Light ball

Lovisa shouted over the din, “Every night it has been like this, only now it’s worse. Before they sought only to burn our wagons. Now they have the camp itself under siege.”

Jodah ran for one of the walls, where a makeshift platform ran up along the side, allowing the Balduvians to fire back from protected positions. Carefully he showed his head over the edge. The trading post was surrounded by a wall of flame.

Jodah crouched back down and reached into his mind, summoning a spinning ball of mana. He looked up at the barbarian chief.

“What?” asked Lovisa.

“Pass the word,” said Jodah. “On the count of three, everyone closes their eyes.” He compressed the ball in his mind, forcing it hotter and whiter with each moment.

A few seconds later, he heard Lovisa say, “Done.”

Jodah started feeding more energy into the ball until it was almost unbearable to hold mentally. He felt his fingers tingle from the power that he pulled from the land.

“Count with me then,” said Jodah. “One!”

“Two!” shouted Lovisa with him.

“Three!” came a chorus of Balduvian voices around them. Jodah pointed upward, and the white energy, hot from the forges of his mind, spun in a silent spiral, exploding in a ball of light rivaling that of the sun.

Even with the warning, the flash was bright enough to shine through his closed lids, and he turned to one side, away from the blast. The light seemed to possess its own weight, a pressure that washed over him and the others as it detonated.

There were shouts of surprise and pain from outside the encampment, which warmed Jodah’s heart.

Quickly the Balduvians were back on the walls with their bows, firing at those opponents caught out in the open by the bright flash. There were shouts and screams now among the opponents, and the horns sounded a bleating retreat.

Jodah looked over the wall at the fleeing combatants, now dragging the bodies of their fallen comrades as they abandoned the field. In the dimming light, all he could see was that they were definitely Kjeldorans, with a few goblins and other races mixed in. There were more than Jodah had hoped but less than the darkness and sounds had insinuated.

On a far rise there was a rider, in full golden armor, with a great hawklike helm. The rider turned in the saddle, and the light of Jodah’s spell flickered out, leaving the enemy confused and routed in the dark.

For their own part, there were a few small fires in the encampment, and minor wounds among the defenders, but nothing serious. The spell had brought them a brief respite.

Lovisa slapped Jodah on the back as he re-entered the main building. Even Lothar beamed at him, though Jodah noticed the young man was still blinking back the effects of the brilliant light.

***

The Shattered Alliance, Chapter 9