I sucked a deep gasp through my teeth, shaking hands grasping the communication stone as I desperately tried to contact Torin.
There, on the bow of a ship not two hundred yards from me, stood Solace. Her white hair twirled in the wind, twisting around her face and head as she stood with her arms flung wide. Even from this distance, I could see her malicious grin.
“No,” I whispered raggedly.
My blood ran cold and my hearing faded, blocking out the surprised and concerned shouts of my Mages and Vessels.
Solace did the one thing we hadn’t prepared for; somehow she brought a fleet of ships across the north. I tried to quickly count the number of ships and Mages I saw on each, but stopped once I reached thirty vessels.
We were completely outnumbered and thoroughly overpowered; if any of us made it out of here alive, it would be by the grace of Fate.
How? How did we miss this?
Itanya . . .I swore loudly, hands carving through my unruly hair. This portion of her attack was unplanned; more retribution based on feeling for removing her surprise weapon from the board completely.
As I watched my Mages and Vessels scramble to form some sort of Air barrierthat would, hopefully, protect us long enough to prepare to attack or flee, I came to the realization that this was more than just revenge.
Solace came to annihilate our way of life, our very existence.
The communication stone crackled with Torin’s voice just as Solace threw her head back toward the sky, power unlike anything I’d ever felt before coalescing in her palms and standing my hair on end.
Shouts and exclamations alike rang out with pure fear from my soldiers and captains at the sight of the blindingly white magic held in Solace’s hands.
Wayward strands shot from the quickly growing ball, sparking outward to strike friend and foe alike. Two of her ships caught fire and I foolishly held my breath, thinking perhaps more would follow; at least enough to even the field so we could counterstrike and provide some sort of defense for Alvor to our backs.
The magic crackled loudly, nearly drowning out the shouts of my Mages and captains.
“Hold!” I shouted, jumping into the rigging and hanging over the edge so I could see better. “Hold the Air Barrier!” It shimmered for a moment as my Air Mages poured whatever magic they had in reserve into the pitiful protective barrier.
“Prepare for an attack!” I called, my voice magnified by a young Air Mage who redirected their magic at me so my soldiers could hear me better. Uncaring if the enemy heard, I quickly reformulated my plans. At this point, we would be lucky to survive the next hour; Solace’s navy hearing my battle plans was the least of my concerns.
Now, I had to ensure that at least some of my soldiers walked away from this alive.
“Earth Mages, ground their vessels. Water Mages, create whirlpools as close to their ships as you can. Try and pull them together. Fire Mages! Ready fireballs. As soon as the barrier drops, I want an immediate launch at their hulls and sails.”
I had no Creation or Destruction powers aboard any of my ships; the rare Mages were divided between the other ground forces.
Because we thought we had no use for them on the sea.
“Fuck,” I swore again, my boots thunking hard against the deck as I jumped from the rigging. “Juni,” I called to the singular Pain Mage aboard my ship.
“Commander d’Aelius,” she said, snapping to attention. Her black hair was cut short, a lock of it hanging in front of her nearly violet eyes.
“We work as a team. If and when they board our ships, you are to aim to incapacitate only. Whoever you hit, I will kill. Save as much of your power as you can.” I stared intently into her eyes, seeing only steely resolve when I expected even a hint of fear.
“With pleasure,” she purred, flashing me a savage grin. I felt a tingling sensationas she drew slightly on her power, readying it for when Solace and her crew of heathens would break through our barrier.
Before I could turn back around, a resoundingcracksounded, and I felt a sudden swoosh of air, my heart plummeting into my belly at the realization that our barrier was already disintegrated.
Cries of pain and surprise rang out as the smell of fire-singed flesh floated on the humid breeze.
I whirled, the blood draining from my face at the sight that greeted me.
My Mages fought valiantly, launching their own disjointed attacks while doing their best to defend from what looked like a constant barrage of magical strikes. The sky itself seemed to rain fire, the heat of it causing steam to rise off the frothing sea.
Our ships rocked and dipped, forcing Juni and I to grab desperately to the rigging, lest we be thrown overboard and boiled alive by the suddenly heated water.
Pride briefly washed over me as I watched, transfixed by the nettle of our soldiers as they valiantly defended Elyria.
