Chronicles of Espiria Season 3
Episode 28 – The Mage Moves In
Written by the Dude
The dwarves had long since given up trying to break through the Grotesque Mage's blockade; no matter the weapon used, no matter the strategy implemented, he would always stop the shipment. Instead, they focused on fortifying the Maldan strongholds in case the Mage tried to directly assail Maldan. "A clever magician he is," the dwarves would say to themselves, "but I'll eat my hat if he can outwit dwarven technology."
The day finally came when he accepted the challenge.
The dwarves had just finished installing a second plasma cannon on the walls of the royal palace, when the Mage appeared just beyond the edge of the cannons' targeting range.
"Sir, the Mage!" Ginneas shouted to Morvus.
"What's that thing doin' 'ere?!" Danni asked.
"I'll go ask." Morvus said as he slung his rifle over his shoulder. "Be ready to fire if he tries anythin' funny."
A few minutes later, Morvus stood before the Mage. He shifted the rifle so it rested in the crook of his arm, ready to fire at a moment's notice.
"Are you the king's messenger?" the Mage asked.
"I'm the one who'll shoot ye in the... face if ye take another step forward." Morvus replied.
"A brash one. You can still deliver a message."
A wave of the Mage's hand, and a portal appeared under Morvus. A moment later, the dwarf was face down in the throne room of King Asgan. As he stood back up, a small spot of blood was left on the floor from Morvus' nose.
"Morvus?" King Asgan said, confused. "What're you doin' 'ere?"
"That Mage is done waitin'. He's comin'!"
With the portal closed, the Mage began to walk leisurely toward Castle Maldan. Morvus' riflemen opened fire, but their shots were redirected by a number of tiny portals that he had surrounded himself with. When the riflemen paused to reload, the Mage raised his wand and cast lightning in all directions, rendering the entire unit incapacitated.
Before long, the rumbling stomp of the golems could be heard. As they came into view, the Mage could see that each was fitted with an arm cannon wired to a strange looking backpack. Deciding it best to incapacitate the golems before they could fire their weapons, he cast electricity at the lead golem. He was surprised to find his attack not only absorbed, but returned to him via the cannons, for the backpacks on the golems were capacitors that could absorb all sorts of magic and energy and use it to power their cannons.
"Clever." the Mage mused.
The Mage formed another portal and stepped through it, emerging moments later in the midst of the golems. He waited for them to notice him, then cast more lightning at them all to power their cannons. Before they could fire, however, he vanished through another portal, reappearing where he was before. He watched with some amusement as the confused golems blasted each other with their own weapons, casually stepping over the shattered pieces as he continued toward the castle.
By this time, Morvus had returned to his post and could see the Mage's progress. He then glanced at the plasma cannons and the stunned faces of the dwarves who manned them.
"What are ye waitin' for?" Morvus shouted. "Fire cannon one!"
The Mage heard the order and grabbed a piece of a golem to shield himself. Moments later, the blast of the cannon hit him and threw him back into the pile of ruined golems. He was injured, but not yet defeated.
"Perfect!" he thought to himself as he dragged himself back on his feet.
When he resumed his course for the castle, he at first did so with a limp, though this injury healed within a minute thanks to the boosted healing granted him by Mortas. Still, he walked more cautiously than before, keeping watch for another blast from the cannon.
"Why is he walking?" Ginneas wondered aloud. "Wit' those portals o' 'is, 'e could just pop up to the throne room any time."
"He's toyin' with us." Morvus answered. "He's tryin' te prove that 'e's in charge, not us. How long before that cannon can fire again?"
"Ten minutes." Danni answered. "We gave 'im everythin' it 'ad."
"Then we'll make do with the other one. Fire cannon two!"
This time, the Mage was ready for the cannon blast and raised a portal between himself and the cannon. The other end of the portal was directed at the main gates of the castle, blasting them off their hinges. Morvus and the other defenders were forced to retreat as the arch on which they stood began to crumble under the stress of the blast. As the dwarves behind the gate rushed to get their injured to safety, the Mage casually strolled through the rubble of the gates, largely ignoring the dwarves.
