Sebastian and Elzen had begun the battle with a bang, but now the true war had begun. Arrows flew into the enemy army along with various spells from dozens of wizards. Even the resistant yutan and crag trolls were forced back at first. Then the shrikes had lifted into the air behind the enemy. While the first group had magic that centered on bringing down the owl mage, dozens more suddenly lifted splitting into two groups as they moved to harass both forces flanking the castle as they used it to hold the middle line.
Her eyes moved back to Sebastian's fight. He used his shields while the enemy fought from an outer range, then the dragon mage seemed to get swallowed up by the swirling shrikes. Warlocks in disguise, they attacked him with their magic before trying to get close with their claws.
When he suddenly fell from the sky, the wilder gasped. Believing that he was in trouble, Ashleen grasped hold of a spell that she had yet to try. "Dragon wings."
Serrena reached out to grip her right arm. "What are you doing, Ashleen? You've never tried to fly. If you go out there like this, you will only distract Sebastian. He loves you and wouldn't want you to put yourself in danger for him."
Frowning at the fire wizard, she replied, "He trusted me to fight in Litsarin for him. Sebastian needs me now."
The girl wrenched free flinging herself over the parapet with a first sweep of her blue, bird like wings. Falling and tumbling for what seemed like forever, Ashleen wondered if Serrena had been right. Had she just leaped to her death?"
Shaking her head, the wizard spread her wings and thought of how she rode the winds as an air wizard. Twisting to look at the approaching ground, her wings held the air a moment before beating downward powerfully. Her fall gave her speed and her wings countered gravity sweeping her up over the outer wall.
What had Sebastian done that first time to make flying so easy, she wondered?
"Dragonfly wings," the wilder remembered releasing the bird wings only to swap them with four new wings. Glancing left and right, the girl nearly laughed in spite of the dangerous circumstances. Instead of dragonfly wings, the glowing appendages looked more like butterfly wings. She thought of the mythical pixies of the Great Forest on Taltan and wondered if they wouldn't look like her now.
A bright golden light brought her attention back to the battle ground. Rising from the ground, Sebastian covered in glowing orange runes flew up using golden dragonfly wings like Ashleen had planned to create. The Hollow Sword was swung before him sending a billowing cloud of fire driving the shrike warlocks away in fear of his power.
Lightning coursed from her hands striking one of the creatures with its back to her. Scorched by the strike, the birdman fell to the earth fifty feet below without its wings slowing the descent. She didn't watch as it met the earth with a crack that could have been heard if not for the war around them.
She watched Sebastian rise rapidly followed by the birdmen. Fire trailed after the dragon mage in a corkscrew motion as he turned in the air leaving the shrikes to dodge the flame or follow the path of the fire. They moved outward quickly deciding on the second option. As the birdmen spread out, they continued to attack the mage with the same variety of spells. Some of the attacks disappeared in the flames. The blue mage shields and those of darkness continued to be manipulated by Sebastian though the orange runes still glowed in case something should slip through.
One of the birdmen turned to face the girl surrounded by an aura of lightning. Flames flew from its outstretched hand, but Ashleen swept it away with a quick swipe of her wings. Lightning released from the wilder's hands in turn striking quickly erected night shields by the warlock bird. Her lightning mixed brilliant light in it making the night shield a bad answer for the bird. The shield blocked much of the attack, but the light made it crumble before the bolt finish leaving the defense shredded. A wing was caught by her blast and the powerful current made the creature tense its body. Unable to flap its wings, the shrike fell like her first victim.
Explosions of light and sound caught her eyes below the girl. Elzen had used another earth spell to weaken the soil making the frozen earth soft and slippery like mud. The massive yutan sank covering most of their short back legs. Arrows and more magic flew into the mix striking the vanguard of Relgar's army.
Releasing lightning onto the partially trapped monsters, Ashleen drew their attention upward as Elzen tried to push the advantage. The ground shook as more stone spears attacked the beasts in his trap and beyond. He held the sword to the ground for only an instant, but his use of the earth's power granted the battle mage attacks that rivaled two or three warlocks. So much ground turned against the enemy that even the powerful yutan and crag trolls were forced to give way.
Shouts came from both sides of the fortress. Knights rode forward under a veil of arrows and magic with their long lances leveled towards the Relgar's monsters. More attacks came from the castle walls. Catapults began to send more boulders into the hapless beasts making them defend with the shields, but even the massive shields the large beasts wielded were showing wear. Lightning rained down once more before Ashleen looked away towards the continuing battle raging above her head.
Sebastian remained calm as the shrikes shadowed his every move. Having to watch out for so many, the mage caught Ashleen out of the corner of his eye. Perhaps he should have been surprised, but the wilder had watched enough dragon mages to know how to cast the wing spell. Her background with air magic must have helped her as it had helped him take to flying as well.
Unfortunately as the warlock birdmen continued to pressure him, the mage no real time to watch her development of the new skill. He knew that her lightning had taken down a few of the shrikes already, but had to remain attentive to the enemies chasing after him.
