Champion of the Gods Box Set

by Andrew Q. Gordon

  The cold grip of fear seized Zenora’s chest, making it hard to breathe. Farrell dead? Kel expendable? “What do you think he’s planning to do?”

  “He’s gone to Kentrish to attack Meglar.”

  Everyone in the room shouted out almost as one.

  “Why would he do such a foolish thing?” Heminaltose yelled above the others.

  “After the fighting ended at Yar-del, Farrell suggested we should stay and fight Meglar. He thought the element of surprise, coupled with the near limitless energy he can draw from the ocean, gave us an advantage.”

  “Great gates of Neblor!” Heminaltose yelled. “So that stupid child thinks because he found a new source of energy, suddenly all our plans are superfluous?”

  “That ‘child’ is my son,” Zenora said. When Heminaltose looked at her, she glared at him until he averted his eyes. “For all his efforts in this war, he deserves better than for you to call him names.”

  “I concur with Zenora,” Kel added. “And I’ll tell you what I told Farrell—do not swear by Neldin’s realm, lest you invite unwanted scrutiny.”

  “I don’t need you to instruct me like a child.” Heminaltose glowered at Kel. “After a thousand years, I think I’m experienced enough to make my own choices.”

  “No matter your age, it is never appropriate to use such words.”

  “Fine, lesson noted. That doesn’t explain why Farrell would think attacking Kentrish alone is a good idea.”

  “I won’t know until I find him,” Kel said. “But enough idle chatter. I need to concentrate on finding Farrell before I can talk about bringing him back.”

  Zenora watched Kel closely. Like Farrell moments ago, he leapt across the room the instant she heard the Door magic roar to life. She made sure not to blink, and for the barest of moments, the Door flared to life before Kel was gone.

  “Damn!” Heminaltose walked to the wall and put his hand on the dormant portal. “If they get in trouble, we can’t help them.”

  Glendora moved closer and put her arm around Zenora’s shoulder. “Kel knows what he’s doing. He’ll bring your son home.”

  Zenora nodded but couldn’t voice her agreement. If Farrell had gone to Kentrish, she wasn’t sure even Kel could get him home alive.

  This close to Kentrish, the water had been picked clean of power. Collection buoys floated in a straight line parallel to the shore. Farrell checked to be sure they didn’t also serve as detection devices. Finding nothing beyond the collection spells, he implanted a countermeasure in the closest marker. Once he finished, he’d activate the magic, and it would spread to the others. He hoped in the confusion, Meglar would miss what he’d done. Then instead of collecting energy for Meglar’s Source, the buoys would suck energy out and return it to the sea.

  Farrell created a tight funnel behind him and summoned as much energy as possible into it. He crammed every erg of power he could into his armor, staff, and himself. He left the rest in the water around him. If he didn’t have enough energy for what he planned, more wouldn’t help.

  Quick. Hard. Focused. If he could do as he planned, he’d deal Meglar a true crippling blow. Not the imaginary ones Meglar let them believe they’d achieved. If he didn’t execute the plan right . . . he decided it best not to consider the price of failure.

  He moved easily through the calm water, then stopped a few hundred feet from the city shield. The protective wall stretched several hundred feet away from the city. It extended into the water and reached well into the ocean floor.

  Though stronger than the one at Yar-del, the texture of this shield was similar. It was another poor imitation of the first shield Farrell had created outside Northhelm. If the city were empty and no one tried to stop him, Farrell could collapse this shield in under a minute. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t have even half a minute free from attack. He’d have to settle for a partial breach.

  Farrell checked his personal protection and reinforced the two layers. The water solidified under his feet and pushed him upward. He broke the surface and continued until he stood fifty feet above the water. The column underfoot fed him a steady stream of energy from the ocean.

  The tip of his staff erupted with a rope of yellow energy that twisted as it moved. It rotated and narrowed as it approached its target. When it struck the shield, it didn’t detonate. Instead the tail spun itself into a flat disc over the spiked tip. Farrell’s second blast struck like a hammer on a nail. The point burrowed into the shield, and the tail drilled into the protective energy. What began as a pinhole quickly grew into a gap big enough for Farrell to walk through.

