Burden's Edge (Fury of a Rising Dragon Book 1) Read online

“7th degree warlocks inbound, right flank!” Caireen hissed.

  “How many?”

  “Looks like … five.”

  That was half their team, meaning Eric had indeed split everyone up, probably leaving the others back at his keep for defense. If Augum, Caireen and the archers held out, the odds would be in their favor.

  Their classmates ran up to the moat and inspected the bridge while glancing at the keep and the forest, expecting a trap. Among them were Carp, Cry and Katrina, who waved to the forest. Their archers ran forth—but there were only four, meaning one had fallen into a pit trap. As Katrina signaled to two other classmates, pointing at the sealed bridge, it occurred to Augum that Eric had separated the captains from their squads, leaving Katrina in charge of everyone. It was a mistake, for leaderless troops were far less effective.

  The 1st degrees tugged at the bridge door, but it was futile. Augum counted nine 1st degrees, meaning one of them had fallen down a trap as well. Not that it mattered. The poor wretches were fodder.

  Katrina argued vehemently with Carp while Cry stood by, shaking his head in disgust.

  Yes, keep wasting time, Augum thought while the sounds of a fierce battle echoed in the distance.

  At last, Katrina made a throat-slicing gesture, ending the discussion. The three of them then circled the moat, leaving two 7th degree classmates to shoot First Offensives at the bridge, which would not last long.

  “They would do better climbing over the wall,” Augum muttered to himself.

  “Bridge under attack, with a rear flank of three incoming,” Caireen reported down into the open stairway, and the message was quickly passed on. Then she added, “Nine 1st degrees, two 7th degrees, and four archers out front.”

  “When they start levitating each other over the moat, cast Darkness on them,” Augum whispered. It would reveal their rooftop position, but it would hardly matter at that point.

  “How do you know they’ll levitate?”

  “None of them want to get dirty.” Or waste energy blowing a hole through the wall, it seemed, which also meant wasted time.

  Caireen watched for a short while. “Voidus vis!” she snapped. There was a splash and a vile curse. “Mind that tongue, Carp!” she chided with a laugh, keeping her head low.

  “They’re up there!” Katrina shouted.

  Augum watched the bridge door at last burst into flames as a fireball punctured it. A couple of telekinetic shoves cleared the debris away.

  “Bailey breached, ready yourselves!” he relayed down. Then he focused on the bailey, and as expected, 1st degrees poured in through the gaping hole, all with soggy robe hems.

  They’re going to reek all day, Augum thought amusedly. He waited until they came into range and then reached through a crenel and focused on the lead runner.

  “Flustrato!” he snapped at a young boy. Even from that height, Augum’s spell was as potent as a bull bowling over a chicken. The poor 1st degree stood no chance. The boy tripped and fell face first into the dirt. Everyone behind him fell over his body in a chaotic pile. Augum could have picked them off one by one, but they weren’t really a threat. He saved his energy for the next wave.

  Meanwhile, Caireen was positively giddy as she kept thwarting Katrina, Cry, and a stinky Carp, for it was easy for her to keep cover behind a crenel, dodging their arcanery. Strong Elemental First Offensives of air, lightning and water flew overhead or hit the keep with concussive bangs, and angry outbursts rose from a frustrated enemy. At last, they threw one effective spell up: Darkness. But Augum was more than ready.

  “Baka!” he shouted, dissipating the inky cloud with a mighty shove. He quickly turned his attention to the bailey and at last saw his two fellow classmates charging in. And he let them have it.

  “Flustrato!” he said, twisting his hand at Mary’s head. She had been in a delicate run and hadn’t had her Mind Armor ready, thus instantly succumbing to his Confusion attack. She stumbled and skipped off, blubbering to herself.

  “Dreadus terrablus!” Augum incanted at the other student, an older woman by the name of Matilda. She screamed, meaning his Fear attack was successful. “Voidus vis!” he then said, causing a huge black cloud to envelop the bailey. From within came the tumultuous sound of bodies tripping over each other. When someone shoved the cloud away, Augum recast the spell, and then once more for good measure, conscious of the cool, cumulative stamina drain. A smoky black mass refilled the entire bailey.

