The Sorcerer's Destiny (The Sorcerer's Path) (36 page)

“Could he be dead?”

“I like to think I would know if he were. He and I are connected on many levels, and his death would likely resonate even between worlds. No, Azerick Giles is alive, and the world will tremble beneath his wrath.”

CHAPTER 18

Wolf wat
ched the flying ships return through his small, brass spyglass. They were barely visible against the smoke-shrouded horizon as North Haven burned just a few miles away. The largest of the vessels broke away from the others and appeared to be coming toward him, but he soon saw that it was cutting a path toward the school. The half-elf blinked back tears as the ship began raining fire and lightning down onto the now empty tower and buildings, setting another blaze to obscure the view of his sky. The school was his second home, but Wolf was still surprised at the strength of his emotions seeing it razed to the ground.

“They should have stayed and fought,” Wolf said bitterly to Ghost. “They should have fought for their home like us. They won’t take my home without a fight.”

Wolf turned his spyglass back to the city and saw large groups of the creatures called ravagers gathering outside the eastern wall. One of the ships was lowering a pair of obelisks by means of ropes and pulleys while a few, slightly more human-looking creatures, helped guide them into place.

Within minutes, the obelisks stood as a matched pair perhaps two hundred feet apart. A minion at each obelisk inserted a rune-inscribed disc into a matching recess in the stones’ surface. The disc flared brightly, and a shimmering gate sprang up between the two pillars. Hordes of ravagers and other creatures streamed through the gate, and Wolf quickly gave up trying to count them. 

“New plan, Ghost. We will let them pass through our woods, but we will take a toll from the stragglers at their rear. Hey, don’t give me that look! I might be idealistic, but I’m not suicidal. You know, for someone who bathes using his tongue, you are very judgmental.” Ghost cocked his head. “I bathe plenty! If you are through with your disparagement of my character and hygiene, I would like to focus on the plague of monsters bent on killing us and everything else in this world.”

The ravagers did not move with the ordered discipline of soldiers but in massive herds tens of thousands strong. Most of these herds headed in a south-easterly direction, likely on their way to Brelland and stopping only long enough to decimate any homes and towns in their path. A smaller group of perhaps three to four hundred broke away and headed due east just a few miles south of the Northern Range.

There were only a few small settlements to the east, and Azerick had made sure they were all warned to leave. Wolf had seen a group of Peck’s riders going that direction a few days ago. Still, it was unlikely they reached all of the homes dotting the forest, and there were always those who would refuse to go and would fight for their homes no matter how ridiculous such an action was. Wolf found he was able to relate to those foolish people. If these creatures thought they could just traipse through his woods unmolested, they were wrong.

Wolf and Ghost padded through the forest as quickly and silently as a soft breeze after the ravagers. The pair ran swiftly at an oblique angle to head off the much faster-moving invaders. Wolf and Ghost caught up with the tail end of the marauding band just as the forest resumed to the east of what was left of the school. Wolf considered the stupidity of his actions once again as he sighted down the shaft of his arrow before releasing it into the back of one of the creature’s necks. Two more arrows were in the air as the ravager plowed face-first into the ground and tumbled to a halt.

The mass of ravagers skidded to a stop and searched for the ambusher. One of the creatures took a deep breath through its nose and locked eyes with the half elf. Wolf put out one of those beady, black orbs with another arrow and the chase began. The ravagers let loose with shrieks and howls as Wolf slung his bow, grabbed a rope tied higher in the tree, and swung through air. Ghost raced along below him as ravagers clawed at the ground in pursuit.

Ghost sprinted away into the shadows; the only sign of his presence were the occasional brief but furious sounds of battle when a solitary ravager got too close. Wolf swung from ropes and darted across shaky rope and plank suspension bridges he had spent the last couple years erecting throughout hundreds of acres of his forest. He also had a dozen bows and scores of quivers packed with arrows tucked away in the branches and on platforms, wrapped in oilcloths to protect them from the elements.

