The Wizard's Council (25 page)

“I merely need to know what castle I am standing in front of.”

“Castle Cardinia, of course. One of your kind came through here not long ago. Do you need admittance as well?”

“One of my kind?” Paul asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, a Wizard. You are a Wizard, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am. Might I be able to enter?”

The guard nodded and called back up to the gatekeeper. They allowed Paul to pass through the gate and directed him toward the main keep. The hustle and bustle of the street was a bit overwhelming for Paul. It had been some time since he had been in Carmalia and he had grown accustomed to the cities of Gloomvale and the openness of the sea. Here, he was forced to push though throngs of people just to get to his destination. He could easily tell that something was going on, but he couldn’t tell what it was. The castle was far too crowded for things to be functioning at an everyday level.
What on earth is going on here
, he wondered as the keep came into view. He continued to push through the crowd until he reached the keep itself. The guards were busy telling others that they couldn’t have an audience with the King. Paul ignored them and made his way past and entered the keep itself.

“Hey, you can’t go in there!” A voice called from behind him.

“It will be fine,” He called back.

“I wish I had your confidence, Paul,” A familiar voice called out.

“James! What brings you here?” He asked as soon as he recognized the Archwizard.

“I was sent here to forge an alliance with Cardinia. I had just secured that alliance when we got word that the Galimdorians are attacking here
, as well. We haven’t heard from any of the others. All that remains for them is hope, my friend.”

“Emily is safe, Janessa won’t be able to help us. I cannot account for the others. If they are moving on Cardinia, does that mean Rolin and Melissa were unable to hold Carmalia?”

“As I said, all that remains for them is hope. At the least, we should be able to hold out against the Galimdorians. At the best, we might be able to defeat them in the open field. In the meantime, I will try to contact Thanos, Ector, and Cormac.”

*

Sev held up his hand as he crept forward in the tunnel. They had been tracking a small contingent of goblins for over an hour.
Their main base must be around here somewhere
, he thought as he watched them stop and argue for a moment. As they moved forward, Sev lowered his hand and followed behind ever so slowly. The goblins stopped bickering when they spotted torchlight in the tunnel ahead. Their voices dropped to excited whispers as they sped up. Sev motioned for the others to keep their pace as he quickened his steps and began to catch up to the goblins. He pulled out his hunting knives as he closed in on the closest of the goblins. His knives flashed out and caught the first goblin in the back of the neck, killing it instantly. The next goblin took a knife to the gut before the first had hit the dirt. Sev spun and dug his knives into the foreheads of the last two goblins. As they all crumpled to the ground, he motioned for the others to join him. They crept up on the encampment and were surprised to find it was not a goblin encampment, but a dwarf outpost.

“Hail, friends!” Sev called out as he stepped out into the light.

“What’re you doing down here? One of the dwarves called out.

“You may find it hard to believe, but we are looking for you.”

“Well, you’ve found us. Now, quickly, get in the outpost.”

Sev motioned for the others to follow and then he made for the open outpost door. Inside there were a few hundred
dwarves, all of whom looked exhausted.
They don’t look like they’ve had a rest for quite some time
, he thought as he looked over the dwarven army. He turned back to his own men and began to take a rough headcount. By his estimation, there were nearly two-hundred and fifty dwarves, just under two-hundred elves, and fifteen Rangers. Their numbers were low compared to what they would be facing in the orcs and goblins, but Sev knew they could handle themselves. His main goal was to find the dwarven leadership and see what kind of assistance they would require. Now that he was down in the tunnels, he realized that would be much harder than he originally thought. He approached the leader of the dwarves.

“We need to find the
dwarf who is in charge of your army,” Sev said.

“Well, that is a might bit difficult. You see, the
dwarves aren’t a united kingdom like many people think they are. Our King was slain in battle not too long ago and now we’ve got five dwarves claiming the throne. While I appreciate the effort to help us, our leadership should not be your target. They are the ones that have been getting us killed. If we had just united our force in the beginning, most of us would still be alive,” the dwarf replied.

“How did it get this bad?”

“One of our own betrayed us. The enemy had promised him a large amount of gold and he took it in exchange for opening the back gate to the King’s castle. As you can imagine, the brunt of our army was at home protecting the King. We lost over half of our men that day, including the King. Since then we’ve lost a lot more. There are pockets of resistance like ours, but we won’t hold out much longer.”

“It is good that I arrived when I did. What is your name, friend?”

“You may call me Willarn.”

