The Young Mage Ch. 06

"Ohhh, Goddess!" Sela moaned, arching her hips and squeezing Magnus' head with her strong legs. Magnus feasted on this amazing drug, oblivious to anything else. It was only the slight ache of his painfully rigid cock that finally reminded him of the urgency of his own need. With some reluctance, he unglued his mouth from her puffed-up pussy and pushed his cock inside her, slowly, the tightness of it making them both moan in a lusty chorus.

Their lips found each other once again, warring, struggling for breath and savoring each other, while Magnus kept pushing into her with increasing urgency. Their breaths became labored, their bodies sweaty and tensed but their faces showed pure bliss as their climax approached. Finally, they exploded, together, their screams of release echoing throughout the land.

"Gods! Ahh!"

"Blessed... ahh!... be the Goddess!!"

As they lay on the warm grass, panting, their faces stretching into joyful smiles, it is hard to say if they even thought about gods and the Goddess being offended by their repeated calling for them. Probably not, as there is hardly any god, or demon, who would not enjoy the celebration of life and passion that just occurred.

"Damn, it was worth waiting a couple of weeks for this," Magnus said with a chuckle.

"You know, I don't believe it will take that long until the next time..." she said, turning towards him and nibbling on his ear. "No... not long at all," she said, finding his lips once again...

***

It took a week before the whole team gathered in a camp just several miles south of the abandoned fort. About two dozen of Lanaya's scouts, twice as much of Vistania's Elite Guard, and four mages - that was the combined strength of the force that was going to storm the fort and go up against whatever force the cult had inside of it.

"That is a sizable discharge of magical energies... although not as big as I expected..." Wizard Anodar said with a pensive look. He was looking in the direction of the fort even though he wasn't able to see it through the thick layer of trees that surrounded their camping site.

"I agree... It seems off by an order of magnitude... although I can't say that I ever tried to open such a portal myself," Sorceress Irina said, earning an amused nod from Lord Anodar.

"We need a plan of attack," Commander Keren said after a minute.

"Indeed... I say we just unleash our kinetics on the gate and then rush inside and try to catch them unawares... although I would be surprised if they didn't put some triggers to warn them about an enemy approach," Lord Anodar said.

"It is often said that no plan survives the start of the battle, but this one is as simple as it gets. If you can break down the gate immediately, then we can engage the enemy on even terms. There is no way that their soldiers can match our elite force in combat skill so we should be able to take them out without much problems. I leave the mages to you," the commander said, looking at Wizard Anodar for confirmation. The senior wizard nodded.

"This simple plan is fine but we need a plan B as well," Lanaya said.

"That would be wise," Commander Keren said in approval.

"What are you expecting to go wrong in our plan?" Wizard Anodar asked.

"Anything can go wrong," Lanaya said, turning her gaze to the wizard. "Their force could turn out to be superior, for example. Also, you might be unable to destroy that gate?"

"If their mages were to actively defend it... I guess that could happen," the wizard conceded.

"So, a plan B then."

"If the plan fails, it might turn out too costly for us to exchange spells and arrows against an enemy who is sitting behind fortifications," Fiona added. "In such an event, maybe we could have a larger group engage the attention of the defenders, while the other group would try to get on top of the wall and attack them from behind."

"That is an interesting idea but that wall doesn't seem like it can be climbed easily..." Sela said.

"I could lift one of you to the top of the wall and then you could drop ropes for the rest of the group," Fiona said.

"It would work if children of the Goddess weren't resistant to magic. We can't disable our natural defenses against magic," Lanaya said, turning her eyes towards Fiona.

"Then I'll get to the top of the wall myself and drop the ropes for the rest of you," Fiona said with confidence. She and Lanaya held each other's gazes for several moments until Lanaya nodded in approval.

"If you can manage to do it, my scouts will climb those ropes in a matter of seconds. Once we climb up, we can move with speed and stealth and take out their heavy hitters."

"Will you be able to do it?" Magnus said, looking at Fiona.

"Of course I can do it," Fiona said with confidence. He nodded, wondering if she was truly as confident as she seemed.

