The Sorcerer's Ascension (The Sorcerer's Path)

by Brock Deskins

  Once the fighters overcame the shocking jolt, it was a simple matter of finishing off the few remaining rays. The crowd that gathered to witness the display cheered wildly for the spectacle. Many had come to see the humans devoured, but their triumph merely meant that there would be another show very soon.

  A dozen guards swam in while more stood back with several of the priests and disarmed them once again before ushering them back down the ramp to their cells.

  "Criminy, Tarth, what in the six hells was that?" Maude demanded once their escort left them.

  "It would seem that the undersea creatures are particularly vulnerable to electricity," Tarth replied musingly.

  "Wow, Tarth, that's the most intelligent observation I think you've ever made. You should electrocute yourself more often," Borik said.

  "Hm, what did you say?" the wizard glanced around vaguely.

  "Never mind," the dwarf muttered.

  "All right, it hurt like hell but we're still alive, and we can use that information to our benefit next time. Tarth, I want you to load up on as many electricity-based spells as you can," Maude told the elf.

  Malek was attending Borik's wounds while Maude detailed their plans for the next impending battle. The bite was moderately deep and his thigh and leg bore several smaller punctures. Malek was able to heal these with little more than scars to show that they had any harm had been inflicted.

  Zathenlanis greeted them warmly and congratulated them on their victory. Later that evening, she called over to Maude to inform her of tomorrow's event.

  "I overheard the guards saying that we will be fighting together in a massive battle never before seen in the arena," the sea elf informed Maude. "Perhaps we can escape when we are all together."

  "If the opportunity presents itself then we will surely take it, but I would wager that we will be too weak and suffering from too many wounds to try and escape," Maude conveyed her concerns to the sea elf.

  "Then how will we ever be free if we don't take the one chance we have when we are together?" she asked in frustration.

  "We need to be together, but not fighting a bunch of monsters at the same time. I just don't know how to accomplish that. Perhaps at the end of the battle we could stage a fight between your people and mine. Make it look like we don't like each other. Perhaps the next day they will pit us against each other in the arena," suggested the leader of the surface dwellers.

  "You are assuming that we will be alive at the end of tomorrow's battle, and I get the feeling that the odds are stacked to ensure that we do not survive the fight, at least not in any number that would be of use afterwards."

  "Perhaps we could use the battle to aid us?" Malek said, interposing himself in their plans.

  "What do you mean?"

  "I know we can't control the creatures, but if we could break the control the priests have over them they may seek their own escape and possibly revenge for their cruel punishment by their captors."

  "Of course, if we can attack enough of their priests with spells they may lose the control they have over the monsters as well as the shields that they use to prevent our escape," Maude said, filling in the plan.

  "And the King is sure to be in attendance. If we can overcome him and his personal guard, we may be able to take the trident from him. We must get that trident, or we have no chance of escaping at all," Zathenlanis added.

  "We only have one wizard and one cleric. We need more magic to make this work."

  "Several of my people have magic of their own. It is not as potent or deadly as your wizard's, but it can prove effective at providing a distraction," offered Zathenlanis.

  Zathenlanis explained the plan to her people while Maude and her people prepared themselves for the next battle.

  "Just a thought, but what are we going to do if the boat is gone?" Borik asked.

  "I told the ship’s captain to give us three days. It's hard to tell how long we've been down here, but I think we still have time, but just barely. We have to get away tomorrow no matter what. If that ship is gone, the odds of us getting back to land are slim. Zathenlanis' people may be able to help us, but if we have half of this city on our tails I doubt that even they will be of much help."

  "Great, just thought I'd ask," grumbled the dwarf as he sank his teeth into the raw fish that made up their lunch and ever other meal.

  Several hours after Tarth recast the spell that enabled them to survive in this harsh environment, a full two score of guards and half a dozen priests came for them. The guards also led Zathenlanis and her people up the ramp to the arena to participate in the grand melee. They equipped the sea elves with spears, tridents, and harpoons while Maude and her people wielded their own weapons. The Pescarans allowed the air breathers to use them since they found them exotic and enjoyed seeing them in action.

  The guards and priests swam up toward the rim of the arena after issuing the weapons and raised the large coral gate. Once again, handlers drove a host of hideous sea creatures out into the arena. There were nearly twice as many Pescarans in attendance as there had been in their previous battle, and the roar of the crowd was deafening.

  Maude looked across the field at the raised reviewing stand where the King sat with a contingent of personal guards and priests. She then looked about the arena and pointed out to her allies that there seemed to be fewer priests along the walls and top of the arena in order to provide protection for their ruler.

  A mighty blast from a long, pink and sand-colored shell was blown and the crowed went silent as the priests released their mental leash on the horde of sea creatures. Maude and her allies watched as the death rays glided forward gracefully, huge crablike creatures scuttled toward them, and hideously evil Morkoths slashed at the water with their tentacles propelling them toward their target.

  "Now," Maude shouted.

