I opened my eyes to see the wizard now standing in front of Cryon with his hands on his hips frowning at me while pretending Cryon wasn't the reason he had stopped. I looked at the man, "Sorry, didn't see you. Did you want to make the void?" I made up the word. Most shields would block sight or sound or both if you played around enough. I had seen enough wizards make them. The one I just created acted more like the shield on the city did. Moving light, sound, even unwanted matter around the space I had created. It made for a great ring where I didn't have to worry about the humans hearing and investigating. I was sure the wizard was also frowning because I had covered the spell so that other magic users couldn't tell what I had done and unless they were perfectly looking in the wrong spot they wouldn't even know anything had happened. So how did the wizard know what I had done then? Well on the inside his magic would run up to the edge then hit a wall. He might not be able to see what I had done but he could certainly feel it.
"Do you have any idea how dangerous what you just did was? You could have-"
"Blown my arm off?" I snorted at a memory from a few years ago, "Yes, I did that twice. Took my leg off too. Broke more bones than I cared to count. I think I even cracked my skull once. That memory is a bit fuzzy. Brought down a side of a mountain. Thought for sure someone would have caught that. Yes I think I have a good aprishansion for the dangers of playing with magic. Thanks for the warning." I felt my wings spread behind me and I folded them down so that the tips touched the ground. I knew my wings glowed slightly when I used magic and it was easier when I let my wings out to draw much more magic. I would be able to hold this spell for over a day if I wanted to and nothing tried to bring it down.
The ass didn't stand a chance against Ravon and Ravon was clearly pissed. It didn't make any sense to me but hey if she wants to let off a little stress on the ass that was her business. Just as long as the army wasn't exposed in the process. The wizard snorted at me. "Well since you know so much, what shield are you using?"
"Like I would know what the tower calls it. I call it void, it is similar in nature to the shield around the city. Only obviously much smaller."
"Really, that takes some power, but I don't feel anything."
"Unless you have practiced demonic like those two, you won't. Even then you would only notice from the inside."
The two young graduates were looking at me while Ravon was not slowing down in trying to remove the ass' head for him. Shevren stepped closer and sat down next to where I was kneeling. "Have you tried looping a spell back on itself so you don't have to hold it?"
Cryon was standing over the magic user. While she was keeping an eye on him her innate respect for magic users was keeping her from stopping him. "Sure with the magic you use that is very simple. If I tried that with this spell we would end up with a new crater."
The wizard nodded, "That is fine but what about the ambient light spell you are using?" I tilted my head just a little as I reappraised the wizard. I had woven the light spell inside the spell that was blocking the outside sight. It was an interesting trick I had noticed while studying the shield one day. Without the spell it would be pitch black in here. I still haven't figured out how to cycle the air but that was more a problem for the people with me than myself. "I make up just a bit of how weak I am by how perceptive I can be."
"Good for you." I considered not telling him. There really wasn't a reason I just don't like wizards, with a sigh I decided that was just too childish. "I could but that is the reason we can still see what is going on around us. If I tied it off the image would still and it would be less useful."
"You can see through the city shield though and no one is holding that."
I snorted then flinched a little in sympathy for the ass as Ravon got in a solid hit. "What do you think the main crystals do anyway?"
"They power the shield, but they aren't alive."
"No they are just one half of the bridge, were you not listening?"
The wizard frowned, "Right, I always wondered where the bridge led. So I am guessing where it leads must be alive."
"So no you weren't listening, it leads to half of creation." I looked back at the two warriors. Ravon had managed to pin the ass to the ground. He wasn't smart enough to surrender to the elf and she was twisting his arm higher and higher, just a few more seconds and the limb was going to break. "Enough, Ravon. He is no use to us if we have to wait for him to be healed. It looks like someone collected the old man and brought him back to town already."
With a growl Ravon turned the ass loose. "He is just going to attack you again."
I tilted my head down but kept my eyes on Ravon. "I have 15 crystal weapons, magic, am a demon, and killed Eight wraiths single handedly. I am hardly afraid of an islee commander that barely passed his exam, and probably did contribute to the disaster that befell his last unit."
Ravon blinked at me, "Well put that way."
The ass scrambled away from Ravon, he hadn't been paying attention to me while trying to recover. He brushed himself off and focused on Ravon again, "You are going-"
"Silence." The ass cut off sharply he grabbed his throat as he was still trying to talk but no sound was coming out. He was turning a bit red as he got angrier. I folded my wings back in ending the spell that had kept us hidden. Something wasn't right but I wasn't sure what it was. I moved my head as I scanned the woods.
The ass didn't get it and tried to take a swing at me. Ravon caught his wrist before he could hit me. The ass seemed surprised the elf could stop him dead mid swing. She didn't look like she had the raw muscle power. Another elf put an arrow tip to the back of the commander's neck. He didn't say anything but the ass froze. With a wizard right here that arrow could leave him paralyzed but not dead. So he didn't push it.
The feeling of wrongness moved away. I looked in the direction of the human town. They had turned in for the night already, just a few men keeping watch but they clearly didn't expect another attack. Either that or they trusted the white witch to keep them safe. Too bad for them it doesn't look like she is planning on staying around. I watched as her warden exited the inn and headed for the stables, his cloak shifting colors as he moved.
