Chapter 2 Part 2

Calmly ignoring a crossbow bolt that whizzed past his ear, Avery worked on his downed horse. The animal was terrified, and in pain. A moment earlier he’d cast a spell to speak with it, and now the horse was looking at him with such trust and hope, that Avery felt almost intimidated. The animal had placed its fate completely in his hands in spite of its pain. He really had to give Nikki credit, this was harder to take than a battlefield full of wounded.
They had been ambushed only about twenty seconds ago. The first bolt had taken Avery’s horse but the next few were deflected by a very quick defensive spell from Armegon. Now, Armegon was on foot in the trees, and Ultrecht was crouching to his left.
Avery glanced up as Ultrecht stood and casually collected the reins of the other two horses. He was just about to say something when two more bolts flew their way only to stop in mid-air and hang there.
“How’s your horse?” Ultrecht asked as if the animal had only stumbled.
Avery spared time for a grin. “He’ll be ok. The bolt is deep into muscle tissue, but I can fix that now that I’m not being shot at.”
“Sure, just glad I could be of help.” Ultrecht replied as three more bolts stopped nearby.
Avery started to ask why they were hanging in mid-air, but all around them the woods began ringing with explosions and screams of pain. Several very noisy minutes later Armegon came stomping out of the trees, swearing like a dwarf. His saber was out and bloody, while his own blood was seeping from a nasty cut over his left eye. He stalked up to the edge of Ultrecht’s protection spell and growled, “Are you gonna let me in or not?”
Ultrecht raised one eyebrow. “Not until you’ve calmed down a bit.”
Armegon’s temper flared. “You miserable…” He raised his hands to blast the shield, but stopped. Raw conflict showed on his face until slowly he closed his eyes and stood still. Gradually the tension left him and he quietly lowered his arms. He opened his eyes and suddenly looked very tired. “Sorry. They ticked me off.”
Ultrecht smiled and gestured. Gently, Armegon lifted into the air, floated over the top of the shield and came to rest next to Ultrecht.
“What, is that just a wall?”
“No, it’s a cylinder. I was in kind of a hurry to get it cast, so I decided on strength over area. It’s only about thirty feet in diameter, about twenty feet tall, and with no top or bottom.”
Avery glanced up from his work. “So why not just drop it?”
“I can’t, it’s timed.”
As Armegon mopped at his seeping forehead with a rag he said sarcastically, “Ok, let me guess. You went for strength. So in your typical overkill manner, it’s going to last for how many days?”
Ultrecht bristled then deflated sheepishly. “It’ll last about two years.”
Armegon stopped and stared. Then he started to laugh. It was one of those sneaky, start small, and then build slowly into a painful bellyache kind of laughs. Soon he was lying on the ground trying to hold both his head and stomach at the same time.
Slightly offended Ultrecht turned his back on Armegon, only to see Avery grinning from ear to ear. “Oh come on! You two both get to come unglued now and then. He blows up half the county-side and you cut things into ribbons. I get a little excited and overpower a spell and now you two act like it’s the comedy event of the decade.”
Avery started to giggle. Ultrecht was about to say something snippy, but the horse, lying on the ground patiently waiting for Avery to finish his work, began to giggle as well. With clenched teeth, he went to the far side of their limited space and carefully began to groom his own horse.
Two hours later, Armegon and the injured horse were looking much better. “Ultrecht, do you have any injuries?” Avery asked.
Ultrecht sighed and came back. “No, nothing hit me but the ground.”
“Well Mister Destruction here says there were about thirty crossbowmen out there,” said Avery as he jerked his thumb towards Armegon.
“How many escaped?”
It was Armegon’s turn to look sheepish. “Uh, well, none actually. The first bolt grazed my forehead and I got a little shook up. Then when I got into the woods someone hit me with a stick and I really lost my temper.”
“You killed them all?”
Armegon looked up defensively. “No, only the first ten or twenty. After that they started running and I changed spells.”
“Oh? And to what may I ask?”
Armegon grinned. “Let’s just say that there is a surprisingly large population of common box turtles in the area.”
“Well, I hope you aren’t going to suggest turtle soup for dinner.”
Avery grimaced and said; “Now that’s a disgusting concept.”
Armegon barked a short laugh, “No. I think I can find something in my saddlebags. Besides, they’ll be back to normal in a couple of days.”
Ultrecht looked at Armegon appraisingly, and then said, “Well maybe we should camp in here for the rest of the day and tonight.”
“What is able to pass through your shield spell?” asked Avery out of the blue.
With a slightly puzzled look, Ultrecht answered, “Just light, why?”
“Because it’s going to rain in about three hours.”
“Oh.” Said Ultrecht blandly.
Tired and a little slow on the uptake Armegon said, “So, we’ve got tents.”
“This cylinder of his,” he gestured towards Ultrecht, “is going to become a cistern.”
Armegon blinked a couple of times, said “Oh.” and dissolved into laughter all over again.
Ultrecht shook his head resignedly and worked the spells needed to lift them all out. Soon everyone was ready to move again, although Armegon was still grinning like a baboon. “Their camp is only about two hundred yards off of the road,” he said as he mounted his horse. “C’mon, I’ll show you.”
They followed and sure enough came to a large camp. The scene was a mess. Men were flung all over the place, some dead, but most in a deep magical sleep.
“You caused all this?” Ultrecht asked incredulously. “And in only minutes?”
Armegon looked a little defensive. “Yeah well, like I said, they really upset me.” He glanced around at the generally leveled camp. “I supposed I went a little overboard, but they started it.”
Ultrecht just looked at him.
“What?”
Ultrecht just shook his head and walked away slowly. Avery quietly laughed at both of them behind their backs.
“No really. I had a reason, I mean look at all these guys,” Armegon began to sound a little flustered. “Well damn it, I had to do something.”
Avery pointed at a nearby tree. Hanging from a large branch was a three-toed sloth. “And that?”
Armegon began shuffling his feet and looking at the ground. “Well he shot at me after I came into the camp” he said quietly. His voice became more of a mumble. “That one should only last about twenty to thirty hours. I was getting tired.”
"And the sleepers?”
“They’ll all wake up together around sundown tomorrow. That was an area spell.”
Avery sighed. “At least it wasn’t fire.”
Armegon perked up “Yeah, I tried to avoid starting a forest fire.”
From the center of the camp Ultrecht called out. “Hey these aren’t just bandits. Take a look at those uniforms.” He pointed to a stylized sunburst design. “I think you just flattened a leftover platoon from Aspburg. ”
“Well then I feel much better,” Armegon said tiredly. “But what the hell are they doing out here raiding the roads?”
“I’d guess they were returning home and just took up an opportunity,” offered Avery. “And of course it had to be us they wanted to opportune on.”
Ultrecht walked up to them holding a small narrow case. “What are we going to do with these soldiers?”
“Beats me. You two decide,” said Armegon as he sat down and leaned back on his elbows.
Avery nodded towards the case. “What’s that?”
“I’m not sure, but it’s harboring a strong and malignant magic.”
Armegon looked up with interest. “Did you open it yet?”
“No, I thought it best to remove it first. We can open it somewhere where we have more time.”
“Yeah with my luck it’s probably got an army of darkness inside it and I’d have to blow them up too.”
Avery looked around the camp. “I suppose we can’t prove any more wrongdoing here and I’d say these guys have probably been chastised sufficiently. We should move on.”
With a groan Armegon climbed to his feet and mounted his horse. “Ok then, let’s go.”
Ultrecht finished tying the box to the back of his saddle and said, “Ok, I’m ready.”
They rode on, but the carefree feel of the trip was gone. They stayed far more alert now.