Arcane Dropout 2

by Edmund Hughes

  “Zoe,” said Harper. “I’ll listen to what you have to say. But not here, and not wherever it is that you think you’re going. The three of us will go back to Primhaven and discuss everything that’s happened.”

  “No,” said Zoe, through gritted teeth. “I will not go back there. I have a safe place where we can all go. I’ll tell you everything, Harper, I swear.”

  “I’m not going with you, Zoe,” said Harper. “You’re coming with me.”

  Lee felt a sickening, leaden pit form in his stomach as he realized that the line had been drawn. Neither of them would back down, and he was caught in the middle.

  CHAPTER 46

  Lee wasn’t about to sit back and watch a fight take place between two people he cared about. Tess was at his side, and all it took was a single nod of his head for her to understand his plan. She would try to distract Harper, who couldn’t see her, while Lee attempted to hold back Zoe.

  “Enough!” he shouted. “The two of you have no reason to fight each other.”

  “Stay out of this, Eldon,” said Zoe.

  She shot a look at Lucas, who moved faster than Lee could have anticipated. The muscular ghost moved to block Lee’s way, but instead of merely standing in between him and Zoe, he phased downward, dropping beneath snow and ice.

  An instant later, the ground in front of Lee began to rumble. A ten-foot-tall golem made of snow and ice pulled itself up from the ground, towering over Lee and blocking his path forward. Tess let out a gasp and hesitated. Lee shook his head at her, knowing that if she tried to distract Harper now, she’d only be putting her at risk in her fight against Zoe.

  “You never once beat me in any of our practice duels,” said Harper. “What makes you think you can now?”

  “I came closer than anyone else,” said Zoe. “There’s a reason why I don’t want to fight you that goes beyond sentimentality, Harper.”

  She brought her hands up into the illusion casting stance. Two identical copies of herself appeared on either side of her, and each of those two split into two more a second later. The copies swirled, blurring as they switched places with the real Zoe until anyone without the power to see through illusions would have only been able to guess at which of them was genuine.

  “You were always talented with illusion magic,” said Harper. “But now, just as back then, it still won’t be enough.”

  Half a dozen fist-sized fireballs appeared in a ring around Harper’s readied hand, one for each of Zoe’s illusions. She didn’t attack immediately, instead staying where she was, holding the stares of many faces of her onetime lover.

  “Stop!” shouted Lee. “This is insane! You aren’t—”

  The possessed ice golem stomped forward, swinging a heavy arm of ice and snow toward Lee’s midriff. He leapt back and out of range, pulling his kris dagger from his jacket. Zoe and her illusions shot a deliberate look at the golem, or more specifically at the ghost inside. Lee could tell from the resolved nod she gave Lucas that she was permitting him to do whatever it took to keep him from interfering.

  “You wanted this fight, Harper,” said Zoe. “Go ahead. Attack me.”

  For a brief, optimistic instant, Lee thought that Harper might acquiesce and back away from the brink of destruction. She closed her eyes for a beat, and then snapped them back open, thrusting her arm forward. A barrage of fireballs surged through the falling snowflakes, sending a thrum of arcane essence through the air.

  None of them struck true. The real Zoe didn’t even flinch as the fire passed through her distractions, sizzling against the frozen snow as they touched down against the snowbank behind her. Lee could only wonder if Harper had missed on purpose, given the rough odds of her managing to pick the six illusions out through pure luck and missing only Zoe.

  The ice golem struck again, this time bringing a fist the size of Lee’s head down in a swinging blow. He rolled to the side, glaring at the monstrosity.

  “You’re going to just let them fight?” he said, in a low tone. The golem gave a small shrug, ice cracking at the movement of its shoulders.

  “I serve my master, and she’s chosen to take on this fight,” said Lucas’s voice. “You would be wise to desist your interruptions.”

  Another attack came from the dueling women, this one from Zoe. She used telekinesis to send a barrage of ice chunks pulled loose from the edge of the cabin’s roof hurtling toward Harper. Harper slashed her arm through air, creating a streak of fire that curved like a ribbon and melted the projectiles into harmless water.

