"We need to help her!" Maya said starting to move forward.
Catching the older girl around the waist, he drew her attention to his face as he shook his head. "We can't help her if we go down there. The enemy is winning, but they are ignoring her right now. If we go down there, they're more likely to kill her, Maya.
"For now we need to try and push them back if we can."
Wizard Megannah shook her head in echo of him. "No, we've lost already. They were waiting for us and prepared. Even the hunters are losing the fight," she said evenly though the realization was killing the woman inside.
If neither warlocks nor wizard hunters were enough to slow these people down, what was happening to the rest of the city?
"Stay back from the edge. We will stay here and defend ourselves if they come, but we can't fight them directly. I don't want you kids to get killed," she said as Megan noticed her vision getting blurry. Tears tumbled down her cheeks as fear for Torva and the students who had trusted her pushed her emotions beyond her level to conceal it from the others.
"But I can fight," Turless reminded her.
"You can't fight like... them, Turless," Holdy said gesturing towards a fight between a handful of wizard hunters and a single battle mage. It should have been a simple thing for the greater number of warlocks and soldiers to succeed, but they watched as the battle mage moved so fast that he nearly became a blur. His magic was fast and hard to block. It wasn't long before most of the hunters were down. The two who retreated were allowed to run away by the mage.
Looking closer, he noticed that the mage didn't even appear to be a grizzled looking veteran. He looked little older than Turless, if at all. "He's just a boy," the apprentice said with a shudder. Looking at his friend, he asked, "Did you see what he did and he is just a boy?"
Turless looked at his sword dumbfounded. "I've been training with Palose and the hunters. I don't know any spells that do that."
Moving to pull the two boys back to avoid being noticed, Megan tried to maintain some strength to help lead these children, even as she wondered if Torva was still alive. Ensolus had never been attacked. Battles had been won or lost out in the field, but Torva had told her of the wizard hunters' successes. They couldn't get beaten, could they?
Torva led seven hunters as they used ropes or jumped to the ground with impunity. Two trolls in their black armor landed first. They were strong and even a fifteen foot drop wasn't enough to hurt their bodies. Two of his men were warlocks trained to fight using swords and shields as well as their magic. The remainder was soldiers in hunter armor also. One human and two of elven ancestry covered the warlocks as they fanned out to the side while the last one remainded at the rear watching for another ambush.
They had fought on the previous street and, though Torva watched as many of their magic users fled the enemy, he was not ready to run just yet.
Casting a tracking spell, he found the trace of magic he hoped to find alive. He led the others catching out a few individual mages that had begun to grow too confident; but after watching the young battle mage defeat a handful of hunters all alone, the retreat was underway for those who could fall back towards the defense of the school fortress.
"Up," he ordered his men before casting the shadow snare spell. The serpentine shadows latched onto the edge of the roof before drawing the wizard hunter up as a line trailed down his arm to encircle his waist. His magic lifted him and the maneuver was copied by the other hunters.
A small group of wizards, mostly apprentices saw the hunters pop up over the edge and readied to fight until they realized that the men were from their side. Megan hurried forward even as Torva ran towards the group. Her arms wrapped around him for a quick hug as the woman said in relief, "Thank goodness it is you, Torva. The others..."
Her voice caught being unable to convey her disbelief.
"It is much the same on the other streets as well," he nodded with a frown. The noise of the remainder of his team scaling the walls to climb onto the roof couldn't even be heard over the sounds of battle below them.
"I witnessed a single young mage defeat a handful of armored hunters, including a few warlocks in their number," the young woman stated in shock.
Torva nodded. "I saw him as well. I've fought with those men. They are quite good... were anyway, but this mage wasn't like anyone I have fought before. If Southwall has too many like him, we are doomed. The city's defenses have been too weakened by the war in Litsarin. Now we can't keep up with the army that they have sent."
Shaking her head, Megan asked, "Have you seen more of them?"
"Only those nearby, but the sound of fighting echoes from all sides. The sound might just be echoes from fewer fights than I think, but letting my senses reach out, I can feel knots of magic to the east and west beyond the emperor's spire."
"The emperor!" she whispered in worry. Both could feel the rising magic of the god like leader of their empire in his spire. "They found their way into his fortress also?"
Torva looked in the direction of large spire to the southeast, though the radiated power of magic didn't even require him to turn. "They may have breached the fortress, but I'd hazard a bet that they aren't ready for him. He has a small army in there besides. We may have pulled resources from the city, but his garrison wasn't touched. The enemy might not even reach him to discover his power."
She shook her head again. "His power surges, that isn't just in warning. The emperor is in a battle already."
Realizing that they were cut off from the emperor after losing half of their force, he estimated; Torva knew that it was time for them to join the rest of their troops falling back on the warlocks' school.
"Can your apprentices cross the roofs with us? We need to set our defense by the school. Even stone buildings can be destroyed, so we must fall back."
Megan turned and led him as she held his hand. When she was close, the teacher said, "We need to return to the school. Are you ready?"
