by Aaron Thomas
“She’s here, approaching from the east,” Alexander said, going to the east window to get a look outside.
Suddenly, he felt another trap being broken, and another, and a fourth after that.
“Wait, there are more,” He said quietly.
Alexander pushed hard with his skinny muscles to push up the heavy window enough that he could feel the wind rush in. The increased breeze put him into touch with the wind and helped him connect. He felt somehow closer to the magic if there were no barriers.
Searching the town, he felt hundreds of bodies walking in the streets. More people approached on roofs and alleyways. There was only one exit now, and that was the sky.
“The soulless are coming from every direction. If we need to run-” Alexander said as Warick cut him off.
“I know, I will need to grab your waist. Let us not jump to conclusions. We will maintain peace as she has requested until the last possible moment,” The old wizard said, looking into the hearth’s fire.
Alexander nodded and continued his search. Finally, he found her wading through the masses of soulless. A woman with her hood up and a blade on a chain swinging from her belt. Alexander closed the window and sat down at one of the abandoned bar’s empty tables.
A quiet knock at the door broke the silence in the room. Neither man made a move to stand up and soon the door opened. Sahera pushed back the hood of her cloak as she stepped into the room. Closing the door behind her, the gust of wind and snow was slain from its brief attack on the room’s warmth. A chill ran up Alexander’s spine, he was unsure if it was the presence of the woman or the chill she had let in.
“Good evening, gentlemen,” Sahera said as she took off her black fur-lined gloves.
Warick didn’t respond for a moment and let the air stand not only cold but stale with silence. Finally, he let out a sigh, “I thought the next time we met it would be a good evening, but under the circumstances, it appears to be the opposite.”
“It has been a long time. Perhaps you should pretend that I’m not a soul wizard. I only used my abilities because I saw no other way to complete the task. Believe me, I don’t like being this woman,” Sahera said as she took a seat.
Warick let out a half laugh, “Alexander, go to the door and watch the perimeter.”
Alexander stood and did as he was told. When he reached the door, he drew his cloak in closer and formed a windless bubble on the outside of the door. Using his ability to draw in sound, he listened to the conversation he had arranged.
“If you didn’t like becoming this woman, then you should have come to us sooner,” Warick said, taking a drink from his cup of tea.
Sahera raised an eyebrow, “Yes, I’m sure if I had marched into your camp and announced myself as the soul wizard from the Dark Army’s invasion, I would have lived a long and prosperous life. Do not think you are fooling yourself or me Warick. I would have been destroyed before the words could have left my lips.”
She let the words sink in, “This meeting is the best hope that I have of redeeming myself.”
“Your actions during the war are not redeemable, Sahera,” Warick spat.
She cleared her throat, “Be that as it may, I am going to try. Warick, this is not why we came here tonight. I would offer a truce, but since I’m not attacking you or the elemental realms, I will simply say I offer my assistance.”
“You mean you offer the bodies you stole from the innocent people of this realm,” Warick said.
Sahera closed her eyes, and Alexander could clearly make out that she was holding back the anger welling up inside of her. “I offer my army, the knowledge I have of your enemy, and my life, if necessary. I don’t think you can find a better ally on this side of the world,” She said calmly.
“I won’t say it will be pleasant for you to travel with the Elders. Most will want nothing to do with this arrangement, so I must inquire how you can help us defeat him.” Warick asked.
Sahera nodded, apparently pleased that she had finally moved past Warick’s insulting attitude. Alexander smiled at the sight of her face almost reflexively.
“I don’t think I’ll travel with the Elders if it makes you uncomfortable. I’ll begin my journey to Zepher tonight. You’ll probably arrive before me, but by the time I arrive, I will be well armored and ready to attack. Because my soldiers are moving like regular people, your wizards will be able to walk right in with them. They will have to protect themselves, but as long as they just march forward, Dylan and his forces won’t be able to tell which men are using magic.”
“You want me to have my Elder Wizards willingly be surrounded by your undead soldiers and march right up to our enemy? Sahera, you assume too much to think we would be fighting beside you,” Warick said flatly.
“I know you have been alive a long time, Warick. I would not assume anything. I know you’ll see this plan as the only way to attack Dylan. A man with guardian spirits embodied by pure elemental power is not to be trifled with. The outcome of this battle will be something more dangerous and important than the world can handle us losing. We must not fail, and to not fail, the Elder Wizards must work with me,” Sahera said pleadingly.
“I’ll think about the strategy, but you will keep your distance from the city until we meet again,” Warick commanded.
Sahera simply bowed her head. She stood and put her gloves back on.
“I hope by the time we reach Zepher you will have extinguished your prejudices against me. I only want to help,” Sahera said.
With no quickness to her at all, she smiled at Alexander and slipped past him into the street. Alexander watched as the figures backed away and moved in the direction of Zepher. He knew he had his work cut out for him. Convincing not only Warick but the rest of the Elders would take some time. Alexander felt now more than ever that time was short.
Chapter 19 - On the Border
Lorusk quickly cleaned off the desk and tidied the tent of material meant only for himself and King Atmos. The King was less than a day away and could arrive at any moment if he decided to hasten his own pace. Mica had warned him only hours before of the king’s arrival, and there was so much more Lorusk wanted to complete before he took over.