"Well, that is settled then?" the commander said, looking around the group and receiving nods. "We have our primary plan and a contingency plan as well. It should work, with the help of gods."

***

Magnus looked at the long line of riders still hidden among the trees and took a deep breath. Same as most of them, he was feeling battle jitters, that moment of trepidation and doubt before battle madness took over. They were all waiting for Lanaya's signal to charge at the fort on horseback, in order not to give time for the defenders to react. All of that assuming Plan A worked, of course. If they had to resort to Plan B, the battle would take a completely different course.

The signal finally came and the line of riders lurched forward, with a hint of hesitation at first, but then quickly spurring their horses to gallop, yet keeping some distance between each other in order to avoid the potential area of effect spells.

Magnus rode as in a trance, the wind lashing at his face and blood drumming in his ears. The noise of dozens upon dozens of horse hooves hitting the ground, as overwhelming as it was, seemed distant in comparison to the sound of his own breathing. Turning his head to the right, he caught Fiona's eyes and immediately felt more confident. They were in this together, and it was up to them to do most of the heavy lifting, together with the two royal mages. Lives depended on them.

Giving Fiona a reassuring smile, his eyes searched for Wizard Anodar. The senior mage was to give the sign so they could all synchronize their kinetic pushes against the main gate of the fort. The whole fort and its main gate looked to be in a state of serious disrepair and his own kinetic push would likely be enough to break the gate open but it made sense to be extra cautious. The cultists could have fortified the gate from the inside.

Magnus blinked in surprise. The fort... It shimmered for a moment... or so it seemed to his heightened senses. On a hunch, he sent a torrent of magical energies at the fort, to the obvious surprise of other mages. The energies hit what looked like a barrier, and the whole fort shimmered and then simply... changed.

"The fort! There was an illusion!" Magnus cried out, his voice barely carrying to the next rider, as the deafening sound of the charge dominated the air. In front of his eyes was a fort, but one very different from the one he was looking at, just seconds before. This one was in an excellent state of repair and riddled with enemy archers on top of that.

Wizard Anodar raised his hand. From this distance, Magnus couldn't tell how surprised the experienced wizard was at the turn of events, but he still gave the arranged signal. Plan A was about to be tested.

A massive wave of kinetic energy surged towards the main gate, its power seemingly unstoppable. The kinetic wave barreled into the gate with indomitable force and... nothing happened. Magnus gaped at the gate in disbelief, unable to comprehend where the kinetic energy went. It looked like the energy simply dispersed when it reached the gate. There was no impact, no collision with some barrier, magical or physical...

"The gate is likely lined with bits of lenerium!" Wizard Anodar's augmented voice reached Magnus, just barely.

"Lenerium... That says volumes about the resources they have at their disposal... To put such a valuable metal in the gate..." Magnus thought, suddenly aware that Lord Anodar had raised his hand, extending two fingers only, and then he saw Lanaya do the same. Plan B was in motion.

Words can hardly describe the chaos that engulfed the battlefield once they came into the reach of the enemy. Hails of arrows were being loosed towards the attackers, together with lightning bolts, fireballs, and blankets of kinetically propelled rocks and debris. Through all that, Magnus couldn't help marveling at the skill of his companions. Vistania's elite soldiers and elven scouts especially, showed incredible accuracy even while shooting from horseback. They kept riding and moving around after each shot, their arrows often finding their targets, and more than a few enemy archers fell to their deaths from the battlements.

Magnus and the other mages were mostly put on the defensive though. There were several enemy mages on top of the battlements, and they kept hurling spells at them, so Magnus barely had time for anything other than deflecting bolts and fireballs or erecting air shields to protect himself and his companions.

"Fiona is moving to do her part..." Magnus thought, noticing how Fiona rode almost hugging the wall and making it impossible for the defenders to aim at her or even pay much attention to her actions. A small group of elven scouts followed, but taking care to make their path look chaotic and random to avoid raising suspicion.

