Lord of Small Magics – 25

Yes I am one episode behind. I hope to catch up soon 🙂

 

The ground rumbled beneath his feet. Meck stared at the tent flap half-hoping someone would rush through and let him know the status. Right now he knew nothing except the clang of metal weapons smacking together and the intermittent boom of magic. Lightning sizzled and thunder crashed outside in an audio explosion. Meck cast a quick spell to diffuse the louder noises. Someone speaking would still be heard but anything unnaturally loud would be softened. The spell had been created to calm horses during warfare. Meck didn’t know if the magic users in camp knew that particular spell but he didn’t plan on rushing out to check. He would ask them after everything was over.

“Gods please keep Anders and Vedder safe.” He might wish the soldiers he’d met to have a safe battle but their well being didn’t matter as much to him.

After pacing the tent for what seemed like an hour, Meck sat on his bed. No one had come for him which either meant they were still in battle or anyone who would say anything had been killed. Meck tried to keep his optimism up but a hard stone of worry settled in his chest.

A loud bang followed by a brilliant flash of white light was the final push to get Meck to peer outside. First glance showed nothing but the deserted area outside his tent. Not a big surprise since all the soldiers were at the battle and the support staff were closer to the center of the tent, but still the lack of occupants didn’t reassure his frazzled nerves. How long would the battle take? None of the mock wars done at school lasted very long. The teachers went for battle power rather than stamina. Thunder rumbled across camp bringing with it the smell of rain. Black clouds, fat with moisture slid across the sky like a wizard’s cape covering every patch of blue.

Vedder.

If he went to high ground Meck would be able to find his friend and stay free of battle. Pleased with his reasoning, he glanced around until he could determine which way the land sloped. The next snap of lightning pinpointed his goal.

There, to the south a jut of land shot into the sky. Meck spotted a handful of people standing on the hilltop waving their hands to the sky. Only one of them had the graceful motions he connected to Vedder. The others must not have proper training. In battles proper training often was the first thing discarded. If someone showed up with power or a particular skill set they were quickly adopted. The same half-training wizards often died in battle trying to use magic they weren’t equipped for.

The soft whistle in the air had Meck ducking. A sharp slide across his forearm left a streak of blood behind alerting him that he hadn’t entirely evaded the attack as the arrow embedded in the tree behind him.

“Damn,” he muttered. “I hope that wasn’t one of those poisoned ones.”

When he didn’t immediately topple over he continued on his way more cautious of his surroundings than before. No sense checking to see if the people he cared about were safe if he got killed checking on them.

He couldn’t spot the archer so he cast some protection spells on his clothing. His simple cloth shirt and pants glowed briefly. Satisfied he’d be safer than before, Meck ran as fast as he could to the higher ground. Because of his short stature Meck scrambled easily through the small spaces between tents and made it up the hill without further incident. He ignored the slight scrape of a blade that slipped off his back from the power of his spells.