Battle Mage Broken Empire (Tales of Alus Book 14)

by Donald Wigboldy

  "What's going on, boss?" the young warlock, Effelo asked for the others in his crude way.

  Torva's eyes noted his men, those human and elf as well as the trolls. He had come to trust all of them, which was something necessary to being a good a squad, the elf believed; but now he looked at the towering monsters and wondered if he could still think that he knew their hearts and minds.

  "By the bells, I'd say we're under attack," he replied and looked past his team studying what his magic told him. It was a different feel from what had happened a month and a half ago when Southwall had appeared in the city. There were no spikes of magic like those that had brought the enemy inside their walls. There were no portals opened as far as he could tell from that feeling.

  On the other hand, there was magic being used near the school that wasn't the wizards and warlocks there, though he felt theirs also. The magic he felt was unusual and foreign to him making the wizard hunter frown in concern. His eyes also noted the other men around his team. Orcs in wizard hunter armor numbered around a third of those gathered and trolls towered over all of the hunters in the courtyard. How many would stay with their allegiance to the hunters and how many would let the call of their race determine their choices from now on, he wondered?

  "The emperor's spire is active with magic," the squad leader clarified for his men. "There's more than normal activity going on there, but what has me more worried is that there seems to be magic being used beyond the school."

  "Don't the Breeding Pits give off magic?" Effelo asked looking in that direction. He was a human warlock and had some sensitivity to magic use, though nowhere near Torva's level.

  Giving a quick exchange of looks at the question, Torva replied, "You should be able to feel it. I think that the school is under attack."

  "Is it Southwall again?" Meyelius asked managing to sound aloof in his high elven way.

  Torva paused in thought, but found his head beginning to shake. Speaking slowly, he began to say, "I don't think..."

  "Hunters ready for battle!" Hunt Master Zarl called out as he entered the courtyard and interrupted the elf's conversation with his men.

  Voices cried out questioning who their enemy was and to their surprise, the hunt master replied, "It looks like there has been an uprising from the creatures in the west. We don't know if they follow General Corven or if this is some other wannabe with a vendetta against the wizards' school. Their magic defenses might be enough to keep simple rabble out, but there seems to be magic among the attackers also.

  "As usual it is up to us to be the shield that protects the wizards. Let's shatter this mob and send them back to their holes, boys!"

  Torva thought the speech a bit underwhelming, but it collaborated on what he already had guessed. The orcs and other races had magic users apparently. Hunters had never been sent to scour the Breeding Pit area, but no one had suspected them of being capable of using magic either. Perhaps it had been a conceited belief among the elves and humans since men like Zarl had appeared from time to time, even if he was half orc and half elf. Most gave credence to the belief that the mixed heritage had been the cause, but Torva wondered if the orcs had more magic users than originally thought.

  The wizard hunters spilled out of their barracks. A smaller number remained behind to guard against a possible attack on the eastern house. Nothing had been said about the west barracks and Torva wondered if this rabble, as Zarl had called them, had actually ignored the other hunter base and focused squarely on the wizards' school.

  "Cover each other," he reminded his men before they joined the throng of hunters in their black armor. "We don't know what this force is going to be like."

  "You don't think that they'll have proper weapons and armor, do you?" Effelo asked as they slid into an energy conserving trot that still added some speed to their advance.

  "They have magic users among them, so who knows?" Torva replied and let the question fall away as their feet carried them towards the school.

  "They have armor," Gock stated. The eight foot tall troll had good night vision and his distance was strong also. His height also meant that there were few to block the troll's view of the school and approaching army, if that was what it truly was. "Metal weapons and magic," Gock added as the force ahead turned towards the approaching wizard hunters.

  "Weapons ready," Torva ordered though most had their swords in hand shortly after leaving the safety of the hunters' barracks outer wall.

  The squad leader felt powerful magic and barely had the chance to call out warning before their footing rumbled beneath the hunters. Whistling came to his ears and the leader called out, "Shields up! Incoming arrows!"

  "What is going on?" Fordenna asked seeing Megannah and a handful of their students drawing around the pretty wizard. Her looks might be soothing even as chaos seemed to be closing in on them, the older teacher thought.

  Megan looked away from the frightened students as they gathered in front of their usual classroom. It was protocol for the students to find their teachers and classroom, but it had only happened one other time before. Sadly the last time was just over a month and a half earlier. That had been a frightening time; the girl thought and feared that they might be about to experience something similar this morning.

  Glancing around quickly to check if any master might be close enough to hear; Megan replied, "Torva says that a force from the western part of the city is threatening the school."

  Fordenna realized that the hunter must have spent the night with her friend as usual. The two of them had been playing a dangerous game, but wouldn't let tension between the hunters and the grand masters separate them for long. "Is he still here?"

  Shaking her head, Megan looked worried as she answered, "He went back right away."

  Fordenna didn't waste time asking how, but instead asked, "Where are the other students? Should we be thinking about sending them to Sanctuary in the confusion?"