Holdy stepped forward. "We can create stone bridges to cross without dropping to the ground. The enemy doesn't seem like they feel like giving chase, but it might be the safest way to make it there."
Nodding at the idea, Torva asked, "How many can work with stone?"
Holdy started to cast a spell, it felt like a perpetual or continuation spell, depending on the tomes one consulted for the definition of the magic. Surprising the veteran warlock, the boy drew stone from the roof far enough away from those standing nearby to be safe. It moved like a wave of water before extending from one roof to another.
"Come on," the boy said stepping onto a four foot wide walkway quickly.
Turless was quick to join him. Holdy actually stepped aside rather than crossing as he looked at some of the girls hesitating to move. There were no rails and even four feet of stone wasn't a lot for those who felt the fifteen to twenty foot high roof was dangerously high. One of the trolls followed Turless. Torva's lone human soldier joined them before Defrienne tentatively stepped onto the walkway. Holdy held her hand as she started, but the apprentice had to finish crossing alone.
The men on the other side extended their hands as she neared helping pull her the last few feet safely.
More of his men crossed, while Maya continued to look too scared to move from her spot on the roof. Holdy moved closer and held out his hand.
"It'll be alright. I'm with you," he said comfortingly.
Taking her hand brought her brown eyes up to look him in the face. He was confident as he drew her towards the stone and began to walk across. Holdy didn't even seem to be watching his feet as he kept making eye contact with Maya to keep her from wanting to look down. In short order, they both crossed to the waiting hands of those waiting for them on the other side.
Torva thought maybe he would need to hold Megan's hand as well. She hadn't moved to the edge either, but the moment Maya was safe the wizard released his hand to hurry across the gap.
Realizing that they needed to move quickly, Torva followed r
ight behind before the last of his troops joined him on the next roof. The next building was long, a warehouse or perhaps one of the warlocks labs, the hunter thought based on its size though he couldn't be certain since he had never entered this one before. When you weren't part of a team or invited to enter a building, even those who had lived in the city most of their lives wouldn't know its business for certain.
The stone walkway followed Holdy and rolled across the roof making it rumble with its movement and weight. Holdy continued to maintain his hold on the stone and created the next walkway without having to ruin another roof. Continuing the process with each roof, the group soon was standing on the last roof to the south of the school. Making stairs out of the stone, the merged teams joined the remaining warlocks and hunters in front of the school's tall wall.
"What now?" Megan asked looking down the street but seeing no pursuit from the enemy.
Torva frowned and replied, "They aren't following."
Sighing after taking a drink to replenish some of his strength, Holdy overheard and said loud enough for more to hear than his teacher and her boyfriend, "They don't need to."
The boy pointed at the emperor's fortress and added, "They just don't want us to go there."
Torva looked at the spire and felt magic of many kinds inside even with the emperor's power trying to dominate his vision. Could they have broken their forces apart intentionally just to isolate the emperor? Did the enemy truly think that they could defeat him?"
Chapter 8- Light Extinguished
The light went out and the gathered magic users all looked to the emperor's spire in confusion. They were used to him dimming down his power much of the time, but they could always feel his presence in the city. Torva didn't believe that the emperor had fled either. His power had surged and grown until it just seemed to go out like a lamp without fuel. It was there and then it simply wasn't.
Mumbling between the wizards was inevitable. Even the weakest of apprentices could feel the loss.
When the doors of the school opened, three warlocks dressed in fancy robes stepped through looking slightly confused as well. Grand Warlock Suma was a balding, white haired human. He was a master of the dark spells and held one point of the triangle of power in the order of magic. A tall, slender looking wizard of high elf descent wore a silver robe traced with blue. He was Grand Wizard Tuval. His hair was dark and long enough to have a silver ribbon trying it off. His dark brown eyes were ageless, yet one could tell that those had seen more years than most humans ever would.
Last was Grand Master Echolus. Shortest of the three leaders, Echolus looked almost childlike, but he was from one of the other races of elves that had joined Kolban in the old world. He was the oldest and head of the school even though he shared power with the other two. Echolus was also the most powerful, though all three would be hard to compare for the average wizard or warlock.
"Has anyone seen Hunt Master Zarl?" Echolus asked as he spotted Torva and some of the other wizard hunters.
Looking for anyone of rank, Torva realized that he was the highest officer in sight at the moment. "I haven't seen him since the fighting began, Grand Master."
The smaller man sighed and said, "Well, we need to find out what has happened in the emperor's castle. Are you the highest ranking of the wizard hunter's here?"
"It looks like it, Grand Master."
"Fine, can you lead a team to the spire?"
Torva felt Megannah tense beside him. She wasn't a wizard hunter and, hidden in the school as a teacher, Megan wasn't the most experienced in combat either. While they had been together, Torva been sent away on only a few missions. He had never told her how dangerous they had been, but somehow the girl must have felt some of what he had experienced. Though he knew that she worried about him, the danger hadn't been as real for her as seeing the battle mages tearing through hundreds of warlocks and apprentices either.
The hunter nodded to the head of the school and replied, "Perhaps a small team of hunters using shadow magic can get around the force they have to the south. We can use the shadows and roofs as much as possible."
