by Bill Ricardi
Ames crouched on the wererat’s other side, as Benno got information from one of the guards. The were-cat stroked Moria’s neck gently as bandages were being applied to her ribs.
I pressed for more information, asking, “Elementals? That’s what the guards were saying.”
“Yes. Small. But powerful. Sorch, students still trapped. In stacks. In a Sanctum.”
The young guard applying the bandages said, “We need to move her sir. Now.”
Ames gave Moria a quick peck on the cheek, and then helped to lift our little friend so that a plank could be slid under her back. She was quickly and efficiently lashed to it, and then two of the guards took our friend away.
Just as the sound of the general alarm ran its course and faded away, Benno rejoined us, saying, “They have half a dozen men at the Apprentice Library’s entrance, holding position until they get backup.”
I asked my son, “How combat ready are you?”
“Fairly. I was planning an Astral jaunt this afternoon. You?”
I waggled my hand in an uncertain gesture. “Mixed. You need to handle the fire elementals, I have almost nothing against them.”
We both looked at Ames. Despite being unarmored and armed only with their firebrand sabre, the feline said, “Let’s go.”
I knew the guard who was heading up the small contingent at the entryway of the Apprentice Library. The silver haired man was often on night duties at the South Wing’s guard post.
He groaned as we approached. “Now, now, mister Sorch. Yer not going in there.”
“I am. And as it turns out, so are you, Steven.”
The old guard already looked defeated by my words. And yet he said, “We had instructions to wait fer backup mister Sorch.”
It was Benno who stole the very line that I wanted to use. My son said, “Backup has arrived.” Then he strode into the Apprentice Library, confidently.
Ames just shrugged and followed.
I patted the older man’s arm. “Just give us physical support, Steven. Blunts on the earth elementals. Slice bits off of the water elementals. Let us handle the rest.”
After heaving a deep sigh, the sergeant said, “You heard the man. Form up. Keep their backs clean.”
I joined my family by the front desk. There was a hint of smoke in the air, but at least there were no signs of an out-of-control blaze. The bowl of flat stones used to host Light cantrips had been knocked over, as had half of the wooden chairs. Books were strewn everywhere. I winced upon seeing the splash of blood upon one of the flipped book return carts. It seemed that at least one student impacted with it, head first.
Ames said, “24 facings in total. Number 1 is clear.”
Then the feline proceeded deeper into the library. I was sure that the librarians would not approve of the use of a flaming sword near the stacks. But desperate times, and all that.
We made our way down to the ninth facing before seeing any sign of elementals. Then, while approaching the section involving the magical smithing, we saw what could only be described as a vortex of books. It was an air elemental, but smaller than any that I ever saw before. When we summoned our minor elementals, they were humanoid in size. This one was half that height, almost childlike.
But there was nothing childlike about the destruction that it was causing. Oak shelves rattled. Books were thrown across the chamber with the speed of a sling bullet. The guards behind us loosed an arrow and a crossbow bolt. The latter ‘hit’ the elemental, and apparently caused it some kind of pain. The vortex moved towards us.
Ames moved to intercept the air elemental before either Benno or I could get a clean line to it. The flaming sabre matched speed with speed, as the creature’s makeshift limbs coiled and struck at the were-cat using the captured books as mass. The exchanges were so quick, it was difficult to tell who was winning.
Suddenly, the elemental was ablaze. Ames was no longer cleanly parrying the incoming blows, instead opting to let them slowly slide off the flat of the blade while the were-cat acrobatically dodged aside. The extended contact immolated the tomes, and the resulting heat was just magnified by the concentration of air inside of the elemental. A few seconds later, the creature dissipated, unable to hold itself together as the intense heat tore it apart.
I called out, “Is anyone here?”
“Yes! Is it safe?”
A young human woman poked her head out from around the corner of a large, heavy bookshelf.
I said, “Yes. Hurry, we’ve cleared the way behind us.”
