by D. R. Rosier
When I took my first breath, the sensations were overwhelming. Dream world was close, but there was a new sharpness about things in the real world. The hard stone of the crypt on my back, and the feeling of air filling my lungs. My heartbeat. Sounds, sight. If it hadn’t been for my dream sex with Ebony and Lila it would have taken me much longer to acclimate than the few minutes I took.
I grabbed my enchanted staff, and stood up.
Ebony pouted, “You’re way too big for me to fuck. I bet your cock is almost as large as I am.”
I laughed, “We’ll see about that. I’m sure I could figure out a temporary shrink or grow spell.”
Ebony stood up straighter and stuck out her chest, “Grow spell?”
“You don’t like being my little imp?”
She blushed, “Yes I do, but… a grow spell?”
I laughed again, “Yes, it shouldn’t be hard I don’t think. It might make you a little clumsy until you get the hang of it. I’m guessing water, earth, light, fire, and dark would do it. I could probably make it an enchanted object like a ring, so you could control it.”
The first three for her physical body growth, the latter two elements for her demonic nature. Something for me to figure out.
She asked, “You’d do that for me?”
“Yes sexy, I would. For us. This real world is sharper, and I wouldn’t want to miss the chance to love you in this world.”
She blushed.
“I got to run. The battle will be coming any time, and I have some ground work to do.”
Literally.
I brought up the experimental spell form in my mind, and filled it with light magic. A portal opened up behind the inn, and I stepped through. Since it was within my reach, I knew no one was around to see it. Then I walked over to the road and started south. I could feel all the life around me, the dirt, water, air, everything around me for a hundred yards or so. Not nearly as far as I could reach with my crystal, but I’d expected that. Avatars were limited in strength to what the mortal plane could support.
Even enhanced humans who went beyond master level power could only ever equal me. Fortunately, there weren’t all that many of those running around.
It was a couple of miles to the valley, and I started to cast using the enchanted staff, the same spell over and over with almost every step as I sent surges of Earth magic through the scribed spell. A mage might have felt what I was doing, but for anyone watching me they wouldn’t see a thing.
One other thing I’d have to remember, to cast with words instead of just a quick thought. Or at least, appear to be doing so. Human mages couldn’t do the latter.
Most enchantments were powered by the wielder’s life force and magic, my staff wasn’t an exception. The strongest enchantments were powered by elemental stones, and could be wielded by humans without power. I’d never actually tried to make one of those before, though I suppose the golems on sixteen through eighteen powered with elemental stones did qualify now that I think about it.
By the time I reached the valley, I was done with my casting, and I skirted far around the royal pavilion that housed the king, duke, several mage and warrior bodyguards, generals, paladins, and clerics. I had no wish to be questioned, and headed straight for Lila using our dark magic bond, who should be with Catalina and Jerrold. As I got closer I could see Lila was with Catalina and Mina. I was surprised not to see Jerrold or Suzy. Then I got within range to pick up their auras.
It seemed they split up, Jerrold was running the show in the forts, while Catalina was going to lead the three thousand roaming troops to patrol the breastworks, pits, and walls.
Another alarming fact occurred to me, that I hadn’t considered before. There was about to be a lot of death here, and nothing to stop me from reaping all the life forces and passing the power back to my dungeon. My crystal made a second six sphere elemental stone that was one foot diameter, bonded to it, and put it in the enchanted hidden vault. I had a feeling I just might need it.
Lila squeaked as she turned in my direction, smiled broadly, and ran to me. I was sure I had a grin on my face just as foolish as my angel’s, when she jumped into my arms, and kissed me with a passion that took my breath away. Sex with Lila in her magic dream was incredible, but I was sure now it wasn’t nearly as intense as it would be out in the real world, and that fact boggled my mind. The sensation of her warm soft body in my arms, and her lips on mine was quite overwhelming.
She dropped off me, and whispered, “So glad you’re here,” and then turned, “Nurien, this is Princess Catalina, and Lady Mina. Ladies, this is Master Mage Nurien, my benefactor. Just in time too.”
That was true, I had cut it a little close. I could hear the marching of twenty thousand pairs of feet, but I couldn’t see the enemy yet, or feel them.
“A pleasure to meet you both,” I said.
Cat stared at me for a moment, then said low enough not to be overheard outside of the four of us, “Likewise Master Nurien. If I may ask, how can one mage possibly make a difference if we are betrayed. I don’t doubt you’re powerful, but Lila seems so sure you can make the difference.”
I smiled, “I couldn’t, no one mage or warrior could, but who said I came alone?”
Cat frowned at that, but turned away at the sound of the enemy taking the field…
Catalina sighed, what the fuck was that supposed to mean, he didn’t come alone?
The sight of her fortifications, and all the soldiers were impressive, though she cringed a bit at all the damned white among her people, just over a hundred clerics and paladins. There were none near her, no matter how many times they’d forcefully volunteered, and she was scared for her father. The king, not so much. She’d obey his words, and respected the crown’s authority, but if they were betrayed the cluster fuck fell on his head. That was harsh, he was a relative, and Jerrold’s father, but she had contempt for his absolute trust in Verin.
