Rogue Magician (The Magician Rebellion) (9 page)

“
The
rogue magician would wait until the prison's forces were at their weakest and
then somehow attempt a prison break.” Sane looked to his old ally Kellen and he
knew that the knight had reached the same conclusion.

“
I
am going back to the city to warn the guardsmen,” Kellen decided. “Maybe we can
ready a proper defense before they reach Colum. Sane, you take the rest and
stop that magician.”

“
My
wife is back in Colum,” said Tannys, “I will not abandon her.”

Kellen
and Tannys rode back towards the city as Byrn watched them. The magician’s
apprentice looked torn between staying with his new master and following his
father. It took Byrn only a few seconds to make a decision and started his
horse in a gallop following after Tannys Lightfoot.

Sane
was not surprised. Tannys was the boy's father after all and he had only just
met the sorcerer. “Sari, please keep an eye on my apprentice and Kellen. I have
a feeling they are going to need your keen vision.”

She
denied his request as if the thought was ridiculous, “You should know by now
that I do as I please. Besides, one more able body would make a much bigger
difference to a group of three than to a few battalions of soldiers.”

“
Very
well,” Sane said reminded once again why he still felt love for the woman
despite their many differences, “and thank you.”

Along
with the Kenzai, Bavra and Tyder, Sane and Sari rode to catch the galloping
magician careful not to alert the approaching ogre horde of their presence.
They retreated back down the hill out of the horde's sight and rode a
northwestern course hoping to cut off the rider before he knew they were there.
They had the advantage of the high ground and the element of surprise at least
until their query was within earshot of the beating hooves.

Catching
up to and cutting off the rider was a simple feat. After a few minutes in
pursuit the rogue magician heard the beating of hooves and darted toward an
approaching ridge hoping to get a view of the land to determine where his
pursuers were coming from. Unfortunately Sari predicted this would happen and
she and Sane were waiting just out of site until the rider was nearly on top of
them. The rider pulled up fast to avoid running into the ranger and sorcerer
and found herself trapped between the pair and the Kenzai hunters coming up
from behind who were gracious enough to drive the magician to this spot.

“
She
is a girl!” Sane gasped once he got a look of the rider.

“
And
what is wrong with that?” Sari huffed. “I would not have expected that attitude
from you.”

“
No,
it is just... I was more surprised by her age than her sex. She is probably in
her late teen years, but to command so many ogres in such a manner... I have
never seen one so young with such skill.”

The
raven-haired young lady pulled her staff from its harness and raised it above
her head. “I call upon the spirits of Vailon, god of war, slay my enemies!”

The
wind screeched with the howl of war wraiths. Dark ghostly figures rode to their
mistress' aid on phantom mounts. They were like puffs of smoke with small black
tendrils of energy wafting off of them. Four of them appeared flanking the
young enchantress on either side coming to her aid.

The
hunters drew their swords as they positioned themselves to engage their
ethereal foes. Their blades glowed bright blue sensing and draining the energy
from all of the magical creatures nearby including the two magicians.

Seeing
their glowing weapons the young enchantress was well aware that she needed to
end the battle quickly before all of her strength was drained or she would be
at the mercy of these men. The girl cast a spell calling a wave of flame that
sprayed forth from her wand across Sane and Sari while the ghostly warriors
engaged the Kenzai, but Sane had already pulled his own staff from its harness
when the spirits were summoned and countered with an arching shield protecting
himself and his elf companion from the flames and their searing heat.

The
girl was surprised for a second, but surprise was quickly replaced with anger
and disgust. “Why are you helping them?” she demanded angrily. “We should be on
the same side! What the kingdom and the Kenzai do to us is wrong. They lock us
away simply for being born different. Having magic in our veins should be a
blessing. Instead they act like it is a curse and we are monsters.”

“
So
to prove them wrong you unleash a legion of ogres on an innocent city in a
misguided attempt to break out some of the most powerful criminals in the
kingdom,” Sane retorted. “Baj is not filled with misunderstood magicians. It is
filled with criminals and murderers who happen to be magicians.

“
You
lie!” the girl shouted in rage.

To
Sari the enchantress said, “Kill the wizard.” Her voice was a rare mix of
deadliness and sweetness.

Sari
drew her bow without thinking. She notched an arrow and pointed it at Sane's
head. Her left hand holding the bow shook as she aimed and she gripped the
arrow too tightly with her right trying to stop herself from releasing it.

“
Sane,”
she squeaked. The sorcerer erected a shield between Sari and himself just
before she released the arrow preventing it from giving him a new hole in his
head.

The
enchantress shot another blast of flame at her rival now that his shield was no
longer erected between them. Instead he turned and with a wave of his hand a
spray of water sprang from the air dowsing the flames and still possessing
enough force to knock her from her steed and drench her in the process.

Looking
to her spirit warriors the enchantress saw they were steadily weakening from
the Kenzai's magic absorbing swords and had not managed to kill either of them.
As much as she hated to admit it her defeat was inevitable. “I am sorry,
father,” she murmured and with that she vanished.

Once
their mistress was gone, the war spirits decided to leave as well fading back
into the spirit realm from whence they came. A thin puff of smoke was all that
remained as the only indication that they had ever been there.

“
Is
she gone?” asked Sari still shaken up over almost killing her friend.

“
I
do not know,” said Sane, “She could be gone, but she could have cast another
enchantment to hide herself from our sight, biding her time until we lower our
guard or leave to pursue the ogres so she can still make a try for the prison.”

“
I
sense no hidden energies, but we should head to the prison,” Tyder suggested,
“and let them know what has happened here.”

“
They
can still send reinforcements to the city, but without weakening the prison's
defenses too much,” added Bravec.

