Takaar’s first thought was to step back, but the first faint laughter was already on his tormentor’s lips so he stood his ground and held up his hands.
‘Please, my children, songs of my mind. . Cleress, Aviana, Myriell. . one at a time.’ Whatever the excitement was, it was infectious, and Takaar felt his heart beginning to race. ‘To where must I come, and why?’
‘We’ve got one!’ said Cleress, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the doors. ‘Just now. Ephy is keeping him in the air!’
‘Slow down, slow down,’ said Takaar. ‘One what, my child? Aviana, take a breath and start from the beginning.’
Cleress and Myriell looked to Aviana, the eldest of them by all of three years and ever the most eloquent. She was the most beautiful too, though none of them lacked attention. Their innocence had to be protected until they had reached the maturity of their powers, and the more persistent ulas had been warned as much. A heightened emotional state in combination with the volatile nature of their abilities would be a terribly dangerous mix.
Aviana bowed her head and placed the tips of her fingers to her forehead.
Why does she do that?
‘That is not necessary, Aviana,’ said Takaar, lifting her chin with his left hand. ‘We are friends, are we not? Now.’
‘We, well Ephemere mainly, were working on your Ixil transfer theory with Drech, trying to sustain one of his castings as he withdrew from it. She heard a call through the energy lines and, as she already had her focus, she switched to him. He’s a long way away and he’s almost spent, but she’s keeping him in the air and bringing him here. She needs help, though. Will you help us?’
Takaar felt the thrill of righteousness. Just one more thing Drech didn’t believe was possible and had only researched under protest.
‘Who is he?’
‘We don’t know,’ said Aviana. ‘But he’s a human, he’s injured and probably unconscious by now, and he’s still days out to sea. He’s coming from Balaia.’
Takaar smiled. ‘Perfect. Show me the way. We must not fail.’
Congratulations.
Takaar almost tripped over his own feet in surprise.
The quartet of black orbs, each the size of a catapult stone, wove through the air and smashed into the stern mast in quick succession. The magical fire consumed the sail canvas in the space of a breath, the blaze shedding wisps of ash to fall like feathers across the ship. A fifth orb struck. Flame roared down the mast and a wall of heat slammed into Stein, picking him up and hurling him back.
Stein raised his hands to protect his face and felt the skin blister on his palms and forearms. His hair was scorched from his head and his heavy leather coat smouldered and blackened as he flew through the air. He landed on his backside and slid hard into the port rail. He ignored the pain across his body and gathered his legs under him, staring back at the aft deck.
The captain and helmsman were gone, both taken by fire. A black stump was all that remained of the wheel, and the deck was awash with dark flames grabbing voraciously for new fuel and growing in intensity.
‘Where was the shield?’ Stein asked of any who might listen.
But precious few were left. A handful of sailors were heading aft with buckets in a futile attempt to extinguish the fire. Survivors of the mage teams hurled flame and ice at the trio of enemy ships closing on them and a small knot of defensive casters raised a new shield over the main deck.
The ship yawed, rudderless now and prey to the fifteen-foot swell. She swung broadside on and wallowed, shattering the concentration of the casting mages. Stein grabbed the rail with his burned hands. The vessel steadied momentarily and he pushed himself off, wincing at the pain.
Across the shortening distance to the nearest enemy, he could see shamen readying again and the ranks of Wesmen crowding the rails, eager for their chance to taste blood. He knelt by the knot of defensive mages and joined their casting, seeing the mana shape flicker before it steadied and deepened, widening to encompass the mid-mast and the deck on which their entire surviving mage strength was now gathered.
‘Brace yourselves,’ said Stein. ‘Here they come.’
Orbs of dark fire raced across the sky. Stein could sense their force through the mana spectrum as they flew for the shield.
‘Steady,’ he whispered.
The orbs struck the shield with the force of a cavalry charge. The shield shivered and every mage was driven back across the deck. Black tendrils of shaman magic searched the invisible barrier, seeking weakness. The shield held.
‘Well done,’ breathed Stein. ‘Let’s keep it strong.’
Stein took a breath and looked aft. The fire was raging over a third of the ship now. Sailors still tried to beat out the flames but it was a hopeless task. Clouds of smoke billowed across the deck and out over the ocean. The ship would sink. The only question was whether or not they could cover an escape.
‘Incoming!’
The ship wallowed again, affording Stein a view of another enemy ship horribly close to their stern. Spells spiralled from her bow, slamming into the unprotected aft deck and burning mast. Stein felt every blow through his feet. He heard the cracking of timber and the sharp whip of lines torn from their stays. .
. . as the aft mast fell along the length of the ship, colliding with the mainmast, bringing down rigging, pulleys, spars and sail on the defensive mage group.
‘Break!’ roared Stein, scrambling away. Others weren’t so quick and were able only to cover their heads as the avalanche of heavy rigging fell on them. ‘Dammit!’
Stein and a handful of crew ran back to try and pull the mages clear, but all three enemy vessels were on them now, their shamen preparing to cast the killing spells and the Wesmen ready to mop up any survivors. Stein felt a hand on his shoulder and spun to face the first mate.
‘You have to go.’
‘No,’ said Stein. ‘We can’t leave anyone. They’ll offer no mercy.’
‘Casting inbound!’ yelled a voice.
Spears of black fire tore into the ship, ripping up timber, throwing deadly splinters into the air to bury themselves in the bodies of the mages still at the rails, trying to fight back. More dark orbs crashed into the mainmast and landed nearer the bow. The ship shuddered and Stein fell. The mate dragged him back to his feet.
‘It’s too late for the rest of us. Go. Now. Someone has to take the message south.’
‘I-’
‘Stein! We knew what we were facing. I am proud to die for my college and my country.’
Stein stared into the first mate’s eyes and saw belief shining through fear. Stein nodded, bit down on his guilt and began to cast. ‘The council will hear of your courage.’
Another volley of spells crashed into the ship, and water burst through already shattered deck timbers. The first mate turned from Stein, took a single pace forward and was struck by a tongue of flame. His burning body was flung clear over the port rail, his screams lost in the tumult of the dying ship.
Stein cast his Wings of Shade and shot straight up into the air. Fingers of black fire chased him, ripping into his boot and up his left leg. He screamed and barely clung on to the casting, feeling the wings gutter on his back and his stomach lurch as he lost altitude, plunging back towards the deck.
Black smoke billowed across the ship. He could just make out some of his mages trying to cast, but the shamen were too close and the dark fire was all-consuming. Stein focused, strengthened the spell and climbed once more, orbs still chasing him into the heavens but unable to reach him before they fell back to the ocean.
Below him the wreckage of his ship was sinking fast while the three enemy vessels circled like sharks contemplating their kill. Stein banked and flew south. They had been six days’ sail from Calaius — an enormous distance for a fit mage, and Stein was far from fit. His head and arms were burned and raw and his left leg was a throbbing agony. The spells he had cast had depleted his stamina and he felt a gnawing shock at the ease with which the enemy had caught and destroyed them.