Zarl looked confused by Echolus' question as well, but he answered, "Corven came to me for my support. General Amelyer must think an orc would choose Corven's side. I haven't heard from that elf yet.
"Even if he doubts that I would side with him, I would assume that Amelyer will come to me at some point at least."
"So they are already scheming when the search for the princess hasn't confirmed anything as of yet," the grand master stated rather than asked as he sorted out the thinking of the generals. Perhaps Echolus merely spoke his own mind, if he had decided to try and take the throne for himself. "The seat isn't even cold yet and already the vultures are trying to become an emperor. Corven and Amelyer don't even possess any magic of their own. All they can do is try to recruit wizards and warlocks to their cause, which makes them look weaker in my opinion."
Hunt Master Zarl didn't appear to appreciate the grand master's opinion in point of fact and ignored the consideration as he commented, "Lord Devolus should be here to be involved if he decides to try to take the throne instead of those two. I wouldn't dedicate the wizard hunters to either man when he is our leader.
"Corven appears ready to try and hold the spire while Lord Devolus remains in Litsarin. It is imperative that we get him back to Ensolus quickly."
Looking to mull the idea over, Echolus said, "You know, Lord Devolus knows portal magic as well. I am certain that if he truly wished to return by now, he could have."
"Not if he doesn't know what has transpired in his absence."
"The emperor's death should have been felt by Lord Devolus and Lord Liev even from afar. They were as close as any of us to him after all. I believe they might even have been bonded with him, so surely they would have felt his loss.
"Maybe they don't wish to contend for the throne at all. You are powerful Hunt Master Zarl, maybe you want to become the next emperor instead?" the grand master suggested in a surprising way.
Did Echolus actually want to give his support to another or was he merely checking if Zarl could be another potential threat in his way, Megan wondered?
The orc frowned and Megan thought it was anger as the hunt master retorted, "I am loyal to my lords. Only the one who is powerful enough to get Lord Devolus' respect will receive mine, grand master. Now will you help me or not?"
"Oh, she is yours to do with as you need. Wizard Megannah, please help the hunt master get in touch with his master. It appears that we need Lord Devolus to return to ensure than Ensolus continues to move forward."
Zarl didn't seem to know what to say to that. Since Echolus had essentially capitulated to his demand, it was hard for him to say if the grand master was toying with him or not.
Nodding her head, Megan didn't resist when Zarl and his men gave their begrudging thanks to the grand masters before escorting her with them from the room.
Chapter 13- Lord Devolus
The western barracks was a mirror of the hunters' eastern fortress. Megan followed the hunt master in near silence even as Zarl quickly sent for the men he would entrust with his message to Lord Devolus. He didn't address the woman, but she was pretty certain that if her feet varied from his path the man wouldn't tolerate it for an instant.
When half a dozen hunters joined them in a large meeting room, Zarl finally spoke to her. "Will this do? We can enforce the protection with our hunters if Southwall tries to follow you back somehow."
"I doubt that is how they invaded the city, but it should work," Megan told the orc. "I am more worried about what they will find on the other side. We don't know the state of the war in Listarin. Exiting the gate, your men will be vulnerable. I won't know anymore about them than I do Lord Devolus and his men."
Zarl frowned, "You'll be going with them. They'll hold the line long enough to let you get the lay of the land, wizard."
Eyes opening wider in surprise, this was not what the woman had expected at all. "I thought that you wanted to send a messenger to alert Lord Devolus, not to bring your portal wizard with him. If we are attacked, I might not be able to get us away again."
"Then you'll have to hope that nothing goes too wrong. You'll go with to find our lord and if need be you can open a gate for him as well. It is imperative that Lord Devolus knows about the state of the city."
"But..." the little blonde started to protest again.
"You'll want to leave lodestones here to return, I would assume," Zarl continued ignoring her misgivings. "Grand Master Echolus assured me that I could use you in whatever way I deemed necessary. Your going with to make sure that this mission goes well is what I deem necessary, wizard."
She wanted to argue, but the wizard knew that Zarl was stronger in magic than she was. He didn't hide his power; and if the orc actually was stifling it to appear weaker, as many wizards did in Ensolus did, then Megan would truly be in trouble should the hunter choose to force her anyway.
"Fine," the girl answered trying not to pout like a child. She might tease Torva with such a look for fun, but this orc would have none of it and would lose what little respect that he might have for her as well.
Seeding the inner wall with two lodestones about five feet from each other, Megan gestured towards the half dozen hunters. "Are these all of the men you are tasking for this or do you plan on coming as well?"
"As I said, I need to remain here and watch over the city. Lieutenant Avaraz will get you safely to the lord or keep you safe long enough to create a portal to return. His men are as good as our wizard hunters get, I assure you."
Megan looked at the men. The lieutenant was a good size, powerful looking man. He was also a warlock of decent strength. Two of the others were large men and even bigger than Avaraz, but they lacked magical power. The remaining three men were smaller and only one had any magic. One of the men was an elf little bigger than Megan making her leery of the hunt master's assurances. She could only hope that these weren't men he could spare in case of a disaster.
