The Black Mage: Apprentice (7 page)

What were they doing?

"MENTEES FALL BACK!" Darren's panicked voice
shook the canyon walls.

Alex jerked the reins to the side and I
clutched our cart's railing as it began to swing wildly around.

Before we completed a full circle the ground
beneath us crumbled and caved.

Mentees cried out in alarm as their carts
tipped over and fell. Horses panicked and took off in every which
direction. Riders were stranded. Mentee apprentices fought to find
balance in the aftermath of the mentors' manmade quake.

"Alex, get up!" I grabbed my brother and
attempted to drag him away from our splintered vehicle. When the
ground broke it had capsized, and while I had managed to roll away
unscathed Alex hadn't been quite so lucky.

My twin struggled to right himself, using my
shoulder to stand while I guarded against potential attacks. In
front of us I could see the rest of our team doing the same:
Restoration was retreating to the butte while Combat mentees
attempted to hold off the mentors' charge.

We were losing. The mentors had started to
push forward with their own castings leading a counter assault. The
mentees' first line of defense was dissolving. Fast.

In front of me Priscilla fell to the ground,
surrounded by a pack of fifth-years.

"DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TAKE THE MENTORS ON! FALL
BACK, FALL BACK,
FALL BACK
! ALCHEMY, TOSS THOSE FLASKS
NOW
!"

"Let's get out of here," Alex wheezed. He
didn't have to say it twice. I immediately took off at a sprint –
only to realize too late how slowly my brother was following. There
was something wrong with his leg. He wouldn't make it out on his
own. I looked across the plain to the mentors just fifty yards
behind us. The others were emerging from the fire our Alchemy
apprentices had chucked, slightly worse for wear, but still
formidable. One of the mentors was casting javelins at a handful of
fleeing mentees.

I saw him spot Alex…

My twin saw my hesitation and shook his head.
"Run, Ry."

I didn't budge.

The fifth-year cast out his spear. My brother
ran limping, trying to dodge its magicked course.

I didn't have time to think. I raced forward
and cast out a large gust of wind, just enough to knock the
mentor's weapon off course. I swung Alex's arm over my left
shoulder and began to run-walk as fast as I could.

Just then Ella appeared, coughing and
sputtering through the smoke. As soon as she spotted my brother's
leg she joined me, pulling Alex's other arm around her
shoulder.

Then we took off.

We managed to make it to the butte. I
wondered at our luck until the haze cleared and I saw Darren, Eve,
and Ray casting defense as our remaining mentees scrambled to
safety. They were keeping the mentors at bay.

As soon as we were close enough to hear
without shouting Darren pointed to a narrow trail behind him.
"There's a gulch just past this rock. Keep following the stream
until you find the grotto. I surveyed the whole site from the
butte. If you can get to the cave you should be safe, for now.
We'll be five minutes behind you – I want to make sure we get every
Combat mentee we can first."

I nodded quickly and continued down the path
with my brother and friend. I could hear the shrieks of pain and
explosions of castings gone awry coming from the edge of the
field.

There wouldn't be many of us fighting for
long.

****

It was a half-hour later when Darren reached
the grotto, half-carrying an injured Jayson as Eve and Ray shielded
his approach. Four more mentees had come in after my group, and
there'd been eight present we arrived.

We were down to twenty. We'd lost eleven
mentees in that first charge. Only one Combat fourth-year had made
it back, gravely injured. We were not in good standing.

The prince quickly set to work preparing our
next move. The first thing he did was assess our condition. There
were four of us too injured to run – though the Restoration mentees
we did have were attempting to fix that. We had nine left from
Alchemy, five from Restoration, and only six from Combat. With the
exception of Alchemy - who'd had the advantage of a rear escape -
most of us were second-years. We had lost most of the older mentees
in the first attack since they'd been leading the assault.

