With their deaths, Palose and the other assassin released their invisibility spells and waited. Their duty had been to clear out all who stood between the emperor and these doors. Now the only thing that remained was to see if they had found their quarry.
Rilena sat in the stuffed chair listening to the men standing around discussing matters they had almost no control over for what seemed like the millionth time. Three weeks of waiting inside the fortress for Garosh to decide what to do with her was either going to bore her to death or aggravate her to the same end. Remnants of Southwall still roamed the mountain, but they were just guards to the fortress. Most had no more rank than the falcon and those slightly higher were unsure of how to help other than to send messages of Garosh’s return.
Too many variables were against the woman who had wound up Garosh’s shadow, a predicament that she would never have foreseen when the girl had first escaped the fortress dungeon. In this case, it was more for Rilena’s safety than anything else. A single human woman in a mountain full of men, orcs and goblins would be in perpetual danger of too many crimes that she preferred to avoid thinking about. Even a falcon could only fight so many threats, and Rilena couldn’t have stayed awake for almost three weeks anyway.
Now she tried to be as comfortable as she could until either a relief company arrived from Windmeer or the weather warmed enough to send her on her way home. She had arrived with no winter gear and would have to travel alone on foot. Another week of the ongoing monotony of fearful warlocks debating how they could fend off an attack from the emperor would have to be tolerated before the falcon would dare to escape the mountains by her self.
Rilena yawned as she looked around the large room. An immense bed sat towards the back right of the double doors. It was for Garosh as commander, though the girl had a feeling someone else had used it while he was in Windmeer. A smaller door stood closed on the far side of entry and hid the latrine. While warlocks could do much, they had not been able to create the luxury of true indoor plumbing inside the fortress. The door remained closed because it was a disgusting place even when kept at its cleanest.
As a girl, even a rugged falcon, Rilena fought to feel feminine or even a modern human within the fortress. Her eyes moved to an iron tub. It was large enough to hold Garosh as it was originally brought in for the giant. When hot water could be summoned using the goblins who worked inside the fortress, she could almost feel like a girl again as she soaked in the tub; but that was a whole other ordeal. Everyone had to be evicted from the room that also served as the nerve center for the mountain. She usually reserved the space with guards outside the door in the evening, though only twice a week thanks to hot water being a nuisance to bring to the room. Garosh and his council would find another place to work or retire to their rooms. She didn’t exactly care what they did so long as the girl could get her privacy in a room where it was impossible to get any with someone else there.
A second mattress, much smaller than Garosh’s bed, lay on the floor to the left of the tub. With rough sheets and a lumpy pillow, the young woman shared the room each night with the giant. While he remained respectful of the stranded girl, who slept in a man’s long shirt with no other clothing available, Rilena still felt it odd to have to be in the same vicinity as the man each night.
Lastly, she looked down at the clothes she now wore. Neither goblins nor orcs were known for their tailoring skills. Someone must know how to make clothes somewhere in Ensolus, but as to the fortress, there seemed to be none. With a single pair of clothes to her name already on her back when she arrived, Garosh had done what he could to find more clothing for the woman.
A man’s red shirt, too loose and long even when tucked into a pair of pants, and the brown pants also a bit loose but also running a bit short on the girl at the same time; made her feel like a mess. While never a slave to fashion, there was certainly a line that Rilena had never wanted to cross. In the mountain fortress, she had crossed the line so far that the girl could no longer even see it. As a last loss of self, Rilena kicked her legs with her feet currently bare. It was always cool inside the mountain, but the girl had found that she couldn’t wear her boots all day and night long. Luckily her feet had toughened up enough to walk the fairly smooth stone of the room. Even the temperature of the hard rock barely bothered her most of the time.
“What more can we do to prepare?” Warlock Verian asked. He had been in charge during Garosh’s time at Windmeer, but now he seemed lost. The story, of a messenger from the emperor breaking free by trapping the man’s mind and using him like a puppet, had made its rounds. She guessed that experience had made him question his abilities. While never having been on the wrong end of a diplomat wizard’s coercion spell, Rilena could certainly understand hating a feeling of helplessness before another’s magic.
“The front gate has been reinforced with as many soldiers as we can fit nearby,” Garosh stated looking like he was tired of repeating his words with these men he had once trusted to keep his mountain safe. “We have given word to our captors that I am here and might be pursued. Our former enemies watch out for us. Beyond that what can we do but wait?”
The chill of death came as the wraith Carianic spoke, “We stay together to defend. They will not take us without a fight.”
Rilena felt a shiver run up her spine inside of the shirt. Garosh happened to look at the girl and gave a slight smile of reassurance. Tiring of his men and the constant worry, the giant walked over to Rilena drawing the eyes of his council after him for a moment. None of them could completely understand why she was there and the mage often questioned that for her self.
“We’re boring you again?” he chuckled quietly to avoid being heard by the other men, though Rilena had a feeling they could hear more than the giant liked.
