Call to War by Adam Blade

“I want to hear our fearless leader say it. We’re not going to let them run away this time. We’re going to get the pieces of the mask back and end it here.”
    Their Beasts were watching at holes in the tower wall, listening and sniffing at the rain. Tanner heard the beating of Varlot’s hooves coming up the mountain, and heard General Gor shouting “Move! Toward the castle!”
    It was time for them to get into position.
    â€œCome on,” Tanner said. He led the way toward the crumbling outer wall, keeping his body low. The others followed and knelt beside him. Peering through cracks between the stones, they could see the soldiers’ approach. Some of them rode varkules, their striped fur glistening as jaws snapped at the air, hungry for blood.
    Gwen tested the wall, leaning a shoulder against some of the stones. They didn’t shift.
    â€œAre you sure about this, Tanner?” she asked. “These walls have been here for hundreds of years, even if they are dilapidated. They were built to last.”
    Tanner felt a prickle of doubt. He shoved the point of his blade between two of the rocks and twisted, but neither of them gave. And all the time, the army was drawing closer.
    â€œOh, great,” Castor said. “We’re separated from our Beasts and stuck behind a wall that won’t move. Just great. Why don’t we throw our weapons down and step out to greet Gor and his men? Tear open our tunics and show them where to aim their blades?” He shook his head in disgust.
    â€œI can use my magic,” Rufus said quietly. Already, the palms of his hands glowed in anticipation.
    â€œI’m not sure,” Tanner said. There was something about Rufus’s tricks that made Tanner feel uneasy, and the way he’d looked at Tanner when he’d worn the mask. This wizard boy felt like someone he needed to be careful around.
    There was a shout from below and Gor rushed up a hill, his varkule covered in mud. Through the driving rain, Tanner saw Gor’s dragon helmet raised off his face: discolored brown skin covered the right half of Gor’s face, up and around his jaw. A horn curled from one of the temples, ending in a barbed hook. The mask. General Gor was wearing the other two pieces of the Mask of Death!
    The mask will make him stronger , Tanner thought. Does he feel what I did? Did Gor get that same rush of bloodlust? Did the world come sharply into focus for him, too, when he donned the mask? If so, Tanner knew he would be fighting a man who would stop at nothing.
    Unless he crushed Gor to death now….
    â€œDo it,” he said to Rufus. “Do whatever you must.”
    Instantly, the boy leaped to his feet, his blue tunic snapping in the vicious wind. Soldiers cried out and arrows pierced the air, landing around Tanner and the others.
    â€œWhat’s the little fool trying to do?” Castor whispered as an arrow punctured the grass beside him.
    Rufus extended his hands and held his arms above his head. A shimmering ball of blue light rose up above him. Then, with a cry of fury, he sent the ball shooting down into the men below. Arcs of light darted off the ball, exploding into the wall. Gwen scrambled back, pulling at Tanner and Castor.
    â€œGet out of the way!” she cried, understanding what was happening.
    The wall smashed into razor-sharp splinters of rock that shot out across the landscape. Men ducked and cried out as the shards of stone rained down on them, while the shimmering ball of magic rolled between groups cowering behind raised shields. There were cries of agony as Rufus’s ball of magic set fire to their tunics or turned their armor glowing red with heat.
    Rufus sank down to the ground beside them, his shoulders drooping but his gaze watching the chaos below.
    â€œThat’s everything I can do,” he said, sounding drained.
    â€œIt’s enough,” said Tanner, getting to his feet. It had caused all the