"Are you ready, lieutenant?" the wizard asked wondering if she was ready as well.
"We'll go through first, Wizard Megannah. You follow and we'll keep you safe," he assured her.
Uttering the gate spell, Megan opened the portal bridging the distance between Ensolus and Litsarin in an instant. She was powerful enough to hold the doorway open for this many men as long as they hurried, so Avaraz sent the two largest men through with the other wizard in his group. The next two men followed quickly leaving Avaraz for last.
"Good luck, wizard," Zarl offered with seemingly little sympathy before the girl followed the small squad through the golden doorway.
Passage through the silver void was peaceful, if brief, and then Megannah was left blind and deaf for a matter of seconds. It was a moment where the wizard waited to be killed while she waited for the effects of the portal sickness to end. She feared that they were walking into the enemy's forces. While this had been the point for the reinforcements over a week ago, no one knew who had won or if the lines of battle had shifted enough to overrun the previously safe gate.
She felt something push into her knocking her to the ground just before her vision returned. Megannah lay sprawled on the ground and the woman looked up to see the elven wizard standing over her with a glowing shield of green extending from his right hand. The shield was so large that it touched the ground and rose up for eight feet while spreading out to make an eight foot wide barrier.
Arrows struck the magic shield making pinging noises before bouncing off the green wall. It was more like green glass in appearance than a wall, Megan amended, as her mind raced to catch up to what she was seeing.
Avaraz shook his head as he nearly stepped back onto the girl he was supposed to protect. Her protector was having a bad reaction to the distant trip; she realized, and rolled to get out of his way. Her dress caught under one of his feet and Megan heard a tearing noise. A large piece of her hem pulled away until the seam on the side tore halfway up her leg.
If not for the archers shooting at them from one direction and a
group of soldiers moving towards them from another where two of Avaraz' men waited with black shields, the girl would have had the time to be frustrated at both her being manhandled and having one of her wizard's dresses ruined by the man.
"Stay down, miss," the wizard suggested as he placed his left hand on the lieutenant's shoulder stopping him even though the elf was smaller and lighter looking than the bigger human.
"He's still portal blind?" she asked in surprise. Supposedly these men should be veterans of using portals. That was what she had hoped when Zarl had assured her of their ability to keep her safe.
"Not exactly," the elf replied. "A spell from the enemy caught him before his head cleared. It seems to have increased the effect of the portal blindness or is causing similar trouble for the lieutenant. We all managed to get out of the way or behind shields, but he was the last to exit aside from you and couldn't see it in time."
Without knowing what kind of spell it was, Megan was unsure of what to do for the man. Unfortunately that left them both short a man and a wizard. Pulling away, Megan heard her dress tear a little more, but the motion made the lieutenant step forward off of her. The teacher looked for the danger around them and quickly formulated a spell.
Her hand touched the ground as she chanted. Looking towards the approaching soldiers, stone pylons grew up between her new team and the enemy. Six feet high and a foot or so in diameter, the columns would slow their approach forcing the men to go around as dozens of the pylons grew up spreading out for almost thirty feet while they were about eight feet in depth.
"We need to pull back in that direction," she told the hunters pointing away from the archers and soldiers at the same time. A shield of blue formed after her words that could protect the woman without worrying over whether she was behind the other wizard's shield if she moved.
Ready to run whether the men were with her or not, Megan noted Avaraz shake his head. Tears were running from his cheeks that he quickly wiped away. Whatever spell had hit him must have irritated the man's eyes.
"What happened?" he yelled louder than necessary, the girl thought.
"You were hit by a spell," the elf told him at a more normal volume.
"What?" the lieutenant yelled again making them realize that the man must be deaf as well.
Megan reached for the man and tugged him towards an open space. His eyes looked at her and she pointed at the wizard's shield that she was using.
A shield formed for Avaraz even if the man couldn't hear well. He understood her enough and called out, "This way! Follow the girl!"
Hardly the way Megan wanted to be known, with danger hunting them, she didn't feel it time to clarify her name or title.
The small group hurried towards a rise even as their elven wizard kept up his defense to keep the men safe. One of the men had drawn his bow and let loose as the first of the soldiers started past the field of columns in response to their flight. She wasn't sure if it was a perfect shot or not, but the first arrow skewered the lead soldier in the thigh dropping him in pain. His comrades did their best to avoid him and ran after the fleeing team. Another arrow caught a soldier in a similar fashion in the opposite leg, but again the arrow stopped him as it sent pain from the newly inserted shaft.
Megan realized quickly that the arrows were targeting the legs for two reasons. First, it was hard to run with an arrow in a man's leg. Second, the soldiers wore armor carapaces to protect their torsos yet their legs were covered in leather at most. It enabled more mobility while the lack of armor meant they were better targets for someone with the archer's skill.
They were closing in on the top of the rise when Megan spotted more figures rising up to block their path. She slowed slightly, but Avaraz took her hand pulling her towards them anyway. Though the new arrivals strode towards them, they didn't fire arrows or spells at the fleeing squad. After a moment, the wizard realized that this group was made up of the empire's soldiers. They never fired their arrows even to slow the enemy. Distance and the caution taken by their enemy never made it necessary for the men at the top of the rise to attack.
