Dragonhunters

by Sabrina Chase

  “If he escapes again, he will continue to enslave others like yourself. We cannot allow someone who is able and willing to use the geas as he has to live. Is it not worth the danger to stop him?”

  Now the man was staring at her in horror. “Not live?”

  Something isn’t right here. He wasn’t acting normally. And then Sonam appeared from the crowd, looking as grim as Dominic had ever seen him.

  “His name is Korda. I saw him. Did you get my message?”

  And it all came together. The ragged magic he’d seen the man summon looked familiar, and now he knew why. “It’s him,” Dominic gasped. “He’s been putting the secondary geas on people.”

  Unfortunately Korda also understood, and had figured it out before him.

  “I had to do it! Don’t you understand? He had to be stopped! Why would you kill me for that? He is the one you should kill, but you didn’t. You can’t. No. I’m not going to help you! He’s going to destroy you all!”

  And Korda ran.

  Ardhuin stared blankly in the direction Korda had gone. “I suppose he wouldn’t have been much use, but will he be helping Denais now?”

  “Unlikely.” Dominic squinted into the cloud of magic. Something had changed. Something in the cloud was bright, and moving fast. Power like he had never seen before. “Shield!” he yelled. “Incoming magical attack!”

  Denais had found them.

  The warning had barely been in time. Ardhuin had cast an initial large shield as soon as Dominic had yelled, and she felt it shatter an instant later—‌just as she had completed a more powerful one centered on the defenders. She thought she heard screaming but resolutely thrust it out of her mind.

  Korda had been right. Denais had more power than she had ever seen before. More than she had ever used herself. How could she hope to defeat him?

  “Where is he? I can’t see a thing in this smoke.”

  Dominic grimaced. “There’s too much of that magical salt dust in the air for me to see much either—‌but the attack came from that direction.” He pointed. “How does he know where we are?”

  “I don’t think he does,” Ardhuin said slowly. “I think that was an area effect spell, something like Grenat’s Hammer.” Now figures were approaching out of the smoke, carrying weapons. “See? He is sending in his soldiers to kill any survivors.” Feeling cold, she made her decision. “Sonam. Tell your people they will have to fight the soldiers. You and I must go find Denais before he discovers we have split our forces.”

  “And what about me?” Dominic’s grip on her arm tightened.

  “I need you too.” Looking at him, bloody and battered, she felt like crying—‌but strangely Dominic’s expression lightened.

  “In that case, we need Stoller and his wheelbarrow. I seem to have broken my leg.”

  Well, Stoller’s insistence on bringing the wheelbarrow finally made sense. Ardhuin spared a thought for Gutrune and Markus, wondering where they were and if they were still alive. Sonam was giving quick whispered instructions to the men with the knives, and then he was running back. Dominic was collapsing carefully into the wheelbarrow, and Ardhuin cast a strong sound–‌dampening spell around them all.

  Everything looked different in the smoke. If she recalled correctly, the direction Dominic had indicated was near the rough sheds and equipment that was used for extracting the magical salts, up the slope and against the cliffs, near the waterwheel. If they found the cliff wall and went uphill, they should find Denais.

  She arranged the dampening spell to only block sound near the ground, so they could hear any approaching attackers, but that meant they could not speak except in whispers. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and she stared into the smoke, trying to make sense of the shadows. Then Sonam recoiled sharply and a soft grunt escaped him.

  “A barrier. Denais wishes to keep us at a distance, it seems,” Dominic observed.

  Ardhuin grimaced. Yes, that would be like him. Trap the enemy in a shell, along with his soldiers, while he stayed outside to await events. She let her fingers contact the barrier, and thought hard. It was just a barrier of force, making no distinction of what it was excluding.

  “Dominic. Can you see what kind of magic it is?”

  He squinted. “Yes. Why, what do you mean to do, take it down?”

  She shook her head. “That would alert him. No, I want to do what we did with the webs. Create my own bubble of force to let us out, but I will need to match the magic exactly.”

  It was easier than she had thought it would be. Then she recalled the dust. She was breathing in power, a little bit at a time. Perhaps that would give her an edge against Denais—‌but no. He was taking the magical salts directly.