"From here on out every casting needs to
count. I made a mistake ordering that foray with the chariots –
Caine was too smart to fall for our tricks. We'll need to be much
more careful now since we've lost one third of our team. The
mentors already have such an advantage..." Darren ran a frustrated
hand through his hair. "We are safe here for a bit. Eve and I cast
a large boulder to block our entrance that should hold us in this
narrow gulch for a while… But there are other ways in and I am sure
the mentors have already started scouting the rest of the canyon
for breaks in the rock."

"Are you sure they won't just try to break
your boulder?" Ruth, the second-year Alchemy apprentice Ella, Alex,
and I had befriended last year, spoke up. "The mentors have to know
your casting won't hold forever – especially against their own
magic."

"Caine is not going to sit around and wait,"
Jayson groaned. The fourth-year was huddled in the back of the
cave, clutching his bleeding side as two second-year Restoration
mentees attempted to treat it. The pained expression he wore made
me squirm. "Darren is right – he's going to have at least some of
his mentors scouting the gulch."

"We've got to do
something
," another
fourth-year, Darla of Alchemy, said. "Before that barrier breaks
and they trap us. We might have stood a chance in chariots but
there is no way twenty of us can take on so many of them now. The
mentors only lost one Combat mage, and she was a third-year. If we
come across the mentors they will win in a matter of seconds."

"I think we should pick them off
one-by-one."

Everyone's eyes flew to me. It was the first
time I had spoken.

I forced myself to continue, uncomfortably
aware of the attention – although this time at least it was not
from Byron's insult. "You say we can't win… But you are wrong. We
might be able to if we limit how many can enter the gulch at one
time. It's how the northern regiment won Battle of Daggan's Peak
thirty years ago." I had read all about it in the history scrolls
during my first year at the Academy. I'd even cited it during my
oral exam in an effort to impress the judges at the end-of-year
trials.

"Ryiah is right." Ray's eyes met mine. "I
read the same thing: most of the regiment's knights and mages were
engaged in a patrol further north so the remaining soldiers were
left to fend for themselves. They should have lost against the
Caltothian knights but they ended up hiding in one of the old
mining tunnels and picked off the enemy one by one since the
passage only fit two men at a time."

A couple mentees nodded in agreement, but
most of them still looked apprehensive.

"The gulch isn't a tunnel," a fourth-year
spoke up. "It's just a very narrow valley with sandstone walls – it
can still fit several mentors at once-"

"Yes, but that is only the entrance we came
from – and our magic is blocking it." Darren was talking again. "If
Caine sends scouts they will be forced to come around the southern
side. The gulch is narrower there, and with so many dead ends it
would be hard for them to know which one to take. If we can
separate their scouts we should be able to pick them off more
easily – as far as I know they haven't ascended the butte yet which
means they won't have overhead knowledge of which route to
take."

The tight pressure that had been building in
my chest was starting to fall away. I
was
right. My plan
could work.

Could it?

"How do you want us to do this, Darren?" Eve
was staring at the prince's shoulder. I'd barely noticed it before
but now I could see a huge gash in his linen shirt. The light
fabric had burn marks and the exposed flesh underneath was a nasty
shade of pink. One of the mentors must have used fire. I continued
to stare at the burn, horrified.

My stomach rolled uncomfortably.

"Are you going to be sick?" Ella nudged
me.

I swallowed the bile back and prayed my face
wasn't as pale as it felt. "I'll manage."

Darren cleared his throat. "I want
Restoration to stay here. All of you do your best to heal the
injured party and anyone else we send back. There is no purpose in
you risking safety now... Alchemy, I want you to guard the front
entrance where Eve and I cast the boulder. It will be safer than
patrolling, and all of you should have some experience with the
sword in case the mentors are able to break it before we return.
Jayson will stay with you – he's too injured to help Combat but at
the very least he can keep watch.

"The rest of us will pick off mentor scouts
from the southern entrance. We'll stay together until we can get a
better idea of whom Caine is sending… It's a long shot, but if we
can eliminate at least some of the Combat mentors we might just
stand a chance."

