by Serena Yates
Cackling with glee, Rhunnyt drew a circle around himself with one of the green bolts and a shimmering energy shield sprang up around him. Elryk's attacks were completely deflected after that and Rhunnyt gained back the strength he'd lost in the fight. He looked as fresh as before they'd started.
"I've got you now!” Rhunnyt pulled back, took a breath and flung a multicoloured ball of lightning into the air. The colours spread out, coating the walls, the ceiling and even the floor in hues of shimmering energy. He made another ball of multicoloured lightning and threw it in their direction.
"Fuck!” Elryk panted, sweat running down his temples. “I can't stop that ball of lightning, I can only try and save our lives."
Elryk leaned his head back against Kaythan's shoulder and closed his eyes. A wall of wet mud surrounded them and started growing into a dome above their heads. Little flames danced on the walls, helping to deflect the multicoloured lightning bolts from the outside and adding some light on the inside as the walls around them rose. It all happened too quickly for the eye to follow. When the dome was completed, there was a loud bang, probably the ball of lightning hitting their protective shell.
Nothing happened.
The sudden silence was eerie. The crackling attacks had stopped and so had any kind of sound that might hint at what was going on outside.
"Enjoy your imprisonment.” The grating voice was loud enough to penetrate the layers of mud around them. “It should only last for the next five thousand years or so. That'll give me enough time for to get Tah'Nut back into shape and build my empire across space."
There was a loud roar and the floor shook. Then the silence returned. The evil wizard had apparently left.
"I'm so sorry.” Elryk shook in his arms. “I've failed utterly. We're stuck in this chamber. There's no way out."
Kaythan turned Elryk around so they were facing each other in the dim light of the little magic flames. The other man hung his head. Kaythan put a finger under his chin and pushed until his mate looked up.
The despair in Elryk's eyes was heart wrenching.
Elryk tried to break eye contact by looking down. When that didn't work he attempted to wriggle out of Kaythan's embrace. He didn't let his mate go. They were in this together, and it was time Elryk started to believe that.
"There is always a way out.” He brushed his mate's sweat soaked hair out of his face and kissed his forehead. “We only have to find it."
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Chapter Ten
* * * *
"I like your optimism.” Elryk smiled at his mate who hadn't let go of him no matter how much he'd wanted to hide his shame. Losing a fight like that, even to a wizard as powerful and experienced as Rhunnyt, wasn't fun. Having his mate support him through it was an amazing feeling.
"It's not optimism.” Kaythan smiled as his hand moved from forcing Elryk's chin up to cupping his cheek. “I trust you. Just look how well you protected us against the most powerful lightning wizard known today. That wasn't easy and I think you did a brilliant job!"
"I did all right, didn't I?” He hadn't had time to think about the hopelessness of the situation, he'd just reacted and done what was necessary to protect them. “But you do realise that I couldn't have managed it without your help, don't you?"
"Is that a problem for you?” Kaythan raised his eyebrows.
"No, but I'm very conscious of the fact that I need you. I'm not going to be able to get out of here or defeat Rhunnyt on my own.” He didn't mind working with Kaythan, it was nice to have a partner he could rely on.
"I'm here for you. You're no longer on your own.” Kaythan smiled as his thumb caressed Elryk's cheek. He wanted to kiss his mate for being so supportive and helpful. “And it's not all one-sided, you know? I need you just as much as you need me."
"You do?” He leaned into the caress, trying to keep his brain working when all he wanted to do was give in and make love again. “But you're so strong and independent. What could you possible need me for?"
Kaythan tilted his head, raised both eyebrows and waited.
Was he supposed to figure out the answer himself?
Then it came to him.
"The magic.” He nodded.
"Yes, the magic!” Kaythan laughed. “Do you really think any of my physical strength would have helped me even one bit when Rhunnyt started throwing bolts of lightning?"
"I guess not.” He felt stupid for not having thought of that. He only had his exhaustion as an excuse.
