“I am in charge of building this place, not defending it,” Jonathan said just as harshly. “You have already proven inept at one job so I took over.”
“I have thirty remaining out of sixty three,” Felcher said. “You had an easy job while my men took the brunt of all of these attacks.”
“Your men are lucky they had defenses to protect them or the cost would have been higher,” Jonathan replied. “All you went through is what the men you leave here at night go through everyday. I was out in the fight, where were you at?”
“Felcher you are letting a new officer show you up and all you have are excuses,” Gilbert said. “You are lucky that I do not have the rank to demote you. Get your men on the wall. I am leaving in the morning and I will make sure to send some more men this way.”
Jonathan gathered his men and bedded them down. Jonathan awoke much later than he normally did and thought it was mid morning by the time he got out of his bedroll. Jonathan was happy to see Goodnight had gotten rid of the bodies, the man was probably gone and Jonathan had work that needed to be done. The mercenaries and craftsmen for the most part had been sent away by Goodnight last night before the fighting started. Now they were back and Jonathan was surprised to see them working without being told. Jonathan had his soldiers form up and then sent them to go get food. Jonathan himself went back to working on the wall, he could raise it by another five feet which would make it hard for anyone to get over it, from the bottom of the trench that would be thirty feet. Maybe tomorrow he could add another five and that would be the end of building the outside wall and other things could be focused on.
Jonathan finished his portion of the work a little after midday. He was hungry since he had gone without breakfast and now needed a sizable meal. Jonathan’s men had did a decent job, he could tell the trench around the inner wall was a foot deeper and the wall was a foot higher. Hopefully the beating the enemy got put on them would make them take a day or so to regroup. Jonathan had just gotten his food when he saw an angry looking Albie. Someone had punched him, his right eye was purple and his robe looked torn. Alicia was next to him.
“What happened?” Jonathan asked.
“One of the soldiers followed Alicia as she answered a call of nature,” Albie said. “They said some nasty things and when I came across them, one of them punched me.”
“What did you do?” Jonathan asked.
“I put that knobber down as hard as I could,” Albie said. “His friends jumped in but then I went to fire. There are a lot of singed soldiers around here now.”
“I am going to end this right now,” Jonathan said. “I have had enough of this.”
Jonathan walked over to find Sergeant Bluebell talking to one of his men. Bluebell looked at Jonathan and rolled his eyes. Jonathan cleared his throat and Bluebell still ignored him.
“I am glad you are in an ignoring mood,” Jonathan said. “If one more of your men attack or make those of my group uncomfortable I am coming for you and only you. Keep your attitude and I want you to remember this moment.”
“Just who do you think you are…” Bluebell said as Jonathan cut him off.
“I am talking to you now shut up when I am speaking,” Jonathan replied. “Put your men in order or I will put you and them in order. This is where you nod your head.”
“Sod off,” Bluebell said. “Women don’t belong here. My men almost died yesterday. So what if they want a little fun with the ladies. If they really cared about the Kingdom they would let my boys have a poke. My men is who defended this place.”
“You heard what I said,” Jonathan replied. “You are who I am coming for. I will see you brought in chains and tossed out of the Army.”
Jonathan then left to find Felcher, the man had set up his tent close to Jonathan’s so he was easily located. Jonathan walked over to it and told the soldier standing guard to go get Felcher. The soldier rolled his eyes until Jonathan stepped forward and punched the private directly in the nose. The man went down with a whimper as Felcher came angrily out of his tent.
“You put your hands on one of my men!” Felcher said angrily as Jonathan could see the man still had a fat lip.
“He is a private and disobeyed a direct order from his superior,” Jonathan replied. “Enough to get him removed. I am within my rights. I came to invite you to sit down and have a talk. I will be done with my part in a week or so. You can keep your angry demeanor or you can have a say so in defending this place when I am gone.”
“I don’t need you mage,” Felcher said. “All of your kind think you are something special because you have a bit of magic.”
“Many of us do think we are special because we have magic,” Jonathan replied. “But I am just a commoner and so are most of those with me. If you don’t want to come into my tent and have a sit down, then fine. We can do it right here. I want you to tell your men to stop harassing the women. You should warn them that it will not go well.”
“You just want to hoard them,” Felcher said. “You are frightened of me taking Miss Gertie away from you. A real man wouldn’t have ever brought a woman like that to a place like this. She will be in my tent before long, cuddling up to me.”
“Good story,” Jonathan replied. “Not my business. What is my business is the comfort of those under me and the building of this place. We got off wrong but like I said, I will not be here for long.”
Jonathan walked inside of his tent and started eating. Gertie was there and so were all of the mages and the sisters. Jonathan wasn’t sure where Gurtis and his men were. Jonathan sat down and started eating, the people around him were quiet and Jonathan could tell the battle last night had them nervous, the lecherous soldiers did nothing to help the situation.
“How much longer Jon?” Gertie asked.
“A week at the most,” Jonathan replied. “We have really been getting after it. Once that outer wall is completed I can use you and the rest start using your magic to strengthen our defenses instead of holding you in reserve to fight.”
