by D. W.
While the dwarf made his plans, Thad began making plans of his own. He had trained in warfare tactics but he had never had to do so in a maze of tunnels where he was as lost as a blind man trying to find a lone apple tree in an open plain. Thad had other strengths though; he had his magic, and enchanting skill. From what the creature had said it wouldn’t just be normal soldiers they would face but other mages as well and that meant he had a lot of things to figure out.
Thad wasn’t sure what would be handy other than his sword that cut through magic but he had a few ideas. Pulling the pack over that was filled with gems for either his work or for Avalanche to snack on and a bar of the ultra-light metal from the wall Thad set to work.
The first thing on his mind was a shield. So far his magical shield was only designed to block physical attacks and from his own experiments it had too many weaknesses that could be exploited by a magic user. He had never had a reason before to worry about such a fact but now a lot of things had changed.
It wasn’t easy to devise a shield to block against other magic users since magic wasn’t cut and dry. If one was skilled enough one could cast a spell inside his shield so he had to find a way to block out magical energies but if he did that he wouldn’t have accesses to any source of magic himself. From what he had seen most of the magic that the Vathari used was that of the darkness element. He could make a shield that only blocked out a specific elemental source but it would have to be as strong as the element being used and that would have to be earth magic in his current environment.
Earth magic was good for many things and could be bent and twisted to perform great feats but it wasn’t the best source to use for a shield. His rings could use any form of stored magical energy but they had a limit and the more they were taxed the quicker they would run out. An unchallenged shield could be sustained for hours while one that was constantly in use would only last for a quarter of that time.
It was a plausible idea but it still didn’t completely solve the problem. There was no guarantee that he would never face another mage. He had just taken for granted that no other mages had been announced in the past thousand years and from what he learned that didn’t mean they had completely vanished. There were other lands and other creatures hidden away from sight. How many more were there out there. Thad didn’t have an inflated ego enough to believe he had seen everything the world had to offer, in truth he would be surprised if he had witnessed even one percent of what was out there.
Thad continued to think through his options as Crusher continued his frantic pacing. Avalanche thinking it was a game jumped around the dwarf. There had to be a way to block out magic. In all the history of magic there had to be mages who dueled against each other and if there was no way to block an attack the first one to strike would almost always win.
Thad began to look at the problem in a different light. What was magic? It was a being forcing his will on the already present magical flow of energies that made up the world surrounding them. The flows differed greatly depending on where one was at. The more a person was attuned to the natural flows in the area the better that person could draw and use those energies. If he could disrupt those flows and make them mimic something he was more attuned to he could lessen his foes ability while strengthening his own. But how could he do that? He knew that to perform a spell of that magnitude would leave him desolate so an enchantment was the only way. The only real problem was how an enchantment would need to work in order to perform what he wanted.
It would be simple enough for him to create a hotspot of magical energy of whatever element he needed. He already had that hanging around his neck, but it didn’t change the overall flow of magical energies natural to the environment around them. On the other hand Avalanche did. He remembered when he had first studied the amazing creature. She not only bent the earth energy to her she put off a vast amount of it herself effectively changing the natural flow of energy. Wherever the lines for that energy flowed it altered its course to run parallel to hers.
Now while he was sure that would throw off any casters ability to draw on the earth energy effectively, as he knew it did his until he had learned to compensate for her, it didn’t affect the other major source of magic in the subterranean the darkness element.
If he could mimic the effect Avalanche created naturally he could weaken any mage he came up against. He had already studied the rock animal thoroughly during their time together and understood how she created the effect, but he didn’t know how to reproduce it. He would not only have to draw in a massive amount of magical energy into one place it would also have to radiate the same amount of force. If he made such an enchantment the gem that worked as the core wouldn’t last for more than a quarter of an hour before it ruptured. It would simply be too much force coursing through it, but he didn’t really need it to last longer and if he made sure to get it closer to the enemy mage when it did go it could double as a weapon.
With no other idea Thad started making one out of a small gem to test. It had to be big enough to make a change in the magical forces but not so large it risked destroying anything within their small living area. It was a hard thing to pull off but he had it finished long before Crusher had figured out their next move.
Not wanting to disturb his friend Thad moved into the small section he had claimed for his room. Triggering the enchantment Thad put up a shield around the second half of the room. While magic was hard to block the direct effects of it still worked in the physical realm.
Watching the gem with magical sense Thad could see that even though it was small and the amount of magic it pulled in and pushed out was minimal it still changed the general flow of elemental energies. It wasn’t a massive change but even a small one could hamper how well a mage could access the magic around him.
Within a few heartbeats the small gem had stressed itself too much and began to glow like a piece of metal straight from the forge. In the span of a few heartbeats the gem ruptured, sending small bits of itself flying through the room. The explosion itself was much smaller than Thad had expected but still watching with his magical sight the backlash from the gem exploding caused a magical ripple within the elemental energies nearly making his own shield spell falter for a brief moment before he readjusted.
