“Now you have decided to keep quiet, tell me your name,” Kian asked walking up to the young man he still held captive in his shield of magic. After his prisoner’s response of spitting, Kian turned the screw a little more, causing the youngster some considerable pain as the barrier squeezed in around him. “Brett!” came the exasperated sound from within.
“See that wasn’t too difficult now was it?” Kian replied before easing the shield just ever so slightly allowing the youngs to breathe a little easier.
“I’ll not kill you if you answer some questions for me Brett. Do you understand?” he asked, not quite sure how he could keep such a promise. The young man nodded his understanding. After learning that the Belarian king had indeed left the city several days earlier with the bulk of his forces, Kian felt a little more at ease. Although Brett reckoning there were still scores of sorcerers and hundreds of soldiers in the city did not go down quite so well.
Several minutes passed by, when Kian told his prisoner he was going to release him, keeping to his promise of not killing him. After asking Charlie to keep a watch, he turned slightly to one of the rangers to ask them to bind Brett’s hands, just as an arrow flew past him, taking the young man he had just promised he wouldn’t kill right through the heart. The look given as the body of his prisoner slumped forward to the plush carpet was one he would never forget.
Kian snarled, “I promised I would not kill him!”
“And you kept that promise. I killed him instead,” came the very calm and calculated answer from one of the rangers.
“Why do you people feel the need to kill everybody,” Charlie added feeling as disgusted as the guild master looked. The ranger just shrugged, “It’s what we do,” he replied dryly.
One of the rangers stood at the window to the royal chamber looking out over the city in the distance. “Looks like the bells are sounding for an approaching army. I can see dozens of sorcerers and soldiers running out of the gates.” Kian nodded his understanding, before taking one last look at the young man lying dead near his feet. Still half naked, he wandered whether the man had been someone important. The king had obviously trusted him enough to leave him overseeing the city’s defence, something of course he would now never know.
After ordering one ranger and one sorcerer to remain in the royal chamber, Kian headed back out into the corridor. He heard some shouts coming elsewhere in the palace and picked up the pace to investigate further. After running along the corridor and heading for the landing area of the main staircase, he found several dead bodies, two of whom were his own men.
Kian sighed, another of his groups had been heading his way, having completed their objective of clearing the offices on the floor below. “We have about a dozen prisoners being kept in one of the rooms downstairs,” said a young sorcerer whom he knew to be called Marcus. “These lot caught us by surprise. We were coming up the stairs whilst they came from that way,” he added pointing to a few rooms further down. “Well done!” Kian said, “Oh! Don’t go letting these lot near your prisoners or you won’t have any left,” he added giving the ranger that had killed Brett a dirty look.
“They are all non-magic Sir. I checked before leaving them,” Marcus added, sounding far more experienced in these matters than a boy his age ever should.
Now the two teams had combined, it was their job to secure the palace. The young prince was on his way, and it needed to be safe for when he got there; providing of course that the next phase of their plan all went as it should.
Chapter 29.
Leo felt strange seeing the walls of Surmont again. In some way it felt a little surreal that he was about to attack them. As the two most powerful sorcerers, it would inevitably be up to himself and Reece to spearhead the approach, closely followed by Chad and the Arandorian contingent of both sorcerers and regular soldiers.
At five hundred paces short of the eastern gate, Leo sent forth a solid beam of energy up into the sky; the signal to those inside to make their move. If all went to plan, the gates should be open by the time Leo reached them, if not, then something had possibly gone wrong.
Originally it had been suggested that Leo and the other magicians could simply blast their way through the gates; after all, he for had already shown a certain aptitude for such destruction. However, knowing that the city needed to be kept in one piece where possible, the idea of having fighters on the inside to open the gates had been agreed instead. This way they could be closed again, giving them at least some protection against any Belarian attempt at re-taking the city.
Inside the city, Gallien moved quickly and without fuss. Dressed in civilian clothing, he and his small group were just one of three such parties, whose job it was to hold and secure the eastern gate. Being as most of the enemy were now taking positions atop the walls, this at least gave them some time and space to work with.
There was a lot of shouting going on as a team of regular soldiers ran past, forcing them off the main street as they neared the gate. Thankfully for Gallien these men headed straight for the stone steps that climbed up to the top of the main wall. He heard someone behind telling him to look skyward, and on doing so noticed the light in the sky; his indication to get a move on.
Being placed in charge of one group, some of whom were from the guild, it was a show of just how much Kian trusted him; a trust he was determined to prove he was worthy of. Just two regular guards stood aside the small gate house that was home to the men that were usually on duty, patrolling who entered and left the city. Both were dispatched with consummate ease by the two guild rangers he had with him. So quickly and quietly had they struck, Gallien doubted they even knew what had hit them.
