Battle Mage Bonds (Tales of Alus Book 13)

by Donald Wigboldy

  Elzen watched the monster searching with its eyes while the nostrils appeared to be trying to lock down the hidden target by smell. The stealth spell could confuse his scent on the air, but where he had walked might still hold the lingering smell of the mage. How it knew that he wasn't another member of Dark One's army, Elzen wasn't sure? The mage just hoped that the snow and his spell continued to keep the creature confused.

  It still lingered when a handful of familiar looking creatures walked up to see the massive monster which had fallen behind the rest of its line.

  An orc in armor that looked better than the others spoke in a guttural voice in a language that Elzen didn't understand. These creatures didn't bother with the common language of North and much of Taltan. This language didn't even originate from his world.

  To the mage's surprise, the beast looked at the orc and spoke in that same language. It even seemed to be clear in its speech in spite of the large tusks in its mouth. The orcs started to look around them as well, but after a moment the lead orc waved the monster on ordering it to continue forward. Elzen might not know what they said, but he could guess that they weren't worried about a single stranger among them. They were confident in their numbers and power.

  Before they had even moved, more soldiers entered his view. These must have been part of the vanguard, though he would have thought that the massive creatures would have served as the frontline of the main army. He could sense its power and the armor made it look as impressive as an armored vile or crag troll.

  Elzen wanted to slip past their lines and move deeper into their army. If he could take out some of their warlocks or the general leading this force, perhaps it would end the battle before it could begin. The idea was quickly discarded. He would likely be forfeiting his life for such a play. It was the act of the desperate, but he wasn't sure that Tenalin and Kardor were in such dire straits just yet.

  In the lull between their lines of soldiers, Elzen ordered, "Door" and stepped through the golden gate.

  He entered the silver light. While the mage could see the floating islands, something else suddenly appeared in front of him. A shadow blocked his passage through the void. Hitting it like it was a solid wall; Elzen bounced back and found himself lying in the snow.

  "Oof," he said letting the sound escape his lips as the young mage landed hard. His golden door looked odd. Wavering weakly a moment, the portal winked out of sight even as Elzen quickly looked for any identifying landmarks. The river or Tenalin's walls would have been the preferred places for the mage to end up nearby, but there were no walls or the frozen water near him.

  The blizzard continued around him though, so Elzen could barely see the land around him. Something moved behind the mage making just enough noise to alert him to the sense of a beast attacking soon enough to react and evade the swing of a massive hand that thundered into the earth where Elzen had been only an instant before.

  His stealth spell had cancelled out in his surprise. Elzen looked up at one of the massive creatures he had seen earlier. If they could all speak, this one wasn't trying to say anything intelligible. Snarling at the much smaller mage, the monster lunged towards him slamming both fists wrapped in metal into the ground.

  Each attack that missed could still be felt by Elzen. The earth trembled and quaked with each powerful blow letting the mage know to stay out of its reach. If possible, he hoped to evade the creature long enough to make his escape.

  His gateway had been blocked. The young man thought it impossible, but Sebastian had been trapped in New Harbor similarly, he realized. If the wizards in the southern city had been taught magic of a similar nature, maybe he would need to escape on foot. The storm might be suppressing portal magic, which meant he needed to get beyond the magic generating the storm. If it had already advanced to the walls of Tenalin, Elzen would have a long hike if he was still trapped inside the blizzard.

  All that wouldn't even matter if the monster managed to kill him first.

  His magic pushed into the runes hidden on his body. Knives formed from the tattoos on his hands. With a stronger push, knives became daggers and then long swords. The defense runes shifted to protect his body as well.

  The earth shuddered with another attack and Elzen wondered if even runes reinforced with his magic would save his life if the fists wider than his chest connected. Each strike would be a killing blow without armor or magic protecting him for sure.

  "Reflex," he ordered even as the runes affecting his speed and strength kicked in to help the mage avoid the beast.

  Dodging another swipe, Elzen counterattacked with his magic blades. Thick metal armor repulsed his attack showing little to no damage at all.

  Another swing of the monster's arms made the air near them brush his face. The size of its arms and hands paired with their speed kept Elzen wary of its attacks. It swung and the mage struck back. Even using his reflex spell to slow time for his mind to react, his attacks weren't accurate enough to score a direct hit on the gray hairs of its exposed hide.

  Assessing the monster's movements, the mage spotted a possible weakness. As the beast attacked, the smaller man ducked under its fists going for the legs. One magic blade caught the armor again doing little, but with his other arm Elzen stabbed the gray fur. It resisted his attack, but must have hurt enough to make the beast growl with pain.

  The blow couldn't dig in deep enough to hobble the beast and the battle mage rolled clear of the backswing of its armored arm and hand.

  "Fireball," he called the basic spell of the battle mages launching it at the creature's face. Its reflexes were enough to block the fire with the armor on its forearm, but it was an opening for Elzen to retreat.

