Sebastian hadn't either, but like his sister, the mage had taken to it without being shown much or having been tested for fear.
At Ashleen's dismissal of her, Serrena frowned and seemed to puff herself up slightly as she retorted, "I think that I could do it, if I tried."
"Katya has been trying to convince me to learn as well," the dark haired Ylena mused. Her blue eyes looked surprisingly confident. "I could convince you to let me try," the girl added with a smile.
Knowing that his rune protected him from her magic, Sebastian supposed that Ylena could try to convince him in more mundane ways as well. "If you two want to try here, we can take a few minutes before giving up. You can always stay with the nomads here. It might even be best if just one or two of us go anyway."
Ashleen frowned at him, "You and Elzen are not going to try leaving us behind again. You can't keep trying to protect us all the time Bas, you either, Elzen."
The wilder's words and expression were echoed by Katya, who knew how to fly, and the other two women also. There had been a complaint from Serrena after their trip to Kardor had resulted in all but the fire wizard being truly involved in protecting the city of Tenalin. So far, she had yet to bring the complaint to Sebastian, but Elzen had told him of her problem with it afterwards.
Shrugging in response, the owl gestured towards those who had yet to fly. "Have at it. I can help if you need me to though."
"So gracious," Ashleen retorted with a smirk and stuck her fist in his hard stomach. It was less of a punch than a slight shove since the girl was much lighter than the mage.
It was Katya who actually took over giving a brief, impromptu class on the basics of flying. Serrena and Ylena had both seen others creating dragon wings before, so it wasn't a complete surprise that both wizards managed to create their own after only a few attempts.
"Now either Sebastian or Elzen should help Serrena get started," his little sister stated before calling on the dragon claw spell. It was a roughly pink version matching the wings she had made. Both diplomacy wizards had chosen birdlike wings and Katya stood near her friend and mentor encouraging her before they both lifted into the air with strong beats of their wings.
His sister rose upwards tethered to Ylena and steadied the dark haired wizard as they began a slow pass around the area about thirty feet above the others' heads. Ylena was a little shaky, but with an occasional adjustment given using the dragon's claw, the two managed to begin lifting higher. Likely a test to make certain that the new flyer could handle looking down from greater heights, the two girls continued their flight.
"Ready?" Elzen asked Serrena. Bright red wings of a more dragon like appearance rose from the fire wizard's back. More like a bat than a bird, it was the basis of many flyers since the magic had been brought to Southwall. Cheleya and Kel'lor had come so that the dragon girl might learn the school's magic while trying to figure out a way to break the curse set upon her by one of the Dark One's warlocks. Though Cheleya sometimes varied the styling of her wings; the mar'goyn'lya, or gargoyle to some, always chose what were called dragon wings for his though a gargoyle's wings were similar. As the main teacher of the art, his students tended towards the same; but Katya had learned through watching and had made her own.
Sebastian watched Elzen lift off with another variation that looked like dragonfly wings. A duel pairing, it was based off the ones that the owl used most often. He had also seen the magic and made the spell his own including the styling of his wings.
The pair rose up in a similar way to the girls. Elzen held the claw as a tether, but Serrena appeared steadier than Ylena almost from the start. They soon followed the girls to higher heights testing the fire wizard who seemed to be adapting surprisingly well for her first try. She was almost as good her first try as he had been, Sebastian thought willingly.
"Do you want to join them?" Ashleen asked beside him. A content looking smile sat on her lips.
Again he shrugged. The mage enjoyed flying and the feel of the air around him as he moved. Like the air riding spell, it felt like a kind of freedom that only those who could use such magic could truly understand.
"After you," he offered watching the pretty blonde haired girl nod before calling up light green wings shaped like a dragonfly's.
The six of them spent only about half an hour circling as they drew the attention of the nomads. Though the others were less tested, they eventually flew off to the north before any other nomads could come question what they planned to do.
Chapter 28- Black Fire
Archers on a number of terraces prepared to fire their arrows. Low walls had been created to duck behind and these terraces had been formed using magic above the pass to the east of the mountain containing the caves. Both sides mirrored the other and more of these terraces had been placed on the other side of the mountain as well. There hadn't been enough time to work on defenses south of the valley, but wizards and soldiers stood behind hastily formed embankments ready to send fire bolts and other kinds of magic into the enemy steadily approaching from the north.
Standing on the bridge spanning the pass to the east where the fort had been built in an amazingly short time thanks to the skill of their earth wizards, Kharrik stood next to Haylee who looked extremely nervous. She wasn't overly worried about herself, but her apprentice was hidden above the pass waiting for the possible need to evacuate if their defenses were compromised. Against most foes, the position would be excellent; but this enemy had creatures that could fly as well. It was natural to worry, he thought, especially when you were dealing with a nearly unknown enemy.
The mage's dark blue eyes looked for Xander, but couldn't see him at the moment. Perhaps with enhanced vision he might see the cadet, but the whole point of the terraces was to be less conspicuous and harder to see from below after all.
