Then the horn sounded. It was still dark out and the volunteers looked around in shock.

  “Assassin, he attacked us right before the enemy out there would’ve. Remove the dead bodies and get to your posts, now.”

  If it’d worked, it would have caused panic on the walls, when they discovered mid-battle the volunteers weren’t taking the wounded, and there was no one to heal them. The volunteers fled the room, as did Saria to take the walls and command of her elves. I suppressed the fear that fact brought me, I’d fallen hard for my sexy warrior mate, and I’d have to deal with the fact she’d be in danger at times.

  I reached out through the bond to the grass and activated the twenty-four traps with a thought.

  The first five seconds nothing really happened. I knew out in the field the two thousand men would be drawn to one of those traps, except for the few lucky ones to be standing exactly between two of them equidistantly.

  About seven seconds in, the mages must have figured out something was going on, I imagined the men were in somewhat of a panic. Regardless, six of my traps just died. Perhaps the mages dispelled them, or dispersed the magic, or simply destroyed the source of the flowing magic they felt.

  At nine seconds, I could hear the wind funnels over three hundred yards away, from inside the inn. The wind was screaming. Also, six more traps disappeared from my senses through the bond to the field. There were also the sounds of explosions, they stopped the grass from fully forming the effects, but all that heat and magic was released. I’d hear it described later as six giant fireballs. I’d also find out later that the first six had exploded as well, just not loudly enough to reach us here at the inn.

  At ten seconds, there were six more loud explosions. I imagined there was screaming as well, but we couldn’t hear it over the deafening noise of twelve large twisters filled with flames. Saria would tell me later, that they were thirty feet wide, and reached up hundreds of feet into the air. Twelve deadly columns of swirling burning flames that attracted, and sucked up and killed, just over a thousand soldiers and two of the mages.

  We’d still have to fight, we were still outnumbered by about two to one odds, both in soldiers and in mages. But our mages were elves, and better, and thirty percent of the human forces had magical war abilities now. Plus, Karana and Desirae had returned with forty more elves with strong war abilities.

  Even that might have not been enough to win, except they had me too, to heal the wounded and return them to the walls in short order. Between those three advantages, and the fact we were the defenders in a city under siege, we had more than an even chance to win our freedom.

  The only thing left to find out, was how high the cost would be. It was also something I had to force out of my mind. I was the healer, the physician, the doctor, I had to concentrate on that.

  The next six hours were hellish. After the first trickle of wounded, it quickly became a steady stream that I was hard pressed to keep up with. I had to push my compassion down ruthlessly, and I examined the bodies intellectually as they came in with crushed bones, missing limbs, horrible burns, and other slightly less horrifying injuries.

  Once again it got to the point where I had to trust in the magic, it seemed to anticipate my needs and desires, and how I would choose to heal people just based on my intent. Do what was necessary to restore full health, and no more than that.

  I was mentally exhausted toward the end of it, and it was harder to focus. It was also harder to push down my fear and worry for those I loved and cared about.

  Saria, Karana, Desirae, Krenum, Jaren, and Tam, all the people I was closest to save Regina were fighting on the walls outside. None of them entered my domain over those six hours, but neither had any dead bodies, so I knew that was no guarantee they still lived. Only Saria I could be sure of, I could feel my mate bond with her steady and strong in the back of my mind, but at the same time I dreaded the moment it might be snuffed out.

  The wounded slowed to a trickle the last few minutes, and then I heard the horn sound the retreat for the enemy. Ten minutes later, I saw the last of the wounded healed, and shut my eyes.

  Regina asked, “You okay?”

  I blew out a breath, “How many?”

  Regina answered, “Four hundred and twelve, several of them the same person more than once. Over three hundred of them would have died without your healing, half the rest would have been crippled for life.”

  I laughed a little hysterically.

  “I guess I earned that ten gold piece bonus?”

  Regina snickered, “Damn right.”

  My head snapped to the door as Saria walked in, and she plopped down into my lap. She was covered in sweat, dirt, and blood, but I didn’t care. I kissed her gently, but mostly chastely.

  “Everyone okay?”

  Stupid question.

  Saria said, “My sister and the council are fine, as are the guards you know best, except for Krenum. He died protecting Karana from a particularly nasty attack.”

  I felt my stomach drop, and my eyes moistened. I’d liked Krenum. The mental and emotional exhaustion also had my guard down, and I felt close to falling apart. Using magic for six hours was impossibly grueling.

  “How many?” I asked, my voice choked up.

  She replied, “Eighty-nine dead, it would have been all of us if you weren’t here. Sixty-two of those were humans without war abilities, nine other humans, eight light elves, and ten dark elves including Krenum.”

  I nodded, knowing she didn’t just mean my healing, although that might be true in and of itself. My grass minefield killed half of them before they even attacked.

  “Let’s go sleep, can you get away?”

  She nuzzled my neck, “Yes, I’m here for you love. We can leave the cleanup to the others. The memorial will be tomorrow afternoon, after council, we won’t be needed today.”

