《Briox the Magus》


 1. Rifthollow

    Briox panted, every breath was agony as he struggled to stand. Around him lay his fellow students, their creatures, his creatures, the soldiers of the Hyser Empire. Blood fell from his mouth as he looked up at the back of Professor Vandolheim. The Professor turned back his eyes calm as he spoke "Go". The world shifted, Briox moved through space and reality as he watched the bridge that they had held fall apart, shattered by his teacher''s spell, and he watched as the Hyser Battlemage that had killed so many of them vanished into his own teleport. Everything vanished as his teacher''s magic took him to safety.


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    Briox awoke with a start, sweat soaked through his robes and the bed around him. He took a moment to reorient, it had been two years since the fall of Everseal Academy. Two years since the Hyser Empire launched a surprise attack over the Everseal Mountains and struck a devastating blow against the Islandyian States. It had taken less than three months for the complete surrender of all Islandyian forces and the Hyser''s establishment of a new order. By the time Briox made his way out from Professor Vandolheims mountain sanctuary the war was already over. Not that it had ever ended for him.


    Briox rolled out of his bed and peeked through the shutters of his room, inspecting the dark and quiet town below. He was in Rifthollow, a smugglers haven and den of cutthroats trying to pretend it was a trade post. He''d become familiar with such places over the last year and nine months. He''d had to be with the Hyser''s inquisition after him. A bit of mana circulated through his body and he willed it into form, drying and cleaning his robe of nightmare sweat. He moved away from the shutter and headed straight for the door, the room was barren and empty besides him and the bed. A few moments later and he had left the Inn and was heading to the Silly Pirate. A bar named because only a very odd pirate would be in the middle of landlocked Islandia. It was also the only place in a three day journey of Briox''s teleport network that would sell him the components he needed.


    Briox used the light of the full moon as a guide until he found the place, a picture of a upside down pirate hanging over the door. Briox channeled some mana through his body, strengthening it before he carefully pushed open the hanging doors and walked in. The Silly Pirate was quiet, filled with people who appeared totally intent on their drinks and the low level grumbling about life. Appeared because Briox felt both eyes and inspection magics on him the moment he set foot inside. Without slowing a step he headed straight to the table in the corner by the door that he had to assume led to the back.Stolen story; please report.


    Tommy "Black" Caulder was a handsome smooth negotiator who looks like he was born to the role of a rogue and ladies man. He leaned back in his chair, feet on the table and a feathered cap pulled low over his eyes, openly snoring in the corner as Briox settled in across from him. A barmaid approached Briox and he quickly ordered the daily special, whatever that was, before he turned back to the number one smuggler in Rifthollow. "You know if you are going to snore fakely could you at least do it quieter?" Briox asked. Tommy reached up with a finger and tilted the cap above one eye which he cracked to stare at the brown robed magus across from him before speaking "Whos to say i wasn''t sleeping and was just woken up by a rude visitor?". Briox grinned "I''ll say it". Tommy sighed "always a bother aren''t you?" he slid his boots off the table and sat up. Both stayed silent as a bowl of stew was delivered to the table and then Briox began to eat. Tommy spoke "I have the goods you wanted, it wasn''t easy. The Hyser Church is keeping a close eye on some of these in case certain people get their hands on them". Briox just nods as he eats and Tommy continues "You already paid for em but I have a request".


    Briox stops eating for a moment, he''d known Tommy for the better part of a year and this was the first time the smuggler had requested anything. Of course he''d done several jobs for him, or created certain items within his skillset as an enchanter and alchemist but those had been in payment for materials. Briox slowly set his spoon aside and looked at Tommy closely "What could be so important you''d ask me for help". Tommy looked away "I need some muscle". Briox frowned "you have mages". Tommy turned back to him "Ya i do, but they''re small fries, hedge witches and homespun casters. They won''t be enough for what i need to do". Briox continued to frown "I''m no battle mage". Tommy nodded "No, but you are a college mage. That''s clear enough and already puts you far ahead of anybody else round these parts." Briox grimaced, it wasn''t hard to tell what he was, not after a long period of exposure. However every step closer to his past was a step closer to death. If he didn''t somewhat trust Tommy he''d have already left, instead he asked "What do you need muscle for?". Tommy looked at him, dead serious and with a tone of iron "Raiding a Hyser Inquisition convoy".

 2. A Discussion

    Briox froze, the Inquisition, an organization assembled by the Holy Hyser Church. They lived to obey the orders of the Hyser Emperor. The orders and doctrine that branded Briox and his fellows as heretics. That led to the invasion of Islandyer and the massacre of any magus who studied the forbidden arts. Arts forbidden because they believe that only their Holy Emperor may wield them.


    In the Years since the war the Inquisition had hunted down the elite mages of Islandyer, all of the masters of forbidden arts. Then they had hunted down anyone else who may know the secrets. It was for that very same reason that Briox was still in hiding, as a student of Everseal academy his specialty was one of those forbidden arts. Not that it had allowed him to do anything vs the empires battle mages when they besieged the academy.


    Tommy clenched his fist and continued "They acquired someone I want to bust out and I can''t do it without help."


    His eyes seemed to be on fire, his body carved of iron as he stared at Briox "I know you had to have been a student from one of the mage colleges, they were hit hard by the Hysers, surely you want revenge!" Tommy slammed his fist on the table.


    Briox suddenly moved his own eyes glaring at Tommy as he stood up so abruptly his chair was tossed back "Tommy Caulder don''t you dare try to manipulate me!" his voice enhanced by the mana and anger flowing through his body boomed.


    Around the room a dozen men had stood, short swords and long daggers glinted in the fire light and two others stood with mana gathering about them preparing for battle. Tommy stared at Briox, his eyes hard as he too rose from his seat "I need to do this Briox".


    Briox snorted "Then ask".


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    Tommy stared for a moment more before he waved his arm, signaling to his men. They all settled back into place, in moments the room looked as if nothing had happened, besides a single chair on the floor.


    Tommy abruptly turned and went for the door into the back "Come on then, we should continue this elsewhere".


    Briox followed the two of them heading through the kitchens and into a back storeroom. One with a table and chairs always left out for "private business". Tommy tossed his cap aside on a barrel and quickly pilfered a bottle of wine from one of the crates, a pair of glasses appeared from another one.


    Briox took a seat and crossed his arms watching Tommy pour before he asked "So you gonna tell me what that was?".


    Tommy grimaced and drank his entire glass, refilling it as he spoke "Me fuckin up thats what".


    Briox waited as he drank another whole glass and stared at the bottle in his hand before setting it aside. Tommy took a deep breath steadying himself before he continued "They got my sister, she wasn''t anybody important before the invasion, but she was an assistant to the local magus. He was a low level creature creator. He died in the war and she was just an assistant so we thought she''d be okay but we still kept it on the downlow. She was a few towns over living a quiet life".


    Tommy grimaced "Someone told an inquisitor. An eager fellow who''s trying to prove himself the inquisitor snatched her right up, didn''t even find out about it till one of my boys spotted her in the convoy. You know how they like to show off their catch" Tommy sneered.


    Briox sighed "And you want me to help because I''m the only college magus you know of".


    Tommy shrugged "Only one I might be able to trust".


    Briox ignored his glass and grabbed the bottle swigging from it before he spoke again "You know even if I am trained the empire¡¯s Inquisition is trained to handle skilled mages".


    Tommy sat quietly for a moment before he spoke in a quiet voice "Your my only hope".


    Briox downed another swallow of wine before speaking "This isn''t going to be easy".


    Tommy nodded "Can you do it?".


    Briox sat for a moment sitting and thinking as tension built in the room, finally he looked up into Tommy''s eyes and spoke "I''ll need some supplies¡±.


    Tommy stood up and walked over to another crate, he grabbed a few items from inside and set them in front of Briox. Briox glanced at him and then the quill, inkwell and paper before Tommy spoke "Write them down, i''ll handle the rest".

 3. Leaving Rifthollow

    Briox stepped out of the Silly Pirate and checked the moon, he''d been in there for a while but not too long. With the proper bribes the current gate guards would let him through the side door no problem. The next shift however had a true believer in Holy Hyser and couldn''t be bribed. He quickly began to stride for the gates, while Tommy prepared the materials and ingredients he''d asked for he had other matters to attend to. Raiding an inquisitors convoy was suicide for most people. The fact that Tommy would even consider it already made him a braver man than most. That his men didn''t turn him in for saying it was probably more of a matter of the lawlessness of Rifthollow than them being wiling to attack an Inquisitor.


    Inquisitors of even the lowest level were elites in Hyser. All of them trained in resisting magical persuasion, torture, and brainwashed into being the perfect warriors for Holy Hyser. An Inqusitor didn''t care if they died as long as it was for the glory of the Divine Emperor. Many of them were Magi and all of them had the best equipment and combat training the Hyser Church could provide. It was said that even the recruits were a match for twenty men. Briox barely noticed when he passed through the gate, passing a prepared pouch of silver to the guards before he headed back out into the wilderness. Inquisitors were bad news, one of the biggest dangers to him in this new Islandyer and here he was preparing to throw himself in the way of one. Briox sighed and used a quick search spell after he was out of sight of the town, the familiar symbols forming in his mind and then manifesting around him, spreading outwards in a circle of light. After a moment he was sure that there was nothing within the nearby area.


    Briox cassually raised his hand and traced a few symbols in the air. Each one acting as a focus drawing power from the surrounding and then channeling it into the spell he formed within his mind. In a moment his body felt light, energy poured into him and he took a moment to enjoy the rush of mana flooding him. Before it built too far and went out of control he released it, magic formed glowing lights and shifting patterns. Reality warped and bent to his will, shaping to the instructions Briox enforced. Then it all settled down, the feeling of power vanishing instantly as reality settled into a new form. This one with a large creature standing before Briox, it was a quadraped, built with incredible muscles, as if someone had crossed a cat with a bear and left it furless with grey stonelike skin.


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    Briox smiled and petted the creatures head as it purred for him. It was a Greycat, a creature with incredible endurance, strength and speed. Its ability to climb and manuever making it an incredible mount in the rugged terrain around Rifthollow. Normally Briox wouldn''t use one to get to town for the same reasons he didn''t place a teleport marker near it. Doing so would increase his risk of discovery but if he was going to fight an Inquisitor he would definetly be discovered, that or die. Besides he wasn''t heading into town but leaving it.


    In a single fluid action he mounted his Greycat and they charged into the mountains. Tommy had said the Inqusitor was in town for a few days gathering supplies, and would remain in the region for no more than a week or two. Every day counted and they were fortunate that he wanted to show off for his superiors and bring those he captured alive to a Inqusitor Interrogator. Otherwise Tommy would likely already be an only child. Briox needed to reach his sanctuary, even without the supplies from Tommy yet he would need to prepare what he could.

 4. Sanctuary

    Briox walked through the halls of his sanctuary. Sanctuaries were very important to magi. Every magus required a place to study and practice in peace. Those with accompanying occupations also required labratories and craftshops. Briox walked through the polished stone halls, lit with enchanted lights the entire place echoed with his foot steps. In truth this was not his sanctuary, he hadn''t graduated from Everseal let alone gathered the money or power to create a sealed pocket dimension with everything a magus could want to dabble in various fields. That had been the choice of Professor Vandolheim.


    The Professor was a retired Creature Master. Specialized in creating various beings to serve the people of Islandyer. He had fought for years as a Creature Master for the armies of Islandyer before retiring to Everseal to be a tactics professor. His final act had been to send the last of the students he had led in defence of Everseal to his sanctuary. Briox hadn''t even been able to activate the teleport network when he first arrived, dimensional magic was far from his speciality after all. However he had the full library of a High Magus at his fingertips and nothing but time. So he had learned, he wasn''t really skilled with dimensional magic, but it was one of Professors Vandolheims specialties and an area with deep foundations among the magi of Islandyer. It wasn''t hard to figure out a few teleportaion spells that were simple enough as long as he had a marker, and these were the basis for the teleportaion network that the Professor had set up in a few key points around Islandyer. Most of the points however were too dangerous for a rogue magus on the run from the authorities to appear, and that wasn''t counting the ones that had been destroyed by Hyser magi and Inquisitors when they were unable to get through the seals.


    Briox stepped into the study and looked around, a few comfy chairs, a fire lit, shelves with a number of the more basic and interesting books from the library. "Cassoxs!" Briox called out to the room before walking over to one of the chairs and sinking into it. Shortly another door opened and from it emerged Cassox, the caretaker for the sanctuary and one of the many Creatures left behind by Vandolheim after his passing. "Master Briox, we were not expecting you for another day" Cassox spoke, his voice vibrating out from the featureless bronze mask that was his face. He was tall and thin, dressed in a plain but well made black robe, his skin bone white wherever it was exposed. Briox nodded at him "there has been a change of plans, an inquisitor has come into conflict with my supplier". Cassox moved in a fluid almost boneless way as he walked over to a the fire and retrieved a teapot from elsewhere. Briox watched quietly as Cassox began to prepare tea, his hands cassually reaching out and pulling everything from tea leaves to cups of water from somewhere else in the dimension. Mana was a strange energy, and the sanctuary of a magus would be flooded with it. Cassox as the caretaker of Vandolheim''s sanctuary had managed to grasp much of his creators talent in the arts of dimensional magic.