Shevren raised a shield between us and the village adding a very basic sound barrier. "What are you thinking?" If I hadn't been trying to watch everywhere at once I wouldn't have seen the magic.
"Right now, I am thinking that I don't answer to you. Beyond that, that they are on the move already. Well, ass do you want to wait here or head to the next town ahead of them?"
The elf removed his arrow and dropped into a crouch next to Ravon, looking out at the town. The ass managed to take a breath, "How dare you!"
The wizard flinched and looked around, the sound shouldn't make it past the shield but it was a chance. I decided to interrupt the ass before he made me mad again, "Have you ever read army law?"
The ass said nothing. They thought tradition in the academy and rules of honor. The ass couldn't answer because he knew what they taught was not the actual laws, but by the time you figure that out you also know the actual laws are not what get you promoted within the army any more.
"Right, I would have been surprised if you were one of the other ten people to track down an army law book in the last hundred or so years. Let's see if this group rushes ahead like they seem to be, our relief should find us about the time they reach the local capital. If you can keep from making me completely angry at you, I will give you until we get back from our first break to find out how to stop me from removing you from command. I do promise you that if you do something so foolish as wandering off and then starting a fight with another member again after that, you won't have to worry about what the council will do to you. Maybe you should run with this now before I run out of patience."
The ass frowned looking at Shevren. Shevren was laughing. Not just a small laugh but rolling on the ground clucking his sides. I raised another sound barrier within the one he had raised just in case. Everyone was looking at him as he seemed to pull himself together then he looked at me and started laughing again. That was a new reaction to me. I blinked at the wizard.
We sat there for a good 20 minutes as he tried to get control of his laughing. When he could finally breathe he looked at me again. "Whoever is prejudiced against you is a fool. Keep this up and you will not only be the first general in several generations but the first not to make commander first. Our ancestors must be tossing in their sleep." He snickered then looked at the ass, "So the future general asked you a question commander; what do you want done? Ass."
"What is with you now, crazy wizard?"
Shevren tilted his head, "I am one of the ten people to read the book she is talking about. Which means I know exactly what she is planning. I suggest you start focusing on your job commander."
The commander looked back at the town, "We will keep the group in sight, move." The white witch had gotten quite a group of people even for trying to sneak out. Three boys, her warden, another man, and two young women.
It was easy to stay out of their sight on the road. We followed and watched as they made it to the next town. They spent the night in the inn but something must have happened because they moved on again before the light broke the sky.
They spent the next few days traveling. Sleeping under the stars, we rested when they did. The ass didn't give me any more problems while we traveled. This was always the part of the job I didn't like. Surprisingly the ass had stopped bothering me. I was able to keep busy with my exercises.
On the fourth day I realized that while the ass had stopped bothering me the wizard was never that far from me now. Funny how the elves seemed to care more about me on this trip than the islee did, well except the wizard. He never really interfered with me, he would ask why I did one thing and not another when I used magic but there wasn't much reason to use magic while we were just traveling at human speed.
It was boring until the human group came to an abandoned city. The white witch was careful to stay clear of it but the trees still didn't grow within a couple miles of the old city. The buildings looked frozen in time. They must have been planning to pass by the city tomorrow.
The shadow spawn came out of nowhere. My unit killed many of the twisted monsters but they got by too quickly. I got the feeling the red eyes of the wraith were laughing at me as it's troops chased the group and we had to stay out of sight. The wraith didn't laugh long though as the group fled into the city. It was going to need time to encourage its troops to go into the wrong feeling city. You would think shadow spawn wouldn't care but the twisted animals still had a good survival sense, for lack of a better word than survival. The things weren't alive after all.
The twisted animals still had some instinct it seemed. I could feel the white witch put up a barrier in one of the houses but I wasn't sure that would keep the wrongness out until dawn when the shadow spawn would have to retreat. Beyond keeping the wraith on its toes there wasn't much we could do without exposing our existence.
I and Ravon were keeping watch while the other members of our party got a little sleep while the humans slept. "What do those fools think they are doing?"
It was several hours into the night but still a long way until sunrise. The three boys had left the safety of the white witch and seemed to be exploring the streets of the city. "Either they are suicidal, or treasure hunting." I answered Ravon even though I knew she didn't really want an answer. "So, what are your orders, vet."
Ravon sighed and looked at the ass, then she looked at me, "Don't get caught princess, I will watch our unit."
"Princess?"
"Yes, which means you should try not to get yourself killed either. I really don't want to answer to Theon about anything, he might break his oath on that messenger."
"He always seemed calm to me."
"Those are always the ones you have to watch out for."
I shrugged and disappeared down the hill. It wasn't hard to keep track of the boys. All three got picked up in the city's wrongness quickly. I could feel the city watching me but it seemed to be more afraid of me than I was of it. Not the first time a cursed city has felt that way.
I stayed out of sight but close enough to help if one of them looked like they were going to get killed. It was dangerous to interfere with the chosen heroes, you have to let them get into enough trouble to learn and get stronger without actually letting the shadow kill them before time.