Even ready for the change Thad still had trouble keeping a steady flow of magic. It was both good and bad if the fight lasted long enough for the larger version of the enchantment to go then there was a good chance that everyone’s magic would simply fail them until the elemental flows fixed themselves. That would mean he would have to rely on his rings, rune necklace, and staff that had stored magical energy.
That meant that he should only use his magical disruptor if he found himself in a dire situation. That made it much easier on him in the long run, it wouldn’t be much larger than the test model as it would have to fail quickly if he was in dire straits but with more power than it currently had.
Moving back to the common room of the caves Thad found Crusher staring at the map tracing some of the smaller tunnels with his chubby finger. When he would get to one of their designated encounter sights he would stop and began tapping on the open area. Thad wasn’t sure what he was doing but if he had to make a guess the dwarf was playing out how the battle might play out using different tactics. He had done the same thing during his strategic tests back in the Slave Academy. It had worked well for him but the instructors always threw something in at the last moment that he had never planned for.
Sitting down with more of the gems and metal Thad went to work knowing that soon anything could happen and he wanted to be as prepared as he could make himself. It wasn’t easy to do since he had no clue what would be coming at him. The best he could do was to use his imagination to conjure up the worst things he could imagine and try to plan for it.
Thad worked late into the night. Avalanche had tired of her game of bouncing around the stout dwarf and had long ago lay down next to him snorting every so often as the dwarf stompe
d his foot in frustration. Thad’s stores of energy were quickly draining and he knew that soon he would have to find sleep or he would be less than useless in the next battle.
With a heavy sigh Thad left Crusher to his endless pondering and headed back to his own room to get what sleep was left to him. The one bright side to living in the vast darkness was that there was no sun to herald the coming of the day. He only hoped the enemy left them alone long enough to prepare for their next battle.
CHAPTER XV
The three companions stalked the halls carefully making their way to their ambush site. It wasn’t as good as the one they had used the day before but Crusher didn’t seem to want to overuse the same place too often. Thad’s slugs had all recharged, but the rings he used to call them back were only at half strength. While he could fire all his slugs he could only call half that number back to him. In a pinch they could work but having to remake the slugs would be more trouble than it would be worth unless absolutely necessary.
When they finally arrived at their station Thad found that they were located in a small tunnel entrance that melded well with the adjoining wall. It didn’t look natural, the corners were too well shaped and looked as if they had been cut. That wasn’t too surprising. Many of the tunnels that they had been traveling in had looked as if they had been cut away rather than natural occurrences.
The cavern that the tunnel led to was fairly large easily large, easily enough to fit the queen’s ballroom inside. The groups of soldiers were in smaller groups but they were much more closely packed together. There was little chance to simply attack and loot the bodies as they had been doing before anyone came to investigate. That meant that they would have to have an escape route picked in advance. From what Crusher had indicated they would leave the same way they had arrived. It wasn’t a bad idea but Thad wished they had a signal to dictate when they would leave.
Only eight enemy soldiers were in the cavern and they were separated into two groups of four each located at the larger entrances. From what he had seen on their way to their ambush site that meant that other groups were positioned outside in the adjoining tunnels to quickly join the battle once it was engaged.
There was still the small chance for them to strike and run if they could take out all eight before they could warn the others. It was a very small chance. Thad didn’t have a spell that could take them all out at once. The best he could accomplish was one group of four and that was only if everything happened perfectly and that rarely happened with magic at least where he was concerned.
They started the battle the same way as the previous one with Thad using his magical slugs. The slug flew from his hand whistling through the still air toward the tightly packed enemies. Thad hoped it would catch more than one of the beasts but his prayers went unanswered as it caught only one of the creatures in the chest before lodging itself in the rock beyond.
Unlike last time where the Vathari had only searched for the offender this time one of the creatures pulled a small horn from a pouch on his side. Thad had seen the horn before as many of them now resided within the loot chamber back at their base.
Once the small horn was lifted to the Vathari’s lips a loud high-pitched whine rang throughout the cavern. It was much louder than Thad would have figured for such a small item. Shortly after the horn was blown many more horns went off in the distance and Thad could hear the sound of heavy footsteps moving in their direction. The sound was so loud it was as if a mountain itself was falling down around their ears.
Within moments the cavern was filled with enemy soldiers. The sheer number of them made Thad’s legs go weak. He was so mesmerized that he didn’t notice Crusher trying to get his attention until the dwarf hit him hard on the shoulder with his balled fist nearly knocking him into the wall.
Thad hit the dwarf back, but only accomplished in hurting his own hand. After a few moments of rubbing his hand he turned to the dwarf who was tensed against the wall his axe in his hand. It was obvious the dwarf planned to take out a few of the Vathari the old fashioned way before they made their exit.