The Champion came in and pointed a pair of servants around. They refreshed the wine and put out plates of food. As more poured in, Chit quickly handed out orders while Lorusk simply scooped up the secretive information. The Champion leaned on the tent’s center post, watching his order being carried out and made sure nothing else was disturbed.
It didn’t take long for the servants to finish their rounds and leave the tent looking and smelling fit for a king.
“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” Lorusk asked.
Chit cleared his throat, “Just instruction on magic, but we both know I have no skill for it.”
“Skill or not, you are going to need to know how to combat it if you want to fulfill your only mission. If you want to keep your empty head attached to your wide shoulders, you better get there and pay attention,” Lorusk retorted.
Chit slowly made his way out of the tent. Lorusk was sure by the time he walked there, the period of instruction would be over. He was happy that the buffoon wasn’t in the tent any longer. Placing down numerous messages along the map, Lorusk began adjusting markers to update where the last troops remained in the Earth Realm.
Each of the markers was given coins on top of them to indicate the number of troops at the location. Fortunately for the Earth Realm, Bowie was able to obtain a large number of wind imbuements during the last battle which Atmos confiscated. Lorusk gave Mica the order to instruct wielders on flight. Reports were coming in daily from every direction. They gave information on troop numbers, resources, and their movement in the Water Realm. The Fire Realm had managed to keep a small group of wielders from being caught. Latest reports came in that the small group managed to infiltrate Deuterium and rescued their king from the dungeons.
Lorusk hoped that information would have made it to At
mos before he had to explain why an entire city couldn’t manage to keep a defeated king in a cell. Brandon would surely answer for the lack of security in the city. First, the Wizard Advisor managed to let an entire dungeon of fire wielders escape, and now a captured king.
Small wooden figure flames were placed anywhere that rumors of the Fire Realm had popped up. Lorusk had to have extra figures made to keep the map up to date. He now had ten wind wielders flying in all directions, taking messages and retrieving information at all times. Now that Lorusk had a more proper camp set up, he was able to keep up with the information coming in.
Once all the reports were sorted and markers placed on the map, the captain, began preparing the list of assets they had on the ground. Fifty-seven experienced wielders trained another seventy-eight new. The army was now sixty-three thousand men strong, and another forty thousand civilians followed Atmos from behind. If the large mob of civilians against the use of magic was convinced to fight for them, their army would stand at over one hundred thousand.
King Atmos had sent him one message stating that he would deal with the mob after he arrived at the forward camp. He hoped that Atmos had a good plan because, in years past, elementalists rarely worked with or listened to anyone that used magic. The king used magic all the time, and Lorusk couldn’t see that as a good combination.
The rattle of armor and sounds of excitement gave Lorusk a bit of a warning before Mica strolled into the tent. The young wizard went to dining on the fruit and meats available as he took a seat on one of the stools scattered around the edge of the room.
“Any word on Rekkan?” Mica asked.
The question was always the same with Mica. He asked it to intentionally point out Lorusk’s failures. The captain knew it was not his fault King Atmos had left too small a contingent to maintain the security of Deuterium. All the same, Lorusk would be to blame whether or not it was his fault.
“Any luck finding Alexander?” Lorusk retorted.
The wizard didn’t answer the question, just as Lorusk hadn’t answered his. The captain said it as a warning to the wizard. He hoped, for Mica’s sake, he didn’t bring up Rekkan to King Atmos. Lorusk was prepared to point out all of Mica’s failures, and the list was not small.
Mica took a swallow and cleared his throat, “He will be here within minutes.”
“I’m prepared,” Lorusk said without looking up from his work.
The two sat in silence, listening to the sounds of an army camp as Mica ate and the captain wrote out their assets. The list was considerably larger than when they faced the Fire Realm. The battle with Leviathan should be easier considering their reports say only ten thousand men had made it to the castle. Amongst those men was Bowie, Twilix, Ria, Alexander, and the scariest of all, Kilen. If the short list of wielders was being guided by the water realm’s former king, they might need all one hundred thousand soldiers to penetrate the walls.
A second eruption of noise and whinnying of horses alerted Lorusk to the king’s arrival. Checking if his armor and uniform were in place, he left the wizard in the tent. Turning to the soldiers outside, he gave them the signal that none but he and the king were allowed to enter.
Lorusk pushed his way through the now chaotic camp and made his way to where he was dismounting. Taking the reigns, he gave his hand out and helped Atmos down.
“I hope things are in order, Captain. We have guests coming into the camp within the hour,” Atmos said as Lorusk pointed to his tent.
“Your tent is in order, but the new troop you brought will have to be added to the guard rotation,” Lorusk replied.
The crowd parted, so it took half the time to walk back to the command tent. Atmos entered and went straight to the map. His hands reached a nearby goblet of wine, and he emptied it and tossed the goblet aside.
“Half of the men you have here need to be moved to the Heathmos Pass and begin constructing siege weapons. We will begin the attack in one week,” He said as he stared at the map.