    When Cassox finished preparing the tea and leaving it to steep he turned to Briox "Then what shall we do next". Briox looked at Cassox closely, peering at him as if the mask of his face would tell him something about how the creature was feeling. In truth Briox could only use the sanctuary because of Cassox''s consent and the last instructions of Vandolheim. Even without his role as caretaker of the sanctuary he was a far more dangerous magus then Briox. Briox had never quite been comfortable with directing Cassox in most matters. It felt wrong, like an apprentice ordering a master to obey. Briox''s mouth twisted in displeasure, that was basically exactly what it was. Finally he replied to his teachers right hand "I intend to kill the Inquisitor". Cassox stood absolutely still, before he turned back to the tea kettle and checked its temperature with his hand. Deciding it was appropriately hot he removed it and began to pour tea for both of them as he spoke "Do you think you can handle an inquisitor?". Briox grimaced "Not alone, i need...." Briox''s words trailed off. Cassox sipped its tea, the mask remaining unchanged but the level in the teacup definitely lower than before "You need help?". Briox stared into his tea cup "No". Cassox looked up from his teacup tilting his head inquisitevly "No?". Briox set his tea aside "I need access to the creature labs, are they stocked?".


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    Cassox seemed to ripple for second, his mask, robes and body looking as if a stone had been tossed into a still lake. Briox looked at him eyes wide in surprise, just how had Professor Vandolheim made him? Cassox spoke once his body settled down "I see, i''m glad you are finally continuing the art. After what happened i was afraid...that you would never do so again". Briox grimaced and looked away, in Everseal he had been studying to be a creature master, with a minor in alchemy. Since he had arrived in the sanctuary however he had tried every craft that Vandolheim had dabbled in over his life, except the art of creature crafting. He still remembered the bridge, the blood of his creatures, his friends, his allies splashed upon the stone. The screams of agony as magic unmade his creations cell by cell. The prefered way of the Hyser to handle the "abominations" and those who made them. Though they could rarely do so unless they were vastly superior to those they fought.


    Briox took a deep breath and shook away the memories, the screams. "Cassox i''m not a battle mage, if i hope to do battle with a Inquisitor i only have one choice. The materials here for alchemy and enchanting can''t make anything suitable for such a battle". Cassox nodded and rose bonelessly to his feet, he clapped twice and two goblinoids stepped into the room "Quickly, go prepare the vats, Master Briox is about to begin crafting!". Briox looked askance at Cassox "And what if i needed time to refresh my memory and restudy the spells? it has been a while". Cassox turned to him and his voiced contained the mirth his face could not show "Master Briox, please don''t joke with me, you mumble crafting theory in your sleep". Briox stared at the caretaker of the sanctuary and pocket dimension in which he lived, before taking a slow drink of tea and then calmly stating "I didn''t hear a word you just said Cassox" before he set his tea aside and left. The sound of Cassox''s laughter seemed to follow him the entire way to the labratory.

 5. Getting Started

    Briox opened the door to lab C-1, it was his first time entering one of the labs Professor Vandolheim had designed for creature crafting. The inside was wide open and spacious, plenty of room for runic circles and rituals. Blue goblins ran to and fro scrubbing the floors, washing the various instruments required for certain styles of crafting. Others were inspecting the mud pits and vats along one side of the room, checking for leaks and ensuring that the mudpits were properly deep.


    There were numerous styles and paths one could take to create life with magic. All of them lent themselves to creating some forms of life better than others and Briox had studied each of them during his time at Everseal. He had formed goblins from mud, fey from raw magic, and even modified and animated corpses as chimeras. Those were the most basic cornerstones of a creators early studies. To use earth from which all life springs as the basis for life, to form life by twisting reality until it exists, or to birth it from the remains of other life. Some more advanced magi had other methods, but Briox had not made it that far in his studies.


    Briox strode over to the work bench, it was clean and clear of clutter. He doubted it was that way when the Professor had died. Likely Cassox had cleaned up his creators notes and stored them somewhere, what remained was a book holding inventory of all materials in this labs storage, a quill and blank paper. Briox quickly checked the inventory and made note of several materials. Blood from a mammal, lictine root, everswallow flowers and a half dozen more, he handed it off to a goblin "I want these back here quickly, we don''t have time to spare". The goblin ran for the store room yelling as he went "Make way make way! supply run! Carriers to me!" a stream of blue skinned workers running behind him.


    Briox found his mouth twitching into a smile. Goblins were rarely very bright creatures, but Vandolheims were defininetly on the higher end of the spectrum, and their enthusiam was wonderful. Thinking of that Briox turned to the room, looking it over before he clapped his hands. The remaining goblins all turned to face him and he spoke "We don''t have long to prepare, in the next few days we have to create a force to fight a battle against a foe that none of us here are fit to face". Briox looked around at the solemn goblins all of them were living beings created by a single man, a man who was now dead. Briox smiled a vicious smile "So lets show those Hyser bastards what a magus of Islandyer can do when they aren''t being knifed in the back." The goblins cheered and mimicked his dark smile. "Everyone to work! get those vats heated! sharpen your blades, fill the mud pits, we have life to create!" Briox turned back to the desk, empty except for a thin book and a stack of blank paper. It wasn''t going to stay that way for long, he had plans to write, beings to design and maybe, just maybe revenge to plan. No matter how small a cut it would be to the mighty Hyser empire. It would still be a cut made by him, simple magus apprentice or not.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


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    Elsewhere in the dimension a blackrobed figure watched him. If its blank face had been capable of smiling it would have been grinning from ear to ear. Not that it had ears either. Cassox turned its gaze from the student who its master had sent, and looked out into the void beyond the small reality that he tended. "So he has finally begun to move. It will be good if he can do something more than mope around" Crossax chuckled to himself, it had been happy to have someone to look after with Creator Vandolheim gone. But even a being such as himself, one created to render the best aid it could manage to any within its realm, could hope that those responsible for its Creators death could be punished. He could hope that couldn''t he? for a moment Crossax was confused, and then he laughed at himself before fading away. Crossax didn''t have to worry about such questions, after all, his creators last words still echoed within him "Do as you will" and so Crossax would.

 6. Catalyzing Goblins

    Briox searched his notes, three days and the once clean workbench was now a mess of ink, paper and notes. He found and looked over the temperatures for the mud incubators yesterday. He was using heat as a catalyst followed by the everswallow flowers and then a mixture of a half dozen various mixtures imbued with mana. Any variance could affect the beings he was creating, but trying to control it too tightly would result in inferior creatures or failure as they were unable to survive once they emerged. He double checked the numbers and then walked over to the bubbling pits of steaming mud. Three days of magic, catalysts and base materials had been poured into this mud with the goal of shaping it to purpose. No vital materials had been used, but they didn''t have time if this batch was wrong to determine a cause and correct it. Fourtunately goblins were hardy even before being created, the process that created them prone to mutation if there was errors, but almost guarenteed to succeed.


    Briox turned from his workbench and walked to the incubators. Briox held his hand over the first incubator, extending a stream of mana from it he felt the energies within it. He pulled out a quill and carefully noted down a few key parts of what he felt, the temperature, the positive to negative energy flow, vital energies, and a few concentrated pockets that would need to be stirred out. He repeated this process down the line from the first one to the fifth. Each one would take a few adjustments to be on track but they would do. He wrote out the instructions for care for each pit and hung them on the stand beside them. The blue goblins would tend to the details later. Briox returned to his desk, this time shuffling through the papers to find the one he had specified his target parameters.


    Briox took a good minute to find his goal, a paper titled "Red Goblins". He quickly scanned it comparing the notes of materials required, time and temperature. He ignored the sounds of the blue goblins returning from work and their efforts to ensure the incubators were tended. After a moments check he sighed in relief, the numbers were within parameter though number four was only just within limits. That alone wasn''t the reason for his relief, but rather the preparation time for a red goblin incubator. Three days of preparation before the final catalyst. Then it was only a matter of waiting, sometime in the day or two after the final catalyst was completed they would rise from the mud full formed and alive. All that was left was only final tending by the blues and then the final catalyst.


    Briox turned from his workbench and checked their progress. Some of the blues were stirring incubator one with giant paddles, others were rolling a giant cauldron with a fire beneath it from incubator to incubator, adding the required doses of water one ladel at a time. Smoke and steam were filling the lab and Briox waved a hand, a gentle wind springing up and pushing them up one of the chimneys. Briox slowly strode over to the incubators, standing before number three it had required the least work, only a small amount of water to replace lost moisture. The blues slowled there work, eventually coming to a stop, waiting, watching. Briox slowly exhaled, hesitant, it had been so long since he had done this. Two years since he had last cast a spell of creation. Back then he had created a companion, friends, allies and assisstants. Once he did this though...he would have created life not for beauty and utility, but for war.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    Briox closed his eyes and raised his hands over the incubator, his mana probed it one last time confirming that everything was as it should be. And so he began "Erosa Piwar If Axostanca, Erose Piwar Wothon Ma, Goft Lofa On Mu Nema Es Craetir" as he spoke the ancient tongue he called forth the mana within him, pushing it beyond his body. He could feel weakness setting in as his power vanished pulled into the ritual. He had called upon the ancients, the first mages, gifting his mana to their spirits to shape and imbue life to his creations and they had taken their due. Briox stumbled back a number of goblins rushed forward to support him as he collapsed backwards. But then they simple stood, holding him as they all watched the incubators, a golden light dancing with mystic symbols imbueing them with power. Briox strove to commit as many symbols as he could to memory, this was the basis of his craft, the core of magic laid bare if only for the brief moments that the ancients worked.


    As the light faded Briox sighed and waved the goblins away, slowly sinking onto the floor. He had not expected it to be so draining. Then again, looking over at the five catalyzed incubators, he hadn''t expected to have enough mana for all five either. Briox closed his eyes and tried to remember what symbols the ancients had just used. No living mage could ever fully grasp the ancient language, the power and complexity alone would destroy a human mind. Thats why they had to rely on the spirits of the first magi, the first race of ancient beings who had managed to somehow become magic for many of the higher magics. The spirits used mana as fuel for themselves and in return acted as interpreters between magi and magic. But doing so required more mana than learning the specific symbols to cast the spell yourself. Briox slowly engraved the shape and meaning of the few symbols he had managed to gather and then crawled his way back to his bench.


    "Magi are fueled by mana and without it they are even weaker than normal man, cast too much and see what the consequences are!" Briox grimaced as one of Proffessor Vandolheim''s lecture echoed in his head. If he didn''t need to note down the symbols while they were fresh he would just lay around and recover for a while. When he was in school he didn''t have to worry about copying them, they had a whole library of symbols to study! Briox froze at that thought, then he grimaced Everseal was gone he had to do it himself, even if he had to eventually reconstruct the entire catalyst ritual himself. Briox forced his way onto his chair and then bent over the workbench forcing the slowly returning mana into his hands and arms first so they could be steady as he recorded the symbols. Right now nothing mattered more than recording them right, later he would give instructions to the blues about the incubators.

 7. Mana Drained

    Briox felt his eyes growing heavy as he transcribed the symbols from his mind. Every stroke of his quill defined them, they grew sharper, more real within his mind. He forced himself to continue as the mana drain sapped his energy. His body struggled to produce more mana for itself, using his bodies vital energies to produce more of the precious energy. He struggled to complete the symbols. The first one was finished and in his mind it glowed, blazing with golden light before it sank into his mind settling within him. For a second his eyes flashed with a golden light and then he threw himself into writing the second symbol. The magic and complexity of the concept imbued within it being reduced to mear lines upon a page. He could feel the effort to concentrate dragging on him and then the last curve was added to the symbol and it too was added to those stored within his mind. Briox laughed and then collapsed, the intensity of the mystic symbols too much for his mana drained mind to withstand.