"You're right. I would have been useless on my own.” Kaythan slid his hand behind Elryk's neck and caressed his nape. Tah', that felt wonderful!
"It's a good thing we're mates then, huh?” He grinned.
"Now you've got it! I don't know who or what determines the partners for a mate bond, but looking at our experience, I'd say it's a winning formula. At least in our case, it's already saved our lives a few times.” Kaythan bent his head and kissed him, tongue claiming his mouth until he saw stars.
He pulled back with an effort when he needed to breathe more than to feel Kaythan's amazing kiss.
"And then there's the incredible sex.” He blushed at his own words.
"Elryk! You amaze me.” Kaythan's grin was as wide as his face.
"What? It's true.” He may have blushed, but there was nothing to be ashamed of. It did take some getting used to talking about it, but he was sure that wouldn't last very long.
"Yeah, it is. And I want to have a lot more of it with you, but I really think we should focus on getting out of here first. Who knows how much damage Rhunnyt is going to do now that he's free to terrorise Tah'Nut again. We can't leave him unopposed.” Kaythan frowned.
The man was right.
"The real problem is that Rhunnyt is a stronger lightning wizard than I am.” Elryk sighed. “We may have been able to defend ourselves by pooling our resources, but those lightning balls are way beyond my current abilities. Since one of them is now preventing us from escaping, I don't see how we could possibly break through. He's used it to seal this whole chamber, and it looks very effective to me."
"We won't know whether it's hopeless or not until we've tried” Kaythan pulled him closer for a moment, squeezing him for reassurance. “So, why don't we get out of this earthen igloo you've built and have a look around the whole chamber? We might find something we can use to help us."
Elryk nodded. He really didn't want to spend the rest of his life in here. And it wouldn't hurt to check their options. Who knew? Maybe the broken pieces of the Muyd'Othar would be good for something other than bringing the bastard back to physical life.
With a sigh he waved their protective shell back into the magical realm. They were immediately bathed in the eerie glow of the multicoloured ball of lightning that had spread out across every available surface to seal them in. With Kaythan's words ringing in his ears, he decided to try all five types of magic on it, just in case.
Earth magic didn't do a thing other than slightly dim the colours’ brightness for a few seconds before the protective layer was back to normal.
Water magic made everything sparkle and hiss, but nothing happened that made it look as thought they'd be able to get out.
Air magic didn't do anything at all, other than provide a nice cooling breeze when it was reflected back at him.
Fire magic made the entire chamber so unbearably hot that he had to use air magic to cool them down again.
He was very careful with the lightning magic, remembering the protective shield Rhunnyt had pulled up around him and how it had reflected Elryk's bolts of lightning straight back at him. If he used too much force here, he might get both of them killed. So the lightning he threw at the wall was very weak, more of a test than an attempt to break through.
As soon as he'd let the bolt go, he got ready to protect them against the backlash. It was a good thing he'd done that. The lightning that came back at them was ten times stronger than what he'd sent out. He barely managed to deflect it,
having to send it straight into the shards of the Muyd'Othar that still lay quietly on the pedestal in the centre of the room.
"Nothing.” Elryk felt so tense he thought he'd burst. “It only reflects my magic back at me. It's as though the lightning acts as a mirror."
"And there's no hole anywhere that you could use as leverage?” Kaythan stood next to the pedestal and examined the chamber with narrowed eyes.
"No, it's solid all around us. It goes underground as well, I've followed it all the way.” Elryk shrugged, feeling more helpless than before.
He stared at the dimly flickering shards on the pedestal. Something about the Magic Shield and its properties was nagging at the back of his brain, but he couldn't figure out what it was.
"Okay, so how do you destroy a mirror?” Kaythan tilted his head in thought.
"Huh?” Elryk looked up from his contemplation. “You do ask the weirdest questions."
"Not weird.” Kaythan grinned. “I just don't think like a wizard, I guess."