Not bothering to check if the two guards were actually dead or not, he led the group right up to the vast iron studded gates that were keeping his fellow countrymen, and their new allies out. With a heave, and several curses, he and a few others lifted the large wooden block that helped secure the gates closed. After merely tossing it to one side he split his team up and set about pulling open the heavy wooden gates.
One of the other teams given the task of covering their backs soon came under fire, as the gates started opening. Realising that they were being attacked from inside as opposed from outside the wall as they were expecting, dozens of Belarians started clambering back down the stone steps in a bid to get the gates closed. After several arrows and blasts of energy were exchanged, Gallien could see at least two casualties from his side. Whatever the cost, they needed to hold out until the main force got through the gates.
Leo watched with some relief as the gates started opening, and the sight of some of the defenders disappearing from the wall crenulations meant the Belarians were fighting to get them closed them again. With his window of opportunity small, and probably closing if he did not hurry, he kicked his horse forward. However, riding and shielding was something even he had not mastered, so at about two hundred paces, just out the range of the enemy archers, he pulled up and dismounted.
After looking over to Reece, the youngster gave a nod that he was ready, and Leo threw up a shield that was large enough to cover both, as well as the first dozen Arandorian sorcerers. Walking at a quick pace, his months of practice were finally paying off. Despite the situation he was in, he found his mind wandering; If Daron could have seen him now, he would have surely been pleased at what he had achieved.
Leo felt the first enemy blast hit his shield, and whilst the attack was sensed, he knew he could withstand many more. Several more came down his way, along with various arrows and crossbow bolts, all chipping away, but he stayed calm, moving forward with purpose. Others were depending on him, and he could not afford a single lapse in concentration.
Gallien was forced to help the other group, as more Belarian sorcerers started running down the stone steps. He could spot the first of the main force approaching, and knew if he could last out a little longer then his job had been a successful one. After being forced to dive to one side to avoid a blast from
an enemy magician, he turned and fired back at the young man firing at him. Although his attack missed, it did at least have the effect of making the sorcerer throw up a shield which seemed to knock the man aside him off the steps.
Gallien heard the leader of one of the other groups calling for those who remained, to fall back. Gallien however had no intention of going anywhere, and ordered his own men to stand firm. He looked over to see a young guild ranger fire two shots, so quickly and efficiently he could not help stand and admire. Both arrows were accurate to a degree, one thumping into the chest of an unsuspecting sorcerer, the other hitting a regular soldier in the upper leg, forcing him to tumble forward, knocking several others off balance.
Although still feeling fine, Leo could feel the strain of maintaining such a large shield for so long. Now they had reached the gate way he could see a group of people struggling to hold back scores of Belarians, and realised he had made it in the nick of time. He signalled over to Reece, and after receiving confirmation, he watched as the youngster threw up a slightly smaller shield as Leo let his dissipate away. His life was now in the hands of the young Arandorian, at least until the rest of the army could get through the gate.
Gallien felt relieved as the first of the sorcerers made it through the gate. Whilst his job was primarily done, the battle ensuing around him, ensured he could not let up just yet. Although now the red robed sorcerer’s of Arandor were here, being led by a black-robed Caldronian one, the odds were not quite so much in favour of the enemy.
The shout was given that reinforcements were lining up in the main street, as Leo turned around to check the main force had made it through the gate. True enough, the sorcerers and soldiers, whom had stayed on their horses had made it through, and were at that moment closing the gates behind them. Kellan and his small retinue of guards was to remain outside the walls until it was deemed safe for him to enter. Should things go wrong, those protecting the young prince were to lead him away and back to safety if necessary.
Reece lowered the main shield that had been covering the vanguard of the attack. Now it was a case of eliminating the enemy still trying to make its way down form the walls, whilst trying not to take too many casualties themselves. As the Belarians filed down the stone steps, the Arandorians showed off their new skills relentlessly firing, forcing them to shield or die. Every time a man was downed, the falling body often caused several more to follow, and by the time the last of them had clambered down, a large pile of bodies was strewn upon the stone steps and the area around the base.
On the street ahead of them, the Belarian forces were regrouping, having been caught unawares they were certainly not finished just yet. As was there usual tactic, several sorcerers threw up a combined shield, one that even Leo and Reece would struggle to bring down under normal circumstances. Reece did start firing at the shield, but after a few seconds Leo told him to cease and reserve his power. The fight would be a lengthy one and burning yourself out at the first hurdle would be a foolish thing to do.
“As we practiced!” Leo shouted over to his colleagues. Chad was the first to step forward, and whilst under the protection of his own shield moved forward to oppose the Belarians under theirs. Leo watched on as his friend was about to put to the test the one vital thing they had learned from the Arandorians. This hopefully would be a game changer, and with some apprehension he almost willed Chad to succeed.