Wolf used the platforms and bridges to pepper the ravagers with arrows until he ran out or they began climbing the trees to get to him. A ravager stepped onto the shaky bridge spanning over to the tree he was perched in, but Wolf knocked it off with an arrow to its chest. Ravagers began climbing trees all around him, and he knew it was time to move on. Grabbing another rope, Wolf swung out across the span between trees and raced across his primitive bridges with ease. The ravagers were not adept climbers and had a far more difficult time following him. Most leapt from the trees back to the ground where they possessed a significant speed advantage.

The half elf led the creatures through areas rife with all manner of traps designed to cripple, maim, and kill his attackers. Whip traps and spike boards impaled bodies, and snap traps pierced the ankles and legs of dozens of ravagers. Wolf swung out over a wide expanse, released his grip, and leapt to a mace trap hidden high in the trees. He grabbed the rope and heaved with his legs, riding the thousand-pound spiked log like a sled racing down a steep hill. Wolf used his weight to guide the log into the tightest knot of ravagers and smiled as he plowed through dozens of the monster, pinning several on the log and crushing a host of them before arcing back up and leaping into another tree at the apex of its swing. A sharp cry brought his attention to the north.

“Ghost!”

Wolf recklessly leapt from tree to tree using their branches like a squirrel when he lacked ropes or bridges to make the crossing. He found Ghost surrounded by ravagers looking like a piece of flotsam in a sea of murderous creatures. The big wolf kept his backside to a massive tree as the ravagers closed in around him. His black coat glistened with fresh blood, not all of it belonging to his enemies.

“Ghost!”

Wolf began showering the ravagers with arrows in hopes of creating an opening for his best friend to escape through, but there were simply too many of them. Wolf swung to the massive fir tree towering over Ghost as ravagers began clawing their way into the branches below him. He looked at Ghost helplessly as he continued loosing arrows into the mass of snarling bodies. He could hear more of the creatures crashing through the forest not far away. He and Ghost were less than a minute from being overwhelmed.

Wolf grabbed some shredded, pitch-covered tinder from a pouch on his hip and stuffed into the recesses of a dry pinecone. He fought to control the shaking in his hands as he struck steel against flint, sending cascades of sparks onto the highly-flammable fibers. The pitch-laden tinder snapped and popped as it burst into flames. Wolf touched the burning cone to a branch over his head, setting the dry needles aflame before pitching the fiery pinecone into the dry, brushy ring surrounding the tree.

A small fire erupted almost immediately as the parched needles and twigs combusted. Wolf grabbed at the cones and drier branches in reach, touched them to the expanding flames just over his head, and hurled them into the forest, driving some of the ravagers away from Ghost and erecting walls of fire between him and the packs of ravagers racing toward them.

He had gained Ghost some time, but now they were both surrounded by ravagers and fire. More of the killers arrived, lunging at the expanding flames and darting away. A few braved the fire and leapt over or simply charged through, ignoring the searing of their flesh to reach Ghost. Wolf fired shaft after shaft into those that disregarded the fire. Ghost was capable of handling any single ravager who got past Wolf’s sniping, but they were both tiring, and the tree they used as a key to their defense was rapidly being consumed by flames. In the next few seconds, the ravagers would cease their hesitation and rush Ghost, and all Wolf could do was look helplessly on, exacting revenge until he ran out of arrows or burned up.

Ghost looked up at Wolf and saw him grip the hilt of his sword as he prepared to throw himself into the throng of vicious monsters before deserting his friend. Ghost’s body contorted, his black fur vanished, and he stood on the naked legs of a human.

“Throw a rope!”

Wolf’s eyes went wide, but he dropped a rope without hesitation. Ghost used his human arms to scamper up the line as the ravagers leapt through the ring of fire and slashed at the air where he had been standing. Ghost climbed hand over hand up the rope until he took a perch next to a glaring Wolf.

“You and I are going to have a very long talk if we survive this,” Wolf said. “How long have you been able to do that?”

“Since I was about five.”

“You don’t think that was something worth mentioning in all these years? Oh my god, you were there when I was with Becky and Louise! Oh, you were right there watching when I was with Rachel, you furry little pervert!”

“It’s not that big a deal.”

“Hey, it’s plenty big enough!”

