Stealing Sorcery (36 page)

Taelien grinned.

“May the gods watch over you all. Lieutenant, you may begin shielding the candidates.”

Second Lieutenant Banks began walking from candidate to candidate, casting a single spell. “Dominion of Protection, form a shield to protect this candidate from harm.”

Interesting – she usually uses an armor spell, not the shield. I suppose she doesn’t want us getting hurt at all here. Probably wise, given how dangerous some of these people are.

After shielding five candidates, the second lieutenant waved to another paladin, who stepped forward and took her place, shielding the next three. It took two more paladins to ensure all of the candidates were protected.

Once all fourteen applicants were shielded, Lieutenant Banks turned and saluted the colonel. The gong sounded moments later – and both teams began to run.

Platoon two headed straight for the back wall of the arena. Taelien split off to the left, drawing the Sae’kes - and jamming it into the stone floor.

Taelien was pretty sure he heard gasps from the stands.

I really hope they don’t make me pay for this.

As five runes burned on the sword’s surface, the translucent aura around the blade disintegrated rock without difficulty. And so, carefully concentrating, Taelien began to dig.

Extend.

Reshaping the aura around the Sae’kes was a relatively simple task. In this case, he commanded it into a spear-like shape, rotating the weapon and plunging it downward to burrow deeper into the stone.

Creating a space with the right dimensions to fit the flag took him just under a minute. He could have worked faster, but that risked making a wider hole if his concentration slipped – and in this case, precision was their greatest defense.

Condense.
The aura contracted back into its normal state around the blade.

Sheathing his sword and moving to the next spot took him several more seconds, while Landen moved to carefully fit the flag into the hole that Taelien had created.

As Taelien began repeating the process to make a second hole, he watched Landen carefully wrapping the flag itself against the wooden shaft to minimize the damage to the cloth while he sheathed it in stone. Making the second hole felt faster, but that may have just been the more rapid pounding within his chest.

Asphodel moved to bury the second flag, while Landen finished burying the majority of the first flag and slipped the flag stand onto the top of the shaft, upside down.

Taelien would have preferred to avoid the flag holders entirely and bury the entire flags, but Landen and Velas had been convinced that “putting the flag in the flag holder” was a necessary step in the rules – they just didn’t have to put it on the proper end.

As he completed his third hole, Taelien glanced at the opposing team’s half of the arena, where he could see Lysen forming domes of ice around his team’s flags.

Not a bad defense, but we can break it.

More worrying were the half-dozen golden swords already hovering in the air. Keldyn Andys was holding his right arm out straight, an intense look of concentration on his face.

Resh. Guess he can make more than one of those at a time.

“Eridus!” Velas shouted. “Change of plans! You’re on offense with me. Landen, stick with Teshvol.

Taelien kept moving. He was in the midst of cutting his fourth hole when the gong rang.

Let’s hope that’s enough.

Sweeping his sword through the stone, Taelien charged toward the enemy platoon. Golden blades tore through the air toward his four flags that remained exposed.

Too fast!

He lurched to the side as he ran, trying to catch the blade with his own, but Keldyn twisted his arm to the side and the golden blade changed its course, arcing around Taelien and continuing toward its targets.

Cursing, Taelien kept running, heading for the nearest dome of ice – and, as he approached, realizing that there were far more than seven of them. The ice was thick enough to be opaque with an unnatural sapphire sheen.

He split the first dome open with a forceful swing, but as he recovered from the strike he knew he had met no resistance from a flag within the ice.

Where did I see the first ones being made? Could they have moved the flags after I saw them?

He rushed around the shattered dome toward one of the ones he had seen Lysen forming. A golden blade flashed through the air in front of him, forcing him back a step. The pause caused him to lose his momentum, and he noticed Keldyn grinning as he redirected the blade, sending it toward the other side of the arena.

“Try that again, Andys.” Taelien shifted his path, turning toward the blade sorcerer. He swept his blade through another glacial defense as he walked, but that dome was empty as well.

A crash of thunder signaled one of Terras’ blasts landing, but Taelien couldn’t see if it had hit home. He continued to walk toward Keldyn, the other man turning toward him.

“You should have let that sword hit you – it would have cost me a point.” Keldyn turned his arm toward Taelien, another golden blade appearing in the air above him. “I won’t make that mistake now, of course.”

The blade flashed forward, stopping an inch from Taelien’s throat.

“Of course, if you cut yourself, it would be your own fault.”

Taelien stepped forward – not into the blade, but around it – and snapped the fingers of his left hand shut around the blade. His grasp was quick, but careful, avoiding dragging his skin across the edge and triggering the defensive barrier. The golden weapon was solid to the touch, emanating faint warmth, but he could not extend his senses into the blade, indicating that it was not metal.

Something stirred at the back of his consciousness as he felt the projection against his skin.

“Thanks for the gift. I think I’ll hold onto this for a while.”

If he tries to move the sword now, he’ll risk cutting my hand and losing a point.

Taelien winked at Keldyn, sheathing the Sae’kes and turning around. With his right hand free, Taelien grabbed the hilt of the golden blade. It was unnaturally light, but not truly weightless. He twirled it in his hand, searching the battlefield until he found the target he considered the greatest threat – Terras.

She looked to be in deep concentration, holding her hands skyward.

Taelien grinned and charged.

He wasn’t strictly certain that hitting Terras with Keldyn’s weapon would count against Keldyn’s team – but he knew they wouldn’t be sure, either.

And that meant he was an effective distraction.