    Several blue goblins looked over worriedly, shuffling about uncertainly. They were skilled workers but they hadn''t received any instructions, and now the magus directing the project had passed out. This was a first in their lives. A goblin stepped forth, his nose a bit longer and more bulbous than the other, and a grey cap in addition to the common grey clothes he wore. Hesitantly, slowly, he advanced closer to the sleeping magus, unsure of what he should do but aware that as the highest ranked goblin he should do something. Finally he edged within arms reach and gathered up his courage. He would poke the magus and see if he was okay! "Cough Cough" The goblin lept a foot in the air and spun around in fright, a short scream torn from his throat. Behind him Crossax simply adjusted his face, moving the bronze mask around slightly within his hood. The goblin was still panting in terror from the surprise when Crossax spoke "We should allow the master to rest, he has performed quite the feat today. Mana drain is quite dangerous if i goes too far you know?". Crossax stepped past the goblin and placed a lit cesner that he had not been holding when he appeared by the unconcious magus "This smoke should assisst his body in recovering from the after effects until he can recover his mana naturally".


    The goblin calmed down and grimaced at Crossax "Did you have to do that?". Crossax raised his hands and quickly formed a handful of symbols, they moved rapidly stilling vibrations around Briox silencing any sounds that may disturb his rest "Did i? No, but it was amusing to watch." Ignoring the goblins grimace he turned to him and spoke "Blue Bignose we will need to tend the new brothers being born until the master awakens. I have taken the liberty of reading some of Master Briox''s notes and believe, though it is not my area of study, that we can finish the process while he recovers." Bignose''s grimace turn into a frown "Is he gonna be out that long?" he looked worriedly at Briox, his people had always had a boss or master to direct them, they simply woulddn''t know what to do with themselves if something happened to this new master. Plus he seemed a lot less all knowing and powerful than Master Vandolheim, Crossax had ensured them it would come in time, but still he needed to survive that time.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Crossax nodded "You are not a magus so you do not understand how vital mana is to them. As they use mana it begins to replace many of their natural functions with itself. This allows them to be physically stronger than normal men, to handle knowledge that destroys other minds, and perform magic. The price however is that they are dependant on it to live, Magi of higher levels can even die if they expend too much magic and as long as they have enough mana are essentially immortal. Master Briox has expended almost all of his mana, to the degree his natural body began to cannabilize itself to produce mana. He will recover but it will take a few days". Bignose nodded "Ya i get it, so what are we going to do while he recovers?". Crossax waved his hand and a stack of instructions appeared in it "Now we will begin the preparations, the creatures master had made this time are quite vicious, you will need to be careful when they emerge and we will need to begin training them immediately if they are to be useful for the masters goals" Crossax handed over the instructions and Bignose began to flip through them "Hey how are we supposed to do this part?" he waggled the page titled "Combat Training" at Crossax. The being leaned closer to glance down at it and then laughed "No worries, i will handle that". Bignose grunted and nodded before waving the stack of instructions around and yelling "Alright you lot, nooses and pokey sticks! These boys are a violent birth and we don''t want any casualties. Those with blacksmith experience report to the forges, we have some warriors to equip!". Crossax faded from view once more and Bignose glanced once more at his new master before he turned and strode from room heading for the warrens, they would need more goblins if they wanted to finish all this before the master awoke.

 8. Gang of Three

    A figure slipped through the door at the back of the Silly Pirate. The straw hat, rough clothes and smell of manure clearly stating that the man was a stable hand. A statment that was quite untrue. Withers was a member of the Blacks, the gang led by Tommy Caulder. It was traditional for criminal gangs in islander to take a color as the gang name. Rather, it had been, these days most of the old gangs had been surpressed by the Hyser underworld and its connections in the new system. The Black Gang had actually been pretty prosperous at one point, enough that their leader had even managed to get his sister into an apprenticship to an Creator Magus. Withers looked around the back storeroom at what remained of the Black Gangs leadership.


    Out of over two dozen gang leaders and hundreds and members they were reduced to just two leaders, the head of the gang, and maybe three dozen members. He couldn''t be sure how many members were left now that they were going after an inquisitor. What he was sure of was that besides him the only other Black Gang officer still with them was Irela Bane. Wither tossed his hat aside and sat down at the table as Irela crinkled her nose, Tommy looked up from the paperwork he''d been inspecting. Withers spoke "they just left town, final count is a dozen rune soldiers, two dozen Hyser solders, twice that number in teamsters and baggage carriers, plus the rookie himself". Irela snorted "Rookie? even a rookie inquisitor is better than even the rune soldiers. Are you sure you wanna speak so lightly of him". Withers shrugged "A rookie is a rookie even if he can kill me before i blink. You can practically smell the new on his shiny". Irela rolled her eyes and turned to Tommy "Well boss what do we do now?". Tommy slowly set aside the supply list for the convoy and looked up at his last two officers. Out of so many they were the only ones to survive and remain loyal.


    Withers was a intelligence officer, he could get information from a stone and find a rumor in the dessert. Irela was a magus, though untrained at a college her magic had come in handy several times over the years and she had more than a few spells that most upstanding magi would never have cause to learn. Together with the two dozen men in the front room they were the last of his gang. Tommy closed his eyes "are you two sure you want to do this?". The silence was oppressive as he waited to hear their reply Wither''s voice came from across the table "I''ve got no where else to be". Irela''s voice came right behind "You think Hyser would let me and my boys off? They''d hang us faster than you, if we were lucky enough to hang". Tommy opened his eyes and looked at the last of his followers and they both spoke "we''re ready boss". Tommy nodded "We have to rely on Magus Briox to handle the Inquisitor, if he can''t do it there is no chance". Irela frowned "Are we sure he can handle this? Me and my boys may not be trained but we''ve all been in a few sticky situations. Do you really think he can survive an Inqusitor? College magics didn''t help the others so much when the Inqusitors came for them". Tommy spoke calmly "Its our only chance, he''s survived the Hyser this long so he must have some assurance". Withers nodded "It was bad those first few months, anybody who made it out alove has to be at least half decent, that or lucky enough to share". Irela shook her head doubtfully "Okay then, what are we doing now then?". Tommy pulled out Briox''s list "First we finish this, and while we are at it make sure to replace all our weapons, armor and other necessities. Even if this goes well chances are we''re going to be running for the hills before the end. We should have a few of the boys go set up accomidations for us to visit. A bolt hole could be the difference between life or death". Withers smiled "If we make it that far, i''ll make sure they do a pretty bit of decorating somewhere in the mountains." Tommy nodded and continued "As for the specifics as to what will happen...we will have to wait and see. Withers you should get them started on the decorating as soon as possible. Withers nodded rose from his chair and left to the front room,


    Irela watched him go and turned to Tommy "Are you sure about this?". Tommy looked over at her "Am i sure about what?". Irela grimaced "About Briox, you know as well as i do what those ingredients he asked for are used for. A quarter of that list can''t be used for anything else as far as we know". Tommy looked at her for a moment his face calm and unruffled, the lamp shaded his face for a moment so that only his grey eyes were visible and Irela shivered looking into them. She''d seen the boss''s eyes like that only once before Tommy spoke "If he can help us kill the Inquisitor he''s earned them, if he can''t then he wouldn''t get them in the first place, either way, he is the only one we can try". Tommy smiled suddenly, his entire body seemed to burst into motion as he rose up "Well i''m off to have a drink with the boys at the front" he winked "I''ll see you later oh lovely magus" and with a laugh Tommy "Black" Caulder left Irela frozen behind him. She knew that look in the bosses eyes, it was calm, a simple utter calm as if there was nothing to worry about and all the work was done. She of course knew better, the last time she had seen those eyes was the day that Withers had brought news of the betrayal of six of the officers. They had sold out to an organization from Hyser. It was that night that she got to see how her boss had managed to gain his influence.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    Tommy had built the Black Gang up from scratch. It had grown piece by piece, town by town and city by city. Irela had joined later on when the gang was already established. Withers joined much earlier than her, but even he had only heard stories of how Tommy had begun his gang. Tommy did it by the tip of a sword, he gathered several scoundrels, bandits and ruffians through threats and blood before using them to carve out a slice of crime in the town he grew up in. Of course if that was all he''d never have been able to become a true power in the underworld, but he was smarter than that. Once Tommy had gained a slice of the pie he turned from violence to softer tactics, smuggling, theft, and coercien became the main tools of the Black Gang. Some of the older members may have felt alienated but if not for the Hyser invasion its likely that the gang would have continued to grow in power. However once the invasion came it fell apart. There weren''t many battles but the Hyser empire threw hundreds of investigators and platoons of soldiers into scouring the dark places of Islandier just in case any magus thought to hide in them. Many of the gang were captured or killed, and then the Hyser underworld moved in, supported by shady figures in the army. With the pressure some of the oldest who were unhappy with the gangs new ways, and some of the newest who weren''t as loyal sold out.


    Irela remembered how Withers had stumbled into the small mansion she had used back then. One of her apprentices, dead now at the hands of a group of rune soldiers, struggled to support Withers weight before they got him to a sofa. Tommy had been visiting to keep an eye on things with the new competition moving into the city. While Irela tried her best to heal his wounds Withers had told about a meeting between the other officers. Irela as a magus who would but hunted by the Hyser Empire had been left out. He''d gone to see what they wanted to discuss. There was a new man there, a representative of the Iron Fist of the Hyser Underworld. When talk of betrayal had arisen he''d refused, and the rest agreed and he ran. Tommy had patted his shoulder and told Withers to get some rest, he''d discuss what to do tommorow morning, his eyes as calm as a winters day. Tired from the magic she''d cast Irela too had fallen asleep after giving her apprentices instructions to be on guard. The next morning Tommy was sitting at the breakfast table sipping a cup of ale and casually talking to the kitchen staff. Ignoring the shaking that most of them were doing. It wasn''t until later that day she learned that he had left that night and returned the next morning covered head to toe in blood. Most of the Black Gang at that time were thieves, blackmailers, smugglers. The policies if the gang forbid killing unless necessary and it was ussually handled by the older members. No one in Irela''s people herself included were prepared when they learned that their smiling amiable ladies man boss had killed the six traitors, every member of the Iron Fist in the city, and everyone else who had come between him and his targets.


    Irela shivered slightly, she didn''t know if it was a good or a bad thing to see those eyes on the boss now. But she did know that she couldn''t unsee them. She stood up and walked to the back door. She''d been cooped up in the Silly Pirate the entire time the Inquisitor was in town. She''d take a walk and worry about everything else later. As the door opened into the warm daylight she hoped that she''d make it through this alive and tried to ignore the calm grey eyes that flashed through her mind as she left.

 9. Goblin Boss

    In the sanctuary of Vandolheim the ringing of hammers and calls of goblins range forth. Smoke billowed from the top of a castle turret as it floated on a island of earth. The magus made sun that circled it for night and day floated high above the castle as if it was high noon. It had taken a day for Briox to bring news of the Inqusitor to the sanctuary, three days to prepare the breeding pits and it had been two more since then. Already the first red goblins of Briox had been born.


    Blue Bignose pushed open the solid wooden door that led to the breeding lab. The stink of hot mud and vile herbs assaulted his nose and he smiled as he stepped inside. To his left the breeding pits bubbled, blue goblins stood at the ready six or seven to a pit just in case a new birth took place. They weren''t sure how many lives this batch would produce but they knew there would be more. The turning and bubbling of the mud showed that there was life within. Even as Bignose turned to the pits to inspect them one of the pits exploded in slime and mud, a screaming howling figure threw itself forward scrabbling its way onto land, grabbing the club bearing pit attendant by the ankle and dragging them towards it. The other blue goblins threw themselves at the mud covered being, blunted sticks were thrust spearlike at it trying to force it to let go. A noose attached to a pole was expertly thrown over its head and pulled tight, choking it as they tried to control the newest red goblin. Bignose watched wide eyed as the three goblins all holding onto the noose were being dragged off their feet and despite the thrusts from the pole bearers the attendant who had been grabbed was being dragged towards the newborns lengthened canines. Bignose moved, three bounding steps and he snagged the club that the attendant had dropped. A single strike struck the red goblin expertly on the back of the head and it slumped down dazed as the attendants used the noose to drag it from the pit. Bignose shook his head and tossed the club aside. It was the club attendants job to whack any rowdy newborns over the head to make sure they didn''t do this. He turned and glared at the attendant who''d been grabbed "go home, your not needed here" with a snort Bignose turned and went down the line inspecting the other pits. A replacement would be picked from the other goblins in his team soon enough, and they''re role would be filled from someone in the warrens the next day.


    Bignose glanced at the new goblin being dragged from the room as he inspected the work. Most goblins were tougher and stronger than their size would suggest, all Creatures were with the mana of their creation flowing in their veins. The red goblins that Creator Briox had made however were vicious and strong on a whole other level compared to the blue goblins that served Vandolheim. Bignose smiled, of course they had been made for different purposes, his kin were made to be assisstants and the red were warriors. But that didn''t detract from the sheer awe that seeing a red goblin lift and toss around three other goblins his size. It was the first time Bignose has seen a goblin that strong. They''d existed he knew but Creator Vandolheim prefered Greycats and Orckin warriors as his battle forces. This meant that Bignose had never seen other varieties of goblin. Bignose began to hum, he wondered what the ratio of births would be if a blue crossbred with a red? If any of this batch were female maybe they could request breeding rites from the master. He finished his inspection of the breeding pits and besides the one club attendants dissmissal it was running smoothly.


