Wizard Betrayed (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 6), page 26
He sent fresh Power to the creature. Richard let his admiration for her bravery pass down the link as well as his hatred of her tormentor. He tried his best to send hope but failed miserably. The best he could do was let her know he was there, that he knew what she was going through, and that she wasn’t alone. Before long, her pain stopped increasing. Whoever was attacking her had apparently broken off the attack.
He sensed the creature’s hurts but hesitated to heal her new injuries. She was still alive. Taking her injuries would ease her pain, but it wouldn’t keep her alive. Whoever had attacked her could return. Richard knew he’d used up precious Power healing her earlier injuries.
What good did it do? he thought. She has almost as many injuries now as before I healed her. I can’t hope to heal injuries quicker than whoever attacked her can deal them out.
Convinced the creature’s only hope was for him to conserve Power and get to her as quickly as possible, he stepped out of his cubbyhole into the main tunnel.
“Nick, plot me the most direct route to the creature’s location and give me a time estimate.”
Pulling the strap of his M12 over his shoulder so he could fire it from the hip, he flicked the safety to the fire position. Richard touched the handle of his phase rod with his left hand to ensure it was positioned for quick access.
“No! Absolutely not!” Nickelo shouted in reply. “You are not thinking. This is ludicrous. We will not get four hundred meters before we are discovered. If you insist on going to her, at least stick with the route I mapped earlier. It is the safest way. We can be there in just a few days. We may get there in less if we are lucky.”
“I’m going the direct route. I’m going with or without your help. The odds of success would be higher if you’d help, but I’m going regardless.”
“Fine. Course is plotted. Time estimate is between twelve and sixteen hours. It just depends on how much trouble we encounter. I am registering life forms all around us. The moment we are discovered, which will not be long, you will be in constant battle. I will do my best to keep us clear of the strongest life forms.”
“Thanks, Nick. I owe you.”
“Yes, you do. Don’t think for one minute I won’t remind you later.”
Chapter 44 – Running Battle
____________________
Wearing a grim smile, Richard set off down the tunnel following the course his battle computer plotted. He trotted along at a pace faster than a walk but slower than a run. It was a pace he could maintain for a long time. As he jogged, he monitored the area with his passive scan.
Nickelo displayed the results on the battle helmet’s heads-up display.
A group of dots indicated life forms at an intersection a couple of hundred meters ahead. They moved on before Richard arrived. He passed through the intersection without incident. Shortly thereafter, he noticed two stationary life forms at another intersection a hundred and fifty meters ahead.
“Nick,” Richard said, “those look like guards. Any idea what they are? I’m guessing they’re orcs.”
“I calculate that is a ninety-eight percent probability. I would advise not firing your weapon unless absolutely necessary. That dark energy is still monitoring these tunnels. Even a single plasma round is bound to give away our position.”
When Richard rounded the curve near the guard’s location, he saw two orcs. One was standing near a wall taking care of his morning business. His spear leaned against the wall beside him. The other guard held an axe across his shoulder in a ready position but was facing the opposite direction. Drawing his phase rod, Richard flicked the activate switch. He felt the familiar recoil as the rod’s hydraulics thrust the meter-long shaft of brerellium steel with its creallium core out the end of the handle. He waited until he was a few steps away from the orcs before moving the charge lever to destructive. A microsecond later, small red arcs of deadly phase energy were crawling along the entire length of the rod’s shaft.
The surprised guards began turning around as Richard swung the phase rod into the head of the first orc. The orc’s helmet went flying through the air. The second guard started to swing his axe but was no match for the battle suit’s speed. A quick swing of the phase rod broke the orc’s arm. A second strike to the chest broke his ribs and turned the orc’s internal organs into a soupy mess as the demon essence in the rod sucked out life force. Richard was across the intersection and out of sight before the first orc’s helmet stopped rolling on the tunnel floor.
Richard had two more silent encounters during the next ten minutes, which ended with the deaths of six goblins. Then his luck ran out. A cavern ahead had thirty life forms in it. Two registered larger than the others.
“I calculate those two are shamans,” Nickelo said. “They need to be taken out quickly. I don’t think using your phase rod is going to hack it this time.”
“Agreed,” Richard said knowing full well the moment he fired his first round they were going to be in a running battle all the way to his creature.
When Richard burst into the cavern, he located the most powerful life form and sent a 20mm shell from the M12’s grenade launcher in its direction. It was a goblin shaman. The shell hit him directly in the chest and exploded, sending shrapnel, flesh, and bone flying in all directions. Two other goblins nearby were killed as well. Still running, Richard sent a long burst from the M12 into a group of goblins standing near a fire, dropping several of them and scattering the rest. Chaos broke out in the cavern making it hard to get into a position where he could get a shot at the second shaman.
“It is on the other side of that large boulder,” said Nickelo. “Try and work your way around.”
Firing at anything that moved, Richard rounded the boulder just in time to see a goblin shaman complete a spell and send a burst of energy toward him.
“Fireball!” said Nickelo.