  Outside the barrier, the air was a little clearer. They went up the steep path to the cliffs, which were sharply eroded and streaked with white, with occasional rocky protrusions. She could tell where MacCrimmon’s barrier had been, because the excavations were extensive up to that point.

  “They are digging, even now.” Sonam pointed.

  Denais must be desperate for the salts. Ardhuin looked more closely at the workers. They had wheelbarrows too, and worked in groups of three chained together. She smiled. Time for an illusion. They would need something to get close to Denais and have any chance at succeeding.

  The gaunt workers said nothing as they joined the line. Where was Denais? She heard voices up ahead, too faint to distinguish the words, but the tone of command was unmistakable. They must be getting close.

  There. The workers shuffled down a deep ditch to the cliff wall, and a group of three men stood at the top of the ditch. Denais was looking at the buildings of the facility with a harsh frown, but he did not seem unduly disturbed. Neither he nor the two bound magicians next to him looked at the workers.

  Move slowly. Do nothing to attract attention. She held her breath, not even daring to adjust the illusion for fear it would be noticed, and they inched away. Dominic’s face was white, and his eyes were wide. Just let them get past Denais and find cover…‌

  The sharp crack of a rifle split the air. Oh no. Gutrune. Ardhuin huddled against the wall of the ditch with Dominic and Stoller and looked up. Denais was unharmed, but one of the bound magicians was down and bleeding profusely from a neck wound. He was still struggling, despite his mortal injury, to stand.

  Denais gestured. A lightning bolt lanced out and struck the cliff, but before it hit, Gutrune rolled from the cliff rock she had been hiding behind and fell. The cliff face was not completely vertical, so she slid in a cloud of dust, and Ardhuin saw she was using the butt of her rifle to help slow her descent. Even so, she was completely exposed to another attack.

  “Something’s odd about the magic!” Dominic hissed. “I could see…‌waves…‌coming off of the lightning bolt.”

  No time to plan now. Ardhuin pointed to Sonam and waved him to another position. Denais might still be taken by surprise.

  Denais was staring at where Gutrune had fallen at the base of the cliff. She was still moving, so presumably still alive. He levitated in a single burst over the ditch to where she was and stood, looking down at her with a curled lip.

  “A gun? Against me?” He laughed. “Where are the rest of your sorry group?”

  Gutrune groaned, shifting slightly, but did not speak.

  Dominic gripped her hands tightly. “Oh God…‌he’s summoning power for a geas!”

  There was no time. She had to fight. She had to leave Dominic. Ardhuin kissed him, hard. “I love you,” she said, and pulled away.

  She needed a powerful attack and something to overcome the shield she knew he must have. She remembered her layered defense earlier and summoned power. Gesalt’s Lance was the most powerful attack that might work, and she sent it three times in rapid succession—‌twice at moderated power and the third with all the strength she had.

  Denais staggered and dropped to one knee. Bright threads of light, almost like a gloire, shimmered in the air, popping in and out with
a noise like ripping paper. Was that a shield?

  He had been staggered, but not nearly enough. His head twisted around and Denais looked directly at her. He did not appear to be injured in the slightest.

  “Ah, there you are.”

  Shield. Not enough. She screamed as the power flooded over her, fighting to keep something, anything in place. Not for herself, but for Dominic behind her who had no defense at all except flimsy illusion. The shield contracted in the face of the attack, and she felt burning agony on her legs and arms.

  Then she realized it had stopped, and she was lying at the bottom of the ditch. She could not move. Her body refused to obey her. But then she found herself being lifted up into the air, hanging limply, close before the hard, scornful eyes of Denais.

  He raised one elegant eyebrow. “Is this really the best you could do? I presume this is one of yours.” He nudged Gutrune with his foot.

  “The others…‌are coming,” Ardhuin gasped. The burns on her skin were a wall of pain, making it difficult to think.

  “If this is the caliber of the Mage Guardian forces, I do not anticipate any difficulty. He is…oh, I do beg your pardon. She is of negligible use. A friend?” One hand slashed down.

