29 - Was It Something I Cast?

Outskirts of the Woods of Volunar, Crap Time

Aiden, Sissy, and Jack were in over their heads. After splitting with the group, they decided to walk along the edge of the forest. They were no closer to formulating their plan for an ambush when they saw a rider with an orange wolf tunic on the rise gazing down at them. The rider darted away, and they scrambled to climb the nearest hill to see the lay of the land.

As far as they could tell, the rider was only a scout, and the main group was still far away, which allowed them to devise a trap. After a while of scouting, they crawled behind some large rocks and conferred.

"We build a big fire," Aiden said. "And when they get close, boom!"

"Why would they get close if they know you have fire magic?" Sissy asked.

"Oh, yeah, I hadn't thought of that."

"We can light the fire," Jack said. "Tim can shoot a flaming...uh..."

After an uncomfortable pause, Aiden said, "What about your sun magic, Sissy? Can we put it through a magnifying glass? You know how we used to burn ants as kids."

"Yeah, maybe," Sissy replied. "Major ick factor. It's a cloudy and grey day. I don't know if my magic will work."

"Could you just try? Set that bush on fire." Aiden pointed to a bush a couple of feet away.

Sissy shrugged and pulled out her shield. There was an emblem of a lion and the sun on it that glowed when she sang her magic, for some reason Lorde came to mind. She concentrated on focusing the sun's rays into a single point. A beam of light came down from the heavens, bounced off her shield, and hit the bush. It burst into flame.

The group cheered for a moment, and then a gust of wind spread the flame from the bush to the grass. The fire spread quickly, and they backed away.

"Put it out!" Sissy yelled, as they were forced down the hill.

Jack pulled out a waterskin and poured it onto his hand. He sang, "Water pour forth, and quell the flame. Water pour forth and bring an end to the pain."

The water flowing through his fingertips balled in his hands and grew. He chanted until he could feel it reaching its size limit. The liquid globe was about the size of him when he let it go. It flew towards the fire and got the original bush out, but it was too late. The fire had already spread.

They were forced to abandon the hilltop, and they ran down back towards the trees. Once they were at the bottom, a large group of riders in orange charged down from the next rise. The three were too far from the tree line to run towards the woods.

Aiden sang some Megadeth this time around and used the flames from the hill burning behind them to send a tsunami of fire towards the riders, but a warlock in their ranks blocked it with her own wall of flame. The two powerful forces had splashed fireballs in every direction, and now the Woods of Volunar were burning along with the hillside. Trees squealed and shook from the blaze.

Sissy attempted to use her beam of light trick with some Iggy Azalea. A single ranger’s armor glowed with the light. He removed his armor because it grew too hot, and Sir Grey beheaded the man for taking off his armor. Jack's magic had just gotten the lot of them wet, which upset Sir Grey, and he killed two more of his men. Finally, once the three were surrounded and had to surrender, Sir Grey offed two more men because Lovantus wasn't among them.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

After the few moments of battle, the three all knelt at the feet of Sir Grey with half the countryside burning around them. The freshly chopped head of the soldier rolled to Sissy's feet.

"Where is our sovereign, witch?!" Sir Grey pointed the sword at Jack's head. Even though Jack was a bit of a jerk, he was Sissy's jerk, and she didn't appreciate the man waving a sword at him.

"He's not with us!" Sissy yelled. "Just deal, okay?"

"What did you say, knight?" Sir Grey's eyes narrowed in on her.

"I'm saying you made the wrong choice. We split up, and he went into the woods."

"Sissy," Aiden said, "you're selling out our friends."

"Says who? This nerd isn't going to go in after them, or else he would have done it. Instead, he came after us."

"I would have split up the men to follow both trails if a certain scout hadn't reported that he had seen the Silent Legion up north," Sir Grey said, and narrowed his eyes on the scout that had seen them earlier.

The scout backed away, "But I did tell you. I told you I had seen the Silent Legion. How was I supposed to know that—"

The man's head popped off with a flick of Sir Grey's sword and Sir Grey turned back towards the captured trio. "We have no use for you. Though your heads will serve as a reminder for anyone who attempts insurrection again."

"Excuse me, sir," one of the rangers said, while trying to pick out a fang protruding from his calf.

"Yes, Corwin. What is it?" Sir Grey rolled his eyes. "You can take care of that later."

"Sorry, sir, the wyverns of Jagadoom bit me leg, sir. It's a good thing we had horses, or it would have gotten more than that."

"Just get on with it!"

"Wouldn't Lady Ameria be more useful to us alive, sir?"

"How? Ameria's head on a pike would be enough to convince the nobles who has the real power in the city."

"Begging your pardon, sir, but isn't Lovantus the one with the true power?"

Sir Grey turned his sword on Corwin and advanced.

Corwin scrambled backward and said, "I mean, that is, till we find him, sir. If it's the gauntlet that decides who will be king, and while he is still out there with it, then that means anyone can be king. Shouldn't we spare their lives at least until we find Lovantus?"

Sir Grey lowered his sword. "I once again see why I promoted you. Very well, we will use her as bait."

He nodded, and two soldiers grabbed Jack and dragged him away. Sir Grey held the sword over Sissy.

"Won't they be useful, too?" Corwin said. "I mean, it's not like we are going to need the extra horses. Might as well keep them around, too."

"Can I at least kill the elf?" Sir Grey barked. "I hate stinking elves."

"But then Bolt will get angry, sir. The dwarf and the elf are best mates. It could be useful to use all three of them as bait. That way, we get the jump on the lot of them."

Sir Grey sighed and said, "You have impeccable logic. Very well, tie them each to a horse. We will track down Lovantus, woods or no woods."

With the fire spreading around them, it looked as if it would be no woods soon enough.

‎