CH23

She trembled looking at the green tower. Bran squeezed her hand. They waited for Harrod to keep his promise. Rhys waited in the mouth of the alley, his guard breastplate gleaming dully. The rest waited behind, wrapped in the dark green of an initiate. Rhea propped her elbow on May's shoulder impatiently. Bran mimicked her. Tam snorted as May jumped back causing them to stumble. Rhys turned around shooting them a look. Before she could respond the distant sound of fighting met her ears. They all jumped back to position. Rhys checked the street. A few guards passed. A moment longer of waiting and Rhys opened the gate to the tower's courtyard. Just to be safe she checked that the warding no longer blocked the path, but it was all clear. She returned to her normal vision as the group scurried into the green towers' shadow. They gathered against the wall waiting. The clash of fighting intensified. They needed to get inside the towers.

"I hope your contact is here." said Tam

"She will be."

With all the focus on the other side of the building they looked to the door. Bran jiggled the handle to no avail. There was a tense moment as the door lock clicked open. The heavy door slid open on sagging hinges. Sibahn's smiling face popped into view.

"Let's do this!" she punched the air before her.

"Yeah," cheered Bran.

As she opened the door wider to let them in. They stopped; someone was behind Sibahn. Cian was behind Sibahn. "Oh, Cian is going to help us." she piped.

"You told him?"

The young man stepped up "I'm sorry for anything I may have caused. I … I want to help you stop them."

"Who is this?" asked Tam.

"The would be king," said Reah.

"I don't want any of that, I just wanted to learn a little more, honestly."

"Cian had no idea what they were doing," defended Sibahn.

"And I can take you to their offices."

"Well he would be a good lookout," said Bran.

"Lead the way," Said May.

Stepping into the wide hall She felt exposed. It had the same marble floors she had seen in other areas previously, but being a more utilitarian area the walls were wimple lime washed. Rhys threw a cloak over his armor as Sibahn confidently led them to the north tower. They fell in line behind her. On their way a few people rushed passed but none paid them any mind. When they reached the stairs the dimly lit stone corridor with flickering blueish witch lights reminded her of the tower back in Sudeland. They must have been built around the same time. The further they went up the more the looks diverged. The spiral of the stairs got narrower and narrower and the green in the stone became more apparent. She realized the green color was not inherent in the stone but was the result of the magical imbuement of strength to enable a building of this size.

Between the fourth floor and the filth a voice called out "Initiates"

"Master Rochester," said Sibahn.

Cian and her put themselves in front of the others. May began a charm and Bran blocked Master Rochester's view of it.

"You need to get back to your rooms, it is not safe here."

"What is going on?"

"We are under attack," he moved closer trying to shepherd them back down the stairs. "You will be safe in the dormitory, why are you up here at this hour?"

She needed a few more seconds. Bran stumbled before him to slow his progress. But that only lasted a second. She slowed to the back of the party till she was next to the wizard. She wasn't sure how a charm would work on a wizard but as she grabbed his hand he fell asleep before he knew what happened falling into the group below him.

"You didn't kill him?" said Sibahn.

"Don't be ridiculous," she said "He is asleep."

They carried him up and rested him on the next landing. To conserve energy she only made it last for a brief time. She hopped since it was late at night he would remain sleeping naturally, even so she expected to run into him on the way down. She and Bran took over point from Cian. He and Sibahn looked unexpectedly impressed from the display of a relatively easy spell. She hadn't thought much of the relative speed she cast it at. It was well practiced now as it was her default get out of trouble spell. She had grown a lot. Six months ago that spell would have been a serious undertaking now it was nothing. They spiraled up to stop on the seventh floor. The entire entrance to the floor was blocked by a warded door but it was a relatively weak one.

"Only elders Tiernan and Mauritius' offices are on this floor," said Cian.

"What is the layout?" aske Tam.

"There is a small reception room and their offices are off on either side. Tiernans' is on the left." His voice trembled.

"Alright, Now that we are here you should leave," siad Tam.

"No, I'm not bailing now!" said Sibahn.

"Neither of us are," said Cian.

"Past this door we can't protect you. You have already done enough bringing us here." said Reah.

It was time to send them away. "Sibahn, if you can break this ward it would save me some energy, but after that you should head back," May said.

"I .. I don't know how to break a ward." said Sibahn.

"Sure you do, you know the removal spell."

"But that is for the spells I cast."

"This is a simple ward, just put a little more behind the spell and you will have no problem."

May took her time to coach her through breaking the spell and a few minutes later it was gone. She took that time to scan the room behind for magical elements. Being surrounded by the enchanted stonework of the tower it was like stepping into bright sunlight , but after a moment her vision adjusted. She looked for traps and anything of the same nature as the stone dragons and didn't see anything. But she saw many many artifacts. She guessed the number was a way to hide the gem. But even surrounded by magic, the gem stood out like a beacon.

