The Sorcerer's Return (The Sorcerer's Path) (8 page)

The three pushed toward the west side of town, struggling to avoid those who fled eastward away from the source of destruction.
Howls, snarls, and maniacal laughter joined the chorus of screams and death knells as they drew closer.

It took only minutes for them to spot the first ravagers. Bruneford’s Mill was far from any hostile lands or people and sported no defensive walls,
which allowed the ravagers to quickly push deep into the town. Only the time it took to tear through doors and slaughter the inhabitants slowed their progress.

Several ravagers leapt from out of the darkness, the blood
painting their bodies almost indistinguishable from their own skin in both color and coverage. Two of the creatures leapt into the air with their strange punch daggers cocked back and ready to slash their foes to pieces. Azerick lashed his hand forward and across, cleanly bisecting both of them with a whip of arcane energy.

Ellyssa conjured a shard of stone from the street, sent it hurling toward the third ravager, and pinned it to the wall of a building. A keening howl erupted across the town as the ravagers sensed the use of magic. Wizards and sorcerers were their masters’ most hated enemy
, and they would stop at nothing to destroy them. The ravagers immediately ceased their chaotic, wanton destruction and converged upon the source of magic use.

Azerick and Ellyssa quickly found themselves in the heart of a maelstrom of death as the ravagers leapt from rooftops and raced at them from all directions, heedless of their own lives.
Arcane energy split the night air with fire, lightning, and bolts of power as the pair fought furiously to keep the monsters at bay.

Azerick could not know if there were still people around and avoided unleashing his most destructive magic. It would be easy for him to scour clean several blocks of the town a
nd destroy the bulk of invaders—too easy. He felt Klaraxis’ constant but subtle urgings and refused to give in to them, but that could change soon if the ravagers kept coming. In the coming battle, the death toll would be measured in the hundreds of thousands. The few thousand lives of Bruneford’s Mill were expendable in the greater scheme of things.

The
Ravagers continued to press their attack, hurling stones, timber, and even human bodies at the two magic users who were devastating their numbers. Several climbed to the roofs of nearby buildings, took a running leap, and dropped down upon the defenders. Neither Azerick nor Ellyssa were taken completely by surprise, having beaten back this tactic before, but there were several of them and a few broke through their defenses.

Azerick and Ellyssa instantly turned their attack onto the ravagers in their ranks, but before either of them could respond
, one of the creatures grabbed up Raijaun and leapt away, disappearing into a dark alleyway.

“Raijaun!” Azerick shouted.

Fear and rage suffused Azerick’s soul and he lashed out, heedless of the damage he caused. His fear turned to terror when Raijaun’s shrill screams emanated from out of the alley. Pure terror fueled his spells as Azerick blasted a hole through the ravagers’ ranks in an effort to get to his son.

As Azerick fought his way to Raijaun
, he sensed an immense build up of power. It took a moment for him to comprehend what was happening. Mingling with the familiar arcane energy was a strange magic very similar to that used by Lissandra. Azerick grabbed Ellyssa, pulled her down, and covered them with the most powerful ward he could conjure in an instant.

The world seemed to explode around them as fire washed over his ward like a tidal wave. Buildings burst into flame and crumbled under the intense heat, but the destruction did not end. The ground
buckled and split open, spewing molten rock into the air, which came down like a meteor storm. Azerick could not hear Raijaun’s terrified screams, but he could feel his son’s fear and panic. Lissandra said Raijaun would be the most formidable weapon he had, but Azerick could not have imagined this. Not yet.

Driven by fear, Raijaun would destroy the entire town and its inhabitants if he did not destroy himself first. He was a frightened child
, lashing out with everything he had without thought of the consequences. He was channeling far more power than his body could safely manage and was probably moments away from being consumed by it.

“Ellyssa, I have to get to Raijaun and try to calm him down!
” Azerick shouted to be heard over the chaos. “Keep those things away from me as best you can; I have to keep my focus on this ward.”