  But someone had gotten through. He heard a Shield Rune taking thumps from First Offensive castings. Come on, Bridge, get that flag!

  “Caireen, man the stairs and cover the flag. I’ve got the rear.”

  She nodded, face split in a grin from all the chaos she had caused out back.

  Augum glanced over the creneled wall at a mud-splattered Katrina, Cry and Carp. They were crawling through a hole they had blown in the pike wall and were soaked to the gills.

  “Like dogs you crawl!” he called down to them, feeling like a good battle taunt was appropriate.

  “You’re dead—!” Carp shrieked.

  “Like dogs!” Augum called back merrily.

  The three of them gathered at the base of the keep. Augum had purposefully not cast anything yet, for he recognized their obvious plan. Katrina had learned her lesson, however, and she had Cry cast Darkness between them and Augum. But each time he did, Augum blew the cloud apart with a good shove, aware of his blood soaking his legs. His vision tunneled as his wooziness increased. He had probably torn every single stitch. Jengo would not be pleased.

  But Cry was persistent, and Augum ceased fighting off the Darkness castings. Cry was no doubt expending himself, but Augum could not afford to do the same.

  A small explosion rocked the deep interior of the keep.

  “Breach!” an archer called from below, meaning the front doorway runes had fallen.

  Augum, seeing only darkness below, focused on the stairway opening. He had to assume at least two of the rear attackers had gotten inside by boosting each other through a window and were on their way up to the second rune. Hurry, Bridge, hurry!

  Sounds of a battle came from within the keep. Voices shouted in alarm.

  “It’s mayhem down there,” Caireen said.

  Spells began flying down below on the second floor, the enemy trading off attacks with Augum’s archers. There were a few successive gasps, followed by, “I’m out!”

  “Take a knee!”

  “Healer!”

  “I’m here!” squeaked Kiwi.

  Then came “Annihilo!” and the ripping sound of a lightning blast smashing into something solid—likely Augum’s upper Shield Rune. The attacks kept coming. Augum listened carefully and made out that Cry was taking turns with Katrina in attacking the rune until it finally exploded.

  “One Shield Rune left,” Augum said.

  Caireen nodded, her breathing rapid and shallow. The two of them readied by the opening. For a time the battle raged below, allowing Augum to replenish some of his stamina.

  “Concentrate on confusing them and clogging this opening,” Augum said.

  “Got it.”

  At last, the Shield Rune blew up with an electric crash. A plume of smoke billowed up the stairs and spread onto the third floor, out of which emerged Cry.

  “Flustrato!” Caireen snapped.

  But Cry’s Mind Armor was primed and ready. He fought off the attack with a quick shake of his head, sidestepped, and counterattacked by raising his arm and spinning his wrist. “Flustrato!”

  Caireen winced and surrendered a grunt, but she too fought off his attack, leaving an opportunity for Augum to shoot out an arm and twist his wrist, shouting, “Flustrato!”

  Cry had to have been arcanely exhausted because Augum’s war-honed attack penetrated his Mind Armor. His eyes crossed as he stumbled back into a small sea of attackers.

  “Time to clog it,” Augum snapped. “Give it to them.”

  “Voidus vis!” the two of them roared as they dre
w a circle like choreographed dancers, stuffing the tight space with two thick black clouds.

  “Baka!” enemy voices shouted, but shoving the clouds away in such a tight space was no good.

  Augum followed up with a vicious whipping gesture and animalistic roar, casting the famous and satisfying Slam spell. “Grau!” In Augum’s case, the classic 2nd degree elemental attack came in the form of a crack of thunder so loud it shook the entire keep. Every single 1st year screamed, causing some 7th degrees to scream as well out of reflexive fright. This, combined with the Darkness people were unsuccessfully trying to shove away, resulted in a gleeful amount of chaos.

  But Augum’s strength was waning, not just from the blood loss, but also from cumulative arcane stamina loss. He had to conserve his remaining energy.

  Caireen, too, was limiting herself to precise attacks, firing off a Confusion casting here, a Slow spell there.