Even with the ward gone and May not finding any obvious traps they were cautious. The sheer volume of magic around them kept May's vision from being clear. The thin line of wards and similar traps could easily be lurking behind the haze of the tower's enchantment.

"I think you two should head back now," said Tam.

"No, we are going to see this though." said Cian, "I have to fix this."

"And you have, you refused to use dark magic even though I would give you so much," said May.

"Still," said Cian.

"We have all made bad choices, but it is about what you do next. Let us handle this. You make sure no one comes up those stairs," said Bran.

"We will," said Sibahn, pulling Cian with her.

Cautiously they opened the door to a sumptuous antechamber. It was set up as a reception room with an arrangement of plush chairs all in red and gold. There was nothing for them in this room. There were two other doors other than the one they came through. The gem was in the room directly across from them. They entered a large office. The big desk and bookshelves were all cluttered with books and loose papers. Tam started rifling through the desk. There was so much to comb through she didn't know where to start. The gem. The papers didn't matter anymore. She borrowed Areon's eyes. She pointed in the direction of the blinding light. Another door was in the room.

Bran Pressed his ear to it. "It sounds like there's something back there."

Her chest tightened in fear, but Bran immediately opened the door to a room with five dogs chained to the wall. On the table before them were a few papers, some spell reagents and the gem. She didn't even need fey sight to feel the crackling energy it contained. As they walked in, the Dogs yipped and pulled at their restraints. Their outlines wavered with the same hex Bran had.

"Find the stone. We will set them free." said Bran as he began working on the locks.

She reached for the gem stone. It looked like an emerald, but it would have had to been the biggest jewel she had ever seen. It was larger than her palm. As her finger grazed the surface the wind was knocked from her and she fell to the floor. Pain lanced though her and everything went she could see clearly again a rope constricted around her. She struggled trying to cast a spell.

"Save your strength dear," said Tiernan

She shivered as she looked from the floor to him. The ropes like a snake move to clasp her hands together. No more casting. She lay between Bran and Reah who were bound in a more conventional fashion leaning against the wall. She couldn't see them but she assumed the others were as well.

"I have been trying to catch you for some time. Who would have thought you would come to me." He circled the room inspecting them. The dogs snapped and growled at him just out of their reach. Her mind raced thinking of what she could do, but she needed her hands to cast. He loomed above her. "Your services will be much appreciated."

"Piss off," growled Bran.

"My doggy isn't happy to be home?" He patted the top of Bran's head. Then grabbed May by the chin pulling her to a sitting position. She tried to pull away, but he held her tight. She spit in his face, but her mouth was too dry from fear. "It's a pity you're too much of a fool to use your full power. We could have been friends."

"I don't think so. I have standards."

He smirked and looked at the rest of her group. "Standards indeed." He turned away, letting her go, "Now that this chat is over. I have some work to do."

He flipped through a book on the table. Then he picked up the gem. Her eyes widened as she watched him perform dark magic. Her familiar freed itself from her pocket and began picking at the ropes in her hands. She leaned behind Bran to try and hide it. Pulling apart the ropes was slow. As a fey creature it barely had a physical presence and Tiernan's magic strengthened the ropes. Then she saw Bran's hands. Though tied behind his back they were free to move. He was casting the unknot spell. He had never succeeded in casting without her focus, but it was a better chance than anything else. Reah on the other side saw this and began talking, to pull Tiernan's attention.

"You are only digging yourself a hole, do you think this knowledge dies with us?"

"Oh really?"

"You know who I am by now don't you. I have friends everywhere and they all know."

"If they all know where are they and why are you taking such a big risk to come here. You are right I do know who you are, but that is exactly why it doesn't matter you could tell everyone in the Kingdom and no one would trust you, any of you."

"Perhaps, but will the king ignore an anonymous tip that a wizard is trying to kill him. Will you be able to still finish your plans when he isn't surprised?"

"With your help. Yes."

Bran succeeded, the rope fell away from his hand. May couldn't help herself from sighing in relief. Reah continued as Bran started cutting at the ropes on May.

"Why do you even want to be King, what could you do then that you can't do now?"

"I'm surprised you don't know?"

"Enlighten me,"

"The dead eye rebellion was the last time wizards rebelled. It was a single powerful wizarding family that failed."

"So?"

"So now no casters have families, they don't even get to retain house names. You can be nothing but wizards with no ties that might waiver your loyalty to the king."

Mays hands were free and Bran passed her a knife to free Reah and leaned the other direction to help the next person. A soon as the ropes were loose enough, May started casting a spell.

"So you are doing this to have a family? You know that your own partner Mauritius has a family already."

He laughed "Do I strike you as a family man? No, not having kids is just a small part of a larger thing they take from you when you come. Once here you are nothing but a part of the Towers, But I want my own legacy."