Echolus gave him a wave of dismissal. "Pick who you need. If we don't receive word within the hour, I'll have to send whatever we have left to try pushing through the enemy. Perhaps centering on the library road will get our forces far enough from the heart of their forces to make it there.
"We'll fortify here until then."
Having seen so many fall in battle, Megan shook her head in surprising defiance as she forgot who she was talking to and exclaimed, "We can't send the children against a trained force like that again! These are the next generation of wizards and warlocks. If they are all dead..."
"More will be recruited in time, Wizard Megannah," the youthful looking elf stated frowning at the girl. She was surprised that the Grand Master even knew her name. She had barely been around the warlock, though Megan supposed that the head of the school would likely know all of his teachers to a point somehow. "There are always the Breeding Pits, if it comes to that. The emperor's pits have renewed our numbers in the past. It may seem barbaric to think that a warlock might be made in the same way as a troll or goblin, but such can be done.
"Now be silent. We must gather our forces while the hunter squad leader does what is needed."
Reprimanded by Echolus, Megannah watched worriedly as Torva gathered three of his men before taking off on their dangerous mission.
The four men ran at a mile eating pace that Torva knew the wizard hunters could maintain across the breadth of the city if they needed to, but the emperor's spire was much closer than that and as they turned south they would change from the streets to the roofs as he had said to the Grand Master. He had only taken men that could use magic as well, though his squad of eight was still intact. Silas and Effelo were part of that squad. The former was a half elf. His pointed ears were already hidden under a dark hood like the others. Only Effelo with his round human ears would be the one to stand out, in fact, since he was the only full human among the men chosen.
Hunter Yelon filled out his fire team as they hurried to check on the state of the emperor's fortress. He had been an easy choice for Torva since he knew the man from both their years in the hunters and because he was family, even if the relation was a bit distant.
"Roofs," the leader ordered as they took the bend.
"How many are we facing, cousin?" Yelon questioned as they began to cross the roof at a slightly slower pace. While they could have continued to run, Torva wanted to try and ascertain if there were more soldiers of Southwall in their path.
"Hundreds of battle mages, wizards, and some human soldiers guarding the latter I would guess," he replied distractedly as the hunter cast a scrying spell of sorts. His basic senses confused him as much as the banter of his younger cousin in his ear.
His eyes and sense of magic had noted the defenders in the warlocks' path the first time. The arrogance of their leaders had sent the apprentices with their teachers against a force not much larger than theirs believing that they had the edge in magic if nothing else. This was their home and no one expected a threat strong enough to defeat them where their strength was the greatest, except that they weren't as strong as usual and the enemy had proven more exceptional in both magic and fighting skill.
Now Torva failed to feel that wall of magic that had been between them and the castle. Where could they have gone or had they used magic to mask their presence from him? It made no sense. They had only been away from the enemy for a short time and others had remained behind to fight instead of falling back as the remaining warlocks had done.
"I've never faced a battle mage before," Yelon mused quietly. "I hear that their magical strength is inferior, yet somehow they remain a threat. How is that possible, I wonder?"
Silas answered for his leader as he scanned the path to the south with his spell, "They don't fight like their wizards. Mages are almost easier to think of as soldiers with magic. They don't hide behind sold
iers to cast spells either, like their wizards."
The last man chuckled. "Have you ever fought one of those red wizards who try to wield a sword? Pathetic," Effelo practically spat his opinion of the fire wizards of Southwall. He was the youngest of their group and human so he looked at least as old as those with elven blood in them.
Torva changed spells finding no sign of the enemy where they had left them. He added to the conversation, "There are those among their wizards that believe a little time with the sword makes them swordsmen. It is practical to learn such a weapon, like we do, but they must not train nearly as hard or long. They are just amateurs, especially compared to these battle mages. I saw one of them dispatch five wizard hunters including three warlocks among them. Their power in magic was much greater than his, yet the mage dismantled the lot of them with ease. He was just a boy and looked younger than you, Effelo."
His team had seen the fight and Effelo's humor soured quickly.
Yelon looked confused and shook his head. "Seriously, just one battle mage could defeat a handful of hunters?"
Silas sighed and replied, "I saw it with my own eyes, but he was using magic that I have never seen one of them use before. It was strange. It was almost like he could use spells without needing to cast them."
"That one thing he was doing looked like a shadow snare, yet it wasn't," Effelo nodded remembering the fighter. "His shield was strange also. It looked like rune writing glowing in the air."
Torva hissed for the men to be quiet as he peeked over the edge of the roof. Seeing no reason to worry, the four men leaped to the next roof before hurrying onward. His spell remained in effect to try and alert his team should there be more Southwallers in front of them, but they crossed several more buildings without sight of the enemy.
"Did they leave?" Effelo questioned in surprise. The youngest warlock had been on watch despite the conversation, so he had noticed the lack of magic nearby as well. There was a more benign feeling of magic like that of sleeping wizards in the direction of where the battle had been.
Battle Mage Broken Empire (Tales of Alus Book 14) Page 10