  Lee considered his options. He could try using his force spell to subdue them both, but it seemed hopeful to the point of foolishness. The spell wasn’t that powerful from his current range, and if he tried to pour more spirit essence into it to make it effective, he’d run the risk of taking it too far and hurting one or both of them.

  Harper was preparing a massive fireball, one easily as wide across as Lee’s outstretched arm was long. Zoe had sent several of her illusions charging forward as a distraction, but Harper kept the majority of her attention where it needed to be, not giving herself a chance to be confused again.

  Lee acted just before she unleashed her spell. He brought his hands up into the illusion casting stance and willed as much essence as he could into a basic illumination spell. He sent the small sphere of painfully bright light bouncing back and forth between Harper’s and Zoe’s faces, blinding both of them.

  “Think about what you’re doing!” he shouted. “This doesn’t have to happen. We can—”

  The golem landed an open-palmed strike against Lee’s shoulder, sending him tumbling across the snow and twisting his arm at a worrying angle. Harper unleashed her spell in the general direction of Zoe. It missed, instead striking the cabin behind her. A wave of explosive sound and force emanated outward as the fireball leveled the structure, sending smoldering scraps of logs and flaming bits of ash hurtling through the air.

  “Lee!” cried Tess. “Are you okay?”

  He groaned and rolled out his shoulder as he sat up. He’d dropped his kris dagger, but it was close enough for him to grab as he stood up. Which was good, since the golem had taken the opportunity to close within a few feet of him.

  Zoe and Harper continued to exchange spells in the background as the ice golem threw another punch at Lee. He dodged and proceeded to hack at the leg of his hulking opponent, stabbing and slashing several times without much result.

  Snowflakes and ash intermingled, fluttering in the moonlight as they fell to the ground. The air smelled of charred wood and brimstone. The wind whistled through the surrounding tree branches with the sound of both fights taking place layered atop it.

  Lee dodged out of the ice golem’s grasp, dropping low to sneak under its guard. He targeted its neck, stabbing his kris dagger in as deep as it would go. It barely slowed the monster down. He needed to try a different tactic, something that would turn the golem’s strengths into weaknesses.

  He fell back a few paces and centered himself. Harper and Zoe had shifted to fighting in close quarters, Harper attacking with a conjured spear while Zoe continued to dodge and harass with her illusions. Tess was next to Lee, clearly at a loss for what she could do to help.

  He focused on his spell instead of his surroundings, picturing the result he wanted in his mind as he clasped his right wrist with his left hand. All he needed to do was knock the ice golem down, and a carefully placed set of conjuration bindings around its ankles would fit the bill perfectly.

  The golem was already in the middle of another lumbering step as Lee cast his spell. His grin faded into a frown as he watched the bindings appear… in all the wrong places. The outcome was the same as the spell he’d used on Eliza in class, with the bindings looped through the ice monster’s crotch, across its mouth, and in provocative patterns across his chest.

  “Whoops…” whispered Tess. “I swear I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

  “Is this some kind of joke?” boomed Lucas, his ethereal voice echoin
g from deep within the golem’s core.

  “Yeah,” said Lee. “And here’s the punchline.”

  He focused his will, tightening the bindings. Nothing happened, at least at first. The various slashes and stabs he’d landed on his kris dagger had been useful, after all. The stress the bindings placed on the cracks in the ice made the golem’s body groan with strain, and then shatter into useless chunks. Lucas fell backward out of the ice and onto his butt, and before he could try anything Lee moved to stand over him, kris dagger pointed in his face.

  The battle between Harper and Zoe was still underway. They were no longer hurling spells at each other from a distance, and neither of them was holding back. Harper spun in circles, swinging a spear of purple arcane energy at a never-ending stream of illusions. The real Zoe was hiding amongst her doppelgangers, using her telekinesis to throw Harper off balance or fling chunks of singed wood or shards of ice into her face.