"We need to hold on here until they can get behind the enemy..." Magnus thought, barely managing to deflect a huge fireball aimed towards a small cluster of elven scouts. The enormous fireball crashed into the ground a dozen yards away from the group, exploding in flames and creating a sizeable crater. "No magical resistance would have saved them from this one... It seems that those bastards are trying to join their powers..."

Suddenly feeling very concerned, Magnus turned his horse towards Lord Anodar who was busy shielding a large group of elite soldiers from kinetically hurled projectiles. Searching with his eyes over the group, he saw that Lady Irina had her hands full deflecting lightning bolts that would have otherwise proven deadly for them.

"We need to coordinate our defenses and join our powers... If they decide to combine their power, we will be in serious trouble..."

Combining magical power was a much more complicated and slower process than casting individually, but the enemy mages had the luxury of being protected by the wall, and they could even go out of sight to avoid being targeted. Magnus and his companions, on the other hand, were constantly moving and were out in the open.

Just as the severity of their situation dawned on Magnus, there was a brief pause in enemy mage activity. A second later, Magnus saw a huge amount of energy being poured into a spell... a lightning bolt spell. He reached out with his hand in an attempt to deflect the overpowered bolt but without success. The spell was just too powerful. The enormous lightning bolt hammered into Wizard Anodar, the immense discharge of electricity burning both him and his horse to the crisp, along with one of the elite soldiers who was in the vicinity.

"NOO!" Magnus screamed in rage, pulling at all of his magical strength and sending a massive lightning bolt towards the top of the wall where the enemy lightning bolt had originated. A second later, the smoking body of a mage staggered and then fell outside the wall. A lucky shot.

"Damnation! Fiona better succeed or we will all die here..."

***

Fear and anxiety were in Fiona's heart as she followed the wall in search of a vulnerable spot. She had long ago made peace with the brutality of her profession, but even if she had tried to avoid violent jobs as much as possible, trouble always seemed to find her, somehow...

"They are in a vulnerable position now, so I must make haste... Gods damn that gate!" Fiona thought, keeping her horse close to the wall and gazing up to find a convenient, less guarded place. She was riding along the western wall of the fort until she reached a narrow spot where the presence of large rocks limited the approach to the wall.

"This looks perfect..." she thought, dismounting and grabbing a long rope from her saddle and then slapping the horse's rump. The horse cantered away towards the northern part of the wall. Putting the rope over her shoulder, Fiona took a moment to cast Magic Mirror, an air spell that let her see the reflection where it wasn't normally possible. She kept turning her mirror left and right until she saw a lone soldier patrolling on top of the wall.

"This needs to be completely silent or I'll be busted..."

Flicking her hand, she cast a sound barrier around the soldier and then using the mirror for directions, she yanked him off the wall with her kinetics. There was a creepy, soundless scream on the face of the soldier as he plummeted to his death. Stopping herself from shuddering, Fiona took a deep breath and concentrated. It was time to prove she was a master of kinetics.

"This would be so much easier if I could just lift Magnus instead... but even with three mages, the main group will be hard pressed... I guess I could have also brought one of the soldiers but if a mage saw him, he would be completely defenseless and this attempt would become a complete failure..."

"Enough whining, Fiona..." Fiona whispered and then began her flight, her mind immediately struggling to compensate for all the changes in balance. It was such a simple spell, the kinetic lift, but using it on themselves was a feat that was beyond most mages... maybe even all of them. All except for Fiona. Her body floated up, slowly, inexorably, her fingers moving fast to help her cast dozens upon dozens of small corrections that were needed to maintain her ever-changing balance. When the top of the wall finally became level with her eyes, Fiona thought it was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen.

"There is no way I am doing this again anytime soon..." she thought, stepping over and immediately crouching behind an extension in the wall. She wiped the beads of sweat from her face unceremoniously and then took a couple of deep breaths. Peeking around the wall, she noticed that no eyes were on this part of the wall. Some luck, finally.

"I hope they can be quick," she thought, uncoiling the rope and tying it to a steel peg protruding from the wall. She threw the other side of the rope over the wall and glanced down. Several scouts were already moving towards the rope from multiple sides, their steps soundless. They scrambled up the rope with amazing speed and in mere seconds they were over the wall, once again in utter silence.