  An arrow shot out of the dark hole, catching Caireen off guard. It exploded with a powdered puff against her stomach, dyeing her robe pink. As per protocol, she took a knee where she stood and called out, “Knee!” giving Augum an apologetic look. She was out and prohibited from helping in any way. He was on his own.

  A hand reached out of the darkness and grabbed the ledge. Augum used his mighty Telekinesis to rip it away.

  Carp shrieked like a little girl. “Gods all mighty that hurt! That’s got to be him up there.”

  “I can hear you, Stinkbreath,” Augum spat, chuckling. “But by all means, confer right below me as if I weren’t here.”

  “He’s stalling,” Katrina said. “Let’s storm it. Ready?”

  But Augum had seen that one coming too. He quickly drew the shape of a small man with limbs splayed like a star, making sure to precisely tether the visuals of each endpoint with the appropriate syllable. “Summano elementus minimus.” A lightning elemental about the size of Carp ripped to life above the stairway—and fell straight onto a climbing body.

  “Elementus, attack!” Augum spat. He had been saving that beauty of a spell just for this moment. And his elemental was larger than others of his degree, for he had used it often in the war and had gotten good at amplifying its girth.

  A ferocious scuffle broke out. No less than two people shouted, “I’m down!” meaning they had taken a knee and were probably further clogging up the stairwell. Multiple vicious First Offensives flew by.

  “Hey, careful now!” Augum said. Had they connected, he might have been seriously injured.

  “Archers, help us!” Katrina shouted.

  Augum couldn’t stick anything above the gaping hole as arrows came whizzing through it, but since archers only had a few arrows, their attack would not last.

  Multiple black clouds burst around him, plunging him into darkness.

  “Baka!” Augum shouted, shoving them partially away. But due to his exhaustion and back injury, he was rapidly weakening. The tunnel of consciousness was already halfway closed. He crawled to the flag pole and sat in front of it, too weak to stand.

  He considered casting his most powerful spell, Centarro, but judged the side effects might come too quickly in his weakened state.

  Through the black cloud, he saw multiple hands appear above the stairway hole.

  “Flustrato!” Augum spat at the first head that popped out, and the head promptly disappeared below.

  “Grau!” someone growled, and the air roared with a sharp wind so strong Augum thought the entire keep might blow over. But it had only been the sound of wind, not actual wind—an impressive casting from Katrina.

  “Baka!” Katrina shouted, and Carp’s body vaulted through the opening. Augum had to appreciate the cleverness of the attack. Katrina had arcanely shoved Carp through the hole.

  Carp landed on his feet with a muddy squish and spat, “Armari elementus totalus!” while gesturing at his girth. A watery film enveloped him—Elemental Armor, an illegal spell in mock combat.

  While he was doing this, Augum, realizing there was no time to call him out on the blatant cheating, summoned his dwindling reserves of arcane stamina and drew the outline of the man’s body. “Paralizo carcusa cemente!”

  Carp smacked his wrists together. “Anni—” But he froze, fizzling his First Offensive. At this range, it might have killed Augum had it struck his head.

  “Voidus vis!” someone else shouted, and the area went black again.

  They were moments from taking the flag. Augum did all he could by snapping off a random Confusion casting into the darkness, knowing the probability of a successful attack was almost nil. He could have shoved the air, but such an attack from this height could easily kill a classmate. The Confusion casting had depleted his arcane stamina anyway, and he was spent and gasping, feeling the beginnings of a strong, thumping headache.

  Suddenly, amidst the pitch blackness, Augum felt a horrible searing sensation in his gut and reflexively screamed. It was a familiar sensation, the kind that meant only one thing.

  A real blade.

  The hot scalding pain tore through him like a crashing inferno.

  “I got the flag!” Katrina shouted. “Go, go, go!”

  “Wait, that scream didn’t sound right,” Cry said in the darkness.

  Just as Augum was about to plead for help, another jab struck his arm, but this time he knew somebody was in front of him. Whoever it was, they had made a fatal mistake.

  Augum, conscious of walking the edge of a vast and unfathomable arcane abyss, plunged a hand into that infinite and cold darkness and overdrew. He then used that precious stolen arcane stamina to violently shove the air, roaring, “Baka!”

