Wielder's Fate (24 page)

She had thought of the young wielder often over the last few days.  The pain she had felt when she thought he had abandoned her had forced her to examine her true feelings for him.  There was obviously more to their relationship than mere platonic friendship.  At first, she had tried to dismiss the thoughts.  She was engaged to be married and had no right to be thinking of another man.  Nevertheless, it did not escape her that she worried as much for Traven’s safe return as she did for Gavin’s return every morning.

The realization had filled her with guilt but also dispelled some of her recent uneasiness.  Admitting the fact had allowed her to be honest about her feelings and her thoughts of the future.  When the time came, she would have to make a decision.  She would not marry Gavin if she couldn’t be completely devoted to him.  It would not be fair to either of them.

She watched as a family passed by on foot.  The husband and wife held tightly to one another’s hands as their two young children followed close at their heels.  They glanced back once at the city and then shared a look of quiet assurance and love.  That was what Kalista desired to have.  Someone she could share her life with who would make her feel comfortable, happy, and secure.

Gavin had recently not been that kind of man.  His various mood swings and jealousy had caused her to feel more comfortable out of his presence than in it.  Then again, she did have plenty of fond memories of their time together before the battle at the Pass of Banshi.  Those memories gave her hope that Gavin would revert back to his old self.  If he did not, she wondered if a marriage to him could possibly make her as happy as she had once believed.

Traven was the only other man in whom she had any attraction to, but he had never done anything to express to her that he harbored the same type of feelings she had for him.  He had saved her life twice, but had he done it out of duty or out of love?  Regardless, she had most likely destroyed any hope of Traven pursuing his feelings for her, if indeed he had any, by the letter she had left for him.

She shook her head and turned her thoughts to the present.  The most important thing right now was the safe evacuation of the citizens of Candus.  If the exodus continued uninterrupted, the city should be empty by the afternoon.  She smiled and continued nodding to those streaming out of the southern gate.  There would be plenty of time for matters of the heart later, after the citizens were safely on their way to Kavar.

* * * * *

Blaize stared at the fleeting forms of the last galdaks as they disappeared in the distance.  He leaned back against the rubble of the broken stone wall and covered a yawn with his massive hand.  He was sore and tired but happy to have held the galdak horde at bay for one more night.

The Kalian Army had defended the city nobly for four straight nights, not including the initial smaller scale attack.  Each night the galdaks had succeeded in pushing further into the city but had yet to completely break through the ranks of soldiers.  The walls had held strong and allowed the greatly outnumbered troops to stand firm.  With only three entry points along the eastern wall, the galdaks had not been able to take advantage of their superior numbers.  The archers and swordsmen had defended the wall and its three gaps valiantly.

Unfortunately, the archers were beginning to run low on arrows, and the number of his foot soldiers was being reduced every night.  Sooner or later the galdaks would break through and overrun the city.  Candus was no fortress, and his troops were so outnumbered that it was only a matter of time.

For that reason, he had advised that the city be evacuated.  He hoped to defend the empty city for a couple more nights but couldn’t guarantee that his fatigued soldiers could continue to keep the innumerable and unnaturally fierce galdaks at bay much longer.  It seemed that the galdaks sent fresh and healthy warriors to fight every night, while his own troops were forced to fight on despite their injuries and fatigue.

When Traven had left, Blaize had hoped they would be able to hold onto the city until he returned.  Now, he doubted it was possible.  Traven would be at least another three days.  Blaize supposed they could hold out at best for two more nights.  It seemed that Traven would most likely have to catch up to them.  Blaize turned as three of his scouts arrived with their reports.  All three saluted and waited patiently.

“Proceed,” Blaize said to the first of the three.

“The galdaks have all returned to their camp,” the first said.  “It does not appear that any of them have headed south.  The evacuation of the city should be safe and uneventful.”

Blaize was glad to hear the report.  There were ten thousand soldiers marching with the unarmed citizens to protect them in case the galdak army tried to circumvent the city and attack.

