The Sorcerer's Destiny (The Sorcerer's Path) (24 page)

“Azerick said something about the elves having their spell go awry. Could that have happened to him? Could he and the tower have gone somewhere else?”

“No, I maintained a connection with my father for several seconds after he and the tower made the shift, and both arrived precisely where they were supposed to. I did not detect any secondary temporal disruption that might have changed that.”

Allister said, “We must assume he ran into a problem returning here. Can we open a rift to go find him?”

Raijaun nodded his head. “Creating a portal to that world is possible, but it will be difficult and dangerous since none of us has a significant connection to that world. If he does not return, I may make the attempt anyway, but I do not think it is the wisest course of action. I will need time to study the Codex in order to create a spell to reach the same geographic location within the same timeline if we run out of other options.”

“All right, see what you can do to rescue him if it comes to it. What about the Scions? How is there prison holding?”

“The stone Father and I use to send our consciousness to their plane is in the old tower, so I can no longer provide a current assessment.”

“That’s just great!” Rusty railed. “Why did he take the only way we have to watch the Scions with him?”

“Their prison has degraded to the point that our repairs would amount to little improvement, and Father needed to keep the crystal safe for the final battle. Given what I last saw, I strongly suggest we begin moving everyone to the city. It is likely only a matter of days until they break free and launch an all-out assault.”

“We’re just going to abandon the school?”

“Defending the school was never an option. North Haven will fall and the school with it. Once we know the Scions and their horde is near the city, we will start evacuating the citizens. Our job is to get as many people through the gates as possible and to destroy as many of our enemy as we can before retreating.”

“I really hate this plan,” Rusty complained bitterly.

***

Azerick stared into the too-small eyes of the creature and saw nothing but rage and malign intent. He took two steps back but stopped when his feet touched the water. The deep pool, high-sided cliff, and rushing river afforded no escape in that direction.

The sorcerer raised his hand and spoke softly. “Look, I don’t want to be here any more than you want me to be here. So how about you just go back into your jungle and I leave your territory?” The creature responded with a growling hiss and lunged with its clawed hands outstretched to rend him to pieces. “Of course not.”

Azerick leapt to the side and brought his staff around to strike the beast hard in the side of its bony head. The creature stumbled and fell headlong into the pool but quickly regained its feet. It splashed out of the water but took a moment to study Azerick. Its foe was stronger and faster than it had anticipated and knew it faced a powerful adversary.

Azerick held his staff out before him as he slowly backed away from the creature. Broad, green leaves brushed his arms and the back of his neck as he penetrated the dense jungle. Refusing to surrender its foe to the jungle, the vicious monster rushed forward, slashing at Azerick with its lethal claws. Azerick backpedaled, ducked, and parried the swift attacks with his staff, but the creature struck with the speed of a cat and the power of a draft horse.

Azerick felt every jarring blow in his bones with each successful parry. He blocked another stroke but failed to avoid a swift left paw immediately following his successful blocking of its right. The sharp claws easily shredded his shirt and tore deep, bloody furrows in his right shoulder. Azerick’s anger mounted and he struck back, no longer willing to stick to the defensive. Now it was the creature’s turn to step back and fend off the intruder’s assault. Wood and arcanum struck flesh and bony plates with a series of resounding clacks. His frustration at not being able to call upon his magic to end this fight grew, and his blows began raining down even faster and harder.

The monster’s knees buckled, and he thought the battle was drawing near its conclusion until something leapt onto his back. Azerick felt half a dozen claws sink into the flesh between his neck and shoulders. Fetid breath assaulted his senses as the creature brought its fang-filled maw down toward his throat. He reached over his shoulder with his free hand, grabbed his newest attacker by the wrist, and flung it into the trunk of a nearby tree.

It was the same sort of creature only much smaller, probably a full head shorter than Azerick’s human form. Azerick had no time to contemplate the greater meaning of this new arrival as the larger of the brutes let out a roar and charged once more. Its assault was wild and almost desperately frantic as it tried to sink its claws into Azerick’s flesh. A swift kick sent Azerick stumbling backward into the rough trunk of a tree. He ducked and felt chunks of bark rain down atop his head as the brute’s slashing claws tore it to splinters.