Richard’s battle computer sent a thought advising him to use Power to raise a defensive shield to his front, but he ignored the advice. He didn’t plan on using Power unless absolutely necessary. Dropping face down in a small depression, he shoved his plasma rifle under him using his body to keep it from being damaged. He’d survived fireballs before. From the spell’s energy output, he knew this was a relatively weak spell.
The fireball exploded a few meters from him. The fire and heat swept all around, incinerating a couple of nearby goblins. The composite mixture of Power and technology in Richard’s battle suit deflected most of the heat and blast. While the heat on his back and legs was uncomfortable, it was bearable. As soon as the flames began to dissipate, he jumped to his feet and put a burst of plasma rounds into the shaman. He wasted no more time on the rest of the goblins, only firing if one got in his way. His location was no longer a secret. The goblin soldiers were no real threat. Jumping over dead bodies, he made it to the opposite side of the cavern and ran down another tunnel.
The din in the cavern faded, but Richard knew he was far from safe. Nickelo continued to display the results of the passive scan on the heads-up display. Groups of life forms from all over were converging in his direction. Several of the life forms appeared to be magic users. They registered much larger than the two shamans he’d just dispatched.
As he ran, Richard replaced the rifle’s isotopic battery with a full one and fed another 20mm shell into the grenade launcher under the rifle’s barrel. He tried to use the dimensional pack to get some extra batteries and shells. The attempt failed.
“Will you ever learn?” asked Nickelo.
Richard ignored his battle computer. He felt an intense need to save the creature. He forced any thoughts of goodness or kindness to the back of his mind as he let his darker nature take over. He became the deadly killing machine the Empire had worked so hard to train.
Surprisingly, Nickelo was able to modify their path enough to avoid the more powerful life forms. Due to the numerous orcs and goblins patrolling the tunnels, Richard was forced to kill them by the dozens. He knew that mattered little to an enemy who had thousands at their disposal. The orcs and goblins held little threat to him since their simple weapons couldn’t penetrate his battle armor. He tried to avoid fights unless they got in his way or tried to give away his position. For the most part, he was able to avoid using his M12. He fought relatively quiet using only the battle suit’s assisted strength of his fists or his phase rod.
After an hour of running, Richard took a hard look at the dots on his heads-up display. “I don’t understand. I’m being quiet. I have my best stealth shield up, but no matter what we do, they keep trying to surround me.”
“I know,” said Nickelo. “I do not have enough information yet to calculate the reason with a hundred percent accuracy. So far, I have been able to keep you away from the more powerful magic users, but I think that is about to end. They are converging from the rear, and it looks like they have set a trap in that cavern up ahead. I suggest we try to backtrack, and then resume the path to your creature later.”
“Negative,” Richard said trying to make it obvious he was firm on the idea. “I see them, and we’re going straight through the cavern. It’s the shortest way. Give me a target count.”
“There are six magic users in a tight group; probably mages. One of them is very powerful. Additionally, there are one hundred and twenty-six orcs and two trolls. All six mages are deploying defensive shields. They must know you are close, so you aren’t going to take them by surprise.”
Richard glanced at his heads-up display. The tunnel opened up onto a ledge about fifty meters above the cavern floor. The cavern was about four hundred meters across. He’d passed through the cavern several times during the last year.
“As memory serves me,” Richard said, “there’s a large river of lava flowing through the center. It’ll be illuminating everything with its glow. From the energy frequencies on my passive scan, I figure there are about a hundred of the orcs along with the two trolls on my side of the lava river. The six mages are located on the far side with the rest of the orcs.”
“I concur, wizard scout.”
Attempting to save time, Richard didn’t slow his run when he neared the ledge. He took a flying leap as far as his battle suit’s legs would carry him. The maneuver caught the mages off guard because two fireballs and a lightning blast hit the mouth of the tunnel behind him. Even wearing a battle suit, a fifty-meter drop was too far to fall without taking injury. He used telekinesis to slow his fall to a safer speed. Richard softened his fall just enough to keep from getting injured using as little Power as possible. As soon as he hit the cavern floor, he rolled. A dozen orcs swinging swords along with the two trolls wielding axes swarmed around him. None of their weapons were magic. The swords and axes failed to penetrate his battle suit, but their blows threw him off balance.
“Incoming,” said Nickelo.
A series of three fireballs erupted around him. All three fireballs were much more powerful than the earlier one from the goblin shaman.
Richard threw up a hasty defensive shield but still felt parts of his skin blistering from the heat. The orcs and the two trolls around him were all incinerated. He felt Nickelo activate the assistors in the battle suit’s legs, propelling him out of the hottest part of the blasts.
“Thanks, Nick.”
“That’s why I am here.”
Momentarily clear of any orcs, Richard shot a 20mm grenade and a burst of plasma rounds at the mages across the lava river. The rounds stopped short as if they’d hit an invisible barrier.
“They’re good,” Richard said. “My rounds aren’t penetrating.”
“The lead mage is good for sure,” replied Nickelo. “He is a dark elf. The other mages are putting up their own defensive shields, but funneling their excess Power into their leader. Watch out! He is releasing another spell.”
Richard threw up a defensive shield to his front. When the lead mage’s ball of magic was about twenty meters away, a lightning bolt shot out. Richard felt his defensive shield shift slightly as Nickelo angled it just before the lightning struck. The energy not absorbed by the shield ricocheted to his left.