  Fire engulfed Gutrune—‌Gutrune, and someone else. A familiar shape, protectively crouched over her, the avoidance magic stripped away by the attack. Denais appeared surprised, and he had not used as much power in his attack as previously, but Markus collapsed with smoke drifting up around him.

  She knew she did not have enough power to kill Denais, not with the advantage the magical salts had given him. Something Dominic had said, about Denais keeping his distance, triggered a memory. The magical duels at the Reuytersalle. Old custom.

  When Denais reached out to blast Markus and Gutrune again, she grabbed his wrists.

  Whenever he summoned power, she interfered with it. He was tall, but she was just as tall as he was. He was a man, but old. She was wounded, but young. And angry, and terrified. The burns on her hands were raw and excruciating, but she did not let go.

  The levitation spell vanished—‌and she fell. She had expected that, and bent her knees and pulled backward. Denais fell with her into the ditch. Despite the impact of landing, she managed to keep hold of his wrists. It didn’t matter how much power he had if he couldn’t focus it.

  She could hear sounds of fighting behind her, but she dared not look to see who it was. Denais was struggling to get free, his face working with rage.

  “You mangy bitch, how dare you get in my way? Don’t you realize I will win in the end? My loyal servants alone will defeat you!”

  “I removed their ‘loyalty,’” Ardhuin gasped. “Did you think I made no plans for that?” She forced herself to smile. “Where are they, these loyal servants? Have you noticed any of them missing lately?”

  Denais snarled at her. Ardhuin recalled childhood fights with her brothers and slammed her forehead into his nose. He screamed and thrashed harder. She felt her grip beginning to slip, her hands wet with her own blood.

  “Help me! He’s getting loose!”

  A wooden shovel smacked Denais in the head and shattered. “Something’s very wrong.” Dominic’s voice came out of the shadows. “I see it every time magic is used—‌there is something in the dust here too.”

  “Dominic! Hide! Run!” Ardhuin screamed. Dominic had no defenses. It would take so little for Denais to destroy him…‌and here he was getting distracted.

  Dirt and pebbles fell from the side of the ditch as she struggled to keep her grip. Then a body launched itself over the edge, landing on Denais with a thud.

  Denais screamed, wrenching himself sharply away. He managed to pull one hand free with the effort, and Ardhuin saw the hilt of a familiar knife sticking out of his back. She tried to reach it, to push it in farther, but Denais was finally able to focus power and launched himself upward with levitation. He writhed as he floated, trying to reach the knife, but his arms could not bend far enough and his magic refused to attach to the iron.

  Ardhuin staggered to her feet. Gutrune was lying in the ditch, no longer moving. Sonam and Stoller were fighting the last bound magician, and Dominic lay on the ground, clutching the broken handle of the shovel, his face twisting with agony as he struggled to speak.

  “Use the dust,” he yelled. “Get it between you and him, with as little magic as possible!”

  She didn’t have much magic, so that part would be easy. She wasn’t sure why the dust would help—‌perhaps cloud his vision? Deflect his magic just enough? Dominic seemed to know exactly what it would do, and she trusted him.

  The dust–‌traveler magic was light and simple. It scoured the cliff face, creating a huge, thick cloud of dust.

  Denais laughed. “Is that the best you can do, little girl?” He gestured. “I have had enough, I think. You cease to amuse me.”

  She could barely see him now in the dust. It didn’t matter. There was nothing else for her to do, no one else to rescue them. She stuck out her chin and clenched her fists.

  Fire bloomed in the cloud. And then smaller explosions scattered off of that. Denais’s laughter turned to a frightened, frustrated scream, a scream that increased in pitch and volume until a final, devastating explosion slammed into the cliff face. A thundering roar shook the earth, and the world went dark.

  Chapter 23

  “Eventually someone will come,” Sonam said, shivering. He had gotten off with only minor burns and a stab wound and was the most mobile of the survivors.

  “Well and good, but how long is ‘eventually’?” Dominic resumed bandaging Ardhuin’s wounds with the tattered remnants of his shirt. She was so exhausted she could only manage a few words, but at least she was conscious. The air was still full of the sour scent of the dust, although a cold wind was beginning to disperse it.