Azerick sought out a small amount of power stored within his staff and sent it into the arcanum ball affixed to the end. He hated to use even that limited bit, but he needed to end this fight and get back to the site of the rift. He rolled past the creature and struck it hard in the gut when it turned to face him. The monster doubled over as the air was blasted from its lungs. Azerick then brought the arcanum end of his staff down onto the back of the beast’s head with a bright flash of expended arcane power. The brute’s eyes rolled back into its head as its skull split under the impact.

A cry and hiss brought Azerick around just as the smaller creature lunged for him. He struck the creature in the midriff, flipped it over his head and, shaping the arcanum ball into a spear, pinned it to the ground. The creature let out a high-pitched shriek that made Azerick’s ears ring until it fell silent. The larger brute groaned and reached out a hand toward the smaller one before closing its eyes and exhaling its last breath.

Looking at the larger creature, he determined it to be the father of the smaller one. The younger one had obviously come in defense of its parent who may have acted only to defend its young from Azerick’s sudden intrusion. Given the look of the creatures, a fight may have been unavoidable as they appeared to be powerful predators. The last thing he wanted to do was stand around and wait for the mother to show up. Propping himself on his hands and knees, Azerick retrieved the door handle from his pocket, stuck the shaft into the dirt, turned, and pulled. The handle pulled out of the ground with no effect.

“Of course. I really hate this place,” Azerick mumbled to himself. 

Scanning the trees overhead, he picked an opening in the dense canopy created by the river, shifted into his demonic form, and launched himself skyward. Azerick pumped his leathery wings and lifted himself above the light-dampening hood casting this world into perpetual gloom. The moment he reached the unfiltered light of the sun, thousands of winged creatures with bodies the size of cats, bat-like wings, and large, hooked beaks burst up from the jungle canopy like a second skin being shed and blown away.

The mass converged into a huge swarm and quickly enveloped Azerick, biting and slashing at him with beaks and talons. Azerick fought back, striking them with his staff and snapping their necks with his bare hand, but they showed no fear and their numbers were legion. Within moments, Azerick’s body sported numerous bleeding gashes, and his wings were nearly in shreds. Diving for what he hoped was the relative safety of the jungle floor, he struck the tree tops and let gravity pull him down. The foliage was so dense he had to practically swim through it as he pulled himself down, all the while being harried, scratched, and bitten by the flying creatures.

Azerick finally burst through the lower canopy and plummeted forty feet to the jungle floor. He managed to slow his fall only slightly with his ruined wings. He lay on the ground looking up at the canopy overhead, listened to the angry screeches of the flying creatures, and counted the numerous injuries inflicted upon his body. He eventually gave up inventorying his aches and just tried to catch his breath and let his wounds heal.

“I really hate this place,” Azerick growled again.

CHAPTER 12

Daebian stood with the four incensed ships’ captains aboard his flagship as they watched the pirate crew liberating the holds of the merchant vessels of their precious contents. Daebian’s men swarmed over the captured ships lashed together to make their plundering as efficient as possible. His ten pirate ships had little trouble driving off the three naval vessels escorting the merchants, sinking one of them, and capturing their prey.

Tobias approached and knuckled a salute. “Commodore, we’re near finished transferring the cargo.”

“Excellent work, Tobias. Spread my regards to the crew for their flawless execution.”

“What are you gonna do with us and our crew?” one of the merchant captains demanded.

“Normally, I would confiscate your ships and either set you adrift in longboats or hold you for ransom, but I am in a bit of a hurry and do not have the time to spare to make them seaworthy. Therefore, you are free to go.”

“And how do you expect us to go when you took all our spare sailcloth?”

Daebian shrugged. “Row, swim behind it and push, sew your shirts and knickers together and make a sail for all I care. Just be thankful I leave you with those options. Most are not afforded such luxury.”