"Hm, that may actually be the key to getting us out of here.” Elryk nodded. “Keep thinking. There's something about that Magic Shield that's bugging me, but I can't figure out what it is, exactly."
"All right, so we've got a ball of lightning magic surrounding us which acts like a mirror to other kinds of magic.” Kaythan started pacing. “To answer my earlier question, the way to destroy a mirror is to shatter it with physical force. Would that work on this—thing, whatever it is?"
"That's a good idea except we don't have anything here that we could use to throw at it with enough force, right?” Elryk glanced at Kaythan.
"Unless we can use our bodies?” Kaythan looked ready to jump.
"Not a good idea.” Elryk shook his head. “We'd be killed on impact."
"Okay, what else have we got?” Kaythan stared at the heap of shards and pointed. “What about those? Would it hurt us to touch them?"
"Probably not. They seem pretty much extinguished to me.” Elryk wasn't going to let his mate risk his life trying it out, though. “Here, let me go first. I can use my magic to protect me."
"Just be careful.” Kaythan reached out for him, squeezing his shoulder before withdrawing.
"Always.” Elryk grinned. His mate in protective mode was even sexier than he was normally.
Elryk turned his attention to the heap of shards, hoping to find one that was big enough to touch. Most of them were either tiny pieces, had sharp edges or looked dull and lifeless. The latter ones were probably safest for a first experiment.
Preparing to pull away quickly if needed, he touched one of the dead-looking ones. Other than a tiny tingle in his fingers, there was nothing. He picked it up. He still couldn't feel anything other than the slight tingle.
"Anything?” Kaythan sounded anxious.
He stood close enough so Elryk sensed his body heat.
"Just a little tingle, as though it's trying to come back to life.” Elryk put it into the upturned palm of his left hand and searched for a second shard. “Maybe it needs company?"
Kaythan laughed but didn't relax his watchful stance.
When Elryk added a second piece onto the palm of his hand there was more tingling, but nothing visible happened.
"You want me to try it?” Kaythan looked hopeful to be doing something.
"Sure, just pick one up and see what happens.” It couldn't hurt to see if a non-magical person had a different effect.
Kaythan picked up a dimly flickering shard before Elryk could stop him.
"You were supposed to pick a dull one!” He watched carefully, ready to jump to his mate's rescue.
"Was I? You didn't say so.” Kaythan grinned as he watched the little shard flicker in his hand. “And the shiny ones are a lot prettier. Look, it's just sitting there, making me itch a little."
Elryk shook his head. His mate was too curious for his own good. Luckily, he also seemed to be immune to anything trying to harm him.
Kaythan put the first shard onto the palm of his right hand, imitating what Elryk had done, then picked another shiny one and put it right next to it. More flickering ensued, but that was it.
"Something is definitely going on with these pieces.” Elryk rubbed his face with his free hand. “I wonder what would happen if we combined the dull and the flickering ones?"
"Good idea.” Kaythan reached out to offer his shards to Elryk.
As soon as their fingers touched a low humming sound came from all four shards and they started to glow with a warm golden radiance that stopped both men in their tracks. The two shards on Elryk's hand moved closer together and melded into a teardrop-shaped crystal. It immediately started moving towards Elryk's wrist, and before he could react to try to stop it, the crystal sank into the skin until only its top half was visible. There was no pain, only a deep sense of happiness.
"What the hell?” Kaythan stared at his own hand where his crystal was behaving in exactly the same way.
Kaythan let go of Elryk's hand to touch the embedded teardrop in his own wrist and the crystals stopped glowing.
Elryk touched the teardrop in his wrist, stroking it softly. It was as warm as the skin around it and smooth as glass. Nothing else happened as he was touching it. He looked up and saw Kaythan imitate what he'd done, with the same effect. Absolutely nothing.
"Okay, that's officially weird.” Elryk blinked and reached out for Kaythan's hand again.
As soon as they touched the crystals started glowing again. Elryk felt an irresistible urge to link hands with Kaythan. His left hand positively pulsed with the need to be close.
