They teleportedfrom the mansion to a spot on the ground just outside the stablesand about thirty paces from the entrance to the barracks. Thecourtyard and entrances to the buildings were lit with magic globesthat cast a cool bluish tinted light. There was a fight at theentrance to the barracks. More than twenty soldiers milled aroundthe entrance trying to get into the barracks, while severaldefenders inside tried to keep them out.
About ten pacesaway just outside the stable doorway stood two Lords accompanied bytwo guards and behind them two large constructs. They weresupervising the attack on the barracks. Aquitain immediately placeda wall of hardened air behind the Lords separating them from theirguardian constructs.
‘I’ve zoned off the constructs.’ he yelled to Darkmantle thenattacked the two lords and their guards with a mind blast. The twoguards were stunned but the Lords must have had some type ofmagical protection, as they seemed unaffected.
One of theLords noticed Aquitain and Darkmantle’s group and cast a bolt oflightning at them before trying to duck into the stables behind hisguardian.
Aquitain,Darkmantle and some of his people dived in all directions but threeof them were too slow and were hit by the bolt, falling both burntand stunned onto the ground. The discharge lit up the courtyard andcarried on smashing into the barracks building near the millingcrowd.
Fortunately, itmissed Aquitain and she charged and leaped directly at the twoLords feet and rolled, bowling them over. The two constructguardians lurched forward to join the fray but were stopped dead bythe wall of hardened air between them and their Lords.
‘Don’t kill the Lords.’ yelled Darkmantle.
‘Why?’ asked Aquitain as she regained her stance and the blackblades extended from her hands.
‘Capture them and their men will surrender.’ repliedDarkmantle.
‘Who cares!’ she said as she moved to strike.
‘Please Aquitain!’ yelled Darkmantle.
The bladessuddenly turned into clubs and she belted the two Lords on thehead. They fell back stunned.
The twoElendari guards stunned by Aquitain’s mind blast had halberds, anasty weapon that was a cross between a spear and an axe on a longpole. As the stun wore off one took up a position to blockDarkmantle’s guards from attacking while the other charged forwardchopping and stabbing at Aquitain. The new chaos matter armourabsorbed most of the damage and Aquitain quickly healed the rest.She immediately used her telekinesis power to hurl the attackerback 20 paces where he landed heavily but struggled up.
To Darkmantle’scredit he had quickly realized the possibilities of the situation.If they could capture these two Lords they could potentially endthe attack. He quickly ordered his two remaining guards to engagethe halberd wielder while he turned to use a power.
A semicircularwall of intense flame 30 paces long and 4 paces high instantlyappeared zoning the stable area from the enemy troops attacking thebarracks, isolating them from their Lords. He untied a horn at hisside raised it to his mouth and blew it. Nothing immediate happenedbut he seemed unconcerned waiting and watching with a smirk on hisface.
Aquitain was ina bit of a bind. She stood on top of the two Lords trying to keepthem on the ground while seeing the man she had hurled back get upand charge back at her. Behind her the guardian constructs hammeredat the wall of hardened air wearing it down.
She quicklydecided she had to take care of the halberd wielder and charged athim dodging under a wide swing while reforming her blades. She tookthe fellow under the rib cage with one blade and slashed his throatfor good measure with the other.
Momentarilyfree, the two Lords levitated straight up about 10 paces high inthe air so that they could fight from above. They had obviouslyworked out that there was an invisible barrier stopping theirguardian constructs from passing through. Suspecting that it musthave been a wall of force that could last for minutes, they orderedtheir constructs to smash their way through the stonewalls at theside of the stables.
Darkmantlestood alone watching the two Lords rise into the air.
‘That’s exactly what I would have done in your situation.’ hethought and smiled as two wyverns swooped out of the darknessgrabbing the Lords in their talons and flew off in a large circlearound the estate. Another two flew into view hovering in the air20 paces above him their great wing flaps causing the dust to flyat ground level.
He shouted aword and the firewall vanished and using a magically enhanced voicehe shouted.
‘This is Lord Darkmantle; I have captured your Lords. They arestill alive. Throw down your weapons and surrender. I do not wishto harm you or them. I suspect they have been possessed by evilcreatures.’ The second guard wielding a halberd threw down hisweapon and was forced to the ground by Darkmantle’s two guards.Aquitain moved forward to the right of Darkmantle.
The enemytroops weren’t convinced and there were at least fifty of them nowslowly walking like a wave of malice towards Darkmantle andAquitain, with their weapons at the ready.
Aquitainadjusted his eyes to see spirit auras. He could see at least threeof the soldiers in the crowd were possessed by Mentarin spirits.They wouldn’t care whether the Lords lived or died.
‘I wonder if I can kill the possessing spirits without harmingthe soldiers?’ he thought.
Darkmantlepointed above.
‘Up there I have your Lords in the grasp of my wyverns. Theycan’t escape because their magic is blocked. One word from me orone false move from you and my creatures will tear themapart.’
‘HOLD.’ commanded Aquitain using mindspeak and every soldierstopped dead.
‘I am the Princess of Argenta, the new Mistress of Astaria,and soon to be your Queen. The Lord Warden of Moonmist and I camehere to save your lives and you seem to wish to throw them awayneedlessly.’
She slowly andcarefully untied the cord holding Crys and held him up for all tosee, then placed it on the ground in front of her.
‘Some of you have seen the Lord Warden in action. All of youhave heard of him I dare say. He is the first person in a thousandyears to conduct the sacred Dance of the Elementals. He wieldsuntold magical power.’
Aquitain turnedthe mind clay