“You’re a cold-hearted bastard!”

“Such rudeness when I have been nothing but hospitable. I tried to play the good host and even offered you drinks.”

“I’d sooner drink with Sharrellan as demons strip the flesh from my bones than with gutter filth like you.”

“Be very careful, Captain, and do not mistake my current pleasantries as a disinclination to kill you. Say the wrong word, and I will run you through and have no trouble enjoying my lunch.”

The irate man pressed on heedless of Daebian’s warning and sneered. “I know your father. I cannot imagine the disappointment he must feel for siring the likes of you.”

“And you found the magic word, congratulations.”

The merchant captain still wore the sneer on his face, ignorant of the black sword running through his heart until he collapsed upon the deck in a rapidly expanding pool of his own fluids.

Daebian pulled his sword free, wiped it on the man’s trouser leg, and slammed it home in its sheath. “I don’t care if you carry him off or dump his carcass into the sea, but get off my boat.” The three remaining captains each grabbed a limb and hastily carried the body away without a word. “Tobias, order the ships cut loose, and get someone to throw some sand on this mess. Once our sails are repaired, plot a northwesterly course with all haste.”

“Aye, sir!”

“Eva,” Daebian called out.

The young mage answered Daebian’s beckoning and climbed the steps to the stern. “Did you need me, darling?”

Daebian smiled, wrapped her up in his arms, and kissed her. “You performed wonderfully once again.”

“I do aim to please, Commodore,” she responded with a giggle.

“I need you by my side, but I cannot promise to keep you safe where we are going. It may be beyond my power to do so. If you like, I will order a ship to carry you to North Haven, or wherever you wish to go.”

“Do you want me to go?”

“I do not, and I need you to better the odds of what will be the riskiest gambit of my life, but you may well die doing so.”

“I have made my choice, and that choice is to be by your side. I have lived more in these past weeks than most experience in their dullish lives.”

Daebian hugged her tightly. “I will do everything I can to protect you.”

“I have the utmost faith in you.”

“Let us both pray our mutual confidence in me is well placed.”

***

“Very good, now ask the stone to release its grip,” Mordigar instructed. “One does not command the elements to do anything, or you risk having them turn on you.”

Sandy did as she was told and coaxed the rock clinging to the mountainside to let go of its hold. She first sent out her innate magic to urge the stone to fall and activated the power of her runes to enhance and empower the effect. A great slab of rock separated from the escarpment and began sliding down the steep slope before tumbling and breaking apart in an avalanche of destruction. The veritable river of boulders crashed into the trees below, snapping them off at the trunks, and sending a great plume of dust into the air.

“Excellent, you have a natural affinity for stone and earth. These will be your most powerful weapons. Use your imagination to shape them to be as formidable as you can make them. You will need it to face what will be overwhelming odds. Let us take to the sky now and work on your flying.”

Sandy dutifully followed Mordigar into the air without question or comment. Most of her training was done without her speaking, although her mentor did encourage her to ask questions. She played the role of an attentive student and did not waste time with unnecessary conversation while her training was in progress.

She chased after Mordigar and took a position off his left wing. Despite his enormous size, the elder dragon was a swift flyer, and only by summoning gusts of wind to assist her could she keep up. She was able to outmaneuver him to some degree by using her magic thanks to her smaller size, but her lack of experience in aerial combat showed, and she had yet to achieve any sort of victory.

Mordigar executed a series of rolls, loops, and wove through canyons as Sandy worked to keep up and imitate his maneuvers. He watched his protégé as she mimicked his flight and noted every missed turn or poorly executed roll or bank.

“You are fighting the air currents and needlessly exhausting yourself,” Mordigar told her. “Although the air is impossible to see, it is as real and substantial as any of the elements. You must work with them, not against them. Feel, smell, and taste the currents and pockets of greater or lesser density. Use those to assist your maneuvers and plan your moves accordingly. Do not force the air to do what you wish, but do what the air allows. Do you understand?”