by Jason Kenyon
‘Good point,’ Obdo said. He let the sorcerer go and hoped for the best.
Mesellanillian drew himself up to his full height. ‘That dratted mage said I couldn’t cast any spells other than the curse. Well, this should show him!’ A bolt of green light flew from the sorcerer’s finger to Obdo’s cell door, where it popped and made Obdo’s hearing go fuzzy.
‘Forgot about the noise,’ Mesellanillian said, rubbing at his ears. ‘Well, never mind. Go on, open it.’
Obdo pushed the door and yelled as tremendous heat shot up his arm.
‘Oh, forgot about the heat too,’ Mesellanillian said. ‘Sorry!’
‘Stupid bloody sorcerer,’ Obdo said. ‘Right, get Neurion out before everyone comes to see what we’re up to.’
‘First that light thingy,’ Mesellanillian said.
‘Whatever you want,’ Neurion said, and he waved the Pure Light in Mesellanillian’s face.
Obdo was more than a little surprised to see that the sorcerer’s face looked a lot younger once the grime had gone, but aside from that nothing really changed. He had almost expected to see Mesellanillian’s beard return to brown or black or whatever colour it had originally been, but no luck.
‘Excellent,’ Mesellanillian said, apparently quite satisfied despite being unable to check the results. ‘Hold your ears, boys.’
Neurion’s door swung open automatically once the sorcerer had cast his spell, and the three of them gathered in the foul corridor outside the cells. Obdo thought that Neurion’s spell would be welcome here to make the place a tad less vile, but sadly other matters took precedence.
‘Now we’re out of there, what are we going to do?’ Obdo asked. ‘Oh, and why haven’t any guards come to check?’
‘Because I knocked them all out,’ Mesellanillian replied.
‘Nice one!’ Obdo said. ‘You really must hate Sir Mage if you’d go to all this trouble just for revenge.’
‘Well, he did outwit me,’ Mesellanillian replied.
‘Don’t be such a baby,’ Obdo said. ‘Say, we could help you deal with the Dusk Alliance, you know. We’ll need Sir Mage… possibly… if he’s still here, and we have to find that silly knight. She’s still in disguise, I hope.’
‘She was getting flirty with a man called Broadblade at last check,’ Mesellanillian said. ‘I was nosing around the “pub” here earlier.’
‘Not Felick?’
‘That’s him.’
‘Can’t credit her taste,’ Obdo said. ‘Oh well, up to her what she does…’
‘We need Akarith Kellason,’ Neurion said. ‘She’s the bandit leader.’
‘The assassin,’ Mesellanillian said. ‘Need her in what way?’
‘Preferably dead.’
‘The best way,’ Mesellanillian said. ‘I cursed you all, so I suppose I could lend you a hand to make up for it. Not every day you get to take on an army with five people, eh?’
‘Don’t remind me of the odds,’ Obdo replied.
Neurion was about to say something when there was a very loud yell of anger nearby, and the sound of many footsteps heading in their general direction.
‘From the sound of that,’ Mesellanillian said, ‘I would estimate that the unconscious guards have just been found.’
Chapter Fifteen: The Firestorm
‘I tell you,’ Felick was saying, ‘this base wouldn’t run at all without me.’
Valia’s shoulders slumped and she began to fall asleep. She knew that she needed to stay fully alert and learn where the others had been taken, but some great force too powerful for her was taking hold. That force was Felick’s bragging, which was possibly even greater than Obdo’s fishing stories.
From when she had met Broadblade to now, a day later, she had been putting up with the mercenary’s foolish tales to the extent that Felick had run out of stories and was now starting to run through the first ones again. Every so often Valia noticed inconsistencies or the odd story crossover, but for the most part she daydreamed while he went on.
Fortunately for Valia, but maybe not for the Dusk Alliance, a gargantuan explosion interrupted Felick’s latest tale. One moment Valia was standing near the gates watching the odd thief slip through the tiny entrance door, and the next her vision went bright yellow and spots appeared in the air, while the ground gave a lurch and she wobbled dangerously, nearly stumbling and falling. The only thing that saved her from an embarrassing landing was Broadblade, strangely enough, as he reached out and seized her shoulder to hold her steady.
