Freedic dodged and dashed through orcs, elves, and men alike. Blades stabbed and slashed through the air in every direction. He never had time to avoid them entirely. His body was a mess of open cuts and bruised flesh. Every move he made was agony.
He managed to inch his way backward, toward a side wall where he could collect himself for a moment. The soldiers above were his only hope. It seemed Ruephen had the same idea, he sat, back leaned against the cliff face. Something was wrong, though. He labored with every breath, and his eyes were glossy.
Elves closed in on him. The mage was boxed in against the wall. Freedic struggled forward, he tried to force his legs to run, but they didn’t respond. He tripped over the air and fell to the ground, stomach first. He looked up.
The elves had started to cut Ruephen apart. The elves hacked into his body without pause. Blood sprayed out with each slash, chunks of flesh followed. The mage was dead, but they continued. When they finished, all that was left was a slab that loosely resembled a human body.
The elves turned.
Freedic shoved himself up to his feet with all his strength and began to run. He avoided as many of the blades as possible as he ran through the battlefield as he desperately tried to lose his pursuers. There was no safety on the battlefield. The elves pushed forward with more than the orcs could handle. The talents that remained had started to retreat. And Sepherance hadn’t yet called for an attack. Why in the hell did he keep the soldiers up there? He continued to run and look for any safety.
He ran in a damned circle. The slab of meat that was once Ruephen still laid in a bloody puddle. There were no elves in sight—none that were after him at least—he had a moment to breathe. But the soldiers above still hadn’t budged. He leaned against the wall. In the time it took him to blink, three elves had turned toward him and had begun to walk forward. He looked down at the remains beside him and called a sword for each hand.
They charged. The one to Freedic's right tripped over air and slammed to the ground. A bolt of fire flew through the air where his head would have been. The one to the left dropped as a second flame connected. Both the metal helmet and the flesh beneath melted away until only the skeleton was left.
The last elf went untouched. Freedic ran at him. He raised a massive sword of his head. Freedic stabbed forward with both swords and sliced through metal, flesh, and bone. But he missed anything vital. The sword came down.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Chapter 24
Forec shot a third spear of fire as the elf stopped before Freedic. As the two swords stabbed through the elf, he lurched. It was just enough for the flames to miss their target. He fired another spear of fire. The black sword cut through the air. Freedic stared up with terror in his eyes.
The fire melted through metal, flesh, and even bone. But it was too late. Freedic had been split in two. Blood poured from either half for a moment, but soon after the body drained completely. The elf’s body twitched and spasmed. Blue flames engulfed the body. Black smoked lifted away into the air.
Forec stared at the ashen body. There was nothing more he could do. Insmith would have his head, and it was all that bastard talent’s fault. Rage should have surged through him, but he felt nothing. He was calm and clear minded.
He turned to the battle. Elves continued to take inches as the orcs continued to hold steady. The few weaponmasters that hadn’t yet died abandoned the fight long ago. Well over eighty thousand of Sepherance’s soldiers stood and watched, still sat far to the side. Forec spat in disgust.
It was possible he could force Sepherance to send his soldiers into the battle. But the idea was interrupted as elves attention turned toward him. He had wondered when that would begin.
Two elves began to charge at him. Both of them held enormous poleaxes. He held a calm grin. They stalked forward. Forec opened his arms. They paused for a moment. He kept his posture. They looked at each other and continued forward. Forec's grin widened.
He decided they had gotten close enough. Two pillars of fire shot into the air where the elves had stood. Both burned so brightly white Forec had to shield his eyes. Two heaps of molten metal oozed on the ground where they had stood. Forec flexed his hand and turned his attention to the next elves that approached. Flames dripped from his fingers and burned the ground below. Exhausted or not, he was ready to wreak havoc.
Vyra rubbed her leg from where she had tripped the elf. It hurt quite a bit more than she had expected, but he had been in a suit of armor, so she could only blame herself. She had stopped one of the elves, but it hadn’t been enough to save Freedic. That was his fault, though. He had his chance to save himself.
She sat next to his body—far enough as not to sit in his blood—and turned to watch the battle. Forec had just melted two elves into ash and molten metal and turned his attention to the main fight. He walked towards it calmly while flames poured from his fingers and onto the ground. Each step was deliberate and left a trail of scorched stone behind him.
The battle was brutal. The elves committed to every attack and pushed back the orcs step by step. The orcs fought back, vicious and animalistic. Their attacks were broad and barely aimed. But when the orcs connected, they did more damage than anything the elves could have possibly done. Elves were cleaved and chopped through when they managed to find their mark, rare as it was. Auverance’s army stood on either side of the cliff and watched. That disgusted her more than anything that happened in the battle.
Forec reached the edge of the fight and stopped. His eyes closed. The air around him caught fire. He raised an open hand at the elves, with his palm down. Spikes of fire shot from his four pointed fingers is in quick succession. Hundreds of elves fell immediately as his attack began. Over five hundred had died before their attention shifted from the orcs to him.
They charged at him as the small bolts of white fire cut through their ranks. Dozens more fell, but they began to close the distance. Forec stepped back and continued to shoot the bolts of flames into the elves. But the gap continued to shrink. The elves were nearly close enough to attack.