Twirling her lengthening hair that had changed from a shorter bob to nearly halfway down her shoulder blades since the first battle for the fortress, the brunette strangely found that her longer hair was about all that felt more feminine after the last three weeks. “They worry. We all do, though I don’t know what the emperor’s men would do if they found me here. Would I be insignificant and ignored or would they kill me because I am from Southwall?”
He started to answer, but she raised her hand with a shake of her head, “I don’t really want to know or have you guess.”
A moment of awkward silence as each debated on whether there was more to say broke as Rilena added, “While I can sympathize with the danger you are in, Garosh, I truly just wish to return home.”
Looking a bit uncomfortable from her words, the man knelt on one knee bringing his face to a level with the girl’s. “I would have left you behind, if I could have been sure of your safety. My knowledge of portal magic is rudimentary. If I had left some sort of touchstone to help guide me, I would be able to send you back to Windmeer for sure; but I refrained from using magic even of that kind.
“I can try to use something that you have a connection with there, but if the connection isn’t strong enough you might become trapped between worlds,” Garosh offered for about the fiftieth time. He had always broached the subject with warning her of his fear of losing her on such an attempt to a vast void that was the space between jumps.
The girl shrugged sending the oversized shirt slipping off her right shoulder revealing her creamy smooth skin. Garosh’s eyes couldn’t help but look at the soft, bare shoulder. She had a feeling that he was very attracted to her, but couldn’t say the same of the man. They had too much bad history between them to see him in a truly good light. Still, it was nice to be noticed as a girl, and that was a thought she hated to admit.
“If it is so dangerous,” Rilena sighed and used the same answer as the last several times he had broached the subject, “then the only reason to try it would be if it is to save my life. I will walk home if I must. If only you had a horse here, I would have ridden off by now.”
Her humor was restrained with the audience still waiting by the strategy
table.
Smiling in return, the giant reminded her, “Even with a horse, you would have trouble making it through the snows that linger here in the mountains. A single pair of boots and socks might not be enough for the trip until the weather warms again.”
The fact that Garosh remembered the little details like her socks was almost charming enough to make her forget their past. In her effort to give him a second chance, Rilena did give in to the humor of thinking how any of her clothes would hold up outside without a good fitting jacket or cloak.
She was about to say something jokingly about it, when the giant suddenly stood looking towards the door. Pulling the girl to her feet, he ordered, “Get your boots and socks on, now.”
“What?” Rilena started to question even as his great strength pulled her from the chair.
“I sense something wrong in the fortress. Be ready to fight or run, just in case.”
“Run where?” the girl complained knowing that there was only one exit from this room.
“Carianic, Muertasc, ready your weapons and check the guards outside,” Garosh ordered his bodyguards. Verian and Hereseth backed away from the table towards their lord as Rilena pulled on her boots. The wraiths showed that they had no fear as they drew their swords without question and advanced on the double doors.
“Blood,” Carianic stated before the two were even within six feet of the door. Muertasc nodded, but the undead men continued to advance cautiously. As they closed on the doors, a powerful aura suddenly revealed itself just beyond the door setting Rilena’s jaw to vibrating from its intensity.
Cursing at the release of power, Garosh warned, “The emperor.”
Magical force broke the doors from their hinges sending thousands of splinters flying directly into the two wraiths. If it had been anyone else in the room, they would have probably died in the blast, but wraiths weren’t exactly alive and were much harder to destroy.
Men in black rushed into the room and were met by the wraiths in force. Warlocks from the intruders sent fire into the bodyguards only to see the flames absorbed into their armor. Being undead, they didn’t chafe and had been wearing black armor designed to absorb the elements making the creatures even harder to kill.
A warlock lost his head pitching to the stone floor as the wraiths tried to fend off a dozen men. Fire from Hereseth was absorbed by the assassins’ leather armor as well making it look like this would be a fight won by the power of numbers and swords. Such a fight favored the powerful wraiths or so it seemed until one of the warlocks moving faster than the others moved in to face Muertasc.
“Shield,” the man ordered creating the blue light of a battle mage defense, but instead of protecting the blond haired mage he cast it forward horizontally cutting the wraith’s head from its shoulders. Leaning back the dark mage kicked the headless body away from him as black ichor sprayed from the severed neck. Where the liquid landed; stone, wood and cloth burned with the hiss of acid.
Garosh caught Rilena’s arm pulling her from her shock. “Think of someone you know best in Windmeer.”
“What are you talking about?” the dark haired girl questioned as her mind rushed to catch up to the giant’s thinking.
“Who is the most important person or the one you are closest to in Windmeer? Lock that person in your mind. Hurry!”
Rather than argue, Rilena started to think of her friends and Elzen popped into her mind. He had helped her so often and in his way she was even attracted to him despite his occasional childish antics. His height being roughly the same as hers didn’t bother her and they always seemed to be so in sync when they danced.
“Ow!” the girl cried out in pain as Garosh cut her arm with a knife that she had missed in her sudden reverie. “What was that for? That hurt and I am bleeding now, Garosh!”
