Metal Mage 11

by Eric Vall

  This realization sent a fresh wave of fury through my veins, and I hesitated just long enough that I’d only raised my pistol when my lungs suddenly collapsed. A second later, all of my trepidation was gone as water choked me out and filled my lungs instead, and I doubled over while I heaved to empty them. I managed to spew some of the water out as pain stabbed into my chest, but before I could take a gasping breath, I felt my lungs collapsing once more, and I knew an Aer Mage had gotten a hold of them this time.

  The pistols dropped from my hands as flames flew at me, and I rolled to dodge the onslaught as my vision began to ripple. The stabbing pain in my chest was crippling me now while I struggled to gain control of my lungs, but it didn’t matter how much my rune chanted, there was nothing I could do. I saw one of my attackers lunge for a pistol I’d dropped, but I couldn’t even summon the strength to reach him or use my metal magic.

  Then the man screamed and clawed at his eyes, though, and as my lungs were abruptly released, every mage surrounding me went into sheer panic mode. They ran into the walls, gouged their eyes, and sent their powers out with a vengeance as the street ignited, and I gasped in confusion while I crawled over to the discarded pistols.

  That’s when I saw Nulena with her palms raised, and as I realized she’d incapacitated my attackers for me, I grinned. Then I shot the mages down in quick succession before their blind attempts to retaliate could harm either one of us, and when the last one dropped, the Baroness was at my side helping me back up onto my feet.

  I coughed more water up from my lungs before I could take a decent breath again, but after the smoke I’d been inhaling for the last hour, I wasn’t sure my esophagus could take much more abuse. My runes refused to quiet down, too, and I staggered while my head spun and my vision warped.

  “Thank you,” I finally croaked, and I willed my magery to restore itself just enough so I could function again.

  The sounds of the battle taking place in Serin pressed in on me as the screams continued to rise up, but a barrage of rapid fire echoed through the streets as well while our mages fought like hell to end this. My faculties were slowly regrouping as I held my head and listened to my rune warring in my mind, but when my gaze landed on Nulena, her expression struck me as so odd, it drew my focus to her like a magnet.

  “I love you,” the Baroness blurted out, and she looked like I would if someone had just told me my entire family had been cooked up in a barbeque.

  Still, I could tell she was being genuine, and the fact that she chose the worst time to tell me made it hard not to burst out laughing. Especially because I should have expected she’d finally come to her senses in the midst of utter chaos.

  So, I managed to grin rather than laugh, and a soft smile came to her face while she fidgeted with the singed cuff of my shirt.

  “That doesn’t have to be a scary thing,” I told the woman.

  “I know,” she admitted, “but it is.”

  Nulena shrugged as her cheeks began to shimmer, and I took a quick look around before I caught her by the waist and pulled us both into an alcove.

  Then I holstered my pistols and pinned her against the bricks, and I let the Baroness’ touch ease my mental state while she kissed me so fervently, I almost forgot there was a battle raging around us. She ran her fingers through my grimy hair and clutched me against her as a wall beside us crumbled into pieces, and once I resurfaced to shoot down the possessed mage who’d done it, I found Nulena eyeing me closely.

  “Hold still,” she murmured in a low voice, and I did as she said while she pressed her fingers to my temple.

  Within seconds, the endless chanting of my runes disappeared, and that strange tonic-like power of hers seeped through my mind instead. At first, this disoriented me, but then I remembered what she’d told us about her powers influencing perception, and even though I could still sense my fatigue, my perception of it gradually numbed. I wasn’t overwhelmed anymore now that my mind was quiet and steady despite the actual state of me, and I let out a ragged sigh as I collapsed against the woman.

  “Gods, I love you,” I chuckled in her ear. “That’s exactly what I needed.”

  “I love you, too,” Nulena said more easily this time, “but be careful. This is only magic, and you’re not as restored as you might feel. You need to end this quickly before you wear yourself out. What can I do?”