"We will try to take out their mages..." Lanaya whispered, crouching next to Fiona. They held each other's gaze for a moment, without uttering a word, until Lanaya turned to go.

"Lanaya..." Fiona whispered, stopping Lanaya in her tracks and making her turn towards her once again. "...take care."

Lanaya held her eyes for a moment and then gave her a faint smile, acknowledging the gesture. Then she moved away with the stealth and grace that would put a panther to shame.

"I should be ready to join in as well..." Fiona thought, tracking the movements of the elven scouts and waiting for her moment...

***

The battle beneath the walls was going poorly, in spite of the skill and effort of the elite soldiers and elven scouts. Magnus and Lady Irina were already exhausted from continuous casting and the need to constantly react to enemy spells. Magnus was in the middle of casting an air shield to cover one group from the deadly projectiles when a fireball plummeted into a group of two elite soldiers... and he was unable to deflect it. He gritted his teeth in rage and impotence as the screams of burning horses and men echoed across the battlefield.

"This is hopeless..." he thought bitterly, almost resigned to the fact that they were losing this fight. He then saw a lightning bolt being cast and once again mentally prepared for a new casualty in his team but then the spell winked out abruptly.

"What the..." he barely managed to say before another enemy spell was stopped mid-cast. In the corner of his eye, he noticed someone running on the battlements, coming from the western part of the wall and going towards the gate.

"Fiona! She did it!" Magnus exclaimed and then spurred his horse towards the gate.

"Magnus! Dismount, I'll lift you up!" she said, although it was more by the movement of her hands that he understood what she was saying. He jumped off his horse and then felt his body being lifted towards the top of the wall.

"I was beginning to lose hope..." he said, embracing her.

"I know... this is such a bloodbath," she said, and before she could say anything else, she turned her head sharply towards the keep that was inside the fort.

"The portal..." Magnus mouthed, noticing the sudden pulsing of energies that had been relatively steady until that moment.

"Come!" Fiona said, pulling him by his hand. "We must stop whatever is going on inside... before it is too late!"

They rushed towards the keep, throwing aside anyone standing in their way. They entered the keep, moving cautiously at first but then breaking into a run, as the urgency of the moment seemed to press on them. Their footsteps echoed on the stony floor of the hallway, and even though they had never been inside this keep, the flow of energy coming from what had to be a portal, served as a beacon that guided them through the hallways.

"This is it..." Magnus said, looking at Fiona with a question on his face.

"Let's do this..."

Pushing at the doors together, they entered the room that seemed to pulse with magical energy.

A very disturbing scent hit Magnus' nostrils as soon as he stepped inside the large room. His eyes wandered left and right, trying to process the scene. There were circles drawn on the floor, various unknown totems spread in a strange pattern, candles placed on some very unusual spots, exotic fumes coming from a couple of large cauldrons... He guessed that if it weren't for the two open windows, the air in the room would have been almost unbreathable.

Turning his head sharply to every side, Magnus searched for anything that would look like a portal, but there was nothing to be seen... More than that, the huge discharge of magical energies seemed to have stopped the second they set foot inside the room. In one corner, Magnus saw stains on the walls and on the floor that looked like blood spraying in a violent pattern. Stopping himself from shuddering, Magnus set his eyes on the only person who was in the room.

"Ah, Sorceress Fiona... and her apprentice, if I am not mistaken," the man said in an unusually calm voice.

Silence followed. After some hesitation, Magnus heard Fiona speak in a strange voice.

"Wizard Avernus..."

"How delightful to meet you here, my dear sorceress."

"It is like we came to have tea with him... Avernus... Where have I heard that name before?" Magnus thought, eyeing the man who looked like he was in his fifties. He was wearing a dark red formal attire and holding a book in his hand. He had a short grey beard and a prominent nose, but his eyes were the part of his face that drew the most attention. Those were the eyes of a predator eyeing his prey.

"It is you... Why are you here? It can't be that..." Fiona said, clearly surprised at finding this man here.