Once Megan and the others were in the warm embrace of the welcoming army, the wizard let her shield go. She was beginning to feel lightheaded and realized that she hadn't brought any food along. The gate wizard hadn't planned to go through the portal to Litsarin or to be caught in a fight on the other end. Both the gate spell and her stone field spell were pretty draining, meaning the wizard needed to either rest or replenish her magic reserves with food and drink.
Shaking off a dizzy spell as her vision grew cloudy for a moment with darkness, Megan was nearly dragged by the larger lieutenant now. His attention seemed to be on moving forward, even though they were now beyond the outer line of empire soldiers.
"I need something to drink and eat," the wizard said weakly and found a canteen offered with Avaraz's free hand.
His pull seemed less insistent as the man realized the woman he was dragging was nearly dead weight thanks to her weariness from using some magic intensive spells. Casting gates for multiple people was draining, and only a small minority of wizards could even use the magic. Her stone field spell had been extended nearly to her limits when she was fresh and then Megan had held her magic shield until they were safely inside the army's lines. The last was the least intensive of spells as far as expending energy went, but it was what had finished her off along with the long run to safety.
"You didn't bring any food or drink?" Avaraz questioned in sudden realization.
"I hadn't planned to go along and hadn't thought to bring a pack. I also hadn't planned to have to buy us time with a large spell," she complained after drinking half the canteen of water. There was no energy to be gained from it, unfortunately, but a wrapped sandwich was exchanged for the canteen by the lieutenant. The girl practically swallowed it whole with as little time as it took to eat the thing.
Avaraz's eyes looked impressed or perhaps disgusted by the dainty wizard's ability to eat. A second sandwich replaced the first, but Megan slowed down for the second sandwich though she wasn't worried about being viewed as a lady now certainly.
"Even if you hadn't planned to go along, I would have thought that you would have brought a pack for after the gate spell," he chided the smaller woman.
"Your Hunt Master didn't leave me any time. He seems to think that bringing Lord Devolus back to Ensolus immediately was too important to bother with any preparations apparently. Certainly he didn't care about my opinion about any of it, since he practically cast me through himself."
The hunter began to chuckle at her complaints. "Hunt Master Zarl tends to be that way. Maybe it's because he is part orc or maybe he is simply too pig headed to listen to anyone less powerful than himself. He certainly listens to Lord Devolus and Lord Liev, but who doesn't when those two speak."
"I've never met the lords, though their reputation is undoubtedly almost as great as the emperor's." Frowning as she realized once again the turmoil caused by the emperor's fall, Megan lapsed into silence long enough for the man to answer.
"They're quite impressive, though perhaps it is really Lord Devolus who commands attention. His younger brother is very powerful, but he follows what Devolus wishes to do without much question. It might make him look weaker as a leader, but he has commanded larger forces as well; so I wouldn't question his ability. It is simply by being in his brother's shadow that anyone would think less of the man."
Megan finished the second sandwich and could already feel a great difference in her health. The shadows had receded to nothing and her legs had strength in them again. She would be nearly refreshed if the wizard could just sit down for a moment, but Megan wasn't hurting herself by walking either for now. The run would affect her legs no matter how her magic grew unfortunately and the teacher wasn't in the shape of the wizard hunters which trained to chase down wizards or any quarry needed.
Looking ahead of her, Megan noticed tents that looked to still be roughly a mile away and sighed. "They'
ve given up that kind of ground since I helped bring them reinforcements?"
The original gate had been behind their frontline by about a mile. Reinforcements would have needed to hike to the encampment which was still safely behind their previous frontline.
Avaraz frowned and nodded. "The army seems to have lost a lot of ground, even with the wizard hunters here to help. I wouldn't think the enemy would have enough power to drive an army back led by powerful warlocks like the lords or Prince Lanquer."
"I don't think he was ever considered a prince by the emperor," the woman stated dismissively.
"Either way, I have seen the boy. His power was slightly greater than Lord Devolus, who is one of the most powerful warlocks you will ever meet."
"Is he stronger than the grand masters?"
"By far," Avaraz responded without even having to think about it.
It was something to consider, but Megan could make her own determination when they found the lord.
After asking around, the squad was directed further south. Hundreds of tents sprawled for what looked like miles making for quite a bit of walking even after they reached the outskirts of the tent city. The extra hiking down the lines of tents past various races of the emperor's army didn't make the young woman any happier. Her legs were tired from running for her life and her body began to feel run down from the use of magic, even though her inner power should have just about recovered with the sandwiches and drink.
When they finally found the command tent of Lord Devolus, it was almost too obvious to her. Black tents surrounded the largest of them all. Trolls in the black armor of their order held spears and blocked their arrival glaring at the new guests.
Avaraz held up the seal of Hunt Master Zarl, a mark known even to lesser soldiers as one of the leaders of their order. Even though the trolls should know of its significance, the lieutenant stated, "I am Lieutenant Avaraz sent by Hunt Master Zarl to speak with Lord Devolus. I am here on official business for the empire."
Battle Mage Broken Empire (Tales of Alus Book 14) Page 17