‘Bloody hell, what was that?’ Felick asked.
Valia hadn’t made out much more than a near-blinding light, but she had certainly heard a terrible explosion. Felick’s words, which had been yelled at the top of his voice, reached her only as a slight whisper. Despite his bumbling manner, Felick had seen his share of conflict, and was a touch more used to explosions than Valia, but even so his own hearing had been impaired and he backed up against the wall to limit the number of directions from which he could be attacked.
Valia’s vision started to return to normal, and as it did so she saw the beginning of the base’s destruction. The gates had been obliterated, and a huge hole yawned open where once the gates had held sway. What remained of the gates lay scattered across the sandy open space just inside the base, and fires were starting to spread from the blazing ruins. Thieves were running all over the place, while Felick’s Breakers tried to restore order. At least some members of the Dusk Alliance were efficient.
‘Who’s attacking?’ Valia asked, hefting Uldraxios.
‘Damned if I know,’ Felick replied, swinging with his sword to warm his arm up. ‘Must be bloody mages… if there are any left with that sort of power.’
‘Well, whoever it was attacked from outside,’ Valia said.
At the entrance a solitary figure stepped into sight, cloaked from head to foot. So much for finding out who it was. Valia glanced at Felick, who, for all the tedium of his tales, was at least trained in fighting.
‘Think we can take him?’
Felick’s eyes snapped this way and that, and Valia presumed he was looking for a way out. ‘If you want to, we can try. But damn, that must be one heck of a mage to have done that.’
As if to prove Felick’s words true, the cloaked figure lifted a hand and a lance of crackling flame lashed out and one of the base’s many wooden buildings crumpled in the middle and then exploded, throwing debris everywhere. Valia and Felick ducked behind some crates and peeked out at the figure, who was about to be surrounded by a handful of mercenaries.
‘Got him,’ Felick said. ‘Hope he doesn’t have any backup.’
Felick’s words were somewhat premature. The figure drew a sword and beckoned for the Breakers to attack. Ever good citizens, the mercenaries obliged and attacked all at once. The first Breaker lost his head to a clean sword cut, while the second fell as the sword whipped about gracefully, looking for all the world like a brush painting a deep red design across the mercenary’s midriff.
‘I’ll be damned,’ Felick said.
‘He’s a warrior mage?’ Valia asked. ‘Didn’t think any mages were strong enough to use a sword properly.’
‘Not very often,’ Felick replied.
Another mercenary had fallen during this exchange, and finally the last, standing at a distance trying to nock an arrow to his bow, died as the figure resorted to a simple blast of power. Nobody else was going near him, so the figure took this opportunity to destroy another building, and screams rose from it briefly before they were silenced forever.
‘Retreat,’ Felick said. He sighed heavily and jumped out from cover. ‘Retreat!’ he yelled. ‘Retreat, all of you! Now!’
Valia pondered momentarily whether Akarith would appreciate this command being given without her permission, but she could see the sense in it. This stranger was far more powerful than she could believe, and certainly ground Archimegadon’s feeble abilities into the dust. She also cast a thought out as to whether any of the others we
re already dead, killed in the buildings the stranger had destroyed.
All of it was whisked away as Felick tugged her after him. It was time to retreat, and swiftly. With a quick, worried glance back at the inferno behind her, Valia gave up and ran for it.
*
Archimegadon was dozing and murmuring about giant seagulls when the first explosion rocked the base. He snorted involuntarily and coughed, before opening his eyes and looking around to see whether he was dead yet.
Nope, still alive. Good.
‘What in blazes is going on?’ he asked. No response. ‘Damned rude.’
The Mage for Hire returned to his pastime of trying to escape his bonds, which had so far succeeded in giving him a few rope burns and a splinter. He was so busy trying this that he almost didn’t notice the second explosion, until a great flaming wooden beam crashed through the wall in front of him and set the room on fire.
‘Oh hell,’ he said. ‘Help! I need a little help here! There’s a fire!’
For once fortune favoured him as Akarith burst into the room, looking very panicked indeed. Archimegadon took a moment to savour her fear before taking in the fact that she was carrying a dull grey robe, a couple of shoes, his bag of belongings and the Staff of Antagules.