  Harper spun, destroying the illusions with a whirlwind attack that cut through the majority. She let the spear dissipate and shouted wordlessly as she formed another fire spell in one hand. Zoe prepared her own spell, formless red energy thrumming against her palm as she hurled it forward.

  The two beams of spellcraft struck together at the midpoint between them, curling orange flames pushing against crimson-red energy. The force of the impact sent snow dancing across the clearing in concentric circles, like waves rippling away from a splash point in the middle of a placid lake. Red and orange light illuminated both their faces. The moon hung high in the sky overhead, indifferent to the struggle and raw emotion on display.

  “Stop!” shouted Lee.

  He tried to move forward, but Lucas immediately tried to rise to his feet as he did, locking Lee in place unless he wanted to be attacked from behind. The balance of power shifted, Harper’s spell weakening as Zoe’s intensified, and then the reverse happening as Harper’s will began to overcome Zoe’s.

  It was too bright. Lee had to turn his eyes away. He felt sickened by his own powerlessness, and a soul-wrenching ache took hold in his heart as he realized that one, or even both women could die. Two of the people he cared about most, killed by each other out of tragic, pointless stubbornness.

  Harper screamed, and a sudden unexpected stillness filled the clearing. She was on the ground when Lee’s eyes refocused on the scene, sprawled in a manner that suggested she was either unconscious or dead.

  “No!” He pulled away from Lucas, not caring anymore if the specter attacked him. Zoe was covering her mouth with her hands and slowly shaking her head. Lee crouched at Harper’s side, breathing a sigh of relief as he felt for a pulse and found one.

  “Is she…?” whispered Zoe.

  “She’s alive.” Lee looked at his sister, narrowing his eyes.

  “I didn’t have a choice,” muttered Zoe. “Her spell would have done the same to me, or worse. This is for the best, Eldon.”

  “Tess,” said Lee. “Watch Lucas. Make sure he keeps his distance.”

  “He won’t attack you,” said Zoe. “I just needed him to keep you busy so you wouldn’t get in the way. It’s over now.”

  Lee didn’t say anything. Harper was lighter than he’d expected her to be as he lifted her in his arms. Zoe smiled at him, but he didn’t smile back, or even meet her gaze. The remnants of the log cabin were still burning in earnest, but his attention settled on the previously frozen pond, which now had a churning whirlpool at its center.

  “Come on, little brother,” said Zoe. “We can’t leave Harper here, obviously. We’ll send her through first so she can get the attention she needs.”

  “No.”

  “Eldon, this isn’t a joke. We need to get her—”

  “Zoe, I’m not going with you.” He shook his head, putting more determination into his refusal. “I can’t. Even if everything you told me was true, Harper would never forgive me if I did.”

  “She would,” said Zoe, in a small voice. “She—she would forgive both of us. I know she would.”

  The certainty in her word choice wasn’t mirrored by her trembling tone. Lee shook his head again.

  “This isn’t the right way to get what you want, Zoe,” he said.

  “This isn’t just about what I want!” she snapped. “Eldon, please! For all those years, when we were struggling, you always trusted me. I need you to trust me again, just one last time.”

  “It’s not about trust,” said Lee. “It’s about loyalty.”

  He looked down at Harper’s face and then up at his sister’s. He didn’t feel anything close to confidence about what he was doing. His heart felt like it was breaking in two, like a part of him was suffocating and dying, and he was the one strangling it.

  “If you don’t come with me, the next time we meet will be… more complicated,” said Zoe.

  “Isn’t it already?” Lee let out a small, sad chuckle. Zoe returned a similarly depressing smile.

  “Can I have a hug, at least?” she whispered.

  Lee set Harper down and made his way over to her. His instincts were still on guard for a trick or a trap, right up until he saw the tears streaming down his sister’s face, and the ugly way her lower lip pulled downward into an expression of loss and grief.

  He hugged her tightly.

  “You’ll always be my little brother,” she said.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “You don’t have to be. I love you, Eldon, and that’s never going to change.”

