Tides of Faith: Travail of The Dark Mage Book Two (37 page)

“Stay here.”

Not waiting for Miko’s nod, he
quick-timed it across the market square toward a spot twenty feet
to the right of the wagon. Coming to a stop, he put his hands
together, then drew them apart. Between his palms, a round
translucent bubble formed. Once it had a diameter close to a foot,
James removed his hands and the bubble stayed in place.

He hurried past the carpenter’s
courtyard for another distance of twenty feet, then created a
second translucent bubble just like first. When it floated free, he
returned to Miko.

“Be ready.”

Closing his eyes, he brought the
labyrinthine network of magical lines that was the magical seed
into view with his mind’s eye. This was the tricky part. He needed
to create a conduit from the stored magic to each of the bubbles
simultaneously in order to create an even outflow and maintain
equilibrium. In the back of his mind he wondered why he needed to
do it thus, but past experiences had taught him to trust his
instincts where magic was concerned. It felt like the right thing
to do and so he set aside the question for later. Right now, he
needed to get this done.

Focusing on the bubbles, he created
coil-like extensions that expanded from each and twined their way
toward the stored magic. As they drew closer, he slowed their
advance to a crawl. Working ever so carefully, he brought them to a
point where both coils of magic were a hair’s breadth from the
glowing heart of the spell. It was there that the magic
concentrated most densely. Praying that this would work, be
connected the two extensions.

Light exploded outward from the two
bubbles as from each, dozens of glowing orbs sprang into being. The
orbs lasted only a brief moment before vanishing into
nothing.

After keeping an eye on the stable
outflow of magic for several moments, James strengthened the coils
leading to the bubbles and the magic flow increased.

“Impressive.”

Dozens of orbs had turned into
hundreds and the flow of magic remained steady. Risking a quick
glance to Miko, he grinned and nodded. “Not sure how long this is
going to take, but I’ll gradually increase the usage until all the
stored magic is depleted.”

Returning his attention to the outflow
of magic, James observed for another minute before tweaking the
outflow to a greater level. The magic stored at the heart of the
spell did not feel as if his efforts had had any effect. Not
wanting to remain at this all night, he upped the outflow yet
further.

Individual orbs could no longer be
discerned as now a constant explosion of light erupted outward from
both bubbles. After several moments of close scrutiny, he discerned
a lessening to the stored magic. Turning to Miko, he gave him a
grin. “It’s working.”

“What does he think he’s
doing?”

Jiron paced, all the while staring at
the glow coming from the heart of Tapu. It was now so bright that
it would assuredly draw the attention of anyone in the vicinity;
quite possibly, even those that were not in the area. It had to be
visible for miles.

“I’m sure what he has to,” replied
Father Vickor.

“Well, he’d better finish quickly so
we can get out of here before someone comes to investigate.” Many
grunts of agreement followed Shorty’s comment.

“You needn’t worry about
that.”

Rounding on Azhan, Jiron asked, “What
do you mean?”

The young mage gestured toward the
light. “Should his efforts be observed, it would merely be
attributed to the curse plaguing this area. No one would willingly
brave death to investigate.”

Tinok snorted. “I hardly think your
masters would think twice about sending someone to their deaths
should the whim strike.”

Lowering his eyes to the ground, he
ignored the knifer’s barb and remained silent. Azhan’s right hand
rubbed along his left forearm. The prickling sensation caused by
the active magic in Tapu had grown marginally uncomfortable since
the light first appeared.

While the others argued amongst
themselves as to the possible ramifications of what transpired in
the cursed city, Azhan silently admitted to himself that Tinok’s
observation was closer to the truth than he had alluded. A patrol
would most assuredly check out any unusual happenings, even in a
place reputedly cursed.

He had mixed feelings about
that.
Did he really want to be
saved?
Life under Captain Allin had been
anything but pleasant. As part of a patrol, he would never be able
to advance in his craft. However, with the Dark Mage as his
master…and then there were his master’s Glerhan to consider. He did
not relish the idea of having them hunting for him.

Glancing again to Tapu, he knew that
such feats were beyond the skills of anyone currently at the
School. Maybe the two remaining Masters could match such a deed;
though the chance that they would take a lowly mage like himself on
as apprentice was all but nonexistent. In these unsettled times,
one needed to first look after himself.

Captain Aziri, a right nasty piece of
work in whose company his friend and fellow mage, Hikai,
languished, led the nearest patrol. From the few conversations he
and Hikai had shared when their two patrols met up, life with
Captain Aziri was worse than what he had endured.

In the deep recesses of his mind, he
harbored a hope that Captain Aziri would run afoul of his new
master and his master’s comrades. The ghost of a grin appeared as
he laid back on the ground and thought of the meeting, and the
ensuing carnage. Of course in this vision, Hikai survived and
together, they would learn at the feet of the dreaded Dark
Mage.

As the Dark Mage’s apprentices, they
would be party to momentous, historic events. And one day, should
they live through it, become Masters in their own right. Visions of
battles both mundane and arcane played through his mind. In the
midst of them all, the Dark Mage and his two apprentices wielded
forces that laid waste to everyone that dared come against
them.

Mountains crumbled, seas boiled, men
fell in droves, the power of the Dark Mage ruled supreme. During a
vision where he was summoning creatures of fire to deal with a
thousand raiders, the prickling of his skin abruptly turned from
merely annoying to painful. Snapped out of his reverie, he knew
something had changed.