    Next on the list was the Smithies, four doors down and then take a left to the courtyard. Creator Vandolheim had liked to use the suns light to inspect his smithed works and so had built the smithies into an outer courtyard, just one of several that dotted the castle. Bignose stepped from a brightly lit hallway into an even brighter courtyard. Bignose grimaced at the light, goblin eyes were sensitive to light able to see clearly in starlight and by dim torch light. However that did them no favors on a bright day, squinting the goblin boss walked across the green courtyard following the ringing sound of hammers and entered the base of the smithy tower. It stood three stories tall, a squat fat tower with each level dedicated to a different type of smithing. The bottom level was the one currently in use, dozens of small blue figures rushing back and forth. They fed coal to the furnace, pumped bellows, took turns at the hammer as the more experienced directed them and controlled the red hot lengths of iron that would soon become short swords for their masters newest creations.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    Bignose smiled, loud as it was the light was dim and heat flooded the room. He stretched as the heat flooded his body and loosened him up, it was one of the specifics Creator Vandolheim had designed into his chosen assisstants. They grew more active and tired slower in heat, feeding off of it. It was a useful trait in an assisstant in many situations, combined with the goblins already powerful endurance and dedication to work it meant there was no where a blue goblin loved more than a burning hot workroom, just like the smithies provided. Bignose strode over to one of the workers, an old goblin, his wrinkled face a stark contrast to most of their kind working the forges. "How goes the forging?" Bignose asked as the old one used some iron tongs to pull a bar from the furnace, inspecting its color and shoving it back in when he decided it was not quite ready. The old goblin turned his his head just enough to see Bignose, leaving plenty of his attention on the furnace as he replied "We need more silverroot extract, the spell iron recipe uses a lot of it and whatever shortnose calculated the amounts left us about five bottles short". Bignose touched his nose reflexively before quickly putting his hand down and defending himself "The recipe only needed one bottle per four swords, you should have had enough". The old one snorted "It would be enough if i wasn''t looking after a bunch of young no good fresh diddy daddies who managed to ruin half the work they do". Bignose nodded and edged back, the old one was from a few generations before him and should be respected for his knowledge. That however did not make him easier to work with, the old goblin probably wouldn''t have even been here if Crossax hadn''t talked to him.


    Bignose backed away as the old one checked another bar and this one was drawn from the fire and slammed into the anvil. Sparks flew and the old mans arm bulged with muscle as he brought the hammer down upon the magically reinforced iron. He struck it in a solid tempo, each blow seemed to resound throught the smithy and echo out to the dimension beyond. Bignose held his breath as the old goblin worked, before the iron began to cool the bar was already begining to take the shape of a sword. With a movement as fluid as any rune knight he slid the forming sword back into the heat and drew another. Three more swords were quickly worked and once more returned to the heat before Bignose exhaled his eyes seemed to be on fire with admiration and desire as he watched the work of a true magi''s assisstant. This was what he hoped one day he would be able to do for the new master, to perform his job with as much skill as this old goblin, to grow old in the service of a magus and then pass on his knowledge to the newer generations. Bignose nodded once the final sword was again sheathed in the coals "I''ll have them deliver more silverroot extract is there anything else you need?". The old goblin nodded "Of course, liqour, i''m blood thristy standing here all day making sure those fools don''t ruin more work HUMPH". "Of cour-" Bignose coughed a bit as the words stuck in his mouth, and he stood there for a moment mouth open tryinging to figure out what to say. Was it really okay for the old one to be drinking as he forged? "is there a problem?" the old one asked Bignose glancing at him once more from the corner of his eye. "No, no of course i''ll have someone send some" Bignose quickly assured him and quickly left as the old goblin grumbled at his forge, of course he was old enough to know if he should drink while he worked.


    Bignose closed the door of the smithy and again checked his nose. It was big, definetly not short, he was obviously kind of handsome so it was just the old man grumbling. He nodded to assure himself and adjusted his hat. He was the boss goblin appointed to assisst Creator Briox and lead the blue goblins in his service, he was definetly handsome. He checked his nose again, assured that everything was alright he stepped away from the smithy and then smacked himself in the face. He had forgotten to inspect the work and get an accurate count of swords produced for the newborns. Bignose turned back around and once more went into the smithy, this time he just had to avoid the old one, get his work done, and then go inspect the leather workers and armor. A goblin boss''s work was never done.

 10. Waking Up

    A beautiful girl, tan from hours in the sun, green eyes twinkling beneath hair as black the night sky, smiled at him twirling a white flower in between her finger before wagging it at him. "Briox you should be more careful in your studies, its not like the library is going to run away". Her laughter was like music as Briox grinned back at her and his sprite, Trivella tried to snatch the wagging flower "Shellea quite teasing i only read a few runes, and its much less taxing to learn them from the rune inscribed books then invocation memorization, i''d be fine even if i learned a few more a day". Trivella snagged the flower before quickly fleeing to his shoulder with her prize. He smiled at her antics as she struck a victory pose and waved the flower back at Shellea, she was his first creation, the first being he had given life to and he loved her as a child. That smile faded as something struck him as wrong, when he tried to think just what was wrong...


    Briox bolted upright in bed, sweat pouring from his body. He shook himself trying to forget the wonderful dream and the reason it was wrong. His hand reached for his left shoulder, Trivella had always stood there happily speaking in the rapid words of a sprite. She''d been there every day from her birth...till a Hyser arrow took her from his shoulder. Briox gritted his teeth as his hand felt nothing where she once stood. Rage flooded him, hatred at his own inability to protect her, at the Hyser empire for invading, hatred at the despair he felt and his own loss. Clenching his fists Briox stood from bed and headed for the baths, ringing a bell to inform the servants once he reached the magically maintained washroom. They would insure that by the time he was out his robes had been prepared. It wasn''t until he was soaking in the water, slowly pushing the dream from his mind that it occured to him he didn''t know how he had made it to his bed.


    <hr>


    Briox exited his rooms, clothed once more in the robes of a magus he was unsurprised to see Crossax waiting for him. Briox nodded "Greetings Crossax, how fares your morning?". Crossax rippled in what could perhaps be taken as a shrug? before replying "My morning is well magus, it is good to see you awake once more". Briox frowned "how long was i asleep?". Crossax''s voice was calm as he answered "Due to mana exhaustion and recovery you have slept for quite some time, this is the third day since you completed the catalyst spell for the red goblins". Briox was stunned and quickly began to calculate the state of affairs, by this time he was seriously pushing the time limit to return to Rifthollow, his goblins should be completely born, but he had missed the early moments of their birth, a regretable thing, also he couldn''t train them in the time remaining, not even the minimal training he had hoped to use to ensure their combat imprinting was complete. Crossax interrupted his thoughts "Your creations await you in the Western Courtyard". Briox blinked away his thoughts and nodded before he began to walk that way "Are they well?". Crossax laughed his form rippling again "They are lively, we almost lost some blues to their birth they were so ferocious, the instincts you instilled them with must have been quite vicious". Briox nodded slowly a dark look settling onto his face as they approached the courtyard "If they are going to fight the Hyser empire" his face for a moment as he paused at the door to the courtyard and turned to Crossax was murderous "then it was the least i could do". With those words he pushed open the heavy door and stepped into the courtyard before stopping to survey his creations.


    They were obviously goblins, long noses two or three inches long, pointed ears even longer than their noses, each of them around four feet tall. But unlike most goblins, the red goblins before him were bulky, each of them bulging with muscles closer to those of an orckin or those beings known as gorillas than the commonly frail looking goblin. They wouldn''t be as fast or as stealthy as most goblins because of it, or as agile. However he had not made them for that, the red goblins were brutal ferocity given humanoid form, from their bright red skin, to their protruding canines and the vicious glint in their eye as all of them turned at once towards the beings that had just intruded upon their courtyard. Briox looked at them bulging muscles, vicious stare, armed with short swords and leather armor, and the dark look upon his face fell away, replaced with a smile. He counted with a glance his gaze soft and benelovent as he looked at his creations, his children,sixty-two of them had been born by his hands and his eyes teared as he knew what he had made them for. He blinked back the tears and spoke to Crossax as every one of his creations stepped forth and knelt before their creator "They are beautiful".Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    Crossax softly replied from behind him "Yes, yes they are". The red goblins knelt before Briox the mana within their bodies throbbed, telling them who, what, stood before them. As one they raised their heads and with smiles that could only be described as ferocious roared out "All hail the creator!". Their calls ringing throught the dimension they struck their fists over their hearts in salute. Briox strode forward walking through their kneeling ranks inspecting them, he stopped as he reached one with a scar running from its temple to its chin and asked "how did you gain this scar?". The goblin raised its head and spoke "Lord Crossax allowed us to leave the sanctuary and test our blades against the wild goblins" the goblins grin grew wider "We slew many of the greenskins but one of them caught my face in his death throes". Briox watched as the goblin reached up and ran a finger along the scar "This is a lesson that even the dying are dangerous, and that the blood of those who injure you tastes sweeter" the goblin seemed happy with its scar and Briox nodded casting a glance at Crossax before he turned back to his creations. He had made them to be warriors, many of the items and magics woven into the base mixture were intended to increase their aggression and inclined to violence. If he was going to make his children for war he would ensure they enjoyed their purpose as much as he could, Briox looked out across the kneeling forms of his warriors and spoke his voice resonating with the mana inside them "Rise".


    The warriors rose to their feet, looking towards their creator waiting for his next order. Briox did not dissapoint "Prepare yourselves, soon you will see the first battle for which you were created. You will face not a greenskin goblin with a trickle of mana in its veins but trained soldiers who hold such beings at bay beyond the lands of men. You will face runed warriors imbued with mana and armed with weapons by magi, every one a match for ten men." Briox''s face grew solem "And you shall face a Inquisitor of the Hyser Empire. A young one, like you , but he is an elite, a warrior who has stood out one amongst thousands. A man trained to slay mages and mana born such as you and I." The reds stirred their faces scowling at the idea of a being slaying their creator. Briox took a breath and continued "I made you to kill such a man, to wield your blades in my name, to serve as my sword. So i name you, my Red Swords, may you serve me well". By the end his voice was almost a whisper, but the Red Swords heard. They quivered in place seemingly unable to contain themselves and then Briox yelled "What say you!?". In return the Red Swords roared "ALL HAIL THE CREATOR!".


    At the door to the western courtyard Crossax stood watching, forgotten by the Red Swords and their master. Slowly he faded, moving from the courtyard to the smithies where a old goblin yelled obsenities at his young workers and even a certain goblin boss was carefully hammering away at one final blade. Crossax appeared silently behind the old goblin who simply turned to look at the caretaker "So the brats awake huh?" Crossax nodded and looked over at the workers "Your not forging the final blade, Forgemaster Conex?". Conex shook his head "Its not my place" he nodded at the Bignose and his workers "Its theirs now, our master is dead afterall". Crossax slowly nodded "Yes, he is and now we do as we please don''t we". Cronex''s faced twisted somewhere between a smile and a grimace "That we do worm, so don''t bug me unless its for something good, i''ve already helped enough by making sure this lot doesn''t burn their loinclothes in the forges". Crossax laughed softly "You had fun, and i''ll let you know if there are any tasks that would interest you". Cronex snorted and then both turned to look as the workers pulled the blade from the fire one last time and Bignose poured a potion into the cooling barrel as the drove the hot metal into the water. Quenched potion imbued water the blade slowly turned silver before they pulled it out and held it up before the light. Cronex walked over and looked at it shaking his head "Its an ugly thing, are you sure this is what he wanted?". Crossax followed and inspected the blade before nodding "I watched over his shoulder as he planned, this is the one he chose for himself". Cronex nodded slowly "This one is different, he may be worth sticking around to watch grow" Cronex paused "Or he''ll die horribly". Crossax spoke simply "I hope he doesn''t".

 11. A Sword?

    Briox was saddling a Grey Cat, before he hadn''t ridden them because there was no way to bring them into Rifthollow without the Hyser Empire hunting him, and he couldn''t just leave them to roam outside as he did his buisness. Now that wasn''t a concern as he would be bringing far more than a single Grey Cat and speed was more important than hiding. He checked the trinkets and alchemical potions he had decided to bring. He would have to make sure that his Red Swords had some, all those years ago it had been the tools he had made that had saved his life far more than his magic. He of course knew a few combat spells, every mage learned something to defend themselves. Of course the easiest offensive spells were also readilly countered by nearly anyone who knew to prepare beforehand. Briox closed the saddle bags buckling them closed, apprentice magi were only fit to rout bandits and common soldiers.