“One of the soldiers told me what he wants to do with me,” Tricia said. “Lucius and Elijah was there so it was only talk. I am not a scary girl but I don’t feel comfortable here. I need to bathe but I am nervous about even going to do that.”
“Maybe at the spot we were in the first night,” Jonathan said. “The wall is looking a lot better right now. I only need you all to stay the night for a few more days. You can go bathe whenever, just not right now. Too late in the day, I don’t know how you could get back here before night fall and traveling in the dark is not advised.”
“We can use a basin,” Gertie replied. “But a bath would be nice. I saw you talking to Felcher.”
“He wants you in the worst way,” Jonathan replied. “He said he plans on getting you inside of his tent.”
“I will blast the pit out of him,” Gertie said. “I already told him that I am not interested.”
“He is handsome and men like him are not used to any woman not falling over themselves for his affection,” Jonathan said. “You may have to hurt that one before he could get the message.”
“I don’t have any magic,” Alicia said. “But I am going to stick the first man who tries to do more than talk. We are trying to help and it seems like all they want to do is hurt.”
“These men are not like the other soldiers I have served with,” Jonathan replied. “Stick to yourselves and hopefully this will be over before you know it.”
“We need to talk,” Gurtis said as he walked inside of the tent.
“What’s up?” Jonathan replied.
“Two rumors are going around,” Gurtis said. “First is that Felcher does not plan on spending the night here. Second is that some men are planning on making a try for your women.”
“I am tired of dealing with this,” Jonathan said. “Alicia, I have a job for you. Dangerous as hell but I think it will get my message across.”
“What do you want?” Alicia asked.
“I want you to leav
e this place on foot and take the road back to civilization for a little bit,” Jonathan replied. Go find the nearest water and bathe.”
“She can't do that,” Albie said.
“I know men are likely to follow her and one may even try to attack her,” Jonathan replied. “As soon as I see it happen I am going to send a message that I think will be well received.”
“I want to go,” Gertie said.
“They may not want to go for a mage,” Jonathan said. “They would go for a mundane woman.”
“I will go with her,” Tricia said. “How is this going to work?”
“You folks are serious?” Gurtis asked.
“I am,” Jonathan replied.
“Fox has this entire area mapped,” Gurtis said. “I will send him in here to give you the information you need for a plan. Now about the Barbarians and defending this place. My men were the only mercenaries that stayed last night. With fewer soldiers here, things might get dicey.”
“We will make do with what we have,” Jonathan replied. “Man the walls for a bit and then fall back into our circle. I can do what I do best until the enemy gets tired of burning and dying.”
“As long as you have a plan,” Gurtis said.
“Go grab Fox,” Jonathan said. “I want the rest of your men to be here just in case these idiots decide something stupid. I will leave some of my soldiers here as well. Between you all I think this place will be well defended. I will take Albie and deal with all of it.”
Jonathan waited until Fox came in and the man was able to recreate a map and showed Alicia exactly where she should go. Fox pointed out a shorter distance for Jonathan to travel since he could fly. Fox thought that Jonathan should leave first, he could set up in the area and find the best vantage point. Albie should travel with the women just outside of the area and then come back. He could ask around for some bathing supplies when he returned to Felcher and any of his men. If they turned him down, he could eventually get irritated and just go back to the tent. He would only have to be in the tent for ten or so minutes and then join Jonathan.
Jonathan liked the plan and then took off for the area marked off. Fox had recreated the map perfectly and Jonathan could see a nice area that he wouldn’t be noticed at. Jonathan thought the flight took him about ten minutes tops but had to wait for nearly an hour before Alicia and Tricia showed up. They looked around for Jonathan who flashed a mage light so they knew where he was. The women stripped off their armor, left their swords and dresses on the bank and waded into the water in their long underclothes. They started washing immediately, Jonathan was happy they kept something on because he was sure he would have to steal a peek. The women had been washing themselves for half an hour when the first soldier showed himself.
The man didn’t say much, he walked over to where the women had left their things and just looked at them. The women ignored him and finished with their hair. The soldier started taking off his clothes and soon Jonathan could see three more soldiers join him. Alicia started coming out of the water followed by Tricia who went over to their things.
“You don’t have to get out on my account,” the first soldier said as he took off his shirt.
“Not that kind of woman,” Alicia said as she looked back at Tricia. “We can dry off in our tent.”
“Why are you in a hurry to leave?” another soldier said as he stood in front of Alicia.
“Excuse me,” Alicia said walking around him. “I need to get my things.”
“You mean these?” the first soldier said as he picked up a dress. “What do I get for them?”
“I don’t want to play this game and I do not think you are charming,” Tricia said. “Leave our things alone. We came here to bathe, not be insulted.”
“Now you just wait a minute,” the soldier said as he grabbed Tricia by the arm. “Your little mages aren't here, it is just us and you.”
“Let me go!” Tricia screamed as she tried yanking her arm away.
“Let her go!” Alicia said as she went for her sword. Another Solider stood in her path and yanked it away along with Tricia’s blade.
“Why you gotta be like that?” the first soldier said.
“Leave me alone,” Tricia said as she started violently yanking her arm back and forth.