  Farrell opened a saddlebag with an endless pocket. Dozens of magical weapons flew out and through the opening in search of Chamdon pens. The missiles were incendiary in nature. When they struck, they’d spread flammable energy on the sleeping or newly awakened creatures.

  The first attack from one of Meglar’s wizards struck his right side. He ignored the strike and called up an enormous wave. Like most shields, Meglar’s allowed air and water to pass in or out. The Zargon wizard kept up the attack, and Farrell moved to counter. Before he could locate the wizard, a second, stronger attack struck his shields, followed soon after by two more.

  Farrell had prepared to be attacked once he’d fired on the shield. Meglar’s counter, while stronger than he’d expected, was not beyond his ability to deflect. He reinforced his shields and increased the size of the wave. As the water rushed toward the shore, he pointed his staff at the breach in the shield and fired several large fireballs through the gap. He sent these to strike the largest breeding pens.

  As his attack cleared the shield, Farrell watched a series of melon-sized orbs whiz across the city. They struck the first two fireballs in rapid succession. The collisions caused large explosions well away from the intended targets. Farrell tweaked his remaining energy balls, and they began to zigzag through the air. They avoided the Kentrish countermeasures, and Farrell felt them explode against the ground. Even losing the first two, he’d inflicted some damage on Meglar’s forces. And the real threat was still gathering strength behind him.

  Having executed the last step of his plan, Farrell directed his platform to take him down. A tendril of fear coiled around his gut as he realized the attacks from Kentrish held him in place. A second later, a massive ball of energy struck. Restrained by the other wizards, he couldn’t roll with the blow. The blast felt like a war hammer slamming against his shield.

  His shields deflected the attack around and down, but it rattled his concentration. He watched the tidal wave flutter as it headed toward land, and he moved quickly to reassert control. He tried to speed it up, but a second blow pounded his shields and diverted his attention. Based on the strength of the strike, he had little doubt Meglar had joined the fight.

  Again and again Meglar pounded his defenses. By the sixth blow, his outer shield started to buckle. He struggled to keep it and the wave intact. Fearing his protection would collapse, Farrell released his hold on the wave. He stabilized his defenses just before the next blow struck. The water cleared Kentrish’s shield and crested well before he intended. It created a huge tidal surge instead of a massive wave. There would be damage, but it wouldn’t destroy the city as he’d hoped.

  Focusing on his plight, he felt a strong yank from the tethers every time Meglar hit him. To counter the pull, Farrell surrounded himself in water and let the ocean anchor him in place. Meglar’s blows would clear the water for a moment, but an instant later it covered him again. The water didn’t change the force of impact, but it made it harder for his enemies to see him. He hoped to use his semiconcealed position to escape.

  With his shields holding firm, Farrell ignored Meglar to try to free himself. Meglar and his wizards had plugged the hole he made. The patch was a weak link in the shield, but even if he breached it, they could plug it again just as fast. Rather than play that game of back and forth, he chose a different path.

  Although he’d never tried what he was about to attempt
in combat, he and Kel had practiced it several times. Like all complex magic, the execution was simple so long as he stayed calm. Separating his staff, he extended his arms so the tip of each half touched the inner edge of his own shields. He recited the spell and sent his counter-energy back along the lines of power binding him.

  Both streams ceased, and Farrell quickly repeated the process on the remaining two wizards. Before he finished the second counter, Meglar struck him again. Farrell had never felt such force against his shields before. He finished the spell and prepared to flee the moment he was free.

  With the last two lines severed, Farrell found himself in a viselike grip. Meglar’s last attack had fastened to his shield and held him firm. Smiling, Farrell used the counter a third time and sent a massive jolt back at his father. The hold dissipated, and he started to drop into the water. He’d gotten less than five feet when two new lines of power latched on to the energy surrounding him.

