so forth. It’s very similar to what they do with slaves during spells requiring more than the usual amounts of magic. The only problem is that once the Lattice is formed, it can only be undone by the one at the Lattice’s focal point, either by a conscious will or his death.
Before the Lattice is readied, James unleashes a wave of force toward Kerith-Ayxt. Countering the blast, the High Lord Magus gasps at the sheer power of the attack. Behind him he hears, “Ready my lord.”
Casting the spell to bring the Lattice to life, Kerith-Ayxt is suddenly suffused with power as conduits merge with him, channeling the power of the most powerful mages in the Empire. The power now at his beck and call is incredible, almost makes him feel like a god. With a grin, he unleashes a devastating attack of fire and air at James. The battle is joined…
Between Delia’s slingers and the enemy, stands a line of Raiders mixed in with recently armed freed slaves. The Raiders are faring well but the slaves are dropping fast. Delia has her slingers target the enemy as they appear in gaps of the lines to aid the fighters but there are simply too many.
Taking one of the four crystals from the last remaining sack of crystals in their possession, she sets it to sling and sends it far over the heads of the enemy. A minute later, men drop as spheres appear among them. Bolts of electricity flash as the orbs begin discharging the magic that they drew from the soldiers now lying still on the ground.
After sending more slugs into the enemy, she removes another crystal and sends it flying. Again, men drop and spheres appear firing bolts of electricity. Dozens of men are dropped by the initial leeching of their magic by the crystal and scores more are dropped by the subsequent discharges of electricity.
She continues to do that. While waiting for the men to again group closely together, she sends slugs to fell the attackers. Once a sufficient number are together, she sends another of the crystals flying into their midst.
When the last sphere of the last crystal has disappeared, she looks on at the still overpowering numbers of the enemy. Feeling hopelessness sapping her will, she continues felling men with slugs.
Unfortunately, the rest of the slingers aren’t doing nearly as well as she. Terrance is hitting men primarily on parts of their body covered in armor. A dull thud and a dent is all he’s managing to accomplish.
The others are doing a trifle better, some are connecting. Perhaps not killing blows, but enough to injure which slows down their defenses, enabling Raiders to get within their guard better.
Off to one side, the line buckles. The Raiders who were holding are suddenly inundated by a two score of Parvatis and they go down fast. Their dual swords opening up a swath twenty feet wide, they are soon among the crossbowmen.
The crossbowmen fall back fast, loosing bolts as they retreat. They take down over half the Parvatis before Illan, Ceadric and other Raiders move to engage them. By the time they take out the last of the Parvatis and reestablished the line, two score crossbowmen lay dead as well as half a score of Raiders.
Ceadric and Illan hold the line while others move to assist. The defender’s line is slowly shrinking in on itself as more and more of the defenders fall.
Ka-Boom!
A gigantic cloud of smoke and flame reaches to the sky from where James is battling Kerith-Ayxt. He, Miko and the three remaining members of the Hand of Asran stare in awe at the flame burning on the other side of the protective barrier. Using the power of the Star, James extinguishes the flames and then concentrates on the ground before the mages.
A rumbling begins and the earth cracks open. Suddenly, a gigantic rock hand emerges as Rocky begins climbing out of the ground. Eight feet high and made of stone, Rocky turns on the mages and lurches forward.
Brother Willim and the other two members of the Hand work to keep the soldiers at bay. Large patches of thorny vines impede their way while others actually grasp them, constricting until they’re dead. The death of any man is a hard blow to the Brothers even though it is in defense of their lives.
Miko sits cross-legged on the ground with the Star in his lap clasped between both hands. The funneling of power to James is taking its toll. His system is simply not used to having so much power passing through it for so long. Breathing has become labored and he’s soaked in sweat, sort of reminds him of how James gets now and then when he does too much.
Kerith-Ayxt lashes out with power and Rocky explodes sending a myriad of rocks flying in all directions.
Just what James was hoping for, he sends out the power and takes hold of the flying debris. Stopping it in midair, he then sends it flying back toward the mages. A shield springs to life to protect the mages from the barrage. It manages to deflect all but a couple which had already passed beyond the edge of the shield. One of the rocks manages to strike a mage in the side of the head. Staggering backward, the mage’s legs collapse and he hits the ground hard where he remains unmoving.
A slight drop in the power coming to Kerith-Ayxt tells him the mage that was hit is dead. Putting the fallen mage out of his mind, he brings his hands together then opens them up to reveal a shimmering ball. Launching from his hands, the ball flies toward James.
Using the power of the Star, he strikes the ball before it has a chance to close the distance and…
Ke-Pow!
…an intense explosion knocks him backward. A backlash of magic rips through him like a hot knife and for a moment, all his defenses are down.
“James!” yells Brother Willim. Rushing to his side, he grabs him as he teeters on the brink of falling.
His mind reeling, he takes hold of Brother Willim’s shoulder and rights himself just as another shimmering ball flies toward him. Summoning the magic, he attacks the ball.
Ke-Pow!
Again the ball explodes sending another backlash of power burning through him. His legs buckle and if it weren’t for Brother Willim, he would have hit the ground. He’s not sure if he’ll be able to survive another attack like that. Realizing that even with the Star, he isn’t going to win this battle, he mumbles something to Brother Willim.
“What?” Brother Willim asks.
“Tell your brethren to halt all magic, now,” he says with more strength.
“But we’ll be killed,” he states.
Shaking his head James shouts, “Just do it!” Pushing away from Brother Willim, he makes his way to Miko.
“Shut it down!” he yells to be heard over the roar of the battle. “Shut it down now!”
Miko is so caught in maintaining the flow that he isn’t paying any attention to him. Stepping back, James kicks the Star out of his hands. When the Star leaves his hands, Miko collapses into an unconscious heap.
Another shimmering ball flies toward him, the mage grinning in triumph. Sending out his magic, he explodes the ball and once more he’s hit by what must be a backlash of power which sends him to his knees.
Turning back toward the mages, James gazes at the mage standing there. The look on the mage’s face says he’s sure of victory as another of the shimmering spheres appears between his hands. Using the last vestiges of power, he casts one final spell. A shimmering bubble leaves his hand and floats its way toward Kerith-Ayxt. As his sight fades to blackness James sees the look of victory again on the face of the High Lord Magus, then passes out.
“Is that the best you can do?” Kerith-Ayxt asks.
With a thought, he sends the sphere to destroy the bubble. Instead of being destroyed, the sphere appears to be absorbed by the bubble. Then suddenly something latches onto the flow of magic coming from him and begins drawing magic.
The High Lord Magus tries to cancel the flow but realizes in panic that he is unable to. Growing in intensity, the bubble begins drawing more and more power from him. Behind Kerith-Ayxt, mages fall as the Lattice pulls ever more magic from them to replenish his reserves that are being drained by the bubble.
Sparkles begin dancing within the bubble from the accumulation of magic stored within. Brother Willim and the two remaining followers of Asran watch in awe as the bubble glows with growing intensity, the sparks within it increasing in number and intensity.
From across the battlefield, Jiron blocks a soldier’s downward hack with the crossed blades of his knives and kicks him backward. Momentarily free of attackers, he glances around the battlefield and sees the light coming from where the bubble is growing. Suddenly, another soldier appears before him and thrusts with his sword.
Deflecting the blade to the right, he lashes out with his other knife and takes him in the side of the neck. As
