Balancer (Advent Mage Cycle) (15 page)

“What if we cast a circle first?”

We all turned to Dassan as if he had just spouted wisdom directly from the gods.

“You can do that?” Chatta asked incredulously, eyes flaring wide. “But we don’t know how many people are in that building!”

“Not now, but we can,” he assured her. “We do, after all, have several triangles on us that can tell us how many are in that building. We can send someone out right now to take a quick look and report how many we’ll be dealing with.”

“We’ll send someone out tonight,” I said firmly. “But do you think we have enough magicians to handle this? Even a guess is fine at this point, but we need to know if more magicians should be called in from Coven Ordan now otherwise they won’t have the time to arrive and be briefed.”

“We have enough. No matter how packed that building is with people, there can’t be more than a hundred or so and we certainly have enough magical power to cast a circle large enough to handle a group of that size. And right now, we have a
lot
of magicians that we can call upon. We can cast a circle right there, without entering the building, and cut their combat abilities in half.”

“Well that would’ve made things go a whole lot faster had I known that,” I heard Shad mutter under his breath.

Audax took one second to consider things. In his mind, I must be the one in charge of all magical operations, for he turned to me and said, “Do it. Call in whoever you need to. I grant you the authority.”

I gave him a half bow in acknowledgement. “Yes, Highness. Dassan, Chatta, let’s sit down and see if we can’t make some rough estimates.”

Chatta panned the view out a little more in her bowl before waving a wand over the surface. “I’ve frozen the image so that you can study it without me. Gentlemen, one word of experience: when a magician is stripped, they’re usually in severe shock afterwards. They’re not going to be capable of putting up much of a fight.”

Saroya’s stern expression relaxed into something that might have been a smile. “I’m glad to hear it. We’ll prepare for the worst just in case, though.”

“Probably wise,” she allowed with a wry curve of the lips.

~*~

Most of the night was spent in preparation. Saroya, Xiaolang and Audax put their heads together and outlined the best way to breach the building. Chatta was often drafted to scry around every nook and corner of the building so that they had an exact picture of the entrances. After seeing every angle of the building upon request, I could tell from Saroya’s expression that he now had a whole new appreciation for having magicians around. For that matter, I think the prince was plotting on just keeping Chatta.

Shad and one of his Wizards—Bornemeier, I think—actually went to the building and did a search with the triangle to determine the exact number that we were dealing with. When they came back, Xiaolang and Saroya had to rework the entire plan that they’d been devising. Apparently, we would not be dealing with a hundred people as they’d pessimistically assumed. From what I heard, only forty-seven were actually in the building. Whether that number stayed consistent through the night and into the next morning, well…that was anyone’s guess.

As I wouldn’t be part of the military end of this operation, I didn’t pay a lot of attention to what they planned. Dassan and I instead worked out the right number of magicians to call a circle together, and which magicians we could afford to yank quickly from the field. The building was the size of a warehouse, and we couldn’t be sure that the number reported to us wouldn’t change at some point during the night. On the one hand, no blood magician was as powerful as a normal magician, so it didn’t take as much effort to strip their magic. On the other, we didn’t want to be cocky and not have the power we needed. It made deciding on an exact number for the circle tricky, to say the least.

We finally decided on 32. If we drew upon every available Mage, partially because they could quickly travel to Ascalon and partially for their brute strength, then it should be enough even if the warehouse was packed full of Priests.

I don’t wake up at the best of times, but this morning was worse than usual. Not only were we attacking in the pre-dawn hours, an unholy hour of the morning that I try to avoid as much as possible, I had only snatched a few hours of sleep the night before. I didn’t so much walk downstairs as shamble. Getting both eyes open at the same time was simply beyond me.

As if life were mocking me, Prince Audax stood waiting in the foyer, impeccably dressed in a military uniform looking perky and alert. His toe tapped an impatient rhythm as he waited for everyone to assemble. When he saw me half-stumbling down the stairs his impatient frown deepened into one of outright concern.

