by Wilbur Arron
“Tell me about how you hide your aura?” I asked.
“It had to do with his blue crystal. He said that if you charged it and cast a force shield a certain way, it could hide a mage from other sensitives and mages. He bragged that only he knew about it, and he only taught it to his most trusted students.”
That reminded me of the others that might be involved in this plot. “What other mages were with Pentheus? Where are they now?”
“Several left him, but we still have one Master Mage, five senior mages, eleven junior mages, and nine acolytes.”
That was still enough to make a lot of trouble for us if they wanted to. With their leader gone, would they still be so eager to oppose us? I then noted his omission.
“I did not hear a location?”
“I will not tell you that,” he growled. “If you try to force me, I will kill myself.”
I smiled broadly. As if I cared—I was going to feed him to the wolves anyway. Then I had another idea.
“You could find them if you wanted, correct?”
The bound, naked figure said nothing. I took that for a yes. Very well, I would not use him as wolf feed, but as a messenger instead.
“I see,” I said. “What is your name?”
“Nicodemus of Oxynia,” he answered simply.
That was a small polis in northeast Lantia. I nodded my knowledge of his hometown. “Very well, Nicodemus of Oxynia, I am going to use you to carry a message from me. You are going to go back to your group and tell them I killed Pentheus and why. You tell them that unless they agree to come in and join the new mage polis, I will hunt them all down and do to them exactly what I did to Pentheus. I will force none of them to fight, but if they oppose us, I will not hesitate to kill all of them, Mage Code or not. That is my order to them.”
Nicodemus laughed out loud. “They will never accept your authority,” Nicodemus spat out in disgust. “Why should they obey you?”
“Because I am the stronger mage,” I said as if that fact should be obvious. “I just proved that. Also, because when I come after them, I will not come alone. I have my friends in Argina, my friends in the Mage Brotherhood, and my friends here. Besides, you no longer have a leader. There is also the most important reason why you will comply. You will not be able to live here if you do not obey me, and you have no place else to go. Think about that.”
The prone figure went silent. I let him consider his alternatives for a moment before he answered, “I will take your message, but I promise nothing after I deliver it.”
“I am not asking you for anything else,” I told him. “However, what I said about hunting any down mage that causes trouble you can believe. Do we have an agreement?”
The figure just nodded. I went back to the fire and got out the reheated poker.
“No,” he yelled. “You promised.”
“I promised you nothing,” I said, “However; this is only to cut your bindings. Please do not try anything stupid. I hate to kill my messengers. Besides, you would not get fifty paces out the door before you were eaten alive.”
I put up a sphere of force around me and carefully burned through the ropes. I backed up, and the naked man got up slowly.
“My clothes?” he asked.
I pointed to the fire that had burned everything to ashes by now. “You go out of here naked,” I said. “It will be a lesson to you for the future and for using your magik against your betters. Be thankful your clothes were all I burned. Now clear your mind, I want you to hear something.”
I gave him a moment to concentrate. Then I called out to my friends. “I am letting the other one go. Follow him until he is out of the forest near Korpolis. If he tries to go anywhere else, you have my permission to eat him.”
“Understood?” I said to my messenger.
“Understood,” he repeated.
I motioned for him to leave. He turned and walked out the front door.
Once he was gone, I sat down in my study and tried to read, but I could not take my mind off Alkos and Alkina. I did not get any rest that night. When morning came, I went outside with a shovel, and with the help of the others, I buried them in the orchard. I would put up a stele later.
Now to take care of other matters.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: SURPRISE
“Ease your oars,” Laodamus whispered. His command was relayed by hand to the rowers below.
The ship slowed but still moved quietly through the water. We were just off the head of the point that was the entrance to the harbor of Vorepolis. The sail and mast were down, and the men were quiet. Laodamus promised he would strangle any man who made a loud noise.
“We are starting our attack now,” Theodoros’ mental voice came into my head. He and Philocrates were helping with the attack in the southern pass through the White Mountains.
“We are here and ready,” I answered.
For a while, there was nothing unusual. The only movement in the polis was the guard patrols walking along the shore and the docks. On the shore, I could count at least twenty trierse and twice as many hoklas all pulled out of the water. That made them all secure from winter gales—and easy targets for us. In the dim torchlight from the docks, I could see many buildings. Most likely they were warehouses. I hoped they were full of food, stores, and arms. The town had just a few lights on.
I saw a brief flashing light, as bright as a candle, from the top of the nearby hills. I saw several lights go on and off, each about as bright as some of the stars above. This went on for a while before we heard a loud moaning noise coming from afar. Immediately, there was a loud alarm bell ringing from the tower in the small fortress. Within moments many torches sprang up from various parts of the polis, and I could see hundreds of people running around. I could not make out the individual men, but from their torches and motion, I knew there were many moving about.
At first, the torches ran all over the polis as if searching for something. Many patrols swarmed over the docks and the grounded ships. They scurried about like ants coming out of a mound that had been kicked open by a horse. I noticed Laodamus standing next to me smiling broadly.