  I nodded, it was still early morning, just before noon. I didn’t move for a while, content for a moment with one mate in my lap, and the other pressed against my side. Then we got up, returned to the suite, and got ourselves cleaned up.

  There was relief my loved ones were safe, and guilt at feeling the relief because of the deaths. Only Krenum’s death truly hit me hard.

  We also made love gently and slowly, in a life affirming and loving way, before we dropped off to sleep. We all wanted to feel alive, and cherished, after what we’d gone through.

  Epilogue

  The next few days passed without all that much changing, but there were a few things of note. The elves were staying to set up their store, and also to await word of what happened out west. We probably wouldn’t know for a couple of weeks, if Sera’s invasion was a success, and if her kingdom would span all human held land on this continent. Until we learned of the king’s death, things were still up in the air.

  The day after the battle was hardest, as we said goodbye to those that had died, and thanked them for their sacrifice. Yes, things were still up in the air, but even should the worst occur it would be a long time before the king could send anymore forces. We’d be free of death and battle for quite a while, perhaps years.

  I was also fired, sort of.

  Jeran gave me the ten gold, and the last week’s pay of a gold, and we renegotiated a fee for healing. Now that the war was suspected to be over, they’d just pay me a silver for every person I healed. Accidents during training would amount to much less than that gold a week, but between that and the people in the city, I’d be making enough coin to support the family and then some.

  The ten gold would also easily cover the rest of the cost of furnishing the house, for most that was years of wages. Of course, we were allowed to stay in the suite until it was finished, probably courtesy of Saria being on the council and she deserved the suite. I wouldn’t lay good odds on Jeran allowing me to stay otherwise.

  Over those few days, Desirae stopped by at least once a day, and seemed to be opening up to Regina and I, though her more than me. I didn’t take offense by that, I was a man and my new sister needed time.

  Karana continued to ignore me, and nothing changed there. Regina did tell me that Karana gave me a few looks of longing when I wasn’t paying attention, much like I was probably giving her when she wasn't, but I wasn’t holding out hope for a change of heart like I’d gotten from Saria. Sometimes life just sucked, and things didn’t work out. I’d get over it in time, and it would be easier when she’d left.

  Outside of that, my life was pretty damned good. We had the manor being built, and would move in about a month. All three of us had full lives, both career and personal, and so far it seemed well balanced.

  I wasn’t sure what the future on this new world would bring. We worried about there being more assassins, and if Sera failed, or even if she succeeded, what were her intentions toward me? I wasn’t sure being noticed by the most powerful and ruthless human mage on the planet was a good thing, not to mention the queen of a kingdom over two thousand miles across.

  I’d just live my life, and I’d take it as it comes. As long as I had Regina and Saria, it would be a good one…

  Afterword:

  I hope you enjoyed the story. This was the second book in the dark sculptor series. I expect the series will be four books. The main storyline is plotted out, but it’s still kind of a work in progress in my mind.

  If you can, please take the time to leave a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads.

  About the Author: If you have any comments or suggestions you can send me an email at magicwrtr@gmail.com. I started out posting short stories online and at readers’ requests started to publish them. If you like my work, or even if you don’t, please consider leaving a review of this book.

  Other erotic fantasies by D. R. Rosier:

  Cirenthian Chronicles – Book one is Out of Darkness.

  Marcus, an ancient vampire, finds himself moved to another world where suddenly he is alive again, and magic is a known and powerful danger. No longer a vampire and dealing with emotions he hasn’t felt in over a millennium, will he be able to start a new life? This series is now complete.

  Necromancer Chronicles – Book one is The Necromancer.

  Vincent is a necromancer and has an even darker secret. Feared by the rest of the supernatural community he lives on his own, often struggling with his powers, and how to use them. But change is coming, and he will soon find himself dragged into the middle of a suspicious and untrusting community.

  Anise is a sorceress, but she has secrets of her own. She is an ancient being, who has walked the earth for time immemorial. She lives in a never ending cycle of life, forever watching those she dares to care about age and die. But she is about to find something new that will offer her hope, if she can live long enough to find it.

  Cytherean Chronicles – Book one is Flame of Cytherea.

  This two book series follows the chosen champion of a goddess, brought to her world and healed after he was mortally wounded on Earth. At first Justin is a little lost, not knowing anything about the world he finds himself in or even why he is there.

  Ashley’s Tale – This two book series follows the tale of a woman with unique parentage in a world greatly different from our own Earth. It is twenty-five years in the future, and the supernatural have long since been exposed. Ashley must struggle with her conflicting nature to find a balance, and her hidden power, as she is taken unwillingly into an extraordinary destiny.

  Ashley’s Daughters – This three book trilogy is about Ashley’s three daughters. It’s about a new world of dragons, and a second new world of human mages and all the fallout involved. Of course, it’s also about them finding love, and their place in the worlds. It starts about twenty-eight years after the end of Ashley’s tale.

  Sentient – This is the standalone book following an artificial intelligence from an advanced race, a man who comes back from war a little broken, along with diverse others as the Earth itself is put into danger as they are dragged into an interstellar war against their will.