  There was an “oomph!” as a person went flying. A moment later, he heard a distant thud.

  Augum groaned, shivering. The tunnel of darkness closed in. Warm blood belched from the wound and over his shaking hands. Just as he lost consciousness, a distant siren sounded.

  A victory had been scored.

  Chaffs of Wheat

  Augum blinked at the swaying wheat stalks and the surrounding anxious faces. He couldn’t figure out where he was and who was looking down at him. The closest face, a thin ebony one with short, tightly curled black hair, belonged to someone he knew from a time of war …

  He was shivering, but not too violently, and his soul felt somewhat hollow, meaning he had dipped into the forbidden inkwell of overdraw. It was dangerous and risky, but he closed his eyes and willed his body to stabilize while coaxing his soul away from that unfathomably steep cliff, beyond which lay the dense and lonely darkness of arcane sickness.

  At last, he managed to control his shivering and felt warmth creep back into his soul. Then the final moments of the mock combat came back in a rush, making him inhale sharply. He tried to sit up, only for Jengo to hold him down.

  “Hold on there, Aug. Give it a moment,” the tall Sierran said.

  “What happened?” He felt weak and his body ached all over.

  “An assassin tried to kill you,” Bridget said. She was beside him, as was Leera. Behind them loomed The Grizzly, quietly talking to academy officials, including the disciplinary council members Arcanist Jaheem, Arcanist Flagon, and Headmaster Byron.

  “You shoved the bastard right off the keep,” Leera added, gently stroking his head. “He died in the fall. They’re trying to figure out who the man was and how he got into the regiment.”

  Augum remembered a second searing sensation penetrating his arm and then the final frantic shove. So it hadn’t been Carp, which had been his first thought.

  “He … he died?”

  Leera nodded gravely. He felt a deep heaviness settle in his chest. He had taken three lives in two days. Assassins, yes, but lives nonetheless. His head swam thinking about it. He gave it a quick shake, trying to think through the tangled mess of his thoughts.

  “Any clues?” he asked. “As to his origin?”

  “He had the same ornate curved dagger,” Bridget replied, “so he’s likely from the same guild as the other assassins.”


  “And his eyes? What color were his eyes?”

  “I don’t know, let me find out.” She strode off.

  A shadow came between the dim cavern sunset light and Augum. “Congratulations, Prince Augum,” said the crisp voice of Eric Southguard.

  “Huh? For what?”

  Eric, rubbing his jaw, merely turned his back to speak with his cousin, who kept glancing over.

  Bridget returned. “His eyes were blue.”

  Augum expelled a long breath.

  “It wasn’t the same assassin, was it?” Bridget pressed.

  Augum shook his head. Deyon was still out there somewhere, biding his time.

  After a thoughtful pause, Leera smirked. “We won, by the way. Bridge snagged the flag and launched it downfield. Should have seen that thing fly. Practically landed in a trench, that’s how far she had flung it. Anyway, I grabbed it telekinetically and sprinted it all the way to The Grizzly—” She jabbed at the air a few times. “—expertly fending off attackers as I ran.” She shrugged. “All right, truth be told, there was hardly anyone left by then. And in the end, it wasn’t even close. They got our flag, but it fell into the moat.”

  Augum couldn’t believe it. His side had pulled it off.

  “We had trouble early on,” Leera explained. “Eric was cleverly hiding in the woods and watched us plod on in. Caused us some problems, but I ended up knocking his teeth out in the end.

  “She literally knocked a tooth out,” Jengo said. “I had to heal it back in.”

  “I don’t know, Cousin. Eric ‘Gaptooth’ Southguard does have a bit of a ring to it,” Katrina said, for she had apparently been listening in. Eric only scowled.

  Her robe was soaked with moat water, but she didn’t seem to mind. Carp, on the other hand, glared at her.

  “Ain’t right you had us go through that there swamp,” he spat. “Ain’t right at all.”

  “What ain’t right is you casting an illegal spell,” Augum spat back.

  Carp glanced at the officials before fading from view.

  “Hopefully that’ll hold his tongue,” Augum said to Leera. If Carp blabbed about them knowing spells well beyond their degree, they could fire back with real ammunition.