“Wait.”
Unexpectedly, Benno walked over to the girl. He asked, “Are you alright?”
“J-just scared. I’ll be okay.”
My son then proved that he was more clever than I was. He said, “What spells are in your head right now?”
The young lady said, “J-just Light, and Magic Missile. O-oh, and Read Magic.”
Benno pointed at the guards who were watching our backs. “Stay with them. When you see them shoot at something, cast your Magic Missile at it. Then head back up to safety.”
And so it went with the next two students that we rescued, who had been hiding down on the twelfth facing as the air elemental hunted for them. Benno, once part of an apprentice army himself, pressed them into service. He told them whose lead to follow or what kind of elemental to hit with their spells.
When we faced the miniature water elemental and earth elemental in the fourteenth facing, Benno and I weren’t the only ones to give them an arcane greeting. My Force Bolt was paired with a bolt from one of the apprentices, producing cracks in the surface of the pummeled earth elemental. Magic Missiles rained in from both Benno and the first girl that we rescued, sizzling into the fluid surface of the small water elemental. Two of the guards rushed in with warhammers to smash the first creature to bits, while Ames’ flaming blade made short work of the other.
Although we lost two of our three student mages when they ran out of combat spells and retreated, we picked up two more before facing the next round of opposition. And so it went as we cleared each level. We were gaining more young spellcasters all the while. Our group was quickly powering through the single or paired elemental forces, thanks to this extra firepower. By the time we reached the bottom of the Apprentice Library, a half dozen students fled to safety, and four of the more advanced students were still marching alongside the guards.
The smoke was far thicker when we made our way past the fungus horticulture section on the twenty-third level of the library. As we looked in on our old stomping grounds, my heart sank. The linen closet was ablaze, feeding on the bedding that we used to hand out to students with nowhere else to sleep. The front stacks had already been burned to cinders. Tables had been smashed, the wood fragments mixed with crumbs of charred cornbread. The only thing that gave me hope was the lack of bodies on the ground. Maybe the kids were still alive.
The floor was cracked, pocked with scorched and dripping holes that plunged deep into the bedrock of the mountain. I was about to ask for suggestions on how we could seal these fissures, when the next wave of elementals manifested from the bowels of the earth. They crawled, and oozed, and floated through the fragmented floor.
I called out, “If anyone is hiding, now is when we make our stand. Spread the word.” I added the last, knowing that anyone in a Private Sanctum wouldn’t hear us. Someone would have to physically breach the light and sound barrier to pass along the message.
Ames’ keen eyes picked out a maelstrom forming from the nearest fissure, and dove towards the small air elemental, leading with the tip of their firebrand sword. Benno touched my shoulder, and we instantly formed a target order thanks to the family’s psychic combat shorthand. The rapid flow of chopped syllables flowed into my head, and my brief response signalled agreement with no modification. We turned towards an approaching fire elemental and started casting simultaneously. Before it could reach us we squeezed the small water flasks on our belts, and twin Fans of Frost cut the creature down in a his
s of steam.
The soldiers fanned out around us, intercepting the earth and water elementals as best as they could. They played a defensive game as much as possible, and I couldn’t blame them. One overextension would mean bruised skin, broken bones, and potentially having one’s head engulfed by water and drowning in the middle of a library.
Our students proved their worth as well. As a vortex of books and shattered wood started to rise above us, it was met by a Flame Jet. As it writhed and started to falter, twin Acid Bolts impacted with the half-sized elemental, burning and essentially poisoning the creature. Unable to incorporate the fire, smoke, and acid into its makeup, the elemental dissipated.
Though we blunted the initial assault, the earth elementals were proving to be an issue. With only a couple of soldiers using warhammers, they simply weren’t going down. Stone skin was largely immune to the rest of our attacks. And they seemed happy with a defensive stance. Their stalling simply bought time for the emergence of more pint sized elementals from the depths.