  He knew where the sun should be overhead and quickly figured out where the castle must be. Going west would likely find the ice covered river and Tenalin, so the mage ran from the giant creature. It spotted him quickly and leaped forward in a lunging jump. Covering nearly all the space the mage had made from running, Elzen felt the impact in the ground but kept running. While he knew it was close, the mage had to rely on his instincts to avoid the next attack.

  Other forms jumped up from what had appeared to be just bushes covered with snow. At first he thought it was an advanced party from Tenalin, but that hope faded quickly as he recognized more orcs in their black armor. A spear was thrown at him and Elzen dodged it easily. By that time, the mage was too close for the orcs to respond to the mage's attack.

  Magic swords flashed into the creatures scattering them before him. "Fireball," he repeated casting the spell at the orcs just beyond his reach. The armor didn't absorb the fire at all. It was a comfort after so many wearing the element absorbing armor of the wizard hunters. Kardor's wizards wouldn't be at as much of a disadvantage as he had feared. Perhaps the western cities didn't have the same access to the armor which had seemed to spread through the forces coming from Ensolus.

  The rumble of the first monster's footsteps caused Elzen to dodge just in time. Facing the beast once more, the mage cast flames in its face again. The stream wasn't typical of the old battle mage spells, but had been added as Sebastian's new take on the old spells and new made its way into their training. It seemed more useful as even blocking with an arm meant that its armor blistered with the heat. Hairs were singed making the beast back off a moment to recover and put out the flames.

  Elzen ran from the disrupted enemy troops and breathed a sigh of relief as he crested a hill to see the glimmer of ice below him. The Aderan River, and in the distance, Tenalin were much needed sights as he discovered that the magic barrier had sent him further south.

  "Shield," he ordered casting the blue mage shield at his feet. Securing his boots to the magic board, Elzen bent his knees sending the shield down the incline with him attached to it.

  The monster landed in a powerful blow right where he had paused for that moment, but it was too late for the beast to strike him. Arrows flew after the mage and the giant beast chased after him ignoring the minor i
rritation of misfired arrows striking it on the back. Its armor was more than a match for the orcs' missiles.

  Charging down the hill after the mage, Elzen barely reached the shore next to the river before it was on him again. He turned to face it as the battle mage dismounted from the shield. Lifting the blue barrier between them with his magic, the monster struck the magic shattering it with a single blow.

  The power of its attack made Elzen blink in surprise. Even trolls with their heavy maces and clubs, couldn't break a mage shield in one blow. This monster didn't even seem to be trying. Curiosity made the young man try something, even as danger came barreling towards him.

  "Shields," he ordered calling up dozens of the blue barriers between him and the chasing monster. Multiple shields tall and deep, the field of blue gave slightly as the beast crashed into the first of them. They crumbled before its bulk and strength, but the monster had to fight its way through nearly ten times those he broke in the first clumsy assault.

  Elzen hurried onto the ice of the river hoping that it might hold him, but not the weight of the much larger creature chasing him.

  The ice made cracking sounds and trembled as the monster leaped onto the river close to the shore as it attempted to make up some of the ground that it had lost to the shields. Elzen turned when he judged that he was near the center of the river. The beast slowed when the mage faced it. Its claws sunk into the ice stopping it without slipping.

  Elzen's boots were nowhere near as secure, but the orcs following the monster looked less sure of their footing than he was.

  Eyeing him as the monster ambled forward without much worry; the creature looked to be judging the right time to jump towards him again. If it could catch him with the next attack, the ice would prevent Elzen from escaping it easily; or so it likely thought the mage believed.

  About the point where the battle mage believed it could use its powerful legs and arms to propel it into him; he summoned one of the newer spells that the mages had developed. "Quake," he summoned his power from the first set of rune wells backing his magic.

  The thick ice rumbled and cracked as his magic shook the river in front of him. Blocks lifted as the ice topping the flowing water beneath became an unsteady foundation. The ice beneath the monster's feet and arms began shifting under the weight of the beast as well.

  Undeterred, it managed to leap outside the area affected and turned towards the mage having cut off his retreat to the north. It loped towards the smaller man with surprising speed, but it wasn't enough to catch Elzen unaware.

  "Door," he called casting with his hand to place a large door in front of the beast. It couldn't stop its momentum and disappeared into the portal. A moment later it exited the other door into the broken ice bobbing on the water below it.

  Even the monster's claws couldn't save it from the block of ice flipping from its weight on top. Thrashing as it tried to save itself from slipping between the broken pieces of the river, the monster made a splash that sprayed water out of the new hole onto the ice around it making the ice even harder to hold onto. The weight of its body and armor pulled the monster under the water only a moment later. Since the Aderan was a deep river, deep enough to have deterred the Dark One's armies for over a hundred years, the monster slipped under the ice without hope of finding a shallow spot beneath to leap back out of the water.

  The orcs were struggling closer to the shore. Their number had thinned slightly and he guessed that at least a few had succumbed in the same way as their monster. Seeing the mage watching them, the soldiers cautiously backed off even as a few arrows were sent towards him from the archers on the hill above the shore.

  "Door," he ordered before disappearing into the silver void once more.

  Chapter 28- Champions

  "Elzen!" Serrena cried out rushing over to the mage as he exited his portal. It was his second since leaving the river and the battle there.