  Meglar, or the wizard he assumed was his father, immediately renewed his assault. Having gone to the well three times, Farrell decided to hold off using it again. His shield held fast, but soon Meglar would bring enough wizards to the fight to overpower him.

  As the barrage continued, Farrell and his opponents engaged in a game of strategy. Farrell anticipated they had others ready to tie him up if he severed the links holding him in place. Rather than waste his energy, he considered his options.

  Farrell expanded his shield. When it was big enough, he planned to dissolve it and drop into the water. His inner defenses could survive long enough to get away. Before he was ready, Meglar struck again. The powerful blow swept aside his weakened outer shield. Farrell nearly passed out when the feedback from his shattered defenses stuck him. He pushed past the pain and reformed his outer shield just before the enemy’s tether’s hit.

  Burning pain flooded his nervous system. The residual energy from Meglar’s attack had turned his inner shield red-hot and burned the skin closest to the heat.

  As before, Farrell’s enemies attacked from both sides. This time, however, only the line from the left connected. When the wizard to his right tried again, Farrell countered and turned away.

  Meglar attacked again, but Farrell rotated to his right and out of the way of the strike. Another attempt to grab him went wide. Twisting about, he avoided the next two attacks as well.

  A second line slapped onto his shield a few inches from the first. This cut down his ability to evade attacks. He tried to use the two against each other by spinning around. He’d nearly broke their hold when he was hit on the other side. Back in the firm, multipronged hold, Farrell couldn’t evade Meglar’s next strike.

  Farrell stared defiantly at Kentrish, his shields holding strong. Meglar’s attacks originated from near the palace, but the others had come from the shore. Because the ground was still flooded, the wizards—Farrell saw six—floated close to his level. They’d created platforms into the shield to stand on and had tied the lines holding him in place to anchors protruding from the inside.

  Unable to move, Farrell shored up his defense and began to expand his outer shield. It grew slower this time as he made sure not to sacrifice strength for size. When his shield repelled Meglar’s next attack, he used the time between strikes to expand and strengthen it.

  Content with the strength of his outer defenses, Farrell created a third shield between the other two. The strain of doing so many things was starting to give him a headache. He considered releasing his hold on the ocean to conserve strength. He dismissed the idea when he used the link to replenish his supply of energy.

  He studied his enemies and reached into his pocket. He needed to break their hold and then get into the water before they could regain control. He withdrew a dozen of the darts Kel used at Bowient. Farrell had modified these and thanked the Six he had them in his pocket.

  Meglar maintained the pace of his assaults, increasing the strength a bit each time. Farrell wondered if Meglar would let others attack or felt compelled to personally dispatch the wizard who dared attack his city. The latter was more in keeping with Meglar’s personality. Especially now that Meglar had entered the fray and still hadn’t killed the enemy. If Farrell escaped or Meglar needed help defeating him, his aura of invincibility would suffer. Meglar couldn’t afford a defeat this close to home if he wanted to maintain his iron grip of fear on his subjects. Farrell hoped to exploit the situation to his advantage.

  Satisfied he’d located all the targets he needed, Farrell pulled energy through the water and created three blue globes the size of his head. He filled them with as much power as they could hold and left them hovering over his left shoulder. Aiming his staff at the patch in Kentrish’s shield, he fired a narrow, but potent strike at the weak spot. He drilled into the shield, and when it burst, he released the first blue energy ball.

  It bobbed and weaved to avoid Zargon’s attempt to blow it up and slipped through the spot Farrell had opened. It exploded, and the wizards nearby covered their eyes. Farrell was pleased to see they hadn’t patched the hole yet.

  The second globe raced toward the shield and covered the opening. It quivered for a moment and then started to lose mass. As it shrank, the hole grew. The enemy trained their fire on the ball, and Farrell used the distraction to send in his darts.

  The glass in the center of the missiles churned, glowing brighter as it approached the shield. They shot through the opening and into the city. Farrell then released the third globe.