Despite the rampant destruction, ravagers continued
bounding out of the shadows, leaping the flaming fissures, and dodging the falling molten rock. They both fought their way to the remains of the alley now made up of little more than piles of stone and charred timber. Ellyssa sent her magic into the ground and raised four enormous constructs from the cobblestones. They were not true golems; these had very little autonomy, and it took almost all of Ellyssa’s concentration to direct their attacks toward the Ravagers.

She used them to block the opening to their tiny oasis within the hellish destruction, lashing out with huge stone fists to crush any ravager trying to fight their way past.
Several tried to leap over the constructs, only to be plucked from the air and pulped against the ground or hurled into a nearby fissure.

Azerick pressed into the remains of the alley and spotted Raijaun, seemingly lost in his terror and caught up in the grip of the magic he wielded.
Like a fire, the magic had taken on a life of its own and raged out of control. The fact Raijaun was able to keep it from destroying him for this long was amazing. Azerick looked into the ether where normal eyes could not see, and watched this boy wrestling with forces that would have already consumed an experienced wizard.

Azerick reached into that invisible
, arcane maelstrom and began gathering up the threads of magic in an attempt to control and safely release it back into the Source. Grabbing those strands was like trying to snatch loose lines on a sail flailing around in gale-force winds. The strands lashed out at him, fighting his attempts at control. The magic was like a living creature now and it did not want to be vanquished.

“Raijaun,” Azerick called out loudly but gently. “Raijaun, I have it now. You can let go.”

Raijaun finally opened his eyes and Azerick could see the tears streaming down his face, glinting on the light of the surrounding inferno. “Father? Father, help me!”

“It’s okay, son, I am here. I have the magic. Let it go.”

Reluctantly, Raijaun let his grip slip away and finally let go. He looked once more at Azerick and crumpled to the ground. Azerick released the pent up energy into the sky in a massive column of searing white power, illuminating the countryside for miles around. He scooped Raijaun into his arms and tore open a portal.

“Ellyssa, time to get out of here!”

Ellyssa glanced over her shoulder, spotted the gate, and ran through. Her constructs fought on for perhaps a score of seconds before crumbling back into piles of useless stone. Azerick carried Raijaun’s limp body in his arms and followed after, snapping the portal shut the instant he stepped through.

“Azerick, what about the people in town and those creatures?” Ellyssa asked desperately, looking at the orange glow of the burning town in the distance.

“I do not believe there were many left. The townspeople will have to deal with them the best they can.”

Azerick opened another gate and stepped
through; giving Ellyssa no time to voice any further concerns or protests. Twice more Azerick hurried them through his gates before stopping.

“If we do n
ot use our magic, I do not think those creatures can find us, if any still live.”

“What were they? Where did they come from?”

Azerick pulled the Codex Arcana from his shoulder satchel. “Show me.” The book fanned open. “Ravagers, the footmen of the Scions. They are fast, strong, and savage.”

“I thought the Scions were still locked away?”

“They are, otherwise the entire kingdom would like Bruneford’s Mill right now. My guess is there was a flaw, a minor breach the Scions were able to exploit. It has happened in the past. I do not think we have as much time to get home as I had hoped. I need to get back to my tower and establish a base from where I can better watch the Scions’ prison. If there are more of these flaws, it could prove disastrous. I do not have the time to go stamp out small fires like this all over the kingdom,” he said impatiently.

Ellyssa was taken aback by his callousness. “A lot of people are dead. I think the entire town will burn to the ground
, and you call it a small fire?”

“In the larger scheme of things, that is exactly what it is. Ellyssa, I am glad to see you still care about the lives of people, even strangers, but this is going to be a war like no other with death
on an unimaginable scale. If we allow our sentimentality to guide us away from what we must do, we will lose not just our homes or even our kingdom; we will lose our existence as a species.”

Ellyssa’s mind simply could not process
horror on such a scale, so she turned it toward more local and immediate concerns. “How is Raijaun?”

“Exhausted. The amount of power he had coursing through him was something that would make even me pause for concern.
It is either a miracle he survived, or he is far more than any of us can imagine.”

Ellyssa shivered.
“What was that? I felt magic like none I have felt before.”

