The Wizard's Tower 02

by Peter Last

  “Molkekk, leave that man alone.” The command carried so much power with it that Molkekk stopped. Timothy, able to inhale once more, drew a ragged breath. He turned his head and saw a single man walking down the street toward Molkekk.

  The man was covered with golden armor from head to toe, and a golden shield hung on his left arm. He drew a sword with his right hand and held it out in front of him as he advanced. Timothy couldn’t pull his gaze away from the man as he moved forward; something about him was irresistible. From deep inside himself, Timothy realized this was a man who could defeat Molkekk once and for all.

  Fear crossed Molkekk’s face as he watched the man's progress, but it lasted for only a moment. He clenched his fists and hunched his shoulders. Instantly he was surrounded in a cloud of red mist which dissipated quickly to reveal the wizard clothed in a hideous suit of armor. He had no shield, but held a massive claymore in both hands. All of his armor was tinted red, as if it were covered with a fine layer of rust.

  “Let us fight,” Molkekk called as he moved toward the man. “Not even you are powerful enough to match me, and you are the most powerful magician I have ever met.”

  The man in golden armor said nothing as he continued to walk down the street at a measured pace. As he neared Molkekk, he reached up with his sword hand and pulled his visor down to cover his face. Molkekk did the same, and an instant later the two men were at each other’s throats.

  ******

  Cirro and the soldiers with him at the gate watched as Molkekk’s army rushed toward them and braced themselves for the attack. The gates should have been inching closed by now, but they remained steadfastly open to the enemy charge. Most likely the enemy soldiers had sabotaged the gate after they had opened it so that it could not be closed. Cirro knew this would make the battle much harder since the soldiers of Magessa would have to hold the city entrance rather than being able to hide behind their wall. The rest of the soldiers realized this as well, but rather than be cowed by it, they rallied together. They raised their shields and locked them, forming a wall the enemy would be hard pressed to break.

  Molkekk’s soldiers flooded toward the small army of defenders at the gate with battle cries and shouts of victory. The gates to the city stood open to them like waiting arms, and it seemed to them as though they had already won. With the force of a million soldiers, they slammed into the defenders, but to their surprise and anger they were unable to break through the line. The defenders put up such a fight that Molkekk’s soldiers were forced back away from the city. Molkekk’s men were not to be deterred, however, and they rallied for another attack.

  The defenders held their position with a grim determination, knowing that if the enemy gained entrance to the city, the battle would be lost. Standing behind their wall of shields, they slashed and stabbed at the disorderly attacks of the enemy. Four times Molkekk’s soldiers attacked and four times they were driven back.

  They attacked a fifth time, but their attack was different this time. Ogres led the attack with their massive clubs and axes, causing the line of defenders to bow greatly in the middle until it seemed on the verge of breaking. At the last second, the defenders rallied together and drove the attackers back away from the city. The city was still secure, but the defenders were tiring from the force of the enemy’s attacks. Many more of them, and the gate would fall for certain.

  ******

  Timothy had seen skilled warriors fight before, but the fiercest battle he had ever witnessed was nothing compared to this. A ferocity words could not describe was in the movements of both men as they traded blows. They fought up and down the street, neither having any clear advantage that Josiah could see. There was one difference between the two, however. The man in gold was always driving Molkekk before him as they moved. Then, all at once, the tone of the fight changed.

  Never once had Molkekk been in control of the fight, but he had at least held his own against his opponent. Now, however, his offensive strokes became fewer until he was simply fighting for his life, blocking what he could but also receiving many wounds. Then, with a stroke so fast that his sword seemed to blur, the golden man simultaneously batted Molkekk’s sword from his hands and drove him to his knees.

  “Will you yield?” the golden man asked. “This is my only offer of quarter.”

  “I will never yield!” Molkekk shouted and, jerking a knife from his belt, stabbed at his enemy. The man in golden armor blocked the clumsy blow with his shield and ran his own blade directly into Molkekk’s breastplate. The wizard looked down in disbelief at his wound as blood seeped around the blade. He looked up at his opponent, but saw only the unyielding visor of his helmet. The golden knight jerked his blade free from Molkekk’s body and swung hard, slashing through Molkekk’s neck.