“We got their attention,” he whispered.
“Let us hope they do what we think they will,” I answered.
Again, the moaning noise from the hills. It must be their warning horns. Beacon fires glowed all along the side of the hills.
“We are over the stone wall,” Theodoros said, almost shouting with glee.
“They are still milling around the port and town,” I reported.
“We will give them something more to think about in a moment,” Theodoros said.
A loud horn blasted near the fortress. Immediately, all the torches started to move toward the center of town. It was not long before the torches and the men with them reached the stone walls of the citadel. Two more moaning blasts came from the horns in the hills followed by a large flash of light from the southern mountain pass. The flashes lasted only a moment and was replaced by a large fire. Even from the water, I could hear shouting, but I could not make out the words. Before long, I saw a procession of torches running from the town up toward the hills. After that, I could see only half a dozen torches remaining as the city guard moved about in the streets.
“They are coming your way,” I told Theodoros.
I turned to Laodamus and shrugged my shoulders. He nodded and called down.
“Ahead slow,” he said with a hushed voice.
We started to move with light beats of the oars. Two sailors put three torches on our harbor-side bow and two on our steer-board side of our bow. That was a Zilar recognition signal. As we rounded the point, we came into view of the dock.
“Ahoy the dock,” I yelled out. “Zilar ship Peranus under Captain Aerios approaches. You are under attack.”
Both the signal and the captain’s name we had learned from our prisoners after some not so subtle persuading. I hoped the information was still good. In case it was not, I started charging the Speaking St
one to full and stepped behind the barrier they had built on the front of the ship to protect me from arrows. At the same time, I saw Carenos step behind a barrier they made for him.
“Ahoy the Peranus,” a voice called back. “Approach the center dock slowly.”
“Archers ready,” Laodamus ordered. I saw a line of twenty men take up positions beneath the deck between the left and right banks of rowers.
“Ahoy the dock, Peranus understood,” I called out. “Approaching at the slow, we will disembark our troops to help with the defense.”
We approached the dock slowly. As we got nearer, I could see five men standing close together, three of them holding torches. When we got within one hundred paces, Laodamus ordered the archers to come on deck but stay low. It was dark behind us so it would be difficult to see us. By now my crystal was fully charged. I held up my arm. I wanted Carenos and me to be closer to the warehouses before we moved. I waited until the bow was fifty paces away from the wooden pier when I dropped my hand. Instantly the twenty archers stood up and fired a volley at the five guards. At the same moment, I threw as powerful a fireball as I could into the closest warehouse.
The arrows struck the five guards who all crumpled into a heap on the dock.
“Pull hard to harbor-side,” Laodamus yelled out.
The ship pulled to my right as we turned quickly. My fireball hit the side of the warehouse, which erupted into flames. A smaller fireball from Carenos hit roof of the warehouse next to it. “Make fast to the dock,” Laodamus ordered. “Take in oars.”
Our ship slid into the wharf and bumped heavily against the wooden piles. Four men jumped off and tied the ship up to the posts. Once the vessel was secure, Laodamus raised his spear and small shield.
“Everyone arm yourselves and over the side,” he yelled at the top of his lungs.
Our rowers were not the usual slave rowers but were infantrymen trained to row. Nearly two hundred armed men were, taking up attack formation. I ran to my left to the next warehouse. A fireball into that building set it alight. Carenos did the same to the warehouse to his right. We repeated the process until every building along the dockside was burning.
“We caught them by surprise,” I told Theodoros and all other mages listening.
“Great, we are over the wooden wall” I heard back instantly. “The first fortress is blazing like an altar fire.”
By now we could hear a huge commotion from the sea as a dozen ships rowed madly for the shore. In the rising light from the burning buildings, I could see ghostly images running toward the beach. Each was either a trierse loaded with men or a slower transport loaded with troops. We had taken just enough ships out of storage to transport our army people to the shore. We were taking a chance because it was early winter and the gales might appear at any time, but no one here thought we would attack this late in the season.
One by one, the ships approached the dock or beached themselves nearby and unloaded their cargo of soldiers. Two other mages came ashore, and soon we had every dockside warehouse and building blazing, giving light to the town. At the very least, any Zilar invasion supplies were now aflame.
“Search the town,” Laodamus called. “Kill any Zilar you find.”
“Do not let them reform,” another voice called out. It sounded like Chremon.
I found Carenos and the other mages. We stayed back near the ships. I let the real fighting fall to men who were trained for it.
We were supposed to burn the Zilar ships on shore, but I hesitated. There was no one around us. If we captured the polis, we could capture the ships. There was a small navy here.
“LEAVE THE SHIPS ALONE,” I yelled out using magik.
Laodamus turned quickly and looked annoyed before I motioned to him, showing we were by ourselves here. He understood in an instant and nodded his approval.
“Follow me,” he called out and led his men into the polis.
