A Clash of Magics by Guy Antibes (read this if txt) 📕

Trevor grimaced as he fought to hold onto his sword. He twisted his body and let his weight move the sword rather than the muscles of his arm as the blade went deep into the magician’s side. That left one more, and Trevor was losing strength fast. He was barely able to lift his sword from the dead assailant when a wave of power shifted him on the floor. The other magician slammed into the wall of the building. There was no doubt all the tenants would have felt the impact.

“Dryden’s power?” Trevor said, leaning on his sword to remain standing.

The seer nodded. “I might have to perform some penance, but…” He took a deep breath. “See to Lissa.”

Trevor remembered she had fallen through the window. He ran down the stairs, dripping blood along the way until he reached the two bodies lying in the garden. His breath exploded with relief when he found Lissa had landed on the magician, so she was still alive. Trevor didn’t wait a moment to take her hand and use her magic to teleport to the main hall at the seer headquarters.

His wound was sore, but it had sealed with the teleportation, and Lissa blinked her eyes, almost in shock. “I am alive,” she whispered.

Trevor helped her to a sitting position as people clustered around them. “We will be back tomorrow,” Trevor said as they teleported back into the room where Seer Caspur still was.

“Lissa?” Caspur said, looking at her sitting up, leaning against Trevor.

“Father!” She crawled to her father, and both of them wept together, holding each other tightly.

Trevor felt embarrassed by the tender moment and checked the two dead magicians. He looked out the window at the third magician who remained motionless.

The two Caspurs finally unlocked from their embrace.

“These were also the men who killed Azar Zutterak?” Trevor asked Caspur.

The seer nodded. “They were boasting how they had learned the invisibility spell not long ago and walked into the prime’s office undetected and killed him. The power of invisibility wore off when they entered the church to assassinate me. They panicked and took me here. All three were idiots,” Caspur said. “I was able to convince them I knew divine secrets, so they decided to torture me to get them. That was when you came. How did you do it?”

Trevor let Lissa tell the story.

“Let’s get the city to handle this,” Seer Caspur said as Trevor helped him up and then Lissa.

Trevor checked the magician outside. It appeared that he had died breaking Lissa’s fall.

“How rude of me to drop in,” Lissa said with a smile as they helped Caspur to the next intersection, where there was a little traffic, to catch a hired carriage.

Chapter Twenty-One

~

T revor sat in Win’s house close to the premier’s palace. He looked out the window at the horses and carriages. Lissa was upstairs, helping console the mother and daughter who had just lost Azar Zutterak. Trevor still wore the diving outfit from Khartoo.

“You look rather sinister,” Win said with half a smile.

“It helps intimidate the bad guys,” he said.

“And they were very, very bad,” Win said. “Maskumite magicians?”

Trevor nodded. “They weren’t Maskum’s brightest. When they had decided to torture the seer for nonexistent seer secrets, they told him more about the plans of the cabals than Caspur told them.” Trevor explained the cabal system of the Khartoo magician’s enclave. Caspur had told him that the three magicians were in a cabal who had just been taught the invisibility spell and recently assigned to assassinate the premier and the seer of Viksar.

“Azar wore one of those charms,” Win said, “but it didn’t do him any good. He hadn’t gotten round to handing them out to those surrounding him, so the magicians sneaked outside into his office using the spell, killed my father-in-law, and then became invisible to escape. They were smart enough to get out of the church with the seer.”

Trevor pursed his lips. “The charms won’t work if they aren’t used intelligently. I’m sure Azar never thought of himself as a target, so he paid the price for his laxity.”

“Right,” Win said. “I agree with you, unfortunately. I want to annihilate them rather than wear charms waiting for them to attack.”

“Or influence,” Trevor said. “The smart ones influence the monarchs. They have done the most lasting damage. Gareeze Plissaki destroyed Desolation Boxster’s life through his influence on King Worto. I wonder how much Plissaki made parts of Brachian life the mess it is now.”

Win shrugged. “I don’t care about that. I’m willing to wield a sword, though. I talked to Siranda, and she agrees. She wants Maskum to pay.”

The next day, the council met along with representatives of the Order of Gold to choose an interim successor to Azar Zutterak. Viksar declared war on Maskum and would be sending troops through Kyria to Sirland. Ten thousand soldiers were available, and the Order of Gold contributed twenty gold-level magicians to accompany them.

Trevor and Lissa teleported to Collet to coordinate communications with the seer in Kyria. Then they teleported to Wistfall and met with Coosin Escarik and Prime Minister Crater.

“I’m impressed,” Crater said. “I wouldn’t have thought to ask Viksar to be an ally, but then you did the same with King Worto and Brachia.”

“It isn’t hard when the Maskumites do obvious damage to a country,” Trevor said.

Crater said. “What is your plan?”

“Pinch the enemy and force them to surrender or gather in Khartoo for a final battle. Either way, the enclave will be obliterated along with the magicians inside.”

Crater pursed his lips. “That is a harsh measure.”

“We can’t allow the enclave cabals to keep sending invisible magicians to assassinate heads of state and abduct seers. My father knew