Even as he sped toward Terras, a wall of ice began to manifest in front of him. Jerking to a halt, he turned and spun to see Lysen holding his hands together to make a “V” shape, wisps of frost shimmering around him.

And, right behind him, Taelien caught a blur of motion –Velas moving with Eridus, taking advantage of his distraction. They landed right next to a dome, Eridus immediately putting his hands against the surface – which shifted from water to ice.

Velas grabbed the flag from within and jumped. A hail of airborne blades followed her, but a second burst of mid-air motion carried her too quickly for the golden edges to follow.

As Lysen’s ice continued to form around Taelien, he lashed out with the golden blade, but it proved ineffective against the frost. Awkwardly, he shifted the golden weapon into his left hand and redrew the Sae’kes, hacking a path through the ice as it formed around him.

Lysen stepped closer, closing his eyes. The ice pushed in closer, leaving no avenues for escape. Gritting his teeth, Taelien relaxed his focus on the blade, allowing its destructive aura to widen. The fifth rune relinquished its light, and then the fourth and third.

The broader aura lacked the potency to slice stone, but it was more than enough for the ice. The swordsman laid into the ice with rapid strokes, carving broad gashes in the ice as it pressed in around him. He felt frost beginning to form around his ankles and calves, sending a shudder down his spine.

There was a hint of an unfamiliar feeling as he realized that his barrier was doing nothing to stop the encroaching ice.

He inhaled a sharp breath.

I can’t move.

I need to move.

He stared at the sword in his hand. The aura continued to wear at the ice where they made contact, but it was insufficient to keep his entire body from being consumed.

He needed something else – something more appropriate to combat the ice.

His mind sought out the blade’s aura and issued a single command –
burn.

White flames erupted from his sword, instantly melting a spherical cavern of ice around Taelien. He shivered at the cost of flame, but a fevered exhilaration invigorated him when he saw his weapon - the sword’s runes were glowing white, not blue.

This…this is new.

And I think I like it.

He swept the blade forward, the blade’s heat transforming ice into water – and then steam – in a broader area than the flames themselves seemed to reach. In spite of that, he felt no heat against his skin, nor did his barrier flicker against the surface of his skin.

Interesting. But I can’t count on the flames being discerning enough not to hurt anyone else – I need to put this out as soon as I get out of the ice.

It took several more moments before he finished his tunnel, emerging just behind Terras. He gazed at the Sae’kes for another moment, scrutinizing, before reaching his senses out to contact the blade’s aura again.

Thank you, old friend. I don’t know why, but I feel like I understand you better somehow now. Now, please calm your flames.

The white fire subsided, leaving the translucent aura around the weapon looking somewhat diminished. Two of the remaining three runes faded entirely, leaving a single rune to shift back from white to blue. Taelien gingerly sheathed the blade, and then shifted the golden sword into a two-handed grip and took aim.

He swung the flat of the weapon at Terras’ back.

Something smacked into his weapon mid-swing – a dagger, hurled through the air. The golden blade cracked on impact, the top third of the sword splintering away into nothingness.

The thrown weapon was real, however. Taelien saw the origin as he glanced to the right – the Wandering War was approaching.

Taelien shrugged and slammed the pommel of the golden blade into Terras’ back. She gasped at the impact, blue sparks flickering in the air.

The sorceress spun around, electricity playing in her hands.

“Sorry, nothing personal.” Taelien spun to deflect another dagger, attempting to bat it at Terras, but merely succeeding in knocking it to the ground.

Terras hastily stepped back, but Taelien managed to land a second slash on her arm before she could draw her own sword.

“What are you doing? Hitting me is against the rules!”

The Rethri woman shifted into the Teris Low-Blade stance, a defensive style, as soon as she had her sword drawn.

Taelien smirked. “Not precisely. It’s a penalty to hit someone with your weapon or spell – and this, here, is one of Keldyn’s spells.”

He darted forward again, swinging the remaining part of the blade. Terras withdrew and retained a defensive stance.

“Don’t think that’s how it works.” Terras frowned, glancing toward the Wandering War. He gave no obvious response.

But you’re not sure, so you don’t want me to hit you. Perfect. You’re the most dangerous person out here – aside from War, maybe – and I have you both tied up.

He advanced again, and Terras stepped backward, a growing look of frustration on her face. His next swipe was a feint, leaving him exposed, and she instinctively took the opening – just barely managing to jerk her own blade back out of the way before hitting him.

“Resh this. I’m going back to work.” She dropped her sword. “You want to gamble on hitting me? Fine.” Electricity played at her fingertips, and thunder cracked in the skies above. “Let’s play.”

Taelien shook his head disdainfully. “I wouldn’t try throwing any lightning at my flags right now.” He patted the metallic edge on the sheath on his left hip. “You know I’m a metal sorcerer? I shaped this scabbard to attract electricity. You try anything while I’m this close and it’ll act like a lightning rod. Then you lose more points.”

Terras narrowed her eyes. “You’re bluffing.”

He shrugged, stepping closer. “Care to make that a wager?”

She pointed her left hand upward and closed her eyes. A blast of electricity flew upward from her fingertip, piercing the cloudless sky.

By the time she had reopened her eyes, Taelien had decided to cut his losses.

He shoved past her, hurling his golden blade at the floor, and drew the Sae’kes again.

A wave of fatigue smashed into him as soon as he attempted to wrest control of the runes on the blade. His vision blurred as he skidded across the icy ground, slamming one of the remaining icy dunes.

Shaking his head, he concentrated, noting that only the first and second runes were lit.
Resh. I must be in worse shape than I realized.