As he strolled through the halls of the castle, he met little real resistance; dwarves stationed at key bottlenecks in the castle corridors proved little challenge to a being that could blast them through portals that led outside the castle. He only paused once when he found that he was unsure of the way to the throne room. He picked up a dwarf he had wounded but not expelled through a portal and stared him in the eye.
"Which way to the throne room?" the Mage asked.
"I'd sooner be mauled by a bear than help you!"
"Suit yourself."
Thankfully, the dwarf felt no pain.
After more searching, the Mage finally found the throne room of King Asgan, but the delay caused by his getting lost allowed Asgan precious time to prepare. By the time the Mage found him, he was fitted in a suit of armor made from an experimental alloy designed to be light as aluminum, but more rugged than steel, and was armed with a warhammer and shield made from the same material.
"King Asgan, your death has come." the Mage said coldly.
"If ya think ye can scare me with yer parlor tricks, ye've never had to fight a frost bear!"
The Mage began by casting lightning at Asgan, certain that coating himself in metal was the worst thing the dwarven king could have done. Imagine his surprise when the lightning simply glanced off Asgan's shield, scorching the walls and carving a small indent in the floor.
"Specially engineered to resist electricity." Asgan said with a triumphant grin. "What else ya got?"
Concealed within the shield was a small caliber pistol, which Asgan chose this moment to fire. Already caught off guard by the resistant armor, he was unable to prevent the ball from ripping through his shoulder. Thanks to the additional magic granted by Mortas, the wound healed quickly, but he was thoroughly intimidated nonetheless.
As Asgan charged, the Mage glanced around the room for anything he could use to fight back. There were a number of suits of armor placed between the spacious windows; these and the damage to the floor by his deflected lightning gave him an idea. First, he summoned two shadowy copies of himself directly in front of Asgan. These were no match for the dwarven king, but they kept him distracted long enough for the Mage to implement the next step; he summoned more copies within each of the suits of armor, giving himself a small army. Even these clumsy minions were no match for Asgan, but they provided ample distraction to allow the Mage to complete the final step in his plan. Taking careful aim, the Mage carved out a deep trench along the edges of the ceiling, being careful not to make the damage too deep. Asgan noticed this, but could not guess what he was up to, not until the trench was complete and he was too late to react.
"Farewell, Asgan, King of the Dwarves."
The Mage fired one last lightning bolt at the center of Asgan's shield, dispersing the bolt in all directions. The small disturbance caused by the bolt striking the already damaged ceiling caused it to crumble and fall. The Mage stepped through a hastily summoned portal just as the ceiling came crashing down on Asgan.
This was when Morvus turned the corner into the long hallway leading to the throne room, followed closely by Danni and three other riflemen whose names Morvus had yet to memorize. When they heard the crash, Morvus rushed forward, desperate to help his king, while the others stopped and took up firing positions. Moments later, the Mage emerged from his portal, seeming wearied somehow.
"Maldan is mine."
The Mage pointed his wand at a nearby mirror and enshrouded it in dark magic. Soon, shadowy copies of himself began to pour forth from the mirror.
"Ready men!" Morvus shouted as he took aim.
The riflemen took aim at the shadow copies; the Mage himself seemed to vanish in the sea of darkness that surrounded him and flowed toward the dwarves.
"Fire!"
Each shot the dwarves fired destroyed another Shadow Mage, but for every copy they destroyed, two more emerged from the cursed mirror. Morvus tried to shoot the mirror itself, but found it protected by the real Mage.
"Fall back!" Morvus shouted.
"But the king..." Danni protested.
"We can't reach 'im! Fall back!"
As Morvus and his small team retreated, they were soon joined by other dwarven warriors forced back by the sudden flood of Shadow Mages. When they finally escaped from the castle, they were heartbroken to look back on it and see it writhing with the dark entities.