"You feel it, too?” Kaythan's eyes were wide, shocked. “This thing wants me to link hands with you. It's as if a magnet is drawing my right hand to your left."
"Yeah, I can feel it as well.” Elryk thought for a moment. “It's a warm feeling though, nice. My magic can't detect anything dangerous."
"You want to give in?” Kaythan smiled. “It feels like my crystal wants its little mate."
"That's exactly it!” Elryk was elated. “It's got something to do with the mate bond. Maybe that's what activated these pieces?"
"It may have done.” Kaythan frowned. “I'm curious about how this is possible at all."
"Why?” Resisting the pull of the little crystal was becoming more difficult by the second. His mind was going fuzzy.
"Well, the Muyd'Othar was made to protect the Magic Council, right?” Kaythan stepped away from him, making him want to run after his mate. “It was never meant to be destroyed. So now that it's in pieces, it suddenly has this ability to form crystals that sink into our skin?"
"You're right, that is odd.” He sighed. “But you're not making it easy to think by moving away. This thing wants me to be close to you."
"Yeah, mine too. I just hope it's not dangerous.” Kaythan moved back into range again.
Elryk immediately felt better.
"I don't think we can solve this riddle here and now.” Kaythan shook his head, as if to clear it. “I'm not sure we need to, but I really hope we can spend some time doing research once all of this is over."
"I agree.” He wanted to know why, the material the Muyd'Othar had been made of, reacted the way it did.
"So, are you ready to see what these little crystals can do when we let them work together?” Kaythan's eyes were bright with excitement.
"Only one way to find out.” Elryk grinned at Kaythan's surprised laugh when his mate heard his own favourite mantra quoted back at him.
They stood next to each other and let their hands link, entwining their fingers. It brought their wrists together and as soon as the two crystals touched the low humming started up and the golden radiance was back. It surrounded their hands in a small, pulsing sphere.
"All right, this is interesting. It makes me feel nice, but I wonder what it can do? I'm sure it's not just meant to sit there and make us feel happy, is it?” Kaythan frowned, looking around the room in search of a target.
"Hardly.” Elryk glanced at t
he multicoloured chamber wall. “I wonder whether whatever this is might help us break through that lightning magic?"
"You know the answer to that.” Kaythan grinned. “What do you think we need to do?"
"I think we need to focus our thoughts on making the protective layer open up for us.” Elryk figured it might work just like magic. It was as good a place as any to start their new attempts at escape.
"Okay, let's focus away.” Kaythan winked at him and turned his attention to the lightning-covered wall.
"Open for us.” Elryk was sure speaking the words would help Kaythan focus. So he kept repeating the simple sentence again and again.
When Kaythan started speaking the words with him, the small golden sphere began to grow. Kaythan stopped speaking and the sphere shrank back to its original size.
"Okay, got it. Don't stop the focus.” Kaythan smiled sheepishly and concentrated on the wall and their words again.
When the golden sphere reached the chamber wall, there was a crackle and a hiss, but nothing happened.
"More pressure.” Elryk willed himself to help the golden sphere push outward. “Focus on it pushing against the walls."
Kaythan nodded and closed his eyes.
The golden sphere started pulsing, the multicoloured lights of the protective layer dimmed a little, but soon they were back in full force. The golden sphere was still there, but it was weaker than before. It looked depleted.
"It isn't working.” Elryk opened his eyes and let go of Kaythan's hand.
The golden light vanished and he felt empty. He'd been so sure the golden sphere would solve all their problems. They'd tried everything else without success. Now their last hope was gone. How were they ever going to get out of here?
"Maybe it's because we're tired.” Kaythan opened his arms.
He walked right into them, putting his head on Kaythan's strong shoulder.
"We've been facing challenges and fighting for our lives without a real break. Maybe we should rest for a bit and then try again.” Kaythan stroked his head.
"That sounds wonderful.” He wasn't sure they could afford to rest for long, but he was too tired to fight anymore.
