Free The Sorcerer's Destiny (The Sorcerer's Path) by Brock Deskins

before striking. Are you all right?”
    Raijaun nodded. “I was not quite ready to expend so much energy so soon, but I am well. What of Sandy?”
    Azerick looked to her and forced his eyes to staunch the tears welling up. “She is stunned and will remain so until I wake her. At least I hope so.”
    “Can you help her?”
    Azerick thought for a full minute before answering. “I think so. Can you transport her to the laboratory?” Raijaun nodded. “I will need you to check the barrier while I am gone.”
    “Where are you going? Why now?”
    “Jarvin needs a stick with which to beat his lords into submission.”
    “How long will you be?”
    “Not nearly as long as I had first anticipated. This changes many things, my patience for stupidity paramount among them. Get Sandy to lab and check the barrier. If the Scions have indeed broken through, you know what to do.”
    “Yes, Father.”
    Azerick sliced the air with his magic, opening a portal to bisect time and space. Stepping through, he appeared just before the east gates allowing admittance to the merchant district. Two wizards from his school appeared from inside a small guardhouse built to watch over the gates when their magical use was required. At least a dozen armored men stood watch and controlled the gates for their more mundane usage.
    “Prepare the gate,” Azerick ordered as he strode toward them.
    The two wizards exchanged glances over Azerick’s unusually abrupt command but hastened to obey. The man and woman laid their hands upon the two pillars framing the wide gates and began channeling power into them. The guards ordered everyone approaching to stay clear as the wizards worked their magic. The guards needed little in the way of prodding as the runes inscribed upon the tall monoliths began to glow with eldritch light. Within moments, a shimmering screen stretched between the two columns before resolving itself into the landscape of Brelland’s primary gate.
    Three mages stood prepared on Brelland’s side, alerted of the gate’s activation by the obelisks at their end. Scores of ordinary citizens were quickly moving away from the gate while others stepped a short distance away and gawked. Azerick stepped through the portal without hesitation but paused on the distant end as vertigo washed over him. He sympathized with the ordinary humans for the effect traveling through the gate would have on them if even he felt such a strong sense of disorientation. He brushed aside his dizziness as well as his pity. He had no time for either of them.
    Azerick appreciated the obvious militarization of the city. Barricades, racks of weapons, and cisterns of water were visible even this near the gates. Soldiers and conscripts marched through the streets, keeping them clear of anyone not gainfully employed. He was certain those preparations grew even greater the closer one got to the city’s center where three more magical gates stood to evacuate the city when it too came under siege. However, he did not have the time to spare to inspect them. Tearing open another portal, Azerick stepped to the inner gates leading to Castle Stonemount.
    Despite having been warned of his impending arrival, the score of guards watching over the castle gate jumped and fumbled for weapons when he appeared. The men regained their composure and opened the walkthrough gate so the sorcerer could pass without further challenge. The officer of the guard saluted as Azerick approached.
    “I need you to send a runner to the castle and inform the seneschal or His Highness directly of my arrival. I hope the council has already gathered, but if they haven’t, it is in their best interest to make haste. I have very little time to dally about.”
    “Yes, milord!” the guard officer responded crisply.
    The man shouted for a courier, and a boy of no more than fourteen years, wearing a too-big set of light armor with a short sword belted around his waist ran up. The gate officer relayed Azerick’s