    A throat was cleared behind him and Briox glanced back his eyes seeing something from his past for a moment before they focused on Crossax and a somewhat familiar blue goblin holding something wrapped in cloth. "Ah was there something you needed? I was about to ask you to make some extra preparations for the Red Swords" Briox spoke. Crossax nodded "Yes this here is Blue Bignose, designated goblin boss for any projects you need handled. He is young but has performed well leading the Blues while you were unconcious. If you need any of the Blues from the warrens he can get them for you. In addition with some direction from me they have prepared something for you before you leave". The goblin, Blue Bignose, stepped forward and knelt bowing his head and holding the package over his head "From the Blues my lord". Briox was taken aback looking at Crossax and the the gift offered for him. Reaching out he slowly unfolded the cloth and sharply inhaled as he saw what waited for him upon the goblins palms.


    The Palmier Blade was a terrible weapon, nearly impossible for any normal man to wield and far out performed as a weapon by almost anything else. It was a short sword or perhaps a very long dagger ussually between fourteen and eighteen inches long. The most notable feature of the blade was its incredible width at the base, never less than four inches wide, and triangular shape. All considerations for any kind of sword play or knife fighting were essentially useless with this weapon. It had been made for one purpose, to be stabbed into something by a being with inhuman strength capable of tearing through anything in front of its point with shear strength while relying on magical imbuement or materials to prevent the tip from failing. It was an old design, created by Magus Palmier in responce to a war in which his enemies used large mud golems, blunt weapons did little against the golems and most normal weapons simple became stuck or would break from the resistance of passing through the golems bodies. The Palmier Blade solved that by piercing in and then relying on strength to simply drive the blade into its target, in the end opening a massive cut by stabbing and ensuring that all you had to do to retrieve your weapons was pull back and stab again.


    In the end the blade was far inferior to most other weapons of a similar size, and if you had the strength to stab a Palmier to the hilt why not just hit them with a club or find one of the giant weapons that some warriors carried. Briox looked at the silver shine of spell steel and slowly lifted the blade turning it so he could see his reflection in the side. His brown eyes stared back at him, the golden flecks of light dancing within his pupil seemed to glow brighter for a moment as the runes in his body vibrated with his emotions. Slowly he lowered the blade from his eyes and looked down at Bignose "You made this?". Bignose looked up "With help my lord". Briox slowly nodded as if matters of great weight were bearing him down "You have done well, while i travel to the battle can your people ensure that the Red Swords are outfitted with recipe three-seven-eight and two-four-nine from the alchemy labs?". The goblin nodded "Of course my lord, shall i begin now?". Briox waved his hand at him "Go". Crossax watched the goblin stand and then quickly stride for the exit obviously determined to start his task. Once Bignose left the area he pulled a scabbard from the air handing it over to Briox "For your sword, the little fellow was so busy forging the sword he forgot to give you something to put it in". Briox smiled "Thanks, and i just asked him to handle what i was going to ask you to arrange earlier". Crossax waved his hands fluidly "Its alright, i''ll have my chance to do things once you reach battle. Speaking of battle what are those recipes? Alchemy is far from my specialties so i don''t know any of the numerical listings". Briox nodded "Minor explosives and healing balm, they could prove useful". Crossax nodded and Briox looked around the stable before sighing "Since your here do you mind sending us off from here instead of the entrance?". Crossax spoke "Of course, safe journeys Magus Briox". Crossax rippled, his form becoming unclear, his robes stretching into tendrils of black energy and dark runes rose from his form before he chanted "Ih speca, hildar if ell, teka thos chold on uyir gresp end trensfar hom ti tha pleca thet o heva merkad".Stolen novel; please report.


    The world shifted and Briox found himself and his mount in a small mountaint grove, a stone stele nearby the only manmade item around, and also the spacial marker for the sanctuary, one of its anchors to the material plane. Glancing at the marker, effectively the door to his home, Briox then turned to his greycat mounting it and quickly taking the reins. The journey to Rifthollow should be fast, and from there he would be on a course from which there was no return. No, Briox shook his head, that wasn''t right. He was already on a course of no return, it was just time for his ship to come home, rocky shores or no. "Lets go" he spoke to his mount and it took off, a rapid lope that would easily catch most horses, and one that the magical being could hold for the entire trip.


    <hr>


    Far away across the mountains a convoy travled through the hilly terrain of the borderlands. They had left Rifthollow some days ago, but travel was slow with wagons and over a hundred men traveling. The soldier escort, a display of imperial might marched in perfect step, a hundred skills soldiers. With them traveled two dozen rune soldier, their magical arms clearly a step above the common soldiers, each of them as fresh after a day of marching through the rough terrain as they were when they awoke that morning. Behind them came the caravan, dozens of servants, squires, cooks and teamsters. All of them surrounding one carriage, the inquisitors convoy was a staggering force upon the borders of fallen Islandyer. Easily able to crush any lords soldiers even without the Inquisitor and the Magus Priest of Hyser that traveled alongside him. A stuck wagon was holding them up even more, the rune soldiers and mages of course wouldn''t help unless it became a big deal, so a dozen servants pushed at the back of the wagon struggling to unstick it as fast as possible, as it began to move one of the servants slipped, taking others down into the mud with him. A dozen men cursed the one who slipped as he apologized to the others. Finally they were all made to stand aside as one of the rune soldier stepped up and pulled the wagon from the mud. Withers took the short break they were allowed to try and scrape some of the mud from his shirt, his "accidental" fall had left him rather cold and wet.

 12. Nobody Home

    Briox traveled quickly on through the mountains. Greaycats were originally developed for the mountains, and a few specimens had ended up going wild and quickly becoming a powerful prescence in the mountains of Islyander. Normal as he traveled he relied on magic power, stealth and teleportation to traverse the lands of wild goblins and other dangers of the mountains. On the back of a greycat all he had to do was hold on as nothing dared to block the path of one of the mountains top predators. Perhaps deeper in things would tussle with a greycat but here it was a smooth path from the stele to Rifthollow. Briox considered using dimensional magic to skip closer to town before riding the cat closer. But he may need every bit of his mana to be capable of surviving the next few days. Instead he ensured that the greycat knew to return to the place he''d summoned it to last time and then strapped himself to the saddle. A few drops of potion later and he was asleep, resting to ensure he had plenty of energy when he reached the town, no matter how bumpy or wild a ride it was.


    He awoke but an hours walk from the town, the cat still loping forward beneath him quickly shortening that time before it stopped at the grove he had left from some time ago. It took him some time to unstrap himself, feed the cat a few strips of jerky and head into town. This time he headed directly for the Silly Pirate his stride determined and the villagers and thugs of the small smugglers haven quickly stepped aside, a feeling of danger radiated from the robed magus. Finally he pushed open the door to the Silly Pirate and looked around the empty room, dust starting to accumulate on the furniture. Briox looked over the place and then spoke loudly letting his voice carry through the building "Tommy Caulders?". In return a steely voice spoke from the door leading to the storage room "He went ahead, your quite late college magus".


    Briox cast his eyes over the doorway still not seeing the person to whom the voice belonged to. With a huff his mana moved and an old spell of his was reactivated, runes danced in his eyes and now he could see the Black Gangs head magus standing in the doorway where before there was nothing but empty space. She was a short woman, thin but not too thin with skin as pale as the moon and hair black as night, many would consider her pretty, maybe even beautiful but he couldn''t bring himself to care. "If your using magic so freely i''m assuming the Inquisitor has already left town" Briox inquired. The magus, he couldn''t remember her name, spoke "Several days ago, Tommy followed along with Withers and the rest of them, i was to remain behind in case you showed up and lead you to the camp". Briox hurrumphed "Like i''d miss this, lets go then my mount is outside of town, i''m assuming you have one?". The magus glared at him "I''ll meet you outside of town then". Briox nodded and turned around leaving quickly "I''m on the north side".This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    Irela glared at the retreating back of the college magus that Tommy seemed to think was important for this. Okay, maybe he would be useful as an extra corpse to slow down the Inqusitor but she''d seen what happened when a college trained magus thought they could handle an Inqusitor, by the hells most couldn''t handle a squad of rune soldiers and those were at least men. Inqusitors...Irela turned and quickly headed towards the stables. She had no need to be thinking of such things, she''d assisst Tommy to the end, if this was the last time they did a job then she would at least make sure that there was one less squad of the thrice damned Hyser rune soldiers around. Too many of her own apprentices had fallen to rune soldiers, let alone the hundreds of magi who had been killed by them in the hunts. She spurred her horse out of the city gates and headed along the road towards the north before she sensed a slight flaring of magic ahead and off to the side. Carefully she led her horse off the road towards that flare of somewhat familiar mana.


    Irela nearly lost her voice as she stared at the magus sitting astride a greycat. Nearly because she still managed to hiss "How did you get a greycat!? They''re military creatures? Even most combat magi don''t get them". Briox looked over "My teacher was a retired monster master, this is one of the kits from his greycats back them". Irela starred at it, its body wrippled with muscle as if someone had bulked up a tiger, yet it still somehow moved with all the grace of a great cat. Briox spoke "Are we going now?". Irela blinked and tore her gaze away from the massive predator "Yes we need to go, and try not to get too close, this horse isn''t trained to handle predators". Briox swept forth a hand indicating for her to go first and then the two set off.


    <hr>


    A lookout waited, they had been here for a few days waiting for the convoy to pass beneath them. They should have been here a day ago so apparently Withers was working his magic again. The man shook his head, he was a veteran of a dozen years on the street, he''d seen more dirty tricks and traps than most men four times his age and he still couldn''t figure out how Withers did half he stuff he did without getting caught. He peered back down the mountain, torches from the convoy would be easy to see if decided to travel at night. That and Miss Irela was hopefully bringing help soon. Suddenly movement caught his eye, a bright light flashing and reappearing. He watched it, appear, move left, vanish, appear, move left, vanish, then two times to the right. With a start he turned and ran for the cave. Miss Irela was here!

 13. The Night Before

    Briox followed the magus, apparently she was named Irela, and another man up the mountain. They passed an outcropping of rock where a man was waiting, apparently a lookout, before finally reaching a narrow cave set into the side of the mountain. The guide led them into the cave, the lantern barely lighting the area around him as they advanced, not that it really bothered Briox. He had long ago mastered a small spell to increase his eyes sensitivity to light, it saved on candles back when he was in school and now it allowed him to follow a man through a dark cave without tripping and introducing his face to some of the local earth.


    Ahead he noticed the cave lit up, quickly he removed the spell for low light vision from his eyes. It was useful at night but in a brightly lit are it quickly became a liability and though the area ahead wasn''t quite blinding he would have difficulties seeing with the spell active, honestly it was surprising the place was that brightly lit. The guide blew out his lantern and then yelled out as he walked into the bright cave "Oye Tommy! Boss! we got the company ye were expectin!". Briox inspected the cave and its occupants. Torches lit the area and blankets hung on the walls and across the floors breaking up the stone and creating living spaces for the half dozen men and three magi that were currently there. Folding tables and chairs were set up and in the center of the room a single large table stood, a map upon it and Tommy Caulder behind it. "Hey Bans good work bringing them in, over here you two! We don''t have much time and need to figure out the plan" Tommy yelled across the cave with a grin and waved them towards him.


    Irela and Briox quickly strode forward joining him at the table, on it a map of the Islandyer northern border, and beside it a more accurate map of the Riftzen Lands. At one point this had been the home of the Riftzen magus family and a small part of the Islandyer Alliance. Now it was a part of the Hyser Empire but the geography didn''t change much, you just had to replace a few of the Riftzen manors and towers with massive craters. The one where Magus Riftzen himself had lived had been erased so completely that the river that flowed by it had been redirected into a lake. Rumors said a half dozen Hyser archmagi had unleased a group ritual calling down the wrath of the sun upon the tower, eventually erasing it from existence and the remaining power had melted out a glass bottom for the new lake. It was the difference between Islandyer and Hyser. One focused upon dimensional magic and creatures, the other raw power and combat mages. When Hyser''s magi struck without warning few of the archmagi even had a chance to retaliate, those who were not killed by surprise group rituals and ambushes where lost when the dimensional anchors to their personal dimensions were obliterated after the Hyser Empire decided they would be too difficult to conquer.