The enemy soldiers marched into the valley, and formed a formation of one hundred soldiers wide, and twenty-three deep. There were clerics, paladins, mages, and warriors mixed in evenly with the enemy force, and she had to admit it was a daunting sight. Still, she knew the enemy would pay a terrible price in blood to get past the protections, fortifications, and siege engines.
She expected the charge any moment, war horns blasting, magical attacks, arrows, and catapults.
It was somewhat a surprise, when one of the enemy paladins pulled out a white flag, and moved forward until he was halfway between his army and the forts…
Chapter Twenty
Damn that Nurien was hot. Besides a toned body and a face that made her wet, his aura of power with three affinities was complicated and compelling. She felt a surge of annoyance, as she noticed Mina was staring at him too, she was such a hypocrite. She shook her head to clear it of distraction.
Nurien said, “If you want, I can put a protection spell around you. Just in case it’s a trap.”
She pondered that for a moment, and then nodded, “Thank you.”
It only took a few seconds, as he muttered under his breath and she was surrounded by a light magic bubble of some kind.
He added, “Keep in mind you can’t attack either.”
She was a little impressed, and a little more hopeful than before he’d gotten there. She still wasn’t sure how the hell he would be able to help, nor did she understand his cryptic comment about not coming alone.
She said, “I should go alone, he’s alone.”
Mina frowned, “I don’t like it, be careful. I don’t trust them at all.”
Lila said, “that makes four of us.”
She laughed, “Be right back.”
She channeled her magic and cast a spell to move quickly. It didn’t take her very long to arrive in front of the paladin. The man had a smirk on his face, and looked utterly confident. She returned it in kind, hoping it wasn’t just a bluff.
The paladin said, “I’m the commander of this army. You’ve done well to have so m
any gathered here, and the fortifications even look somewhat competent. But I can assure you that your only chance for survival is to surrender immediately to Jennesar, and help make this transition go smoothly. If you force a battle, thousands will die that didn’t need to, and it won’t make a difference.”
She smirked, “Confident, aren’t you? Or perhaps cocky is a better word. Jennesar is a taint on the world, and if you attack not only will you lose, but I’ll crush your kingdom to dust.”
Perhaps a bit over the top, but she was pissed off, and something had to be done about Jennesar. They’d raided and attacked Nysten enough that she was convinced something more permanent was in order. Especially since they escalated each time, this time to the point where they wished to annex Nysten. Now only if she could convince the king of that.
He shook his head and said incredulously, “And you call me cocky? So be it princess, but remember you were warned, the deaths of your people are on your head.”
She growled out an unflattering curse at his back when he turned and walked off, bastard got the last word. She turned and moved quickly back to her lines, when she returned to the mobile unit the spell around her disappeared.
She said, “Get ready. If they spread out move to your assigned positions, if they stay clumped up and try to drive through the forts, support them as best you can.”
The battle horn sounded on the enemy side, and they charged.
She watched as the catapults in the forts fired and sent large rocks at the charging enemy formation. Several detonated as the earth mages on their side protected their soldiers, but there were a lot of small boulders that had been shot from the four catapults.
Bodies were crushed as they crashed down into the charging group.
“Fire!” she heard Jerrold’s voice ring out, and the air was filled with arrows.
She felt a strong wind, as one of the enemy air mages tried to blow the high arcing arrows back. She said a quick incantation and tried to counter it, as did several others with sway over the air magic element.
Over half the arrows were blown hard enough to miss completely and land before the lines, but the second half of the arrows struck into the first four rows killing close to fifty soldiers. As the lines closed, several mages launched offensive spells from both sides, and every sphere of magic but dark was represented, as earth, fire, air, water, and light were launched at each other.
The casualties on both sides were both enormous, and just a drop in the bucket of the thirty-five thousand soldiers in the field. Most of the mages were able to protect themselves, but hundreds of soldiers died on each side. Even the damage done by Nurien’s spell, which was awesome to behold, a large fireball exploding in a radius she’d never seen before, took out almost fifty soldiers in a blink. Almost as impressive, was Lila’s dark magic curse, which caused close to thirty soldiers to fall to the ground and die a slow painful death as their own bodies betrayed them.
She wasn’t a slouch, although just an adept her spells had always been strong, and the large whirlwind of air blades cut down a swath of the enemy, even as Mina finished her spell, and a torrent of water shot from her hands, and turned into hundreds of icy spikes that strafed down the enemy’s formation, killing close to twenty soldiers. So much death, but still thousands of soldiers on each side, they’d barely made a dent.
Then it happened, her worst nightmare.
The enemy war horn sounded once again as the charge reached the fort’s fortifications, which had everyone’s complete focus on her side. Then the church of light betrayed them…
Carlton felt the tears build in his eyes, though they didn’t fall as he watched the church of light paladins and clerics turn on their own. In a first strike of betrayal, over a hundred soldiers died due to a sword in the back, or a nasty light spell from an unexpected direction. He felt ashamed, shouldn’t he have noticed the issue long ago? In that first strike, both the king and the duke, as well as several powerful masters died to their treachery.
