The Elementalist : Next of Kin: The Kothian Chronicles (6 page)

As they walked along the shoreline and into the town of Denley, Danton noticed a familiar face there waiting to greet them, "Ramon," he said with a smile.

"You have found him?" Ramon replied referring to Maxim. Danton nodded and gestured with his hand to two men carrying the young elementalist just a few paces behind them.

Chapter 7.

As the morning sun slowly made its appearance in the cold wintery sky, Ramon was already stood at his front line. The enemy had also wasted little time in doing likewise, as he watched them once more take up positions just a few hundred paces away from his makeshift barriers. He watched on far more confidently than he had the previous day, although he still knew he needed to get the job done quickly. In the last of the daylight hours yesterday, he had received a message from Katria, carried by one of her birds, which simply read 'Tribes almost upon us'.

However, the arrival during the hours of darkness, of Darion, and more importantly Maxim, would change the outcome of any ensuing battle that would take place shortly. The only reason he was not already cutting through the enemy ranks was to allow the young elementalist time to recover from his previous day's exploits. Ramon scratched at his head, realising something was amiss. The enemy were far fewer in number than previous, and he was struggling to comprehend why they would send what was appearing to be little more than a token force against him, particularly after his own show of magic yesterday.

Ramon turned as he heard a man approaching behind him, "Another message Sir...arrived by bird just a few moments ago," he added between breaths. Ramon nodded his thanks as he took the small capsule containing what he knew would be a message from Katria. After carefully removing the thin slip of paper and unrolling it, he read the very unwelcome message. His question as to the reason so few enemy were lining up against him had been answered. The enemy had moved a large force during the early hours, and under the cover of darkness, and were now positioning themselves around the walls of Pitford.

It was clear to him what he needed to do, and he also knew the enemy lined up against him were merely there to delay him as long as they could. Without further ado, he turned and headed for the inn they had been using as a makeshift field hospital. Ignoring the salutes and greetings from his men as went, he walked as quickly as possible, at times almost breaking into a jog.

Once inside, he headed straight for the stairs to the rooms he knew were being used by their most welcome arrivals. He found the man he needed sitting at a small table in one of the rooms eating his breakfast, "Darion," he said struggling for breath and clutching his side, "We need to make our move...now. Pitford is in trouble." The old man for once, did not argue, nor did he make any snidely remarks as he quickly stood and started readying. "Best see if the lad is up for a bit of fun," he eventually replied slipping on his boots.

Ramon found Maxim sat up in bed, surrounded by his friends. "How are you today?" Ramon asked, hoping the answer was going to be a good one. Maxim smiled, "I'm fine...a little jaded still, but well enough."

"Well enough to fight?" Ramon asked coming straight out with the question that he needed answering.

Despite the concerns of his friends, mainly Zack, Maxim nodded to the affirmative. "Good...we need to act as soon as we can...Pitford is in danger," he added giving the words even more importance.

Oran stood beside Katria atop the roof of the main keep, the sun was rising into an almost cloudless sky as the pair watched the events unfolding around them. In the distance, hordes of men and strange beasts were slowly making their way around to the north of their position, coming in from the east and moving around to their south was another force flying the flags of Bosaria. "So many," Oran uttered looking from one direction to the other. Katria nodded knowing that things indeed look very bleak. "Ramon is still in Denley you say?" Oran asked her. Once more she nodded, "Yes Sire, although last report I had back from my birds were that he was preparing to break out."

There was a short pause, "I hope he gets here soon," Oran said trying not to let the enormity of the situation get the better of him. "We need to make sure that the non-combatants are brought into the inner wall," he added turning about and heading back toward the small door that led off the roof. At the bottom of the steps leading down stood his military commander, "I assume things looked no better form up there Sire?" Denny Porter asked him. The king merely shook his head, before indicating for him to follow, as he headed down the corridor at pace.

All the guards normally positioned outside the royal quarters were sent out to fight. If the enemy had gotten this far in, a handful of soldiers would not stop the inevitable. Oran had hoped that there may have been some secret escape tunnel for his wife and children to use, but unfortunately Katrina had informed him that if there indeed was one, she did not know of it. His son Anden had offered to fight alongside those on the wall, but Oran had persuaded him instead to keep guard of his mother and sister. The boy was only just in his teenage years, and although no younger than some of the magicians putting themselves in the firing line to protect Pitford, Oran could not bring it upon himself to place his own son in such a position.

In a small windowless room sat a dejected forlorn figure. Kurtis Raston still had the vivid memory of what he had done; although as to why he had done it was something he still did not fully understand. He was technically under house arrest, confined to his room until those in power decided his fate. Even his meals were bought to him, three times a day, usually by one of the king's guard, although that in itself did show they at least trusted him to make good on his word he would not try to escape.

Ramon had not visited him in several days, something that the man had been doing at least two or three times a day before his unexplained absence. Despite the visits only being Ramon asking the same questions over and over, it was at least time not spent alone. His only other contact with the outside world was usually the guard that took him his meal; although it appeared, even he was not going to be turning up today.

