The Hedge Wizard

Hump raced to the edge of the battlements, peering over the wall to the scene down below. Anara had struck the ground with such force that she shattered the stone tiles and was partially buried in dust and debris. Her face was bloodied, one arm was bent out of shape, and there was a terrifying gash across her chest. She choked furiously, blood spurting from her mouth and over her chin.

“Go get Isabella,” Hump told Nisha, sending an image in his mind of the Chosen of Emirai going back into the keep with the rest of her party. Nishari perked up where she waited on the steps on the threshold to the keep. Despite her tiredness, he sensed her resolve as she raced through the halls of the keep in search of Theron and the other members of Anara’s party. It wasn’t long until Hump received another response.

“Come on,” Bud said. “We need to get back down there.”

“I’ve already sent Nisha to get Isabella,” Hump said. “She’ll be okay.”

“We can’t do nothing,” Bud said, making his way toward the tower doors on the left of the gatehouse where they had first come up.

Hump furrowed his frown in thought as he glanced over his shoulder at the army of Alveron. Even with the demon reinforcements, the tide of steel and divinity was approaching, General Korteg and Count Daston a terrifying duo on the battlefield, yet the projectiles pouring in from the flanking walls had not slowed, and with the demons now controlling the air and mindeaters crashing into their ranks, they could not be left to become trapped. Above, the greater demons split off from Gorvol and descended to face them. Mindeaters crashed into the ranks of the army, their bloated bodies unleashing spells and acid from their many heads, chain-legs piercing the ground like tendrils.

The gate had to remain open or the army would be trapped. Already the orcs still on the battlements were getting past Hump’s makeshift barrier where the right side of the gatehouse met the tower. Hump searched for Marshall Merrick, finding him far away on the walls. Demons had swarmed him and his party, a number of powerful creatures in their midst. They were overrun. Help wouldn’t come from there anytime soon.

Already demons were approaching above, no doubt realising that the gate was open. All that stood between it and the demons was Hump and his party. His mind was made up.

“Wait, Bud,” Hump snapped before the knight could leave. “We can’t leave here. The gate must remain open.”

Bud turned sharply, his eyes blazing with fury. His jaw clenched so tightly that the muscles in his face stood out in stark relief.

Bud turned sharply, a look of anger flashing across his face. His brows furrowed “She’s going to die down there. We must go!”

Hump drew a breath. For a moment, he doubted himself, but they could not give up the gate for the sake of one person. “We have our orders. This gate needs to remain open, or our army will be trapped on the other side.”

Below, he caught sight of Marcela and her party already moving to Anara’s aid.

Hump nodded toward them. “Others will help Anara.”

Tamsin carved through the orc ranks with her twin axes, screaming like a madwoman. Len reached Anara first, raising a barrier around them and helping the woman to her feet. She could barely stand, let alone walk. He put her arm around his shoulder and half carried her toward the keep.

“He’s right, Bud,” Emilia said. “We need to get the other tower door shut. More are getting through.”

Bud clenched his jaw. Hump could see the conflict in his eyes—the doubt—but as the knight’s shoulders slumped Hump knew that he’d made it through to him.

“Very well,” Bud said, turning back to the fight.

“Can you break your barricade?” Dylan asked. “If you can get me to the door, I’ll keep it shut.”

“I can do one better,” Hump said. He levelled his staff toward the malformed stone, tendrils of bronze lashing it until it glowed with the light of his essence. “Rockshot.”

The barricade erupted, blasting back the orcs trying to force their way over, sending them tumbling to the battlements or the ground below, screaming out in agony as debris tore through them like shrapnel. Bud, Dylan, and Emilia raced forward to finish the job.

Bud and Dylan’s blessings were fully unleashed now, granting Hump a little strength. He held his ground as they went for the tower doors, trusting them to take care of it. In the meantime, his gaze went upward as more enemies gathered overhead. Drexel had retreated from the battle with Gorvol, freeing up the Gatekeeper and the three demons that had gone to his aid. Wherever the rogue had gone, Hump couldn’t tell. As if sensing his gaze, Gorvol suddenly pointed at him and bellowed an order. The smaller, bat-winged demons swarmed first, dozens of them diving straight for him.

He leant heavily on his staff and downed his last Essence Elixir. It seared as it went down his throat like strong alcohol, yet as soon as it reached his stomach it spread through his body like a cold wave. They were losing effectiveness, yet it was enough of a boost for him to keep going.

Hump’s spellbook shifted pages and he drew upon the stone around him, essence lashing out at anything it could take, the black rock floating up into the air at his command. “Ward of Earth.”

The suspended stone stirred, a whirlwind of shrapnel picking up around Hump. He expanded it until it was wide enough to cover the space above him, the orbiting rocks batting aside smaller demons as they got close with little resistance. To his right, Bud and the others had reached the tower door and Dylan was barring it shut. The orcs were dealt with, but it was too late. The Gatekeeper was coming.

The beast landed on the battlements with a great thump, the entire fortification shuddering at its presence. The creature gave a careless swing with its axe, the blade blurring as it swept for Hump. Despite the casualness, Hump sensed the power in that blow.

He raised his staff, spellbook whirling, essence rising from him in a storm of power. “Shield.”

