Free Star Mage (Book 5) by John Forrester Page B

Ghaelstrom crystal and focused on the Jiserian sorcerer who had turned to face the revolutionaries running from an explosion of flames. The noxious cord of poison jettisoned from Nikulo’s palm and tore through the air towards the flying sorcerer. Behind a burning, overturned wagon, Yarin released a triumphant shout as the shrieking sorcerer’s skin erupted into blistering pustules and the Jiserian plummeted to the ground in a wet, bloody thud.
    One enemy down , Nikulo told himself, and gave Yarin a victorious salute. The slaves and the caravan pulled hesitantly up to where Nikulo and Yarin’s group were reforming. Nikulo noticed that several of Yarin’s squad of bedraggled soldiers were missing, and one glance at the spot where they had tried to shield themselves from the sorcerer showed him the blackened bodies of the slain citizens. His plan had cost the lives of several innocent people. But he was surprised to find that more were not dead.
    After the first attack, the other three squads were supposed to execute a series of assaults against known points of Jiserian control in the center of the city. But the experience with the flying sorcerer had taught him that the citizens were ineffective other than playing a role as bait. Nikulo decided it was far better for them to get roasted by Jiserian fireballs, and avoid getting burned himself.
    “Young master Nikulo, I hope your plan works smoother next time. Several of my comrades were slain.” Yarin bore a pained expression on his face as he looked at the burned bodies.
    “Tell them to hide behind something stronger next time.” Nikulo strained his eyes to study the sky above a far temple. Was that another sorcerer who’d spotted their soldiers in the far group? “We need to hurry, I think we’ve roused more Jiserians. Callith, keep the caravan and the slaves here until I return. I don’t think you’ll survive a fireball blast. Watch the skies for my signal, a single shot of flame soaring towards the clouds, and only come to the docks then. Otherwise I might be dead, in which case you’ll be wise to turn and trek back to Naru, or flee up north.”
    They charged ahead through the terrorized streets, past government buildings and ruined palaces and destroyed temples, until they reached a grand plaza where unnatural storm clouds slowly blotted out the sun. Necromancers fight under the protection of darkness , he thought, remembering the words of Master Viridian. Nikulo wondered if he knew enough spells of elemental magic to aid him? He could summon light, but that would just mark him as a target. It’s quite possible , thought Nikulo, that the Jiserians are hoping for me to act as foolish as those feeble-minded citizens of Ursula . He wasn’t intending to meet their minuscule expectations.
    From the four fringes of the plaza, the thick air released hundreds of small, shining shots that illuminated the broken landscape and caused Nikulo and the others to seek the darkness behind damaged trees and abandoned vendor stalls and cracked statues of the gods. There was silence as the shots ceased and the shimmering globs of burning pitch cast eerie, twisting shadows across the plaza. So much for dividing their enemy. If they moved, they’d likely be zapped by lightning strikes. Nikulo grinned to himself. But if he sent the undead out into the plaza…
    He pressed fingers to his temple and commanded an undead man with a desiccated body to run out towards a mass of burning pitch, and readied a spell to strike out at a sorcerer. There was a pause as the undead man stumbled about in the ruined plaza, his foaming mouth confused and stupid, and his arms swayed around like branches under a rising gale. Nikulo waited for some secret verdict to unleash its wrath.
    It did not come. And as the undead man stood stupidly in a shambling dance, the sky slowly cleared and the burning pitch waned to smoke and ash and coldness. Confused, Nikulo studied the air from the protection of a tree