There was a group of Academy Mages to my right, openly battling three of my rebels, but none of them had the ability to manipulate water.
A second fireball fizzled as it touched my Air Shield, and I whipped my head to the left to see Eira and Heco—two of the more proficient fighters we absorbed in Lishahl—tossing a reckless stream of magic at me.
Idiots!They were under strict ordersnotto engage the Academy soldiers—just the Academy itself; especially now with the gods in Vespera, they’d need to save their crystals for that inevitable fight. The Air Shield protecting Vespera was nearly translucent in spots, the gods’ army directing their barrage of magic to those weakened points.
Fuck, this is going to be over before it begins.
There was no way we could take on that army and win, even if the Academy soldiers decided to work with us. The best outcome would be for us to chase them out of Vespera—but how we would do that remained a mystery.
Ellowyn. Ellowyn. Ellowyn.
An ice spear cracked against my shield, thrusting me from my observations of the battle. With a growl, I conjured vines from beneath the cobblestones, the stone cracking and giving way to my magic. With little effort, I commanded them to wrap around the arms and legs of Eira and Heco, securing them to the spot. Satisfied they couldn’t access their magic, I dropped my Air Shield before dashing over to them.
“What thefuckwere you thinking?” I roared and felt a moment of satisfaction at their wide-eyed expressions.
“We thought you were one of them, sir! You’re dressed like them! Came running through those doors like your ass was on fire, too!”
“I told you not to attack the Academy soldiers! Do. Not. Engage.Thosewere your orders!” I fumed.
“They attacked us first!” Eira whined, wriggling against the vines that held her still. Folami felt this one had the most potential of the group of men and women that joined the rebellion in Lishahl. After today, I begged to differ.
“How many are dead because of you? Because of the orders you betrayed?”
The girl opened and closed her mouth like a gaping fish, and I turned my thunderous expression on her brother. His face blanched under my stare, and I smelled the acrid stench of piss.
Great.
“Three!” he yelped as my vines unwittingly tightened around his arms and legs.
Just as I was about to rip into them again, I heard a faint whistling sound before turning and throwing an Air Shield around the three of us. The shield was peppered with sharpened wooden missiles, clearly crafted by an Earth Mage before being sent with alarming speed and accuracy by an Air Mage.
Abruptly, I released my two soldiers from the hold of my vines. Without prompt, they came to stand at my side, magic at the ready.
The whistling sounded again, and this time, I was able to pinpoint the direction of the assault. The kids were right, the Academy soldiersweretrying to kill us.
Can I really blame them? Did we give them much of a choice or reason to think otherwise?
I couldn’t retaliate without dropping my Air Shield—it was the one caveat to my seemingly unending power—and I growled in frustration.
“What do you need, Lord d’Eshu?” Eira asked, her tone steely yet deferential.
Maybe there was hope for her yet.
“Freeze their hands and secure their feet to the ground. Once they’re immobilized, we’ll run together and explain the situation.”
Heco snorted.
“You think that type of diplomacy is going to work in this situation? Really? They’ll try and kill us before we get close.”
I gritted my teeth. “Then we continue this until they listen. You”—I gestured to the boy—“will inform as many of our outfit as you can that my orders are to incapacitateonly. Do not maim, do not kill. That isnotwhy we are here. I don’t care who tells you otherwise. Anyone else who directly disobeys my orders and hurts—or gods’ forbid, kills—another Academy soldier will pay for it when we return to Lishahl. Are we clear?”
They nodded their heads, faces grim and slightly green.
“Our orders came from General Folami,” the girl admitted as another barrage of arrows hit my shield. I felt the impact of them that time, my focus and strength wavering. I may be a godling, but even I didn’t have infinite power.
“Is she here?” I ground out, indicating with my head for Eira to freeze the two Mages across the courtyard.
She shook her head as she dropped the temperature on her Water Magic before hurling small balls in quick succession at the Mages. The first two missed their mark, skittering harmlessly along the stones, but the third encased the massive Earth Mage’s legs in ice, forcing him to wobble and fall. The fourth was aimed at his hands but missed as he fell. His Vessel fell to her knees, her flame-red hair blowing in the wind, trying to help him channel enough Earth Magic to break apart the ice shackles.