Richard dropped the shield to conserve Power. “My turn!” Holding down the trigger on his M12, he sent a flurry of red energy toward the mages.
Once again, the energy from the plasma rounds was absorbed or deflected away by the mages’ shields.
After firing a hundred rounds, two braver-than-for-their-own-good orcs tackled him while another dozen or so came running to help. With a practiced motion, Richard unhooked his phase rod with his left hand and activated it in destructive mode. A feeling of intense hunger swept outward from the rod. He hacked at the legs of one of the orcs running up to help. The orc screamed in pain as his legs shattered. With two more strokes to keep the other orcs at bay, Richard jumped to his feet and pulled the trigger on his M12 as he swept it across his front. A score of rounds tore into the nearest orcs, throwing them back.
“Rick!” shouted Nickelo. “That mage is getting ready to release another spell. Watch your ammo. You are down to forty rounds in the M12.”
“Roger.” Richard turned toward the mages and prepared to activate his defensive shield again.
Before he could act, a nearby orc threw a battle hammer, striking him on the side of the head. His battle helmet absorbed the blow, but he was knocked to the ground.
Richard started to rise, but a fireball exploded overhead. His reflexes weren’t fast enough to react. Once again, Nickelo kicked with the battle suit’s legs hard enough to propel him along the cavern floor and out of the worst of the blast. Even so, Richard screamed as the heat exceeded the battle suit’s insulation. He felt the skin on his front side blister.
“Your M12 has been damaged,” said Nickelo, “but the grenade launcher is still operative. On a good note, the blast killed all the nearby orcs.”
Ignoring the pain from his burns, Richard rose to a standing position and faced the mages. They were just on the other side of the lava river, near its bank. Richard ignored the mages and fired four 20mm grenades at the embankment where they stood. When the grenades exploded, part of the embankment gave way. Two of the mages slipped and fell screaming into the lava. The other mages scrambled back from the bank as it crumbled beneath their feet.
“Pinpoint a weak shield,” Richard ordered.
A blip on his heads-up display representing the mage farthest to the right started flashing. Richard sent out a line of Power and drilled into the mage’s shield as he fired both of his remaining 20mm grenades. The first grenade detonated on the shield a split-second before his Power broke through. The second grenade passed through the shield and exploded against the mage’s right leg. The magic user was thrown into the air accompanied by a spray of blood.
The lead mage retaliated with another ball of magic sent in Richard’s direction. With three fewer mages funneling power to him, the spell was significantly weaker. A quickly erected defensive shield by Richard absorbed the spell’s energy before it activated. One of the mages panicked, dropped his defensive shield, and began what Richard sensed was a teleport spell. Before the mage could complete his spell, Richard reached out with his mind, wrapped Power around the mage’s heart, and jerked. The mage’s chest burst open. His heart flew out and landed on the cavern floor several meters away.
Richard had known the maneuver with the heart would take a lot of Power, but his hope had been that the showmanship would make the remaining mages run. They didn’t. The lead mage held his ground. With the other mage funneling Power to him, the leader sent another lightning blast at Richard. Part of the lightning’s energy was absorbed by his defensive shield, but part of it penetrated and hit Richard in the right leg, knocking him to the tunnel floor. The battle suit’s armor proved its worth by absorbing most of the spell’s effects. Even so, both of Richard’s legs were paralyzed. He yelled in pain. Richard felt Nickelo injecting him with painkillers and adrenaline. The pain subsided. His self-healing began returning his body to equilibrium, but he knew it would be a few minutes before he’d be able to walk without trouble.
Still lying down, Richard took out his .44 caliber AutoMag and aimed at the weaker of the two mages. Using some of his precious Power, Richard drilled a hole through the mage’s defensive shield and put a well-aimed .44 caliber round in the magic user’s head. Her head exploded as parts of her brain and skull splattered on the lead mage. The last mage turned to run. Richard put three well placed .44 caliber rounds into the mage’s back.
The remaining orcs fled.
Richard was momentarily left alone in the cavern with the dead. Panting, he pulled himself up and leaned against a rock to take the weight off his right leg. The leg was still sore and numb, but the shock of the mage’s lightning spell was slowly wearing off as his self-heal took effect.
“H-h-how am I doing on Power, Nick?” Richard asked, gulping lungsful of air.
“Power reserve is at thirty-two percent. The battle used almost twenty-eight percent. Another fight like that and you will be drained again.” After a pause, Nickelo continued, “They are tracking you, Rick. We have not been able to dodge them, and they keep throwing ambushes in our path. They have a trace on you; that is the only explanation.”
“I hear you, buddy. I’ve been thinking the same thing. You think it’s the link I have with the creature, don’t you?”
“That is a seventy-two percent probability. You can see the sensor results as well as I. The nearest group of life forms will arrive here in about eight minutes. Look at those other life forms. They are deploying all along the path between us and the female. They know where we are going. We have another six hours of hard traveling at minimum. If your Power usage stays constant, you will be out of Power long before you can get to the creature. We are both destined for deactivation if you do not modify your plan.”