‘Right, Mage for Hire, whether you’re on my side or not, I need to hire you,’ Akarith said. ‘Let’s see if you’re as good as you claim.’
‘What’s the quest?’ Archimegadon asked, all business despite the flames that were closing in on him.
‘Some mage has just broken in and is blowing everything up,’ Akarith replied, clearly out of breath. ‘You’re Valanthas’s foremost mage, right? Go and kill him.’
‘I see,’ Archimegadon said. ‘How many others are with him?’
Akarith stumbled as the third explosion ripped through another building, but she managed to keep hold of everything and remain upright. ‘It’s just him.’
‘With that much power?’ Archimegadon asked. He would have gone on but he noticed that his feet were starting to warm up. ‘Incidentally, could you let me down? Those flames are making it a little hot here.’
‘Five relorans, mage,’ Akarith said. ‘That’s my fee. Do you accept?’
‘Ah…’ On the one hand, he would die fighting this all-powerful mage. On the other he could die right now in the flames, without any chance of fleeing. ‘Yes, yes, I accept! Now get me out of here!’
Akarith smiled and cut the ropes around his hands and feet, removing a set of anti-magic bindings as well, and whisked him away from the encroaching flames. She shoved the robe, shoes, bag and staff into his hands all at once, and he stumbled as he nearly dropped the lot. ‘Get spruced up and get out there, mage. Both of us will die if he isn’t stopped, and some idiot told everyone to run away. I mean… one mage… together we would all slaughter him, but they’ve all gone.’
‘Sacrifice a few for the many, eh?’ Archimegadon asked.
‘That’s the way it works,’ Akarith replied, and there was another explosion. This one seemed further away, but it was still far too close for Archimegadon’s liking. ‘Now hurry up!’
The assassin disappeared, leaving Archimegadon to whip on his new (and most certainly temporary) clothing. Still, with the Staff of Antagules back in his hands, he felt he could do anything. For now, though, he needed to find a useful direction in which to run. The flames decided to give him little time for consideration, and he darted out of the door as they began to flare up.
Akarith was already gone. That was good. Foolish assassin. She had loosed her arch-nemesis fully-armed into the very heart of her base.
Archimegadon intended to deal with his quests, oh yes he did.
But he intended to carry them out in the order they had been given to him.
*
Obdo, Neurion and Mesellanillian drew their weapons as one just in time to greet the Dusk Alliance soldiers as they hurtled into the dungeon. Obdo clubbed one who came too far, Neurion began to cast the Spell of Holy Fury, despite the fact that he had no weapon to use it with, and Mesellanillian blasted the other three thieves. A nice silence settled over the dungeon.
‘Ha, that showed them,’ Obdo said. ‘Looks like we’re out of trouble already!’
‘Help!’ yelled a thief who had apparently hidden just out of sight behind the others. ‘Help, prisoners have escaped! They have a mage with them!’ Obdo could hear the man’s footsteps grow quieter as he fled.
‘Damn,’ Mesellanillian said ‘Well, boys, up for some fighting? Looks like we may have to fight this army with just the three of us now.’
‘The Power of Light will never succumb to vermin,’ Neurion said.
Obdo glared at him. ‘Stuff your power of light. We need to get out of here fast!’
‘Keep your necromantic opinions to yourself,’ Neurion said.
Mesellanillian pursed his lips. ‘If you are a necromancer, then it might be time to use some of those powers, boy.’
‘Firstly, I am not a boy,’ Obdo said. ‘Secondly, I am not a damn necromancer! Now let’s get moving!’
Obdo decided not to bother waiting for the others, so he ran for it while there were no thieves blocking the way. Halfway up the stairs he suddenly discovered that there were indeed some of the Dusk Alliance thieves, presumably called there by the other one.
‘Uh… Sir Rusty… Mushroom Man,’ Obdo said, backing away. ‘Might need a touch of help here.’
Neurion appeared at his side, glowing rather impressively. The paladin had taken one of the thieves’ weapons, and Obdo wondered whether Neurion would actually be able to cast the Spell of Holy Fury on the enemy this time. Mesellanillian followed a moment later, stumbling on his robes.