"We lost." Danni said, on the brink of despair.
"Not yet." Morvus replied, trying to convey more hope than he really had. "We just need reinforcements. Come on, let's get somewhere safe 'n regroup."
They trudged through the heavy snow of Maldan for none knew how long, until they came to a crossroads. One way led to the town of Durin, Morvus' home town, where they might be able to find rest and shelter if the Mage chose not to interfere. The other way led to the highway into Lightbearer lands, where they may be able to find reinforcements among the humans. As Morvus considered his options, the Mage appeared before him and his men. Morvus alone had the strength left to raise his rifle in defiance.
"I said, no one may leave, dwarf!" the Mage said with an angry growl.
He raised his wand at Morvus, intending to strike him down with all the power he could muster, when an arrow impertinently whizzed between his eyes. Behind the Mage was Hogan and his men, swords out and arrows notched.
"Surrender, Mage, or prepare to face justice for your crimes!" Hogan demanded.
"Please don't make us hurt you, Gaston!" Mr Wake pleaded.
"You stand on the coattails of greatness and presume to make threats?!" the Mage responded with contempt. "I would punish your impertinence here and now if I thought you would learn from the experience! Instead, I will let the dwarves teach you the price of opposing me!"
A portal opened under the Mage and swallowed him in an instant.
"Not bad timing, Hogan." Morvus said as he lowered his rifle.
"What happened here?" Hogan asked. "I've heard nothing from you in weeks."
"That Mage guy's been blockadin' our borders. He jus' took Castle Maldan."
"What?" Hogan was stunned. "On his own?"
"He can make copies of himself now. Even King Asgan fitted with our best tech couldn't stop 'im. We need you 'n Estrilda."
"How did he do all this and attack Ranhorn at the same time?" Ulric asked.
"If he can copy himself and make portals that can stretch from here to Ranhorn, I would not put it past him." Hogan answered. "More concerning than the how, though, is the why. If he is besieging Maldan, why split his attention and make what seems a purely symbolic attack on Ranhorn? Why draw unnecessary attention to himself?"
"Could it be that he wants us here?" Mr Wake asked.
Hogan froze. Of course, he should have realized sooner; he made the exact mistake his old commander made those seven years ago. In his drive to deal with the Mage and return to Ranhorn, he never considered that a person who could teleport as the Mage could logically should leave no trail to follow. The attack was a diversion, as much a trap as if he were foolish enough to walk into a Mauler ambush.
"We need to get back to Ranhorn! The Hypogeans are attacking as we speak!"
Hogan and his men began their retreat back to Ranhorn, Morvus and the dwarves with him following as best they could. None of them noticed a delicate flower bud growing next to the signpost, struggling to survive in the harsh cold of Maldan.
Back at Castle Maldan, the phantom copies of the Mage moved to secure the Castle, eager to prove their superiority to the Hypogeans. Unnoticed in the chaos was Ginneas; thrown from his place on the wall by the destruction of the gate, he came to rest behind the cover of a large rock. He saw the destruction of the throne room, but before he could register that his king was defeated, he noticed the innumerable phantom copies of the Mage swarming over the grounds. Unarmed as he was, any attempt to fight back would most certainly end in his death; still, he reasoned that it was better to take as many of the enemy with him in combat than to hide and probably die of exposure. He noticed Asgan's hammer, thrown from his hand during the destruction of the throne room, lying in the middle of the path, ignored by the phantoms. He was building the courage to dive for it, when five of the phantoms before him were dispelled in an instant. In their place was a warrior unlike any Ginneas had ever seen, though he recognized her from old dwarven legends nonetheless.
"Mother Alna!"
Alna ran another phantom through with her icy spear and bludgeoned another over a cliff with the butt of the spear. Ginneas could see little streaks of red on her furs; the phantoms had not made it easy for her to reach this far. She kicked Asgan's hammer over to Ginneas and glared at him.
"If you don't want to die today, take up the weapon and fight!"