They had seen Oween and Nalack before their joining the circle of resurrected, but it was still a surprising sight and the dim light inside the tent helped make them even more noticeable.
"What are you doing here with them?" the warlock questioned genuinely confused. He never brought Stasia and Talia along. Even Sylvaine had only joined him a few times before crossing to another point.
"Is the battle close? It sounds like we have room between us and the fighting."
Oween nodded. "Unless something unusual happens, we should be safe enough here. They've been content with fighting over the second valley from here. It is perhaps a mile away."
"Good. You two can help protect them if something happens with the battle. I need to go back and help the emperor."
The resurrected warlock's eyes widened and she asked, "Is there an attack on Ensolus... during winter?"
"Sylvaine can tell you what we know, but I need to get back to the emperor's fortress to protect him and his sister."
Not waiting for anymore words of delay, Palose made a new gate jumping back to the cave city.
The dark mage stopped inside his house in the human quarter and felt for magic as his senses restored from the trip. He drew back in surprise feeling numerous auras closing on his home. They seemed to react to his presence and Palose looked beyond them as he changed his gate to a new destination.
He could see them running towards the house and knew that Sebastian had likely pointed his former refuge from Atrouseon as a place to eliminate. An explosion of fire exploded through his door making the dark mage frown. If the house had been made of wood, he doubted that he would return to anything, but much of it was stone.
It didn't really matter anymore. Palose doubted that they would be able to return. Kolban's orders made him think that this battle wouldn't go the emperor's way this time.
He disappeared through the portal and his nose was the first to bring him the smell of death. Looking around, those in charge of the city burners were nowhere to be found. It was too early.
There were still dead bodies covered with canvas sheets on a number of carts. Winter killed more than any other natural causes during this time of year thanks to the cold and disease. It was a bad thing for those weak enough to succumb, but it also meant that the orcs running the furnaces had fallen behind.
Summoning a powerful spell, Palose did something that had once been just a spell in a book for him. Finding Sylvaine dead thanks to nomads south of Ensolus, he had first used the spell to send undead to kill everyone responsible. He had heard the reports later. An entire village had died before his spell ran its course returning the souls to death.
He had made soldiers for the front in Litsarin led by his wraiths since then, but this would be more like the first spell.
"Go, stop the intruders from Southwall," he ordered the dozen dead men and women. Most were old. A few were children and the understanding of those raised was limited either way. Even his words were mostly unnecessary. They were mute beasts, monsters in fact. They would follow his mind's intent without speaking and even weak elderly and children would become weapons which could kill.
Watching them walk off without much ambition, he knew that they would find the men and women of Southwall and slow them down. Soldiers might fall, but mages and wizards had magic to destroy his new creations. Still they were something to distract the enemy.
Sounds of combat could be heard in the distance. Palose thought that something looked different with the silhouette of Ensolus and he called on his vision spell. To the south, dust rose keeping the early light of sunrise from entering the dark city. Even through the dust, he could see that the towers and walls had been damaged.
To the west, however, he was surprised to see the building housing the main portal rooms of Ensolus collapsed. The enemy had figured out a way to prevent much assistance from coming from outside the cave. The fallen towers would slow the garrisons outside the city, while the gate wizards inside the portal rooms were now likely dead and the gates broken. Without them as tethers to Ensolus, it would take warlocks with his expertise to open them in other places.
Even Palose didn't know the gates of the empire's other cities to bring help, so it was doubtful that more would come. Perhaps he could return to the battlefield and bring someone from there?
He could sense the auras of more wizards and mages headed his way to follow the street along the lake. Palose made a new gate. This one led to a place that he had never gone before. It led to a room within the emperor's fortress.
The dark mage disappeared before anyone spotted him, but the puppets he had raised found the enemy attacking them with the vengeance of the dead.
Sebastian killed an orc. Many doors had been jammed shut, but the warning bells had set the hornets' nest on fire bringing the orcs and goblins of the fortress garrison to life. Now magic and swords had to kill the smaller monsters of the emperor as they attacked.
Some cowered and hid, but too many of the creatures were out with their weapons delaying his force greatly. Worse, they had lost a few good men to wounds or death. The enemy had surprising numbers here.
Gerid moved close and swatted an orc aside with a club. "Can you sense the emperor?" the giant asked holding his left side.
Fire and other spells lit up a group of orcs. Magnus with four other dragon mages worked as a team near the two men. Falconi Martina took point as the only battle mage among them. Her use of the Hollow Sword as just a steel weapon was enough to shatter entire lines of orcs, but charged with elemental spells, the sword wreaked havoc before her.
"Cover me a moment," he told the giant. His sight was increased with his magic and the mage found the strongest sources in two points above them. "There are two extremely strong warlocks above us. The strongest is likely the emperor."
"Can you slip away and make sure that he doesn't escape? Take a small team and cut through to him. The rest of us will handle this and spread out as planned."
He doubted that only a few men could stop the emperor. The Dark One had survived over and over, even when those before him had believed his evil ended. Gerid had told him of a small force that had sent him to the void from the elves old world. Darius had been there as well as a couple other immortals and a dwarf king in his special armor.