  ******

  Cirro overlapped his shield with that of the soldier beside him and waited for the charging soldiers to reach him. He was slightly winded, but the men to either side of him were showing signs of extreme fatigue which seemed to be a trend all along the defending line. The enemy had rotated their soldiers so that a new batch was attacking the gate, and as Cirro raised his sword, he knew this would be the final charge. There was no way he and the other defenders could hold off this attack, not given the condition that they were in.

  Sensing victory was finally within their grasp, the enemy soldiers charged forward with all the speed that they could muster. Cirro watched as they flooded over the ground toward him, and for the first time in a long time, he felt fear. He had always known he might die in battle, but that knowledge had not been complete. In every battle in which he had ever participated, there had been a place to retreat to in case of defeat, but this time there was no place to run.

  In that moment, Cirro knew with startling certainty that he was going to die. The faces of the soldiers rushing toward him came into focus, and he saw that they were almost exclusively goblins. Well, he would dispatch as many of the filthy creatures as he could before succumbing to their weapons.

  The distance between the defenders and the attackers dwindled from fifty feet to forty, then to thirty. In a moment they were twenty feet away, then only ten. Cirro raised his sword, but just as the soldiers came within striking distance, they began to buckle and fall as if they had been struck down by arrows. Cirro saw that only the goblins were falling, leaving the dwarves, orcs, and ogres for the defenders to deal with, but even so the enemy army was left in shambles. The soldiers who managed to reach the gate were cut down amidst a roar of victory from the defenders, and the rest, seeing the bulk of their army destroyed in an instant, turned and fled.

  The defenders raised a deafening shout of triumph as a squad of dragons finally entered the battle. They chased after the fleeing soldiers, killing them in scores. The dragons of Molkekk were nowhere to be seen, and Cirro surmised that they had fled along with the rest of the army. With a yell, Cirro raised his sword and led the soldiers of Magessa after their enemies.

  ******

  Senndra watched in stunned silence as the decapitated body of Molkekk toppled forward at the golden knight’s feet. She had begun to think the wizard was unbeatable, yet this knight had easily defeated him. The golden knight crouched beside his fallen opponent whose armor had disappeared as soon as he had been dispatched. Carefully he wiped his soiled blade on the wizard’s clothes before sheathing his weapon. Then he stood to his feet and removed his helmet.

  Senndra tried to focus on the man's face, but her vision started to blur. She tried to force herself to a sitting position, but the world swam in front of her eyes. She fell backward and felt her head connect painfully with something. Her mouth felt dry, and no words came out when she tried to speak. She saw two faces appear and look down at her, but by now she was fighting just to keep her eyes open. Blackness flooded across her vision. She pushed it back, and for a moment she saw the face of the golden knight clearly before the blackness flooded back, this time for good.

  ******

  As the golden kn
ight pulled the rubble off of Josiah, Timothy turned his attention to Senndra. She had passed out by now, but was muttering to herself as she slept. He rushed to her and knelt by her side. A wound just above the knee on the inside of her left leg gushed blood, and it was evident that if it was not dealt with quickly, she would bleed out.

  Timothy unbuckled the armor from Senndra’s leg and slit the leg of her pants to a point above the gash. Next he ripped a strip from the bottom of his shirt and pressed it against the wound. The blood saturated the cloth almost instantly and stained both of his hands. A cold fear began to build up inside of him, and he started to rip another strip from his shirt, but before he could, more cloth was shoved into his hands. He didn’t look back to see who had given him the cloth, but instead placed it over the wound and applied pressure.

  Blood soaked the cloth in less than a minute, and Timothy’s fear increased at the sight of Senndra bleeding out in front of him. He turned to find more cloth when Nathan knelt down opposite him. The elf motioned for Timothy to take his hands off of Senndra, so he rocked back on his heels, clenching and unclenching his hands. The elf closed his eyes and ran his hand over the wound. Finally he sat back and shook his head slowly.