“That at least is good news,” he stated.  “How many casualties?” he asked the second.

“We lost close to five thousand soldiers last night,” the second scout reported.  “There are another thousand who are badly wounded.”

Blaize shook his head.  The number of soldiers falling by the sword had increased each night.  The casualties would continue to rise.  He didn’t know if it was worth it to keep defending an abandoned city if it cost the lives of so many men.  It would be better to retreat to Kavar, a city built for defense, and make a stand there.

After assigning ten thousand troops to accompany the citizens as they fled the city, he had less than fifty thousand soldiers left.  It was a sizable number but not nearly enough to overcome the several hundred thousand galdaks remaining.  The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea of abandoning the city on his terms and not waiting to be forced into a retreat.  He turned to the last scout.

“And how many galdaks were killed during the battle?”

“Around ten thousand,” the scout reported.

At least the army was continuing to whittle away at the galdak horde.  Normally, a two to one death ratio would be great news.  However, when you were outnumbered more than five to one, it was nothing to celebrate.  Blaize thanked the three scouts for their reports and sent them on their way.  He then climbed the stairs and gazed thoughtful over the nearby streets and buildings.

As he continued thinking about it, he knew it would be best if they abandoned the city soon.  The odds were still in favor of the galdaks.  If they retreated to Kavar, they would have better defenses, some reinforcements, and hopefully a wielder on their side.

As soon as the galdaks had been detected, a dispatch had been sent to Calyn informing the High King of the situation.  When it had become apparent the galdak horde was so large and that their intentions were definitely hostile towards the land of Kalia, another dispatch had been sent.  It had specifically asked for the High King to boost the army and send reinforcements.  The message would have also been shared at Kavar along the way.  Blaize hoped that the Baron of Kavar would be recruiting troops and readying his defenses.

It would take the troops from Calyn quite a while to reach Kavar, but Blaize hoped that his soldiers combined with the reinforcements in Kavar would be enough to hold Kavar until they arrived.  Traven should also have plenty of time to complete his mission and join them.  With the help of Traven and his magic object, hopefully the tide would turn and the galdaks could be forced back into the Parched Mountains.  Indeed, retreating to Kavar sounded like the best course of action.

Nonetheless, Blaize had no intention of abandoning such a beautiful city without making the monsters pay.  The galdaks would learn the steep cost of taking a Kalian city.  He continued his review of the streets and buildings nearby.  One of the huge advantages of the galdaks was their superior numbers.  With the absence of the city’s inhabitants, the battle could be moved into the streets of the city without risk of collateral damage.  The numerous streets would divide the galdak army and create bottlenecks.  By funneling the attackers down specific streets, the Kalian Army could inflict more damage with fewer soldiers.

Another advantage of the galdaks was their heightened sight in the darkness.  That advantage could also be taken away.  Blaize wondered how many torches there were in the city.  He signaled for a messenger.

“Gather one hundred soldiers,” he commanded.  “Take them and gather all of the torches in the city.  Also, gather all of the resin and other flammable liquids you can find and bring them here.”

The messenger saluted and left.  Knowing the city would soon be overrun by a brutal horde of monsters, Blaize was less worried about accidently setting some of the buildings on fire.  If the light hampered the galdaks and gave his soldiers an advantage, it was worth the loss of a few structures.

The last advantage of the galdaks was their size.  They towered over most of the soldiers, but they were not so large as to tower over horses.  So far the cavalry had been used sparingly.  They weren’t necessary when defending the walls of the city.  Tonight, they could be stationed in various locations around the city and sweep in to slaughter the attackers when necessary.

Blaize smiled to himself as he continued gazing over the streets of the city.  He would spend the morning hours planning and at midday check on the progress of the evacuation.  If all was proceeding smoothly, he would send forth a new set of orders for the night’s battle.  There would be plenty of time to prepare and move all the troops into their proper positions.  When the galdaks next attacked, they would discover the human cities couldn’t be taken without a significant loss of life on their part.