Liren said sadly, “Nothing we can do about it.”
He watched as they turned to murder another hundred some odd, but then he gasped, as every single cleric and paladin on their side of the field, was sucked down into the earth, as fast as if they’d just fallen off a cliff, and the earth closed back up over their heads.
Selwyn said, “What the fuck was that?”
He frowned, “Over a hundred earth elementals?”
Liren said, “That’s impossible, isn’t it?”
He nodded, “It should be, unless they have a hundred earth mages down there, all adept level or above.”
Diana laughed, “Apparently not, and look at the other side.”
He turned just in time to see the last few Jennesar paladins and clerics get sucked into the earth. He imagined the paladins were protected from magic directly, but the elementals were just digging a hole under them, and didn’t need to touch them at all. The ground itself would finish the job with suffocation if they couldn’t escape. Then there was an explosion of earth, and a shocked pause by almost everyone on both sides before the fighting started up again. Now there were only soldiers, mages, and warriors on both sides, and the Jennesar were dying a lot faster, though there were plenty of casualties from magic and arrows on the defending side as well.
So far, the enemy hadn’t broken past the barrier fortifications.
Cory snickered, “Probably all worried they’re next.”
He snorted, “It’s a good thing we weren’t down there. I think it’s probably safe now though, that explosion of earth was probably the elementals being dismissed.”
Selwyn said, “Either that, or they’d finished the purpose of their summoning, which was probably to kill all the light wielders down there.”
He wanted to go help, now that there was a chance, and his measly group of forty-seven was the only group of paladins or clerics right now, which really helped the number issue he’d been so worried about. They could help a lot with shielding from magic as well as healing, and the paladins could help defend the wounded if the enemy broke through.
Liren said, “If we’re going to help, now’s the time Carlton.”
“Agreed, Diana get them ready for a charge, just give me a minute head start so our side doesn’t shoot us.”
Liren said, “I’m coming with you.”
He sighed, but didn’t argue. He didn’t want her anywhere near it, but then, she wouldn’t be his partner or the woman he loved if she agreed or even wanted to stay behind.
“Let’s go,” and they took off down the steep path down into the valley.
I felt grim satisfaction at my plan working so well. I’d summoned over a hundred earth elementals through the staff, with simple orders to complete. They did well, most of the paladins were well shielded from magic, but had no defense against the ground simply crumbling beneath them. There were still quite a few down there, dying of asphyxiation.
I was casting some fire spells to help kill the enemy and cause chaos, but honestly most of my efforts right now was on extracting life force, and sending it down the connection to the dungeon. The biggest and strongest part of me was the crystal, so it had no trouble keeping up with what my avatar could send, as I constantly converted that energy into magic.
I’d gotten a huge magic boost from fifty something deaths when the dungeon was raided by the Jennesar invasion. This time it was over a thousand so far, and the battle was far from finished. As the first crystal filled up, I wondered if just the one spare would be enough, or if I’d have to create a third.
I changed tactics and summoned several flame atronachs, which were a mid-level fire elemental. They had one task which was to kill the enemy’s mages and warriors. They probably weren’t strong enough for a mid-level adept, or a master, but they’d keep them busy at least for a bit. Anything weaker than that would just die in flames, and be incinerated. I limited myself to four of them, which was already more than most mortal mages couldn’t handle, even masters. It wasn�
�t a limit of magic though, it was a limit of will. My will was much more expansive than a human’s, even the small amount of it in this avatar’s form.
Lila was just a pleasure to watch. She was beautiful graceful death as she attacked with fire and darkness, and protected with light. Cat was an adept level one, but her whirlwind of blades was getting more impressive each time I saw it. She’d be putting out tornados soon.
“Cat.”
She turned shocked, perhaps because I used her nickname. I couldn’t exactly explain how well I knew her, or why. After all, I’d watched her every day for months in my dungeon. I shrugged carelessly and pointed, “You might want to pass the word, Carlton is coming with a small force of paladins and clerics, and they’re on our side.”
She frowned, but then nodded sadly, “I wish the king would have listened to him. My father.”
I looked away as her throat closed up, and gave her a moment to push it down, and put away the grief until later. I actually felt uncomfortable, I could have saved them if I’d attacked first. But… then they’d be unproven as traitors, and I’d be hunted down for mass murder. It wasn’t my responsibility either, I’d done more than anyone else had and stopped an even bigger tragedy and the loss of the battle. It was the enemy’s fault, and perhaps the king’s naivety that should be blamed.
Cat yelled, “Incoming church of light, on our side. Do not attack the paladins or clerics joining us.”
I heard as the order was repeated down the lines by those in charge of the smaller groupings of soldiers.
My Atronachs were in trouble, so I sent a fire ball that exploded in a thirty-foot radius, which at the very least distracted the two warriors, at most weakened their protections. For my fire elementals, a fireball was merely a reminder of the comforts of home, and they took advantage of the opportunity and attacked up close and personal to burn through the warrior’s protections. It took a few seconds, but in the end the warriors went up like a bonfire and turned to ash.