A sphere of energy formed around him as the axe slammed down. His spell shattered in an instant, but it was enough to send the axe recoiling. The force sent Hump hurtling to the floor, his staff and spellbook falling from his hands. He gasped, winded from the impact of the residual energy that carried through his Shield. He heaved in air and gazed up as the creature strode toward him.

Behind it, the rest of Hump’s party fought to reach him, but more demons had arrived to bar their path. Bud clashed blades with a humanoid creature, releasing Wings of the Frostfire Paladin and launching himself through their ranks. Emilia danced through the enemy, her blade carving them apart. Dylan’s vines swatted aside anything that came close.

They weren’t going to reach him. Hump reached a hand for his staff, using the cantrip, Return, to call it back to him. He caught it and mustered what strength he could for another Shield. Time was all he needed. A few more spells, and the others would reach him.

Nisha must have sensed his fear as her worry flooded him. He saw a brilliant flash of silver through her mind’s eye, and Celaine standing in its light.

***

Celaine took aim at the great bull-creature, but to her Relentless Pursuit its body was impenetrable armour. She saw no weaknesses, but for a single scar she’d glimpsed on the right side of its back, beneath the shoulder blade.

But it was turned away from her. She waited, heart hammering, poised to loose an arrow the moment the opportunity came, but the creature did not give her one. It strode closer to Hump, its great axe looming at its side.

“I can give you a moment, Celaine,” Marshall Anara said weakly. “My mark is still on it. Can you land the shot?”

Celaine glanced at her. Isabella knelt over the druid’s broken body, her healing powers enough to stabilise her but there was no quick recovery from such injuries.

“If you can show me its back, I can do it,” Celaine said quickly. “I don’t miss.”

The words were as much for herself as assurance for Anara. She had one shot. One chance to make the world right. To fail was to change the future forever. Without Hump… she didn’t even want to think about it.

Anara drew a weak breath then let out a sigh, her essence flowing with it. The air turned pale pink around her, then suddenly shifted to a dark miasma. The druid glared at Gorvol, her aura manifesting with ferocious intensity.

Celaine turned back to her target, the great bull-creature raised its axe overhead. Hump had his staff in hand, but she had already seen it break one of his shields. She called upon her blessings, clutching the shadows to her, wrapping herself in them, and infusing her arrow with their energy. The world fell away as she focused on the singular spot on its back, hidden just out of sight. Her blessings concentrated into her arrow. The will of Predator’s Intent, the strength of her enhanced Power Shot, Eclipse Arrow, the debilitating essence that Way of the Shadow Archer granted her.

She waited, poised for her moment, her entire body strained to its limit as it held back her bowstring.

“Turn!” Anara roared.

The Gatekeeper’s balance left it. It turned away from them as if given a shove, exposing its back for a heartbeat before it could recover. It was all the time Celaine needed.

She loosed her arrow. Even before it left her bowstring she knew that it would find its mark. Silver and shadow streaked across the sky. Into it, she had poured all her strength and will. All the power she could muster as she was right now. She watched as the arrow flew through the air as if time had slowed down, her senses heightened by Hunter’s Instinct.

Go. She willed it.

Gorvol’s face contorted into a furious snarl as it heaved its axe back up, moving to chop at Hump. The Gatekeeper’s muscles tensed. His axe started to move down. A Shield manifested around Hump but she had seen the force of this demon’s blows. It would not be enough.

But her aim was as perfect as she knew it to be. The arrow found the Gatekeeper’s back, piercing through its scar and penetrating all the way out the front of its chest. Even from the distance Celaine could see the blood, just as she’d seen it countless times when she was hunting.

“I told you I never miss.” Celaine smiled with the satisfaction of a good hit—clean through the lung and out the other side. The demon choked up blood, but unlike a deer it did not fall. The world swayed and Celaine lost her balance, forcing her to lean against the keep wall to remain on her feet.

***

Hump stared at the hole now in the Gatekeeper’s chest. Blood sprayed against his newly formed Shield as the demon stumbled yet did not fall despite the devastating blow. It took a staggered step toward Hump, clutching its axe in both hands. Emilia was there then, her Transcending Blade almost as fast as an arrow as she stabbed at the demon’s back, piercing its stomach with a ray of red light.

Still Gorvol stood, a crazed smile on its bloodied lips. “I am a god! As if a mortal could kill me.”

“You are no god,” came a quiet voice. A shadow fell over Hump and Drexel appeared from it, covered in wounds but no less fast. His dagger pierced Gorvol through his heart, black smoke streaming from around the blade. “Just one more demon that must be slain.”

Gorvol’s eyes widened. It snarled, leaning into the blade as if to bite Drexel’s face. In one swift motion, the rogue withdrew his dagger and stepped back, avoiding the fountain of blood that followed. The Gatekeeper’s axe finally clattered to the ground. The great demon dropped to its knees, its eyes wide with disbelief. They fell on Hump.

Hump smiled at the beast. “All hail the mighty Gorvol.”

The creature’s face twisted with such fury it would have been paralysing, if not for the lethal wounds. Seconds passed and life left its eyes, the Gatekeeper’s body collapsing.

“It’s almost poetic,” Dylan said, standing over it. “The Gatekeeper falls dead upon the gatehouse.”

Emilia gave the druid a quizzical look. “You read some weird poems.”