Broken Mage

by D. W.

  Thad shook his head as his mind began to surface from his working trance. It was always hard to tell how much time had passed while he had been working but in the end the amount of time didn’t matter, only how much he was able to complete. His mind drained Thad didn’t have the strength left to look over his work. He hardly ever got to check his work after he finished as he was usually too tired to do anything more than sleep.

  With a satisfied grin on his face Thad rolled over to where his bedroll lay in the corner of the room. The bedroll he had picked up back in the Ablaian prison had been in bad shape when he had taken it and had worn it down even more with constant use. There wasn’t much area left that didn’t have at least one tear or rip from a sharp rock but it was still much better than sleeping on the bare ground.

  Closing his eyes Thad envisioned himself in the darkness of his own mind. Letting sleep take him bit by bit but leaving a small portion of his mind awake. Over the past few days he had only failed at entering a lucid dream state once. It wasn’t easy and in many ways took more concentration than enchanting but the rewards were enormous. To simply be able to feel the sun on his face and wind in his hair even in a dream soothed his soul and made the darkness that crept in on him every day more sufferable.

  CHAPTER XX

  Thad took one last look at the main room of the small complex of caves that he had called home, even if for a short time. He was slightly nervous to set out, not because he feared that his new enchanted items wouldn’t work but more because leaving signified the end of his wandering through the endless darkness. It had been a rough time filled with hardships but in a way it had been good for him. He had not only increased his skill and knowledge of magic but had been given numerous chances to use them in ways he would have never thought of had he not been in such a situation. Not to mention his meeting of Crusher and Sae-Thae who had been invaluable in their own rights.

  With a nod to Crusher Thad activated the new camouflage shield and took down the wall that had protected them from the Vathari. Thanks to some of his magical eyes placed around the outside of their home he had known the coast was clear before they started out. In fact over the past few days the number of roving Vathari troops had diminished by half. He wasn’t sure if that meant they were widening their search or had given up searching for them altogether.

  Crusher took the lead, moving slowly easily allowing the three to move while staying inside the bracelets protective ring. It was easy to tell that the dwarf knew where he was going as there was no hesitation when he chose his route. A few times they did have to back out of a tight tunnel to let a group of Vathari warriors pass by but other than that everything was going smoothly.

  The only real problem Thad could see was when it came time to stop. If they couldn’t find a good place then they might well find themselves surrounded when they dropped their protective walls in the morning. The thought nagged at him a little as they moved through the tunnels but not having any real control over the situation Thad tried to let it go and enjoy the simple walk.

  Avalanche walked next to Crusher bouncing around enjoying being in the open tunnels again even if she wasn’t allowed to roam far. She was quite handy too as she alerted him to the presence of the Vathari long before Thad could see them. Sometimes Thad could tell that she wanted to run off and play with the Vathari but a stern look from Crusher was all it took to make her quiet back down with a slight whimper. Watching the two of them reminded Thad much of how Joan and her grandkids carried on with each other sometimes.

  The further they moved, the more obvious of a presence the Vathari made. There were plenty of soldiers but mostly what they saw were workers mining ore from what appeared to be a very rich mine. Every time they passed one of the carts loaded down Thad could see Crusher’s shoulders tense. A few times Thad even feared the dwarf would kill a stray Vathari worker for daring to steal from the dwarven mines. Luckily the dwarf had been able to hold his temper but Thad could tell that it was harder each time easy prey showed up.

  His feet aching and nerves shot Thad was more than happy when Crusher led them to a small tunnel that dead ended and signaled for him to put up their protective wall. The tunnel wasn’t very wide so Thad had to place the wall almost near the entrance to allow enough space for all of them to be able to lie down.

  Having had his own room over the last few days Thad had forgotten how loudly the dwarf snored. Usually as tired as he was from working it wouldn’t have mattered how loud the noise was, but tonight it seemed as if the dwarf was doing it right next to his ear. Thad tried to position his arms over his ears and while that worked for a time it was hard to sleep and hold the position. Tossing and turning as he tried everything to block out the noise Thad finally fell into a deep sleep.

  Thad woke the next morning to Crusher kicking him lightly in his back. Turning to face the dwarf Thad gave him a sour look. He still felt tired much more so than when he had first lay down to sleep and wanted nothing else than to continue to rest. Turning back over Thad pulled his bedroll over his head to block out even the sight of the burly dwarf but it was to no avail as he was continuously prodded until he relented and got up from his comfy bed.

  After he cleared the sleepiness from his mind he understood why Crusher was so insistent he wake. Outside their protective wall there was an obvious plethora of activity. Cursing himself for not placing one of his magical eyes outside of their cubbyhole Thad moved over and placed his ear against the cold metal wall.

  From what he could hear a large number of Vathari had massed outside and were nosily talking about something. He wasn’t sure what it was for certain but he had a suspicion it was the magical wall that wasn’t there the day before. The last time they had put up the wall it had been made to look like the walls around it. In his own error Thad had placed the wall up without checking the heat patterns and matching them to the existing ones. It was a huge oversight one it seems didn’t escape the notice of the Vathari.

