Black wizards - Douglas Niles [144]
Before he began his search, Alexei cast two spells upon himself – one to detect magical auras, and another that allowed him to see invisible objects. Then he walked to the King's Gate, the northeast entrance to the city. This was where the greatest block of defenders had gathered – and where the main force of the king's attack was expected.
Alexei walked among the defenders in total concentration. He looked into every rampart and walked slowly down every street in that quarter of the town. He saw Tristan and his companions on the high palisade. He sensed the ominous presence of the king's army, breaking camp somewhere in the depths of the wood.
But he did not find Kryphon.
Nor was there any sign that magic had been used upon the ramparts or barricades – or anything else. Either the mage was concealed very well, waiting until the attack began, or he was somewhere else.
Alexei hurried to the Lord's Gate – the northwestern approach to the city. He wondered when the attack would come – would he be in time?
Though the defenders were not so numerous here, he found ramparts and ditches manned by willing troops who were ready to defend their city to the death. As he walked among the barricades, rumors of a rout in the defenses at the King's Gate began to spread among the troops.
He watched in shock as Hugh O'Roarke himself galloped along the line of the deep ditch, shouting to all the men gathered there.
"Follow me! The King's Gate has been breached – you must fly to the rescue!"
With a cheer for their lord, the troops at the Lord's Gate burst from their positions. They moved at a trot, ignoring any sense of order, eager to join the fray.
A flash of movement attracted Alexei's eyes to the entry-way of a small wooden house. He saw it again – a figure moving stealthily along the shaded side of the building. He wore a black robe with a gray hood that flowed over his shoulders like a cape.
Finally the figure emerged. He walked beside an empty ditch, fondling the sharpened points of the stakes that had been hastily erected there. He threw back his head and laughed, and as the hood fell away from his tight, bearded face, Alexei recognized Kryphon.
His enemy stood at least five hundred feet away, between the trunks of two huge oaks. The trees were connected by a solid rampart, twenty feet up. Alexei fastened his eyes to that rampart as he began to cast a spell.
"Xor-thax, teray."
In the blink of an eye, Alexei teleported to the center of the ramp, materializing in one place as he vanished from the other. As soon as he felt the hard wood of the rampart under his feet, the wizard began his next spell.
But the long beams of the bridge creaked under his sudden weight. Alexei did not stop to see if Kryphon had noticed the sound – he ceased his casting and rolled to the side. A moment later, a blast of magical energy exploded in the middle of the rampart. Each of the ends of the bridge, no longer supported, dropped to the ground.
Alexei leaped from the rampart. In mid-air, he uttered the one-word command for one of his simplest spells – a spell that would take effect immediately. Thus enchanted, he floated gently to the ground like a falling feather.
Kryphon had not waited to identify his attacker, and now Alexei saw no sign of him. Then he heard a low voice behind one of the tree trunks. As he settled to the ground, Kryphon reappeared, wrapped in a shimmering green globe of light.
Kryphon's eyes widened as he recognized Alexei, who stood facing him on the ground. "Well, comrade" he said, "I am surprised to see that you are still alive!"
"And you, it would seem, have already lived too long."
Kryphon laughed. "We shall see who has lived too long!"
Alexei suspected