A gasp escaped him upon spying a
shimmering, undulating darkness moving toward them from the south
across the night sky. Entire swaths of stars would fade and grow
distinct in its passing. The scope of the thing was
immense.

Apprehension filled him to such an
extent that he could not take his eyes from it. None other seemed
to have noticed the approach of the shimmering darkness. Moving
fast, it was soon over their camp.

The prickling pain intensified to a
nearly unendurable level as the mass passed overhead. His heart
beat fast and sweat broke out on his brow. Never had he heard of
such a thing. Pinpricks of pain flared across his skin; not until
it had moved past and the sky above returned to normal did they
subside.

Now freed of the paralytic hold the
mass had held over his eyes, they turned from it toward the light
coming from the heart of Tapu.

“Master!”

He lurched to his feet and took two
steps toward Tapu before an arm snaked around his throat, bringing
him to an abrupt halt.

“Not so fast.” Tinok squeezed the
mage’s neck and brought his knife up to lay alongside Azhan’s
cheek.

“But…”

His words faded to silence when at the
heart of Tapu, the light intensified tenfold.

For the last half hour, James had been
closely monitoring the progress of the spell. The rate of magic
depletion was continuing at a steady pace and it looked as if the
reservoir of magic would be completely drained in another hour,
maybe two. There had been no hitches and the outflow of magic
remained stable and consistent. Satisfied that his plan was working
he gave Miko a grin and sighed.

“We should have this done and be
across the river before dawn.”

“That will be good.”

Nodding, James absentmindedly rubbed
his forearm. The prickling sensation caused by the magnitude of
magic utilized by his two orb-producing bubbles was growing
annoying and a tad bit painful. In fact, for the last minute or so
the discomfort had grown to rival what one feels after the
circulation has been restored following an extended period of lying
upon your arm in an awkward position.

When the pain grew more severe, he
glanced back to the spell and with his mind’s eye, again examined
its inner workings. What he saw made him gasp.

Fissures had ruptured along the span
of the conduits. From one such fissure, a thread of magic had
appeared. In the span of a heartbeat, dozens more sprang to life.
The threads elongated, met up with each other, formed connections,
then spawned others. By the second heartbeat, each of the two
conduits drawing power from the seed’s reservoir of magic and
powering the two bubbles emitting glowing orbs was fully entwined
in a dense, convoluted network of these threads. The flow of magic
spiked and so, too did the output of glowing orbs.

Both men gasped with pain and quickly
shielded their eyes. The light was now so intense that neither
could look directly upon it.

“What are you doing?”

“
Something’s
wrong.”

James focused more intently on the
conduits and the growing network of magic threads. He was at a loss
as to what was happening or how to stop it. Drawing more power to
him, James began hacking away at the growing threads in an attempt
to rid the conduits of their influence. For every one severed,
three more sprang forth.

The prickling pain fought for his
attention, but he ignored it and concentrated on stabilizing the
spell. He sensed things were quickly spiraling out of control. Then
all of a sudden, his mind’s eye grew cloudy and he could no longer
focus on the spell. He fought for control but the magic grew
erratic.

Threads latched onto the magic under
his control and a backlash of power slammed into his mind. Crying
out, he staggered backward.

“James!” Miko caught him before he
could hit the ground.

Glazed eyes met his own. Slapping him
hard across the face, Miko again yelled, “James!” No
response.

The orb-emitting bubbles no longer
merely produced them to fall in a gentle cascade. Instead, they now
shot them halfway across the square; some arced up into the starlit
sky before vanishing.

A feeling of impending disaster came
over the High Priest. Lying his friend down on the ground, he
covered James’ body with his own. Throwing everything he had into
the shield protecting them, he closed his eyes and whispered,
“Morcyth, protect us.”

“I tell you, he’s in
trouble.”

Tinok continued holding Azhan around
the throat. Everyone stood watching the events transpiring at the
center of Tapu.

Scar glanced to the young mage. “What
kind of trouble?”

Azhan did not know how to explain what
he felt.

Shorty pointed back toward the city,
“That kind.”

Blazing trails marred the night sky as
balls of light erupted from out of Tapu.

“What should we do?”

Father Keller turned to Kip. “We wait,
Novice. That is all we can do.”

Seconds rolled by as the intensity of
the aerial bombardment increased; then a white flash followed
almost immediately by an explosive detonation so powerful that it
knocked them off their feet.

Azhan broke free of Tinok as they hit
the ground. Battle training took over and he was instantly back on
his feet staring at the wall of debris headed their way. It
appeared as if every building in Tapu had disintegrated and now
rode a wave of destruction toward them in an ever-widening
wake.

Magical words flew from his mouth and
an earthen berm six feet high and twenty wide rose protectively
between them and the approaching outflow of stone.

“Down!”

Jiron grabbed Jira in a protective hug
and threw himself against the base of the earthen barrier. The
others followed suit as the ground shook and the air filled with a
roar like the charge of a thousand Parvatis.

Horses screamed and fled, but they
were not fast enough. The wall of debris hit the berm with a
vengeance. Two sections caved in and another vanished altogether
under the initial onslaught as parts of what used to be the city of
Tapu struck with incredible force.

Clutching Jira all the harder, Jiron
closed his eyes and knew they had lived their last. A section of
berm less than an arm’s length away blasted outward when a massive
section of wall with part of a staircase slammed into it. Despite
the layer of earth, his back took a beating as the wave of
destruction rolled over them…then it was past.