"Wind spear," he began to cast aiming with his left hand even though Bairh'loore remained in his grip.
New black shields followed him as the warlocks followed his lead in both defensive spells and the direction the dragon mage was flying. The variation in spells told him that these were likely true warlocks and not just creatures with particular magic powers.
"Light arrows," he said turning the staff horizontally and releasing a swarm of arrows as he turned in the air. The shields that were hit were weakened by a single arrow. Those struck a second time shattered startling their wielders.
"Lightning," Sebastian echoed Ashleen who had turned her magic onto the monsters below them weakening their lines further as the knights struck the yutan and trolls. Elzen had hardened the ground once more letting the horses move freely, but the monsters that had sunk into the mud were now struggling to break free making them easy targets for knights' lances.
The rumble of hundreds of hooves could be felt in the earth and the struggling yutan and trolls did their best to fend off the men as arrows and magic stopped for their attack. Sebastian couldn't feel their impressive charge, but as three more of the birdmen fell from the air he could see the Kardorians as they tried to turn the tide of battle. Their numbers were impressive and more gates brought even more troops to aid them.
"You might want to give up," Sebastian chided the warlocks who were still numerous, but their number was beginning to thin as well. "I can do this all day and you seem to be running out of men."
He doubted that the birdmen believed his bravado. It wasn't like him to taunt an enemy. If he was honest, it was something that Elzen would do; but if he could influence his enemy to give up sooner, then the mage was more than willing to try a new tactic.
This Relgar might have believed that his army could take Tenalin originally; but as the forces of Kardor continued to build and drive his powerful creatures back, Sebastian wondered if the ambitious orc could see that the tide of battle had turned against him. He might have taken Tenalin if the self proclaimed king had attempted the assault a month ago, but now Kardor was able to unite its power. Several cities could join as one and the mage guessed that Relgar only had the power of one city to throw at the solid stone walls.
The warl
ocks called his bluff surprising him with beams of light that tore through his darkness shields. Only a pair of blue mage shields remained in sight, but the runes on his body suddenly flared expanding outward in the blink of an eye as his instinct pushed his magic to fortify the runes. A bubble of glowing orange symbols appeared in the air for a moment before Sebastian released the magic as he called four more blue shields to block for him.
Light magic didn't harm the blue shields. Whether any mages knew it before or not, the blue energy was life energy and light in one. Perhaps the warlocks knew that as well, since several switched to the black beams of magic destroying them quickly.
"Dragon armor," he called out before his runes could try to deflect the night energy. Crimson scales that reflected the light like glass formed around his body. It was another spell from the dragon mages. He knew them all, but still preferred his original mage spells. In a tough battle, however, the owl called on anything that might work and dragon magic was immune to darkness and light.
He could have continued the game which could be played between wizards where light beat darkness and other elements could break down the light, only to have darkness thrown back out countering each other over and over again. It wasn't an efficient use of his magic and, even with the rune wells, the mage needed to monitor his reserves closely. A tough battle could use up all of his energy early leaving him vulnerable, even if he could get back to the ground and use Alus' energy to supplement his for a time.
One of the shrikes swept in and he spotted a green, sickly glow surrounding its claws. A story from the dragon mages who had taught him these spells came to mind. They had told him of a spell that could infect a wizard through his magic. It had been used on one of them and nearly killed a mar'goyn'lya, or gargoyle in the local vernacular.
"Gust," he ordered from his left hand. The shrike was cast back towards one of the others flailing out of control. Its clawed hand reached out catching its comrade on the leg.
The creature screamed as the magic poison left marks on the shrike. A second later, the three green lines had spread to look like a massive bruise with tendrils expanding with the flow of its blood. Only seconds later most of its legs looked poisoned and the birdman's wings faltered.
Another of its warlock allies swooped close calling on a spell of blue. The claws sank into the poisoned creature's back before it was forced to hold onto it with the other hand. Blue magic enveloped the wounded shrike, but it passed out having to be supported by the other warlock. They retreated from the fight leaving ten shrikes remaining to face him.
Using the strange language of the orcs, one of the birds called out something. When a flash of light appeared in front of Sebastian blinding him, the mage had only an instant to respond before new attacks would cut him down.
"Stealth," he said the spell as the mage stopped his wings letting gravity drop his invisible form quickly. Using the quasi-vision granted by the spell, Sebastian could still 'see' his opponents even with his eyes closed. From his new position, lightning lashed out striking three more warlocks.
It was the final turning point in the fight. Catching their fallen comrades, the remaining shrikes hurriedly fled towards the approaching second wave of the enemy army.
Left alone for a moment, Sebastian remained invisible as he surveyed the battlefield. Elzen and the reinforcements had toppled several of the giant monsters. There were dozens of horses and men down as well, but many would recover unlike the felled yutan and trolls. Behind them, the arrows and magic of Kardor had taken its toll on the orcs and goblins intending to follow the juggernauts to victory.
