by D. R. Rosier
“Did you know our healers take binding oaths to never use their magic for anything except healing? Will that be a problem for you?”
He did something I would never have expected, he sighed and told the truth. Not like he was confessing something, but more as if he was explaining something to a small child he didn’t expect to understand. It was extremely condescending and it put me on edge.
“But it is the only way. We cannot defeat that abomination without new and different magic.”
“That’s not true, we know what will destroy him, it’s a matter of defeating his shields.”
The emperor rolled his eyes, “Of course it is, but no magic we have is capable of that, he or it is too powerful. I need those healers. The ones we had… well there was an accident.”
I snorted, “There is a better chance of finding something else that will destroy us rather than help us. I suspect that was the accident? I would still like to offer you Cirenthia’s help in return for non-aggression, but not that. Using the healers to create new, or modify life to access other realms is too dangerous. I’m confident we can stop the demon without it.”
The emperor’s face twisted in anger and his eyes burned so brightly I doubted his sanity, “You’re a fool, there is no other way. If you won’t sign I am sure the next one your pathetic queen sends will.”
I was still trying to work out exactly what he meant when my magical senses died. My eyes widened, yes, we still had magic, but without the senses I wouldn’t be able to feel a thrown dagger, or an arrow, or an approaching soldier. Clearly he was going to kill us and make up something to tell the queen and have her send someone else.
Crazy arrogant fucker.
I released three spells of ice at the area the mage officers were in before my senses cut out as I stood and turned. The soldiers were closing in already, but all three officers were skewered with ice spikes and my magical senses came back. I drew my sword. Ari and Alethea followed my lead and I felt Sally and Steven start to use magic.
The soldiers truly didn’t have a chance. But as I was cutting into them I felt the princess ducking underneath the table and emperor and his heir wielding earth and fire. I turned in time to see it coming at me and started to move to dodge. I felt Alethea reach out and claim the fire and send it back.
They switched targets and the two of them started to attack Ari and Alethea in a duel of magic. Steven was taking out soldiers with strikes of air and Sally turned the doorway into more wall as the stones obeyed her will in an attempt to stop reinforcements.
I… kind of lost it.
Those fuckers were attacking my pregnant mate. I didn’t care that they were the leaders of a huge empire with armies. I didn’t care I was here to sign a peace treaty and most definitely not start a war. I was a man protecting what was mine.
I sent out an elemental whirlwind of air which would dispel any protections, inside that whirlwind was another one of real air, with razor sharp shards of ice. It was something new I hadn’t tried before, a magic that would protect itself from other magics. I had no doubt I could come up with a counter, but in the heat of battle, and how fast I sent it at them didn’t give them much time to think. Emperor Eljin and his son and heir Tenjin were turned into bloody mush and bone fragments.
I looked around and shook my head. I’d just helped massacre an emperor and his personal guard, possibly started a war. On the other hand, that bastard almost tricked us into allowing him to force our healers to use forbidden magics that could summon another demon, perhaps even worse than this one was.
Crap, Serina was so going to kick my ass.
“You bastard! You’ll never make it out of here alive, and I will crush Cirenthia into dust beneath my boot for what you have done here, this I swear,” I heard a screaming voice full of rage and hate.
I turned and looked at the princess. She was in a rage, but she was also holding her magic back, no doubt out of fear. I almost wished she would attack so I could justify finishing the job, I guess that made her empress. I couldn’t bring myself to do it though, even if it was probably the smart thing to do. Defending my mates and I was one thing, killing Halli in cold blood would be another.
I almost responded to her accusations, all we did was defend ourselves after all. Her father tried to kill us. But it would have been useless, like trying to piss into the wind. There was a loud banging as someone tried to break Sally’s wall down.
“Everyone to me.”
Alethea, Ari, Sally, and Steven responded quickly to my command and I fast travelled back to the mansion, it took maybe thirty seconds. I kind of wished I could have seen Halli’s face when we just disappeared like that. I know the thought was petty, but I could be like that sometimes…
“Gather your stuff and meet us back here, we probably only have a minute or two. Be wary of any servants that try to approach you. Hurry.”
Tina was staring at us in shock. I wished we had time to clean up and get the blood off, but we really didn’t. I considered the idea of going for our horses, I was tired of leaving them behind every time things got tight, but it wasn’t worth risking any human lives, I was sure there were soldiers headed this way if they weren’t here already. We could always come back for them later I supposed.
We grabbed our stuff, maybe a half minute later Steven and Sally ran back in the room. We took a moment to make sure nothing was missing, like a spell book or other important papers. I was just under three quarters full on magic, plenty left. But Alethea stepped in and took us to the realm of fire. I could feel Ari’s fire magic as well as she sped us up.
“Where will we end up?”
Alethea smiled, “The reception room in our suite.”
Ari winked, “In a half an hour or so, I added a lot of magic.”