"Xander will keep her safe," he said quietly. There were others on the bridge; other wizards, mages and a few archers as well.
The blonde haired fire wizard looked up at him with her worried brown eyes. She was much shorter than the mage so it was a demanding angle. Something in his chest jumped. She was so pretty, Kharrik thought, and hoped that his cheeks wouldn't betray his thoughts when he should be focused on the upcoming fight.
"I know he will try," Haylee replied unable to dispel her anxiety even listening to his words.
They got along so well, Kharrik thought once more. In spite of her initial distaste for working with a battle mage, or more to the point acting like his battery to power his portal magic; they had found each other attractive and something more had grown between them.
She had kissed him.
His eyes lifted to the terraces again and knew that Xander would give up his life for Shaylene if it was necessary, Kharrik was certain of it. The younger pair had been a couple unofficially before he had met any of them. He was only supposed to serve as a bit of a distraction and perhaps run interference with Haylee to let them try to work together. Sebastian had told him enough to know that his potential to learn how to use portal magic was only part of why he had been chosen, but the owl hadn't picked him.
Sebastian and Ashleen had also joked that the falconi in charge of White Hall must be a matchmaker.
"He will use a gate if they are in danger. He's just a cadet and she's an apprentice. If they escape back to White Hall, they'll be safe at least for now."
The wizard seemed to shake briefly as if she was cold. Fire wizards rarely got cold, but her nerves were getting to her. Teachers of wizards were often rusty at dealing with war. They were also often those who requested the positions to leave combat to others.
Nodding at his words, her hand slipped into his holding it tightly.
As they watched, the first dark line of the enemy army crested the rise and arrows as well as magic rained down on them from above. There would be no question of whether Southwall would fight this time. He had heard about the first battle between teachers and students against the arrival of a force about equal in number t
o the group of novices and cadets with their teachers.
Many battle mages had died that day to keep their students safe, but a few of those had still died or disappeared even so.
Kharrik's jaw set determinedly. The mage wouldn't let anyone die if he could help it. His magical doorways could save lives or bring reinforcements should they need it. Many had been brought already, but word had come that the enemy gate remained open to bring more and more of their monsters to Alus.
"Get ready," someone said nearby. He didn't even look to see who it was as the battle began.
Shaylene threw a fireball over the low wall. Her range was better than his and if they needed to teleport, he needed to be fresh, Xander knew. Still the cadet wished that he could be more helpful right away. He peeked over the side of the terrace wall to see hundreds of monsters in the pass below them.
Large humanoids with the heads of oxen led the way with heavy shields and armor. Massive swords, axes and maces that looked too heavy to wield were their apparent weapons of choice. No matter what weapon was held, they looked heavy for a human. Behind them, and sometimes mixed through the secondary ranks, creatures with rams' heads moved more dexterously along the loose stone making up the pass floor. Swirling amongst the larger creatures' legs, the blue skinned hobgoblins ran forward screaming their challenge seeing an enemy arrayed against their return.
The young battle mage looked beyond the approaching horde and called on his vision spell. Miles shortened until he could see a smaller gathering approaching at a slower more measured pace. Guessing that this was the command group, he noted even more races there. All were new to him, but he had heard the descriptions and reports given to those who might have to face this alien enemy.
What looked like the description of elves with darker skins ranging from blue to black walked surrounded by creatures that had not been told in the briefings. Tall scaled men with reptilian heads resembling the faces of the legendary dragons formed a protective circle at a distance from the elves. Some had shields and swords. Others had tall spears as thick as his forearms with flat jagged looking blades on their ends. The long weapons fluttered and the metal ends caught the light as the dragon men used them like walking staves. Each step seemed orchestrated as the dragon men marched behind the vanguard horde.
Within the circle forming an inner second ring around the dark elves, a few more dragon men dressed in robes or tunics walked with runed staves or barehanded. Xander could sense magic in these as well as most of the dark elves and realized that this was both the wizards that had brought them here as well as a forceful counterpunch to the physical army sweeping through the pass into the valley beyond.
He couldn't put a finger on the last group. They seemed almost human and varied in size as well as color. Lighter blue or green made them decidedly inhuman and their hair appeared to move like water or perhaps clouds in a gentle breeze. It didn't seem natural and they held magic for the most part. They weren't much different in height from the dark elves and the dragon men dwarfed the other races that they protected.
"What are those?" he mumbled, which made Shaylene glance back after releasing another fireball.
"What are what?" the girl asked ducking down a moment.
Arrows began to fly upward towards the terraces. Xander heard the whistles of the shafts only a moment before long, dark projectiles arced up over the protective wall in front of them.
"Shield," the mage ordered instinctively stepping in front of Shaylene putting his body between her and the sudden attack. The enemy had been near the outer range of Southwall's archers using the height of their position to harass the creatures, but big shields had made injuries few so far.
A cry as one of the wizards was struck in the shoulder proved that the enemy archers had both good aim and strong weapons. Arms powerful enough to pull back the strings of tall bows proved that they could fight back sooner than expected.