Ghost rolled his eyes. “Not that, the…do you really think this is the best time to have this discussion?”

Ghost looked at the ravagers sinking their claws into the thick tree bark and slowly making their way up its surface even as the branches above his head combusted and sent a wave of searing heat against his unprotected skin. “I suppose not, but you can bet we’re going to talk about it later. Can you swing?”

“I’ll learn.”

Wolf grabbed a rope and pulled it to him. “Grab it just below my feet. We’ll have to swing together since you didn’t bother telling your best friend you could turn into a person.”

“Let it go already! I’m sure you have secrets too.”

“Not as many as I thought I did just a few minutes ago.”

“Are you referring to Rachel?”

“I am referring to Rachel.”

“It wasn’t a secret. She told everyone.”

“How do you know?” Wolf demanded.

“People talk around me.”

“What did she say?”

“It was flattering.”

Wolf smiled. “I guess it’s okay then. Still, women are blabbermouths. You keep your big yap shut.”

“I kept this from you for the last fifteen years. Do you think I’m going to share it with someone else? Now those things are right below us and our rope is on fire. If your rope is still strong enough to support us and your massive ego, I would really like to leave now.”

“Right.”

Wolf and Ghost swung out over the milling, leaping, snarling ravagers like monkeys on a vine. Wolf released his grip and threw himself at the tree ahead of them with a master’s practiced ease. Ghost tried to emulate his friend’s move, brushed the branch with his fingertips, and fell. Ghost felt the branches whip and scratch his body before landing painfully on a stout limb. A ravager already waiting below leapt up, grabbed a lower branch, and took a swipe at Ghost with its blade. Ghost grabbed the limb above him and threw his legs up and over it just as the knife sliced through the air below his back.

Wolf buried an arrow in the creature’s face and sent shafts streaking into the ones trying to climb up. Ghost managed to pull himself onto the limb and gain Wolf’s higher position.

Wolf glanced at the scratches now covering Ghost’s human skin. “I bet you wish you were wearing trousers about now.”

“Not nearly as much as I wished I had friends who did not put me in situations that have me fighting for my life.”

“Then your life would be boring.”

“Yes, but at least it would extend beyond the next hour.”

“True, it appears I underestimated how challenging this was going to be.”

“The cave Ellyssa was living when she went crazy isn’t too far from here. Its opening is narrow, and I think we can defend it.”

“Great, then we can starve to death.”

“Do you have a better plan?” Ghost asked, “Because, so far, yours are not quite panning out.”

“Here’s a plan: shut up. Okay, we can use the zip line running across the creek and hopefully gain a little ground on them. There’s not much in the way of trees near the mountains, so even if the wind shifts we should be okay as far as the fire goes.”

The pair fled through the trees as quickly as they could, using the terrain to slow their pursuers. When they reached an area where Wolf had not strung ropes, zip lines, or bridges, it was a mad dash across the ground, often just yards ahead of certain death until finding safety in the treetops once again. The trees began to thin, and it was a long run to the tree near the banks of the river where Wolf had a zip line to get across. They found a game trail cutting a tunnel through the dense brush and used it to navigate their way through the natural obstacle while the ravagers tried to tear their way through behind and around them.

Wolf and Ghost climbed the stout oak and scampered to the upper arms of the majestic tree. The river was less than a hundred feet across, but the zip line ran almost five times that length before ending at the nearest suitable tree. From there, the trees shrank and dwindled near the base of the mountains where erosion and rocky terrain limited their growth.

“There’s only one pulley,” Ghost noted.

“Jump onto my back and hang on.”

Ghost wrapped his arms around Wolf’s neck and locked his legs around his waist. “Can you hold me?”

“Yeah, but now
I’m
really wishing you had trousers.”

Wolf gripped the pulley bar tightly and threw himself off the small platform. The two flew over the river as ravagers howled their anger. The bulk of the creatures raced up or down stream in search of a way across, a few leapt onto the rope and tried to shinny across it, and several jumped into the river and were quickly swept away. The pair reached the far side, and Wolf drew his short sword the moment Ghost dropped off his back and severed the roped with a quick swipe, sending the ravagers trying to cross into the river.