Chapter 35
Magical Garden
The Katana’s personal guard consisted of a dozen Monitors. When Colonel Zanta issued the alarm, the Monitors immediately put their security plan into action. They quickly removed the Katana from his personal quarters and escorted him through the corridors to the safest place within the Imperial Palace.
The Katana’s private garden was located in the center of the Imperial Palace complex, but it had only one entrance. It was designed to be defended by a small number of men while the rest of the Monitors were gathered from every corner of the structure to attack the invaders from the rear.
When the group arrived at the entrance to the garden, two Monitors opened the door and moved into the garden. Inside the door, they each went in a different direction around the perimeter and met at the far end of the garden. They then proceeded through the center of the garden and returned to the door. Only then was the Katana allowed to enter the garden. After the Katana passed through the door, the Monitors shut the door, locked it, and took up a defensive stance outside it. There they would remain until Colonel Zanta indicated that the threat was over.
The Katana walked deep into the garden. He held no appreciation for the flowers and pathways as previous Katana’s had. In fact, he looked at the garden as a prison and was impatient to be let out of it. Still, he understood the need to be protected. His task in Omunga was far from over, and he would not allow some fool assassin to shorten his work.
The garden had many stone benches along its winding paths, but only at the very rear was there a comfortable leather chair next to a small bookshelf. The Katana sighed with boredom as he slid into the chair and grabbed for a book from the shelf. He did not select the book by title or topic, but rather grabbed the closest one. His thoughts were on the difficulties the Omungan army was having with the Sakovans, and the book was merely a tool to clear his mind for a short while.
Across the length of the garden, on the wall with the entry door, there was a corner that featured a tall trellis covered with a broad-leaved vine. Anyone with a love of flora would have admired the golden flowers that populated the vine. They also would have wondered when the vine had been added to the garden, as it had not been there the night before. In fact, it was not there now. The vine and trellis were illusions.
Several moments after the Katana settled into the leather chair, the illusion wavered as Goral stepped through it. The Sakovan giant walked silently towards the entry door, his eyes focused on the Katana who was only occasionally visible through plants. When the giant reached the door he placed his hands on it and let his weight brace it so that it remained closed.
The Katana did not notice Goral moving at the other end of the room. His first hint of trouble was the shadow that fell across his book. His head snapped up to stare at two men standing before him. One of the intruders was obviously human, and the Katana’s memory held recognition of the person, although he could not immediately attach a name to the face. The other figure was bizarre. It appeared to be human, but it had the face of a lion with long whiskers protruding over a split lip and a long golden mane. He suddenly realized that he faced a Chula shaman. The Katana leaped to his feet, his arm rising menacingly towards the two figures, even as his feet propelled him backwards and away from the threat. The Katana’s first reaction was to kill, not to summon the help of his Monitors. Fire flew from his fingertips towards the two intruders. The fire impacted on a magical shield and winked out. The cat-like man twitched under the impact.
“Now, Temiker,” Ukaro said softly. “Make it quick. His power is strong.”
Temiker raised his hands and pointed at the Katana. Lightning streaked out of nowhere and slammed into the Katana’s shields. Tiny tendrils of lightning sparkled and spread across the surface of the shields protecting Omunga’s leader. Thunder pealed loudly as Temiker studied the outline of the Katana’s shields.
Outside the door of the garden the Monitors heard the thunder. They turned nervously and tried to open the door. It would not budge. The Monitors put their shoulders to the door, but it still would not open.
Temiker held the lightning spell on the Katana to outline the shields while he cast a spell of resonance. A fury of sounds assaulted the Katana’s shields even as the Omungan leader retaliated with a force bolt. The force bolt slammed into the shields that Ukaro had erected around Temiker and himself. The Chula’s shields shuddered as they absorbed the massive energy blast.
Temiker varied the pitch of his spell of resonance as he watched the Katana’s shields react to the different frequencies. When he found the proper pitch, he held it and let it work in conjunction with the lightning. The Katana’s shields were outlined for all to see, and they were shrinking as the sonic vibrations rattled them.
The Katana’s frustration showed as he realized that Ukaro must be holding a shield around Temiker, while Temiker did the attacking. His eyes narrowed as he sought a spell to defy the enemy’s protection. Suddenly, flames flashed from his fingertips again, but it was not directed towards Temiker. Instead it was aimed at Ukaro. He sighed and bit his lips as the flames bounced off and died. The shields were protecting both of the mages against him.
Temiker held both the lightning spell and the spell of resonance in one hand as he summoned a spell of winter wind. A cold column of air began circulating around the Katana. Snowflakes blew in a flurry as the surface of the Katana’s shields first turned white, and then blue as the freezing air pressed hard against the shrinking shields. Ice formed on the shields, even as the lightning sparkled and tried to melt it.
At the other end of the room, Goral put his weight against the door. He grunted from the effort as the Monitors started slamming some hard object into the door to break it down. Goral wanted to shout to the mages that he could not hold the door much longer, but he knew that Temiker was already working as fast as he could. No amount of urging would speed things up. The giant grunted and concentrated on holding back the Monitors.
The Katana raised his arms high over his head. He cast a spell to create a whirlwind, a tornado with enough strength to batter Ukaro’s shields. He knew that the spell might actually kill them all, but he was determined not to let the Sakovans win. Besides, he felt confident that the shields created for the Katana were stronger than anything that the Chula could devise. He grinned victoriously.
Temiker suddenly released all of his spells, dropping his arms and pointing his fists at the Katana. He felt the tremendous power within his body surge into his arms, his skin rippling towards his fists. A huge force bolt shot from Temiker’s combined fists. It slammed into the Katana’s shields, which instantly exploded in a spray of ice and snow.
The shock of the exploding shields rocked the Katana. He staggered backwards as his tornado veered out of control. The whirlwind weakened as it slammed into the stone wall surrounding the garden, throwing a spray of dirt and rocks high into the air.
Ukaro saw the Katana’s shields disintegrate. He immediately threw a freezing ball at the Omungan leader. It struck the Katana and instantly froze him. Temiker was shaking from the exertion of battle. He put his hands on his knees and exhaled loudly.
A loud crack reverberated through the room as the door that Goral was holding splintered. The Sakovan giant groaned loudly as he put all of his effort into holding the split door.
“The door,” Ukaro shouted. “Put a physical shield across the doorway.”
“I can’t,” Temiker shook his head as he stood erect and turned to stare at door. “It would kill Goral.”