It did not take long for the fifteen hundred troops to form up and start inland. In the background, I heard the clash of metal on metal; we did not catch all the Zilar napping. Five hundred troops had stayed back with us to guard the ships in case of a disaster or an unexpected attack from the town. I saw neither.
“We are over the second wooden wall,” Theodoros said with excitement. “The Zilar are fleeing down the hill toward the town. We are right behind them.”
Our troops ran through the town. Occasionally we heard a scream or the clash of arms, but most of the fighting took place outside the walls of the polis in the open farmland between the hill and the town. It was night, and I could not see much, but the reports that came back to us told only of victory. It was near morning when a runner came back, looked at me, and saluted.
He was out of breath and bleeding from two minor wounds to the legs. “Master Mage Sopholus, the Megas Archon needs you and the other mages by the fortress.”
“Let us go,” I said to Carenos and the other two mages.
The four of us walked quickly toward the fortress. I charged my crystal again just in case there was more fighting. As we approached, I could see Pallas, Laodamus, and several senior officers including Chremon looking up to the top of the wall over the closed gate. There stood a single man with a young girl in front of him. Others were on the wall with him, looking down. When I got closer, I could see he had a knife at her throat.
“Open your gate and surrender,” Pallas shouted.
The man who was an apparent officer stood tall and erect. “All of you leave, or I will kill this girl and every woman and child in this fort. We will kill all of them before any Zilar surrenders.”
I could see Pallas turn a bright shade of red. He yelled back making no attempt to hide his anger. “Kill one person, and I promise I will torture every Zilar to death.”
I saw Theodoros and Philocrates nearby with Pallas. Carenos was standing next to me, both of us near the gate to the fortress. It was wood and reinforced with iron strips. A single fireball would never remove it. The four of us combined could do the trick.
I took a chance and hoped there was no mage inside. “The four Mage Council members hit the front gate with our biggest fireballs. The other senior mages use force balls on that man and blow him and the others off the wall. Our only chance to save those people inside is to hit the fort hard and fast.”
Theodoros whispered into Pallas’ ear and walked toward me. I charged my crystal as much as I could. I saw the three senior mages prepare. Pallas turned and nodded slightly.
“What is your answer, slaves?” the Zilar yelled down. “Answer quickly before I kill the girl for sport.”
“On three,” I told the mages. “One… Two… Three!” I yelled mentally.
I cast my fireball at the massive front door. The others Mage Council members, including Carenos, did the same. Four bright orange balls of flame hit the gate. The door blew open like it was hit by a thunderbolt from Zeus. There was a loud crash and stones flew everywhere. The senior mages hit the top of the wall with force balls, blowing the Zilar officer, the girl, and anyone else on the walls backward. When the dust settled, the gate was gone, and the walls were empty.
“Inside!” Pallas yelled. More than a hundred screaming men ran through the open gate. That screaming only intensified by yells from inside the fort. Sounds of heavy fighting went on for a short time before all was quiet again. The silence was eerie to hear before it was interrupted by a shout. “Mages in here quickly.”
We ran in. All along the ground lay many Zilar and a few of our men dead or wounded. As we came across the wounded, the mages helped the best they could. Most were civilians. They had their throats cut a while before—the blood on their bodies and the ground had already dried.
We spent a busy morning tending to the wounded, both solider and Vorepolis citizen. Those we could help, we did. Most of the civilians lived. Our attack was too sudden to give the Zilar time to repeat what they had done at Dysiasty. Pallas sent fifty squads of ten men each to search every building in the town.
They either rounded up or killed any Zilar trooper they could find. Other teams searched every burnt warehouse for anything we might be able to use: armor, swords, bows, shields, and spears, but most got destroyed in the fires. Several Zilar were captured. We separated those from the desert tribes and Vorepolis who were forced to fight, from the regular Zilar troops. The latter we bound and kept outside the polis under close guard. This was not so they could not escape, but to keep the town’s citizens from tearing them apart.
I was glad the battle was over. I was feeling tired from the magik I had used. Using Life Magik on the injured takes a toll on the mage. I could tell the other mages using Life Magik were feeling similarly exhausted.
When we had secured the polis, Pallas called all the citizens together, and the inquiries started. It was not a pretty tale. The Zilar had raped most of the women and girls over ten. They killed anyone who spoke up. The people were treated worse than cattle. All of them worked in the fields, growing grain or preparing new ground, from sunup until sundown. They were fed little and beaten for the slightest infraction of the Zilar rules. We could see they managed to make farming land out of any piece of ground even remotely suitable. It was a tale of horror.
After a morning and afternoon of searching the polis and questioning the people, Pallas called his senior officers and us senior mages together in the remains of the fortress. Pallas looked happy at the result.
“We are in complete control of Vorepolis,” he reported with a huge smile. “Our attack went off without any significant problems. They were not expecting us, and they surely were not expecting our strike from the sea. Things went better than I ever expected.”