Rising of a Mage: Book 03 - A Mage Risen by J. M. Fosberg Read Free Book Online Page A

bittersweet , though. Between them and the forest they saw Freeman, surrounded by goblins. Anwar looked down at the city that was a good mile from the hill they were on. There had to be half a hundred thousand goblins. He had never seen so many. He knew what was coming, but he didn’t want to hear it.
    “Anwar, we can’t just leave them,” Navaeh said.
    Anwar stared down at the situation. He knew it would delay them at least a day. Mariah might not have another day. “We can’t stop. There are too many anyway, and even if we could help it would delay us at least a day. Freeman is going to have to deal with this on their own. The plan was always to avoid the goblins.”
    The words were like vinegar coming out. They sounded hollow , and he hated himself the second he said them. How could he risk her life though? There was no choice that was acceptable.
    “Is that what Mariah would do? Is that what she would want? How do you plan to explain to her that we let thousands of people die so she could live? How do you expect her to live with that ?” It was Navaeh who was protesting.
    As much as Anwar didn’t want her to be, he knew she was right. How could he make that decision? How could he decide to put anything before her life? He stared down at the city. Freeman wasn’t as big a city as Ambar. It wasn’t even as big as Kampar. It had obviously grown a couple times , as there were three walls: each time the city had grown they had built a new wall around it. It would make for a better defense. You could kill hundreds, maybe even thousands, of the goblins in between those walls. Each wall would serve as another catching point were the goblins would bunch up, and arrows, pitch, fire, boulders, and anything else could be dropped down on them. Anwar estimated that there were around eighty thousand people in the city. That was just a guess, but he figured he was within ten thousand either direction. Even with that many people, at least half of them would be women and children. Most of the men wouldn’t be trained fighters. The walls would help, but eventually, with that many goblins, the attackers would make it through or over those walls. The city would be lost. All of those people would die. How could he make this decision? He knew what he needed to do. He knew what was right.
    A horn blew, and more echoed its call. From this distance he couldn’t see the hundreds of grappling hooks go over the wall, but he quickly saw the goblins going up them.
    Anwar used his magic to lift Mariah up onto the unused horse. He looked at Rundo. “Strap her in.”
    Navaeh stepped up to him. “Anwar! We can ’t just let this happen. How can you abandon all those people? We all love her, but there are thousands of people down there. Another day might not make a difference. We don’t even know if we can save her…”
    That was all he could hear. He turned and his face was inches from hers. He was staring into her eyes. “STOP! I am not leaving them. Rundo , get her strapped in. You and Rundo will take Mariah and the horses. You will keep them all safe. Grundel will come with me. When we finish off the goblins you can come back to the city. Now get mounted and go.” He saw the fear in her eyes. He saw the pain. He knew this wasn’t her fault, but why did he have to do this? It was too much.
    “How will we know when you want us to come back?” Rundo asked.
    “Remember the column of fire? If you don’t see one by nightfall then we are dead. Take Mariah into the forest.”
    Rundo nodded, climbed on top of Bumbo, and took the reins of Anwar’s and Mariah’s horses.
    Anwar watched as Navaeh mounted and took the reins of the other horses. He was watching them ride away and he felt bad about how he had treated Navaeh. She was the voice of reason. “Navaeh!”
    She turned. She was still afraid. He could see that. He couldn’t blame her. “Thanks.” She tilted her head down. He saw fear turn to pain in an instant. It would have been