  Thad turned to Crusher and motioned for them to use the disguised shield and take down the wall and sneak out but Crusher simply shook his head. Thad let out a heavy sigh he doubted it would work either the only thing it would accomplish was wasting the bracelets stores of magic. That only left one other option. Pulling his sword from its scabbard Thad braced himself for the coming battle.

  Crusher had a large smile on his face while Avalanche bounced around happily anticipating the coming fun. Thad returned his friends smile as the wall shrunk back down into a small ball revealing nearly fifteen Vathari warriors on the other side.

  It would have been easy to hold the small tunnel for a long time where only one enemy could get at them at a time. The only problem was that time wasn’t on their side. Sooner or later they would tire and the enemies’ numbers were far beyond anything they could hope to match. Their only real chance was to break through and hope they could distance themselves from the Vathari and disappear into the darkness.

  As soon as the wall vanished Thad let loose a large bolt of lightning following right behind it swinging at any of the Vathari standing in his way. The close quarters worked against the Vathari who had no way to escape the magical attack or the brute force that followed it. Within mere moments all of them lay dead, and Thad hoped that would be the end. As soon as they broke into the open cavern beyond, they found themselves surrounded by more soldiers than one could easily count.

  The companions stopped dead in their tracks as they came to realize the situation they were in. Looking over to Crusher Thad shrugged his shoulders and gave the dwarf a strained smile, and then rushed toward the largest group of enemies. Crusher and Avalanche followed his lead and each chose their own target. Sometimes it was useful to fight as a group but each of the three had their own fighting style and in their case it usually got in the others way.

  There were a little over twenty Vathari in the group Thad had chosen. When he was only a dozen steeps away Thad pointed his left hand at the creatures in front of him. Wanting to try
his new enchanted weapon he let loose with a magical force wave that tore through the enemies. While the attack didn’t do a lot of damage it did knock the Vathari from their feet giving him a distinct starting advantage.

  Thad ran by three of the downed Vathari making quick cuts to their throat before they could regain their footing. It didn’t really seem sporting but Thad couldn’t really afford to let the chance slip by. Shortly after he finished off the third of the downed warriors enough of the others had gotten to the feet and began to engage him in close combat.

  As he dodged a sword blow that cut too close for comfort to his head Thad had the urge to trigger his shield forcibly but he held himself back. He had designed the new shield so it only activated when he was in danger but it was still untested and that fact still tugged on his mind. If it didn’t work he still had two of his shield rings on, but that would do him little good if the first blow he took was a fatal one. Shaking his worries from his mind Thad pressed his attack focusing on only his enemies and his own attacks.

  Thad found himself engaged by four of the Vathari while the others held back waiting for their chance to strike. They were pressing him hard and as soon as he blocked one attack he had to reposition for another. Thad had little choice but to use magic to help even the odds but even getting the time to use a spell was difficult. He had never used one before while he was also engaged in close combat but if any time was the right time to try it was now.

  Parrying a blow to his side Thad slid his lead foot back dodging another strike Thadsummoned his staff to his hand quickly holding it over his head to block a Vathari sword that threatened to split his skull. As soon as the sword struck the staff Thad sent a pulse of magic through it and into the unfortunate warrior that held it, tearing his arm from his body.

  The magical attack only gave him a brief window to act but Thad was waiting on it and quickly racked the group of waiting Vathari with a massive stream of fire. The warriors who escaped the fiery blaze rushed him, forcing him to once again take a defensive position. Luckily, as they had before, all the Vathari gave his staff a great deal of space whenever he used it for an attack.

  Swinging his staff Thad forced the Vathari to step back then jumped in with a quick thrust to the nearest enemy. The warriors quickly parried his blow but the creature’s eyes were fixated with what Thad was doing with his staff making it easy for Thad to let his sword slide down as he pivoted his feet knocking the warrior off balance, gracing Thad with a clear shot at his exposed side.

  His sword slid easily between the Vathari’s ribs puncturing its heart. Thad knew the warrior was dead long before it stopped moving. Kicking the dead body from his sword Thad turned expecting to see another attacking advancing, instead Thad found that they were all backing away slowing keeping their eyes pinned on him.

  Thad wasn’t sure what was going on until two robed figures stepped from the shadows and calmly approached him. They were taller than him by nearly a foot and neither carried a weapon as far as Thad could tell but the long robes they wore could easily hide something within its heavy folds.

  Taking a few deep breaths Thad readied himself. He was sure that they were either mages like himself or what Sae-Thae had called priests. All he really knew about their magic was that it was limited to the use of the darkness element. That didn’t mean there still wasn’t a lot they could do with it. Their people had been around and training mages for centuries and had most likely had spells that he couldn’t even fathom. All he could really do was stand and wait to see what his counterparts did and hope that he could match them blow for blow. It would have sat better with him if it wasn’t already to his disadvantage, having to fight two against one.