“Just calm down,” the soldier holding her said. “I am not going to kill you, I just want a little affection.”
“Well then get it from him,” Tricia said as she pointed to the soldier with her weapon.
“I said leave her alone,” Alicia said as she picked up a rock and hit the man holding Tricia in the nose with it. The soldier wasn’t prepared for the move and let Tricia go. Alicia went to grab her dress and another soldier held them away from her.
“Come on Alicia,” Tricia said. “We can report this to their superiors. Let’s go.”
“You aren't going anywhere bitch!” the soldier with the now bloody nose said as he grabbed Alicia. “You gotta pay for that.”
“Leave us alone,” Tricia yelled as she tried to break the soldier’s grip.
“Oh we will leave you alone alright,” the man said as he let Alicia go and then belted Tricia in the stomach.
The four men swarmed after that, Jonathan saw both women hit and kicked and then threw on the ground as the soldiers started trying to snatch their clothing off. Jonathan waited until the first man got his pants off before he sent a fireball. The fireball struck him right in the back and Jonathan could see the man’s uniform start going up in flame and smoke. Jonathan didn’t even hesitate to ensure the other three got a similar treatment. Men were screaming as Jonathan landed out of his perch, they ran into the water to extinguish themselves as Jonathan waited until their heads came out to hit them with even more flame. Jonathan eventually stopped as Alicia and Tricia started to get their things on. He thought the women were champs for taking their time to shed their underclothes, dry themselves and then put on their dresses. The men were scared in the river and Jonathan could see he had scorched some faces.
“Get your asses out of there now,” Jonathan replied. “First man to say something stupid to me will be fish food. We are going to walk all the way back to camp. As soon as you get out of there you better get rid of your weapons. Any weapon I find on you is reason for me to kill you.”
Jonathan saw the men were scared and marched them back to camp. As soon as they appeared Jonathan could see men scrambling while others looked at them in shock. They were beaten and it was obvious they were in pain, their burns were visible and the woman had them at sword point. Jonathan found a solider he was not familiar with, he had to be one of Felcher’s and told him to fetch the other Captain along with Sergeant Bluebell. Jonathan had only been waiting a moment when he spotted Fox. Fox looked like he had gotten into a tumble with someone.
“What happened to you?” Jonathan asked.
“Almost as soon as you left, Bluebell came inside the tent with a few soldiers,” Fox replied. “They wanted a fight and I gave them one. It was more of them then there was of us.”
“Is that where Albie was?” Jonathan asked suddenly remembering that he did not see the other mage.
“He was shot with an arrow,” Fox said. “They had numbers but we had mages. The tent was burned down and we would have died. Felcher stopped the fighting on the account if Lady Gertie went into his tent.”
“How many died?” Jonathan asked.
“None of ours, just wounded,” Fox said. “Two soldiers were killed during the rush. The Soldiers under your command listened to Bluebell and Felcher.”
“I am ending this,” Jonathan said as he looked at his prisoners. “Go sit down somewhere. I will deal with you all later.” Jonathan stormed up to Felcher’s tent and saw two guards outside of it.
“Get out of my way,” Jonathan said angrily.
“We have already dealt with your other mages,” one soldier said as Jonathan stuck his hand out and an icicle ripped through the man’s head.
“You want a go wit
h me?” Jonathan said as his victim lay twitching on the ground. The soldier stepped out of his way as Jonathan walked into the tent. Felcher had a wild look in his eye and had his dagger out. Gertie had her hands up and Jonathan could tell she must have hit Felcher with a spell.
“Get your ass outside,” Jonathan said.
“Why are you in my tent?” Felcher screamed.
“Get your ass outside or I will kill you right here and right now,” Jonathan said. “Your call.”
“You okay in there?” Jonathan heard Bluebell scream from outside.
“Come get this mage out of here!” Felcher screamed.
“This is Captain Thunder,” Jonathan said. “First man through that door is dead and anyone behind him. Anyone who thinks this is a jest can look at that fool twitching on the ground.”
“He tried to grab me so I got him a good one,” Gertie said.
“I think I need to assert myself outside,” Jonathan said as he walked out of the tent. An arrow struck the shield Jonathan had put up and two soldiers went after him. Jonathan rose in the air out of the range of the soldiers try to melee and focused on the archer. A lightning bolt ripped across the area and exploded the man’s head like a hammer hitting a ripe melon. Jonathan didn’t give the men who went after him much time to think about it as similar bolts of lightning tore into him.
“Did you attack the people in my tent?” Jonathan said looking at Bluebell.
“I was just going to see if anyone needed anything and they attacked me!” Bluebell said.
“I am going to take your story up as high as it can go, in front of the Queen,” Jonathan replied. “If you are found lying I will meet you in the arena.”
“It’s Jonathan the Lightning!” one of the soldier’s screamed as they all started backing up.
“I am Jonathan the Lightning,” Jonathan said. “Any man who had any hand in the attack will be marched in front of the Queen and if she finds you guilty I will execute you.”
“I was only following orders,” a private Jonathan recognized from his own platoon said. “Sergeant Bluebell said any man who refuses to fight will be hung at the gallows.”
The Archmage Page 31