As the Belarian force moved nearer, Chad stopped and despite being attacked from a few other sorcerers not holding the shield, managed to keep his barrier up. Within the blink of an eye Chad vanished and instantly reappeared inside the enemy shield. Without further ado the young sorcerer then used the technique practiced by the Arandorians. Producing a magical barrier around himself he expanded it several paces from his body, sending all of the Belarian sorcerers to the ground in a heap. The magical shield they were holding disappeared, and the Arandorian soldiers, still on horseback, charged forward to take advantage, before Leo even had chance to move.
As the horses thundered along the city street, those Belarians felled by Chad were mercilessly finished off by the cavalry, causing the other Belarians to flee in panic, the other sorcerers amongst them. Without any coherent leadership, it was clear if allowed to do so, the Belarians would spread out around the city. Whilst this may have sounded a good thing, it was actually quite the opposite. Tracking down and killing every Belarian that hid in the city could take weeks, something they did not have.
As a result, Farley called his rather enthusiastic soldiers back. “Let them regroup,” he shouted to Leo who was already looking for the next target. He turned as several of the Arandorian guards were cut down by a group of enemy sorcerers holed out in a side street. It was Reece who reacted first, throwing up a hastily made shield to protect them, allowing Leo to show what he could do. After a deep breath, he thrust his hands out and fired an intense volley of blasts, striking down at least three of the enemy, before he moved direction a little to take down two more.
Now their foothold in the city was secure, Farley needed to set about organising a coherent force to destroy as many of the enemy as possible, in as little time as possible. He shouted over to Leo that they needed to drive the Belarians back towards the palace. Here he hoped to catch what was left, and with the aid of those from Riverdale who should now have taken control of the building, attack them from the front and back.
The Arandorian commander watched from atop his horse, his pride obvious to see, as the first his country’s sorcerers managed to take down a group of well protected Belarians. The enemy, using their usual shielding technique to protect themselves whilst others scattered about them fired, were wiped out in one clean efficient move. Using the practice of teleporting through the enemy shield and attacking from within worked even better than any of them had hoped. Those inside who had been feeding the shield were felled with ease and finished off by the regular soldiers who were now hunting in small packs, following behind the sorcerers.
In total disarray, those remaining Belarians had a choice, Surrender, fight on or flee. A few of the regular soldiers did throw down their arms as they became isolated from the main force, but the sorcerers fought on, probably knowing that surrender was never an option to them. Despite one or two heading off down side streets in a bid to escape, most of the Belarians remained tightly together as they fought a well-executed retreat.
Using a mixture of shielding and offensive abilities, the Arandorians were clearly not having it all their own way. An entire attacking group of sorcerers and warriors was wiped out, as the Belarians changed tactic. Rather than hold one large shield over those around them, they reverted to fighting as individuals, something the Arandorians were not trained to counter. Although the group in question did succeed in killing a few of the enemy, the whole group of six sorcerers and twenty soldiers were sent to an early grave by their more experienced enemy.
Knowing he could not afford losses on a large scale, Farley was forced to hold his ground and not push his smaller groups out too far. The enemy had adapted its tactics quickly; Probably more down to self-preservation than any actual order being given. Nonetheless, changed they had, and he knew he needed to do likewise.
The commander was not so stubborn as to know when his men had reached their match, and duly turned to the two Caldronian sorcerers for guidance. Both Leo and Chad were far more experienced in this form of combat, and as such Farley felt it best to bow to their better knowledge, allowing them to suggest their next move forward.
Chapter 30.
Leo was surprised to see several guild rangers appear from nowhere, along with a score of warriors. “Probably been in hiding since the city fell,” Chad shouted over to him as the young sorcerer took down another enemy soldier. Leo presumed it made sense, after all, not everybody would have been as fortunate as those who had managed to escape.
The rangers wasted no time in taking down enemy sorcerers unaware they were there. Several fell in a quick flurry of arrows
before they had any chance to react. With the last of the Belarians regrouping at the palace gates, it was now time for those with Kian to show their faces.
Having taken the main building earlier, the guild master now amalgamated his group with a few of the others. Whilst some still remained indoors to keep watch over the prisoners, and a watchful eye for any sorcerer they may have missed, Kian now lined up his men outside.
Using various wagons, carriages and even some of the hedges, they lay in wait and out of sight, for the retreating Belarians to approach. The delay was not a particularly long one, as dozens of enemy soldiers started grouping up just a hundred paces in front of them. Keeping low and quiet, they waited, letting the enemy reform, waiting for the right time to strike.
Kian delayed until he could see the very welcome sight of the pursuing force, spotting a single black-robed figure leading them on. “Now!” he yelled as loud as his lungs would allow, standing from his crouched position and firing off as many blasts of energy as he could muster. With the Belarians still trying to organise themselves, and stood as they were close together, Kian did not need to aim at any specific target. Just as those around him were doing, he fired into the general area, and whilst some of the shots missed, more found a target than not.
The King's Sorcerer (The Caldronian Guild Book 3) Page 21