The Last Mage (Under Revision)

Chapter 13

Cedric slowly opened his eyes. Sluggishly, he sat up and looked around at his surroundings. He was surrounded by stone walls, with the one to the left having a barred window, and the one in front of him having a wooden door, with a small window on it, which was presumably locked.
 He groaned as he felt a sharp pain in his head. He tried to remember how he got here, but the last thing he could remember was the King knocking him out. Cedric leaned against the wall and thought about what to do now. Hopefully Xavier would warn the King about the assassins and the castle guard would get prepared. He sighed. He knew Xavier better than that. As soon as he realized Cedric was gone, he would go looking for him first, not warn the King.
 Cedric stood up, ignoring the aches and pains, and looked out the window he had. It was pitch black outside, the moon being the only source of light. He still had tonight to escape and try to warn the King again. He looked at the door and smiled. It was wood, easy enough to burn through. He stuck out his hand and focused, but nothing happened. He quickly tried again but got the same result. Panicking, he tried a different spell and when that didn't work, another one.
 'My magic, what happened? Is it gone?' His thoughts were scattered and panicked.
 Desperately, he searched around for some kind of explanation. It was only when he looked up that he saw it.
 It was a strange marking that was shaped like the letter M, but through the middle of it was a long line. It glowed a faint blue and some kind of energy seemed to hum from it.
 'It must be some kind of rune blocking my magic.' He thought, relieved that he didn't actually lose any of his abilities.
 Still, with his magic not responding it was going to be a small problem to get out. Cedric eyed the door again and thought for a moment, before charging straight into it. It gave a slight shake but that was it. The young mage stumbled back, a little dazed, but then shook his head and snapped back to reality. Obviously, that wasn't going to work. He racked his brain, trying to think of a new plan.
 He must have been thinking hard for a while because before he knew it, he fell asleep.

 Cedric awoke to the sound of screaming and the smell of smoke filling the air. As he stood up, he saw knights racing to what he assumed was the armory.
 "What's going on out there?!" He shouted through the window in the door.
 Unsurprisingly no one stopped to answer his question. Cedric continued to shout and pound on the door, hoping for an answer but getting none.
 He stopped, but remembered the window in his wall. He ran over to it and immediately regretted it.
 Outside he saw a horrifying sight. Houses and trees were set ablaze, blood was flowing down the streets like a river and numerous bodies were scattered across the land. A figure in black rushed by, followed by two more, then three the four until Cedric lost count.
 He saw parents fleeing, hand in hand with their children. An assassin, laughing like a maniac, was hot on the trail of a family with a young daughter. The child looked behind her to see him raising his dagger. Her eyes grew wide and that was the last thing she saw before he slashed all of their throats. Their bodies fell to the ground and the girls eyes, still wide open, looked to be staring straight into Cedric's.
 The mage staggered backwards and was breathing heavily. He had to get out of this cell and go help. He rammed against the door again and continued to shout for someone to come and release him.
 "Stand back." Ordered a familiar voice.
 Cedric was startled, but quickly obliged. He told whoever was on the other side of the door to go ahead, and a few moments later he heard a smash and the door flew open.
 Standing there, a dark green cloak draped over his new steel armor and wielding a battle axe, was Max.

Apparently, Max had explained, it was quite easy to get inside the castle when all of the guards were outside fighting. He'd also heard that a young boy had apparently tried to assassinate the King. As soon as he'd heard that he knew that it was Cedric. So, he raced over to the castle, and well, that's where they are now.
 Cedric smirked, "I didn't figure you for a battle axe kind of guy."
 "Well I didn't peg you for a mage," Max retorted. "Now are we going to stand here talking, or are we going to go out and fight?"
 Cedric just nodded as Max tossed him his daggers he took back.
 "Alright, let's go." He said, a fire burning in his eyes.

Sor'real was in absolute chaos. Bodies were scattered on the ground, crimson blood stained the streets and a terrible stench filled the air. Guards were fighting against the assassins, but it was clear that they were outnumbered and still shocked from the sudden attack.
 An assassin jumped at the two, but Max swung his axe and cleaved him in two. Another one brought his blade down but Cedric deflected it with one of his daggers, and slit his throat with the other.
 "Cedric!" A voice called.
 He whirred around to see Xavier running to him.
 "Where did you go?!" He demanded furiously. "You weren't there when I woke this morning, so I went looking for you. I thought that I still had time to warn the King, but it seems that I was wrong."
 "It's a long story, I'll explain later. For now, we have to go find and protect the King."
 Cedric started to go on, but noticed that Max was eyeing Xavier.
 He pulled on the blacksmith's arm, "He's fine, Max. He's with me."
 Max grunted and followed Cedric, but kept a close eye on the assassins guild leader.
 The trio headed for the center of town, as they assumed that's where there would be a big enough space for a battle. Cedric looked at all of the bodies spread across the ground, and felt that same sickness again. He needed to put a stop to this before anymore innocent lives were lost.
 As they closed in to the center of the town, Cedric could see a group of assassins surrounding the guards.
 The guards were in a good position, their backs against one another, but there were just too many opponents. The assassins started closing in, weapons raised, ready to shed some blood.
 Xavier threw his knife at one and it buried itself in the back of the head of one of the assassins. The rest looked, confused as to why their leader just killed one of their  own but then rushed towards the three of them.
 Cedric crossed his blades and blocked an incoming sword strike. He pushed it back and slashed at the attackers chest. They stumbled back, which gave him an opportunity to drive one of his daggers into their neck. They dropped to the ground, laying in a pool of their own blood. Looking over he saw two opponents attacking Max, but he seemed to handle himself well enough. They tried to bring their blades down on him but he stepped out of the way and brought his axe down on their arms. Before they could even react he cut straight through their torso.
 Xavier was, unsurprisingly, tearing through every enemy in his path. Whenever someone got close he would either just block or deflect them and then he'd swiftly deliver their death. He didn't look happy about it though, as these were students and friends he raised and taught.
 Cedric was snapped back to reality as another enemy came at him with a mace. They swung it and Cedric rolled out of the way. He kicked out and hit them in the shin. They dropped to one knee and grasped their wound. Cedric stabbed but they dodged and and held their weapon back up. The mage skirted around and tried to slice at the assassins side, but they stepped out of the way and brought their mace down on his head. The only thing Cedric could do was summon ice over him to block the strike. The ice broke as the mace hit him, but it had lessened the impact and it left Cedric alive which was all that mattered. He thrust his hand up and after a moment, a spike of Earth shot up out of the ground and tore through the assassin.
 Tired and panting, Cedric sheathed his daggers and turned to Max and Xavier. They were all finished up with their opponents and were waiting on him to keep going.
 They continued but didn't get far when they saw it. Standing there was the fake Xavier, the shadow beast. He was towering over the King, who was on his knees, holding his blade high ready to spill blood.