“Garth, I’m used to you being somewhat…hazy in the mornings, but are you unwell?”

“Long night,” I rasped, trying to keep a sour note out of my voice. I finally noticed that Ries was standing at Audax’s back as he had at mine the past several months. He also was impeccably dressed and had the air of a man that thought sleep was for weaklings. I gave him a nod good morning, which he returned with a hint of a smile.

“And Chatta?” Audax asked, looking beyond me as if he expected to see her following me down.

“Also a long night.”

His eyes crinkled a bit at the corners. “Your married life is bound to prove interesting, if this is normal.”

“Especially around breakfast,” I agreed. The banter oddly helped me to wake up a little. “Have you seen anyone else?”

“Everyone else is already outside and gearing up. I am simply waiting for you and Chatta.”

Great, we were the last ones down. Frowning, I turned in a half-circle, looking for…found him. Didi sat on the banister two stories up, tail twitching as he watched me. “Didi, is she up yet?”

Didi gave a shake of the head.

“In that case, go wake her up. You have my permission to do
anything
that works.”

A slow smile spread over the meuritta’s face. It might have just been the angle, but from here it was a particularly evil smile. He gave me a chipper salute, then scampered down the hallway.

Prince Audax cleared his throat slightly. “Was that wise?”

“Probably not,” I admitted. “But this way, Didi and I can blame it on the other.”

“
DIDI!”

I winced as Chatta’s outraged scream echoed through the building. Did I want to know what he’d done…well, even if I didn’t she was bound to tell me. “It will only take her a moment to strangle him, if you want to go ahead,” I offered in genial tones. “We’ll catch up shortly.”

Audax had his eyes fixed on the ceiling, as if he could somehow discern what was going on upstairs even through the wood and plaster. “Garth, I must ask…do
all
magicians have familiars?”

“Oh no, it’s not a set rule. We generally do just because it’s easier for us to have one. When we work complicated magic we tend to lose track of our immediate surroundings. A familiar helps to safeguard us in those moments.”

He processed this for several seconds before venturing, “So Nolan doesn’t need to have a familiar.”

“Ah…” Had no one told him? “Highness, Nolan already
has
a meuritta.”

Audax’s jaw dropped, mouth working for several seconds before he croaked, “
What?!
When did that happen?”

I tried to hide my evil smile as I related the tale of how the boys had escaped Del’Hain and gone adventuring, coming back with their own meurittas. Audax looked ready to practice some stress relief on the nearest wall by the time I finished.

Chatta joined us at the bottom of the stairs, looking just as un-awake as I felt. Didi, wisely, flew about three feet above her head, just out of range. He didn’t look singed or damaged in any way, so he must have dodged Chatta’s revenge, whatever that had been.

My fiancée glared up at me under furrowed brows. “You sicced him on me, didn’t you?”

I gave her a bright, innocent smile. “They’re waiting for us.”

Muttering darkly under her breath, she stalked out the front door.

~*~

The plan went off so smoothly it actually made me nervous.

We’d already coordinated on which magicians would be in the circle and who would be bringing the groups in. It would be easier if each group were brought in from different directions instead of one lump group that would arrive and then have to fan out. I had five magicians with me that I spread out along the south side of the building.

There were only two main entrances to the warehouse. One on the east side and another on the west. We had two magicians standing in front of each entrance, but also a squad of specially trained soldiers that were on high alert. I had my earth sense strained to its max sensitivity, so I could feel every restless movement of the soldiers. I could also tell the number of Priests inside of that building—the number hadn’t changed since Shad’s reconnaissance. We had more than enough magicians to handle what was inside. I breathed a little easier when I realized this.