20

Traven tried to quell his anger as he listened intently to Darian’s suggestion.  The elf had to raise his voice to be heard above the shouts of the crowd, but he kept it low enough that no one but Traven would hear his words.

“When we first met, I had less than friendly feelings towards you,” Darian began.  “As I saw you wield the ambience, I began to feel admiration and respect for you.  Last night, I believe my sister began to have similar feelings for you as she witnessed your command of the elements.  If you were to display your vast powers now, perhaps all watching would begin to experience some of the same feelings.”

Darian’s suggestion made sense, but Traven was hesitant to so openly display his powers in such a hostile environment and in such close proximity to the king.

“Do you think the elf king will see it as a threat?” he asked quietly.

“Maybe,” Darian replied.  “Even so, you would not be any worse off than you are now.”

He imagined Darian was correct.  Something needed to happen to change the elf king’s mind, and he couldn’t think of anything else that might work.  The monarch was staring at him defiantly and didn’t appear about to change his mind.  Traven took several steps backwards away from him, hoping to show that he meant the king no harm.  He motioned Darielle and Giselle to join Darian in standing closer to him.  He then shrunk his shield to only encompass the four of them.

Traven cleared his mind and focused as projectiles continued to bounce off of the shield.  He shut out the angry shouts of the crowd and let his emotions of frustration and anger fade away.  Calm and collected, he slowly drew the power of the ambience to him.  He took several deep breaths and began his display of power.

The crowd suddenly went silent as a blast of air emanating outwards from Traven knocked them backwards into their seats.  The elf king and his advisors stumbled slightly and leaned against the onrushing air in order to stay on their feet.  Traven kept blowing the wind outward from himself for several moments.  He then raised his hands skyward and lightning began to crack in the air high above.

The wind and lightning effectively drew all of the elves’ attention to him.  Traven took another deep breath and carefully began wrapping fire around him and those standing with him.  The flames grew increasingly larger and swirled around him faster and faster.  Traven sensed the elf king and his advisors take several steps backward as the flames became hotter.

He began to extend the flames upward in a swirling column.  He pushed them higher and higher until they extended to a level above the top row of the amphitheater.  He stopped pushing them higher and began to swirl the flames even faster.  The raging flames roared as they whipped around the invisible column.  He had a good idea of how far he could go without draining himself too much based off the previous night’s experience.

As the heat of the flames continued to grow in intensity, it became very uncomfortable for those within his shield.  He had opened the top of the shield to let air in, but the air was stifling in the vortex of the raging column of fire.  He glanced at his companions to judge how they were holding up.  Darian stared back at him with a large grin, while Darielle and Giselle had looks of surprise and even fear on their faces.  Darielle was sweating profusely, and Giselle was breathing rapidly.  Traven gave them both reassuring smiles and decided it would be best to extinguish the flames.

Just as he had the night before, he formed a large amount of water above the inferno and let it fall all at once.  The blazing flames immediately disappeared in a violent burst of steam that blasted outward and engulfed the amphitheater.  A profound silence followed the roaring flames and sharp hiss of steam.

As the air cleared, Traven was sure his point had been made.  He stood calmly in the center of the clearing with his two devoted firmly behind him and the king’s own brother at his side.  In front of him, three of the king’s advisors were climbing back to their feet while two remained awestruck on the ground.  All, including the elf king, looked slightly disoriented.  Traven glanced up at the elves in the audience and found them just as awestruck and disbelieving.

He waited in silence as the elf king straightened his garments and his advisors composed themselves.  Traven hoped the elves felt what Darian had suggested they would at seeing him wield such a large amount of the ambience.  It had definitely surprised them, but he didn’t know yet if they were feeling any admiration or respect.  The elf king finished arranging his clothes and crown before fixing Traven with an intense stare.  Traven returned the stare with a look of calm patience.