    Tommy pointed at his map "Right now the Inquisitor is here, he has fifty odd servants, a hundred hyser infantry, twenty-four rune soldiers, an accompying magus, and the Inquisitor himself. If they move at the same speed they have been recently then they''ll reach this pass tommorow. Withers and a few of his men are mixed among the servants and can poison the infantry but the rune soldiers, inquisitor and magus all have their own supplies and personal servants. Which is where you two come in." Tommy looked up at the pair of magi expectantly. Irela looked at her boss tiredly while Briox just kind of blinked after a long moment Tommy spoke "So any ideas on how to handle them?". Irela sighed "Boss you couldn''t give us a minute to rest first?". Tommy frowned and Briox spoke "Its fine, i can handle the inquisitor and the rune soldiers. Or rather i will handle them, no guarentees that i''ll survive" his voice was calm as he leaned in and looked at the map. The others looked at him a bit surprised before Irela asked "Aren''t you a bit concerned about that?". Briox glanced over at her and then went back to studying the map "If i die then i don''t have anything to worry about do i, the real difficulty will be if we kill him or fail to kill him but still escape. Inquisitors are elites, they will investigate if one of them dissapears or dies and none of us will be able to escape if he survives". Briox tapped the map "This is the nearest Hyser fort, three days marching distance for a normal troop, maybe a few hours by flight, if there is a magus with teleportation they may be able to arrive sooner though i can disrupt that some". Tommy nodded "So you can handle the runes and the inquisitor, as well as delay reinforcments, Irela can you and your boys handle the magus?". Irela frowned "Maybe, he is a magus-priest of Hyser, so he probably has some pretty powerful spells. We can''t win head on." Suddenly she smirked "Of course, we never do fight head on, i have some ideas. It''ll have to wait till we try them to see if they''ll work however". Tommy turned back to Briox "How sure are you that you can handle the rune soldiers as well as the inquisitor?". Briox sighed "I''m certain i can handle the soldiers, it will come down to how lucky i get and how skilled the inquisitor is. At the least i should be able to cover your retreat once you get your sister, he shouldn''t pay attention to you if i''m there."This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    They all turned back to the map and Tommy placed two stones on it, both on the mountain overlooking the pass out of the Riftzen lands. "This is the best place to attack them, easy for us to retreat from if we hold the high ground, good cover, it''ll be dangerous for them to use combat magic poweful enough to ignore the cover in case they cause a rockslide" Tommy looked at the map once more and looked up at the other two "is there anything else to discuss?". Briox spoke up "yes, i need a place to set up a teleportation marker". Tommy frowned "Teleportation Marker?". Briox nodded, and then took a deep breath his face twisted, the relecutance obvious on his face as he began to speak "Before the invasion i studied as a creature creator, i need the marker to transport some of my creations here". Irela and Tommy both looked at him complex feelings played out inside of them before Tommy nodded. "Bans!" He yelled out and waved the man over "Find out any requirments Magus Briox requires for his teleportaion markers location and take him to the best place". Briox spoke "Anywhere is fine as long as its roomy". Tommy turned and spoke to Bans "Take him to one of the deeper caves, should be one thats big enough". Bans nodded "This way lord magus" he said and led the way as they left the main cavern.


    After the two left Irela spoke "He was a Creature Creator". Tommy nodded "I know". She continued on "They will never let us go after we associate with him". Tommy looked over at her a rougish smile appearing on his face "You think they would after we killed one of their Inquisitors? And don''t tell me we might be able to do it without killing him, either he kills us or hunts us to the end of the earth after we steal his prize away". Irela grimaced and grumbled "Still, he''s a Creature Creator, thats nearly a damn noble". Tommy shrugged "I''d gotten my sister an apprentice ship with her master in the hopes she would be able to acuire some of the skills of a Creator, she hadn''t before the invasion but it was planed. Irela looked over at Tommy and then sighed "I''m going to go talk to my boys, if we are going to keep a combat magus company we will have to be prepared". She too turned and walked for one of the caves before pausing "Tommy". He looked back up from the map "Yes?". "Tell me we''ll make it out of this alive, tell me that we can survive" Irela''s voice was calm and steady as iron. Tommy grinned before he spoke she could only hear certainty in his laughing voice "We will survive, now go, you''ll need to rest". Irela nodded without turning around and left calling her magi to her as she left. Tommy looked down at the map once more and his hand settled on the hilt of his sword, caressing the blade that had accompanied him for so long. Tommorow death would come, tommorow the sun would set upon a battlefield, tommorow he would see if Briox could deliver what he claimed, tommorow he would see his sister again. Tommy closed his eyes, tommorow would decide all of their futures, may the ancient ones protect them all. Tommy opened his eyes and glared at the small stone representing the inquisitor upon the map, his sword snaked out sliding under the stone and lifting it to eye level all in a motion too fast for those remaining in the room to see, the small white stone contrasted sharply with his red blade. And if the ancients would not protect them, then his blade would have to do.

 14. The Battle Begins

    Briox exhaled slowly the morning air turning his breath to mist upon the frigid mountain air. Behind him were his creations, each of them standing slightly apart from the others, those unable to fit the narrow road had climbed the rocky ground to his left, to his right was a steep incline, too steep to fight upon. The road was too narrow for two wagons, but spacious enough that soldiers could easilly march alongside them and provide protection. The spacious was truly narrow for a battle of magic but fitting for a small group to attack a larger one. Briox patted his mount and adjusted his grip on the standard he held. It bore his personal heraldry, chosen during his time at everseal. Creature Mages took up heraldry the same as nobles to proclaim who they were upon the field of battle. The green outline of a goblin in a red runic circle upon a field of white was the heraldry he had chosen so long ago, now that white for peace had been replaced by a grim black.


    Briox watched as the convoy appeared, turning round a bend in the mountain. At the head of it marched half of the infantry and the runic soldiers though not yet visible marched behind them. Briox waited as they stopped, quickly forming a shield wall at the appearance of a mage and his monsters. From his perch upon his mount and on the upward slope he could see the squad leaders send runners to the back. He took another deep breath and slowly exhaled, calm was essential before the battle began. He had to remain calm, collected and unconcerned even if the gates of hell opened before his unit. That was the bearing of a commander of Islyander. He watched the enemy, a snear slowly finding its way onto his face as they screamed out commands and threw themselves into formation the chaos slowing their attempts to form a shieldwall. A quick charge and the entire line would crumble like paper before his warriors, but he waited, mere men were not his target this day.


    <hr>


    Iroglas Van Heisler slowly savored his wine as he and Holy Lord Emorthis rested within the runed carriage that had been requsitioned just for them. The vehicle was pulled by a team of four horses, enchanted for both protection from external forces and comfort, ensuring that they were both comfortably warm and felt none of the rocking of a mountinous journey. Emorthis used a gem encrusted blade to slice a leg from the roasted chicken that was set in the middle of the carriage took a greedy bite, his gluttony a contrast to his thin form. Iroglas glanced over and spoke in a droll manner "Your Holiness seems to enjoy his lunch". Emorthis snorted "Save the pretty words for others Iroglas we are both servants of his Divine Majesty and i still doubt that the wench you snatched is worth the trouble of carting all the way home". Iroglas cassually took a drink before he replied "She might not be, but she was an apprentice to a heretic mage, and they always need someone for the pyre, gibbets or cages. If the rabble of Islyander don''t have a reminder of what happens to those who practice that which is not theirs to possess then they may get ideas". Emorthis swallowed another hunk from his chicken leg before he continued "Fine, but if the rumors of her brother having some sort of influence are true and he causes trouble don''t expect me to cover for it". Iroglas glared at the mage-priest "Does it matter? from the sounds of it he is merely a remanent of a gang that fell apart some time ago. Even if he can gather some thugs do you really think they could cause trouble for us?". Emorthis snorted "Not all of the underworld is so easilly dismissed, just last year..." Emorthis frowned as shouts interrupted him and someone banged on the door of the carriage "What is it?". He pulled open the window beside him and the soldier outside reported "Sir theres a mage ahead!". Emorthis frowned and looked across the carriage at Iroglas who had set his drink aside, a gleam had appeared in his eye. Emorthis spoke to the soldier while keeping an eye on the Inquisitor "And what is this mage doing that it matters to us?". The soldier inhaled nervously and then spoke "He blocks the road with several dozen goblin variants". Iroglas grabbed his sword and pushed open the door a smile on his face as he began to buckle the sword to his waist "lead the way soldier". Behind him Emorthis just sighed and turned back to his chicken, Iroglas was too eager for his tastes but he was an inquisitor, there was nothing in these mountains that could stop the judgement of their divine majesty.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    On the mountains above four magi prepared a ritual circle, a few personal effects of the mage-priest Emorthis, each collected that morning by those hidden amongst the convoy, were placed in key locations, in others bowls of poison each with a different source and effect were set according to carefully divined ritualistic instructions. Now all that was left was for them to wait for the signal from below, for the watchers to call out and tell them to begin their casting.


    <hr>


    A servant quickly ran down the lines of the soldiers at the rear of the convoy, orders had come that they had been stopped by potential bandits. He quickly took a bucket of water down the lines allowing each man to slake his thirst before battle. Many other water bearers moved about giving water to soldiers, other servants, even the squires of the Runic Soldiers. A soldier nodded at the servant and offered him back the cup "Here, you should drink some, you look tired". Withers smiled back at him and shook his head "There is time to do so after i''m done, you guys may need it far more than me". The smile remained as he carried the water to every soldier in his line and then turned nearly running back to the wagons with the others. They didn''t stop at the rear wagons however, their steps carried them further towards a wagon with a lone cage upon the back.


    <hr>


    The soldiers stood, cold sweat dripped from them as they waited, their formation the only thing that could buy time until help arrived. But Briox simply waited, his eyes seemed to glow alight with a golden fire when he finally saw the messenger return to the formation, behind him came a man clad in the fine clothes of a noble, the ruinic inscriptions on his clothes obviously those for protection and vitality. Even at this distance the power was enough for Briox to read the protections from fire, ice, lighting and mental effects. Those were simply the ones he recognized and were powerful enough to read from a distance. As the man advanced the soldiers formation opened, and he strode unimpeded to the front. FInally as he came to a stop Iroglas spoke "And what do w..." only to have his words interrupted as Briox roared out, his voice enhanced by mana "To Battle!". At that moment every one of the sixty-two red goblins threw forth a spherical black orb, before Iroglas could finish saying "...e have here" the deafening roar of sixty-two grenades slamming into the shields of a Hyser shieldwall signalled the start of battle.

 16. Of Goblins and Soldiers

    The goblin roared as it charged, smoke and fire greeted it as it dashed towards the Hyser shieldwall. The spears they had wielded sheered short by the explosions. The soldier was forced back, their hold weak as she grabbed a shield with her free hand and yanked it aside. She ignored the sword that thrust blindly, scouring a mark across her armor before her short sword punched through the soldiers chainmail. Spelled Steel met metal links, backed by inhuman strength, and those links shattered. With a snarl she twisted the blade in the human and then pushed him back, his body now a shield for her against those behind him. She felt them move back, forced to retreat by her strength, and then her fellows widened the gap she had made in the wall, blades thrust forward and more men died. Life coursed through her veins and the goblin laughed tasting the delicious blood. Her skin greedily absorbed it, drinking in the pitiful amounts of mana that these soldier held within them, reinvigorating the goblins as they crushed the shieldwall.


    The normal soldiers stood no chance, and it was but a moment, or maybe more, before she found herself ducking, a sword slicing through where her head was a moment before. As the torso of the soldier she had been fighting slid from his body she dove at the man behind him, a rune soldier, and the one who had severed his fellow to try and take her head. The goblin screamed out "For Creator Briox! For the Creator!" and her sword slammed point first into the rune solider shield, the enchanted metal dented but unbroken for the first time in her life. His sword swung for her and she leapt back, her ears twitched and telling her where the others where as the goblins engaged the rune soldiers. She charged back in her short sword parrying his long, unlike the normal soldiers who seemed to move in slow motion she actually had to be careful of his blade. It was that though that left her unprepared when his shield slammed into her, casting her through the air, even flying over the heads of her fellows.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    When her head was clear and the darkness faded from her vision she struggled up from the pool of blood she had landed in. Her wounds and fatigue being soothed by the vital liquid even if it wasn''t enough to heal her. She looked around the battle field, watching the rune soldiers battle her kin, the rune soldiers were skilled, but the goblins numbers brought them down. They did not fear injury in return for the life of their foe, and the blood of the rune soldiers held enough mana to heal them of most wounds. With a struggle the young goblin rose to its feet. Somewhere it could hear the roar of its masters mount, explosions in the distance, and the horn that signalled that the thieves had taken their prize. With a laugh she dove into the battle once more, the thieves work may be done, but the battle was not done yet!

 16. Of Goblins and Soldiers

    The goblin roared as it charged, smoke and fire greeted it as it dashed towards the Hyser shieldwall. The spears they had wielded sheered short by the explosions. The soldier was forced back, their hold weak as she grabbed a shield with her free hand and yanked it aside. She ignored the sword that thrust blindly, scouring a mark across her armor before her short sword punched through the soldiers chainmail. Spelled Steel met metal links, backed by inhuman strength, and those links shattered. With a snarl she twisted the blade in the human and then pushed him back, his body now a shield for her against those behind him. She felt them move back, forced to retreat by her strength, and then her fellows widened the gap she had made in the wall, blades thrust forward and more men died. Life coursed through her veins and the goblin laughed tasting the delicious blood. Her skin greedily absorbed it, drinking in the pitiful amounts of mana that these soldier held within them, reinvigorating the goblins as they crushed the shieldwall.


