Toby Neighbors: Crying Havoc

Offendorl’s shield held the wood back, so that not even a splinter touched him, but his horse was a different matter. Several large slivers of wood sank into the horse’s hindquarters, causing the animal to buck and jump. Offendorl was thrown from the animal, and Zollin expected to see him land in a heap of broken bones on the hard ground. Instead, Offendorl rose up in the air and sent balls of fire hurtling toward Zollin.

Zollin kicked his horse and sent the mount charging forward so that the fireballs flew over his head.

“Get back to the castle!” Zollin shouted.

“Ride!” Commander Hausey bellowed, turning his horse and galloping back toward Orrock.

The other generals and King Felix followed, just as Zollin rode directly under Offendorl. He held up a magical shield over his head and pushed it up toward the elder wizard. The fireballs were bouncing off the shield now, each impact like a hammer blow on a knight’s shield, but the fire was also getting closer to Offendorl so that he was forced to move away.

At that same moment the army surrounding Orrock took the explosion and fire to be their signal to attack. The troops hurried forward, slapping their swords on their shields and stomping their feet. Clouds of dust rose in the air around them, and horns sounded on every side. Zollin was momentarily distracted and Offendorl’s next attack, a stunning whirlwind conjured in midair and sent hurtling toward Zollin, blew him off his horse as the mount reared its hooves, pawed at the air, and then stumbled backward.

Zollin landed on the ground with a massive crash that sent pain shooting through his back, but he didn’t have time to stop moving. The ground shook and began to split under him, so he jumped into the air, using his magic to shoot himself like an arrow straight at Offendorl. He didn’t know that wizard battles rarely brought the combatants close enough for hand-to-hand fighting. Offendorl was surprised at the move and flung up his magical shield for protection, but Zollin had his own shields raised. The two wizards crashed together, their magics surging.

Zollin felt his own power coursing through the containment field he had constructed. It was blindingly hot, but the containment held and didn’t allow the magic to drain his physical strength. Offendorl, on the other hand, was sweating. Zollin could see the strain on his opponent’s face and doubled his efforts to get closer to the elder wizard. It was like the intense struggle when two warrior’s blades lock together and the battle becomes a test of strength. Zollin could feel the barrier around his magic starting to break apart. He knew that pushing himself this hard was dangerous. If his containment broke down, he could easily be killed by the magnitude of his magical exertion. At the very least he would be knocked unconscious by the strain.

Offendorl felt as he was being pressed down by a giant. He was shocked at Zollin’s raw power. He had expected the boy to fight as other wizards fought. Most were loath to do anything physically, so they kept their distance and used their magic to fight. But Zollin was drawing ever closer and there was a look of murder in his eyes. If Offendorl let the boy get close enough, his young, physical strength would certainly spell doom for the elder wizard. Offendorl tried to pry himself away, but the boy just kept coming. Offendorl felt his own magic tearing away at him on the inside. His body was shaking, and the effort he was exerting with his magic was more than he had used in years. Normally, if he had difficult magic to perform, he could stop, rest, and get refreshment. But now he was trapped with no way to end the onslaught of Zollin’s ferocious attack.

Hausey led the retreat. He was an active cavalry soldier and was at home on a horse as much as anywhere. He rode hard, bellowing for the soldiers to open the gate for their King. The gate was rising slowly, and Hausey glanced over his shoulder to see the other generals riding hard to keep up with him. King Felix looked frightened, but he was staying in the saddle. General Griggs, on the other hand, was falling further behind. He was more focused on hanging onto the saddle horn than coaxing more speed from his mount.

At the gate, Hausey spun his horse around. The gate was a huge grid of metal with the lowest parts of the vertical bars ending in sharp points. Behind the actual gate, which was raised straight up, there were two large wooden doors. The doors were hung on massive iron hinges that shrieked as the doors were slowly swung open. King Felix and his generals hurried under the gate and through the huge doors as Hausey looked for Zollin.

The young wizard was reaching for Offendorl with his left hand, straining to reach the elder wizard’s throat. Then suddenly he twisted in midair and swung a looping punch with his right hand. The magical barriers slowed the blow, but it hit the older man behind his ear. The blow was hard enough to interrupt Offendorl’s concentration, and his magical defenses were knocked away by Zollin’s power. The Master of the Torr dropped. They were perhaps twenty feet off the ground, and Offendorl slowed his descent on reflexes alone, but his brittle bones were still rocked by the rough landing. Both ankles rolled and ligaments snapped, causing the wizard to fall to the ground.

Zollin immediately began trying to bury the old man. Dirt and rocks flew from all sides, falling on Offendorl as Zollin slowly descended to the ground several feet away. Then fire erupted from the mound of dirt, like an angry volcano, shooting up toward the sky. Zollin sent a massive, magical shove at the mound, and the dirt flew in all directions while Offendorl rolled along the ground like a tumble weed.

The elder wizard knew that once again he had underestimated the boy. Whether King Felix was in on the deception or not, the Master of the Torr had been duped into thinking the boy was being turned over to him, drugged so that he would not resist. Zollin had taken him by surprise, and now Offendorl was close to defeat. He did the only thing he could think of that might save him. With the last of his considerable strength he reached out to the main gate of the city and ripped it apart.

Zollin heard the rending of stone, iron, and wood as the gate was pulled down. Commander Hausey had just ridden through and the soldiers were trying to close the gate when Offendorl’s attack came. Had the gate been closed it would have been more difficult to destroy, but now the city was vulnerable and the invading legions were rushing forward. Zollin threw up a dust cloud to screen him from the elder wizard’s sight and sent himself hurtling back toward Orrock.

Hausey was just leading a group of soldiers into the gap in the wall when the enemy army arrived. Hausey was outnumbered, but he had formed his soldiers into a solid shield wall. The invaders crashed into the shield wall but were held in check. Zollin smashed into the invaders with a magical dive that sent the enemy soldiers flying backward. He came to stand on his feet in the midst of the destroyed gate. He looked back toward Offendorl, expecting the Master of the Torr to be in the middle of his own counterattack, but the wizard was nowhere to be seen.

“Get up to the tower!” Hausey shouted at him.

Zollin looked up and realized that from the lookout tower the could see where Felix’s army was having difficulty and help turn the tide. He didn’t need to be in the midst of the battle physically; he could work his magic from a distance.

“I’ll send reinforcements,” Zollin shouted as he sprinted through the soldiers who opened the shield wall for him to pass by. As he ran he heard Hausey shouting for his troops to form up and prepare for the next attack.

Zollin jumped up and levitated himself up over the city and came to land once more on the watchtower of the castle. He turned and looked back at the main gate, but Hausey was holding his own against the invaders.