‘All we want,’ said Lalenda, and shot a glance at Jaya, ‘is to discover what has become of him. Would you not be concerned if Corlas was squished into a tiny rock?’
Charla nodded thoughtfully. She raised a hand, noting again with unease how her power had lessened, and the vines fell loose from Jaya and Lalenda and slipped back into the ground.
‘Come,’ she said. ‘I will take you to him. But try nothing sneaky, or it will be a branch through the ribs for you, understand?’
The women nodded and, hoping she had not made a mistake, Charla set out for the clearing.
•
Fahren ignored the pain in his arm. One of their assailants had flung a thorny wreath to wrap around it, which had squeezed tighter and tighter until he’d ripped it off. The attacks from the three Sprites had become easier to deal with for some reason. The wood folk seemed confused about that themselves. Now they were focusing on defence, yet even their sunset wards were not proving impenetrable.
We can finish them , came Battu’s voice.
Fahren conjured a sunwing, which flew at the Sprites, notching an arrow to its bow. Quickly vortexes came up to meet it, and it was knocked backwards, fading.
Your thinking is limited, Throne. The ancient enemy of the Sprites was always the Ebon Elves.
Cackling, Battu weaved his hands, and from out of the air stepped a figure of legend – a humanoid with dark skin, and crystals for eyes. The Ebon stalked forward, and the Sprites’ eyes filled with fright.
There was a reason Ebons were the Sprites’ enemies , said Fahren. They wielded Old Magic also. But you cannot imbue your creature with such ability.
Still , said Battu, they are scared of it.
Sure enough, the three Sprites backed away from the advancing conjuration, all channelling together. As one they expended a large vortex, which flattened the Ebon instantly. It was a waste of power when dealing with such an insubstantial foe, and as a result the Sprites’ wards faltered. Fahren seized the opportunity. A white-hot beam sprang from his outstretched hand, puncturing a wavering ward to hit a Sprite full in the chest. The Sprite did not even have time to cry out, collapsing with a smoking hole through his heart. Fahren directed the beam onto the others, cutting through their wards easily. A second fell, sliced in half, and the third shrieked in alarm and pelted off through the trees, dropping her ward in exchange for speed.
Fahren released the beam, puffing from his exertions.
‘Hold still,’ said Battu. He set a hand over Fahren’s cut arm, rejoining the skin and even knitting the flesh beneath.
‘You have a gift for healing?’ said Fahren incredulously.
‘One of my lesser-used talents,’ admitted Battu. ‘Only because I’m sworn to help, I can assure you.’
‘Well, no thanks required then.’
‘Please don’t.’
Fahren flexed his newly mended arm. ‘Why is their power waning?’
‘What does it matter?’ said Battu. ‘Stop wondering about the why, you doddering fool, and press the advantage.’
Much as it galled him, Fahren had to admit Battu was right.
‘Come then,’ he said, and they set out after the fleeing Sprite.
•
Tyrellan supposed that, just like other races, there were Sprites who could wield magic and Sprites who could not. From the plain clothing on the bodies in the clearing beyond, he guessed these were the latter – the simple folk who saw to tasks other than battle, yet who had been caught in its hold anyway.
‘Someone’s already here,’ said Fazel.
‘If you’re in the mood to be obvious,’ growled Tyrellan, ‘I could punch you in the face.’
‘What face? I trust you will enjoy your bruised fist.’
‘Can you sense anything?’
‘In the hut,’ said Fazel. ‘A light mage and another, dimmer, presence.’
Through the smashed door of the hut strode Elessa Lanclara, holding the Stone.
‘Off you go, then, and stop her,’ ordered Tyrellan.
As for himself, he would stay in the trees – he had seen these two fight before, and knew better than to get in their way. He glanced around, found a likely trunk, and began to climb.
•
Elessa left the hut, considering the Stone. If she cast spells while she possessed it, would it suck them in, meaning she could not protect herself with magic? She tried a simple experiment, and sent forth a tiny mote of light. The mote glanced across the Stone’s surface and flew onwards unimpeded. It seemed that the Stone was, for the moment, closed.
Something pricked her senses – there was a shadow mage nearby. Glancing towards the edge of the clearing, she saw a black-robed figure emerge onto the coiled root. It pulled back its cowl, revealing the charred skull beneath.
Greetings, Elessa.
She waved a hand over her body, suffusing herself with a warm glow. Before her ward was fully raised, an invisible hand dug its nails in under the shine. She gripped it in a grip of her own, wrenching it back as if to snap its invisible wrist, and across the way Fazel recoiled. Then he stepped off the root and floated down into the clearing.
Better than last time , he sent.
I’m a changed woman.
The Stone sprang from her grip, flying towards him. Quickly she made the air above it crash downwards, slamming it to the dirt.
Interesting , he said. The Stone no longer absorbs power?
Your interest will be short-lived. I will stop you again, as I stopped you before.
I pray that you do. But we do not need these threats, do we?
A snake head curled out of his darkness towards her. She waved a hand through the air, conjuring a glowing sword. Allowing her ward to part briefly, she let the snake inside, and lopped its head off almost casually.
I wanted you to win that night, Elessa. I want an end to my damnation.
We have that in common, then.
Well , he said, breezing forward, shadows expanding all around him, let’s hope that one of us can do the other a favour.
They came face to face in the middle of the clearing, the Stone lying an equal distance between them. As the light flowing from Elessa met Fazel’s shadows, they locked into a familiar place. If she could have, she would have thrown down her defences, let him finish her there and then – but the command from Fahren compelled her, and so she pushed against him. This, then, was what it was like for him – fighting when he did not want to, for purposes that were not his own.
What odd kinship amongst us undead , she said.
Indeed.
A blue bolt sizzled into her ward, and she tried hard to deflect it – but he had put a lot of effort into it, and it hit her square in the chest. She flew backwards, her ribs concaved to squash her dormant heart. As she landed with a thump on her back, she looked down to see dead flesh melting over the white of her ribs, which started – immediately, and painfully – to knit themselves back together. It was almost good to feel something again, even if it was this.
She rose easily from the blow, back on her feet in an instant. The ground beneath her rumbled, and without actually breaking the surface, black jaws came yawning upwards. The conjured creature closed on her thigh and yanked downwards, its teeth scraping along her leg to shear the flesh from her bone like a boot. As the creature faded, her flesh flopped limply to the ground.
Come on, girl , said Fazel. You did better than this when you were alive.
Elessa surged forward, drilling him with blazing light and piercing hot beams.
There , he said, that’s more like it .