They didn't have the magical items of that band, but they had the magic and skill of battle mages and the wizards of Southwall. Gerid and Darius still thought that they had a chance. He had one more trick up his sleeve to deal with the Dark One as well, so maybe they could do it. The mage knew the people he needed most.
"I'll take the dragon mages with me. Try and catch up when you can," the owl stated and slid through the fighting like a dancer on the dance floor.
"Magnus, Martina, we need to go!" he called loud enough for them to hear.
"We're kind of busy, Bas," Magnus retorted using the Hollow Sword to amplify his magic. Sebastian had outfitted the wizards with him with more of the weapons, while Martina had been using one since the dragon mages joined the fight in Litsarin.
"We need to go or the Dark One will escape," he warned.
Falconi Martina turned to order, "Follow him, Magnus."
Sebastian added, "The others can handle this. We just need to cut through to the stairs and get to the emperor."
"Just," Magnus scoffed, but the wizard joined him as the two battle mages turned up their attack taking point to drive through the enemy before them.
Sebastian used his powerful rune shield first bullying the creatures out of their way. Martina and the others cut at any who tried to get behind the owl as his sword slashed forward sending a fiery swath through the heart of those in front of him. They were the furthest forward of his people and the mage watched as orcs and goblins screamed flailing at the fire or rolled on the floor in front of them. Moments later, they found the stairs.
With the wizards and mages behind them pushing back any orc fool enough to pursue them back down the stairs, Sebastian led t
he way forward. A door at the top was locked. Apparently the enemy had moved ahead of them to try and stop the infiltration force from going any further.
The Hollow Sword paired with a charge of fire tore through the heavy wood door like it was paper. Splinters and chunks of wood sprayed outward into a small group of guards hoping to keep them at bay.
Some fell from the fury which had destroyed the door, but there was still fight in the others. They wore the treated black armor of wizard hunters and absorbed the elemental spells like fire. The splinters of wood had slid off the metal armor and swords were leveled towards the six coming up from below.
"Light," Sebastian ordered dragging the sword along the floor bringing the power of the earth into the sword as it rang against the stone.
His sword met the enemy and slashes to their shields and armor left gashes in their defenses quickly. The others called light to their swords as well. Only Magnus slid the sword along the floor copying the mage. He had figured out the trick as well. Sebastian only hoped that the fire wizard didn't make the mistake of using the power within himself. His destruction magic would be increased, but the repercussions would shorten the man's life significantly from Darius' many repeated warnings.
He couldn't worry over the fire wizard now, however, as the fighting intensified. They were slowed, but the enemy was too few here. Leaving the dead, the dragon mages moved forward drawn towards the powerful aura of the emperor.
Chapter 33- The Emperor's Magic
Palose discovered the room to be a disturbingly feminine display. Acheri looked ready to fight wearing a simple shirt and her underwear. The dagger in her hand had a jeweled handle, but the blade looked real enough.
"Palose, thank the gods," he heard her say as his vision continued to clear. The ongoing use of gates made his mind clear faster, but his vision remained a little blurry beyond the initial affects.
"Kolban told me to take you out of harm's reach. Get dressed and gather whatever clothes you want that you can carry. We need to leave quickly."
Her face tightened angrily and the princess waved the knife at him as she refused. "No, I must go to Kolban. My brother will need me. The enemy might have a chance against one of us, but not both of us."
Palose moved close. It was part of the emperor's instructions to the resurrection man. He grasped the girl's left hand, the one with the shining ring and said, "We must go. He was emphatic that you shouldn't try to help him this time."
"Palose, I am warning you! He is my brother... and me... I can't leave him!" she shook her head vehemently. Her dark, blue eyes looked a little confused. Acheri was both a part of the emperor and a separate being. He was her brother and yet they had once been whole.
He lifted her hand to his lips and said, "It will be alright."
Kissing the ring, he watched Acheri's eyes glaze over before rolling back in her head. Her bare legs turned to liquid collapsing the girl who he barely managed to catch in his arms. Her physical reaction wasn't the thing that perplexed him the most.
While her ring flashed brightly it caused him to close his eyes for risk of being blinded, but when he reopened them Palose easily noticed that Acheri's aura had dimmed. Looking at any of the siblings was like looking at the sun even without trying to look for their auras. Now he could find magic just above that of a normal battle mage. Her ring flashed and he noted the power of her magic echoed there as her full strength for a moment before it disappeared.
A woman, one of the princess's hand maids, came into the room and saw the mage holding the girl.
"Kolban sent me for the princess. She just collapsed for some reason. Maybe the strain of worrying over the warning bells was too much for her?"
The woman didn't cry out or sound the alarm. She walked closer and he noticed that she carried a bag to them.
"The emperor had me make this bag for her. He said to give it to you when you came for her," she stated looking unsure what else to say.
"Did he say for you to come?" the mage asked unsure of whether her handmaid was part of the deal.
The older woman shook her head.
