His eyes noted the darkness. There were no stars to be seen above them. The roiling clouds were dark enough to make it difficult to see much. There were still a few glints of red light in them, but the clouds meant that there was no sight of moons or stars.
"Have there been any hollows?" the boy asked as he rubbed his eyes.
"None that I have seen. They seem to have decided to stay away from us. The air fence is probably enough to keep most creatures away and, of course, the salamanders are formidable looking as well."
The blue girl pulled away and he noted her clothing was different from when he had gone to sleep. Her top was no longer tied behind her back. Only the upper knot at her neck kept it from falling off. The battle skirt had been replaced with a scarf tied around her waist. It kept him from seeing too much of her, but these clothes wouldn't protect the girl if she needed to fight.
She said no more and lay down on her back. Her hands spread the cloth making certain that none of it touched her back. It was too dark to tell if she was still bruised, but Alec guessed that her ribs and back still hurt from the monster's attack. Her water magic hadn't been able to heal her completely most likely, but it had seemed to help at least.
Alec stood up looking around their camp. Three large mounds could be seen in the darkness. The salamanders all slept like there was no danger to worry over; but the young wizard wasn't certain if they slept light enough to be able to fight against any danger that might arise. Some animals looked unaware, but managed to hide that they kept watch. He wasn't sure how perceptive they might be as they slept inside the safety of the fence, since he barely knew the creatures' capabilities.
Letting out a quiet sigh; the novice wizard tried to look beyond the surrounding wind walls. He felt like a horse trapped inside of a corral. It was still dark, though the magic trapped within the posts glowed slightly. The light blue glow was oddly comforting if only because he knew that it meant magic stood between him and anything that might wish to attack them.
He started to pace. One of the salamanders lifted its head to look at him a moment before dropping back down onto its tail once more.
It was so quiet.
Alec whispered a spell, the one that let him see better in the dark. The walls around them seemed to grow brighter, though the young wizard was surprised that the spell didn't make the rest of the world equally brilliant. He could see better, but it was as if his magic was blocked to a point beyond the walls.
Looking up at the clouds overhead, the novice noted small glimmers amidst the swirling darkness. He could also make out the salamanders much better now as well as Shaelamee and Helios where they lay sleeping.
Something made itself known to his ears through the low hum created by the outer defenses. A snap of a branch perhaps, but Alec couldn't be certain.
A second spell was whispered augmenting his hearing and sense of smell. The battle mages called it "hound" for the similarity to a dog's increased senses. Wizards didn't use common words to make the spell and used longer words to describe it to new students as well. It was something that he wasn't supposed to know yet and had even forgotten earlier.
The scuff of something touching bare earth carried past the screens. Alec's eyes whipped in the direction of the sound and he gasped. There beyond the wind defense, he was able to make out the sight of an emaciated looking dragon man. A dragaoin or Zmaj from what he had been told, the creature was also a hollow.
It wasn't alone, but the undead beings didn't seem intent on those lying within the wind walls exactly either.
Glancing at his sleeping companions, Alec wondered if he should wake them. If the monsters were merely walking nearby without attacking them, then perhaps it wasn't that important. They had lived here much longer than he and knew more of the dangers of Atropos; maybe this wasn't unusual to them.
One of the hollows walked closer to the fencing. Alec realized that he was holding his breath, as if that would keep the creature from noticing them. The others slept soundly; even the salamanders seemed to have no worries about the environment surrounding them.
It reached out and touched the magical defense. A sizzling ring echoed as the fence rippled outward from the hollow's touch. Like watching water ripple in a manmade pond, the ripples met the rods and bounced back meeting the expanding waves to cancel each other out. The undead thing left its hand there as if inspecting it without worry.
A second hollow approached the fence at the next panel looking at the defense expressionlessly. The monsters were dead and supposedly lacking intelligence, so it shouldn't be a surprise that there was nothing in its eyes that could be recognized by the boy. They were also alien to him. He didn't know much about dragons or dragaoin. Even Helios was often a mystery when he tried to read the man's face.
Turning around, the novice watched as more hollows approached the fence from other sides.
"Helios," he breathed out moving towards the dragaoin wizard. His hand shook the Zmaj's shoulder. "Helios, I think we might have a problem."
A blue eye peeked at him as the lid opened slightly. "What is it?"
"The hollows... they've noticed us in here."
A surprisingly nonchalant sigh could be heard from the dragaoin. "Have they tried to attack?"
"One touched the fence and more are close to it. We're surrounded."
The boy looked away from the silver scaled creature to check on the perimeter. Another ripple could be seen from a different panel of the air fence. It wasn't as hard a hit as the first, but it was obvious.
When Helios stood up the three salamanders lifted their heads to look at the creature as if he was their leader or for some other reason based on their associated nature. Alec wasn't certain why the silver dragon man's action truly brought their attention, but their eyes remained on him as he began to search the perimeter.