His free hand jabbed against the wound bringing a hiss of pain from Rilena even as she heard the man begin mumbling a spell. His fingers started to paint the air and red blood floated creating a rectangle. Realizing that he was about to create a portal and that he was using her connection to someone in Windmeer to create that path; Rilena brought Elzen’s face into her mind focusing on the battle mage who had become one of her closest friends.
The portal shone silver before her. To her surprise, Garosh leaned down to kiss Rilena on the forehead mumbling, “Forgive me,” before virtually throwing the girl through the portal. Rilena’s eyes widened in shock, even as she tried to focus on Elzen once more. Whether her continued thoughts mattered, the mage found that she could only think of her friend in her panic anyway.
Then the room was gone and there was only the silver light and the wind.
Chapter 31- Return
Palose had felt Kolban’s power suddenly unleashed just before he cast a destructive spell destroying the double doors. Whether the emperor had sensed the giant or had found him in some other way, the mage didn’t know, but thanks to his impatient use of magic, there was no more use for subterfuge. The warlock assassins leaped into the room to face a pair of foes riddled with splinters in the wake of the broken doors, but the wraiths barely noticed as they retaliated with no mercy.
Fire spells were absorbed into the creatures’ heavy armor. Made of black metal, this was the armor that wizard hunter soldiers wore and Palose knew that simple fire spells would be of no use. Only a powerful wave of fire encompassing everything unprotected like Acheri’s magic would accomplish a man’s death, but these were no normal men. He knew little about the wraiths’ true powers, since their creators often imbued them with the strengths they valued.
More fire came from the left side of the door striking the assassins struggling against the wraiths. Like the metal armor, the leather covering was designed to absorb the elements like a night shield and use the spell’s strength to make the armor even stronger.
The warlock in front of him lost the fight with the wraith as his head lifted free of his shoulders. Palose watched it slowly rotate heading towards the floor as the directionless body slumped in front of the creature which continued to fight two more of the assassins. His reflex spell continued to keep his perceptions at superhuman speed and he could see that the warlocks were simply using the wrong spells.
Like lightning dancing across stone ground, the dark mage moved to face the closer of the two wraiths. Another warlock took a deep cut from the undead creature’s sword and fell back as much as he retreated. Unfortunately for the wraith Palose ignored the further chaos of men dying around him and closed before the wraith could adjust its defense to meet him. Too slow, the sword moved to block the mage’s assault and Palose called on the spell needed to do the job, “Shield.”
The blue light struck above the armor cleaving through the rotted neck and bone. Palose knew that the wraiths were almost more dangerous in second death than they were fighting and adjusted to place a foot against the headless corpse to kick it away. Black fluid sprayed the ground, bed and carpet burning everything black in an instant. Like acid, it etched the stone floor and appeared to melt the wood and cloth used to make the large bed beyond it.
Palose spotted Garosh and behind him a pretty dark haired girl. Who she could be in her poorly fitting clothes that looked like they had been stolen from a man slightly larger than her, the mage had no idea, but Kolban had made his orders clear. Anyone getting in the way of Garosh would end up dead. Perhaps he could kill her with a clean thrust of his sword and bring her back as a resurrection man or woman as the case was?
The warlocks serving Garosh were up to something, however, and Palose only caught the new threat thanks to his heightened abilities. Headless bodies of the fallen wraith and warlock started to pick themselves up from the ground even as the black ichor had slowed its spray. Fire from Hereseth was useless as he tried to kill the dark mage. A blue shield formed midway between them blocking most of the flames and the remainder was absorbed into his leather armor.
Screaming incoherently, the fire warlock tried another spell to stop the man in front of h
im, but Palose was too swift. His sword cut across the air removing one hand and half a forearm. The second hand lost all its fingers in the first pass. Before Heresth could scream in pain as his spell fizzled, Palose reversed the sweep of the blade cutting across his upper stomach cutting through the lower ribs on his left side. With no hands to hold in the blood, the warlock sagged to his knees as he was swiftly bleeding out.
The mage ignored the dying man and stepping around him to face the second warlock, Verian, whose eyes were wide with fear. Palose noted Garosh creating a new portal and feared that the giant had another hidden place to jump. Since the mage had only seeded the fortress with touchstones, there would be no way to follow. He wondered if Kolban could stop the door from closing as Acheri had done with his gates. It wasn’t like the emperor lacked in power, but he needed to be quick to catch the gate before it collapsed in on itself.
Cries of death came from behind him as the assassins continued to find the last wraith a formidable opponent. The manipulated remains of the dead from the necromancer before him began to get in their way as well, but they were meant to reach the onrushing mage before he could reach the retreating man.
The glowing gate blinked and disappeared, but Palose realized that the giant was still there. He had sent the mystery girl away to protect her and that task finished, he prepared to fight back. A surge of magic preceded a concussive blast of wind which picked up Palose flinging him over the table and against the stone wall. As he tumbled through the air, the mage twisted despite the torrent of wind to place his hands and feet before his torso and head to absorb the impact. Hitting the stone was painful as was that of the floor, but Palose was little more than bruised. Unfortunately, he had little time to gather himself as the headless wraith closed the distance.
Battle Mage: The Dark Mage (Tales of Alus) Page 46