  "I think if it is hectic enough, Master Lesolas plans to leave," the younger woman nodded. Their students were all in on the plan. Among them were humans and elves, the former had families that were already involved in the escape plan to use the tunnels or had been sent to Sanctuary. The first of the residents of their new home had already been sent away. There were many who didn't want to leave, but those knew of the tunnel just in case things got more dangerous than even their stubborn refusal to leave deemed safe.

  Megannah did a quick head count. Holdy was among those missing as were his closest friends in class. Frowning, she worried, "You don't think that Holdy and the others went to tunnel, do you?"

  Before the other woman could answer, Defrienne came hurrying along the hallway. Other students and teachers could be seen near the doors to their rooms also, but they did their best to stay clear of the hall to make certain the slower students could find their way quickly and safely.

  "Defrienne, where's Maya?" Fordenna asked when the apprentice was close enough to not need to shout. They would need to head to the outer courtyards soon or to the wall if the grand masters decided to remain inside their walls to defend.

  The girl looked surprised by the question and asked in turn, "She isn't here? I thought she was ahead of me."

  Magic caused a bell like ringing to come from boxes mounted to the walls of the classrooms. It was a brief warning before Echolus' commanding voice rang from the speakers. "Man the walls. Teachers find your assigned places. We are under attack."

  It was short and to the point, an unusual thing to hear from the head of the school.

  "We'd better wait until Holdy and the others arrive," Megan said to Fordenna. "You take the others to the wall. I'll wait for the last three for a few more minutes and then follow you even if they don't arrive."

  The older wizard asked Defrienne, "Do you know if Holdy and the others went to the tunnel this morning?"

  "I don't think so," the girl replied.

  Sighing, Fordenna waved for the students who were waiting for her to follow.

&
nbsp; It was a short time later when they felt a rumble in the ground. Stone rippled and the magically enhanced building shook so hard that cracks could be found in ceilings and walls. The outer wall, which was thirty feet high and several feet thick, looked seamless in its construction. Magic had been used to fuse each brick to each other making the wall smooth. The school building rising six stories high had been built in the same way, but perhaps the audacity of the builders' desire to create something so smooth would prove detrimental to the school when they were left no room to shift with the ground. With no mortar between the stones, the tremors shook the school and its defensive wall with nothing there to absorb the shocks. Megan was uncertain how much the stone making up the school could take.

  The young woman also waited wondering where the remainder of her students was now. She worried that something bad had happened and feared the worst.

  "Come on, Turless, we need to get to the others at the classroom," Holdy complained to his friend. The two shared a room and the younger boy had woken from the bells first. While he had dressed, the larger, older boy had rolled into his blanket as if it would be enough to ignore the world around him.

  Holdy also noticed that the room felt colder than normal and wondered at the cause. Since the bells rang warning, it was a secondary thought, however; and his attention was drawn back to the older boy. They had finished the tunnel the night before. Magic held a thin barrier of stone across the outer opening of the tunnel. If someone was to walk along the mountain, he doubted that anyone but a wizard who could read the stone would ever discover it. Even then, that wizard would have to be looking for the change in the thickness of the stone wall.

  "It's so early," the older boy complained with his voice muffled by the blankets.

  Working a spell with his fingers and a few words of power, Holdy used his magic to yank the covers away leaving Turless to turn on him in annoyance.

  "Come on, Holdy!" he began with a cry of indignation.

  "We haven't left for Sanctuary yet. Maybe there they'll let you sleep in, but it sounds like we are under attack. Get dressed, Turless!" he practically ordered the other apprentice. While there wasn't any true hierarchy among apprentices, most felt that seniority was still even more important than the power of a wizard. Turless was three years older than Holdy, but the younger boy was so talented in magic that he already knew many more spells and he could perform them better.

  Groaning at his friend, Turless put his feet on the floor and complained, "Why is the floor so cold?"

  It wasn't icy, but Holdy had thought the floor and air in the room colder than it should be also. His room had never shown a massive change in temperature. That was part of magic of the school. Holdy knew of students that had served on a special team to maintain the spells. Though set with blood magic to make them stronger and to add longevity, wizards would regularly add to the spell making sure that it would never wane or break.

  "The bells are ringing. We might be under attack. In fact, don't you feel strange magic nearby?"

  Turless hurried to the wardrobe and pulled on a heavy, winter shirt. As he held his pants the older boy paused, squinted his eyes, and furrowed his brow in concentration.

  "I don't know. I can't sense anything yet. I'm barely awake, but the cold is beginning to help that pretty quickly," he complained before pulling on his pants. The remainder of his clothing including a pair of boots found their way onto his body surprisingly quickly, Holdy thought.

  By the time the boys exited their room, the hallway was filled with quickly moving apprentices. The bells called warning and they would hurry to their classrooms to receive orders from their teachers like platoon leaders just like they had the day Southwall had killed the emperor.

  Holdy noted Turless as he finished belting on his sword in its sheath. He didn't know if it was overkill or not, but the older apprentice had grown accustomed to wearing it at all times now. Ever since he had been taught by Palose, it had slowly seemed to become attached to his hip. Holdy wasn't certain how good his friend was with it now, but his visits to the wizard hunters' training field had continued for quite some time.

