The Gem Lords

The Battle of the Portal - Part 6

     A solid bar of light shot from the finger of the Garusian wizard, striking Thomas's Globe of Force and wrapping itself around him like a glove. Inside, Thomas was completely surrounded by the soft, pink light, patches of brightness rippling across it, and he felt his defensive shield weakening as the Garusian magic ate away at it, as if he was inside some monstrous stomach and being slowly digested.

     He'd never encountered anything like it, and Tak's memories contained nothing like it either. He had no idea how to counter it. He cast an attack spell, but it passed through both his shield and the energy draining spell with only a slight rippling of colour to mark its passage. He thought he heard mocking laughter from outside and knew he'd missed his target. He couldn't see his enemy, so he had no way of aiming his attacks. The other wizard could even be behind him by now.

     Thomas scrambled to his feet and ran forward, but the shell of coral pink light followed him, even when he willed the levitation spell to take him up into the air. There was no escaping it, and his shield had almost been consumed. What would it do to him when it was able to touch his unprotected skin? He ran one spell after another through his mind, but he had nothing that might counter this. Was he beaten? Was this the end?

     One patch of coral pink, down by his feet, was slightly brighter than the rest, and stayed brighter no matter which way he moved. Could that be the direction in which the enemy wizard was standing? There was no time to think, he had only seconds to go before his Globe of Force expired, so he cast a Fireball in that direction, praying to all the Gods of Tharia as he did so. There was a muffled boom, as if from a very great distance, and suddenly the pink glow was gone.

     He was surprised to find himself over a hundred feet above the ship, which was now in flames from stem to stern, and in the middle of the flames was a man-shaped ball of flame that screamed in agony as it rolled about on the burning deck. Ahead of the ship, the Jules Verse was swelling as they approached, and as he watched he saw one of the other ships crash into it. There was a terrific explosion as spells cast on the Garusian ship's ram were activated, and fragments of anti-meteorite cladding were scattered like a snow blizzard. When the cloud dissipated, the shocked wizard saw that one whole side of the Tharian ship had been stripped to the bare metal of the hull, ringed like a dartboard where it had been discoloured by the force of the explosion. Below, a thirty foot stretch of the walkway was a twisted ruin. The last Garusian ship changed course, aiming to hit the Jules Verne on the same spot.

     Thomas put it out of his mind. The Tharian ship would either survive the second impact or it wouldn't. There was nothing he could do about it. His job was here, and there was another Garusian wizard somewhere that he had to deal with. He was nowhere in sight, but Thomas didn't doubt he was around somewhere, waiting for the chance to attack. He cast another defensive spell around himself. Not as powerful as the first, he didn't have enough magic left, but it would just have to do.

     He landed back on the burning deck and prepared to cast the spell that would turn the ship, although with the sails almost destroyed he didn't know how much he'd be able to accomplish. He cast it anyway, and a moment later a strong wind began to blow, perpendicular to the ship's direction of motion, fanning the flames and catching at the tattered remnants of the sails. He increased the force of the wind, creating a powerful gale, and the prow of the ship turned by the slightest angle. Not enough! As he increased the force of the wind still further, though, he heard the masts beginning to creak in protest. If they snapped off, he'd lose all hope of controlling the ship's course.

     He allowed the force of the wind to drop a little, therefore, but the prow of the ship was still turning much too slowly. They would hit the Jules Verne, but it looked as though it would now hit just to the side of the blasted zone, hitting a still pristine area of anti-meteorite cladding. The Tharian ship had already suffered and endured one such impact. Hopefully it would be able to endure another on an area of hull that still possessed its full strength. It would just have to, Thomas mused unhappily. It was the best he could do.