  Pulling back slightly in surprise as the woman threw her arms around his neck in relief, he lifted the wizard from her feet. His arms caught her against him and he was glad that short distance leaps didn't leave him dazed for more than an instant.

  After kissing him passionately on the lips, Serrena exclaimed, "You had me so worried!"

  Still holding the petite wizard in his arms, Elzen laughed as he replied, "I had me worried for a moment there too."

  As he let her back onto her feet on the tower's stone, Serrena swatted his chest giving him a momentary pout. "I'm not joking! Sebastian discovered that the wizards had been trapped behind a barrier. The storm and snow mask the magic that sealed their minds inside. It nearly killed them. Sebastian worried that you might not get back if you went inside it."

  Nodding, Elzen looked past her to Ashleen and the handful of wizards remaining on the tower. He didn't see Sebastian, but he wasn't surprised. The owl was more likely to jump into a fight and risk his life than send an army to fight for him. "Where is Bas? He's right. I tried to use a gate to get out of the storm and it reflected me to another place inside of it when I did.

  "The storm isn't even really a blizzard. Inside the core of their magic things are pretty calm. The snow and cold are being pressed outward but I couldn't move deep enough to find their warlocks doing this."

  Ashleen moved closer and answered, "Sebastian went to bring help. Without you here, he was the only one capable of going to the other forts and cities to bring reinforcements. He said that he was going to Hala to try and bring some of their wizards to help create the gates faster."

  Noting a few tears in his jacket, Serrena asked, "What happened to you in there? Were you attacked?"

  "I was fine until I tried to use a gate to return here. When I bounced off the barrier I was further to the south and landed in front of some new monster. It was as tall as an armored vile while leaning on its huge arms. It was powerful and covered in thick armor that I could barely scratch.

  "I made it to the river chased by one of them and some orcs. I trapped it by breaking the ice, well after I sent it through a gate for it to land in the chunks a second time anyway. It leaped out of the first trap, but it didn't see the doorway coming in time.

  "They seem to be intelligent too. I caught one speaking with orcs in another language that I couldn't understand."

  "We call them Yutan," Daerdan stated from the side. "They have been seen only a few times and many believed that they were the legendary yeti instead. One of our wizards said that whatever they were once upon a time, more recent magic has made them this way."

  Elzen shrugged, "Dragons and gargoyles were legends until the sorcerers brought them through a portal. Who knows? Yeti or Yutan, they are powerful and intelligent enough to speak. I'm not sure what magic will work against them. Fire only annoyed the beast. My magic blade tried to cut its hide between the metal pieces of its armor and could only do superficial damage.

  "If these are here in great numbers, I am not certain what we can do to stop them except maybe try and throw them through the gates to move them far away."

  "I've always found that few things can stand up to a strike from lightning personally," Ashleen replied crossing her arms with a little smile playing at her lips.

  Elzen moved towards the protective stone wall with its openings for archers to use in case of a battle. The mage looked at the river and what almost looked like a wall of snow beyond it. It was so thick now that he was pretty sure that it was stronger than when he had tested it earlier.

  "Well, whatever might work against them, I think the wizards need to start working on what can break that storm," he stated and watched waiting for either the Kardorians to tell him how he could help or Sebastian returned.

  The snow advanced to the river and the air temperature continued to drop. Ashleen and the defenders guessed that the enemy was trying to make sure that the river was solid ice. If they had seen Elzen trap the yutan earlier, perhaps that had spurred the change in the use of their magic. Of course this might have been their plan all along as well.r />
  Serrena had moved to work with a group of wizards planning a counter spell using fire. Even if their flames couldn't stop the blizzard, it was hoped that they could turn the ice back to water enough to prevent the enemy from moving freely across the river.

  Unlike the fire wizard, Ashleen and Elzen had less that they could do as they waited.

  Horns sounded from beyond the outer walls. Courageous men hiding alongside the river had been placed there to warn the fortress when they spotted the army moving. If the horns could be heard, they knew that the enemy must be readying to cross.

  Elzen left the wilder using his portal spell to jump to the outer wall. He had tired of waiting and decided that he could be of greater use there; if the enemy reached the castle walls. A battle mage wasn't built to remain huddled somewhere safe when there was an enemy trying to harm helpless people.

  New horns sounded from beyond the river. The barrier broke into blistering winds driving the snow towards Tenalin. With the cold threatening to freeze men where they stood on the fortress walls, they could now see what had gathered behind the blizzard.

  Dozens of yutan strode at the head of a massive army. Crag trolls with their thick folds of leather like skin had less metal protecting them, but their bodies were like armored tanks without equipping the monsters. Smaller than them were the regular trolls in the black armor of the Dark One's empire, but they were known to be resistant to fire and some other elements also. Orcs and goblins could be seen, but noticeably missing were the humans and elven soldiers that had usually led the army into battle.

  The monsters had always seemed to be the cannon fodder that their leaders could replace quickly if need be. Elzen had heard of and seen the buildings believed to grow the creatures for the dark army.