Shades of the Past_ Book Six of the Morcyth Saga - Brian S. Pratt [174]
As fast as green shoots begin to leave the earth, a mage burns them with fire. Bugs appear and are quickly destroyed. Another brother cries out as his chest cracks open. Falling to the ground he soon lies still.
James runs forward, his shield shimmering around him. Summoning the magic, he lashes out…
Crumph! Crumph! Crumph!
…but has little effect other than throwing dirt in the air to create a smokescreen to obscure their vision. The mages themselves remain untouched.
He comes to a stop between Brother Willim and Miko. With Star raised high and shining brilliantly, Miko turns to him. “Knew you would come,” he says.
“We can’t hold them much longer,” says Brother Willim as he throws another seed in the air. Moving forward rapidly, it grows into a ball of tangled vines and lands near the leading edge of mages. The vines move rapidly upon the ground and entangle the feet of two of them. Yanking them to the ground, the vines begin to squeeze and tighten, constricting like a giant snake.
Then another mage comes to their rescue and the vines literally explode off of the two trapped men.
“I’ve already lost two brothers,” Brother Willim states. “You’re the Gardener, do something.”
Gardener?
Turning back to the mages, he lets the magic surge forth and the ground begins to rumble. Suddenly, the earth cracks open but then slams shut again as opposing magic works against him.
A cloud of birds swoops down from the sky toward the mages. Bolts of energy fly from the assembled mages and begin taking them out before they can close. Explosions of fire light up the sky as whole groups of birds are incinerated in massive fireballs.
James reaches to the clouds to pull them in but magic again works against him and his effort goes to naught. The dust from when the ground exploded is beginning to settle and he looks across to see one of the mages, an older one, staring at him. It almost seems as if time pauses as the two stare at each other. Then the mage raises his hand and the onslaught begins.
When the ground erupted, Kerith-Ayxt felt it was slightly different than the magic of those he faced when the attack first began. Then when he stared across the battlefield and saw the mage he couldn’t believe his eyes. Never has anyone succeeded in escaping Baerustin.
It must have been he who had attempted to crack open the earth beneath them and to summon a storm. The High Lord Magus had easily countered such basic magics. He is amazed at the lack of finesse this mage has in what he tries to accomplish.
Now to finish it. Raising his hands above his head, he summons the magic. And with the knowledge of centuries of mages behind it, lets it loose.
The tingling sensation flares worse than ever as the mage raises his hands. Pouring more of his reserve power into the barrier, he extends it to encompass Miko and the rest of the Hand. When the full force of the mage’s magic strikes the barrier, James is literally knocked backward a step and the shield collapses. Reinstating the shield again, his mind boggles at the amount of magic that was just used against him.
Miko and the Hand continue to counter what the rest of the mages are throwing at them; fireballs, lightning, and many other types of destructive magic. All they’re able to do is simply keep them at bay without any opportunity of using offensive magic of their own.
Again the mage sends a wave of magic toward the barrier. A blinding light flares when it connects and James is momentarily blinded as the barrier again falls. His nerve endings tingle and he staggers back again. Miko catches him with the hand not holding the Star.
It’s a struggle to replace the barrier once more. Another attack like the last one and he may not have anything left in him, it’s taken the rest of his reserves to bring it back up this third time, he doubts if he’ll be able to do it for a fourth.
Miko glances to his friend and sees the