“Do you think that is enough time to construct the needed weapons?” Lorusk questioned.
“No, but we will begin throwing rocks at them until the rest can be made. Besides, I hope to have acquired some help before the day is done,” Atmos replied as he grabbed a turkey leg and bit into it.
Lorusk knew better than to ask too many questions when Atmos had that look on his face. The captain could see his king was ready for war. The turkey juice ran down Atmos’ bearded face and spilled onto the map. Lorusk quickly wiped it up as the king made no move to stop the dribble. The captain left the cloth on the map so no more damage would be done.
“How accurate are the numbers for Leviathan?” He asked with a mouthful of food.
“We have men watching by water and by land. I would say it is accurate to a thousand men, give or take,” Lorusk replied.
“A thousand men could be very upsetting if the numbers were the larger by a thousand. As far as it stands now, they still won’t stand a chance, so I’ll let your lack of information pass,” Atmos said as he started looking at the Earth Realm’s side of the map.
“No word on Rekkan’s location. They have either taken into hiding or are dead by some other means,” Lorusk said as he handed Atmos the reports.
“By the reports I’ve seen, it is very unlikely that they are dead. Increase patrols and have the more experienced wind wielders assigned to the Fire Realm Borders. I want them caught the moment they cross the border,” Atmos commanded.
Lorusk quickly wrote the order out on a piece of parchment as Atmos found a new goblet of wine. The oversized chair meant to accommodate the king, and his armor was sitting in the middle of the room. Atmos made good use of the chair at all hours since the man didn’t sleep. Lorusk pressed the royal emblem into the wax seal on the order and handed it to the guard just outside the tent’s flaps.
“What guests should I be expecting, Majesty?” Lorusk asked.
“Her name is Catherine Hill, although she requests to be called Cathy. She is the unspoken leader of the elementalists that have been following me. I plan on bringing them into the army long enough to build the siege weapons and other fortifications,” Atmos explained.
“And you think that elementalists will do that for those that wield magic?” Lorusk asked.
“That is what I hope to negotiate, either for their blood or for a price worth the effort,” Atmos said as he gave a wicked grin.
Lorusk simply bowed in response. Sometimes the king’s viciousness surprised even him. Borgen had been the one to slay innocents and do the king’s vile misdeeds, but now it was left to him.
“I will prepare the camp to accept guests,” Lorusk said, backing away.
“Oh Captain, make sure the Champion stays away from my tent for a while. The man he skewered just before the battle with the Fire Realm was apparently Catharine’s husband,” The king said, just before pouring himself another goblet of wine.
The captain bowed his head. At least he wouldn’t have to be near the boy. The captain sent orders with a veteran to keep Chit away from the king. Since Atmos hadn’t given specifics, he made sure to send Chit with the portion of the army going to construct siege weapons. He hoped that the boy’s muscles might finally come to some good use.
Stomping through the camp, he gave out orders for extra food, wine and even a bit of entertainment to be brought to the command tent just in case it was needed. Servants into the tent were doubled to accommodate the increased number with the king.
Wizards and newly appointed council members were giving orders of their own to have tents constructed and providing the specifics to the servants that would attend them. Lorusk despised the use of servants just because one were born with magic or riches to their name. He knew if he ever had children, he would teach them differently in the hopes they wouldn’t turn out like spoiled brats like the king or Chit.
The captain looked about the camp for the most trustworthy veterans he could find and made sure to have them get dressed in the f
inest polished armor they could find. The small group of twelve would serve as a greeting party for Cathy when she arrived.
While he waited, the Captain watched as Mica made his way in and out of the camp by wind as he hopped back and forth. Lorusk noticed that each time he landed, he had another scroll sticking from his pack.
Finally, everything was set and just a small bit of time before the hour was out. The rush and clang of armor running through the camp followed by a gust of wind gave Lorusk notice of another wind wielder landing. As he neared the circle of soldiers, Mica stepped out and received yet another report. Mica had been very busy since his defeat and escape of Leviathan. The young wizard’s eyes were sunken from his constant need to fly about by the orders of the king.
Lorusk stepped up putting his hand on the wizard's shoulder, “Something to report, Councilmen?”
“Nothing I want to say twice. Follow, and you can hear the report when I give it to the King,” Mica snapped back.
Lorusk, still holding the wizard’s shoulder, gave a slight squeeze before pouring a magical regeneration of energy into his body.
“I know you’ve been pressed hard lately, but that’s no excuse to not keep your tongue at bay. I may only be a captain, but if you continue to talk to me like that, I will make sure your food doesn’t taste quite right. Do you understand me, Councilmen?” Lorusk asked calmly.
Mica gave a small nod but offered no apology. Instead, he stepped through the crowd and disappeared into the king’s tent one again.
“Bloody arrogant wizards,” Lorusk said to no one in particular as he took a step to follow.
As he entered, Mica gave a small satchel to Lieutenant McClanahan, standing over the map and stacks of reports. Mica reached into his robe and pulled a sealed scroll from inside. He handed it directly to Atmos who broke the seal and read it to himself.
“This is a garbled mess, Mica. Did he agree or not?” Atmos said after he finished reading.