  Tarth created a burst of electricity at a knot of four priests and several guards at the top of the arena while Malek brought forth a huge column of flame that immediately turned into a pillar of scorching steam on two more priests and guards. Zathenlanis and six other sea elves chanted in their strange language and dozens of thick, ropey strands of kelp sprang up from the ground, wrapping up and constricting several priests and guards along the lower wall.

  Maude, Borik, and several sea elf fighters converged on the Pescaran king and his entourage but were all blasted back across the arena with a simple wave of the magical trident. King Icxzantrelix laughed heartily at the prisoner's futile attack against him, but his smile quickly turned into a scowl as it dawned on him what was happening.

  Initially, the sea creature horde simply stopped, some attacking others within their ranks as the force that prodded them into action weakened then vanished altogether. Once free of their reins, most of the animalistic creatures sought freedom, but the more intelligent ones sought revenge. The wicked Morkoths lunged into the seats of the surprised Pescarans, grabbing the fleeing people out of their seats and inflicting lethal wounds with their huge, tooth-filled mouths and poisonous tentacles.

  The eight-foot-tall crab men climbed over the wall out of the arena and into the stands, grabbing anyone unlucky enough to avoid them in their enormous brutal pinchers and crushing the life out of them. Maude had to scream as loud as she could to make herself heard above the cries of terror and pain coming from the crowd of spectators.

  "Tarth, Malek, use your magic on the King before he figures out how uncontrollable this situation has become!"

  The air breathers and the sea elves charged as a whole toward the reviewing stand where the King spent his rage on the rampaging creatures. He lifted his trident once again and the temperature of the water instantly dropped where Morkoths and crab creatures were tearing apart his people turned into a huge block of ice, trapping the murderous creatures within its crushing embrace, along with several of his own people. The huge iceberg began to float to the surface carrying its frozen cargo along with it.

  "Do it now!" Maude shouted to her people.
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  The wizard released another blast of electricity into the group centered on the King at the same time Malek conjured another geyser of steam onto the priests. The sea elves brought forth another massive growth of the constricting kelp while Maude, Borik, Zathenlanis, and several sea elves charged forward to engage the remaining guards.

  Maude and Zathenlanis both closed in on the flailing King, both grabbing onto the trident at the same time while fighting erupted around them.

  "Let me have the trident, Zathenlanis; we had a deal," Maude urged.

  "With the trident, my people will never have to live in fear again," Zathenlanis insisted.

  "Until someone manages to take it away from you like we are doing now. What happens if someone gets hold of it and turns into a despot? Power corrupts, Zathenlanis, and this thing is too powerful to leave for anyone to abuse. You said so yourself. Let me take it far away where it can never harm you or anyone under the sea again," Maude urged the sea elf doggedly.

  "You are right, forgive me. Take it, take it far away with my thanks, Maude," Zathenlanis said as she released her grip on the powerful artifact.

  "NO!" King Icxzantrelix cried as his hand suddenly gripped the haft of his precious artifact.

  Zathenlanis stabbed at the Pescaran king as Maude and Icxzantrelix spun around and around, each trying to gain possession of the weapon. Maude dropped her sword in order to grip the trident with both hands, but she was still no match for the enraged King's strength. He swung her around and shook her as if she were nothing more than a child.

  Zathenlanis' spear finally bit deep into Icxzantrelix’s back, eliciting a cry of pain, but he still refused to let loose of the artifact.

  A flurry of magical bolts suddenly ripped into the side of the King, the pain causing him to weaken his grip enough to allow Maude to wrest it from his grasp. She launched a vicious kick into the King's stomach with her steel-clad foot, sending the dazed Pescaran away from her.

  "Let's get out of here!" Maude commanded.

  Zathenlanis quickly repeated her order in a high-pitched squeal and clicking sound that pierced through the din of battle.

  The freed captives launched themselves toward the surface, the surviving sea elves grabbing the slow-swimming surface dwellers to speed their escape.

  "I hope your wizard's spell protects you from surfacing too fast, or this is going to turn out very bad. So where is your ship anyway?" Zathenlanis asked her burdensome passenger.

  "I don't know! I have no idea how far we went or in what direction we traveled after we were captured," exclaimed Maude.

  Zathenlanis closed her eyes and concentrated as the escapees swam swiftly for the surface. "I have it!" Zathenlanis exclaimed as she opened her eyes and changed course, the others following in her wake.

  "I'm afraid we have company," Maude informed the sea elf as she looked behind her.

  Several score of angry Pescarans, hell-bent on revenge and led by their king, pursued the fleeing party that had caused so much destruction and stole their sacred artifact.

  "I'm going to try and slow them down," Zathenlanis said as she passed her passenger off to another sea elf.

  She and the remaining sea elf casters broke away from the group and stood in the path of the oncoming mass of Pescarans. The sea elves chanted in unison as the water for hundreds of yards in front of them began to churn into a writhing maelstrom and hurled the horde of attackers back. Strands of kelp then appeared in a massive wall to further impede their murderous pursuit.

  Maude and the rest of the fleeing people quickly lost sight of the brave sea elves that remained behind to help them escape. They broke the surface a short while later a few hundred yards from the waiting ship. Maude called out for the sailors to lower ropes and ladders once they drew close enough for them to hear.