“It was the magic of the Guardians, which is an amalgamation of elvish and dragon magic.
That is why it is so elemental in nature. Both elf and dragon magic is powerfully elemental, but unique to each of the races. Because elves use the Source just as human wizards and sorcerers do, they can shape it into spells only with far greater effect when directing the power of nature.”

Ellyssa looked at Raijaun lying unconscious upon Azerick’s lap. “Will you call Sandy back to take us home then?”

“No. It is now more important than ever to teach Raijaun control before we return, but I cannot afford to dawdle like I was. I am nearly finished with what I need to write and, to be honest, I was procrastinating our return.”

“Why?”

Azerick bowed his head. “Miranda and Daebian. I am not who I was, and I am afraid. I fear their reaction, what they think of me, and how I think of them. I am not coming home to be a loving husband and father, but a general who must prepare a nation for war. I have no time for familial sentiments, and I am ashamed for it.”

Ellyssa could not control the tears that came unbidden to her eyes. It was the first spark of humanity, of the old
Azerick, he had allowed to slip through the iron façade since his return. She sidled over and put her arms around him.

“They’ll understand.”

Azerick smiled at the top of her head. “I wish I could be so young and naïve again. But we can wish, can’t we?”

CHAPTER 5

Raijaun woke the next morning. Azerick chose not to sleep, instead staying awake and watching over his son and apprentice. He hurried to his son’s side as he sat up and looked around.

“
How do you feel?” Azerick asked.

“Hungry,” Raijaun answered.

“I’m sorry, but I did not think to grab any food before we left. How are you?”

“My body hurts
really bad. What happened?”

“You panicked and channeled too much power.” Azerick gripped Raijaun’s shoulder
firmly. “Raijaun, you lost control last night. You let fear take over, and it cost some people their lives, and more importantly, almost your own. You cannot ever lose control like that again.”

Raijaun looked at the ground and his shoulders
slumped. “I’m sorry, Father. I was scared.”

“I know, but you must not let your emotions control you. You are very powerful and very important.
Everything and everyone is counting on your ability to control your power and use it wisely. I will need you in the coming days, and I must be able to rely on you and your judgment. You must never lose control again.”

“I understand,
Father. I won’t.”

Azerick smiled at his son. “Do not feel too bad. I did the same thing—twice—just on a smaller scale.
I will start working with you more so you can learn control and focus.”

“Okay, Father, but not today please,” Raijaun begged, his pain and exhaustion evident in his eyes.

    “Are you sure you are all right?”

   
“It hurts. It feels like my blood is hot and burning me.”

Azerick squeezed Raijaun’s shoulder. “I am sure you will be fine. You just pulled in too much power and your bo
dy is protesting its abuse.”

  
Ellyssa sidled over and sat next to Azerick as Raijaun lay back down and went to sleep. “How is he?”

“He is afraid
, and in a lot of pain.”

“He channeled a lot of power, more than I ever could
, and I almost died when I overreached.”

Azerick shook his head. “I think it is more than that. Did it ever feel as though your blood was burning in your veins?”

“No, more like someone had beaten me with a stick for the better part of the day,” Ellyssa commented wryly.

“I would use a similar analogy for what I felt. It was more exhaustion and muscle pain. I will need to consult the Codex, but I think he may be experiencing some sort of conflict between his differing magics.”

“You wield different magic, don’t you? Does it hurt you?”

Azerick thought a moment. “It conflicts, but I can force it to work together. I think that conflict is what makes the combination so powerful. It is uncomfortable but bearable. Raijaun also controls whatever magic the Guardians possessed. It is similar to dragon magic, wh
ich is natural and elemental as I said. Abyssal magic is nearly its opposite, and is wholly unnatural. Wizard and Sorcerous magic lies somewhere in between.”

“
How bad could using his magic hurt him? If it does hurt him, how is he going to be able to fight the Scions?”

“I do not know.
It may be something he will have to avoid unless absolutely necessary, and simply suffer through it when he does. For now, we must teach him control.”

Azerick allowed Raijaun to rest another day before guiding them on
to the path home. Raijaun still hurt, but he kept up and never complained. His sullen expression and body language spoke of his shame for losing control and hurting people in Bruneford’s Mill. Azerick was relieved at his son’s ability to empathize. It meant his heart was much more human than demon.