*

Ector dismounted his horse and approached the council with a measure of reluctance. His relationship with the elves and their allies had not always been the best. Though they rarely let it show, he knew that they felt he put too much merit on his relationship with the Wizards.
Perhaps now they will agree with me
, he thought as he took up his place at the council table. The others acknowledged his presence, but continued their conversation about the war. As Ector had expected, the elves were being hit just as hard as any other kingdom. The trolls were giving them the hardest time, and though the orcs were no match for the elves, they were taking valuable resources away from the war with the trolls. Up until recently, the council was unwilling to pursue a course of action that required looking for allies. This was what Ector wanted to discuss once he had the option.

“Ector, you may address the council now,” One of the council members said.

“Thank you, I fear my news is grave. We’ve sent runners to each of the neighboring kingdoms, but none of them returned. I’ve attempted to contact the Wizards to no avail. Sev has taken a small contingent of men and is hoping to provide valuable assistance to the dwarves. Other than this, we are alone,” Ector said.

“This is dire news, but we cannot allow it to consume us. We need to mount a defense against the
trolls and orcs. Sev would have served us better staying here to defend our holdings. It is a shame to see that his loyalties do not lie completely with us.”

“How dare you! His loyalties should never be brought into question. The
dwarves are facing off against the same enemies that we are. If we were to unite with them, we would stand a chance at winning this. They will likely have to sacrifice some outposts, as will we. That is something we should be willing to accept.”

“You are out of line, Ector. This is not the Wizard council you are talking to. We are the council of Druids
, and we speak for ourselves as well as the elves. You would do well to remember that.”

“Then it was a folly for me to come here. The
dwarves are the only allies we have left, abandoning them is akin to admitting defeat. Listen to reason!” Ector slammed his hand on the table.

“Perhaps he is right. We should think about solidifying our troops in a more defensible position. If we can get the
dwarves to join us there, we may be able to hold out against our enemies,” Another member of the council said.

“So it is just us then. I don’t suppose we should be surprised. I am at your service, even if it has not always seemed that way.” Ector bowed to the council.

Rolin sighed as the wagon rolled to a stop. He almost wished Arcantos had left him for dead back in Carmalia.
Another round of taunts and jeers
, he thought as he saw the Knights of Doom approaching. Their jet-black armor, meant to strike fear into their opponents, only served to paint them as a target for the Wizards. Rolin knew that Paul and James would be able to pick them out when they were in battle, but he could only hope that the others had heeded the warnings of those who had previously faced such foes. The elderly Archwizard wondered if their hearts were as black as their armor as they approached him. He recognized the hand of the largest of the three when the man removed his glove. It was the first, and last, of the Knights of Doom to lay a hand on Melissa. The man’s hand was grossly disfigured from Rolin’s attack. He had been the only one foolish enough to ignore Rolin’s warning.

“Ready for a little payback, old man?” The ruffian asked as he shoved his hand in Rolin’s face.

“Not today, Cole. We need our guest to be fully aware when he watches us tear through Cardinia.” Arcantos placed his hand on the man’s shoulder.

“Did you see what he did to my hand?” The man protested, holding his arm up to his leader.

“Let it be a lesson to you, fool. A magician is not be trifled with. Especially the Wizards, they do not even know the full extent of their power. They put laws in place to limit their abilities. This makes then quite dangerous when they are pushed into a corner.”

“What do you want with me, Arcantos?” Rolin asked, tired of hearing the two converse.

“I want to show you true power. You’ve squandered away a lifetime full of power. All of you sniveling Wizards with your rules and regulations, stifling the power that is inherently inside all of us magicians. I want to show you what you’ve missed out on all these years. More than that, you are a bargaining chip. That girl, she is something special. Much like the other one, the young man who decided he wanted to be a thorn in my side. They are vastly different, yet alike in some way. It is like a puzzle, a magical puzzle. I want to put it together and harness its power. “

“I don’t believe you will find what you are expecting to find. Each of them is an embodiment of what drives our magic. Paul is the embodiment of will. In his case, it takes on the form of revenge. He will stop at nothing to see you and your knights killed. Emily is the embodiment of knowledge. I never could have imagined one so young could know so much about magic and magic history. It is truly amazing, but it is not something you can harness. Even if you could, you are missing the final and most important piece of the puzzle.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Arcantos asked.