  "You had best get those sails up and underway because we have a lot of angry fish-people on our butts!" commanded the exhausted adventurer.

  "Too late! Grab weapons and prepare to repel boarders," Malek said as the first Pescarans broke the surface of the water and started to climb the hull of the ship using their sharp claws to gain purchase on the wet wood.

  Sailors, adventurers, and the six surviving sea elves ran to the rails with whatever weapons they had. Pescarans swarmed up the sides of the ship while the crew shoved them back down with long poles, spears, and cutlasses. Several men fired their crossbows at any that surfaced, but the ship’s crew was badly outnumbered. The horde of Pescarans had swelled and seemed to now number in the hundreds as more and more of the creatures made their way to the deck. For every Pescaran that managed to gain the deck, a sailor or two had to stop guarding the rails in order to deal with them, which in turn created a gap for more of the creatures to clamor aboard to engage the sailors.

  Maude recognized the large aquatic man that stood on the deck of the ship with his back against the mainmast lashing out with his spear with deadly effect. Several sailors were engaging him, but Maude could see that they were no match for his strength and ferocity as she strode forward, sword in hand.

  "You, give me back my trident and I will let you live," the King demanded.

  "Not a chance, tuna-boy, you're in my world now," Maude replied as she launched into a fierce attack routine.

  Despite being a fish out of water, the King was still a powerful foe, and had it not been for her armor Maude would be bleeding from a half dozen serious wounds already. She pressed her attack, swinging away with her large steel sword, hammering against Icxzantrelix's defense.

  Icxzantrelix stabbed like a striking snake at her face, but she managed to duck her head back and force the point of the spear away with her sword. She slashed back at the king's midsection with a riposte of nearly the same speed, but he nimbly jumped back out of her reach and received only a tiny red scratch across his stomach. Icxzantrelix leaped forward and thrust his spear low at her hip. The strike was too fast and Maude was unable to dodge or parry the attack. The point bit deep into her hip just at the top of the metal greaves where chainmail provided protection where the two pieces met to allow the joint movement.

  "First blood, human," Icxzantrelix hissed a laugh showing off a mouth full of sharp teeth.

  Maude ignored the pain and the king's taunting and delivered a brutal, overhand chop down toward the Pescaran's scaled head. Icxzantrelix easily brought his spear up two-handed to block the blow, but in his unfamiliarity he underestimated the power of quality steel. The steel blade sheared through spear and skull alike as the strike wrought a massive canyon into the King's head. He looked at the human who had just killed him quizzically before dropping lifelessly onto the deck of the ship.

  Maude did not have time to celebrate. Her companions and several sailors were busy dealing with the score of sea creatures that had made the deck while the remaining crew fought vainly to keep more from boarding. The battle appeared hopeless until the sound of several conch shells sounding just off the port side of the ship drew her attention.

  First scores then hundreds of sea elves broke the surface of the water and attacked the Pescarans still in the water. Dozens of dolphins aided the sea elves by driving their snouts into the sea elves' enemies and the sharks that were aiding them.

  Dozens of the aquatic elves were suddenly on the deck of the ship, hurled up and over the railing with the aid of conjured spouts of water. The unexpected reinforcements quickly cleared the decks of enemies, and the ones in the water were rapidly overwhelmed and driven off.

  One of the sea elves walked over to Maude and hailed her. Maude embraced the sea elf in an unusual show of emotion.

  "Zathenlanis, I thought you were dead for certain!" Maude cried out, crushing the woman against her steel chest then releasing Zathenlanis before her friends saw her uncharacteristic display.

  "A few of us were able to make our escape after slowing the pursuers down for a few minutes. It wasn't much, but I prayed that it would be enough to get you and the others to safety."

  "It was. Wit
hout your help, none of us would have reached the ship. Where did all these people come from?"

  "I made a deep calling to my people and found that they were close by, preparing to try and free us no matter the cost. I told them that we had broken out but were pursued and bade them to come to our rescue."

  "I'm glad that you were able to get away. I'm sorry that you lost so many of your friends."

  "We have lost many of our people over the years, but thanks to you, we are safe once again. Take the trident far away and know that you have friends here if ever you need our help. Here, take this," Zathenlanis said as she offered her new friend a small polished shell threaded onto a cord. "If you are ever in the sea and need my help, just speak my name into the shell and I will find you."

  "Thank you, Zathenlanis, I will," Maude replied grateful for the gift.

  "We must go now and return to our home. It has been a long time since we had just one place to call home and it will take a lot of building before it is done. Fare thee well, air breathers," Zathenlanis said with a smile.

  "And you, shark bait," Maude returned.

  The sea elves jumped back into the water, several with exchanged tokens of appreciation with the sailors of the ship, and disappeared under the waves as quickly as they had came.

  "Well, Captain, how about we get this thing moving and go home?" Maude asked the captain.

  "Aye, aye to that. The men will have quite the story to tell when we return to land. I'll wager not a man aboard will have to pay for a drink for some time with this tale to keep the rounds coming eh!" the captain responded as he set his men to raise the sails and get underway.