Thad pulled the darkness sword from its scabbard and prepared for the coming fight. Looking at his friend he knew what he wanted him to do and he had to agree. It was the perfect time to use some of the traps that were laid around the room. Calling his staff to his hand Thad focused and found the three traps that were hidden within his mental reach.
Two of the traps were lightning based while the other was based on light. All three had plenty of time to gather magic and all three had been able to get fully charged. Thad was amazed at how enchantments could use any magical source and reform it to their own desire while he could only pull from what was around him. With the help of his staff Thad could do much the same as the enchantments but like a moneychanger it took more from him than he got in return.
The traps went off at the same time sending arcs of lightning throughout the room as well as small beams of light that cut through anything they came into contact with. One of the beams came eerily close to where they hid cutting a thick line into the rock above Crusher’s head.
Not wanting to waste a good chance Thad readied one of his new enchantments. It looked like a large version of one of his slugs but it had a completely different function. Tossing the ball into the middle of the room he activated the enchantment on it and suddenly the room was bathed in a bright light. Usually Thad used one of his light rings to produce the light needed to fight by but it had a limited range. This way the whole cavern was illuminated and as an added bonus when it was time to leave Thad had created a second enchantment to send out a ball of fire that would if it worked correctly destroy the first gem causing an explosion aiding in their escape. It hadn’t been tested so Thad could only hope that it worked as planned.
The second the traps had expended their magic Thad and Crusher rushed into the room taking down any enemy that was nearby. Thad focused his attention in the direction of the traps in an effort to collect them so that they could be used again if needed. The first trap was easy to locate and get to as it had cut large circular holes in the rock around it. Scooping up the trap Thad hastily threw it in his pack as he came around to face his first enemy.
The traps had worked wonders and many of the soldiers that had littered the cavern were now in disarray. It hadn’t killed as many as he had hoped but the ones left standing were easily unnerved from the immense display of magic that had cut down their comrades.
His first enemy was still slightly disoriented and had a black scorched mark in the center of his breastplate. It was obvious from the way the Vathari looked and moved that he had been hit by the lightning trap though it seemed he had only caught a weak strike of lightning. The creatures slowed movements made it easy for Thad to knock away his offered sword and score a hit on the Vathari midsection. His new sword passed through the creature as if it was simply cutting through the air. If not for the blood that rushed from the new wound Thad would have thought he had missed his mark.
Giving a low whistle at the effectiveness of his new weapon Thad rushed on toward where the second trap had been hidden. He met two other enemies blocking his way not having to hold back anymore stretched out his arm and sent a thick stream of fire engulfing the two Vathari. Thad rushed past the two creatures as they screamed in the final throws of death and quickly grabbed up his prize.
Turning around Thad was faced with ever growing numbers of Vathari as they rushed in from every tunnel opening. Thad raised his staff and sent three thick bolts of lightning at the largest tunnel opening striking the roof above it. When nothing happened Thad continued the barrage. After two more strikes the rocks began to lose their hold and collapsed upon their own weight barring the entrance and killing three unsuspecting Vathari.
Before he had another chance to do anymore damage with his magic Thad found himself engaged by four large Vathari warriors. With what little time he had Thad looked around and noticed that all of the smaller Vathari had disappeared from the caver
n. He wasn’t sure what that meant and wasn’t sure he wanted to find out.
The larger Vathariwere skilled swordsman and Thad found himself on constant defense. Thad tried to get in a few attacks but everything he tried was easily blocked by the warriors. Thad knew he couldn’t sit there and wait for more of the Vathari to show up so looking around to make sure neither Crusher nor Avalanche was close to him he activated his paralyzing ring. It was a onetime use item and would take days before it could be used again but it had worked and every creature within a fifty foot radius was stopped in motion. That included the four warriors who were attacking him as well as two others who were coming to their aid.
Even though he was in the middle of a battle it felt wrong to Thad to kill a defenseless warrior but he had no time for such sentimentality. With only a small twang of guilt running through his mind Thad went through and methodically cut the throats of the frozen warriors. Shortly after he was finished Thad looked to his companions.
Avalanche was doing well and seemed to be having little trouble despite the large number of Vathari that surrounded her. Their weapons struck again and again but they found no flesh to bite and Thad figured they wouldn’t unless one of them happened to carry one made of magic and even then it would be a tough battle.
Crusher wasn’t fairing as well. Over a dozen Vathari were attacking him and while many lay at his feet there was no way that the stout dwarf would hold out long without some assistance. Thad was sure that if it had not been for the magical shield that still surrounded him the dwarf would have already fallen prey to one of the enemy’s blades. As it was the shield was beginning to wane and wouldn’t last for very long.
After looking around for a few moments Thad noticed a perfect chance to help his friend. Focusing on the weapons that the Vathari held in their hands. Suddenly the weapons began to glow a bright red as they heated to immense temperatures. The Vathari dropped the superheated weapons and Crusher took the chance to quickly cut them down. Once his bloody work was done Crusher gave Thad a quick smile then headed off to find his next target.