“My reasons are twofold. I seek to stop you from pushing forward with this foolhardy assault. The other reason is far more selfish. I’ve spent a lifetime learning about magic and my thirst for knowledge only grows. Even if you harness their powers, you lack control. In all my time as a Wizard, never once have I met someone who embodies control. Though I do know a man who is far more powerful than any other magician I have ever met. Even he has untapped potential.”

“You are ever the mystery, Rolin. This is not a conversation that I would have expected to have with you, yet here we are. You sit in a rolling cage, and you still are willing to divulge information to your enemy. Perhaps I have misjudged you. You may have a place in my kingdom after all. We shall see in time.”

“I am nothing but an old man, Arcantos. Any information you think you have gained from this conversation will not avail you. It is knowledge that I have held for decades
, and I am still unable to conjure spells like some of the others. It seems that each of us has a ceiling that cannot be surpassed. No matter how hard you try, you will always be the same.”

“That is where you are wrong, old man. I will be the most powerful magician in the world
, and you will be there to watch me. Your life will be prolonged only so that you can see yourself proven wrong!” Arcantos shouted as he stormed off.

*

James paced back and forth in the throne room. He would never admit it, but the others could tell that his nerves had gotten the better of him. The Galimdorians were marching toward them, and none of the other Archwizards had pledged their support. Though the Cardinian army was strong, it was not as large as that which Galimdor was bringing. They had emptied their fortifications to the bare minimum in efforts to field a larger army. James had previously thought it impossible for them to raise more troops, but they had proved him wrong. Paul was taking things differently. He sat calmly and watched as his companions worried. It wasn’t the showdown he had been expecting, but it was a showdown with the Knights of Doom nonetheless. This was the moment he had been training for. It was his chance to finally bring about revenge on those who destroyed his life. He stood up and walked into the middle of the room before addressing those gathered.

“We need to prepare. They will be here before we know it
, and that spells doom for us if we aren’t ready for them. If we do this right, they won’t stand a chance. I’ve faced our opponent before. It isn’t the Galimdorians we need to worry about, it is the Knights of Doom. They will be wearing all black armor, and they’ll accompany the Galimdorians on the field of battle. If we can target them, we can effectively hamper our enemy’s ability to fight back,” Paul said.

“I agree with Paul. We need to start doing what we can to fortify the castle. Paul can instruct the men on how to deal with this threat while I make sure the castle is in shape for a siege. I know that we haven’t much time, but we need to use what little time we do have to ensure that they don’t overrun our position. Paul and I can provide some heavy firepower, but we’ll ultimately need to have the army ready to fight,” James joined Paul in the middle of the room as he spoke.

“If that is truly what things have come to, then we have no other choice. I’ll start the evacuation of all nonmilitary personnel at once. At the very least, we need to ensure that as many of our people are as safe as possible. I am placing my trust in the two of you,” The King replied.

“You won’t regret it, your highness. We will survive this yet.” Paul was unusually optimistic.

James nodded to Paul, and the two excused themselves. They both knew the task ahead of them, but Paul couldn’t help but wonder if the Archwizard was up to the task. He had faced off against the Knights of Doom many times in his life, more than anyone he had ever met. His knowledge of their enemy made him doubt his allies resolve.
I’ll have to do it all myself,
Paul thought as he parted ways with James. The King had given him authority to prepare the troops, but time was limited. His expertise would have to serve them on the battlefield more than in training. He shook his head in frustration as he approached the gathered army. The men gathered in the field were nothing to scoff at, but he had expected a much larger force.

“Is this all we have to work with?” He asked.

“We work in shifts, sir. There are four in all. You’ll have four times this many men at your disposal for training. When the battle starts, we’ll have a few hundred more from the town guard and maybe a thousand new recruits. Pair that with the three-thousand men that the King’s vassals will bring and we are looking at upward of seven thousand,” One of the guards, a man named Felick, replied.

“It will have to do, I suppose. How many of you have fought in a war?”

The amount of hands that went up was far fewer than Paul had been hoping for. He sighed as he strode forward to examine each individual’s arms and armor. The Cardinians were not known for being the greatest of warriors, but their craftsmen were rivals to even the dwarves. Each of the soldiers was given a sword and was allowed to choose one secondary weapon. Around two hundred of them had requested bows, another three hundred carried axes, and the final five hundred carried spears. Each of the four groups of soldiers had similar numbers of each weapon. Paul stopped to examine each soldier and had each of them perform a short demonstration of their skill. He quickly realized that it would take far too long for him to check with each man himself and assigned some of the King’s higher ranking soldiers to assist.