  He felt her arms around him for a moment, and then she let go. Lee watched his sister walk back toward the pond, wiping away her tears as quickly as she could. She hesitated as she reached the edge of the water.

  “I’ll keep in touch this time,” she called. “I promise.”

  “You’d better.”

  Zoe smiled at him and then leapt. She hit the water without a splash, with only the slightest flinch of her shoulders betraying the coldness. After that, she was gone.

  CHAPTER 47

  Both snowmobiles had been left behind, which would have been perfect had Harper been conscious. Lee started the one Zoe had brought and left it in a mostly covered section of trees where he hoped it wouldn’t be overtaken by the snow and ice.

  Tess came up alongside him with a worried expression as he climbed off. “Harper’s thrashing! I don’t know if she’s in pain, or having a seizure, or, or…”

  Lee nodded and hurried over to where he’d left her lying in the snow. Harper was still out, but her arms were swinging and jerking, as though she was still in the middle of the fight. Lee caught her hands and gently pulled her into a reassuring embrace.

  “Hey,” he said. “It’s okay. It’s over, Harper. We’re going back to Primhaven.”

  She blinked her eyes open and shook her head as she saw Lee, her mouth trembling. Her face was twisted with anguish, and Lee felt just as disemboweled as he had been watching his sister suffer. Except Harper didn’t cry, and somehow, that was so much goddamn worse.

  “I know,” said Lee. “It hurts. It really hurts.”

  He hugged her, feeling her shaky breathing as she buried her face against his shoulder. Lee pulled Tess into his mystic stream, too, needing her support for himself even though there was nothing she could do for Harper.

  It took them almost two hours to make it back to Primhaven. Lee rode slowly, holding Harper in place in front of him on the snowmobile. She was in and out of consciousness, still reeling from the ferocity of Zoe’s last attack.

  Two new guards were stationed outside in the snow, and Mattis was waiting just inside Primhaven’s main gate. Her expression was a cold, furious scowl, and it only softened slightly when she saw Harper in Lee’s arms.

  “The nurse is already on standby,” said Mattis. “Come on. Let’s get her to the infirmary.”

  She escorted him there, the group flanked by several of Mattis’s bonded animals. Having a white wolf on either side of him and a young polar bear a few paces behind was more than enough to make Lee agreeable and obedi
ent.

  Nurse Susie’s eyes went wide when she saw Harper in his arms, and she immediately set about preparing a bed like a true, consummate professional. Lee’s arms burned as he set his master down. Mattis immediately gestured for him to take a seat and shut the door.

  “What were you thinking?” she asked. She had a way of emphasizing each syllable, making every second of every word do its own small part in biting a person’s head off.

  “One of the members of the House of Shadows was looking for recruits,” said Lee. “Harper only found out at the last second. We both went out to confront the rogue sorceress and ended up in a fight.”

  Lee was careful not to lie openly, though his explanation was about as far from the truth as one could get through convenient omission.

  “You went to confront a rogue sorceress without notifying me, or Odarin, or anyone affiliated with the Order?” asked Mattis, through gritted teeth. “Do you have any idea how easily that could have backfired?”

  Lee gave her a weary nod. Nurse Susie was taking Harper’s clothing off and checking her for injuries. Her eyes were closed, and she looked completely drained of energy, along with being slightly pale from her extended stay in the cold.

  “I’ll decide what your punishment will be later,” said Mattis. “Harper needs space for the moment. You being here won’t help her.”

  “But—”

  “Initiate Amaranth, this is a serious situation!” snapped Mattis. “You’re lucky I didn’t expel you on the spot. Go back to your dorm room.”

  Lee wanted to object further, but he could tell that the Lead Instructor had dug in her heels. Probably for good reason, given all that’d happened over the past few days. He exhaled slowly as he stood up from his chair and headed out of the infirmary.

  He let Tess into his mystic stream as he made his way onto campus. It was close to midnight, and he had reservations about holding her hand and talking to her openly.

  “It’s my fault,” he said. “If I’d just ignored the note, or been more careful about how I left, Harper wouldn’t have—”