Brian Pratt - The unsuspecting mage

“To arms! Intruders!” sounded the alarm.

James rolls and clears the side of the collapsing tent, gaining his feet. He looks around and sees men running toward him with swords drawn. Reaching into his pocket he pulls out the stones. With magic aiding aim and velocity, one of his missiles strikes the nearest attacker square in the chest. The bandit looks in startled surprise at the hole that appeared in his chest before collapsing to the ground, dead.

Three more men are bearing down on him so he turns and runs, keeping distance between them. He concentrates, then stops suddenly and spins quickly toward his pursuers, casting his flashing light spell. The brilliance of the flash causes them to pause for an instant, long enough for him to throw three more stones in quick succession, taking them out.

“To me!” he hears a commanding voice pierce the air. “To me!”

A clash of metal off to his right signals Rylin’s entry into the battle. Following the sound, he finds the caravan guard hard pressed battling two of the bandits. Using his last stone, he nails one of them in the side, dropping him to the ground. Rylin steps back a moment and glances over to see James, who is but a shadow in the rain. He acknowledges him with a nod and then continues the attack on the remaining bandit pressing him.

James moves in the direction from which the commanding voice had called out earlier. Darting around another tent, he spies a group of men heading toward him. One is covered in armor and wielding a long sword, obviously the leader. They are heading toward the sound of Rylin’s battle with the bandit.

He waits too long and one of the approaching bandits sees him standing by the tent and cries out, pointing him out to the others. The leader yells for them to charge and they surge forward, swords drawn.

Seeing a dozen men bearing down on him, James turns and runs, angling away from where Rylin is battling in the hopes of giving him time to finish his opponent before help arrives.

Another shape materializes out of the rain ahead of him and he prepares another spell. Then he realizes it’s Miko leading the horses and mule.

“Are you okay?” Miko asks before spying the raging, sword waving men emerging out of the rain behind James.

“Get the hell out of here!” James yells at Miko, then turns to face the men. He concentrates on the ground near the leading edge of the attackers and lets loose a massive surge of power just as the men enter the targeted area.

Crrrrumph!

The ground erupts, throwing men, mud and rocks high into the air. James cries out at the pain caused by unleashing so much power at once. He drops to his knees, refusing to give in to unconsciousness.

Surveying the damage through the rain and falling mud, he sees most of the men lie unmoving. From behind the scene of carnage, three men, one being the leader, walk around the crater in the ground he just made. Coming toward him cautiously, the men gain confidence when they see him on his knees.

James grabs a stone from off the ground as he climbs to his feet and faces the approaching men. “Stand back!” he yells, putting more strength and confidence in his voice than he really feels. “Lest you wish to die.”

“You’re the one to die, mage,” the leader says as he continues his approach, a smug smile upon his face. “You can’t have much left in you after that, not if it left you on your knees.”

Coming off his knees through a sheer force of will, James stands straight and tall, praying that his knees won’t collapse on him. “Die then,” he yells and throws the stone at the leader while casting his spell. There is no familiar out-surging of power and the rock glances harmlessly off the leader’s armor. His magic has been all but depleted and the effort to draw on the little remaining to him causes dots to dance before his eyes.

Laughing, the leader says “Take him boys.” His two men come at James as he turns and tries to run away. But his weak legs give out and drop him to the ground. Turning, he sees his death coming at a run.

Thwock!

A crossbow bolt flies out of the rain to strike one of the men in the shoulder, spinning him backward. The bandit cries out in pain as he hits the ground. James looks to where the crossbow bolt originated and sees Miko throwing down the crossbow. Drawing his knife, Miko comes and stands before James.

The other bandit, seeing who it was who shot his partner says, “I’m going to gut you boy. You’re going to die slow and painful.”

Miko stands ready and doesn’t back down. James can see that the boy’s legs are shaking. He’s scared to death, but still holds his ground.

A fast-moving shadow emerges from the pouring rain and slams into the man approaching Miko, knocking him to the ground. Rylin quickly regains his feet and slashes down, catching the bandit in the neck, practically severing his head from his shoulders.

Roaring in rage, the leader rushes Rylin and launches into a series of blows, causing him to retreat in the face of such an onslaught. Rylin successfully blocks the leader’s attacks but seems to be doing all he can just to hold his own.

Hack! Hack! Slash!

It is soon obvious that Rylin is outclassed, the leader is by far the better swordsman and he’s protected by armor.

Miko approaches the battle in an attempt to help Rylin, but only receives a back handed cut for his efforts that slashes open his upper left arm. Out of commission, he backs away from the fight. He tears a strip of cloth off his shirt and uses it to stem the flow of blood coming from his arm, tying it as tightly as he can.

James watches as Rylin blocks blow after blow, never once being able to go on the offensive. The two combatants move around the camp, the leader seemingly able to have Rylin go in any direction he wants simply with the pattern of his blows.

“James what are we going to do?” Miko asks as he comes over, blood still leaking from under his makeshift bandage.

“I’ve no strength left in me,” he replies.

Miko extends his right hand toward James and asks, “Can you use mine?”

Looking at Miko through the rain, James says, “I don’t know what that would do to you. It may kill you.”

Miko glances over at Rylin then says, “He’s not going to last much longer. If we don’t do something soon we’ll all be dead.” He reaches over and takes James’ hand, “Just do it!”

Nodding, James concentrates, envisioning the power flowing from Miko into him and then through him. He looks over at the battle where Rylin who’s obviously exhausted, is having greater difficulty in blocking the leader’s blows.

Suddenly, Rylin cries out as the leader scores along his side opening a shallow cut. The leader shouts in triumph, “Aha!” when he sees the blood beginning to well from Rylin’s wound. Blow after blow the leader rains down upon him, continuously pushing him backward.

The leader maneuvers Rylin back close to the man Miko shot with the crossbow who is still lying on the ground. The man, though in pain, reaches out and grabs Rylin’s ankle causing him to lose his balance and stumble to the ground. The leader sees his chance and raises his sword to finish it.

Feeling the power flowing from Miko to him, James releases it and feels it being sucked out of his friend at an alarming rate. Miko cries out before slumping to the ground unconscious. James keeps a tight hold of his hand so the contact won’t be broken. He directs the power to the upraised sword of the leader, increasing the disparity of polarities between the sword and the clouds above.

Flash! Boom!

A giant bolt of lightning flashes from the sky to strike the end of the sword. The resulting explosion blasts the leader into the air. The bandit on the ground is charred as both he and Rylin are lifted into the air and tossed several feet away.