  “If she weren’t hurt so badly, I could probably help her,” he said softly. “If I were a better magician, I might be able to help her, but as it is, she’s lost so much blood already that there’s nothing I can do.”

  “You have to be able to do something,” Timothy said, almost angrily.

  Nathan shook his head sadly and stood to his feet. He watched as Timothy clasped Senndra’s pale hand and let his tears drip onto her. Nathan wished he could do something to help, and for the hundredth time cursed his lack of skill with magic. He could no longer bear the scene and averted his eyes, but as he turned away, his gaze fell on the golden knight. He was standing a dozen feet away, watching the events unfold. Suddenly Nathan remembered how the man had defeated Molkekk, and he began to hope. Perhaps this man could do something to help Senndra.

  “Can you help her?” Nathan asked simply. “Please.”

  The man appeared to have been only waiting for the request and strode the few steps to Senndra. Easily lifting her limp body in his arms, he carried the fallen heroine away from the battle scene.

  Fifteen

  “She’s awake!”

  Senndra rubbed her eyes and tried to sit up, but found herself smothered by someone hugging her. The situation was awkward, and Senndra was glad when the person finally let go. She looked up to see the smiling face of Rita. Despite the pain in her leg, she was able to force herself up into a sitting position.

  “Well, look who’s back among the living.”

  Senndra turned and saw a small crowd standing by the other side of her bed. She could see Petra, Lydia, and Rita, but it was Cirro who had spoken. He was dirty, and a multitude of bruises and cuts adorned his body, but something else struck Senndra. He had worn armor almost the entire time since Molkekk’s army attacked Magessa, but now he was without it. Neither did he have a sword at his hip; it had been replaced with a small dagger.

  “What’s up? Is the war over?” Senndra asked jokingly.

  “As a matter of fact, yes, it is,” Cirro answered with a light tone Senndra had not heard in the last several months. “Most of Molkekk’s army was composed of goblins, and as soon as he died, they died as well. Seeing the bulk of their force perish before their eyes, the rest of the soldiers turned tail and ran. Our dragons are out tracking them down now, but most of them have fled Magessa already.”

  “It’s really over?” Senndra asked. The statement hardly seemed possible. “Molkekk is dead?”

  “Yes, he is really dead,” Rita said. “I still find it hard to believe myself, though I saw it with my own eyes.”

  “What about everyone who challenged him?” Senndra asked as she craned her neck to see everyone who was crowded around her bed. “I don’t see everyone, though I guess it wouldn’t make sense for them to come see me. They’re fine though, right?”

  “Josiah escaped with his life even though he was fairly beat up,” Petra explained. “Nathan is fine, though heaven knows where he is. Sadly, Wellter didn’t make it. He was dead when we found him; we think he died instantly when Molkekk’s darkness overcame him.”

  “That’s too bad,” Senndra said after a long moment of silence. “He was a good man and a talented magician. It was only because of him that any of us are here today, I think.”

  “That’s the truth,” Cirro affirmed. “From what I hear, if he hadn’t confronted Molkekk when he did, you would have all been history by the time the golden knight showed up.”

  “Where is the golden knight?” Senndra asked. “I would like to thank him. I’m not certain, but I think I owe him my life.”

  “You do,” Rita said. “You have a nasty wound on your leg from your bout with Molkekk, and nobody could do anything about it. You were bleeding so much that you almost died. I don’t know what the man did, but what I do know is that you would be dead by now if it weren’t for him. We don’t know what happened to him; he disappeared shortly after he killed Molkekk.”

  Slowly Senndra shook her head at the sudden deluge of news. It was almost too much to take in all at once. Strangely, though, she had the feeling that she was forgetting something.

  “Timothy!” she blurted out suddenly.

  “He’s alright,” Lydia assured her. “He’s been at your side since the battle. He just slipped out to get some food.”