  I nodded as I pulled away to look her in the eyes, and she seemed much less hostile about the idea of helping people out than she usually did.

  “Find the portals,” I ordered, and Nulena gave a diligent nod. Then she immediately turned into an undulating mass of shadows, and I was standing alone in the alcove with my focus fully restored.

  I quickly shot down a possessed ogre who had his hands poised to tear a man’s head off, and as his victim frantically scrambled away, I scanned the area to find from which direction the most screams were coming from. Then I grabbed the tungsten axe from the rubble of the building, and I cautiously made my way up the street while I tested out how steady I actually was on my feet.

  Nulena’s powers were holding strong, and I could run again without stumbling, but I made sure to take it easy while I worked through a few steadying breaths. I came out into a courtyard that was riddled with spiders and possessed mages, and I swiftly shot down seven of them before I hurled my axe at an incoming ogre. As the blade split his skull right down the middle, I emptied my magazine on the last few mages, but more came running in by the time I’d finished.

  The spiders were scurrying down the walls of the buildings now with tar pouring from their fangs, and I ducked beneath a ledge to reload as I summoned my axe back to me. When I jumped out into the open to take my aim, though, Aurora was at the center of the courtyard with a pistol in one hand and flames in the other, and I took down seven of the mages surrounding her while she grinned and finished off the other two.

  Then a spider spewed tar in her direction, and the half-elf hissed and dropped her pistol as a splatter of acid scalded her leg. Before I could react, Aurora let out a furious screech, and she ignited the entire courtyard as I lunged for cover. Her blue braids whipped around her sooty face as her arms burst into flames in her rage, and she sent her Ignis Magic up the walls of every building to devour the spiders pouring in. Somehow, she managed to spare the citizens cowering in the alcoves and watching in terror, and I was right there with them because my half-elf suddenly looked like she’d appeared here from the depths of hell to destroy us all.

  Then Aurora summoned every flame back to her with a wave of her arm, and the courtyard was deserted as she stood there with her breasts heaving and her teeth barred.

  “Damn,” I sighed as a lopsided grin came to my face.

  “You should be safe here,” Aurora panted to the citizens.

  I stared as she grabbed her pistol and calmly motioned for me to follow after her, and I hurried to join her as I nodded to the quivering citizens.

  “Urn said the majority of the Master’s forces are heading into the heights of the city now,” the half-elf said while she worked to catch her breath. “Cayla cleared out the southern quarters, and the mages finished the east side, but the rest are trying to get to the castle.”

  “Nulena’s locating the portals to stop more soldiers from coming in,” I told her as we broke into a run again, and the half-elf looked like I was speaking in tongues.

  “Nulena’s helping us?” Aurora clarified, but I didn’t have any time to respond before I took down two ogres and a couple of Flumen Mages.

  Then we were back in the thick of it with mages galloping by and revolvers firing all over the place, and I dodged a jet of flames before I sent my axe into a passing Chupacabra. Four more possessed mages met an electrifying end before I ducked back and scanned the area, and then I summoned my metal magic. I could make out the difference between the Master’s revolvers and my own based on the quality of the metal he’d used, and after I zeroed in on all of the shitty revolvers in the vicinity, I melted thei
r cylinders down so they wouldn’t be able to function.

  That cut the firing down significantly, and the tides abruptly turned.

  Our troops pushed themselves harder as the Master’s forces began to scatter, but we didn’t let up. I chased three fleeing ogres through the streets until they came to a decimated brick wall, and I couldn’t help grinning when they froze in confusion. Then I shot them down, took a post behind the rubble, and fired on the Master’s soldiers as they attempted to locate the destroyed portal.

  As soon as his forces stopped coming this way, I ran back toward the castle, and I sent my axe into two more ogres as a few Ignis Mages flushed out a cluster of spiders and burnt them to a crisp.

  Then, all of the sudden, silence fell in the city as the gunfire faded, and when no screams echoed in the quarters of Serin, cheers rose up instead with the pounding of hooves.