Azerick searched the Codex for answers regarding his son’s affliction, but nothing like Raijaun has ever existed. He studied abyssal magic and gained some knowledge of Guardian and dragon magic, but no one had ever combined them before. Azerick eventually decided that his theory regarding the conflicting magic was sound. There was simply too much divergence
from abyssal and Guardian magic. Forcing the two to form a magical weave, although extremely powerful, was also painful if not dangerous to the wielder.

“Are you ready to practice?” Azerick asked Raijaun after they finished their supper.

Raijaun was hesitant but nodded. “Yes, Father.”

“First, I want you reach for the Source. Pull in as much as you feel comfortable doing.” Raijaun nodded and began gathering the Source to him. “Keep going, I know you can do more than that.”

Raijaun’s eyes darted nervously as he gathered a little more power into him. Azerick knew he was not coming close to his potential but decided to let Raijaun set the pace for now.

“
Shape your spell.” Raijaun plucked at the individual strands of summoned energy and shaped them into a spell. “Good, now reach for the other magic. Let us do the Guardian magic.”

“Father, I would rather not. I am afraid it will hurt me again.”

“You do not need to fear it, Son. It is the black abyssal magic that conflicts with your Guardian magic. This will not hurt you.”

Raijaun looked uncertain, but he trusted his father and obeyed. Plucking at the strands of golden power surrounding all things in nature, he threaded them into his sorcerous weave.
Visible only to those able to see beyond the physical and into the ether, his spell form glowed with an almost blindingly silver and golden radiance.

Azerick examined the spell his son held in stasis. Still just a child, he easily controlled as much power as a competent wizard and was not close to stressing himself. Raijaun’s weave began to tremble and errant arcs of energy began
sparking chaotically as his nerves began to fray.

Azerick pointed to a scrubby bush. “Release it over there.”

Raijaun unleashed his spell in a powerful ray of gold and silver light, incinerating the bush and setting fire to the surrounding foliage. He looked to his father worriedly.

“It is all right. Use your magic to put the fire out.”

Raijaun grabbed at his Guardian magic like a miser scrambling after a fistful of dropped coins. He clawed the magic, forced it into a weave, and released it. Clouds rolled in, black and angry, thundering their displeasure. Ellyssa shrieked as a torrent of rain washed down from the sky, inundating the land. The rain instantly extinguished the small fires, but now their camp was awash in several inches of water.

“Raijaun, please stop the rain before we drown,” Azerick said dryly.

“I’m sorry!” Raijaun exclaimed and plucked apart the strands of magic holding the unnatural storm together.

Despite no longer being magically driven, it took several minutes for the rain to stop and almost an hour for the clouds to disperse.
The camp was a mess. Their fire was snuffed out and washed away, and everything was soaked. Fortunately, being wielders of magic meant their discomfort was only temporary. It was a simple matter for Azerick and Ellyssa to dry out both themselves and their things. The sodden ground all around was a much greater problem, as water seemed to trickle in from everywhere.

“Sorry,” Raijaun said again.

“We will have more time to practice. Keep working on drawing, forming, and holding your magic. Just remember not to work the conflicting sources just yet.”

Raijaun shook his head vehemently. “I will not forget, ever.”

***

“So Harvey walks into his office and finds a wolverine tearing the room apart,” James said, regaling his friend as they shared a guard shift atop the wall. “And the smell! That thing sprayed everything! It was hilarious until they found wolf prints around the sally port I was guarding. They blamed me for letting Wolf in despite my protests of innocence. Now I’m pulling double duty for a month.”

“Did you do it?” Dustin asked.

“Of course I did! Harvey’s an ass. Several of us old-timers have been letting Wolf in to harass those Academy jerks since they showed up. They never did figure out who disabled the wards on Harvey’s door. My guess is Roger.”

“I’m just glad they pretty much leave us martial students alone. I feel bad for the wizards though.” Dustin squinted at the road in the distance and brought a brass spyglass to his eye. “Looks like three people approaching on foot
. One woman, a man, and a kid. The woman kind of looks like Ellyssa.”