  “Tell me again that the war is over,” Senndra said to no one in particular. “After that, pinch me to make sure I’m awake.”

  “The war is over, Senndra,” Cirro said and pinched her as hard as he could.

  “You didn’t have to pinch me that hard, you brute,” Senndra complained and playfully shoved him.

  “Just wanted to make sure you were actually awake,” Cirro shot back. “It would suck if you weren’t because that would make me a figment of your imagination.”

  Senndra was about to spout off a comeback when a familiar figure pushed through the crowd. Timothy looked worn out, but he still held his head high and his eyes were still bright. He held a steaming mug in one hand and a pastry in the other. Evidently he had not noticed Senndra.

  “She’s awake, idiot,” Petra said.

  “What?” Timothy asked. He caught sight of Senndra at the same moment and was so startled that he spilled his mug all over himself. With a yelp and a curse, he dropped the pastry and mug and swiped the hot liquid off of himself. The smell engulfed Senndra.

  “I didn’t think you drank coffee,” she said.

  “I don’t, but it does wonders for keeping a person awake,” Timothy said. “I’m pretty much running on fumes right now.”

  “Well, don’t make it a habit,” Senndra said. “It’ll stain your teeth funny colors.”

  “I’m a magician,” Timothy shot back. “If my teeth get stained, I’ll just turn them white again.”

  “With your affinity for destruction magic, I’d be worried about losing a few of them in the process. Besides, that’s a frivolous use of magic,” Senndra teased. “Couldn’t that turn you into an evil wizard like Molkekk?”

  Her face suddenly darkened as her own words jogged her memory.

  “But you already work for him, don’t you?” she said.

  The laughter which the witty banter had aroused in the others was cut off suddenly. Timothy’s expression said this was a subject he wanted to avoid, yet he knew it would come up eventually.

  “Can you give us some time alone?” he said to the others. They nodded and quickly left the make-shift hospital. It wasn’t quite as private as Timothy had hoped, with all of the other patients around, but it would have to do. He sat down on the bed next to Senndra's.

  “This wasn’t the way I wanted you to find out…” he began, but Senndra cut him off.

  “You weren’t ever going to tell me, were you?” she accused.

  “I was going to, I j
ust didn’t know how,” Timothy said. “How do you tell someone you really like that you’ve been working for the bad guy all along? Worse, how do you tell her you’ve been working for the man who killed her father?”

  “There's no good way to tell someone that because it’s unthinkable,” Senndra retorted.

  “It’s not what you think,” Timothy explained. “There’s a lot more to this situation than you know.”

  “I know you work for Molkekk,” Senndra said. “What more is there to explain?”

  “I used to work for him,” Timothy said. “And then, two days ago, I helped defeat him for good. I don’t expect you to like me after this or even to forgive me, but I want to explain so you understand.”

  “If you really think you have an explanation good enough, go ahead,” Senndra said and crossed her arms.

  “Six months ago, when you found out I was a magician, I told you that if you wanted to be my friend you had to realize I still had secrets. These are the secrets I was referring to; I now have nothing left to hide.

  “Do you remember the story I told you? About my early years as a magician? Well, what I told you was completely true, minus a few details. Gillian pulled strings to get me into the academy at Belvárd and sent me there. The trip was long, and I was alone. My family happened to live on the way, so I made a detour to visit them. When Gillian had rescued me, I was unsure how my actions would affect my family, so I never told him about them. Consequently, he didn’t anticipate the detour, but I figured that it couldn’t hurt. I was wrong.

  “My activities as a young magician had attracted a lot of attention and not the good kind. It turns out that Molkekk had been looking for a person with my particular talents to perform a task for him. Evidently I fit the bill perfectly. By the time he got to me, I had turned to Elohim, and an attempt to entice me with power would have failed. Consequently, he was forced to try a different tact. His agents followed me and invaded my family's home. They took my family into captivity and threatened them with bodily injury if I didn't obey Molkekk's orders.”