by Guy Antibes
“Move that to waist level.”
The woman laughed. “Me? I thought you’d want me to move a spoon or a twig or something. I can’t move that!”
Ricky smiled. “Yes, you can. Think of moving it first in your mind, just like you would exercise your will to lift a spoon.”
She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head up slightly. “Now what?”
“Do it again, but this time sing the levitation spell. If you don’t feel enough resonance building up, change the tune slightly. It always takes me a few tries.” Ricky looked around. The whole group was observing.
She sang and then barely changed her tune, and then modified it again. She held out her hand and lifted the saddle a foot in the air. She moved it a few paces away and let it drop. “I did it! There is no way I can lift it higher, young sir, but it worked.” She clapped her hands with excitement.
“Can you use that to make your work easier?” Ricky asked. “It doesn’t apply to levitation alone, but to everything you do using your power. You aren’t a more powerful sorcerer, you are a more effective sorcerer.”
The women went to work and began lifting all kinds of things. Ricky was happy to see the smiles on their faces. Pira put her arm through his.
“I’ll try that out when there are fewer people around. Anna Benicci never taught me that.”
Ricky nodded. “It’s how they did it five hundred years ago or more. Even the Rings don’t teach that method. You’ll fly faster,” Ricky said. “You are kind of a slow poke, right now.”
“Not a nice thing to say to a princess,” Pira said, squeezing his arm.
“Even princesses can learn a thing or two.”
“So can ducal heirs,” Pira said.
Ricky laughed. “Me as much as anybody.”
He took the rest of the sorcerers and stood on a stump and gave them much the same lesson. He encouraged them to go into the woods and find something to lift that they couldn’t previously raise from the ground.
Jac returned with men driving carts to the field when the sorcerers began to return from their assignment. Ricky was happy to see most of them in a good mood. He was sure some wouldn’t have been able to improve their power.
“Help get your camp set up for the night. We won’t be here long before we have to move south. I’ll be here to teach you the spells you will be practicing on the troops,” Ricky said.
Ricky and Pira watched Jac organize the camp. It looked like he had done such a thing before.
“I’ve never done any levitation,” Pira said.
“I’ll teach you while we wait. Most of these sorcerers can because they used it in furniture making,” Ricky said. They walked to the edge of the woods. Ricky picked up a dead branch and tossed it in front of Pira. “Did you catch the resonance and the spell the women used?”
Pira blushed. “I didn’t.”
Ricky sang the tune he used. “You mimic well enough.”
The princess looked a bit peeved at Ricky’s comment, but she sang the same note and then lifted the branch up a few inches from the ground.
“Now you vary the song, noticing how much power you are drawing in. The trick is to match your resonance to what you are thinking of doing. You tune it by feeling your power rise as you vary the song.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Just like you said?”
“It works for them; it will work for you.”
Pira nodded and changed the tune, but stopped, exasperated. “It didn’t work.”
“You have to make the barest adjustments. Go too far, like you did, and you’ll move out of the range you seek. Focus your will first, tune the song, exercise your will with the resonance inside.”
Pira took two more attempts, and then she raised the branch over Ricky’s head and let it descend.
“Hey!” Ricky said, holding onto the branch above his head.
The princess lifted her chin. “I am at least as good as the other women.”
Ricky grinned. “Better, of course. You caught on to using levitation as a tool rather than a novelty. You can use the same technique with every spell you sing.”
“Of course. You said that to your students.”
“You were my student, too,” Ricky said.
“I hope I am the teacher’s favorite,” she said.
~~~
Chapter Eight
~
M attia and Ricky gazed across the camp, standing on a cart. “Your sorcerers know what they are doing?”
Ricky nodded. “The spells are not complicated, but the tunes and the will have to work correctly. I only brought two-thirds of the sorcerers. The others couldn’t learn in time. Pira is teaching them two offensive spells and how to make a shield. If they can’t learn, they won’t join us. I made that clear.”
“Like block with your shield, parry, and thrust.”
Ricky nodded, watching the enchanted soldiers do just that after they received their protection.
“How many were ensorcelled?” Ricky asked.
“One in twenty,” Mattia said. “That would have been enough to disrupt us. Lord Griama’s sorcerer was a busy person. Most of those were from four units. We will be ready to move south tomorrow morning.”
Ricky nodded. “I’ll tell them when we return to the sorcerers’ camp.”
~
The sorcerers traveled on a different road than the army. Jac joined Mattia, so the two forces could communicate via power-linking. Ricky looked at the one hundred and fifty sorcerers marching in front of him. They were assigned to march through Wedo’s village. The army would take the road that had taken Ricky to the village that held the sorcerers.
“We will lose some of our little army when we pass through the village,” Ricky said to Pira, who rode at his side.
“He’s right,” Nania said. “I talked to some of them, but they believe we will prevail, even without them.”
Pira snorted, a very un-princess-like kind of snort. “That is a compliment of sorts. They have confidence. That is a good thing, isn’t it, Nania?”
“It is.”
