Disciple of War Disciple of War (Art of the Adept #4) - Michael G. Manning Page 0,213

finally arrived. They weren’t as numerous as the main assault group had been, but they made up for it in size; most of the new demons were the size of cattle and they had obviously been chosen for their longer legs and speed.

Looking to the west, he saw a more numerous force approaching from that direction. They had farther to travel and were composed of a more chaotic mix of sizes and types. It looked as though they would arrive several minutes after the eastern group, and Will wondered if he had made the correct decision. It might be better to have Janice and the ritualists attack the western group. The trolls would probably handle the big ones more easily, he thought.

But it was too late for that. The tactical ritual required time to set up, and the focal point for it had already been decided. Changing it now would be impossible. Judging by the turyn swirling above their heads, Will guessed that the ritual would only have a quarter of its previous power.

He hoped it would be enough.

Returning his attention to the battle raging closest to him, Will saw that yet another oversized demon had broken through the line. Without thinking, he sent a volley of five light-darts burning into the monster. Several spears struck it from the side and two firebolts burned into the demon’s head before it finally fell.

It was a few seconds later when he realized he hadn’t taken the time to construct the spell, nor had he had it prepared it. He had reflex cast the light-darts spell. A grin split Will’s features. Well, it’s about damn time, he thought joyfully.

If they were to win, he had to be at his best for the final battle, but Will couldn’t help assisting the soldiers under his command. Pacing himself, he sent volleys of light-darts into demons who broke through, and thanks to his relentless practice, he rarely missed targets that were within two hundred yards. Naturally, it helped that most of those that broke through were pretty big, but he still felt good about his aim.

Since he was watching the battle in front of him, Will was taken by surprise when Janice’s ritualists released their latest assault against the eastern flankers. A flash of light swept the field, followed almost instantly by a thunderous crack that signified the death of hundreds of demons.

Turning to his left, Will saw that more than half of the large demons on that side had collapsed and weren’t likely to rise, but the rest were still coming forward, although their movements were more erratic now. The sorcerers tasked with that side put their force-walls up according to plan, but the end result was much less effective.

The tactic had been meant for more human-sized opponents. The force-walls blocked many of the large demons farther back, but the small number that were within were still powerful enough to shatter the shield wall. Spears and spells slammed into them, but often too late, as their heavy clubs swept soldiers aside like dolls. The first attackers died, but by then their fellows had made it through the gaps in the force-shields.

If anything, the forced spacing caused by the barriers helped keep the demons from getting in each other’s way or hitting their fellows with their long, heavy weapons.

The shield wall was in tatters, and the central portion collapsed entirely. A wedge of demons forced themselves through and headed directly for their main target, the exhausted sorcerers who had slain so many of them just moments before. Will sent light-darts into them as quickly as he could, but there were too many for him to stop. The soldiers and sorcerers on either side did their best, but they followed their training and focused on restoring order in their own sections.

The middle was open, and the demons were now shifting to focus their efforts there. Will looked for Selene and the trolls, but he saw that they had already moved to the eastern side in preparation for the other wave of demons. They had no way to reach the western side in time to stop the formation from disintegrating.

The first demon to reach the sorcerers in the center was a four-legged monstrosity that had snatched up a soldier and was using the already-dead body to batter any and all in its path out of the way. It struck down the final defender and reached the helpless sorcerers.

Most of them had pulled back, but one had moved forward—Janice.