"Then do your best to hide yourself. The enemy is within the city," Palose warned before calling up another gate.
He took the bag after throwing Acheri over his shoulder. She remained in her state of undress, but it wouldn't matter. The princess could be taken care of where they were going anyway. They went through the portal disappearing from Ensolus again.
Shaking his head, the dark mage struggled to clear his senses and noted that it must be his need for food and drink. Too many gates and the necromantic spell were beginning to take their toll on the man.
"Palose?" Sylvaine questioned seeing his portal back into his command tent.
Setting the bag down, Palose then carried Acheri to a cot set up in the tent. There were more for his team of wraiths and warlocks, but he only needed the one.
"I need some food and drink," the mage said sitting down on a cot next to the one holding the princess.
"What is wrong with her?" Sylvaine asked as Oween moved to bring him some food and a pitcher of drink.
"I did as the emperor told me. I kissed the ring on her hand and then she seemed to lose most of her power. He must have set up a charm to dispel most of her magic. If she isn't as powerful, maybe Kolban thought that she would be more manageable while I take care of her?" he finished taking a cup of juice and a thick sandwich filled with meat, cheese, and vegetables that the warlock quickly made for him.
Sylvaine looked around them and he could hear the sounds of war.
"Is the battle getting closer?" he asked.
Nodding to him, it was Oween who answered, "The enemy made a strong push. Nalack told us only a few moments ago that he could see some of our forces in retreat. The enemy is following slowly probably to catch their breath and regroup."
Taking a deep breath, Palose finished the bite and said to Oween, "Let the others know that we are pulling back to the tent. Are they in the battle yet?"
"We kept them back as reinforcements. I don't think the other commanders appreciated it, but if your undead soldiers are the last line of defense to save their lives, they won't cry about it then."
Shaking his head, he stated, "You and Nalack are going with the girls to protect them at the safe house. I'll take the rest back to Ensolus and see if we can help the emperor push Southwall back. They're inside the fortress already."
The women around him gasped at the revelation. It was unheard of to even think that the emperor could be defeated. Ensolus was supposed to be impregnable.
"Get the others back here including the puppet men," he ordered the warlock. Oween was co-leader with Nalack, though Balish and Tongold were the combat leaders since they were soldiers, so they would know to pull back at her word.
As the warlock left them, Sylvaine asked, "I thought that you were just supposed to get her to safety. Won't he be angry if you go back?"
"You're more worried that I am going back and could get killed," he replied with a grim smile.
"I can't resurrect you if you die. The books don't even say if that is possible. Can someone once raised, die and come back again? Have you done that yet?"
He shook his head. "I'm not sure anyone has since all the other resurrection men were killed because of the distrust of their masters or because they had turned dangerous."
That brought up the unasked question of whether the magic would turn them mad or if history was merely written by those who wished to keep others from using the magic. The masters said that they were dangerous, but from Atrouseon's suspicious mental state at the end, he wouldn't doubt that many had never turned evil or dangerous at all.
It was a problem for another time, so Palose said, "Just get ready. After a moment for the food to kick in, I'll send you all to New Oapril."
"Your safe house is in Southwall?" the girl asked him incredulously.
"I doubt anyone will start looking for us there too soon. It isn't the only one I have,
but I am still working on finding a better one for us. We'll be fine there for a time."
"And what about her?" Sylvaine asked of the unconscious princess.
He shrugged and replied, "We take care of her like Kolban asked."
Elzen watched the approaching warlocks with interest. They would seem to be moving at a leisurely pace for the casual observer, but he doubted that they had the conditioning of a battle mage or Southwall soldier. Running haphazardly towards the emperor's castle, if they were even sure where the danger announced by the bells was, would only serve to make them easy targets to an enemy. Instead of running, the warlocks had moved out in groups of twenty spread out five across and four deep. More units had split to parallel streets with other groups staying back cautiously following the one before it.
Their numbers were in the hundreds, but the mage could see the young students looking nervously at their veteran leadership. These weren't all seasoned warlocks or wizard hunters. Kids younger than Elzen by several years looked more ready to hold their elders hands in fear than fight, but he wouldn't discount that these were all warlocks even so.
"Ready an attack," the falcondi in charge of his group said quietly. They had yet to be noticed in the dim light of the city. Spires cast even darker shadows and only mage sight or Sebastian's runes on the soldiers could dissipate the darkness of early morning in the cave.
"There are children with them. Do we try going easy on them?" an air wizard he didn't know asked in turn.
A sigh preceded the falcondi's opinion, "They are all our enemies. If you go easy on them, they might kill you when you turn away or kill one of your allies here."
The closest group stalled bumping into each other as those behind the front row failed to still see them. Warlocks began to cast their spells and the falcondi responded in kind.
"Take them down," the man ordered before the night lit up with fire.
Other spells joined in and battle mages armed with the owl's runes formed their shields before their outstretched left arms. Night shields and the blue of the original mage shields created a strangely colored wall that received the first barrage before the mages charged.
Battle Mage Visions (A Tale of Alus Book 12) Page 47