"But what about you, Darren? Shouldn't you
stay behind with the healers for that burn?"

"You're our leader – if you get caught it's
over!"

Darren ignored the others' questions and then
sighed. "I need to go with my faction. I would make Jayson too if
he could walk. We are only second-years: if we come up against a
fifth-year scout I need to know that we are giving it our best
effort."

****

I descended the steep butte carefully. I was
all too conscious of how risky it was too climb loose sandstone…
but if Darren had done it then so could I. Someone had to, and
thanks to my reputation for scaling a cliff during Combat's
orientation last year I'd been the first choice now that our leader
was injured.

When I reached my last foothold I jumped,
landing lightly in the shallow canyon stream below. The rest of my
year was waiting for me at its bank. Their expressions ranged from
apprehension to anxiety.

"How many did you see?"

"Four. They were together but it looked like
they were separating at the fork. One of them was Ian. I think
another was Priscilla's mentor Bryce. They were headed toward a
dead end. The other two were fifth-years and they were following
this stream that leads to straight to our camp… I didn't see anyone
else following, but it was hard to see past that crag."

"Alright. I want Eve, Ray, and Ella to take
the two headed toward us; Ryiah and I are going to go after Ian and
Bryce."

Our group exchanged nervous glances. This was
it.

Ray turned to Darren. "Are you sure you'll be
fine – maybe someone should switch?"

"You three have the fifth-years." The
non-heir stiffened. "I am sure Ryiah and I will be able to take on
two second-years, injuries and all."

As soon as we had parted ways and started
down the trail I spoke up. "So what is our strategy?"

Darren's eyes met mine and then he hunched
over, ribs shaking with laughter.

"What is so funny?" I demanded.

"Nothing." He was fighting to keep a straight
face.

I stopped walking and grabbed him by his
collar, careful to avoid his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he said grinning down at me, "I
just thought the plan was obvious."

"What are you talking about?" I was instantly
suspicious. Did he expect me to take on two mentors all by myself?
Why would
that
be hilarious? Unless he was looking forward
to watching me get beat to a bloody pulp?

"Ian. He's the best third-year – despite the
fact he jokes too much and can't pain cast."

"And?"

"And I want you to distract him while I get
rid of Bryce."

"You take the weak one and leave me with
Ian?" I glared at him. "Are you mad?
You
are the best
second-year and the only one that would stand a chance against
him!"

"Yes, but I would still lose to him, Ryiah.
I've used up too much magic. You would too –
if
you were
fighting him. But you are not going to fight him."

"So I'm just – what? The sacrificial
bait?"

"No."

"Then
what
?"

Darren's eyes twinkled mischievously. "You
are going to fake an injury. I am going to cause a distraction that
gets Bryce away and you are going to convince Ian to come help
you."

"Help
me
? He's a mentor, Darren! He's
not on our team!"

"It doesn't matter." Now he was smirking.
"Ian will help you anyway. That third-year has a blind spot where
you are concerned. I am willing to take our chances on him falling
for your little trap. I'll ambush him while he's distracted and
then you and I will both take on Bryce together."

"Ian is not going to be fool enough to fall
for that!"

"Do you have a better plan?" The prince's
gaze fell to my mouth. "Or are you just going to stand here and
argue?"

Two spots of red appeared on my cheeks. "You
are asking me to fight dirty!"

"Stop being so self-righteous," the boy
drawled, "and just say you'll do it."

"You arrogant, conceited…" I was at a loss
for words.

Darren's eyes met mine in amusement.
"Yes?"

I glowered at him. "Fine!
Fine!
We'll
do your ridiculous plan!"
Was this always how it was going to be
for us?
I dropped his collar. "I don't know why it is so
difficult to be friends with you."

Darren grinned. "Because it's us, Ryiah."
Then he pointed to the edge of our trail where the passage became
entirely paved in sandstone. A soft light reflected off the walls
and into the bright blue sky above. It was just past those rocky
structures that our enemy awaited. "You ready?"