    The normal soldiers stood no chance, and it was but a moment, or maybe more, before she found herself ducking, a sword slicing through where her head was a moment before. As the torso of the soldier she had been fighting slid from his body she dove at the man behind him, a rune soldier, and the one who had severed his fellow to try and take her head. The goblin screamed out "For Creator Briox! For the Creator!" and her sword slammed point first into the rune solider shield, the enchanted metal dented but unbroken for the first time in her life. His sword swung for her and she leapt back, her ears twitched and telling her where the others where as the goblins engaged the rune soldiers. She charged back in her short sword parrying his long, unlike the normal soldiers who seemed to move in slow motion she actually had to be careful of his blade. It was that though that left her unprepared when his shield slammed into her, casting her through the air, even flying over the heads of her fellows.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    When her head was clear and the darkness faded from her vision she struggled up from the pool of blood she had landed in. Her wounds and fatigue being soothed by the vital liquid even if it wasn''t enough to heal her. She looked around the battle field, watching the rune soldiers battle her kin, the rune soldiers were skilled, but the goblins numbers brought them down. They did not fear injury in return for the life of their foe, and the blood of the rune soldiers held enough mana to heal them of most wounds. With a struggle the young goblin rose to its feet. Somewhere it could hear the roar of its masters mount, explosions in the distance, and the horn that signalled that the thieves had taken their prize. With a laugh she dove into the battle once more, the thieves work may be done, but the battle was not done yet!

 17. Dancing with a Red Blade

    Withers moved fast, the few of his boys who remained and were willing to do a little blade work behind him. Anyone they encountered who crossed paths with them was quickly silenced. Squires and servants were not hardened warriors, but they were at war. He grimaced and lowered the body of one of the men he''d shared shared a tent with on the journey to the ground, his dagger had entered the mans lungs leaving no air for him to cry out. WIthers was a master of disguise and information gathering, this kind of work was something he stayed as far away from as possible, after all, those who engaged in bladework in the night often died to bladework in the night. But now that really didn''t matter when the Hyser were as likely to run you through as hang you. The choice of death only changed on whether it was their fanatics, their military, or their criminal gangs who finally caught you. Fanatics of course, chose to hang you and run you through.


    A squire to one of the rune nights stepped out from behind a wagon and one of Withers daggers took him in the throat. Withers snorted, knife throwing was just a trick but for those who don''t know how to duck it would do. His men followed behind, and anyone who came up behind him was their buisness. Ahead was the prison cart, a wooden cart with iron bars set all around the edges and a wooden roof, well made, anti magic runes carved everywhere, and a iron lock with the only key in the hands of the inquisitor. Withers eyes trailed past the prison cart to the carriage just ahead of it. He had seen the priest fly off, or what he hoped was the priest, and the inquisitor should have gone for briox like a hound to a fox. He sincerely hoped that neither of them came back. With a wave of his hand he led his men up to the cage, two pushed a water skin and blanket through the bars to the shocked inhabitant. WIthers himself kept a lookout as another went to work on the lock. Deft experienced hands moved fast, and as the man worked the girl in the cage managed to speak. "Wh...Who are you?" the voice spoke, broken and ragged from disuse and dehydration. Withers glanced back at her "We are members of the black gang" he replied before quickly turning back to his watch.


    Of course the moment he''d glanced away was the moment a group of soldiers would arrive. Withers cursed as the soldiers didn''t even slow down their charge at noticing the "servants" picking the lock on the cage. They unleashed a battle cry and charged, two of them appeared to be normal soldiers, but Withers paled in horror as the other three moved too fast for his eyes to track. A fan of knives flew from his hands but he knew it wouldn''t be enough, no normal man could face a rune soldier and live. Withers watched death come for him in a blur of steel, and then a spray of blood colored the ground before him red. The rune soldier who had been leading the charge collapsed his body sliding to Withers feet from momentum alone and behind him the cage a voice managed to croak out "Brother". Withers blinked and exhaled as he looked at the man who had saved his life, again, "Boss...it took you long enough". Tommy Caulder looked over his shoulder and smiled before replying "looks like i made it just on time".


    Tommy turned from the cage and focused his gaze on the soldiers. He could feel his blade humming in his hand, a vibration, a yearning for violence, and on some days he swore it vibrated to the tune of some of the bawdier dock side sailor songs but this wasn''t one of those days. He knew what the blood red blade in his hands wanted, and today, he would give it to it. The first kill had been easy, he had taken them by surprise and the fool had charged straight into his blade, going too fast to turn when it slipped between helm and cuirass of the rune soldier. Now he had two rune soldiers who would not be so kind as to walk upon his blade and two normal soldiers who could be dangerous if simply ignored. So he wouldn''t ignore them, a grin broke out on his face as Tommy stepped forward, a grin that did nothing to the cold death his eyes promised. The common soldiers braced themselves, the rune soldiers readied to attack and Tommy turned and ran. The soldiers hesitated for an instant in shock as he turned and ran, not between the wagons or away, but rather up the side of the cage, a leap from the top of it sending him over the heads of the soldiers. The rune soldiers turned to follow him, and the normal soldiers died as he landed between them and rose, a quick spin as he stood and two heads flew through the air, a thrust from a rune soldier caught only empty air as Tommy sidestepped and his blade flashed at the others eyes. He retreated, and the air was filled with the whistling of blades on the wind.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    Withers ignored the battle, either Tommy won vs two rune soldiers alone or they all died. The rest of them here weren''t even qualified to watch, well excluding the lass in the cage. But she didn''t have a job to do so she was free to watch the show. Withers grimaced as he watched Ole Ruthy work the lock, he had the fastest hands in the gang, but that still seemed impossibly slow with a whirlwind of blades right behind them and the screams of the dying the ahead of them. Withers glanced back at the blurring shapes behind them and then grimaced again as a spray of blood painted the area, the figures were still moving so it wasn''t a fatal wound, but the rapid motions had painted the area with the spray, and to make sure Ruthy didn''t get slowed down he''d had to stand between the fight and the lockpick. Withers wiped the blood from his face and prayed to the first magi that Tommy finished them off.


    Tommy was grinning like a madman, the blade was alive, pulsing in his hand. He step back to avoid a thrust, his blade sliding like a vipe to pierce at the mans wrist, forcing him back as his fellow soldier advanced, a shield bash driving right for Tommy. He sidestepped cassually and lashed out, his blade driving for the lightly armored space below the armpit, a blade deflected his blow and he turned the force of his blade turning into a chop that forced the other soldier back.Tommy couldn''t kill them quickly, not without being injured in return, but they couldn''t interfere with his men working on the cage either. Should the soldiers be distracted for a moment then that red blade would slip past their defenses, one had already payed the price, only the inhuman recovery abilities of a rune soldier allowing him to survive the slit throat that he had gained for glancing away. Tommy deflected a flurry of sword blows from both soldiers, the attacks sliding off of his blade like he was guiding them in a dance. As the flurry of blows climaxed, a cresendo of steel sliding upon steel, Tommy slide his blade through the eye of one of the rune soldiers, and then swung down and curved his blade, cutting a J though the mans face and spine. The blade exiting just in time to allow him to dance away from the other soldier, using his fellows falling body to buy just a moment when the soldiers blade was at an awkward angle, unable to cut at Tommy with the corpse in the way. And so he too died as Tommy severed his spine before he could bring either sword or shield around.


    Behind him Tommy heard a click, and the sound of the signal horn being blown. He turned in time to see some of his men helping a ragged and thin figure out of the cage "Marian" his voice whispered and he strode toward her. The blade was quiet in his hand, even it seemed to sense a gravity to the situation as that thin figure grabbed her big brother in a hug and broke down crying. Withers looked at the scene awkwardly, after a few false starts he finally coughed violently and said "Boss, we really need to go". Tommy looked up from soothing his sister with a grimace and nodded "We don''t know how things are going on the magi''s side, its best if we get to the hideout as soon as possible" Tommy picked Marian up and started to run, Withers and his men behind him. If Briox and Irela could handle the inquisitor and magi priest then the mission could be conisdered as perfectly executed...if they could handle them.

 18. Briox Vs Iroglas

    As the grenades forced the soldiers back and his Red Swords drove into the enemy lines. Briox forced the magic for from his astral body, cloaking reality in his will. The battlefield flashed through his mind and his grey cat leapt diving towards the inquisitor. A thrust of a blade from the Inquisitor had Briox yanking his mount aside, his mana pressing upon reality to try and slow the beam of searing light that flew by them. That was the way of a creature master, spread your mana, cover the battlefield, weaken the foes attacks, aid your allies. The Inquisitor followed a different path, their mana was condensed, solid as a mountain within themselves, a blade that can cut all before them or a mountain that cannot be broken. It limited their powers, but in return they were a piece of reality that could not be altered, their spells more "real" than other mages, their resistance to magic nearly complete.


    Behind him Briox felt a Red Sword fall, the light ray searing clean through his head. Briox pushed his magic driving it into his creatures and boosting their reactions, and their healing. As he did that the grey cat lept slamming its claws down upon the inquisitor. Briox looked down his eyes wide as the Inquisitor used his arm as a shield and held firm under the strength of the grey cats pounce. He had slide backwards maybe a foot, but neither his arm nor his armor seemed injured by the cats strike. The Inquisitor looked up at Briox and smiled viciously "Its rude to interrupt, so don''t blame me for being rough". As his words finished, Briox threw himself sideways off his mount, the sword of the Inquisitor driving through the animal and once it emerged on the other side emitting another light beam meant to incinerate its rider. Briox stepped forward and swung his blade, stabbing at the Inquisitor, his blade easily knocked aside and the Inquisitor lashed out at him. Briox dodged aside and then rushed in for another stab, back and forth until the Inquisitor burst forth with a blinding light, and Briox felt a brutal impact upon his torso. He was knocked back onto the ground by the Inqusitors kick and had no way to dodge as the blade swung through the air. And then they were there, a pair of Red Swords threw themselves at the Inquisitor. Briox rolled away but his mana allowed him to watch as the blade slide through the first ones sword, his armor, and the smile on the second ones face as they too threw themself forward, their blade slowing it down, but not enough to stop the Inqusitors swing from taking her head, she had seen it go through her fellow, but for the creator she went forward. Briox watched the head fall to the ground, the speed of a magi''s battle making it appear so slow as he dodged another sword strike. Something inside him hurt, another death, another one of his people gone, for a second the head falling to the ground was not the Red Sword who had given her life for him, but someone else. The Inqusitor grimaced "By the Holy Emperor, your quick, how are you doing it? body enhancement? perhaps some form of temporal displacement? or illusion?" The Inquisitor asked as he casually swung his sword, cresent shaped rays of "Divine Light" tore through the mountain road and the mountain behind.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Briox dodged, retreatng as the Inquisitor followed and the mountain behind them began to rumble. The mana within his body was still strong allowing him to continue dodging for some time, but it was not a spell as the young inquisitor seemed to believe. Briox simply dodged when he felt the Inquisitor begining to attack, the aura he surrounded himself with would normally have been torn apart by the prescence of another mage with a higher concentration of mana, the inquisitors mana being totally contained may have made them nearly immune to magic, and invisible to most detection spells, but a moving hole in an aura still has dimensions. Finally the Inquisitor stopped swinging his blade wildly and Briox threw a bolt of fire at him. Briox actually had to smile at the look on his face, it was so...flabbergasted? "You threw a bolt of fire...at me?! are you an idiot!?" by the time the Inqusitor had reached the end of his sentence he was shouting. Briox laughed at him, really, he had never planned on being a combat magus, the only training he had in the ways of war were those required as the basics in case a draft was needed to hold the borders with the dark lands. The most powerful offensive spell he had was only the common fire bolt that ever apprentice magi could cast, fire magic being simply the agitation of molecules and application of energy, childs play, literally for a magi child. He had never planned to fight a war, to watch his friends and creations die, but that didn''t matter, as the Inquisitor retaliated.