‘Halt!’ the lead thief said. ‘One step further and you will die.’
‘You’re going to execute us anyway,’ Obdo said, shrugging.
The thief paused. ‘Oh yeah. Well, this way will be more painful.’
‘But it will be glorious,’ Neurion said, bowing his head as though in prayer.
‘No, it really won’t,’ Obdo said. ‘But anyway, let’s kill them.’
‘After you,’ Mesellanillian said.
‘You’re the bloody sorcerer!’ Obdo said. ‘You start.’
‘I’ll need you to hold them back so I can cast the spell, you nincompoop,’ Mesellanillian said.
‘I’ll need you to kill a few so I don’t get surrounded and killed before you can even cast it,’ Obdo said.
‘Shush, you two,’ Neurion said. ‘I will use the Spell of Holy Fury and that will keep them back.’
‘Are you done?’ the lead thief asked.
‘Wait a minute,’ Obdo replied. ‘We just need to sort out our strategy.’
The thief would wait a whole lot longer than that, though, for at that very moment the cloaked mage blew open the gates and thanks to the resultant tremor the badly-made ceiling began to collapse on top of everyone.
‘What the hell was that?’ the thief asked. He headed for the exit and beckoned the other thieves to follow. ‘Come on, we’d better go look. These guys are too stupid to worry about right now.’
The thieves left, and in their wake came the noises from outside – lots of yells, screaming and feet running all over the place.
‘Sounds like something’s up,’ Obdo said in an impressive understatement.
Neurion, who had nearly been crushed by a chunk of the ceiling, looked a little shaken. ‘Let’s get out of here anyway,’ he said.
‘I second that,’ Mesellanillian said as more of the ceiling lower down began to collapse.
The three of them emerged into total chaos, but before they could get their bearings the second explosion rang out right next to them, and one of the great wooden structures began to collapse on top of them. Obdo whacked Neurion on the back of his head and pushed Mesellanillian.
‘Get moving now!’ he said. ‘Or we’re all dead!’
Neurion glanced up and saw their predicament. He muttered some words and a bri
ght light surrounded their feet. Obdo didn’t bother to consider this in his rush, but it didn’t matter. As he was running he noticed the effect instantly, for he suddenly sped up, and so did his two companions. The remains of the building crashed into the ground behind them and flaming debris and dust flew past them and scattered all around. Neurion ended up with a small shard of burning wood in his hair, and his spell faltered and snapped out of existence. The three of them slipped over as their speed changed drastically and they lost control, rolling into a heap on top of each other.
‘Ouch,’ Obdo said.
‘What is going on here?’ Mesellanillian asked. ‘Is it an army?’
‘Whoever it is, they have mages with them,’ Obdo replied. ‘Or something similar.’
‘We sorcerers are good at casting fiery things,’ Mesellanillian said.
‘Wonderful,’ Obdo said. ‘Now let’s…’
Explosion number three rang out, and they all scrabbled for cover. Luckily, though, this time it wasn’t so close, so they stayed put near the ruined building. Presumably the attacking force wouldn’t be tempted to attack the building twice, but Obdo still wasn’t willing to stay still for long.
‘Let’s have a breather and then let’s get out,’ Obdo said.
‘I’m with you on that,’ Mesellanillian said.
The fourth explosion took out part of the wall, and a large group of fleeing thieves was caught underneath it as it fell. As for the other thieves, they didn’t seem to be much in evidence. Apparently most of them had escaped already, or had been killed. Obdo wondered whether Akarith was still alive and kicking. It seemed likely, since he could see that the main building was still standing.
‘We’d better give up on Akarith for the moment,’ Obdo said to Neurion. ‘I don’t fancy taking on an assassin in this chaos.’
‘What do you mean?’ Mesellanillian asked. ‘It’s the perfect cover.’
‘She’s not the only enemy we may have to look out for,’ Obdo replied.
‘You might be right about that,’ Neurion said. ‘We still have to find Master Archimegadon, though.’
‘Then look no further, knave!’ Archimegadon said, emerging from the dust behind them. ‘It is I, Archimegadon!’