“You should stay here,” said Taliesin as he threw on his cloak. “If the village is under attack, I expect this house is the safest place to be.”
“I can’t,” she said as she pulled her tunic on over her head. “I have to get to my parents and my little brother! They live outside the walls!”
“Why didn’t they come to the village?”
“They started kicking out thralls to make room for huscarls and their families. My parents’ house is pretty sturdy so they stayed home. I have to get to them!”
Taliesin could appreciate her desire to aid her family, and nodded in understanding. “I’ll help you.”
He walked to the woodstove and [Shaped] away the door to form a rudimentary dagger. With a swift move, he sliced a strip of cloth off the bedsheet and wound it around the handle before tying it in place to make a rudimentary grip for the sharp blade.
“North or south?” asked Taliesin.
The girl, now fully dressed, was heading for the door.
“What?”
“Your parents. Do they live north or south of the village?”
“North - why…?”
Taliesin drew deeply from his torque and cast a portal spell that opened into a field north of the village. He’d aimed towards the fields rather than the road, in case there were attackers coming from that direction. He handed her the dagger, then on a whim, the first copper ring.
“The dagger is nothing special, but the ring can do some minor healing.” Taliesin gave her a brief explanation of how to use the ring. “Go help your parents, and may your gods protect you.”
“Th-thank you!” The girl gave him a swift hug before running through the portal. Taliesin let it drop even as more screams resounded through the village.
Now it was time to really let loose.
A loud crash resounded through the structure even as Taliesin strode purposefully down the stairs. A stone had blasted through the outer wall, scattering broken brick and plaster across the stairs before coming to rest in the opposite bedroom. Taliesin calmly stepped over the debris as he tied his cloak in place. He peered into the bedroom to see two people cowering in the corner.
“You’d best be dressed and ready to flee, if you’re not willing to fight,” said Taliesin. “From the volume of screams outside, the battle goes poorly.”
He did not wait to see if they heeded his advice. Instead, he went to the large hole in the wall. He could see Katla and her guards fighting desperately in the courtyard below against tall, dog-faced creatures. The monsters were well over seven feet tall and hunched over, with gaunt frames and lean, powerful muscles. The gnolls were dressed in leather armor. They wielded halberds that extended their already long reach, and many had shields as well.
“Hmm. [Phantom Armor].” Taliesin felt the relief of being able to cast without straining his own aether pool. The armor spell in particular was important and was far stronger now. The gnolls had the advantage of surprise and numbers, and if he didn’t do something to break their cohesion, they’d tear down the village before any real counteroffensive could get off the ground. Taliesin eyed the largest group of gnolls. That seemed like a good place to start.
“[Lightning Strike].”
Down below, the lightning attack that Taliesin had casually flung into the mass of gnolls had yielded immediate effect. The gnolls had been herding the outnumbered guards back and had kept Katla occupied and unable to go on the offensive. The single lightning strike had slain a gnoll in the center of their formation and shocked a few close by as well. They had instinctively shied away from the source of pain and tangled themselves up in their fellows.
Not one to let a good distraction go to waste, Katla leapt forward in a frenzied attack, her sword whirling and darting in and out as she tore into the band of gnolls. They yelped in alarm as she ripped through leather armor and cleaved skulls in a spinning dervish of an assault. The gnolls fell back in dismay.
“[Shockbolt]” intoned Taliesin. A dozen small bolts of electrical power flew from his hand. They swirled chaotically through the air, and sought a half-dozen gnolls. This was a weaker attack than his [Lightning Strike] spell, but caused injury while also throwing the remaining knot of gnolls back on the defensive.
An arrow bounced off of Taliesin’s ethereal armor. He looked for a source, and realized that there was an entire contingent of gnolls, complete with infantry and archers, running amok through the town. Small groups of defenders fought from dead-end alleys between houses, while many of the buildings were heavily ablaze. Outside the walls, three monstrously large, yeti-like creatures stood taller than the walls. With thick, heavy fur coats and monstrous maws, these giant creatures were flinging stones and jars of flaming naphtha.
“To arms, to arms!” came a rallying cry from the courtyard below. Landsman Varo and his personal guard stormed out of the house and took the gnolls below from behind. The gnolls were trapped between armed and armored soldiers and an enraged Katla as she tore deep into their formation. The carriage guards followed behind her, finishing off the injured and protecting her flank. They did not need his help.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“It’s time to see what this Torque of Dawn can do,” said Taliesin. He drew deeply from the new artifact, using the power of the sun to fuel his magic. The warmth of the sun’s aether flowed through him and around him as it gathered to his hands. He felt a thrill of excitement that never grew old, the same excitement that had driven him to study until his eyes blurred in his youth. Now, as a master wizard turned Archmage, the thrum of power was an extension of his very existence, the culmination of a lifetime of study and practice.
“[Gather the Storms].”
The sky overhead boomed with thunder and the wind suddenly changed directions. Clouds began to move with unnatural speed even as the first drops of rain began to fall unnoticed on the battle below. Energy began to gather around Taliesin, as tiny lightning bolts coursed around his limbs and his feet left the ground.
The spell grew in strength as rain began to fall in earnest as the smell of ozone began to permeate the air. The spell would empower Taliesin’s storm magics, making them all the more devastating. A crack of thunder was the prelude to a sudden downpour that began to douse flames and turn the road into mud. Taliesin floated out of the broken house and above the courtyard, arms spread and eyes closed. The feeling of power coursing through him after countless eons without sensation. But he was not one to be mastered so easily. Taliesin had firm control of this power. His eyes snapped open.
