Titan was clearly far from reassured but he let me touch him.
“Sehen Sie, was ich sehe Höre, was ich höre; fühle was ich fühle; Schmecke was ich schmecke Rieche, was ich rieche; Weiß was ich weiß!” I spoke the spell, letting the magic flood me.
Suddenly I felt the magic pull hard. I had a sudden desire to take over Titan’s mind. It would be so easy; I had his mind in my hands, all I need to do was gently push here and there, and Titan would be completely mine to control. Never had I felt a temptation so strong as this. I wanted to control his mind more than I wanted to breathe even though I had no idea why. So strong was my desperation to break Titan’s will, I somehow knew the spell, despite having never learned the bewusstseinskontrolle-spells.
NO! I told myself as I hopelessly fought against the tide of magic flooding me, taking over my will. I would not lose control, not now. With a last ditch heave of desperation, I focused on the thoughts of the officer for a split second and severed the link.
“GAH!” I gasped, opening my eyes, finding myself soaked in sweat and out of breath.
“You okay?” Zimri asked, coming over.
“I think so,” I answered, leaning on him.
“What was that?” Titan asked. He didn’t look much better than I felt.
“I do not know,” I answered, finally straightening up. “Magic is always seems to have a mind of its own and it is always tries to take over. But never this strong.”
“I thought your magic was an innate power,” Zimri frowned.
“No, it is something we tap into,” I explained. “Using magic is like letting someone else coming into your mind, someone who wants to take over.”
“Is magic…sentient?” he asked.
I frowned, tapping my foot. “I am not sure,” I pondered. “I have often wondered that. I cannot imagine how magic would be a conscious being but there are times…”
“As if magic wasn’t creepy enough,” Zimri shuddered. “We probably shouldn’t be wasting time though.”
“Right,” I nodded turning to Titan, who’d gone white as a sheet.
“You let that in me?” he gaped.
“You are fine,” I dismissed. “Now do you know where the Alkite is?”
“I…ya, I do,” Titan frowned. “How?”
“The spell worked then,” I said flatly, attempting to disguise my relief. “Take this,” I tossed him the invisibility cloak.
“What is this?” he tried to hold up the cloak.
“An invisibility cloak.”
“A what?” he tossed the cloak to the ground. “You want to do more magic to me?”
“It is not magic,” I rolled my eyes. “It is a dye made from the vanishing pheasant.”
“That sounds like magic,” Titan grumbled.
“It is not so pick it up and stop whining,” I ordered sharply. “By the peaks, you are worse than Zimri.”
Titan reluctantly picked up the cloak, throwing it around his shoulders and drew the hood up.
“Hmm, his face is still visible,” Zimri noted.
“Not much,” I countered. “In the dark, it will be enough to keep him concealed, so long as you do not do anything foolish.”
“Break into the dungeon, get the Alkite, and get out,” Titan shrugged. “Should not be too complicated.”
“At least you know how to take directions,” I gave Zimri a pointed look. “Wait a few minutes—”
“While you and Zimri distract the garrison,” Titan waved off. “Ya, I know.”
“Just making sure,” I said, not feeling any better.
“I will be fine,” he assured, draping the cloak back over him and almost disappearing. “You have the hard part.”
“I know,” I answered dourly.
“A job that won’t getting any easier standing around here,” Zimri said, putting his hand on my shoulder. Leaning in, he whispered, “You okay?”
“I believe so,” I lied. I was exhausted and we hadn’t really started yet.
“Have enough power?”
“I will when it matters,” I said, attempting to mimic Zimri’s reassuring smile. It felt horribly unnatural and judging by Zimri’s amused expression, it wasn’t having the desired effect.
“You get points for trying,” he said with a grin of his own. How’d he do that so naturally? “But,” he added, “you don’t have to lie to me. You can tell me the truth.”
“I have just picked up some of your optimism,” I replied, attempting the smile again. It still didn’t work.
“Let’s go,” he said, putting his arm around me. “We have a sorcerer to kill.”