Dassan and Chatta coordinated all of the magicians into a rough circle around the building by contacting them through mirror broach. I didn’t pay much attention to their quiet commands, even though I kept the mirror out and in my left hand just in case they needed me to do something. We all knew what the plan was, after all. We were just staying in communication just in case. It still being early in the morning, the air had that damp, slightly chill feeling to it. The sun hadn’t yet properly risen over this section of the city yet either. It felt like we were still in the witching hour of the night even though it was technically morning. Our surroundings had that unearthly, grey look to it. I didn’t like being part of a circle to begin with as the notion of being stripped of magic was
highly
disturbing for me. Doing it in this uneasy atmosphere…well, needless to say I felt a little more on edge than I probably should have been.

With the tall buildings around us, the sun didn’t have a chance to really light up the deserted streets we stood on. As it inched its way into the sky, the dark blue shadows that we stood in lightened to grey. I found myself marking time by the color as the law people got into position.

We’d debated on whether the Protectors should be called in the night before, but Prince Audax had insisted on it. Even if we felt like we had enough expertise to handle this body of Priests, he wanted them there. Mostly for political and legal purposes, or so I was given to understand by his rather cryptic explanation. With these narrow passages and alleys between the stone buildings sound echoed, so I could hear the whispered conversations as the new arrivals coordinated with the teams already in place. I didn’t hear any arguments break out though, so assumed that they were cooperating with each other.

“
Alright everyone,”
Chatta’s voice came softly through the mirror, but with a distinctness that spoke of command, “
Dassan and I will start the incantation. Join in as you are able. Ready, and: What stands before us…”

I joined in on the next line, hearing a multitude of voices of all ages and genders around me speak at the same time. Some of the voices came through mirror, others from the people standing with me. It was the first time I’d ever linked up with
that
many magicians all at once. The amount of power that filled the air was awe-inspiring and staggering. It sent my nerves singing and my pulse racing.

There were screams of dismay and horror from inside the building, so we knew the circle had done its job. Some of the occupants rushed outside immediately, staggering as the shock set in, their eyes wild. The unbalanced attacks they tried were abruptly cut down by the waiting Special Forces members and Protectors.

I stood near the corner of the south end, near the east entrance, so I could actually see some of the Priests manhandled into manacles and then dragged forcibly to the waiting wagons. Each wagon had a cage made of thick iron bars set over the top, like a mobile prison cell. I was told that fifteen people could be put inside, and they’d brought four wagons, just in case. I kept an eye on them as we ended the incantation, letting the magic drain away.

“Alright, everyone, excellent work,”
Dassan said through the mirror, sounding as out of breath as I felt. Working that kind of magic in tandem left you feeling strangely exhilarated, with magic still humming at high volume through your blood. But at the same time, you felt a little light headed and you just knew that as soon as the adrenaline wore off, you’d be exhausted later. I wasn’t looking forward to later.

“If you feel able,
” Chatta added, “
please go to either the east or west entrances and keep an eye on the Priests. I think our allies can handle it, but it doesn’t hurt to have an extra set of eyes on these people. We know their tricks, after all.”

Yes, the group of magicians in on this operation had been handpicked not just for the magical expertise but their experience with blood magic. All of us here knew the warning signs to watch for.

I watched each person as they were dragged out. Most of them were young—fifteen years or so old. Barely old enough to be initiates. Others were in their late teens or early twenties; old enough to be Priests but too young to know any of the secrets we were searching for.

The wagons were a good way to estimate how many we’d captured. I did a headcount as I walked to the east entrance and frowned when I realized we only had ten in one wagon. Lifting the mirror to my mouth I asked, “South entrance, how many do you have?”

It was Shad that answered, “
We have six. How many do you have?”

“Ten,” I answered, feeling my stomach tightening into a large knot.

“
Then we’re short a few,
” Shad responded with obvious delight. “
Oh good, I was afraid this might be boring. East side, hold position. I’m going in and I’ll try to flush them your direction.”

“Shad!” I yelped in alarm, “Don’t go in there alone!”

“
Too late,”
Dassan informed me, voice resigned. “
He’s gone.”