  "I guess we go to the classroom then," Turless said as Holdy waited for a handful of students to pass their doorway.

  Joining the flow of traffic, which mostly flowed in one way here since the closest stairway was in the direction they moved; the boys rushed towards the goal their training had put in their minds. Holdy had another question on his mind instead of where they should go according to the rules.

  "I wonder if I should find my mom first and join you later," the younger boy said trying not to make it sound like a child wanting his mommy.

  "She knows where the tunnel is, if it's even necessary there," Turless reminded him. "Wasn't she given an invitation though?"

  The invitation that the other boy meant was that of Sanctuary. Leaving the exactness of it alone was Turless' way of hiding that fact in case anyone might be listening closely, Holdy knew.

  "Yes, and to my uncle as well, but he's being obstinate. He'll wait until the ceiling is caving in above him before he'll give up and leave," Holdy complained sarcastically. "Either way, if my mom is going to join us there, I will probably have to be the one to take her."

  Giving a grunt of acknowledgement, Turless replied, "Yeah, I guess so."

  They were still a floor above the classrooms when they felt a tremor in the ground. It was a long rumble and felt like a minor earthquake, if such could be called minor ever. Ensolus felt them from to time and even someone as young as Holdy had felt a few of them during his lifetime. This felt different, focused and that was worrisome.

  "Holdy?" a girl's voice called out before the students in the hall could resume their progress.

  Spotting the dark blonde curls bouncing towards him as Maya hurried towards them, Holdy questioned, "Maya, where's Defrienne? I thought you two would be together."

  A second stronger tremor caused them to stop their conversation as the ground beneath their feet threatened to throw them to the ground. Cracking from stone walls and ceilings made Holdy's skin crawl chillingly as the boy wondered if a stronger quake would come making certain that the school would come crashing down.

  His hands helped Maya to stand as the shaking ceased. He didn't even realize what he was doing at first as his gaze looked to the ceiling and walls before noticing the pretty girl in front of him.

  "Are you alright?" he asked the girl as she gathered herself again.

  Maya nodded shifting her curls before looking up at him with her warm brown eyes. While the nod might have pretended to agree, he thought her eyes told him differently. "I lost Defrienne when we left our room."

  "She should be at the classroom or will meet us there," Turless said trying to sound confident.

  "We'd better hurry then," Holdy encouraged them as the hallway was once more starting to stir as the students continued on their way, though many looked up from time to time as if they worried about the strength of the stone around them also.

  Chapter 29- Defending the Wall

  Megan led Defrienne and the stragglers across the wall that joined the school building with the top of the outer defensive wall. Towers rose up above the thirty foot perimeter defense; though not as high as the top of the six story school. It was a large building since it served as home to hundreds of wizards as well as serving as a training facility with dozens of classrooms available. From the outside, it looked smooth and rounded somewhat mirroring the spires reaching all the way to the ceiling of the cave city.

  "About time you got here," Fordenna greeted her gruffly which wasn't surprising, but her attention was diverted beyond the outer walls' crenellated walkway before Megan could say anything in reply.

  Holdy, Turless and Maya had appeared only a short time before her patience wore out. They were important to their teacher, but not as important as the defense of the outer wall since many more would be affected if it was compromised.

  "They found Maya. She got s
eparated from Defrienne apparently."

  "Well, that was obvious," the older woman stated dismissively as her attention remained focused beyond the wall.

  Following her gaze, Megan gasped as her eyes took in the scene outside the school's defenses. Thousands and thousands of orcs, goblins, trolls, armored viles and more of the emperor's creatures nearly surrounded the school. To the west, the chaotic rows of monsters seemed to disappear into the dim light without ending.

  Another powerful tremor shook the wall making Megan drop to one knee as her hand reached out to brace against the sidewall. The height they were at would make for a dangerous fall, so the builders had made sure to extend half walls along the inner walls as well as the inside of the outer wall. Safety had been put in even if one could argue that anyone walking them should be old enough to be wary of the drop.

  Worrying less about the wall next to her, Megan's attention was pulled away as she noted the attack of magic. It struck the western barracks and the wizard rose in time to see the outer wall buckle and collapse back into the courtyard behind it. Another shockwave made the solid stone of the cave floor ripple and it rolled forward like a massive wave. The magic behind the spell felt crude, yet familiar in some way that Megan couldn't quite figure out.

  More waves followed and the wizard was able to watch as the inner buildings were assaulted until they began to break. Walls broke. The roof collapsed in places until the outer walls began to fall. Without them the inner walls couldn't take much more. A cloud of dust rose into the air and the breeze inside pushed the dust towards the school. The magic of this enemy seemed to influence that too, she thought.

  "No way," Fordenna breathed so close to the smaller woman that even the dull roar of stone falling in the distance wasn't enough to drown her out.

  "Wizards ready your magic to defend the school," a voice cried out echoing across the courtyard to the outer wall.