Chapter 30-Zimri
Given that we were supposed to be the distraction, being immediately inundated with soldiers wasn’t a bad thing. It sure felt like it though.
“Adamah’s breath!” I swore, ducking under spear thrust. I slammed my new, triangular shield into the side of my opponent’s shield, opening him up. Then I drove my beautiful new sword into his gut.
“Try not the kill them,” Athala admonished behind me.
“You could help!” I growled back, deflecting another spear thrust.
“DRÜCKE!” she shouted and wave of soldiers blew back. “That enough help?”
“Come on,” I rolled my eyes and sprinted forward. Athala followed, halting every few meters to syphon off soldier’s life force.
“I can’t believe how used to this I’ve gotten,” I muttered, disturbed by how not disturbed I was, “but can you draw life force from more people at once?”
“I think there is a spell for that, but the Mistress never taught us,” Athala answered. “Tod.”
“The Sorceress kept vital knowledge from you,” I grunted, sheering off an arm before opening up a soldier’s throat. “That’s a shock.”
“It would not be a good idea anyway,” she answered. “Chances are such a spell would be imprecise and would drain your life force.”
“Oh,” I paled at that. “I guess I owe the Sorceress one. YIKES!” I yelped as the soldiers behind us started to catch up. “If our goal was to clear the way for Titan, it’s definitely working!” Athala nodded and grimaced.
“You okay?” I asked.
“I am running through magic much faster than I would like,” she answered in the flat tone that usually meant she was nervous. “It is fighting me more than usual.”
“Comforting,” I muttered. “It isn’t trying to kill me, is it?”
“You do not want to know,” she answered flatly, red eyes tight with focus.
I did not, I decided.
When we reached the top of the passage, another half dozen soldiers blocked our way, sandwiching us in. I could take on three at once, but six was too many, especially since they were already in the shield wall formation.
“They’re all yours, Athala,” I gestured to the soldiers in front of us. “I’ll hold these guys off for you.”
She grimaced but nodded. I turned to face the thirty or so soldiers marching up to us. They were about six abreast, shields interlocking and spears bristling. This was going to be fun.
I launched myself into the mass of soldiers. Aided by gravity and my own weight, I sent the centermost soldier tumbling back down the passage, knocking over the ones behind him. Turning to my right, I attacked the nearest soldier, deflecting away his spear and shearing off his arm just below the elbow. His partner stabbed at me, nearly skewering me. I managed to twist mostly out of the way, the spearhead grazing off the scale armor. Quickly I dispatched the weaponless soldier and then turned to face the other. I pinned his spear against the wall with shield and slashed his throat. Unfortunately, I had also managed to back myself against the left wall and was now effectively hemmed in by the soldiers.
“TOD!” Athala shouted to my left, dropping a pair of soldiers. “Quit messing around!”
Bolting through the opening she’d provided, I raced into the courtyard. Instantly I was greeted by a series of twangs.
“Schade!” Athala cursed, ducking behind me and my entirely
too small shield. “He is trying to wear me down. Unfortunately, it is working. Schütze!” she called as another barrage of arrows rained down on us.
With Athala’s shield protecting us, we sprinted towards the main door to the keep. Behind us we heard the dozens of pursuing soldiers running after us and in front, another mass of soldiers was waiting.
“I kind of wish Titan was here,” I commented.
“Do not worry, I have a plan,” Athala answered, eyes narrowed in thought. “Just hold them off for a couple of minutes.”
I looked at the charging soldiers. “Uh, how? There’s over thirty of them and just one of me.”
“Figure it out,” she dismissed.
With no better idea, I charged the soldiers, hoping they’d focus just on me. I got only a few steps before a chorus of twangs echoed from the main keep’s balcony.
“Adamah’s breath,” I swore, pivoting to block the hail of arrows with my shield. I was trapped between thirty-plus, well-armed soldiers on one side and archers on the other. Forget holding these soldiers off; I would be lucky to survive the next few seconds. Except…
An idea formed. Shifting the shield to my back, I sprinted towards the soldiers, counting on their psychotic devotion to following their orders to work against them. Just as I reached the first line, I heard the familiar twang of the next volley, right on time.
