The Rifts of Psyche by Kyle West (popular e readers txt) 📗

almost enough to burn him. Just when the heat was getting unbearable, they dove behind the boulder. A peek around the side revealed the hoplites were even closer. Lucian had about thirty seconds to make something work.

Lucian wasted no time. He deepened his Focus and created a focal point on the trail itself, about twenty meters away, while setting the anchor point at the base of a high cliff above the trail. Lucian let ether rip through him, all of it drawn by the power of the Orb. More and more magic streamed out of him, until the Binding tether radiated with blinding blue light.

“Take cover!”

Lucian released the stream, and instantly, the ground shook from the sheer amount of energy Lucian had streamed into the tether. The tether collapsed the cliff in a torrent of rock and dirt, burying the trail in a flood of earth. Men screamed and died as tons of rocks made the trail completely impassable. The dust hadn’t even settled, but Lucian could still hear men approaching, clanging spears and shields in a blood frenzy. At least a few had slipped past the landslide and were mere meters away.

Fergus nodded. “We can take these.”

Lucian’s stomach seemed to do a flip. All of this was happening too fast. He had likely already killed with the rockslide, but now he might have to kill in person, and didn’t know if he’d be able to do it.

But there was no time to think about it or amp himself up. Fergus was already charging with a roar, with Cleon right behind. And Lucian couldn’t let them fight alone. As soon as he stepped out from the boulder, the air was choked with dust. Two bronze-clad soldiers charged from the grit-filled air, spears out and shields raised. Taking the lead, Fergus sidestepped the first while ramming his spear into the guts of the second. Cleon’s hands became wrapped in red light, and he streamed a small fireball at the first one. The soldiers raised his rounded bronze shield in time, eating the impact of the fireball with ease, even as three more advanced from the dust.

One broke free of the pack and charged right at Lucian. Still holding the Binding Aspect, he streamed a tether to the hoplite’s shield, pulling it toward the mountain side. Unknown to Lucian, the soldier’s arm was fastened to the shield, causing the entire man to fly up and away toward the mountain.

But despite seeing full well what had happened to him, the other soldiers charged forward, fanatical in their devotion and their eyes glowing with violet light. These men were possessed by a force outside themselves, for anyone else would have been fleeing by now. But Fergus and Cleon stood ready.

“Cover your eyes!” Fergus shouted.

Lucian did so without waiting for an explanation. Even closing and covering his eyes with his arms, a flash went off. He lowered his arm to see the three hoplites stumbling forward blindly. Fergus and Cleon dealt with what was left quite easily, making quick work of it. Lucian’s stomach churned a bit at the efficient butchery and was glad he didn’t have to do that dirty work.

“Let’s move,” Fergus said, after cleaning the blood from his spear. “If they have Binders or Psionics with them, they’ll be able to force a path through those rocks.”

They didn’t waste any time, running up the trail toward the tunnel. As soon as they had left the dust behind, a bend in the trail took them out of sight of the mages and their henchmen.

“Those are the Queen’s men?” Lucian asked.

“No doubt,” Cleon said. “And that purple-caped one I would recognize anywhere.”

“Who?”

“Mage-Lord Kiani. My former commander, and someone I swore to kill.”

“We’re not turning back,” Fergus said. “You’ll have to save your quarrel for another day. Lucian needs to stay alive. It’s him they’re after.”

Cleon gave no response to this, either because he had nothing to say, or they were getting quite winded running up the trail. When the tunnel entrance came in sight, Lucian couldn’t have felt more relieved.

“You’ll have to bury it,” Fergus said. “You have the ether for that?”

“He can’t,” Cleon said. “He must have overdrawn like crazy with that rockslide.”

Neither had a clear picture of how the Orb worked. “I can do it.”

Once they had gone a good distance up the tunnel, Lucian streamed the tether. Holding it, he ran with the rest of them up the stairs, releasing only when they had gained a good distance. It would not do to have the entire tunnel collapse on them, a possibility since magic could have unforeseen consequences.

With a thunderous boom, the entrance to the Greenrift collapsed, and the three men continued to run toward the Deeprift and freedom.

13

By the time Lucian, Cleon, and Fergus stood before the gates of Kiro, they collapsed such was their exhaustion. It wasn’t just the constant running uphill. It was the extreme fatigue from streaming more magic than he ever had in his life. Even if all that magic had come from the Orb of Binding, there seemed to be a mental limit he had surpassed.

He was in over his head, and he knew he was incredibly lucky to have not passed out or even outright killed himself. He needed more advanced training, but who in all the Worlds could teach him how to handle the insane amount of magic he had just streamed?

As uncomfortable as the thought was, his mind went to the Sorceress-Queen. The Sorceress-Queen, who was apparently sending her soldiers after him. How had they gotten into the Greenrift in the first place? If they were truly coming after him, and Dara was weeks or even months away, then how could the Queen have responded to his presence so quickly? It didn’t add up, but Lucian was too tired to reason out the possibilities.

“Inside, men,” Fergus said. “The Elders must hear of this!”

Despite these words, Lucian felt himself fading. His vision darkened, while sounds seemed to come from far away.