  Sentient: Evolution – This is a sequel to the stand alone book Sentient. It takes place a thousand years later, when Aide finds herself alone and broken, yet still following her programming. Others join her as a new menace approaches, one that makes the Sthellan look like a great neighbor in comparison.

  Will Aide be able to recover and rise to a new challenge? She’s been alive too long, she must either evolve, or wither away, if only she could bring herself to care…

  More books and series can be found on my author’s page at amazon.com/author/drrosier

  The Dragon Slayer and the… This is a series of novelettes in a unique world, each story will be different characters with HEA endings. These will be about eighty pages long and priced appropriately. The first book, The Dragon Slayer and the Princess, is now available:

  Sir Lance Spears, Baron, knight dragon hunter, has been hunting dragons for ten years. It’s what he’s dedicated his life too, eradicating the dragons that destroy human villages and see humans as prey.

  He’s also been alone for ten years, and tired of the women of the peerage that see nothing of him, only of his titles and money. Not to mention, they all play the courtly game and faint at his feet. That’s not what he wants. He wants a challenging intelligent woman who will help make life interesting.

  He should have been more careful about what he wished for, as his life is about to become very complicated as nothing seems to make sense about his next dragon hunt. It doesn’t fit in his world view as he enters a neighboring kingdom to help slay a dragon. He’s not sure what’s going on, and he also can’t get a certain princess with fiery eyes and attitude out of his head either. He better figure it out though, or he could lose everything… including his life.

  Return of Magic - This epic fantasy series follows Katie Merlin’s successor, and diverse others as magic reemerges in our world in response to a dire threat. The government is in tatters, technology stops working, and most of the world’s population is dead. A new era for mankind has started, and they must share it with other races, such as elves and dragons.

  Melody Smith Novels – This is an urban fantasy that follows Melody Smith, a siren with hidden depths.

  Melody Smith is a siren. It isn’t an easy life, most of the people around her are affected by her mere presence, and she has very few true friends in her life. Her love life is a disaster, and her boss and guardian, Brent, has been keeping secrets.

  She’s about to find out she can become more than she ever would have guessed, if she can survive.

  Shawn Moore Novels – This trilogy is an urban fantasy that follows a warlock named Shawn Moore

  Shawn is a young man down on his luck, living in the streets. He isn’t lazy, it’s just for some reason people don’t like to be around him, and even fear him to a certain extent. They’d always had.

  His life is about to change though, as a man named Ben tells him he had an uncle, an uncle that died and left him an estate. He isn’t sure he buys it, and has no idea he’ll soon be fighting for his very life.

  Not to mention, fighting for his soul.

  Ted Stedman Novels – This series is a mashup of litrpg, sci-fi, and other things. The first title in this series is Ted Online:

  Ted Stedman had a pretty good life so far. He’s forty-three years old, and still in good shape when something at work happens to put him in wheelchair. He finds his life is over, or at least the one he’d always known. That is, until a research doctor at his own company walks into his hospital room, and offers him a deal that seems too good to be true.

  Join Ted as he enters a fully immersive online world, and finds that everything isn’t quite how he imagined it to be. He’ll have his new virtual life, access to the real world, and a game world to explore as well. As if three worlds to keep straight wasn’t complicated enough, he has even more surprises coming his way.

  Mike Stedman Novels – This series is erotic sci-fi space opera. The first title in the series is Invasion:

  Mike Stedman is unique. Not human. Not A.I.

  He’s both.

  He’s got himself a new ship to explore the stars that rivaled anything in the A.I. or Xaran fleets, a new position he never expected, and problems dropped into his lap that he didn’t see coming.

  He wasn’t ready for it, he wanted to explore who he was, and the galaxy with his ship and companion Chrystal.

  Then the biggest surprise of all, invasion. Worse, the Xaran empire’s technology isn’t up to the task, he needs to step up, and step up big.

  Dark Dungeon – Book one of this trilogy is Dungeon Spawned.

  Nurien wakes up in a crystal prison, a soul stone, and has no idea what happened to him, or what he was. It takes him a while to figure things out.

  A dungeon imp eventually shows up to tell him what he is, a dark dungeon, and to help him learn and grow. Problem is, it doesn’t take long for him to figure out that things aren’t quite matching up to little Ebony’s expectations. Luckily, he has some other help in his head, another soul trapped in the crystal prison with him. Unluckily, that help is a power-hungry demoness from hell.

  He’s got a lot to learn if he’s going to survive and prosper, most of all, who the hell was he, and what?

  Non-erotic Fantasy titles:

  amazon.com/author/dlharrison

  The Formerly Dark Mage, by D. L. Harrison – This standalone fantasy book follows the life of Silvia and takes place in a world unique and separate to our own.

  Silvia is a dark mage. Unfortunately, she finds herself about to be sacrificed. Someone must have told her evil master about her plans to kill him and take over. After that, things just seem to go downhill. She has no choice but to escape the kingdom of Zual, something that to her knowledge has never been done before. She will need to deal with many issues she never had to face before.