Attack of the Hydromancer

We stood on the city walls, wrapped in coats and hoods. Zeya, who had previously shied away from battle, was dressed in a gambeson. She threw all the coins off the walls, as she placed her hand on her sword.

“What was that for? And can’t you at least wear something metal? That cloth armour is going to get soaked”, grumbled Cassel.

“Shut up, Cassel!”, screamed Zeya with an authoritarian fury unlike any I had heard before. I trembled in fear.

“Y-yes ma’am,” replied Cassel.

She squinted her eyes as the riders in their blue hoods came closer to the city. There were only fifty of them, which made it obvious how Audra had been able to gather an army so quickly. There was practically nobody with her! As she got closer and closer, I noticed that an esteemed knight was riding next to her. The enemy army stopped their horses, and the knight took off his hood.

When I was at the volcano, I remembered a man who had wagered his life to become a noble at the expense of everyone else. He was too far away back then, and in the dark of the night, I didn’t know who he was. When I met him for the second time, I remember thinking I’d seen him, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

Cassel, upon seeing the knight, yelled in shock.

“Jovik! I… Why?”

Jovik shook his head. “Do you really think weapons that break down when they get wet could stop the Hydromancer? I knew it was doomed from the start… I don’t want to live my life as common filth! I don’t want to be a lowly commoner, labouring in the woods for scraps to eat! I saw a chance, and I took it!”

Tears began to drop from Cassel’s eyes. “But I mourned for you, Jovik! The traitor was Ichabod, not you! You… You were killed! You’re not Jovik!”

Jovik frowned, unable to look Cassel in the eyes. “I asked Audra to write that charter. Ichabod Swann was innocent.”

Cordelia went pale with guilt, realising what Zeya had meant by her conversation earlier, and began to tremble. I hugged her slightly, and saw Zeya step forwards.

“I always knew it was you, Jovik. I’m going to kill you and Audra today. Were you really cocky enough only to bring 50 soldiers?”

Audra looked up at Zeya, her face twisting into an amused expression. “My my, I never thought I’d see a mage on the side of the commoners. You call Jovik a traitor whilst you betray your own kind! How pathetic!”

I stared at Zeya, who suddenly felt the force of all the troops’s eyes on her.

Zeya spat on the ground. “I guess that makes two of us. Go to hell, Audra. I’m not giving up Cordelia or Seraphine.”

“Very well,” said Audra. “Prepare to die!”

Audra raised her arms.

“I pray to thee, Mount Ley: Bestow ice upon us!!”

“I pray to thee, Mount Ley: Renew your downpour!”

An enormous ball of ice began materialising above her. We aimed our guns at her and tried to fire, but the powder had been soaked through and through. Nothing was working. The guns and cannons wouldn’t fire, and arrows were simply glancing off her magical barrier.”

“Get inside the palace!” Zeya yelled. “We can’t hurt her!”

Having finally powered her dreadful spell, Audra swung her hands, and the enormous ball of ice hurtled towards the gate. It was so large and hit with such force that it created an enormous hole. Audra and her mages walked leisurely into the city, Jovik standing besides them.

Zeya rushed to take us further back, but some of the town troops tried to engage. Arrows flew into her, but simply bounced off the magical barriers. A shield wall of troops tried to create a buffer to give us time to escape.

“Stop right there!”, yelled the captain of the guard.

Audra raised her arms, and her mages did the same. The flooded water at their feet rose up to encase their bodies, and then turned into ice. The ice shattered, and the guards exploded into pieces.

“Don’t waste my time,” Audra scoffed, as she continued walking down the street. With every gesture, she shattered people alive, impaled them with icicles, or froze them where they stood.

Cordelia screamed as she saw the horrific massacre in front of her, and the utter impunity with which Audra killed everyone. Without gunpowder, not a single weapon could hurt her, and the Kassorans were defenceless.

“Jovik… You’re still loyal to me, aren’t you?” asked Audra.

