Balancer (Advent Mage Cycle) by Honor Raconteur

made tears of joy spring to his eyes.
    Fortifications.
    All around the manor there were walls, hastily constructed out of rough-hewn planks of wood. They had been arranged in two levels, although it looked like only the first had been completed. The second had odd gaps here and there, so Shad assumed that they’d run out of time to complete the second wall. He couldn’t see everything, but along with the walls blocking their way, archers stood on the rooftop, just waiting for them to step out from the canopy of trees and into full view.
    Audax came to stand at his side. For a long moment he didn’t say a word, just looked, and then he looked at the captain who was bouncing on his toes in delight. “Well, it seems that your wish has been granted. You have your traps.”
    “They did well, too, considering how little time they had,” Shad praised with an exuberant nod of the head. “See the walls? Those would slow us down quite a bit, as it would take some time to scale them. The archers could pick us off easily. And the second level of the wall would slow us down too, even with those gaps, because we’d have to maneuver in between the sections to get to the open areas. And I’d bet that in between the walls are more caltrops or something similar. Ha! Oh, and look, look! There’s boiling pots up there in the upper windows near the roof. Is it boiling oil or water? I wish I could tell from here.”
    Audax regarded him through narrowed eyes. “This all looks familiar to you, doesn’t it?”
    “Of course!” Shad responded in surprise, turning to look up at him. “Siege warfare was common in my time. Are you saying that you haven’t had any wars during your lifetime?”
    “We haven’t had any wars since the Magic War ended,” Audax corrected patiently.
    “Huh.” Shad turned to regard the fortifications with a new eye. “In that case, someone over there has certainly done their homework. But, sadly for them, I know the weaknesses for all of those defenses and I brought along some pretty amazing firepower.” Shad gave another brisk rub of the hands in sheer anticipation. “Alright my Wizards and lovely Witch, here’s the plan. I’m going to run straight for the first wall. When I do, I should draw the attention of every archer on that rooftop. That’s your chance to take them down.”
    Tyvendor raised a hand. “Might I point out that I can go up there myself and deal with them without you running headlong into danger?”
    Oh. Good point. Shad thought that through for a moment before pouting. Dang it, no fun for him. He nodded permission to Tyvendor. “Alright, go. The rest of us will breach the front door. Bornemeier, how are you doing at finding the renegades?”
    “This is quite the gathering for them,” the young Wizard responded with a silent whistle. “I count twenty-five.”
    “And do we have a map of the interior of the house?” Shad inquired.
    “Not yet,” Loewen denied with an irritated shake of the head. “The tracer spell just barely finished the grounds. I need more time to do the house.”
    “In that case, we’ll do it the fun way.” Shad turned and pointed to the soldiers waiting patiently. “Pair off with a magician. They’ll deal with the traps and whatever Priests you find, but you deal with the weapons. Clear?”
    “Yes, sir!” they acknowledged in unison.
    “Alright. Bornemeier, stay with me. I want to keep track of who’s where. That’s your job.” Shad fixed a beady eye on the prince. “You stay with me too. If I bust through that door and find the Dom screeching legalities, I don’t want to argue with him.”
    Audax gave him a mock salute. The tension seemed to be sinking in at this point, as his eyes were razor sharp and he had a feral look to him. Shad had seen that expression often enough to recognize it. Excellent. Any man that went in cold blooded to a fight wasn’t a man that Shad wanted at his side.
    “Alright, someone carve me a path through that wall.”