They were eager to listen to his instruction and quickly found themselves divided into three groups based on their skill in combat. After separating them by skill, Paul divided the entire troop into four battalions. Each battalion consisted of two hundred and fifty soldiers. For every veteran soldier, there were three of intermediate skill and six newcomers. He grouped them in this manner and ordered them to practice as he prepared a plan for the other three shifts. His instructions for the others were simple. He told them to gather the other three portions of the army and divide them up as he had done. Once they had done so, they were to once again divide the sections into four groups. In all, there was to be sixteen battalions of two hundred and fifty soldiers. One of the drillmasters cautiously approached Paul.

“What is the purpose of dividing our army like this?” He asked.

“It is quite simple, really. I’ve divided them into groups of two hundred and fifty because it will be easier to command smaller groups of forces when the battle commences. The reason that I split them up by skill is so that the greener recruits will be able to learn from the veterans. I would prefer to have sixteen average skilled groups of two hundred and fifty as compared to one group of veterans. Our enemy is both powerful and crafty. We cannot rely on a small group of well-trained soldiers to carry the victory. Our best bet is to utilize all of our resources to the best of our abilities,” Paul answered as he continued to watch the groups practice.

It was a strange feeling for the young man. He was commanding an army of complete strangers on behalf of a group that he had only been a part of for a small period of time. His goals were not in contention with theirs, but he had never expected to be accepted into a group with such ease. There was an army standing before him, one that would be his to command once the battle started.
They’ve placed a lot of faith in me
, he thought as he walked away from the courtyard where the army was training. His path led him to the top of the wall. The evacuation of the villagers was still under way, and it looked like a thing of chaos. Paul sighed as he watched the town guard do their best to maintain order. In the five days that he had been at the castle, the countryside had changed. Farmers had abandoned their crops, merchants had abandoned their carts, and villagers had abandoned their homes, all in fear of the coming invasion. Paul shook his head as he watched the bedlam below.

*

Arcantos became increasingly more wary as they got closer to their target. He spent his days at the front of the army, checking the horizon every time he heard the slightest sound. His men watched him with an equal measure of fear and worry.
They don’t grasp the importance of this moment
, he thought when he caught one of their strange glances. It was the culmination of all his planning. This was the final piece of the plan that he so masterfully put together and executed. Though parts of the plan changed, the conclusion had always stayed the same. He was coming ever closer to the moment that would make or break him. His troops had nearly protested when he insisted on leaving the siege weapons behind. They asked if he had planned on using his magic, but he replied by telling them it would be a surprise. He didn’t enjoy keeping his men in the dark, but the nature of the plan required that he do so.

Nature itself seemed to be interested in what Arcantos was planning. He often found small animals watching as his army passed.
They must not be used to this many people
, he thought as he watched the critters scatter. Whether by curiosity or fear, the animals kept an eye on Arcantos and his men until they were out of sight. Even the weather seemed to be changing around him. Dark clouds had rolled in with the dawn, and they seemed to be slowly following the magician and his army. Though some of his men took it to be a bad omen, he took it as a sign of the coming darkness for his enemies. An almost otherworldly passion drove Arcantos and his men could see it in his demeanor. Their stops were getting less frequent, and when they did stop, they stopped for much shorter periods of time. Kreagor approached him.

“What is it that drives you forward at this pace?” He asked.

“The smell of victory, it is within our grasp. I can almost taste it. You may not have had the fortune of being in such situations before, but you can ask any of my men. They will tell you the same thing. There is a feeling in the very air itself. It drives us to push forward. The moment of our triumph is nearly upon us!” Arcantos replied.

The Galimdorian nodded, not fully understanding what Arcantos was talking about. They had a different outlook on the coming battle. As per Arcantos plan, they believed the Wizards to be responsible for their King’s death
, and this was a mission of revenge against them and those who were harboring them. It served the evil magician’s purposes well, for Kreagor and his men were seen as tools to be used to fulfill the goal of revenge. Even the Wizards did not know the full extent of his role in the events that had unfolded. He knew that it would all come together for them, but it would be too late for anyone to stop him at that point. It was a thought that gave him the confidence to push his men harder than what he was used to. Their target, castle Cardinia, loomed in the distance. Though it would still take the better part of the day to arrive, he knew that the Cardinians would have spotted his army by now. A part of him wished he could be there to see the looks on the faces of his enemy as his army spilled out over the countryside. It was not as large or powerful as it had been when they attacked Carmalia, but that was beside the point. In fact, if his wishes were granted, the Cardinians would attack them on the open field.