The door opened and Tiernan's guards came in. Then a familiar voice spoke.

"I found the one you were looking for and another." Ruth walked in with the others as she threw Sibahn and Cian to the floor." They cowered unspeaking in fear.

What was Ruth doing here? She couldn't be working for Tiernan, not with all she knew. But there she was following his orders with others he hired. They hadn't seen her since the storm fell. Wait, May trembled in fury and started casting a spell. She was one of the few people who had all the information. She couldn't have betrayed them, surely this wasn't it. She looked at us surprised, yes she just joined Tiernan to save herself.

"Why is she here?" she said, "You couldn't kill them after I gave you everything?"

She couldn't believe it. Never before had she felt rage. She had been hurt by so many but she trusted Ruth. Her spell was ready and she signaled Bran it was time to move. She let loose a lightning bolt straight at Tiernan's heart. Bran launched himself at Ruth. Tam and Rhys followed. She didn't wait to see if the spell hit and body slammed Tiernan to the ground despite the enchanted ropes still fighting to contain her legs. Surprise let her knock him off his feet, but he used a stored imprinted spell to throw her back. She looked back at Tiernan frightened by the speed he could release spells.

His guards were already surrounding him protectively, but some damage had been done. His hair and clothes were smoking and a hole in his robes showed a burned impact mark on his chest. This didn't seem to affect him, only made him angry though. He was already mid spell conjuring what looked to be fire. As fast as she could she cast frost but he had a head start. Her face boiled with rage and she could see the power he put into each movement. To have any chance of countering she had to take short cuts that weakened the spell. She finished a hair's breadth after Tiernan and the spells collided between them. The frost took the brunt of the flame, but remnants swept over her. Before the heat subsided she launched into the next spell. She started the opening lines for all the elemental spells, giving her some flexibility to counter Tiernan's choice. His was some type of enchantment and She committed to stone. Through the casting she dimly heard the event around her.

At the corners of her vision she could see the others fighting, but she couldn't lose focus now. She got off her spell first this time and molded the stone floor around his legs clamping down. The pain interrupted his spell and she took a brief moment to free her own legs from the ropes. Once free of her, they curled up on themselves. She looked up and started casting again.

It felt like moments for her, but with casting she was moving in slow motion compared to the others. Tiernan threw out another imprinted spell, A fire bolt rocketed out toward her. She flinched but Tam jumped in front blocking the spell with his shield. The flames weren't just diverted, the shield absorbed the spell.

Tiernan frowned and started casting normally. Was he out of imprinted spells? At least his feet were still bound. She continued trying to press her upper hand while he was in pain from the stone that hindered his casting. This would only last so long, she already felt the heat building in her making her sweat. She couldn't last forever and she didn't know how many imprinted spells Tiernan had left. The others must be tiring too. They had been defending her while she casted and they were outnumbered. The brief lapse in concentration slowed her casting and her spell stopped when Tiernan stopped casting and used an imprinted spell as wind blasted her to the floor pinning her.

In the time it took her to catch her breath enough to speak again he had freed himself from his stone with a simple dispel he imprinted. She scrambled to her feet, desperately casting. She felt the wall behind her as she fell back. Panic hitched in her chest as she felt cornered. She pushed that away even with the dawning knowledge she was losing. A smile twisted of Tiernans face as he knew her aimless casting couldn't counter his fireball. Could Tam block it again, he was being pinned down by three men.

There was only one thing she could think of , but she had neve been able to intentionally make it happen. Would it work here? It had the same feeling as those other places, but the trees were so far away. Still it had always come when it was life or death. She put all her focus on how it felt before. She called for help in her mind. We hear you. She breathed in from both pain and releif as magic was pulled out of her in a blaze of heat. The very tower shook. Windows shattered inward as branches moved in so fast they looked like a wooden waterfall. They filled the floor, traveling across the room wrapping up Tiernan tightly. He shot out many stored spells but they only slowed the tide of the trees. They coiled up him till nothing could be seen but solid wood.

She took a deep breath and staggered with a light head. Tiernan was no longer, in his place a tree with branches still settling into place as they leafed.

She looked at the others all looking at her. They couldn't rest yet. Tiernans men remained and as Ruth recovered, first seeing the display before encouraging the others to charge. Tam intercepted them, joined by Bran and Rhys. Everyone was still standing but blood was everywhere on everyone, she couldn't tell who it belonged to. Rhea protected Sibahn and Cian as they cast a barrage of stones. She should do the same thing. But first while she could she picked up the gem from the roots of the tree and cast it on the floor. She was so weak it was hardly more force than dropping it to the floor.

"Give it to me, go be intimidating," said Bran as he handed her a bottle of lamp oil.