Ames thrust a flaming sabre through the center of the air elemental on our right flank. It boiled away like steam rising from a kettle. But the were-cat was forced to backpedal, unable to do anything about the fire and earth elementals that were approaching. Soon I found myself hip to hip with my mate.
Benno was already casting on our predetermined target, but I had to time my next spell perfectly. The approaching earth elemental took two lumbering steps forward, and was only three paces away when I started my own casting. When the portal opened in the library’s ceiling, it rained down a torrent of hail and ice on the elemental’s upper body. My Force Bolt caught it in the neck, snapping its frozen and cracked head clean off. The small elemental disintegrated, becoming a pile of lifeless rubble.
The guards were taking a beating. Even through thick armor the earth elementals were able to bludgeon them, bruising flesh and bone. Our apprentices helped where they could, managing to aid one of the warhammer wielding fighters with a series of Force Bolts and Magic Missiles, felling another of the pesky earth elementals.
With Ames on the defense, and out of offensive options myself, I was about to call for a retreat. But then I heard a confident, practiced voice behind us. Powdered silver and copper rained down around us as Max joined the fray. I didn’t have any idea what spell this was, but I knew that we had to buy time.
I summoned my Invisible Shield and crouched in front of Ames and Benno. A water elemental that slipped past our warriors slammed into me, like an ocean wave battering against a cliffside. Knocked on my rump, I struggled against the strength of the liquid creature. It was starting to ooze around the perimeter of my shield, one watery limb reaching out to envelop my mouth and nostrils.
I heard Benno’s Lightning Bolt go off, but had no idea what the target might have been. The last thing that I heard before the water surrounded my head was a hissing sound as Ames’ fiery blade struck something wet.
But we bought all the time that Max needed. Before breathing became an issue, the water seemed to fall from my face, as in if someone had just poured it from a bucket. I watched in wonder as the copper and silver motes still floating in the air seemed to take on a life of their own. I found out some time later that this spell was called ‘Gustov’s Disjunction’. The archmage’s spell seemed to seek out each elemental and simply disassemble it. Pyres of fire became smoke; stacks of stone, sand. Air elementals were turned to fog, and water elementals became harmless puddles.
As our ragtag ensemble stared at the aftermath of the Headmaster’s spell, Benno summed up my feelings quite succinctly.
“Wow.”
Max said, dryly, “Wow indeed. Sergeant, get your wounded men to the surface. Sorch, get off your butt and look for survivors. Everyone else, secure the perimeter while I re-ward the library.”
Dripping wet, but glad to be alive, I did as Max asked. I searched behind the stacks until I found a little area of pure darkness. Not wanting to startle the students within, or more importantly get my face taken off by a dagger, I searched for something that I could throw into the Private Sanctum that would obviously be humanoid in nature. I settled on the swatch of fine cloth that I used to clean the jeweler’s loop used in the Read Magic spell. It was soaked anyway, and would need cleaning.
I threw in the balled up cloth and waited. A few seconds later, a pale elven face poked its way out of the darkness. I made a ‘come hither’ motion with one finger.
Soon four students were surrounding me in various states of relief and fear. The senior student who conjured the Private Sanctum explained that they used all of their offensive magic to take down one of the elementals during the initial invasion. Then they ran to a corner, balled up together, and hid in the confines of the privacy spell. Four people in a single Sanctum must have been claustrophobically crowded, but they managed somehow.
I took the young mages over to one of the guardsmen so that they could be escorted up and out of the Apprentice Library. Then I watched Max performing the warding ceremony. His old hands moved deftly. His voice rose confidently over the sound of crackling flames.
Sigils had been created upon the cracked and pitted library floor. Powdered coal was the primary medium, although I saw flecks of gold mixed into the sandy black lines that criss crossed the devastated area.
Max’s chanting went on for over five minutes. I tried to follow the arcane language being used, but it was far more complex than anything I had even read about, nevermind performed. I’m not even certain that I could memorize an incantation that went on so long without any kind of pattern or refrain. The mental fortitude that the Headmaster displayed was impressive.