"It isn't unusual for them to check the fences. Others approach Fort Naermere all the time. That's why we set watches to get rid of those who come too close," Helios stated taking in the light pressure building outside the fencing. Alec felt the approach of more of the creatures as much as he heard them with his amplified hearing. "Wake up, girl. We might need to clear some hollows from our camp before you finish your beauty sleep."
"Like you would know if I am beautiful, dragon," Shae replied sitting up as if she had already been awake. Perhaps they had been too loud as Alec had spoken with Helios, the boy considered only for a moment before looking in the direction of a low growl coming from beyond the air fence.
"You may not be one of my kind, but I can still appreciate you, little blue girl," chuckled the silver being who looked like an armored man in the dim light of an Atropos' night.
"Flatterer," the genasi responded as she rose from her blanket. Her top was untied, but as she stood the material pulled to her torso while the lower corners moved like someone had placed their hands on the cloth. Alec couldn't help watching as the ends tied together behind her back like he had done so earlier. Little drips of water sprayed from the movement in sprays of mist. "So these guys seem a bit more interested than Alec liked?"
Helios nodded quietly, but the boy noted his silver brow drawn into a frown. "They appear to want inside."
One of the salamanders rose growling at the far side of the enclosure. Its fellows lifted up looking prepared to defend their little bit of land as they bared their teeth but remained silent.
"Hmm, yes, I don't know if they can break through, but I think that we are going to find out," she agreed. A spell was channeled immediately after her words and ice suddenly glistened on her skin where there had been water a moment earlier. It didn't begin to melt away either as Alec might have expected from the warmth of her skin and the air.
More ripples rung across the fence. They came from multiple sources at once as if they were coordinated in their testing of the defense. A moment later, Alec heard several loud thuds from the various panels. He spotted a head lift over the seven foot high air shield and drop down again.
The intensity of Helios' frown never lessened and the normally joking genasi appeared just as disconcerted as the others.
"They have never shown much intelligence beyond a basic need to feed or kill, but this does seem more intent than normal," the dragon man replied.
One of panels shook and warped for a moment proving something strong had struck it. Perhaps it was more weight than individual strength, Alec thought as he was fairly certain that more than one had attacked at the same time. It was a coordinated effort. He was certain of that now.
Before he could consider much more, the attacks on the panels appeared to suddenly stop. That was when multiple heads lifted over the fencing, but they were followed by shoulders and chests as well. One fell short and the creature's torso settled on the top of the air panel. Like a knife slicing through meat, the panel bisected the hollow where it landed. The upper body slid free of its lower half. Head and chest landed with a sickening thud inside the pen, but it no longer moved.
Four more creatures appeared to leap high enough to clear the cutting winds. One landed next to the salamanders creating a frenzy as the beasts assaulted the hollow driving it back into the fence. It rippled and small holes formed in the glowing shield. The force of the salamanders nearly did the work that the hollows had been attempting for a few minutes.
Alec barely got to see what happened to the hollow before he had to react to the other three which had made it inside. Calling on a wind spell, the novice wizard manipulated the air sending several cutting blades at the one closest to him. The hollow bared its fangs one moment and reeled back as the wind blades slashed at its skin. Concentrating on the strength of the glimmering air, Alec cut through an arm severing it from the hollow's body. A second blade was turned horizontally striking at the neck.
Raising its other arm protectively to guard its vulnerable point, the hollow's remaining arm took the hit. The novice hadn't expected the move and hadn't timed the hit of the wind blade properly. Merely placing a cut across the forearm, the spell did less damage by far. Other blades sent dark droplets of the creature's blood spraying from its legs, but again he failed to strike the hollow effectively.
As the novice struggled to fend off the first of the hollows, he could barely take in the fact that more were finding their ways inside attempting to overwhelm the three wizards and their salamander mounts. Bursts of light as Helios and Shaelamee fought were noted from the corners of his eyes, but Alec became lost in just trying to survive.
Chapter 9- A Cry for the Fallen
Shaelamee felt clawed fingers grab for her from behind. The tug on the cloth top was strong, so the genasi used the water in the cloth to untie it immediately. She felt it slip free even as the ice shielding her exploded.
Turning to face her attacker, the warlock controlled the cloth making it into a masking shield that kept the dragaoin hollow blinded; but it was no longer moving. Ice now coated its skin. Frozen in place like a statue, it couldn't defend itself as the water soaked cloth flattened out becoming a thin, solid blade.
The sound of ice breaking as the cloth passed through the frozen neck announced the removal of the dead creature's head. It was twice as dead now, the girl noted with a frown.
More claws reached for the genasi girl and she used the first cloth to fend them off like a shield. Releasing her skirt in a similar way, Shaelamee had a second shield or weapon depending on her need.
Unlike the novice a few feet away, the warlock was more practiced in the use of her magic and the ways of battle. She was trained and tested. Hollows might seem easy enough to destroy most days, but sometimes they attacked in great enough numbers to challenge even a handful of wizards.
Two fence panels were gone. A number of broken bodies lay just outside proving that such entry had required casualties. They hadn't all just been flung over the wall, if that was even the coordinated attack that had been needed to get the first few over the magical defense.