“Yes, your Majesty!”

Audra smiled. “Then kill some of them.”

“They’re civilians, Your Majesty,” Jovik muttered, remembering the people he had grown up with. Despite enjoying his newfound power, looking at the people of Kassora as they pleaded for their lives made him feel ill.

“No they’re not. Remember when you told me the townsfolk formed a militia to fight off the Archmages? Just because they’ve decided to hide when their weapons stopped working doesn’t make them innocent.”

“I…” Jovik replied, realising he had no good rebuttal to make. This was the path he chose. He unsheathed his sword, and Audra smiled.

“Good boy.”

Jovik ran towards a cowering civilian, thrusting his sword into him. He made the very boots that Jovik used to wear on his hunts, and now he was dead.

Audra laughed. “Isn’t it so hypocritical how they take up arms when they feel strong, and now they want to pretend to be innocent? If they hated the rebellion, I would have offered them refuge in the capital. I even sent a letter to this town offering peace!”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Jovik replied. “You have been graceful.”

“Discovering that the weapons don’t work when they’re wet was a master stroke, Jovik. Look at their pathetic troops! You really are an excellent knight.”

Audra raised her arms, and flung enormous icicles into the faces of the remaining guards, wielding her immense power like it was nothing. As we began retreating into the palace, she followed us slowly.

“Hmph, it’s a bit drier in here,” Audra mumbled as she walked in the room. Suddenly, two arquebusiers fired from behind a curtain. They missed Audra, but one of the mages behind her fell to the ground. The mages hit back with icicles that impaled the arquebusiers, and Audra groaned.

“Jovik, lead the way and clear a path! A few of their muskets might not be totally soaked.”

“Yes, Your Majesty! They have a tunnel underground, we can’t let them escape!”

Zeya saw the scene unfold, and turned to me as we ran down the stairs into the underground segment of the palace. “Seraphine, show Cordelia and Cassel through the secret exit! We don’t have much time!”

We heard the footsteps get louder as they followed us. I remembered the brutal ways that Audra had massacred the people of Kassora, and a tear dripped from my eye realising that we would lose another one of our own.

“Zeya! You don’t stand a chance! You promised me you would survive.”

Zeya laughed heartily. “Don't you know? Us mages are all lying crooks!”

Audra’s troops followed us down into the tunnels. I grabbed Cordelia’s hand as I dashed towards the secret exit, looking behind me. Zeya stood alone, facing the entire enemy force. She unsheathed her sword.

“I pray to thee, Blitz: Grant me thunder!”

The magical knights shrank in terror, as they realised they were soaking wet, and decked in highly conductive metal armour.

A bolt of electricity shot from Zeya’s sword, and every single one of the mages began convulsing on the ground, stunned and shocked by the electricity.

I stared in utter disbelief, clueless that Zeya possessed such power. I mean, I guess she was a noble, but… I never considered this! And her power… what was she praying to?! Even Audra, who moments ago was cleaving through our soldiers, was now shaking and twitching on the floor.

“They’re too strong, I’m only stunning them!” Zeya yelled. “Light the fuse and get the hell out of here!”

Swallowing my tears, I lit a match, and set the fuse alight. I looked at Cassel and Cordelia, and wiped my eyes.

“Now… run!”

We sprinted as fast as we could out of the tunnels, gasping and panting. I had no idea how far they went on for, and I started to panic.

“Are we gonna make it?!” I panted.

“Look! There’s some light!” yelled Cassel.

I grabbed Cordelia’s hand more tightly, and exerted every bit of energy I had to make it to the end of the tunnel and out to the surface.

BOOM.

I was knocked to my feet by a terrible blast that flew from the tunnel exit as it collapsed behind us, and saw the palace in the distance explode violently. The glorious stonework collapsed into itself, pushing a cloud of dust into the sky, and shaking the earth violently.

The palace was gone, the town had been slaughtered, and we had nothing but the clothes on our backs.

But at least…

...the rain stopped.