I ducked among the soldiers, not even worrying about trying to fight them, letting the new hail of arrows doing that for me. Keeping my shield over my head, I immediately turned on the wounded soldiers, cutting them down as fast as I could. The pain of arrows sticking in them didn’t bother them, but it still damaged their muscles enough to slow them down, making my job easier. A second volley of arrows rained down as the two sides tried to close in around me. For once, being short than most Eisenbergians worked to my advantage as the deadly darts hit them, not me. Of course, that didn’t stop one from slamming his shield into my back, sending me sprawling.
“Zimri!” Athala called. “Quit screwing around!”
Grumbling, I rolled out of the way of a spear thrust and scrambled to my feet, evading spears, shields, and the occasional arrow. I burst out of the mob remarkably unscathed, aside from a few bruises and nicks, and found Athala glaring at me, tapping her foot.
“Cover your eyes and ears this time,” she flatly ordered a moment before whirling around, tossing a familiar clay object into the air. Immediately I dropped to my knees, holding gloved hands tightly over my ears and shutting my eyes tight.
It kept my eardrums from rupturing but little else. Even through my tightly closed eyes, I still saw the world light up like the sun. Underneath my feet, I felt the world shake and it still sound like someone was slamming copper pots six centimeters from my ears but I managed to keep my wits this time. Not so with our enemies, most of whom, stumbled around.
I don’t know how Athala managed to cover her ears and eyes, but she seemed even less affected than I. She sprinted forward and immediately began draining the life force from the dazed soldiers. Meanwhile, I turned to defend our rear against the remnants of our pursuers. Wounded, dazed, and ranks dramatically reduced, they posed no challenge.
“Now what?” I asked, looking at the massive door leading into the keep. “I’m guessing that’s not unlocked.”
“No, it is not,” Athala confirmed. “That is why I brought this.” She fished in her satchel, producing a glass vial of a familiar clear liquid.
“That isn’t what I think it is,” I started backing away.
“Of course it is,” she replied calmly.
“You were carrying that stuff in a glass vial? What if it broke?”
“I would need a new bag,” she flatly answered, studying the door. “Now I must figure out how to use it.”
“Think fast,” I looked back. Another set of soldiers, pushing a hundred this time, were gathering in the courtyard.
“You can deal with them,” Athala said, not looking back.
“Have any more of those explosives?” I asked.
“One and I need it.”
“Lovely,” I complained.
Looking around, I started collecting spears from the fallen soldiers and flinging them at the advancing troops. Spears weren’t meant to be ranged weapons and I wasn’t great at throwing them so it did little to slow them down. I had over a dozen spears at my disposal so statistical probability was on my side and I managed to kill one.
“Any time now!” I called to Athala over my shoulder.
“Be patient,” she said with an infuriating calm.
“Not really an option right now,” I returned, drawing my sword.
“Feuer!” she spoke behind me. A moment later, there was a terrific explosion that left my ears ringing and my sense of balance thrown off.
“ADAMAH’S BREATH!” I swore. “Warn me next time!”
“What is the point? You never listen,” Athala said, pulling me around. “Let us go.”
The center of the door had been obliterated and Athala pushed it open with ease, pulling me in. We were promptly greeted by a half dozen dazed soldiers and what was left of another half dozen. I made quick work of them while Athala slid the remnants of the crossbar over the breach.
“That’s not going to hold,” I pointed out.
“It does not have to,” she answered. “All we need is for it to slow them down.”
“That’ll slow them down?” I had a dubious expression etched on my face.
“They are not terribly intelligent,” she shrugged. “But that does not mean we can dawdle. Let us go.”