  We’d done it.

  The battle was over.

  The capital was safe.

  Chapter 20

  I braced my back against a wall while I worked to catch my breath, and even though I felt unnervingly disconnected from my body, I couldn’t muster any concern about this. Three fire titans and hundreds of the Master’s soldiers had met a grizzly end today thanks to my army, and as I looked up at the castle battlements, I could see Temin and a few of his guards surveying the capital.

  He had grave lines creasing his face while he took in the full extent of the damage, and I realized he must have seen the whole battle against the titans from up there. I just hoped his concerns were slightly eased after seeing that we could handle the Master’s forces, but regardless, I knew he had no choice now.

  Everything in his expression betrayed the gravity of the situation he was faced with, and I figured it wouldn’t be long before I was summoned to discuss our next moves.

  So, I dragged myself off the wall and shuffled up the street, and the Defenders clapped me on the back and shook my hand while I did my best not to keel over. Urn and Kurna were waiting with Haragh beside the castle gates, and the half-ogre hurried over when he saw me coming.

  “Ye’ look like death,” he hollered above the cheers of the mages.

  “Feel like death, too,” I chuckled. “Did they breach the castle?”

  “Hell, no,” Haragh said with a broad grin. “Me and Pindor made sure of that. What the fuck was that stunt with the titans, though? I’ve never seen anyone keep up a quake like that while tearin’ the place up, too.”

  “I don’t recommend it,” I assured the half-ogre. “I think my brain split in half.”

  “Shit,” Haragh muttered. “That healer of yours just ran by on her way to the Oculus. I can go get her--”

  “No, she’s working,” I cut in. “I’ll be fine. Have the troops help the injured get to the infirmary, and the rest can start on repairing the city. We need to do a thorough sweep to find any injured citizens and get the dead out of the streets.”

  “Aye,” Haragh said with a nod, and he was about to head off when Shoshanne emerged from the tunnel across the courtyard.

  “Mason,” she called, and I could tell she’d already caught on to how worn out I was. “You look--”

  “I know,” I said with a smirk. “Is the infirmary ready?”

  “Yes, and I’ve arranged for beds to be made up in the dormitories for anyone too injured to make it back to Falmount,” Shoshanne replied. “We have room for two hundred here, and I sent for carriages to transport any others to the infirmary in Falmount. Anyone who can make the journey there should, though. We need to search the city for any others, too.”

  “Haragh’s on it,” I assured her. “He’ll sweep the streets and get the troops working to assist anyone in need.”

  “Thank you, Haragh,” Shoshanne said with a grateful smile, and the half-ogre nodded before he headed to get the mages working.

  “You didn’t get hurt, did you?” I checked as I eyed her up and down, but damn it if she didn’t look sexy as hell and completely unscathed.

  “I’m alright, but you shouldn’t be standing,” Shoshanne informed me.

  “I’ll sit down soon,” I said as a group of guards descended the palace steps. “We need to find the others. Temin wants a word.”

  “We’re here,” I heard Cayla call, and she came jogging into the courtyard with Aurora, Deya, and Nulena close behind.

  I couldn’t help chuckling at the way their expressions all shifted into identical frowns when I turned around, but I was too exhausted to lie about feeling fine anymore. So, I just let them cluster around me and fuss over how much I needed to rest, but I honestly felt better already after all of their kisses, hugs, and fawning.

  Deya was determined to get me home and feed me all night, while Aurora and Cayla decided I needed my jungle now more than ever, and the Baroness bit her lip nervously as she curled herself under my arm to help support my weight.

  Then Shoshanne suddenly announced I wasn’t well enough for the plans she’d had for this evening, and I was midway through a firm counter argument when the castle guard reached us.

  “Defender Flynt, the king--”

  “Yeah, I know, Temin wants to see me in the throne room,” I interrupted while I kept my focus on Shoshanne. “We’re not done discussing this. I am perfectly capable of participating.”