Before they reached the village, Ricky spoke to them, sitting on his horse. “We will stop at the next village to rest. I know some of you are eager to see your friends and your families. You might be tempted to leave us at that point. I’d rather you stay the course all the way to Rassoport. The army needs you, and Dimani needs you to fight. However, if you do stay, use your compulsion counterspells and protection spells on your fellow villagers. Any others who wish to join us on our journey south are welcome. You all have staffs for weapons and for walking. If you are proficient in any other weapons and you left them behind, now is the time to retrieve what you can use when we confront Lord Griama’s forces and Rasso’s forces.”
Most of the sorcerers cheered. Ricky didn’t know if they cheered moving on or leaving the fight. He’d find out soon enough.
Ricky’s force entered the village. “We will rest for an hour,” Ricky said before some sorcerers began to filter out of the square where the force found places to sit. After meeting with the innkeeper, Ricky found out that both forces were now compressed around Rassoport. He linked with Jac to pass the information on to Mattia. Their primary plan called for pushing both forces together, and it seemed reasonable that would happen with or without the Dimanian forces.
When the hour ended, sorcerers were drifting back to the unit. Many had better weapons. Ricky gave them a few more minutes to get assembled. They had lost at least twenty-five sorcerers, but that still gave him plenty of sorcerers to work on the enemy troops. When they assembled and marched out of the square, a few stragglers ran to join them. As they left the village, Ricky saw a large group of villagers milling along the road. He recognized some of the staffs that the sorcerers had carried.
“We’ve recruited more workers,” one of the sorcerers said. “I figure we have fifty more villagers willing to join us. We took the liberty of sending riders ahead to scour the other villages for more fighters.”
Ricky covered his eyes with his hand. “Separate those who are new and find out if they are compelled,” he said, sighing.
The sorcerers were surprised that twenty villagers were compelled. Ricky wasn’t.
“Do you still want to join us?” Ricky asked the newcomers.
A few walked back into the village. “Find out who compelled them, if they can remember. Give them a protection enchantment, as well.”
Ricky quickly notified Jac of the situation. I’ll send you ten sorcerers to evaluate any villagers who wish to join you.
We already have picked up quite a few residents, Jac said. Send them as soon as you can.
~
The map showed Rassoport to be six miles away when the two forces joined up to camp for the night. A few scouts from Lord Griama’s forces were captured, but Mattia thought it was certain that Griama knew he was being flanked.
“Its time to send out scouts of our own…perhaps tomorrow before dawn,” Jac said.
“No need. Pira and I will fly around after dark to find out exactly where the forces are—both sides,” Ricky said.
“So nice of you to include me,” Pira said.
Nania suppressed laughter, Ricky noticed.
“I assumed you’d like to come with me. It will be like a stroll in the woods.”
“With bandits in the trees shooting arrows at us?”
“We’ll fly higher, and they won’t be able to see us, even if there is a moon.”
“I’m all for it,” Mattia said. “We will camp with the regular forces facing Rassoport. No sense having the residents being chewed up should Lord Griama choose to attack us at night.”
“Then I’m going to get some food in me and hopefully a few hours of sleep.”
Ricky found some men putting up his tent and joined in. Nania brought him dried meat, bread, and watered ale and set it down on a rock not far from the tent. He looked at the twilight turning to night.
“You are ready for tonight? Be careful with Pira,” Nania said. “She is risking everything.”
“And I’m not?” Ricky said.
Nania shrugged her shoulders. “You are right. I suppose there is plenty of risk to go around,” she said. “What do we do after Dimani?”
“Go back to planning our campaign to visit the heads of state,” Ricky said. “That hasn’t changed. I hadn’t thought we’d get caught in King Courer’s war, but I’m doing this for Jac and Lady Griama.”
“Then it will be worth it,” Nania said. She left Ricky to himself.
He downed his meal and crawled into his tent. A dark figure sat waiting for him. Ricky pulled his wand.
“Are you going to use that to spank me?” Pira asked in a quiet voice. “You might injure the royal bottom.”
Ricky was glad she didn’t see his face burn with embarrassment. “That was the farthest thing from my mind,” he said with a whisper.
“Spanking or my bottom?” Pira said.
“What are you doing here?” Ricky said. “You should go to your own tent. Nania will be out looking for—”
He could see Pira’s teeth framing a smile.
“You ordered her to distract me.”
“Maybe,” Pira said. “I thought we might like to talk a little before we risked our lives for the Dimanians.”
“Are you angry I included you?”
“I should be coy and say yes, but I think it will be fun to do something together, something important. Training sorcerers is a worthy task, but I hardly know more than they do, and maybe less than more, I think.”
She lay down on the blankets.
“You can’t stay here.”
“I’m making it acceptable by royal decree,” Pira said. “I even brought more blankets. We are going to nap anyway.”
“Not talk?”
Pira took his hand, and they looked at each other in the darkness. “I’d like to talk and nap a bit. Nania won’t let me down.”
Ricky held her hand in both of his. “You don’t have to go out tonight.”
“And let you have all the fun? Besides, how can I trust you with all those Rassoport women? I’ve heard about the ladies who frequent the docks.”
“Sealio has docks,” Ricky said.