She nodded leaving him to destroy the gem while she confidently waded back into the fight. She pressed past Tam and Rhys, popping the lid of the bottle and threw it into the foes as she cast the fire staring spell. The sparks ignited the oil in the air. The poor man closest burst into flames and fell back. Rolling he spread the oil fire in amongst them till the others smothered the flame with cloaks. They recoiled thinking she could cast as fast as Tiernan. Giving her space to start casting properly.

Tam and Rhys knocked down those still distracted by the fire and Reah joined in with ferocity smashing down with her staff. She cast one more fireball to reignite the oil remaining and wanted to continue covering fire, but she felt herself rapidly weakening. The other's steady rock slings would have to be enough. Casting more would only make her a liability now. She did unlock the frightened dogs and asked them to protect her and Bran as they broke the gem. Bran had been smashing it against the floor with no success. She held the green gem still while he smashed it with the pommel of his sword. Each smash brought cracks to the surface. The energy it struggled to contain vibrated in the rock more and more with each hit. Faults spidered out larger and larger. She braced herself for a blast as it broke, but there was none. The color leached out of the stone as it broke and the energy escaped as light and the crystal fragments crumbled to dust. The mission was accomplished. The stone was gone. The guards were being beaten back.

Then Mauritius entered the room mid spell cast. She had to stop him, but a new group of guards shielded him and even if she had the strength she didn't have the time to cast. His robe sleeves had a decorative frayed fringe on them. Without knowing if it would work she cast the mending spell warping it hopefully to take to the fringe. Seconds later she let it go. The opening of the robe zipped up. It wasn't enough to hurt him but the pinch on his wrists stoped the spell. She jumped into casting a fireball not caring about anything but stopping him. It was her fastest offensive spell, but she was tired. The exhaustion slowed her movements and her body started to reject the new wave of magic warming her.

Mauritius was an even more experienced caster than Tiernan and she didn't recognize the spell he was casting at all. She continued feverishly casting as Bran held off the new guards from stopping her. She sent out the fireball but missed Mauritius. At least she took out several of the guards standing before him. She jumped into another spell but it was a step too far for her. The heat consumed her. Jelly legs left her panting on the floor with nothing but searing white in her eyes. She could only gasp and hope she would cool down. Her senses returning, Bran carried her limp body in his arms. He forced his way to the others now bundled in a corner surrounded. She couldn't even lift her hand or hold her head straight as he set her down to join the others and hold off the overwhelming numbers. Mauritius halted his casting and glanced at the tree haughtily saying, "Idiot Tiernan, always too eager."

He leisurely repositioned himself behind his forces feeling secure in his victory. He waved his hands with a flourish as he started another spell she didn't recognize. She still had no strength and in desperation sent her bird to interrupt his spell by diving at his face. She held Areon back till near the completion of the spell to give her more time to recover. The stunt worked, he knew it was nothing but a familiar unable to do anything but reflexes jolted his hands to cover his eyes. He resumed his casting with greater intention. He closed his eyes so the bird's antics would no longer halt him. May had recovered enough to stand, but she was so weak. Shivering within her sweat drenched clothes but she had to help her friends. And she pulled her dagger out using her body to plug any gaps in the line.

But more importantly Tam was able to position himself directly in front of the wizard. Mauritius aimed directly at him and Tam took the full force of the lighting strike in his shield. The parting guards even allowed him to bash Mauritius. She lost focus on him when a hand pulled May to the ground. She fought blindly against the force pulling her away from the group. Her frenetic movements were too weak to even slow her movement. She crumpled in a pile at Mauritius' feet.

He smiled, "I guess you will die the common way."

With her so helpless he didn't need to waste his time casting a spell. He raised the blade over his head with both hands for a killing blow. She closed her eyes. Blood spattered on her face, but she felt no pain. She opened her eyes as Mauritius screamed. A knife stuck through his wrist. A pair of hands pulled her this time away from Mauritius, who was too distraught at his damaged hand to notice.

She fought, but it was Bran that turned her to face him. He had pushed through the guards to reach her but now he kneeled with his back to them. Areon dove at the guard stabbing at them and May mustered enough strength to burn his eyes with the fire starter spell. The battle sounds halted around them. She gazed up to see waves of water and ice immobilize anyone still standing.

The high elder and two others walked in. Bran gripped her hand seeing the new wizards, but she knew the fight was over. She dropped her head to his shoulder. His breath was shallow. She covered a deep puncture wound at his side. Blood seeped through her fingers. He wheezed in pain. She fumbled in her pocket for her healing potion. It wasn't very strong but it might be enough to stabilize him. She pressed the blue vial to his lips and he drank. Tam came over and pressed the blood medalion to his side. She looked past him to see Ruth dead on the ground; dead. With the potion healing him from the inside and the medallion on the outside Bran's breathing calmed.