Brian Pratt - Shades of the past

“No,” Miko counters. “Use it,” he looks James in the eyes, “through me.”

Could it work?

Miko stretches out his hand but James shakes his head. “Call forth the magic of the Star.” As Miko connects with the magic within the Star, James creates a leech line between himself and Miko. Immediately, the power of the Star flows into him. Such power. Such raw, primal power suffuses him.

This magic is different than that which he had always used. Perhaps it’s the difference between priest magic which comes from the gods and regular magic found in the world around you.

Gathering new strength from the flow of magic coming from Miko, he disengages from him and moves forward. A spike in the tingling foretells the release of the magic as the mage again sends a devastating attack. Using the magic from the Star, he erects a barrier stronger than any he’s been able to accomplish before. When the magic strikes it, an enormous, blinding flash of light explodes. Unlike the previous times, James hardly feels any effect. He looks across the battlefield at the surprised look on the mage’s face.

Sure to have destroyed him, Kerith-Ayxt stares in shocked wonder at James standing there unfazed then quickly comes to a decision. “Aezyl!” he shouts over the roar of battle.

“Yes milord,” his aide replies coming to his side.

“Form the Lattice of Power,” he says.

Aezyl’s eyes widen. “Yes my lord,” he finally replies then turns to the other mages and makes ready.

The Lattice of Power is a means through which many mages link in order to supply a single mage with their collective magical reserves. The First Circle mages are linked to the Second who are in turn linked to the Third and so forth. It’s very similar to what they do with slaves during spells requiring more than the usual amounts of magic. The only problem is that once the Lattice is formed, it can only be undone by the one at the Lattice’s focal point, either by a conscious will or his death.

Before the Lattice is readied, James unleashes a wave of force toward Kerith-Ayxt. Countering the blast, the High Lord Magus gasps at the sheer power of the attack. Behind him he hears, “Ready my lord.”

Casting the spell to bring the Lattice to life, Kerith-Ayxt is suddenly suffused with power as conduits merge with him, channeling the power of the most powerful mages in the Empire. The power now at his beck and call is incredible, almost makes him feel like a god. With a grin, he unleashes a devastating attack of fire and air at James. The battle is joined…

Between Delia’s slingers and the enemy, stands a line of Raiders mixed in with recently armed freed slaves. The Raiders are faring well but the slaves are dropping fast. Delia has her slingers target the enemy as they appear in gaps of the lines to aid the fighters but there are simply too many.

Taking one of the four crystals from the last remaining sack of crystals in their possession, she sets it to sling and sends it far over the heads of the enemy. A minute later, men drop as spheres appear among them. Bolts of electricity flash as the orbs begin discharging the magic that they drew from the soldiers now lying still on the ground.

After sending more slugs into the enemy, she removes another crystal and sends it flying. Again, men drop and spheres appear firing bolts of electricity. Dozens of men are dropped by the initial leeching of their magic by the crystal and scores more are dropped by the subsequent discharges of electricity.

She continues to do that. While waiting for the men to again group closely together, she sends slugs to fell the attackers. Once a sufficient number are together, she sends another of the crystals flying into their midst.

When the last sphere of the last crystal has disappeared, she looks on at the still overpowering numbers of the enemy. Feeling hopelessness sapping her will, she continues felling men with slugs.

Unfortunately, the rest of the slingers aren’t doing nearly as well as she. Terrance is hitting men primarily on parts of their body covered in armor. A dull thud and a dent is all he’s managing to accomplish.

The others are doing a trifle better, some are connecting. Perhaps not killing blows, but enough to injure which slows down their defenses, enabling Raiders to get within their guard better.

Off to one side, the line buckles. The Raiders who were holding are suddenly inundated by a two score of Parvatis and they go down fast. Their dual swords opening up a swath twenty feet wide, they are soon among the crossbowmen.

The crossbowmen fall back fast, loosing bolts as they retreat. They take down over half the Parvatis before Illan, Ceadric and other Raiders move to engage them. By the time they take out the last of the Parvatis and reestablished the line, two score crossbowmen lay dead as well as half a score of Raiders.

Ceadric and Illan hold the line while others move to assist. The defender’s line is slowly shrinking in on itself as more and more of the defenders fall.

Ka-Boom!

A gigantic cloud of smoke and flame reaches to the sky from where James is battling Kerith-Ayxt. He, Miko and the three remaining members of the Hand of Asran stare in awe at the flame burning on the other side of the protective barrier. Using the power of the Star, James extinguishes the flames and then concentrates on the ground before the mages.

A rumbling begins and the earth cracks open. Suddenly, a gigantic rock hand emerges as Rocky begins climbing out of the ground. Eight feet high and made of stone, Rocky turns on the mages and lurches forward.

Brother Willim and the other two members of the Hand work to keep the soldiers at bay. Large patches of thorny vines impede their way while others actually grasp them, constricting until they’re dead. The death of any man is a hard blow to the Brothers even though it is in defense of their lives.

Miko sits cross-legged on the ground with the Star in his lap clasped between both hands. The funneling of power to James is taking its toll. His system is simply not used to having so much power passing through it for so long. Breathing has become labored and he’s soaked in sweat, sort of reminds him of how James gets now and then when he does too much.

Kerith-Ayxt lashes out with power and Rocky explodes sending a myriad of rocks flying in all directions.

Just what James was hoping for, he sends out the power and takes hold of the flying debris. Stopping it in midair, he then sends it flying back toward the mages. A shield springs to life to protect the mages from the barrage. It manages to deflect all but a couple which had already passed beyond the edge of the shield. One of the rocks manages to strike a mage in the side of the head. Staggering backward, the mage’s legs collapse and he hits the ground hard where he remains unmoving.

A slight drop in the power coming to Kerith-Ayxt tells him the mage that was hit is dead. Putting the fallen mage out of his mind, he brings his hands together then opens them up to reveal a shimmering ball. Launching from his hands, the ball flies toward James.

Using the power of the Star, he strikes the ball before it has a chance to close the distance and…

Ke-Pow!

…an intense explosion knocks him backward. A backlash of magic rips through him like a hot knife and for a moment, all his defenses are down.

“James!” yells Brother Willim. Rushing to his side, he grabs him as he teeters on the brink of falling.

His mind reeling, he takes hold of Brother Willim’s shoulder and rights himself just as another shimmering ball flies toward him. Summoning the magic, he attacks the ball.

Ke-Pow!

Again the ball explodes sending another backlash of power burning through him. His legs buckle and if it weren’t for Brother Willim, he would have hit the ground. He’s not sure if he’ll be able to survive another attack like that. Realizing that even with the Star, he isn’t going to win this battle, he mumbles something to Brother Willim.