They
rode to the castle as fast as their horses would take them. When they made it
halfway Sane recalled the part of his vision involving Byrn. He was fighting an
ogre at the temple of Ashura trying to protect his mother and the other injured
people there. Sane thought it was an omen to be interpreted, but what if it was
not? What if it was another warning of an impending disaster and Kellen's
battle was merely the precursor?

The
door swung open with such force that it slammed into the wall with a thunderous
bang. “We are under attack!” Kellen declared as he entered the main room of the
guardsmen tower at the city's entrance. “There are ogres coming. Close to three
dozen of the ugly beasts are just a few minutes behind me. Alert the other
towers and make ready for battle.”

Half
a dozen guardsmen that were present sat around a large table staring at the
knight-captain in disbelief as if he was speaking some strange language.

“
Are
you deaf, fools?” shouted Rallen coming down the steps from the second floor.
“Sound the alarm and send out messengers to the other towers.” The men started
as if coming awake and began to do as commanded. Rallen said to the
knight-captain, “I am sorry, uncle. I think they were more than a little
surprised to see you.”

Coming
in behind Kellen, Byrn noted that Kellen's nephew was the obstinate guard who
refused to let him into the keep earlier. He was a little surprised at Kellen's
nepotism in making his nephew a guardsman, but thought better of it as his own
father and former master came in behind him.

“
Rallen,
send word to assemble the militia as well as the guards. We need to form a
defensive line at the border and overwhelm them before they can get too far
into the city and start slaughtering people like cattle,” ordered his uncle.

“
Yes,
sir.” Rallen bowed and made his way towards the entrance of the hall, “Men, to
me! We have a city to defend. Sound the horns and mobilize the militia!”

The
guards moved like separate parts of a single body. As one they entered the
armory, grabbed swords and shields, and exited the hall hurried but organized
preventing a bottleneck as they left.

“
Take
whatever you need,” Kellen told the Lightfoots indicating the armory.

“
I'm
not one for heavy armor,” said Tannys, “I have a sword at my side and my horse
carries a shield. I am ready.”

“
As
am I,” answered Byrn. Besides he thought that magicians were only supposed to
wear light robes. He wasn't sure why, but it was a comforting thought.

“
Byrn,
go back to the house and protect your mother,” Tannys told him. “As a member of
the militia, I must aid the guards at the front lines.”

“
What?
Why?” Byrn asked, “I can do more good fighting at your side than I can hiding
with mother. I could use my magic to kill them. What is the point of having
this power thrust upon me if I can not use it to help people?”

“
Do
you know how to use it?” Tannys countered. “Can you cast a magic spell right
now?”

Byrn
flinched as if someone had just tried to hit him in the face. “No, it just sort
of happens.”

Kellen
left to assemble the city guard before the ogres' arrival. The ogres were big
and fast. The trio reached the city first, but they did not have a very big
lead on the beasts. “Do as you will,” he told them in parting.

“
I
am in the militia, son. Cavalry division. Ogres are big, strong, and fast, as
you well know. The cavalry can match their speed and when attacking as a group
they can give the city's defenders an advantage on the battlefield.”

“
Then
I will go with you...”

“
No!
Do as I told you. Tomorrow you may be a magician, but today you are still my
son and as your father I am telling you, 'Go and protect your mother.' You have
done enough for one day where those beasts are concerned.”

Byrn
did not know what to say. It was an impossible choice. His father would be
riding headlong into danger. His mother would be hiding alone unable to defend
herself. Byrn could not remember his birth parents. Tannys and Marian Lightfoot
were the only parents he had known. If anything were to happen to either one of
them Byrn knew it would be his fault. “As you wish,” the young apprentice
conceded, “I will protect her with my dying breath.”

His
father smiled warmly at him for a moment, “That is all I ask.”

They
hurried to the guard stables where they fetched their horses that did not have
nearly a long enough rest. Mounting their rides they were off like rabbits
bolting from their hole riding into the heart of the city. Byrn headed toward
his family's home and Tannys to his rendezvous with his battalion of the
militia.

During
the first attack Colum was only just stirring, but now the city was fully awake
and quickly turning chaotic as people ran about searching for safety. Only a
few minutes had gone by since their arrival at the guard tower, but the ogre
horde had already begun to make their way into the city. The pair dodged
between the running and screaming populace and Byrn found that he would need to
get past some of the beasts before he could return home. He drew up behind
Tannys as they approached the nearest pair of ogres already engaged by
Knight-Captain Kellen and two squads of guards from the tower.

The
first ogre swung his mighty fist in a low arc knocking away two of the guards
into a nearby shack. Kellen swung his hammer, but barely missed the giant
leaving himself exposed. It grabbed him lifting the knight-captain off the
ground. The ogre roared in his face as if threatening the puny human to try
such a thing again.

Arrows
from the rear squad hit the ogre stabbing him in the opposite arm and chest.
The archers took care to shoot clear of their captain, but could not get the
ogre to release him.

It
squeezed denting the armor protecting Kellen driving the metal into his ribs.
“Aaagh!” the shining knight screamed in pain.

Tannys
and Byrn rode in on the ogre's blind side as it focused on the more immediate
threat of the surrounding knights. They readied their swords and picked up
speed as they rushed in. “Take the left! Glancing blows only!” shouted Tannys
as he veered to the right on the side with Kellen.

Tannys
brought his blade along the monster's forearm cutting it and forcing it to
release the knight-captain. An instant later Byrn brought his own sword across
the ogre's left side cutting into it before glancing off of the ribs. The beast
screamed in pain not knowing which way to attack. The guardsmen tried to press
the advantage created by the two riders, but the second ogre was now coming to
the first's aid. Leaving the guardsmen it faced trying to catch up.