  The air was tense as the three men stared at each other no more than a handful of paces apart. Thad watched as one of the Vathari lifted up his arm and held out a closed fist toward him. Unsure of what to suspect Thad let his magical sight take over. What he saw nearly made him turn and run. A great blanket of magical energy was reaching toward him like a ghostly hand.

  Thad raised his staff using his own magic to try and mimic what he saw in front of him. It was far from perfect but it looked to be stalling the other mage’s efforts. While he was focused on the one mage the other one sent another stream of what looked like a large black fireball. With all his magical efforts on the first mage Thad nearly panicked when the large ball of black flame slammed into him. His shield activated forcing the fireball to break around him though the sheer force of it still forced him back a few steps.

  Not wanting to stay on the defensive Thad triggered his bracelet sending out a ball of force toward the first Vathari mage. When the ball of force was only a few heartbeats away from striking the mage let his attack dissipate and put up a shield of his own. Thad didn’t relent now that he had a moment and sent lightning streaking toward both of the mages. It struck against their shield filling the cavern with multicolored lights.

  As soon as his lightning attack stopped, both mages working as one, sending dozens of small black bolts of energy toward him. The magical bolts tore into Thad’s shield hitting it hard. Thad tried to reinforce it but he was too slow as one of the bolts struck him in the left shoulder blasting a small hole and knocking him to the ground.

  When Thad hit the ground his sword skidded from his hand and flew to the far side of the room. His first instinct was to race for the sword but he fought against it as he jumped to his feet. He knew the blade was next to useless against a mage but having it in his hand had been reassuring. He was losing and badly against the mages one on one he might stand a chance but it was only a matter of time before the two overpowered him.

  As soon as Thad got to his feet he noticed that the mages were already busy casting their next spell and from the amount of magical energies the two were absorbing it was going to be a strong one. Thad tried to think of anything that might work when he remember his other sword. He wasn’t sure why he had forgotten about it in the first place. Wasting no time Thad pulled the sword from its scabbard and took his position awaiting whatever the Vathari were going to throw at him.

  Thad didn’t have to wait long to find out. From the ground a massive creature of shadow began to crawl up from the ground. Examining it he found that it was more illusion than real but he knew from his own experience that the mages could add substance whenever they desired. It was a brilliant idea normal spells would pass right through it as long as it was a base illusion. He guessed that one of the mages was holding the illusion while the other would make it more solid when and where it was needed.

  Thad pushed the pain from his injured shoulder aside and charged toward the two mages. They were obviously well trained as they didn’t even flinch as he rushed at them instead their shadow monster moved to intercept him. The shadow creature was easily twice his size but Thad figured that would work to his advantage.

  The shadow creature quickly caught up to him and swept one of its massive arms at his back. Thad dived to the side in a tight roll. When his shoulder hit the ground he cried out in pain. Getting to his feet Thad found the creature had already adjusted for his move and was swinging its giant fist straight down toward his head.

  Thad instinctively raised his sword to block the blow. When the shadow creature’s fist made contact with the blade of Thad’s sword, it dissipated as if the sword was a light chasing away the darkness. The shadow creature stepped back and Thad hear a scream from his side. Looking over he saw one of the mages holding his head as blood ran from his nose. Thad had been on the business end of that feeling before. It was never pleasant when you were the subject of magical backlash when a spell failed prematurely.

  Knowing what to do Thad advanced on the shadow creature dodging its attacks and striking at any target that presented itself. Each time his blade met with the shadow he could hear the satisfying scream of one of the mages behind him. He continued to press the attack until the walking shadow dissipated back into the surrounding darkness.

  With the mages
construct out of commission Thad turned his attention back to its creators. Both of the mages were wide eyed, the fear they felt plainly displayed on their faces as Thad advanced on them. One of the mages turned and tried to run but Thad wasn’t in the mood to let him escape and hurled a massive fireball at the fleeing man. He must have been weakened more than Thad had realized as the flaming ball overtook the mage quickly engulfing him leaving only a charred husk behind.

  The remaining mage was visibly sweating and looked as if he was on the verge of panic himself. The mage began to throw more of the black blots toward him but what few got past his shield dissipated when they reached him. Thad now understood why the Brotherhood had such an easy time hunting down mages of great power. With a sword that absorbed any direct effect magic a small group of soldiers could be devastating at close range.

  With every step Thad took the mage became more agitated and pushed his magic harder. Thad could see as the Vathari began to sway. He had used up more than he could handle and now was fighting out of pure fear. Thad took pity on the mage and hastened his pace. Then with one clean stroke Thad removed the doomed warriors head from his shoulders.

  CHAPTER XXI

  Thad turned to see that the Vathari who had witnessed the battle had no urge to engage him in combat. Shrugging his shoulders Thad turned to and scanned the room to see how his companions were holding out.