Horns sounded from the enemy as they gave ground to the allied forces supporting Tenalin. With so many losses already, the great beasts had already started to fall back without needing to hear the horns. Seeing the massive crag trolls and yutan turned back, the suffering secondary line of orcs and goblins hurried back towards the river ignoring their officers as they tried to whip and beat the disheartened soldiers back into line. A few of their officers fell to their troops as they defied them violently.
"No, you fools, destroy them. Don't run!" Relgar shouted using magic to amplify his voice. Like his officers, the army refused to listen to the orc king. "I am your king. Turn and fight!"
Sebastian swooped towards Relgar and a knot of orc bodyguards. Only those closest to the king seemed willing to fight as the mage watched as the men and women in the second wave stopped. Warlocks began to cast large portals for their army to begin a more organized withdrawal. Some were even kind enough to create gates near the river for the fleeing monsters to use as well.
Slamming Bairh'loore into the ground, lightning rippled forward knocking Relgar and his personal guard to the ground. Those closest to the strike of lightning collapsed unable to rise as they shook from the shock of the lightning.
Sebastian released his spell and watched as Relgar stood with several of his men. They appeared a bit dazed, but as a group they were recovering quickly.
"Relgar, I told you to retreat before you failed," the mage stated loud enough to be heard over the noise of battle and an army running for its life.
A roar of anger escaped the orc first before he hollered, "Stupid owl, I should pluck your wings and feed them to you!"
"An interesting threat when I am the one who could kill you easily right now," the mage retorted stalking slowly closer to the orcs. "Your army is running. The humans and elves gave you a chance to lead, but they have already written you off and are leaving you to your folly."
The orc king looked to the gentle hills east of the river and could see the portals where his reinforcements were quickly disappearing. "Cowards!"
"They could see that you were only leading them to disaster. You call yourself a king, but I think that you were only auditioning for the position in their eyes. You've failed. If you hope to preserve any of your power, you will retreat and use one of their gates before it is too late for you."
"You, it is your fault! I will kill you and show my men your head. We will come back and destroy this city before my army burns the rest of this kingdom down."
Charging towards the mage, Relgar was joined belatedly by his remaining guards.
Sebastian sheathed his sword before leaping forward to meet the orc's attack. "Stone skin," he cast the spell but not on his body. Bairh'loore blocked the king's sword aside, while his right hand struck the orc king in the chest hard enough to stop his charge.
Jumping back from the king and the orcs moving to protect him, the mage watched as Relgar's mouth opened wide in shock as he felt his chest tighten. The orc's left shoulder locked moments before his neck and right shoulder could no longer move either.
His men stopped suddenly seeing their king and his armor turning to stone before their eyes.
Sebastian looked at the stunned orcs and ordered, "Take him away and I will release him from the spell once your army is gone."
They looked at him as if they didn't understand at all; but when the guards gathered their king by hauling off the living statue, Sebastian guessed that they got the gist of his words. His wings lifted him quickly into the air to watch as the remainder of the enemy army slowly disappeared through the glowing doorways.
Turning back towards Tenalin, the mage hurried to join Ashleen and Elzen. The two stood together with dozens of knights behind them. Dead and wounded combatants still cluttered the ground around them and all the way to the river.
"We won?" Elzen asked only half believing that it could be true.
The owl nodded. "His army quit and was already pulling back before I dealt with the orc king. Relgar's time as king might already be over, however."
"Do you think that they will try this again?" Ashleen asked curiously. The girl looked hopeful that this would be the last time such a thing would happen, but the mage thought history would make him think otherwise.
"Not any time soon, I would guess. It sounds like Relgar is a warlord who rose up after the emperor was killed. He must h
ave taken charge of one of the western cities and decided that he could more easily expand his kingdom by taking Kardor first.
"I don't know what the other cities of the empire might be like, or how powerful, if Relgar thought Tenalin would be an easy conquest."
Elzen frowned, "It makes me wonder what else has happened in his empire. Is it broken or has someone else started pulling it back together?"
"We could hope that they would come to us peacefully after the emperor was slain, but I don't think anyone was quite that naive. There will be other warlords and kings, maybe even someone will try to call himself emperor; but without the Dark One leading them, their empire will be weakened at least for a time."
The Kardorians were surprised when Sebastian healed several of the monsters that had attacked them. They were even more shocked when the mage sent dozens through a gate with an exit miles to the east. He couldn't send them home, since he didn't know where that was. The mage chose not to look for Ishton, but he had enough control of the magic to send them far enough in the right direction to help the stranded creatures while making certain that they wouldn't try anything in Kardor for now.
He didn't just heal the enemy. Knights and horses could be saved also, so the mages did their best to heal those at the same time. Other wizard healers joined them, but only Sebastian was willing to heal the enemy.
With the crisis averted, men were sent back to their homes. Gates were opened to the various castles around Kardor. Wizards on the other side could hold the doorways open for him after Sebastian created them near Tenalin. Elzen made a couple to help, but the younger mage looked more exhausted than the owl did, though he was tired by that point as well.
Battle Mage Bonds (Tales of Alus Book 13) Page 39