Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26

“ F orward!” the Shield called out from his position on the front porch to oversee the entire battlefield.

Solomon sharpened his eyesight with a spell and cursed low.

“What do you see?” Andre asked.

“Firearms all over the place. Something on the roof looks suspicious. If we go on the field with those firearms?—”

“Not a problem. We can handle anything incendiary,” a young man said while he rushed toward the front of the group. He whistled and seven other mages gathered. “Vincent, climb up a tree and send out a bird. We need to know what’s out there on the field.”

One cocoa-skinned mage scrambled up the tallest Raven Yew. Then a small fiery bird flew away from the canopy and toward the building.

“Who are they?” Solomon asked Andre.

“Part of the RASI fire squad. Specialists in fire magic and against anything that’s incendiary,” Andre said.

“We can knock out all the firearms and incendiary items on the field. Sydney Pardey, arcane-fire mage,” Sydney said with a wicked grin. His bright multi-shaded auburn hair and golden eyes stood out. When he snapped his fingers, a bright flame covered his hand and danced along his fingers. The white flame tips revealed his arcane ability.

“Knock out the firearms?” Emrys asked.

“Thanks to the precise nature of our arcane magic, we can reach out and explode the black powder in the bullets or containers they have on their belts. Once a couple of them lose their hands or lives in the contained explosions, the rest usually drop their firearms and rely on another weapon or magic,” Sydney said. “Vincent has the ability to create fire birds and see through them for…”

“A bird’s eye view,” Emrys finished.

“You got it.”

Vincent scrambled down the tree. “Several snipers with firearms on the roof and covering all angles. Multiple small carts scattered around and all filled with bombs of different sizes. About half of the visible soldiers have a firearm. Long rifles or smaller handguns. Could be more inside the building,” he reported.

“Let’s knock them all out. Don’t want to take the chance of leaving anything nasty on the field. Let’s show them what we got,” Sydney said ordered, “pass on the message and coordinates to all the teams.”

Vincent tilted his head to send out the message.

“May we step forward a moment, captain?” Sydney asked Andre.

“Go ahead and do what you all do best,” Andre said. “Send the order around to all the teams.”

Sydney whistled out again.

Members of the fire squad stepped out of the tree line along with a few other agents. While multiple mages pulled yew bows and held them, other agents used a combination of magics to lift some fire mages higher.

“Light the arrows,” Sydney called. “Aim for snipers and carts.”

Brilliant fire arrows appeared in all the bows while the fire mages drew back the bow strings.

Higher up, the fire mages combined their magic into a larger weapon with fire arrows.

Sydney pulled back his own bow and created his fire arrow. He sighted down the arrow shaft. “Loose!”

The fire arrows shot into the sky. Many of them either increased in size or replicated themselves while in flight.

There were cries, screams, and explosions.

“Draw! Aim for groups of firearms,” Sydney shouted.

The mages lowered the fire mages, who fell in line with the others. They all drew back their bows with new arrows.

“Loose!”

Flying through the air and replicating, the arrows disappeared when they dropped toward the enemy. Then came the heavy concussive booms as piles of firearms exploded. There were screams when the firearm blew up in their hands or against their body.

“Vincent! Send a bird. Need to see what is happening through all that smoke and chaos,” Sydney ordered.

Vincent sent up another small fiery red bird and flew it toward the building. His eyes glowed red while he connected to the bird. Blinking, he nodded. “All carts destroyed. Snipers gone. Majority of firearms exploded. The rest are being tossed aside.”

“Back to swords and magic, everyone. Captain, on your orders,” Sydney said while the fire mages fell back in line.

“Appreciate the excellent work, Sydney,” Andre said and sent out a call for everyone to get ready.

“That was…” Solomon looked to Sydney. “Brilliant.”

“This is what we train for and we’re pleased to finally use our skills to the fullest,” Sydney said. “Call out for us if you need us again.” He went to stand with the rest of the fire mages.

Emrys rapped his knuckles against Solomon’s vest. “Don’t need this.”

“It still works against blades and most magic hits, so I’m keeping it on,” Solomon said.

Andre checked over their earlier preparations. “I should try to tell you to stay next to me?—”

“But that probably wouldn’t happen in the chaos. I’ll get through to the building. And stop this when I stop him,” Solomon said.

“I know you will.” Andre blew out a long breath.

“Kick it off.” Solomon grinned. “Captain.”

“Kind of like that title instead of agent.”