James peered through the spyglass when Dustin passed it to him. “That’s definitely Ellyssa
. Who’s the man?” James watched the small group approach and nearly dropped the glass over the wall. “Holy crap! Kimberly, come over here, now!”

A young woman posted at the northwest corner stalked briskly over. “James, you better not be screwing around again.”

James thrust the spyglass into her hands. “Look at who’s coming up the road and tell me who it is.”

Kimberly studied the trio intently. “The girl is definitely Ellyssa. The man…no freaking way!”

“Is it Azerick, or am I completely insane?”

Dustin looked at his two comrades. “Are you talking about Azerick who used to run this place and died like five years ago?”

The two older soldiers ignored the younger. “I would say it was someone who looked a lot like him, but that is his staff. That would explain how it came up missing a few months ago! If he came back, he could have magicked it to him.”

“Wait,” Dustin exclaimed, “people don’t just come back from the dead.”

James looked at his friend and smiled. “You don’t know Azerick. Kim, watch the wall. I’m going to go tell the tower.”

James sprinted down the steps two at a time, raced across the grounds, and ran up the steps to the new tower. He wrenched open the doors and burst into the dining hall a moment later. As he had expected giv
en the time of day, he found Lady Miranda and most of the original school staff sitting down for lunch.

Alex looked at the intruder sharply. “James, I hope there is
a good reason for leaving your post and barging in here like a madman.”

James braced his hands on his knees and took several deep breaths. “Coming up the road…Ellyssa…,” he gasped out, pointing behind him.

“Ellyssa? Could they have let her go?” Miranda asked.

“It is highly unlikely,” Allister replied.

James shook his head vigorously. “Azerick is with her!”

Allister’s face reddened and his brow grew even more furrowed. “James, if this is one of your jests, it is in extremely poor taste.”

“No, I swear! I asked Kimberly, and I saw the staff!”

Miranda clutched her chest. “Is this possible?”

All eyes turned to Aggie, the resident expert on transdimensional magic. “I thought it might be, especially after Azerick’s staff vanished. But I have no idea how it could be done, and I did not want to raise any false hopes with speculation.”

“Imposter or not, we had best see to it,” Allister said.

By the time the assembly moved outside, people were already speaking excitedly as word quickly spread. Headmaster Harvey was observing the applied magic class when a student burst in.

“Azerick is back!”

The younger students looked at each other quizzically, but the older students jumped from their desks and pushed for the doors, speaking animatedly.

“You students get back to your seats if you do not wish to be expelled!” Headmaster Harvey shouted. “If you know what’s good for you, you will sit down this instant!”

“Go kiss a troll, Harvey!” someone shouted from the mass pressing through the door. “If it really is Azerick, you will have your things packed and be on your way if you know what’s good for you!”

Harvey was forced to wait for the students to clear the door before exiting the room. He cursed them all for crude, low-born riffraff as he hurried to his office. He swore once again to bring that accursed wildling to heel when the still pervasive odor of wolverine spray assaulted him. Thus far, his
attempts to capture the half-elf resulted in humiliating failure. His people were not experienced woodsmen, and that lack of skill resulted in defeats every bit as painful and embarrassing as his attempt to bring in the girl. Once again, he wished The Academy had given him leave to shut down this school. It was nothing but a warren of vagabonds and criminals, in his opinion.

Wolf and Ghost had been watching the three travelers almost since they left the major trade road. The pair
kept their distance from the school since Wolf had snuck a wolverine into the Headmaster’s office. Wolf mentally reminded himself to check his badger traps later. He also had a good plan for a huge fire wasp nest he found. It would have to wait until the weather cooled and the wasps went dormant before he could move it into the Headmaster’s office, where the warm room would quickly make the hibernating insects very active. He hated waiting. Maybe Sandy could help him again with her magic. She was getting very good at controlling the weather around her.

Wolf could
barely believe his eyes when he recognized Azerick. When Ghost sniffed the air and let out a low rumble, he did not believe them at all. He pulled an arrow from his quiver, set it to the string, and took careful aim.