Forec continued to fire bolts of flame and raised his other hand. He clenched it into a fist. The dead bodies of the elves began to tumble forward. They scraped and crunched as limbs splayed out and flung every direction. The bodies crashed into the elves and knocked many to the ground. When they fell, he began to pull them as well. His laughter reminded Vyra of Helien.
No elf remained on their feet. With his hand still up, Forec walked forward. The elves struggled to stand as he continued to step forward. Their struggle only ended when he fired a final bolt of fire through each of their heads. He repeated it for each of the elves who had joined the attack on him.
The orcs began to push back against the elves as Forec continued his forward attack. The elves began to retreat and regroup from both the orcs pressure and the mage’s executions. A horn blared. The elves turned and started to run.
The elves began to retreat. The humans started to chase. Forec shot balls of fire and summoned pillars of flame. He wanted to kill as many of the elves as he could as they escaped.
Soldiers began to climb from the cliffs and chase after the elves. They stormed toward Forec and trampled any bodies in their wake. Elves, orcs, and even the corpses of their allies were crushed beneath their feet. Forec continued to eviscerate the retreat until the soldiers who gave chase eventually overtook him and ended his attack.
The orcs cheered and roared, but Forec found little to celebrate. He was surrounded by piles of bodies, elves, orcs, and humans alike. The injured writhed and suffered. They still screamed and begged for their lives to be ended. The ground was stained red, and the stench of death and burnt flesh hit him.
Some soldiers still atop the cliffs celebrated as well, pathetic. Tens of thousands of their allies had been slaughtered like animals, and they cheered. Men who had done nothing celebrated as if they had found victory. It was not their victory, though. It was the victory of the orcs and the dead, an
d no others.
Ters stood with both Kura’Gasa and Sepherance near the orcs. Forec stumbled toward the group. Once they noticed, they walked to him.
“Council Mage, that was a beautiful display,” Ters said. “Most impressive, and truly striking fear into all who would have doubted the mages.”
“You saved thousands,” Sepherance said. “Auverance is in your debt.”
“Yes,” Kura added. “Most impressive. Thank you for assisting my clan. There would be no survivors without you, mage.”
“I’ve killed thousands today,” Forec said. “And you celebrate me? Did you not see what happened in the pass?”
“What happened there could not be prevented,” Sepherance said. “Those men died-”
“Because of the pathetic nature of their leader,” he finished. “You have more blood on your hands than any here, the elves included.”
“Forec, I don’t think-” Ters began to say.
“No, Ters,” Forec interrupted. “You do not get to think. You are nothing but a mouthpiece. For both the king and the High Mage. You haven’t an original thought in your tiny little mind.”
Kura raised an eyebrow.
“Her,” he said. “She is a true leader. Her life was at risk alongside her people. Where were you, Sepherance? Celebrating a battle that you had nothing to do with.”
“I don’t need to listen to this,” the High Leader said. He turned and began to take a step.
Forec raised his hand. Sepherance lifted off the ground and spun back toward him.
“You pathetic ant,” he said. “You’re the reason he’s dead, you know.”
“I don’t know wh-”
“You forced him to do your dirty work,” Forec continued. “You were too much of a coward to choose who would die yourself. You forced someone else to do it for you.”
“Forec, I don’t think this is the best way to deal with this,” Ters said.
Forec created a stone before his hand and fired it at Ters’ head.
“I think the man has a point,” Kura said. “Are those accusations true?”
“I didn’t know what else to do,” Sepherance said. “How could I evaluate th-”
“Do you have any idea what Insmith is going to do to me?” Forec asked. “Because you were too much of a coward to solve your own problems.”
Forec forced Sepherance into the ground hard. Both legs crumbled and crunched as he crashed into the ground. He opened his mouth to scream, but sound escaped. Forec levitated him back into the air. His legs dangled uselessly.
“You killed them, Sepherance,” he said. “And you dare celebrate?”
“Forec, you’re going to kill him,” Ters said.
“I know,”
The color drained from Sepherance’s face. His eyes widened.
“He wants to die anyway,” Forec said. “Look at him. In his eyes. He’s begging for it. He know he doesn’t deserve to live. You want to die, don’t you, Sepherance?”
Sepherance shook his head. Tears streamed down his face.
“Beg,” Forec said.
“P-p-please,” Sepherance mumbled. “I can’t die. Please, I-”
A spike made of stone lifted from the ground below him.
“Avalyn, save me,” he cried. “Forec, please. I’m sorry. I’m pathetic. I am no leader.”
“You are nothing,”
Sepherance slammed through the spike stomach first.
“You may have just started a war, you know,” Ters said. “Was it worth it?”
“I still have to explain to Insmith why my talent is dead,” he said. “But that helped.”
Forec seemed uncharacteristically passionate while he berated and killed the High Leader. It couldn’t have been that he cared that much for the man, so why was it? Maybe Insmith’s punishments were worse than she had imagined.
Vyra, still under her veil, poked at Sepherance. He was still alive, much to her shock, but not for much longer. She slapped him across the face.