  Gutrune was alive but had not woken since stabbing Denais. Markus guarded her, his face a mask of pain both from his own burns and seeing the extent of her injuries. More broken bones, at the very least, so perhaps it was best she was not conscious.

  Seeing Sonam’s crestfallen expression, Dominic sighed. “I am sure your people will investigate, but we have nothing here, not even water, and everyone is in need of urgent medical attention. And we can’t use magic.”

  After seeing what had happened to Denais, no one argued with him. Their situation was dire, but the raw magical dust made it even worse. Any magic of power beyond a mild illusion seemed to build up a resonance of discharge, causing a chain reaction of magical detonations. It was Denais’s very power that had eventually destroyed him.

  Unfortunately, it had also caused a massive avalanche that had isolated them on a narrow rock ledge. The path, and the excavations, were gone, ripped off the mountainside. Above was the cliff and high mountain peak, virtually impossible to climb. Below was another steep cliff. And it was starting to snow.

  “The dust will die down in time,” Markus managed to say. “The snow might even help with that.”

  Dominic shook his head. “It’s not just the dust. The avalanche exposed fresh material, and it is quite strong here. I’m afraid we need to find another way.”

  “A message, then. Or perhaps you can see a section that is less magically enhanced, and one of us could slide down as she did? We can’t just stay here.” Markus’s voice was ragged with frustration. “She isn’t waking…‌”

  Dominic crawled on one side, stifling his whimpers of pain as best he could. Stoller just looked at him in resignation, his broken shoulder and other injuries preventing him from helping. From the edge of the rock ledge he looked about, seeing if there was any way out, even a dangerous one.

  Sliding was not an option. The rock they rested on went down a considerable way, and below that were some other sharp protrusions. To either side…‌he squinted. The view was still quite obscured from the avalanche, and the brightness of the magic interfered with his regular vision. And that patch was even brighter than the rest. He frowned. The brig
ht patch was moving.

  “Er, how sure are we that Denais exploded?”

  Markus chuckled, then winced. “Quite sure. You didn’t see the torso go by, but I never forget a waistcoat. Even with the blood and…‌other matter, it was quite recognizable. Denais is not an issue anymore. So I suppose we won…‌” He picked up Gutrune’s pale hand and rested his forehead on his bent knees.

  “The reason I’m asking is something seems to be coming this way. Something magical.”

  “Korda…‌” Ardhuin whispered roughly.

  “If it’s him, he’s learned to levitate over mountains.” Now Dominic could hear a steady, rhythmic throbbing noise, like a deep hum. Or an engine.

  It grew louder, and a large, dark shape emerged overhead. A bulbous shape, like a large loaf, was held in a network of ropes or cables. It was the source of the magical brightness. From it hung an open framework something like a boat, and below that an engine with large, leaf–‌like blades turned in the air. He could see people moving about in the boat.

  “What in the name of heaven is that?”

  Markus managed a tired grin. “I haven’t the slightest notion, but it is flying the Preusan flag.”

  A few moments later a long rope ladder dropped, followed by a familiar short man with a round, freckled face. “Ho, Kermarec! It is you!” Jens–‌Peter Oberacker called cheerfully. “We used your ideas for the ship! Isn’t it great?”

  The levitation ship, as Jens–‌Peter called it, managed to rescue everyone from the rock ledge. The rescue took several trips and some clever rigging to handle the wounded once the Preusan military doctor had done his initial patching up.

  Ardhuin tried to direct them to rescue MacCrimmon, only to find he had been the one to signal the levitation ship in the first place.

  “How is he?”

  Dr. Kanitz shook his head. “Very weak. This high altitude has been very bad for his health. He’s at the camp, where we are taking you.”

  Except for the noise of the engine, traveling in the levitation ship was very much like floating. The descent was gradual, accompanied by creaking noises as the canopy of the ship was compressed by pulling in the cables that ran like netting over the surface. Jens–‌Peter bounced from running the ship to explaining it all to Dominic.