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

expose himself later on. It was hard to wait, but the team finally returned. They drew a picture of the manor and the surrounding area. There was a pathway leading directly toward the enclave. Trevor sent the scout ahead to Potur’s group so the exit could be located, and an ambush set up for anyone escaping from the manor.

Nothing happened for two hours. The sun was dipping toward the west, and Trevor didn’t want to lose the daylight since a fight in the darkness would be to the magicians’ advantage.

“Come with me,” Trevor said to his band. “We will attack them from the rear.”

Leaving their horses behind, Win led them past the manor. In a few minutes, Trevor looked at the back of the estate. There were more outbuildings than he had expected.

“I’ll use my camouflage spell and see how many horses there are in the stable,” Lissa said. She returned in a moment. “Seven horses, no wagons.”

Trevor turned to Volst. “Find Potur and have him move half the troops to where we were before. We’ll invade with few men, but have his forces converge from the pathway and the lane on the house when they hear fighting inside.”

“You need more troops,” Volst said as he looked at the manor through the thick trees.

“And you’ll get them for me. Hurry. I won’t wait for you,” Trevor said. He watched Volst run back toward the lane before planning an attack in his mind. This particular game would be for high stakes.

Trevor took the invading force and positioned them behind the outbuildings. Once they had been cleared, he went over the final steps to their plan. Trevor would have to lead in case the magicians used wards to defend the manor. The time finally came. He squeezed Lissa’s hand and nodded to the one Brachian officer that had accompanied the soldiers.

Trevor was about to enter the grounds when a window opened, and two magicians climbed out and waited, one looking one way and the other in the opposite direction. Why would they expose themselves? Trevor asked himself until he turned to Win.

“Do you see the magicians leaning against the house if you remove your charm?” Trevor asked.

Win dropped the charm into Trevor’s hand. “What magicians?” Win said with a smile, grabbing the charm back.

“I need a bow and a few arrows,” Trevor said. “I’m going to give those two idiots the awards they deserve.” He felt that if they were so brazen as to hide in plain sight, that they were legitimate targets. He took the bow and flexed it. “I’ll be heading in after I shoot. Follow me and watch your step.”

He gave two of the three arrows to Lissa and nocked the first. In a fluid motion, he pulled back the bow and hoped the creaking sound didn’t reach the manor house. He shot the first, grabbed the second arrow from Lissa, and then he shot immediately. He held out his hand for the third, but Lissa patted him on the shoulder.

“You are too good,” she said with a grimace, looking at the two fallen magicians.

“All I did was practice when I was a teenager,” Trevor said when he handed back the bow and pulled his Jarkanese sword, stepping out from the back of the stable.

He walked forward and reached the back door in time to hear someone call out a name and then another. Trevor opened the unlocked door and sighed. Unless this was a trap, the magicians had made a fatal error. He slipped inside and was immediately bathed in fire and silver and white lightning bolts. The streams of magic only made it clear where his opponents were. Trevor moved farther into the house as his force came in behind him.

From then on, it was much the same. The Brachians were merciless when joined by Volst and Win. There were ten bodies on the main floor, and no one had yet searched the basement or the second floor.

“Clear the basement,” Trevor asked Volst. “I’ll take Lissa with me upstairs.”

The couple went up wide stairs. No one seemed to be on the second level, but one of the doors was locked. Trevor kicked the door, but it didn’t budge.

“No magic here?” Trevor said.

Lissa reached out and touched the doorframe with the tip of her finger, and then she touched the door. An explosion blew Lissa back against the wall. A female magician stood, sneering at them. Trevor knew he had suffered some minor injuries from standing too close to the blast, but Lissa lifted her hand and shot a needle-thin lightning bolt at the magician’s neck. The woman’s eyes grew large as she clutched her throat and fell backward on the door.

“I can’t breathe,” Lissa whispered. “The pain!”

Trevor knew what to do and grabbed her hand, teleporting them to the seer headquarters in Collet in Ginster. They landed on the floor of the ancient room, but Trevor could feel that his bones were now intact. Lissa’s eyes were closed, but she was breathing evenly. Trevor was weak, but he staggered out of the ancient room and found a cleric nearby.

Within a few moments, Brother Yvan and Reena were assisting them while recovering from an explosion that might have been deadly for both Trevor and Lissa.

“Stay down,” Brother Yvan said, gently pushing Trevor down to the floor next to Lissa. “The transfer might have healed your wounds, but they were serious enough to have taken away all your energy.”

“Will Lissa survive?” Trevor said, turning his head toward the woman.

“Yes, I will,” she said in a much stronger voice, “but I’m not worth much at the moment.”

“I’ve got to get back!” Trevor said.

“Not with Lissa,” Brother Yvan said. He stood and helped Trevor up. “Reena will help Lissa, and I will be your magical power.”

“But are you strong enough?”

“He