How had they done that anyway? She wondered somewhere back in the depths of her mind as the warlock concentrated on fighting a steadily filling space.
Helios blinked out of sight. He had struck out with rays of cold that had slowed his attackers; but unlike her ice armor spell, they hadn't turned completely into ice.
A roar from outside the fencing heralded a subzero wind. Shaelamee couldn't see Helios, but knew enough of dragaoin to know even those without magic could be dangerous indeed. It had been the race's ferociousness that had forced the Ciemnosci to unleash the brutal time dust on their world after all.
Helios fended off the first of the hollows to land within the enclosure. It was sickening to see the dead of his race like this. They were dead, but it was like killing his people all over again. Pushing the hatred of killing his own down deep inside, the sorcerer drew on the magic inside him to deal with the danger pressing upon them.
Blue rays of chilling cold struck a pair of hollows. Ice formed on their skin slowing their approach. These were old spells learned early on by the sorcerer. Working with cold was not only part of his magic, but part of the silver dragaoin's nature.
He had been bullied often by others of his race. They had seen his features as being misshapen, a deformity, and had laughed when he told them that he felt that dragons were in his bloodline. He didn't have a dragon enough face some had told him and those were the polite dragaoin.
A small orb formed in each hand. It was light blue and felt frigid even to the sorcerer making them. Flung forward like bullets, each struck a target. One was struck in the head. More ice formed turning it solid, but brittle. Dragon scales shattered and a headless form collapsed to the ground.
The second orb caught the other hollow in the chest. Again ice formed, but it wasn't enough to turn the larger part of the body to ice.
Leaping close, Helios summoned lightning to his right hand. Claws stabbed into the icy chest driving deeper than the cold. He could see sparks from the nose and mouth. Eyes bulged as the lightning expanded from his touch. Smoke from burned skin lifted into the air before the second hollow crashed to the ground a few feet from the first.
The dragon man glanced at the pen. A panel shattered near the three salamanders. Others were beginning to give.
Calling on a different spell, Helios blinked out of sight for a moment. Though his companions could no longer see him, the sorcerer hadn't gone far. He was no longer in the relative safety of the fence, however.
Drawing in a deep breath, the dragaoin found several more hollows focused on breaking through the outer defense of the wind wall. He roared releasing the breath weapon of a dragon's kin. Ice formed on the ground expanding into a cone that caught the dragaoin hollows in front of the silver dragon man. Three barely turned to face him before turning to ice. Their colors were dull but not metallic, he noted.
Two more looked barely able to move. Five balls of force flung from his fingers. Holes formed in their wounded bodies sending what was left of them to the ground with the others.
Three remained to face him here. It was hard to tell their colors. Dulled with time or perhaps from death, they could be bronze, brass or maybe even dulled gold. None were silver like him, but that didn't matter.
Ice blades formed in Helios' hands. Attacking like a practiced swordsman, the dragaoin closed with the undead Zmaj striking with those blades. Claws tried to slay him in turn.
He felt the marks, but they didn't strike real flesh. Gray coloring shimmered with false life as the monsters did their best to stop the sorcerer. Helios seemed larger than he really was to them as well. The spell formed a thin outer shell that felt as firm as flesh, but the dragaoin remained unharmed for as long as it might last.
Lightning shot from one hollow's mouth as it exhaled at him. A straight line of force, Helios narrowly avoided the attack, but it struck the fencing behind him knocking o
ut another wind panel. He wanted to sigh from annoyance. The whole point of moving outside had been to protect the fence and remove the threat to it here.
Ice cut. The living dragaoin was much swifter in his movements landing his blows and avoiding their defenses nearly every time. They couldn't think as he did. They were undead, not living and capable of tactics, Helios was certain; yet these had attacked differently from normal. They had used tactics and appeared to devise ways both around and through the magic fencing. This defense had been more than enough to protect most scouting parties for decades, but suddenly they were facing scores of determined hollows.
Putting the questions away, the sorcerer fought the remaining three foes until each lay unmoving on the ground.
Helios used another spell to fly up and looked over the remaining parts of their defensive wall. More hollows were torn apart inside. Alec and Shaelamee had moved closer practically back to back. Working well together, apparently, the two had used the salamanders to block one side while whittling away at the attackers that made it through the gaps. There were nearly as many holes as standing shields now, but surprisingly the hollows withdrew.
They had taken casualties, but that didn't usually deter these creatures. What were deaths to the undead? They were supposed to be unthinking, emotionless things, but Helios could nearly believe that these hollows had thought things through and even retreated once they decided that their quarry wasn't worth the trouble.
This shouldn't have happened this way, the dragaoin thought. Could things be changing on his former home world? If magic was involved, then anything was possible; but it was also troubling if it was true.
Landing near the others, the silver dragon man watched the hollows disappear back into the darkness.
"I'll reset the fence spells," he announced simply before moving back to his work.
The other two glanced at each other curiously a moment before Alec suddenly realized that the blue girl's body was bare while the remnants of her clothing floated close by to defend her.
Smart Alec in the Dark Lands Page 11