Shonna had spent the last few hours flying south and west in the first part of her latest task asked for by her king. Swooping low just a few feet above the waters of the great lake, she could already see her target ahead of her. As she moved in behind the enemy, she hoped to remain unnoticed, hoping their eyes were fixated on the Bosarians to their front, and not the skies behind. Shonna felt her heart beating faster as she climbed just a little for her attack; she would show them just what an Aclat could do. It was not those walking at the back of the enemy position she wanted, but those lining up against her fellow countrymen at the front. Willing her beast to fly as quickly as it could, she felt the cold wind rushing against her face as the beast coiled back its head.

Ramon watched on once more after returning to the front of his defensive lines. Those lined up before him appeared in no hurry to attack, probably he thought doing so on purpose to delay him further. As soon as Darion and Maxim were ready, he would at last be able to go on the offensive, and push with great haste back to Pitford.

He felt a sudden shudder run through his tired body, usually a sign or warning against something terrible happening. Turning his head quickly he dived for cover, shouting as a large flying beast soared just a short distance above. After hitting the ground hard, he looked up to see a terrible sight, as flames spewed forth from the flying creature. Those of his men caught in the fire were not as fortunate as he had been, as they flailed about aimlessly, before collapsing into a smouldering lump on the ground.

Darion moved forward, teleporting the distance between the flames and the front lines in a blink of an eye. The screams of the dying filled the air as he caught sight of what had caused them, and immediately prepared his own reprisal. Whilst keeping a watchful eye on the beast now leaving the scene of destruction behind, he generated a ball of fire as quickly as he could in the palm of his hand. Trying to judge the flight path of the beast, he thrust his hand forward as hard as he could despatching the small ball of flame skyward. The Aclat was swift, but the fireball soared far quicker and Shonna was forced to veer to the left as the flame brushed just inches past her own head.

Maxim and others emerged just as Darion had cast his spell, and without giving it a moment's thought the young elementalist teleported forward, leaving the others in his wake. By the time he had spotted the beast off in the far distance, he knew it had escaped beyond anything he could muster. Zack, Mikel and Melia covered the ground by more traditional means. Melia as the healer, darted off immediately to her left setting to work on the first of what at a glance appeared would be many casualties.

Darion cursed several expletives, "When I get my hands on that bitch she is going to die a slow and painful death," he said from gritted teeth, before turning away from the others. Zack looked up to see nothing more now than a spec in the sky, and realised he had also seen the culprit before. "She is the one that took you Max," he added in a similar tone to that Darion had just used.

Melia sighed, as the first person she checked was already dead. The young man could have only been a year or two older than herself, and had suffered horrendous burns to his upper body, that not even the most skilled healer would have been able to reverse. Trying not to dwell on whom she could not help, she quickly moved on to another, as she noticed several other healers running over from the inn to assist.

Ramon dusted himself down as he walked over to where Maxim was stood. Before he could ask how the young elementalist was feeling, a shout came for them to take cover as the Bosarian soldiers facing them released a volley of arrows their way, looking to take advantage of the turmoil caused by the Aclat attacking. Maxim stayed stood still as the others around him all darted for cover, "Max!" Zack shouted loudly, realising his friend was not moving.

The young elementalist raised a hand, as the wind around them picked up considerably. The arrows sailing their direction merely stopped and fell to the ground before reaching them. The enemy had had their moment of success, now Maxim was going to see Kothia had its own. Without waiting for the last of the arrows to fall to the ground, he kept the air he had been using and directed it with all his will toward the enemy lines. Despite trying to resist the cyclonic like gales smashing into them, the enemy line buckled, as men and shields were tossed up in the air.

Ramon quickly decided to take advantage of the opportunity and called for those archers not caught up in the Aclat fire attack, to return their own volley of arrows. Without a magician of their own to stop them, and many now bereft of their shields, many of the arrows found a target. Darion, never one to miss the chance of a fight, stepped outside of the makeshift barricade and teleported forward, as Ramon urged his infantry on to follow suit.

With the enemy much fewer in number, and clearly with no magicians any longer among them, the battle was a much more one sided affair. Still disorientated from the destructive blast sent forth by Maxim, the Kothian men soon overwhelmed their Bosarian counterparts. Many of the enemy had not even managed to get back to their feet before being mercilessly slain. Darion, already angered by the attack from the woman on the Aclat, wasted no time in flitting from one man to the next, ending each life without remorse or regret.

Maxim stayed back, allowing the soldiers and Darion to finish the job. He had played his part, and although not quite sure how he had managed it, had shown his friends a significant change from the Maxim they had lost. This was something immediately picked up on by Ramon who looked at Maxim in a new light. The young, raw, elementalist that had been kidnapped away from them, was now a magician of even greater power. The other thing Ramon had already noticed was the control his young magician now had. On previous occasions it was common knowledge that Maxim often lost control, letting the magic take over, and it had usually taken Zack to calm him down.

The seer knew he had no time to linger on his victory, and had to prepare as soon as possible to return to Pitford before it was too late. Healers would have to be left at Denley to deal with the multitude of victims suffering burns, and some soldiers would have to stay to ensure the town remained safe from any further attacks.

Ramon turned to what he hoped would be the deciding factor in any battle, the young elementalist. He felt his heart sink as he noticed Maxim wobble just a little, knowing this was a classic sign of a magician being almost exhausted. He looked to the young royal beside him, who mouthed the words, "He needs rest." Ramon nodded, albeit reluctantly, hoping deep down by the time they returned to Pitford, Maxim may yet have recovered some small amount of his energy.