Good, I couldn’t wait to wash this blood off…
Chapter 17
When we got back Sally and Steven left our suite to find their own baths. I wasn’t looking forward to explaining how I’d come home with a war, not a treaty. But I also couldn’t wait to see them. It had been a month since I’d seen Sienna and Serina, I had missed them and our rooms were filled with their scent. We stripped out of the bloody clothes and took a quick bath before we left in search of the queen.
I was still trying to figure out what went wrong; I had thought the emperor would keep his word, apparently that was only true if it were convenient. Perhaps it was just another tool used to keep his people in line, or perhaps he was simply that desperate. It was also possible that he was just a beer short of a six pack, I’d gotten the impression he was less than stable mentally.
We eventually tracked her down in the throne room, Sienna was standing to the side of the throne. Reed and Cindy were also close by guarding them both. We took up positions in the back of the room not wanting to interrupt, it looked like she was granting audiences and listening to petitions.
I thought it funny the first person to notice three mages walked into the throne room was Sienna and not the other mages, she bent down and whispered in the queen’s ear. Serina’s eyes widened and she looked right at us and she stood.
“This audience is now finished, anyone waiting will have to come back tomorrow.”
She swept off the dais and left the throne room, the four of us followed them down the hall and into the war room. Both Serina and Sienna drew me into a hug and gave me a kiss that flirted on the edge of impropriety. I wanted to drag them back to the bedroom, but I knew business would have to come first.
Serina asked, “What happened?” as we all took seats.
I replied, “I figured out what they wanted with healers, they wanted the healers to experiment with creating life and new realm connections. The emperor was crazy, if we try that it will just make things worse, so I offered an alternative.”
Serina’s voice was full of dread, “Was?”
I coughed, “Well, he didn’t like the alternative, he ordered all his guards to attack, and then he and his heir attacked. I’m afraid the
re was only one survivor, the emperor’s daughter, who kind of declared war on Cirenthia. It was self defense.”
Sienna frowned, “Did you consider just retreating?”
Ari answered honestly, “No, I think he kind of lost it when Alethea and I were attacked directly by the emperor. But I think it was for the best anyway. The emperor would have attacked and tried to take our healers by force anyway if he hadn’t managed to kill us. To be fair it didn’t really occur to me or my cousin either, if it had either of us could have gotten the group out of there.”
Alethea nodded, “The bastard tried to kill an envoy he requested, an ambassador and prince, he got what he deserved.”
I blew out a breath, “Their both right, I wasn’t thinking about anything except ending the threat. I don’t think we have much to worry about in the short term though. Empress Halli may want revenge, but she’s going to have to stop the goblin horde first. Possibly even protect her throne. Either way, our main objective right now should be to kill the demon, whether they want us in Rhimera or not.
“We can worry about invasion or how to deal with Rhimera once the demon and the horde have run their course.”
Serina looked pained, “You want to kill the demon and then leave the rest?”
I nodded, “I’m not thrilled about it, a lot of humans will die in Rhimera. But at the end of the day it was the emperor’s actions that prevented us working together. I just don’t think there is anything we can really do. We can sneak in a small group to take on the demon, killing the demon is essential and limits the damage to just the one horde, but we would just start a three way war if we brought an army onto their soil, not to mention it would leave Cirenthia helpless without a peace treaty for the aftermath.”
Sienna’s eyes narrowed, “And I suppose you need to go.”
I shrugged, “I’m not thrilled about it either, me going or you staying behind to protect our child, but I can’t avoid it. The enchantment is the best way, possibly the only way to kill it.”
Ari asked, “Any idea how you’re going to get around the shield yet?”
I shook my head, “Maybe I’ll just stab it, and use my sword as a conduit. The creature is extremely fast, but so am I.”
Ari narrowed her eyes, “We. Don’t forget I can pass the enchantment as well.”
Shit, I didn’t like that idea at all but I knew better than to try and coddle her.
“That’s true, and I’m sure I will need help.”
Sienna growled, “I won’t be left behind again.”
I closed my eyes and prayed for patience.
“But you can’t ride,” I said drawing a glare from her.
“How about this, we scry and figure out what town they are going to next, then a small group of us will fast travel to the closest point we know that was on the way to the capitol. Then we can ride fast and hard for that town. I can place a few of the beacons around the town, maybe a mile or so away in each direction. Then we’ll come back here.
“Then when the enemy gets there, we can all fast travel back with as many mages and troops that we can spare. The mages and troops will shield us from the horde long enough for us to kill the demon. I’d suggest the demon killing group be me, Ari, Alethea, Sienna, Sally, Steven, and whoever else Serina thinks should join us. That way Sienna, you can be there for the dangerous part, but not for the ride. It’s ironic, but the battle will be much less dangerous to you than riding a horse. That’s as far as I’m willing to bend on this.”
Serina looked thoughtful for a moment before she said, “Alright, it’s as good of a plan as any I suppose. When the demon goes down pull out, let the empire deal with the brunt of the horde. Who knows, maybe the empire will collapse after this if we’re lucky, something to think about later.”
Sienna looked both stubborn and grateful, I knew there was no way I’d talk her out of it. She didn’t look at all happy with me forbidding her to come along for the first part, but there was no way she’d win that argument, I knew the rest of my mates would be on my side for that much at least, and so did she.