“See? That’s how I know,” she giggled and moved closer to Ricky.
Ricky suddenly thought the tent was getting too warm inside. “It’s getting hot inside. Perhaps I should open the flap.”
“I command you to leave it closed.” She rose up on an elbow and leaned over to kiss him.
Ricky couldn’t help but respond. After a few moments, she disengaged. “That’s enough for now,” she said with a sigh. She snuggled close. “Nap time.”
~
Someone shook his tent. Ricky sat up. Pira had gone.
“Ready?” Evidently, she was the culprit.
“I am,” Ricky said. He produced a sorcerous light and grabbed his wand case and slid it through his belt and then took a thong to wrap the case tight around his leg. After scrambling out of his tent, Nania shoved a mug of hot tea in his hands.
Pira looked ready. She had pulled her hair back into a braided ponytail.
“Let’s go.” Ricky took her hand and dragged her into the sky. “Remember to find the right resonance,” he said.
She grinned after a few unsuccessful attempts. “I’ve got it. This is easier.”
“See?” Ricky let go of her hand and rose higher into the air.
“We are higher than one of the Towers,” Pira said.
“That’s the point,” Ricky sped ahead wondering if she could keep up, but her more efficient spell made her fly faster.
“Up ahead,” Ricky said. “Torches.” He paused and floated far above the ground. Griama had decided to engage with the Dimani troops, after all. “We have a little more work to do,” he said.
They flew towards Rassoport and found that Griama hadn’t committed all his troops. Ricky relayed the information to Jac, so Mattia could set whatever defenses seemed appropriate.
“From up here it looks like three fronts,” Pira said. “Griama is making it look like he has more men. Does he expect to quickly take care of Nemo Mattia’s forces and return to reinforce his troops?”
“That would be my guess,” Ricky said.
They drifted over improvised walls around Rassoport. It looked more like barricades separated by thrown-up piles of rubble to Ricky.
He looked over at Pira, whose face faintly reflected the fires burning below. She smiled.
“Why don’t we play a little trick?” she said.
“Anything specific in mind?”
“Oh, I thought we’d foment a skirmish on all three fronts down below, that’s all.”
Ricky thought for a bit. “Bold thoughts. I will follow the royal command.”
“You are the performance sorcerer. I will observe.”
“Very well,” Ricky said. “Stay safe and watch.”
He took off to his left and flew to the rocky cliffs that protected the eastern end of the city. As soon as he turned around he swooped down and, wand in hand, threw his exploding fireballs into the defenders. After passing the first front, he tossed fireballs down on Griama’s troops. He continued all the way to the west until the fighting had started and the battle between the two lords began to rage.
Ricky turned to find Pira and had decided to send another fireball into the center of Lord Griama’s forces when a fireball rose from the ground and squarely hit his shield, surrounding it with a globe of fire. Another fireball rose, and then another.
He could feel his shields flickering. Flying and attacking quickly drained him. Ricky had just enough power for one more effect and threw a thick rope of flame down towards the sorcerers who attacked him from the ground. He tied off the flow and let it coalesce just above the ground.
His reserves had expired. He couldn’t keep his altitude. The ball of fire exploded, throwing Ricky away from the explosion. He had lost touch with his spell. His power depleted, he couldn’t
do anything other than wait to hit the ground below. At least he had disrupted both forces, he thought, as the speed of his spell increased.
He felt someone grab his arm, Pira. He felt her power surge through him as she lifted him up into the air and flew to the north. She set them down in an area of utter darkness. No forces were close to their landing spot where they landed in a heap.
“You shouldn’t be making the girl do all the work,” Pira said as she rose to her feet, brushing herself off. “I could have done a better job of landing, but you stole all my power. That wasn’t very nice.”
“I didn’t think I would do that,” Ricky said. “I’m sorry. Thank you, Princess, for saving a knight in distress. Generally, it is the other way around.”
“In your books, maybe,” Pira said. “When I saw the first fireball rise into the air, I sped to your side. I was doing all right until the end.”
“You did all right, even so. I was thinking my last thoughts.”
“Were they of me?” Pira said.
Ricky cleared his throat. “Of course, Your Majesty.”
“Good. I thought you might have been thinking about how well my trick worked.”
“I might have been thinking of that, too,” Ricky said.
“So can we limp back to our sorcerers?”
“Thanks to some of your power,” he said.
“A girl’s got to be useful, you know.”
Ricky put his arms around her. “You deserve a hug, at the least.”
“At the least,” she said. She lifted her face, and they kissed. “Now we can limp.”
They flew over Lord Griama’s forces, just engaging Mattia’s army.
“Something to give them pause,” Ricky said. “Hold on to me.”
He sang loudly and threw a huge disk of light down to the ground. When it hit the troops, it dissipated into sparkles.
“An illusion. I didn’t have to use any of your power,” Ricky said.
The battleground paused, and they could see Lord Griama’s forces begin to scatter.
“That won’t last through the night,” Pira said. “But I’m sure you scared them, considering what they will find at Rassoport.”
Ricky set down at Mattia’s command tent. It took a while to locate him.