Most of the soldiers must’ve been stationed outside because we ran into only a few, which I was able to dispatch easily. I was quickly lost but Athala knew exactly where she was going, moving with a fierce, quiet, determined purpose. After breaching the keep, Athala’s demeanor had subtly changed. She had been calm and relaxed, moving coolly through the combat with little care. Now she was tense, focused, and anger radiated off of her in waves. Suddenly she turned left and faced another large set of double doors.
“Here?” I asked.
“Here,” she confirmed.
Chapter 31-Athala
“Explodiert!” I commanded the door and it promptly blew apart.
We were promptly greeted by four soldiers rushing us. I grabbed two and pulled them toward me, sucking out their life force, while Zimri struck down the other two.
“Come out Aidan!” I shouted into Aidan’s throne room. “I know you are in here.”
“I am not hiding,” Aidan’s voice answered and he stepped down from the dais at the far end of the room. “I have been waiting for you.”
“Did you really think those soldiers would stop me?” I sneered, letting the magic rush through me.
“No, of course not,” he shook his head, amused. “They were supposed to wear you down, as are these.”
Aidan gave a sharp whistle and the archers from the courtyard came in the from the balcony at the end of the room and fired at us. Reflexively, Zimri raised his shield but I had no time for this.
“Drücke!” I called, unleashing a powerful wave of energy.
The arrows were flung back at the archers who themselves were picked up and thrown from balcony, crashing down on the stone courtyard three stories below. Even with his magical shield, Aidan still was force back a few steps.
“Impressive,” Aidan commented, straightening. “But of course, you are just wasting your energy and this time, you do not have a little girl to supplement your power.”
My fury, already barely contained, exploded like one of my grenades. Beside me, Zimri burst forward while I prepared my spells to annihilate my schaffing rival. I wanted him to suffer for Helga.
Of course, neither of us had any illusions to how successful Zimri or I would be initially. Aidan had thrown up a powerful magical shield which, unlike conventional armor, had no weaknesses to exploit. Basically, we were hammering away at a brick wall. But like any brick wall, enough hammering wo
uld break it down.
But attacking this way split Aidan’s focus, keeping him from zeroing in on one of us. He would aim a fireball at me only to have Zimri’s attack throw him off, sending his shot wide, or vice versa. Every errant strike drained a little bit more of his power while I landed fire, lightning, and ice attack after attack.
The only catch was Aidan had a lot more power than I did.
I keenly felt every drain on my magic. I didn’t have a shield up, devoting every gram of energy to offense. One lucky shot and I’d be dead. It didn’t help that the magic continued to fight me, trying to target Zimri who was often dangerously close to my line of fire. Never had I felt such a pull from the magic on my mind and will, as if another person was trying to take over my being.
Then Zimri did something brilliant. He actually does that a lot, not that I’ll ever let him know it. Instead of wailing away with his sword, Zimri threw his full weight behind his shield and slammed into Aidan’s magical shield. Surprised, the sorcerer stumbled a few steps while Zimri followed up with another shield bash, knocking my rival down. Zimri tried to pounce, hoping the shield had been weakened enough. It wasn’t but Aidan was on the defensive now.
“Enough!” Aidan roared, staggering to his feet and backing away. “I think it is time to end it. Zimri, töte sie.”
“No,” I breathed, feeling a chill run down my spine.
Zimri suddenly went stock still and then turned towards me. His deep brown eyes were wide with fear and confusion as he marched at me, sword drawn.
“Athala, what’s happening?” he cried out. “I can’t stop myself!”
“Of course you cannot,” Aidan laughed. “Remember when you agreed to take me as your partner on the boat, when you nearly passed out? That was not your concussion but me putting a Bewusstseinskontrolle-spell on you. A subtle, delicate one that would not notice until I gave you a command, like the one I just gave you to kill Athala.”
Zimri’s visage flashed from fear to rage. “You did what to me?” he thundered, desperately trying to turn to face Aidan.
Aidan laughed long and harsh. “Struggle all you want, gebraten, but you will kill her or she will kill you. You are mine to do with as I please and right now, I please that you tote sie!”
The Sorceress's Apprentice Page 20