Serina said, “Try and figure out where they are going today, you can pick a team and leave in the morning. It’s probably selfish, but Sienna and I missed you.”
I couldn’t blame her, I could hardly wait to show Serina and Sienna just how much I’d missed them as soon as I could get them alone.
I smiled, “Sounds fine to me, I missed you both too. As for the team I already know. I was thinking just Ari, Alethea, and six horses. We’ll want to ride fast and as long as possible each day, switching mounts every couple of hours will help.”
Serina nodded, “That should work. Reed, Cindy, I think we are going to have lunch in our suite, feel free to take a few hours off.”
Serina got up while badly suppressing a smile, “You all coming?” she asked as she walked toward the door.
What’s a guy to do? I stood up and bravely followed, I could scry the enemy later, because right now I had to take care of my husbandly duties…
We got a late start the next day. Serina and Sienna had been enthusiastic and seemingly insatiable from my absence. They also both wanted a much more detailed account of the trip and what happened and what was said while we were in Rhimera.
It wasn’t just about me though, Serina filled me in on the major happenings in Cirenthia in more detail than her short messages, and Sierra gave me business updates as she’d been keeping an eye on it the last month.
We filled each other in on all that and more between rounds; it was late that night before we’d finally drifted off to sleep.
I kissed both of my wives breathless as well as Tina before we left. We would be riding hard and long each day and it would only be three days until we returned, there was no point in taking her. I kind of thought I’d be able to handle it on my own, but knew none of them would go for it so I didn’t bother arguing.
We started to fast travel, we were headed for the east side of a town about twenty miles west of the Rhimeran capitol. From there it was three days travel mostly to the north and a little to the east. I hoped we could sneak through, we were all in disguise wearing cloaks from Rhimera, but we would be ready for the worst. I had no doubt that the Rhimeran military was looking for us with orders to kill on sight.
We hoped for just a little luck and wound up receiving our wish, except the luck was all bad. We appeared in the middle of a column of soldiers…
A quick estimate based on my air and life detection told me there were at least thirty soldiers at the same time a few of them shouted in alarm. We couldn’t even break out because the horses were still in the magical stasis, it would take about twenty seconds to counter the magic spell, time we didn’t have. I pulled my sword, jumped off the horse, and took two heads as I landed on the ground.
By that time they were drawing swords as well. The three of us started to dodge and weave between the enemy not daring to stop for a second, we knew if we did someone would stab us in the back. The only good thing was there were no mages among the enemy. We probably could have taken them quicker with our magic, but we were trying to conserve it, so we took the enemy by the sword.
I spun and sliced into a neck, then moved to the left while ducking a sword strike and opening another soldier’s stomach. Every sword stroke met the flesh of the enemy as I flowed through them. I was actually a little surprised I was using the Elven sword style; all of those days of practice had finally paid off. I was too fast, their swords too slow, as I just moved where they weren’t.
If it wasn’t for all the screaming I’d have been enjoying myself. Okay, I’ll admit I was… just a little bit. Turns out the bad luck was the enemy’s. It was less than a minute later the three of us were cleaning our swords.
“Everyone alright?”
I started to mutter the release spell for the horses as Ari and Alethea said at the same time, “We’re good.”
I took a quick look toward the town; it wouldn’t be long for some kind of response. We mount
ed up and headed north at a canter. I wished there was a better way, but all the ways I figured out how to travel with magic including strengthening the horse, flying, and other methods just cost too much magic. Sure it was faster, but ironically it would be too draining to get very far.
I thought about trying to design a glider of some sort, and then use air magic to ensure lift. That might work and would probably be cheap magic wise, but it wasn’t something I could just throw together.
I had my senses out as far as they could go, but the land was open prairie here and the mark one eyeball had a much greater range. It was a couple hours later I spied a patrol. We stopped and switched mounts.
I said thoughtfully, “This might be a problem; it looks like the empress might be sending troops to the same place we’re going. We could cut through them, but I’d prefer not to, we’ll need them. Any ideas on how we can get around them?”
Ari asked, “Why do we need them exactly?”
I said, “Well, when we attack it will be with what… less than fifty people at most to hold back an army of over a hundred thousand while we take out the demon? I was planning on timing our attack with the horde’s attack on the town which will at least give us a shot at succeeding. The more people there defending the better, it will make a bigger distraction for our plan. Every soldier we kill is one less defender in the coming battle.”
The three of us looked around again, the terrain was depressingly flat and open.
Alethea replied, “I’m not sure, maybe our disguises will work? If we hadn’t appeared out of nowhere in the middle of that column they might have just ignored us.”
Ari shrugged, “We could move at night, use the night vision spell for both us and the horses. That would hardly drain our magic. I wonder, if we use sound muffling magic they wouldn’t be able to hear us even at a gallop.”
I smiled and stole a kiss, “Brilliant, but where do we hide during the day. There isn’t a blasted tree in sight much less a forest.”