“Insmith wants you to return to Krux Aev’then,” Ters said. “Have the mages bring back as many talents as they possibly can.”
“I’ll have the mages return after they’ve finished healing the injured,” Forec said. “I’ll bring back the talents, but there’s no damned way I’m training them.”
That was true, she thought.
“Tell her that,” Ters said. “I’m her mouthpiece, not her ears.”
“Fine,” he said. “Vyra, come.”
He opened a rift and stepped through it, Vyra followed a few steps behind. They were back atop the cliffs.
“Wait here,”
She complied as he went to the mages. He said a few words and then went to the next group. A group of twenty or so talents returned with him, as well as the mage-boy he had found. He turned to face them and looked at them silently.
“You’re a liability,” Forec said and pointed a finger into the mage-boy’s chest. “Do you think this mess would have happened if you hadn’t been so eager to attack?”
The mage boy stumbled back and fell.
“Well, boy?” he asked. “Do you think it would have happened?”
“Y-yes,” the boy said. “I think me attacking separated the two forces.”
There was a pause. Forec stared down at him.
“Good enough,” Forec said. “You’ll be training in Krux Aev’then for the next twenty or so years. No one will be as forgiving as me. You make a fool of yourself like that again, and they will torture you to death. And it won’t be the kind of torture you know. It’s much, much worse.”
The boy went white and nodded.
“We’re going now,” Forec said. “Follow through the rift, or I will kill you.”
The talents rushed to line up and go through the rift. They pushed and shoved their way forward until it was only Vyra and Forec left. He nodded at her. Vyra stepped through the rift, back into the cold walls of Krux Aev’then.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Chapter 25
Forec led Vyra through the twisted hallways in silence. There had been looks from the other mages, but none so much as made eye contact. He liked it that way. They passed by guards after guards until they finally reached the final set of doors. Two guards blocked the hallway before the entrance to Insmith’s chamber.
“This is a closed meeting,” one guard said. “I have instr-”
The guard flew back into the wall behind him and slid down it to the floor. A streak of blood ran down the wall from where he hit. The other guard pointed his staff at Forec. The look in his eyes told Forec he knew it was a mistake. The staff jerked back and cracked him in the head. The wood splintered, his eyes rolled back, and he fell forward. Forec fired a small streak of fire through his head. Then another through the guard who slumped against the wall.
He stepped over the body and faced Insmith’s chamber. The door flew from the hinges and slammed into the ground. He walked into the chamber and crossed his arms. Ters turned in his chair and looked. Kura’Gasa didn’t flinch. The High Mage cleared her throat and tapped on her desk.
“As I was saying,” Ters said, “King Pharris has no interest in war with the mages, though, he does expect an apology.”
“And he will provide us with land?” Kura’Gasa asked.
“Yes, the lands before the mountains will be allocated,” he said. “Food, building materials, and seeds will be provided to you.”
“I suppose that will be enough,” Kura’Gasa said. “But the elves will attack again. Unless he provides us with proper support, we alone will not be able to stop them.”
“Is King Pharris preparing for the next attack?” the High Mage asked.
“No, High Mage,” he said. “The king is convinced that the war has been won.”
“The king is a fool,” she said.
“Indeed, High Mage,” Ters said. “More than you know.”
“We will be there,” Kura said. “The more of my people you bring back, the safer you will be.”
&nbs
p; “King Pharris never agreed to-”
“King Pharris will allow as many orcs as we can bring, else he will have no lands to be king over,” Kura interrupted. “More orcs will return. Which side would you like them to be on?”
“Very well,” Ters said. “I will talk to the king.”
“Forec, what is it you needed?” Insmith asked.
“Ruephen is dead,” he said. “As is Freedic, my other talent.”
“Is that all?” Insmith asked.
“Yes, High Mage,”
“I’ll deal with you when I have time,”
Forec turned and exited the chamber in silence, Vyra tailed behind. A new set of guards already stood outside of her door. The two bodies were gone. They stayed quiet as he passed.
He walked through the halls of Krux Aev’then with a bitter scowl. Vyra continued to follow him no matter how fast he walked, or how many turns he took. It took all his will not to kill her right there, but two dead talents would give Insmith more reason to punish him. It would probably inspire her creativity, too. Instead, he returned to his chamber. He opened the door and slipped in, then slammed it shut, before Vyra could get in.
He was finally alone to allow his mind to rest.
For days on end, Forec only stared at the door before him. He waited for Insmith to burst in and begin to discipline him in whatever way she chose. But she never did. In time, he started to pick books from his shelf and place them on his desk. The books grew into a pile, but he neglected ever to open any. When the door did open, it was Aeberin who poked his head in.
“Forec, I had heard you were back!” the man said. He grinned from ear to ear. “Freedic hasn’t stopped in. I was wo-”
Forec hummed a book at the man’s head which he swatted away easily.
“If this is a bad time I ca-”
Forec shot a ball of fire. Aeberin ducked it, but the wall on the far side of the hallway burned and melted some.
“Fucking hell,” Aeberin said. “What is your problem?”
Homecoming (Homecoming Chonicles Book 1) Page 17