At the end of the ritual, the coal and gold dust was absorbed into the cracked stone. Max stumbled, only to be caught and supported by Ames.
The Headmaster said, weakly, “Someone will need to seal and Stone Shape this back into a usable floor. And I’ll undoubtedly need to re-ward some of the lower levels of the University. But we need a more permanent solution to this elemental problem. And we need to find it rapidly. In the meantime, let’s put out the damned fires.”
I murmured, “We’ll clean up here Max. Go get some rest.”
I was surprised when he said, “No. Gideon will assign some of his people to reshape the stone. Once the fires are out, go tell the folks waiting outside that the emergency is over. Then go get some rest, memorize your spells, and put a travel pack together. Just before this foolishness happened, I received another missive from the yetis. They need to meet with you in the afternoon. They’re expecting you, and I have no idea why.”
Chapter 17
The afternoon sun cast shafts of white light through the snow laden boughs of the ancient pine trees. Every step was met with a satisfying crunch; echoes of the crisp compression that a boot makes when breaking through an impossibly thin layer of ice, just before finding a home in the snow below.
The wilderness South of the Arcane University was an immaculate representation of Panos’ natural beauty. For the most part, the only hunters in these parts were wolves and snow leopards. The only lumberjacks were giant white beavers. And if any of these creatures saw a humanoid, they might stop and stare for a while, but after their curiosity was sated they would give you a wide berth.
What was odd was that we weren’t the only recent visitors to these parts. Ames said that there were multiple sets of recent tracks. Small footprints, clearly not yetis of any age or stature. This puzzled us, because we were told that there were no cabins or outposts for a dozen miles in any direction. Other than the Arcane University of course, and that was a rather large and unsubtle outpost.
The center of this particular forest was a sheltered clearing. It really was the perfect haven for the yeti tribe. A frozen-over brook provided fresh water with minimal effort. There was plenty of wild game in the surrounding area. And some nearby caves even provided nutritious winter mushrooms, which often grew to the size of melons. I was glad that my divinely inspired voice ha
d been right about this place.
This time, there was no stealthy greeting. A contingent of three tall, shaggy white creatures loped up to us as we walked out of the wooded area.
These weren’t the same patrolling yetis as last time. They seemed somewhat smaller, perhaps adolescents. Their pupilless, rust colored eyes regarded us with open curiosity. Still, we were greeted politely. “Hello little ones. Please receive our utmost gratitude for making the journey between your stone fortress and the location of our new home. We shall escort you to our tribal leader, who is still ‘Divine’, and shall be referred to as Divine. May we proceed?”
We proceeded.
A combination of magic, divine favor, hard work, and gravity allowed the yeti tribe to relocate in short order. Whatever ‘rapid downhill transportation’ that the yetis had used, it worked. As we approached the translucent ice walls of their homes, we saw that they contained all of the amenities that had been in place prior to the move. Every white stone tile, every massive chair, every white-furred blanket was either successfully transported or somehow recreated.
Divine had once again turned up the heat for our benefit. Even at this lower altitude and somewhat warmer climate, it was a welcome and considerate gesture. The three of us left our packs in the foyer before proceeding into Divine’s living room.
The big yeti stood as we entered. She said, “Greetings to you Sorch, and greetings to you Ames. Would you do me the immeasurable kindness of introducing your young companion to me, so that I and the rest of the tribe might utilise the proper form of address when speaking to or referring to said companion?”
I prodded Benno so that he would step forward. Then I said, “Divine, this is my son Benno. Benno, this is Divine. She will have the pleasure of eating you.”
Divine replied, smoothly, “Greetings little one with the name of ‘Benno’. I am extending the hospitality of our tribe to you. Please rest assured that your father was attempting to use levity when he referred to your consumption. I rarely eat humanoids of any sort.”