Tides of Magic by James C. Williams

Author:James C. Williams [Williams, James C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-03-29T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

“Looks like the goblins have chosen to bridge the river,” Eric reported the next day, “my men are harassing them as much as they can without being exposed to unneeded danger, but the enemy has really tightened their security. Larger, better armed patrols that never go far enough to be without support.”

Hal nodded, looking through a spyglass towards where the river gorge should be. It was almost impossible to see from this angle, but the smoke from dozens of fires was visible. He occasionally thought he saw a tree fall, but knew he was probably just seeing things.

“I plan to have Diana do some long-range attacks from the air,” he continued, “but Croft is saying they have some casters able to spoof his more useful divinations. Likely they’ll have similar magical defenses and anti-air abilities, so I don’t expect much from any sort of attack from above.”

“How long do we have?” The knight asked, lowering the spy glass.

“Three days at a minimum, assuming they finish the bridge on schedule. I think we can stretch that to five days if we get lucky.”

“I almost hate this waiting more than the prospect of fighting,” Hal admitted, “I don’t like combat, but at least I can do something there. Right now, all I can do is wait and hope.”

“Croft and I will keep laying traps as long as we can,” the spook assured him, “some of the ranger trap skills are almost more dangerous than landmines.”

“I heard Croft is also planting a small garden at the base of the walls.”

“Yup, a collection of bushes and vines which he’s fast growing with his magic. He’s also made a grove within the walls.”

“Guess he wants to use forest’s wrath,” Hal said after a moment’s thought, “and I’d guess the grove is to raise his natural power resource for bonus magic regen.”

“If you say so sir, never heard of tactical gardening before.”

“I like it,” the knight chuckled, “tactical gardening.”

His report finished Eric nearly saluted before catching himself, then turned and descended the ladder into the tower. Hal’s humor didn’t last long, a puff of smoke over the horizon drew him away from the bad joke and back to the present. With a sigh he pulled a scroll and piece of charcoal from a pouch and quickly scribbled a message to Pearce and Isabella. It had taken them almost three days to make it to the far side of the kingdom of Ulyssar. Four days of asking around hadn’t yielded any notable leads to the whereabouts of that group of players. With the goblins bearing down on them it was time for them to come back.

After sending the scroll off with magic Hal relaxed in the single wooden chair atop the tower, trying to decide what to do next. Normally he would have gone back to work on enchanted items, but he just couldn’t focus with the battle looming. Diana was busy working with her students, Ash was helping the villagers get ready for the coming siege and the two rangers were laying traps.

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