“[Storm of Malice].”
A dozen bolts of lightning slammed down out of the sky into the street below. The lightning bolts jumped from gnoll to gnoll with a crackling sound as raw power singed the very air. The raiders burned from the inside out, leaving the stench of charred flesh and viscera behind as they fell convulsing into the mud. Steam rose from the bodies even as another dozen came right behind the first set. A final dozen combined into a single, overpowering blast that struck the center of the largest group of enemies and left only a crater behind.
A shocked silence came across the village square turned battlefield, as the momentum of the gnolls was broken but before the defenders could take advantage. A ragged cheer from the villagers quickly turned into the roar of battle cries as village soldiers, Solveig’s guards led by Katla, and regular men and women armed with clubs, kitchen knives, and spears taken from the dead charged forward.
Without warning, a stone the size of a wagon wheel slammed into Taliesin, and he felt the armor spell buckle, then break. He lost his concentration and flew from the sky. Taliesin smashed into a roof that was thankfully not in flames, although his landing had done the structure no favors.
“Ow.”
Taliesin sat up in the attic of the small building. His leg hurt like hell, as did his ribs. With an effort, he hobbled back to his feet. Already, his second, proper Ring of Healing was hard at work. This left less power from the Torque of Dawn for him to work with. After gingerly climbing to his feet, Taliesin realized he must have broken a rib, and may have cracked his femur.
“I might want to re-think my situational awareness. Maybe floating in the middle of a storm wasn’t the best positioning.” Feeling chastened as well as injured, Taliesin prepared to get back into the fight.
He quickly recast [Phantom Armor], before he allowed [Gather the Storms] to pull him back into the sky once more. This time, Taliesin flew high enough to spot where the stone had been thrown from, before floating back down to the roofline.
The three yeti beasts on the outside of the wall were screaming and pointing when he spotted them, while one of them shoved the second one in anger. The third pointed at the roof where Taliesin had emerged. It seems I’ve become a target, thought Taliesin. Let’s return the favor.
A new stone was hurled by one of the yeti, but Taliesin had already moved. The missile shattered the roof and tore deep into a support structure. The building sagged behind him as he moved to a better vantage point.
In the shadows of a broken and burnt roof, Taliesin snatched up a piece of charred wood. In his other hand, he pulled out the thin copper stylus he’d used earlier with his enchanting. With a few deft movements, Taliesin drew a simple charcoal circle. Then with the stylus, he began to draw with aether pulled from his torque. It took long moments to draw out the magic circle, moments he only had because he was hidden from view.
“I need better vestments,” he muttered to himself as he worked. Then the entire sigil hummed to life. Once more, Taliesin lifted off the roof, just high enough to spot his targets. He cursed, for one of the yeti had wandered away.
“I’ll get two of the three, at least. [Celestial Annihilation].”
From his casting hand, a column of blistering hot plasma rocketed towards two yeti. The plasma crackled with lightning, but its core was sheer, intense heat. The bolt burned straight through the top of the wall and struck the ground between the two monsters. There was an explosion of light, followed two seconds later by a loud ‘bamf’ sound. Taliesin tumbled out of the sky, blown backwards by the might of the spell he’d just cast. The magic circle he’d hastily drawn exploded in a much less dramatic fashion, although it mostly just shredded what was left of the roof.
Taliesin hit the street and broke his [Phantom Armor] for the second time inside of five minutes, and rolled through the mud in a tangled heap. With a groan, Taliesin looked up at a dumbfounded gnoll that stared down at him in disbelief.
“Urg. I think I broke another rib,” he informed the gnoll.
A blade removed the gnolls head, causing the jackal-faced raider to fall to the side. Katla stood resplendent in her armor, blood splattered heavily across her breastplate.
“Get up and earn your keep, mage. The fight is not yet ended,” she snarled at him as she cut down a nearby gnoll in a spray of viscera. “Unless you plan to laze about like a vagabond.”
“I’m seriously considering it,” he said, then realized his hand was severely burned from the last spell he’d cast. “Oh, crap, the last yeti!”
Katla spun to see the third yeti towering over the wall, a jar of flaming naphtha in its hands and its eyes on Taliesin. Taliesin rolled to his feet as swiftly as he could, but was certain he’d be too late.
“
A column of divine might slammed down onto the yeti’s head straight through the jar of naphtha. The flaming tar soaked the monster even as the holy flame melted the yeti’s skull. It gave one brief, piteous scream before it fell backwards.
That was the last straw for the suddenly beleaguered raiders. The gnolls broke and ran.
“Thanks again, Arbiter,” said Taliesin.
“It is my duty, Archmage. And we’ve managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. I will give my thanks to Freya.”
“I wouldn’t be too thankful yet, Arbiter,” said Taliesin as he surveyed the wreckage around him. The pitiful refugee camp that had made up the center of the small village was destroyed. The houses were in various states of wreckage, with damage ranging from severe to total loss. He couldn’t see a single sound building. The wall around the village was broken in several places, although he conveniently overlooked the one spot on the palisade with a perfect, six foot diameter hole burned straight through it.
“What… oh.”
“We may have won the battle, but this village is doomed.”
Discord Server.
www.patreon.com/jpkoenig.
3 chapters ahead, Fated ($5) is 5 chapters ahead, and Defiant ($10) is 10 chapters ahead.