    The Inquisitor offended swung his blade, a wall of light erupted leaving no way for briox to dodge. Briox chanted as fast as he could "Sporots if tha encoants, shoald ma frim megoc!" and then vanished into the light. When the light vanished a large chunk of the mountain was gone, the overhang above it collapsing in an avalance. Briox stood there, sweating and shaking, a shielding amulet lay on the ground at his feet cracked in no less than six pieces, the trio of, now empty, potions that would rapidly renew a mages mana lay beside it. Then the pain came, the Inqusitor stood there, an arms reach away, his sword pierced completely through Briox''s heart. "Remember to tell those in the afterlife, it was i Iroglas Van Heisler who killed you" the Inquisitor smiled at finally ending the annoying magi, he had been annoying but at least it would be a tale to tell once he made it home, and a merit he could leverage for perhaps a bit of a reward. The soldiers deaths at the hands of magical creatures was simply proof of him eliminating a heretic mage, a hazard of being cannon fodder. Iroglas continued to smile as he withdrew his sword, and then his smile vanished as the magi he had run through, grabbed his arm and looked up from where he had been gazing at the blade through his heart. Briox smiled, a smile that was as much a grimace as a madmans grin "You know, Iroglas Van Heisler, this doesn''t hurt as much as i thought it would". That was when Briox drove his blade upwards, into the links of the Inqusitors runed chain mail, through it, and up into his heart and lungs. The world went totally black as every drop of Briox''s mana followed that massive triangular blade into the Inqusitor, and then burst out as fire. Briox only had enough time to speak, "Crossax Vandolheim, haer ma" in the ancient language, and then he knew no more.

 19. A Black Robe & Teapot?

    Space tore and from it stepped a black robed figure holding a teapot. Crossax solemly walked through an area that had been blasted to glass and cinders by holy light. It was not the first such sight he had seen, nor would it be the last.The sounds of battle where barely audible in the distance where the Red Swords clashed with Hyser infantry. Crossax advanced until he stood above a particularly undamaged spot, the eye of the storm. He set his teapot casually on a bit of space and knelt, the tea pots bronze side a glimmer as it sat upon the space behind him as he checked the state of the two magi motionless before him.


    One of them lay, a silver blade pierced to the hilt through his heart. The simple enchantments on his robes shattered and a slight burn around then, but far less damage than one would expect from taking a spell imbued sword to the heart. Crossax glanced over his shoulder to where a chunk of the mountain that was in line with the swords point was gone. "Madness or genius?" Crossax mused aloud as he carefully slipped his mana into Briox''s body, a feat that would normal require a healer with their specialized training, but was simple due to the lack of mana in the form that lay before him, the only remenants of it centered around his brain and spine. Crossax carefully, very carefully prodded at the mana surrounding a certain fools most vital organs. The mana weak as it was pushed back against the intrustion, resisting the foreign mana with a will, Briox lived. Crossax sighed and continued talking to himself and the unconcious magi "Most magi strive to ensure they never run out of mana, but of course my masters last charge is an idiot. Mana starved twice in the same year, once from overwork and another due to suicidal battle tactics". Crossax carefully began to pull Briox off the inqusitors blade before setting him on the ground gently. He reached sideways his hand reached into one of the castles storerooms and retreived a white sheet that he carefully wrapped around the mortally wounded Briox. The sheet was a magic item that would isolate and preserve anything it was wrapped around, it should serve nicely for a bandage. Now if only it could fix idiocy though, Crossax mused technically since he lived it would be genius not madness?


    Deciding to leave it undecided for now Crossax looked off into the mountains, his eyes glancing for a moment at something far away. Then he turned his eyes to the inqusitor before him. Briox still had hold of his blade, and Crossax had to remove it from the inqusitors side to move Briox away from him. But now that he was away he could see the injury that Briox had dealt his foe. Enchanted chain mail was broken, the rings sheared by inhuman strength. The wound was large and deep, the blade managing to force its way through the inqusitors flesh as easily as his armor. A shocking result if you considered the resilience of an inqusitor, an even more shocking was how the wound had not recovered yet. Crossax inspected the wound with cold eyes, even without investigating with his mana he could see from here the reason both for the inquisitors grave unhealing wounds and why Briox wasn''t evaporated by his attack. Nearly the entirety of Briox''s mana was lodged into the inqusitors chest. It lashed out and struggled with the inqusitors own mana and even though it was losing the battle inside his body was damage the inqusitor even now. As for the attack that should have obliterated Briox to beyond the point of recovery? It had simply penetrated through his unprotected human heart until it struck something resilient enough for it to trigger. In truth for such a clean wound if Briox had not thrown all of his mana into his attack and calling Crossax, then even he, a magus apprentice on the brink of ascension could have healed the wound. He wouldn''t have been combat able, but he could have.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Crossax frowned, or as close to a frown as he was capable of and turned back to look into the mountains. It was nearly time for him to go. With a sharp glance at the inqusitor he turned and waved his hand at the space before him, a tear appeared and he stepped through. The tea pot flew off the place he had set in and settled on Briox before both lifted up and flew through the rift. Behind them, on some distance away where the goblins and soldiers fought a gigantic rip appeared in the sky and swallowed everything on the mountain path. Supplies, living, dead, human and goblin, it all was swallowed up. Moments later in the small town of Rifthollow a rain of servants and soldier dropped from the sky. It was possibly of note that the soldiers tended to fall from higher heights, and onto hard rooftops, but that was surely a coincidence. Back on a mountain some time away, the tears in space sealed themselves seamlessly as a being in black robes left, this time with a bit more than a tea pot beside him.


    <hr>


    As the rifts sealed a glowing missile flew through the mountains impacting the ground where the inqusitor had fallen. A Hyser angel of war stood there, its shining form marred by the streaks of blood and a black rose, seemingly imprinted on his chest. It yanked a few thorns from its side and growled in annoyance as the rose pulsed interfering as he sent mana to the various injuries he had suffered. "Empire damned curses, and curse you fool" The cold voice of the angel echoed in the mountains as it grabbed the inqusitor. A quick mana search later, and the angel snorted. Its meal had been interrupted, someone had tried to poison it, succeeded in cursing it with this annoying thing before they ran, and the inqusitor he was meant to safeguard was mortally wounded. The angel took off, quickly vanishing into the horizon as an imperial inqusitor dangled by one leg in his grasp, even if the brat died he''d just bring him back.

 Im back

    Hey folks, im...quite ashamed of my unannounced dissapearance. Ive been working on other things, my computer has died (still no new one), had ups and downs, and meant to come back and write several times and got sidetracked.


    And today i finally got back to this story...and found the time since an update has been 12 months...i want to punch myself but all that would do is hurt me and not contribute to writing more.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    So im back, id told myself many times that before i came back i needed a computer, or a stockpile of chapters to make up for however long i was gone, or to edit what ive done already so its easier to read or makes sense (i know their are number issues between chapters).


    Ive done none if that and if you want to decry me for it your entirely welcome to. Ive screwed up, but i intend to be back to writing now and hopefully continuing this properly.

 Uninterrupted Lecture

    Briox groaned, his body felt as if it were made of lead, molten burning lead. His fingers twitched and sent a shooting pain throught his body.


    "Ah so your awake"


    Crossax cassually remarked from a seat beside the bed. A seat Briox was sure was not there before.


    "Don''t bother trying to move, as is your fortunate that they used a spell that triggered out the tip of the sword and so you lived."


    Briox groaned again unable to talk with a lead tongue as Crossax rang a small bell and continued.


    "What you did not do is instantly recover from a suicidal stab that injected all but a minute amount of your mana into another magi. Ignoring all the ways that could have gone wrong, considering your untrained. The way it did go wrong compounded with your previous mana exhaustion"


    Briox heard the door open and turned his head just a fraction before it became too hard and too painful all at once. He heard footsteps and the sound of utensils being used or set upon wood before Crossax continued.


    "It appears you have managed to damage most of your body by forcefully pulling the mana out as you did. The good news is, that despite our lack of healers it is an easy treatment. The bad news.."


    Crossax''s voice trailed off as he appeared in Briox''s view holding a funnel attached to a tube and a large silver teapot.


    "...is you are not going to enjoy this at all, nor will this be a quick recovery."


    Briox tried to protest as Crossax slid the tube down his throat, and when he poured the piping hot mixture down his throat. However his body was too weak, he could barely move.


    When the mix hit his stomach and the world began to change colors, brutal cramps struck and his contracting muscles hurt even as they burned, and yet despite his thrashing were too heavy to move.


    Crossax left the room his featureless face unable to show any emotion as he left Briox to toss and turn in agony.


    Crossax looked at the nearby goblin attendant "The pain should ease in a hour if it does not, inform me"


    The goblin nodded and then cringed as a scream of agony from the room beyond spooked her.


    Tenatively she asked "Will the Magus be okay?"


    Crossax sighed "he will recover, this is the first time in days we have been able to get food inside him, the added materials to boost his mana recovery would not be nice even on a full stomach, let alone with the added cramps. In a few hours pour a light broth into him and then 3 times a day broth and tea for food and mana. After a few weeks of that he should be recovered."


    The goblin nodded quickly and pushed the tea trolley away. The cooks would have the broth ready by the time the young magus was ready to consume it.


    If Crossax had been able to sigh he would have. In truth Briox being alive was already an incredible accomplishment. However he was not sure what his plans were for their allies in this venture.


    Should he send out scouts to find them? Aid them? It would be dangerous, but they may be able to do so...Crossax pondered as he slowly faded from view.


    Then an idea struck him and he appeared at the gate room of the castle, one fist striking his upturned palm as an exclamation. Of course he needed to find them, the lot of them needed to pay for the services rendered!


    Once that was done...Crossax rippled with excitement, they would need a place to stay. Then they would need more supplies so the realm was not strained taking care of them.


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    If they needed supplies there was only one place they could get them, Crossax stared at the realm gate. The Black Gang, as thieves and spies they would have an idea where to strike or know how to find out.


    A chain of events that was perfectly reasonable, necessary even, but that would end with Briox and the Black Gang raiding across the realm. Disrupting the Hyser Empire, and restocking Crossax''s realm.


    With more supplies Briox could make more forces. With more forces they could attack stronger targets. Eventually they would become too big to hide, and then they risked being crushed by Hyser''s might. Before that however they would have time to grow, to plan...and maybe even to escape.


    Crossax turned from the realm gate and began walking, he needed time to think and plan. This would be the start of something, he could feel it, like a ripple spreading through space.


    Crossax shift between one step and another deep into warrens below the castle. A mighty set of iron doors, gilded with gold upon the decorated lions and griffons set into it stood before him. Massive fires burned eternally, red crystals stood at their hearts providing energy and a link to the essence of fire itself.


    He slowly laid his hand upon the massive doors, pausing for a moment before pushing one side open with a groan of metal moving. He slowly walked into the darkness beyond until a number of silver flames began to flicker into being. Each one illuminating an ornate silver pedestal.


    He strode by books of arcane knowledge, wands and enchanted daggers, orbs filled with power and an endless array of enchanted items. His Creators vault was deep and long, his spoils of war many.


    Magus Vandolheim was once a name to be feared both by the Dark Lands. So feared that three high dark lords of those lands joined together to lure him to a trap and slay him.


    The resulting battle had shocked both Islandyer and the Dark Lands. Magus Vandolheim had survived the attack of three high lords and their armies. Two of the dark lords had even fallen in battle, it was a mighty victory for Islandyer.


    However, it was also a terrible failure for Vandolheim. His army was devastated, his orkin slain to the last, his grey cats left with only a breeding pair left at home because of the kits. Even the goblin supply teams had less than one in twenty survive.


    In the end he had returned home with his army broken. Over a century of accumulation of wealth and veteran forces wiped out in one battle. Even if the loss had not been a personal one, there was no way for him to return to the frontlines without decades of recover.


    So Crossax''s creator had chosen to retire, leaving the wounds of the battlefield behind. Despite his title as a Magus Creator, Vandolheim had never been particularly skilled in that regard. His talent with tactics and personal strength had been what made him feared. So he took up a job teaching tactics to creators and that was where he was when Hyser struck.


    Crossax stopped finally at his destination. It was not the deepest part of the vault for he could not reach there. The darkness was actually a bit of space bent and twisted as his creator had willed but not even Crossax could see through the space that his creator had hidden his greatest secrets within. One of those secrets being the methods behinds Crossax''s own creation.


    With an almost sigh Crossax reached out and picked up a small pouch, the jingle of metal on metal ringing out as he lifted it. With a glance inside Crossax confirmed what was inside.


    Over a dozen rings, some large, some small, some light, some dark, some decorated, some not rings of all types. Vandolheim had spent a number of years crafting or trading for these, and gifting them to his elite commanders. Spacial rings that would allow whatever you touched to them to be stored, weightless, and away from from air or other elements.


    There were limitations of course, limited space, limited weight, and if you put a liquid in everything would get wet as it spread around the place. But they were awfully convenient when you needed to move a large amount of things fast, a wonderful tool for raiders, though only a special kind of raider could even dream of using such a tool.


    Crossax turned to leave as the pedestal faded away, he slid the pouch into his robes and continued walking. He could not leave or enter the vault as easily as he could travel his realm. But that was alright, he would use the time to plan as he slowly walked out.