  “Mason, you can hardly stand,” the healer pointed out while the women helped me toward the castle.

  “Nothing you mentioned earlier requires me to stand,” I argued.

  Shoshanne huffed as she rolled her eyes, but I could tell she was half-convinced already, and I sent her my most charming grin for good measure.

  “I’ll beg,” I warned her. “I’m not above it.”

  “Mason,” the healer sighed, and my women giggled as Shoshanne failed to keep from blushing.

  I pestered her all the way down the marble halls of the castle while Cayla joined in, and by the time I was seated in the throne room, we almost had the healer convinced that the majority of her concerns for my health could be addressed in the bedroom.

  Then Temin arrived looking so worn through that we all sobered up immediately, and he came around the desk to take a seat while he finished dishing out a few orders to the guards in the doorway.

  “It’s time,” Temin informed me. “If an attack of this--Baroness Batanova? What are you doing here?”

  The Baroness just stared as we all looked over, but then Cayla grabbed her arm and looped it with her own.

  “Moral support,” the princess answered. “For me.”

  “I didn’t realize the two of you were friends,” the king admitted.

  “We’re incredibly close,” the Baroness said in a monotone. “You were saying?”

  “Yes,” Temin said as he regrouped, and he furrowed his brow as he folded his hands on the desk. “Mason, we can’t avoid a declaration any longer. If an attack of this magnitude befalls a less armed city, we’ll lose thousands to the Master within a matter of hours. I can’t allow my people to suffer like this, especially if he possesses any more creatures like the giants I witnessed earlier.”

  “I agree,” I replied.

  “I’ll make the proclamation within the hour, and the Defenders must be prepared to report to their posts in the next three days.”

  I nodded. “My generals have already gotten a list of names prepared for promotion and--”

  “Mason, you’re appointed as head of the Order starting today,” Temin interrupted, and I felt all of my women’s eyes turn to me. “The fate of Illaria depends on the Order of the Elementa, and you’re the only man I’d trust with the responsibility of leading our defenses.”

  I blinked as the king leveled me with a look that showed he was resigned to his decision, and I realized I was being cornered into the job whether I wanted it or not.

  Then I glanced at Aurora.

  Her emerald eyes held my gaze with fierce determination, and as I recognized that same unwavering faith she always had in me, I knew exactly what my opinion on the
matter was.

  “I have one condition,” I said as I turned to the king.

  “Name it.”

  “Aurora and I are both to be appointed as the heads of the Order,” I said without skipping a beat. “If you want me leading this, I’ll need her with me on it.”

  The king furrowed his brow as he looked at Aurora, but I barreled on before he could respond.

  “She’s more dedicated to her work than anyone I know,” I informed Temin, “and she knows more about the inner workings of the Order than I do. She’s the only reason I signed on as a Defender in the first place, and her insight has been invaluable to me and everyone she teaches. She’s been overseeing training while I address defense measures, and together, we could ensure your people’s faith in the Order of the Elementa is fully restored.”

  “Two heads of the Order,” the king muttered to himself as he tapped his chin, and I could hear Aurora’s heart racing while he considered this. “Very well, I can allow that. Not for just anyone, mind you, the Order of the Elementa has operated under the same protocol for hundreds of years, but Defender Solana has never faltered in her service, and if her input is as critical as you say it is, then it seems I would be remiss to oppose your request.”

  Shoshanne and Deya squealed as they grabbed Aurora from behind, and the half-elf just sat there grinning in shock.

  “Now, as heads of the Order of the Elementa, you will both be in charge of the primary legion of protection within the Illarian nation,” Temin informed us. “You hold the power to alter the laws of defense and the exclusive authority to both promote and demote any and all mages within the Order. Furthermore, you will oversee all admissions, training procedures and development, armed forces, and public relations.”

  “Damn, that’s a lot,” I muttered, but the king continued.

  “Hence forth, you will bear the titles of Head Mage Flynt and--”