"Shields up, protect the wizards and archers," the sergeant in charge of this group ordered as one of the soldiers pulled the injured wizard down below the protective stone wall. Xander noticed another man had fallen down on his right. There had been no cry of pain and he witnessed the shaft of wood with strange, black feathers on the arrow designed to send it accurately to a target still stuck out from the archer's left eye.
He had the disconcerting thought that at least it wasn't one of the wizards, as if the worth of a man's life was less because he didn't have magic. The thought made him frown. While he had barely known the archer, he had been one of them fighting for Southwall.
Shaylene gasped and he saw her looking at the dead man.
"Keep it together, Shaylene. I'll protect you. You just keep trying to kill these monsters."
Her light brown pony tail bobbed with a nod of her head before the apprentice peered over the wall with his blue, shimmering shield projected just beyond her. A small space gave the girl a place to shoot her flames, but each time she fired now Shaylene ducked down while Xander kept the shield adjusting to keep them both safe.
There were other battle mages protecting the men and women on the terraced platform as well. Other blue shields and those of steel could be seen on both sides of the mountain as defenders stood ready to protect archers and wizards alike. As he stood tall enough to see over the lip of the terrace wall, Xander noted that the enemy was close enough for a battle mage fireball to strike now.
A spear of wind coalesced in his hand. Compressed into solidity, the air took on a light blue hue before he tossed it towards one of the bulls. Its shield was raised, but the boy had been trained to drive the spear through an object. As thick as the shield was, even reinforced with metal, the spear tore through it making a hole the size of his fist. Splinters rained down on anything beneath the massive piece of wood and metal.
At first Xander thought that he had done little more than worry the great beast, but a smaller, blue body toppled over onto the ground. He couldn't make out what destruction his bolt might have caused since the army continued forward ignoring the dead making it disappear in the throng.
More arrows launched upwards from behind the enemy shields and the defenders were forced to duck behind the wall or shields. He wondered if there would be a forming of lines to make this a war of attrition for a moment thinking their positions strong enough to keep the monsters at bay.
When hoofed ram men rapidly bounded up the sides of the mountain, often finding purchase where the cadet would have thought that there was none; Xander knew that the mountain heights wouldn't be a safe defense for long.
Sebastian led the small band quickly up through a series of mountain passes that appeared to be connected together both naturally and in an artificial way. They led deeper and deeper into the Dragon Spine Mountains zigzagging both north and slightly east from where they had started.
Spotting small groups of nomads below them from time to time, they could pass quickly enough before those below them could grow suspicious to the point to shoot at them. They flew low enough that a good archer with a strong bow could probably catch them. Sebastian would have flown swifter on his own but with three novice flyers which included Ashleen to a lesser degree; they had to fly at a speed that they felt comfortable with especially navigating the mountains.
By the time they found the last and deepest band of scouts, Sebastian didn't even need a vision spell to see the battle that they witnessed below. Two forces clashed in a messy looking fight.
Pockets of combatants struggled separately from each other. A massive stone city stood beyond them and he could see that most of the fighting raged in a ragged semicircle focused on the east. From almost due north to the south of the city walls; orcs, trolls, armored viles, and other creatures he knew to be the Dark One's army fought creatures that he had only heard about.
He could make out the strange merging of bulls and men or the ram men making up a large portion of the enemy fighting the troops of Ponfies. Blue hobgoblins fought the green skinned goblins of the Dark One's em
pire in and around the larger creatures. There were large apelike creatures towering over the others for the empire. They were newer foes for him. Sebastian had never fought these beasts until defending Kardor last winter. They were powerful creatures wielding massive clubs of wood wrapped in steel or iron. Shields large enough to make up most of one of the walls of his childhood home were used to bat smaller creatures away or to defend against the enemy's juggernauts.
Never spoken of by his sister or in the briefing, massive ogres fought the apelike yutan and heavily armored viles. Grayvens, the black feathered griffons flew down attacking large enemies or grabbing smaller ones to lift them high to drop them down from great heights into the masses. Shrikes the size of men swarmed in greater numbers harrying the flying beasts.
Magic fire could be seen being exchanged by some of the shrikes and riders on the grayven.
"What now?" Ashleen asked looking more confused than fearful for now.
It was chaos before them and he understood her question even if the owl wasn't certain of the answer. This wasn't exactly their fight and he wasn't certain which of these was the greater enemy. Neither could be considered an ally, but the nomads hadn't been before either, the young man realized.
He looked down sighting four nomad scouts hidden well among the stones and shrubbery. Some of the hunters were looking up at the new flyers. Like him, they appeared unsure of the newest arrivals.
Pointing down, Sebastian said to the others, "We'll land behind them and move up on foot to avoid giving away their position. The nomads will have more information than we have from a glance."
The others followed him as did the eyes of a pair of the nomads. Half remained mostly focused on the battle waging ahead of them just in case they might be spotted. The men didn't want to be drawn into a war with monsters, but those apparently set to the task of watching the battle still stole occasional glances to the half dozen wizards and mages walking up the path towards them.
Battle Mage, The Caves of Time Page 37