minions gathering off at a small distance. Several of them were mounted on the winged steeds. Large groups were hauling what looked like siege weapons to the terraces of the towers.

  For all intents and purposes, what Amadeus had here was an autonomous and fully functioning army. He could see several of them form into columns and smaller units on the terraces. And then he heard the roar. The impaled dragon was free. Gawain was an accomplished mage on his own, but from what little of the battle he had seen with his own eyes, Amadeus was more than a match for him. Adding the undead dragon and the vast army of undead ready to strike meant that Gawain would lose.

  When he finally reached the top of the tower, he could see all of its numerous terraces. Most of the minions had picked up ranged weapons—bows, throwing spears and axes. A couple of them were even manning large ballistae aimed at the sky. The ones close to the edge were already firing at Rhaen. Lorian saw that she too had taken on the same golden sheen that Gawain had when he first called the Lumen.

  And the dragon. Even in undeath, it was the most magnificent and terrifying creature that Lorian had seen. As for Gawain and Amadeus, Lorian could only gaze at the thunderstorm. Impossibly, the storm seemed to be getting more violent. He could see the shadows of both the combatants through the magical clouds, and neither one was holding back.