Artemuse couldn’t leave her body without raising Draumir’s suspicions, nor could she ride away so he wouldn’t notice when she entered the astral plane. She needed a distraction.
A thundering crash filled the air, and Draumir’s face blanched as he watched the Statue Army wipe out a company of his dead soldiers. Those who still possessed legs clambered to their feet and lumbered towards the militia, only to be knocked flying again by a stone mace or axe. The militia changed their strategy and began hacking off limbs to prevent the dead soldiers striking fatal blows.
Draumir turned away from Artemuse and the Queen, and Artemuse seized her chance. Mirage galloped away from the battle, dodging the blades. Artemuse pulled her cloak around her and allowed the feathers to become skin, her arms to become wings, her eyes to see further than ever. She took flight from the saddle, leaving Mirage to head to safety, and concentrated on the peculiar feeling of dizziness she’d felt up at the Vaal’kyr roost, particularly the heavy pull in her stomach when she realised where she was.
She knew she’d reached the astral plane when her vision cleared. She climbed higher to get a better view of the battle, and circled above the necromancer. Frustration emanated from him in black waves as the militia hacked at his dead soldiers, and he urged other corpses to rise. From here, she could see how he did it – he simply slammed the souls back into the dead bodies, and made them move.
Artemuse dipped lower and began to weave a spell. It was elegant in its simplicity – a shroud of aether to block the necromancer’s commands. In her old life as a healer, she’d used the shrouds to ease the passage into death, allowing the dead to sleep quietly. Now she was essentially doing the same. If she could block the commands long enough, the souls would depart and the necromancer would have nothing to slam back into the bodies.
The aether shroud dropped over the necromancer, settling like a blanket of snow. He turned, and looked at her, his eyes burning through the emptiness of the astral plane.
“Silly little mage. Do you think you can defeat me on your own?”
Before Artemuse could reply, a shadow rippled along the ground below her. A familiar shadow.
“She isn’t on her own, necromancer.”
Artemuse looked up to see the Vaal’kyr, returning now that they had chased the wraiths away. Anger blazed in Kione’s eyes, and Artemuse shivered, glad that the Vaal’kyr were on her side, and not against her.
“Vaal’kyr…we thought you were mere myth.” The necromancer’s voice faltered, and the confidence drained out of his pose.
“You thought wrong.” Artemuse swooped down and tore off the necromancer’s helmet. Beneath was a swirling mass of grey cloud that coalesced to form a face, and two eyes glared out from the shadows. The necromancer reached up to grab at Artemuse, his fingers brushing her wing, but she wheeled to attack again. There was one spell she thought might work – the only spell she’d hated working as a healer. The spell of soul banishment.
The necromancer formed a ball of astral energy, and threw it at Artemuse. It bounced off the inside of the aether shroud and rebounded, catching the necromancer square in the gut. He doubled over and dropped to his knees. Artemuse knew he wouldn’t be stupid enough to try it again, and this was her chance.
Kione dropped lower, and caught the edge of the shroud with one claw. Artemuse chanted the words of the banishment spell, her beak struggling to fully form the syllables, but she powered it with enough intent to knock a cyclone flat. Kione tore back the shroud as Artemuse chanted the final word, and directed the spell at the necromancer.
The cloud that had been his face collapsed in upon itself, the light of his eyes flaring once before winking out. His body crumpled, and his clothes piled into a heap on the ground. Across the battlefield, the dead soldiers also fell, the bodies vacant once more as their souls departed.
“You did well, Lady Owl.”
Artemuse turned to Kione.
“Is it over?”
“It is now. With no forces, Draumir will be taken under arrest, and in all probability left to rot in a dungeon somewhere.”
“Will I see you again?”
“It is unlikely, little one, although if you do, I hope it is under more positive circumstances.” Kione smiled before she turned to join the Vaal’kyr, already heading back to their roost in Rhodenius.
Artemuse watched them leave before she sought out Mirage. On impulse, she whistled, and he trotted through the wounded soldiers and confused militia towards her. She balanced on his saddle as her feathers became a cloak, and her wings receded to arms. Mirage cantered towards the Queen.
The Statue Army had already left the field, lumbering away across the Plains towards the City. Artemuse couldn’t see Eddister anywhere, but Draumir knelt on the ground, manacles around his wrists and ankles, and the captain of the militia’s sword against his neck.
“That was impressive work, Arti…whatever it was that you did. Draumir here is going to be coming back to the city with us.” The Queen smiled at Draumir, but there was no warmth in her expression.
“For imprisonment?”
“To stand trial. I will not be the Monarch my husband was.” The Queen climbed up into Prado’s saddle, and the company made its way across the field.
The people of Rhodenius gave them a rousing reception as they returned to the city. Feasts had begun in every quarter, and the militia dispersed to enjoy the festivities. Artemuse was to accompany the Queen back to the castle, and she looked longingly at her tower.
Something told her she wouldn’t be seeing it again for a while.
THE END
sweet justice!
That first episode, great on its own, led to a wonderful, magical ride. Very nice.
Hooray for Arti! Alls well that ends well ^_^
A wonderful little wrap-up here. Artemuse is going to miss her home, but now she’ll have a new home and friends… and a heroine’s welcome, of course! I think the new Monarch will improve things a bit for the city as well.
I think the line “Silly little mage” was a bit over-confident for the necromancer, as he soon learnt.
Plenty of visual action to wrap all this up, Icy.
A nicely wrapped-up package, Icy. I enjoyed the story from the first installment to this last one. Thank you for sharing this story. I thought the soul banishment spell was a nice touch as well. I guess the necromancer will not be bothering anyone in the near or far future.
Now surely with a last line like that it’s not really the end, is it? The trinity of the Queen, Eddister, and (not least!) Artemuse would be a formidable one.
It was a satisfying end in itself, though. Any plans to expand it?