  The last globe exploded on contact, and when the light faded, the hole was gone. His opponents stared at the spot and were each struck from behind by a pair of darts. The barbs burrowed into the wizards’ shields like bees digging for pollen. Working to dislodge these attacks, the wizards all but ignored Farrell.

  Meglar, however, hadn’t forgotten Farrell. The assault on Farrell’s shield continued to grow. His protection was showing signs of strain, and he knew he needed to get away soon. Farrell exploded one of the two darts on each wizard’s shield and rapidly expanded his outer shield. Meglar’s next blow shattered the enlarged wall and broke the enemy hold. The remaining darts blew up, and Farrell lowered himself toward the ocean.

  Ten feet from the water, a new stream of energy grabbed hold of his middle shield. Stronger than the others, it resisted his efforts to dislodge it. Meglar’s next blow hit with such intensity that it started to fry his outermost layer of protection. He barely had time to strengthen it when it was struck again. This time it held up better, but it wouldn’t last long.

  The distraction he created had ended, and the six wizards reestablished a hold on his shield. Worse, he could feel them trying to pull him away from the water. For the first time, he wondered if he could escape.

  Farrell diverted as much power as he could to the shields to buy some time. He needed to think of an escape or he’d be reeled in by the enemy. As he drew a deep breath, his left side erupted in pain that nearly blinded him. Even if he couldn’t smell the burned flesh now, he knew Meglar’s last attack had inflicted serious damage. Another shield failure could prove fatal.

  His best hope would be to time Meglar’s blows and explode his shield between one and the next. With the tethers gone, he’d drop into the water and flee. If he mistimed it, or if they managed to keep hold on him, his inner shield wouldn’t save him from Meglar’s blow.

  Farrell glanced down when he thought he saw movement in the water. He didn’t see anything, but it broke his concentration. Cursing, he tried to reestablish the cadence of Meglar’s attacks. The blows shook his shields and he knew he was almost out of time.

  When he found the rhythm again, he steadied himself for what would likely be his last chance to escape. He glanced down again and almost lost control of his shields.

  Crimson strips of energy emerged from the water and slithered around the enemy lines. The energy raced backward along the strands holding Farrell in place. More ribbons shot up from the water and surrounded Farrell’s shield. Meglar’s attack struck an in
stant after his shields were free of the enemy hold. The force of the blow sent him racing away from the city.

  Farrell diverted his trajectory and dove into the ocean. As he did, an enormous wave, much bigger than the one he tried to create, rolled past him on a course for Kentrish.

  Below the water, he saw energy flying overhead toward Kentrish. He swam up to break the surface and watched as sheets of energy crashed into the enormous wave. The large patches of water punched from the wave filled back in moments later. Farrell watched as scarlet bands of energy sailed overhead to overtake the wave. They passed through the water, and he couldn’t see what happened.

  The wave crested onto the shield and didn’t pass through like before. It flowed up the now-impenetrable barrier and remained like a coat of paint. At the spot he’d twice breached Meglar’s shield, a new, much larger opening compromised Kentrish’ defenses. The red energy continued to rotate as water gushed into Kentrish as if pushed through a giant straw.

  With all the water in the way, it was impossible to see what happened inside the city unless he moved. The pain in his torso overruled his curiosity. It throbbed down his side and back and up his arm. After a last look, he slid below the waves.

  “Stupid child!” Kel’s voice thundered in his mind.

  Steadying himself, he turned around. Kel and Teberus floated a few feet away, accompanied by a large group of Arlefor wizards.

  “I thought you had better sense than this. You almost died.” His anger felt tempered, and Farrell heard the fear in Kel’s voice. In truth, had Kel not arrived, Farrell might not have survived.

  “I know.”

  “You know.” Kel pointed a finger and snapped it down. “We will speak more when we get back to Haven.”

  Keeping a disapproving glare on Farrell, Kel held out his arm to the Arlefor wizard. “The thanks of an entire world for what you and your wizards did here today.”

  “You have only to call if you need us.” Teberus clasped Kel’s arm and shook it. “Judge not too harshly, Master Kel. You too were once young, headstrong, and of the belief you were invincible.”