Battle Mage: Winds of Change (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 11) Read Free

Count Terris has grown bold enough to send a spy into our midst. Maybe those guards were meant to distract you long enough for him to find our safe house."
    Smirking at the warlocks before him, Trillon replied, "How about I take you all prisoner instead? Reflex!"
    The final word sped up the man as he moved into motion. A black rune appeared lifting from his right arm expanding into the air. His hand reached into the darkness only to return with a black sword in an instant. With his left hand, the man called out, "Sleep."
    His hand caught Tylen on the forehead dropping the man into a lump even as he moved forward.
    The warlocks had been prepared and Wiler cast a shield of fire in front him. It reached forward unlike most shield wall spells. Attacking like a wave of fire, the flame attempted to engulf the battle mage now that the warlock understood what Trillon must be.
    "Darkness shield," the mage countered letting a shield of night catch the flames. Like the oxygen had been taken from the fire, the darkness swallowed the warlock's spell and seemed to strengthen as well.
    The other men centered on the warlock attacked with more flame, but the sword followed the darkness. Like night trapped in steel, the blade looked sharp. It was lightweight as well and moved like lightning in the battle mage's enhanced hands. His speed was great, but these soldiers weren't ordinary either. Nearly countering his speed, the mage knew that they had been enhanced by magic as well.
    Some of the fire had touched the men, but their leather clothing was dyed black and appeared to absorb the flames similarly to his spell. Wizard hunters, these were trained to fight and subdue normal wizards and warlocks. With armor created to absorb elemental spells, they were dangerous fighters who could even fight battle mages at speed as they moved to attack him with their blades.
    The black blade began to sweep in an arc as if to ward off their attacks. A desperate measure for a swordsman to reveal so soon; they grew confident, but a second repetition of the word sleep sent what looked like reddish dust along the blade. The dust sprayed the line of men. Where it touched the leather armor it lingered, but was not absorbed. When it touched skin or was inhaled by the shorter men, it caused the soldiers to draw back looking stunned. Those who caught enough of the dust joined Tylen collapsing to the ground.
    Half of those men were taken out with one spell leaving Wiler and just two guards in front of him able to counter the mage.
    Reaching to the left, the mage didn't follow up his attack as planned, instead he placed his hand against a wood crate calling out, "Door."
    A glowing portal formed behind the warlock trapping him and his two men. With no knowledge of the portal's destination, the men were wary of stepping through the golden doorway. With an indestructible stain glass window behind them, the three prepared to defend themselves from the surprising attacker. The spells were unheard of, especially for a battle mage, but Ileden unleashed a barrage of fireballs meant to drive him back.
    He wasn't the only warlock capable of harming the mage, however, and Trillon felt an attack charging up behind him. As the night shield remained before him to absorb the flames, runes suddenly glowed on his left arm lifting away from the appendage. Creating a glowing orange shield of runes, the cutting wind attack mixed with ice was repelled without the mage even turning to face Ileden.
    "What are you?!" Wiler screamed before trying a new spell.
    The portal collapsed behind the three giving them room to fall back as reinforcements leaped past the fallen barrier.
    His sword met and countered the attackers. His shields protected his back and left side making the attackers unsure of what to do to counter his abilities. He moved forward and they fell back though they outnumbered him ten to one in the front with even more trying to find a way past his barriers from behind.
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