The Royal Wizard

by Alianne Donnelly

  Another sphere formed, and he launched it, building another straight away. The volley of blows bombarded her shields, weakening them. There was only so much power an inanimate object could absorb. When it wore out, she’d be left defenseless.

  Nia didn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing any concern on her face. Instead, as the assault continued, she stooped down to run her hand over the smooth stone floor while Saeran’s spell slid over her. So that’s what it did. She looked up to see herself standing there, hands held out against Jasper’s attack. The sorcerer wouldn’t have seen her move at all.

  Nia caressed the polished boulders, waking her own magic to life. There was plenty of it all around her, though Jasper didn’t seem to realize it.

  She hummed a soft tune and it filled the chamber, deafening her to everything else. The floor thrummed under her hand, eager to do her bidding. Turning her hand palm up, she made a scooping motion and a dozen boulders the size of a man’s torso tore out of the floor to float at eye level all around the sorcerer.

  He altered his assault. Each sphere he created split into two, then two again, flying in all directions. Three out of four shots scored their mark, but the stones were unaffected. As a warning, she launched two of them at him as she rose to her feet. The first turned him about with the force of impact. He avoided the other.

  Nia stepped out of the illusion of herself, meeting Saeran’s gaze long enough for him to nod in encouragement. The sorcerer wouldn’t see her. Good. She had a score to settle with him.

  Jasper recovered from the hit and gathered power into himself, more and more, until his mortal shell was bending double and his back began cracking under the pressure.

  Oh, no. Nia ran forward, pulling more boulders from the floor and raining all of them down on Jasper at the same time with as much force as she could muster.

  They never touched him. With a hoarse yell he released all that power at once, an explosion of darkness that shattered her shields and sent her skidding back. What was left of her boulders, dropped harmlessly to the floor.

  He was breathing heavily when he faced her again, but though his face was beginning to crack and his eyes were flooded with black, he was still on the offensive.

  Nia didn’t understand the word he screamed at her, but she felt its vibrations and knew it was bad.

  She dived to the floor, rolling away, and continued to roll as he struck the floor with enough force to dig through it like a plow. Saeran’s illusion was gone. He could see her now and Nia struggled to keep a meager step ahead of his assault. Not fast enough like this. She took a chance when her hands met the floor, pushing with all her strength and not a small amount of magic to launch herself into the air.

  She flew up almost to the ceiling, but Jasper’s power followed and pierced the walls too close to Saeran. The attack stopped when he had to catch his breath, just long enough for her to fall back down. She landed on her hands and knees and immediately launched herself at Jasper. This might be the only chance she would get. She wasn’t a trained fighter, but she was of a height with him and physically stronger.

  But Jasper recovered faster than she could move. Before she could reach him, another shouted word caught her, sending her flying back against the dais steps. Her back carried the impact and her spine screamed in pain. Tears welled in her eyes as she fought to breathe again, but the effort it required was too great and the pain too much.

  She couldn’t move. Her back was broken, rendering her legs useless and her lungs nearly so. The sorcerer cackled, approaching her on shuffling feet, in no hurry now that his opponent was incapacitated. Nia reached for something to help her drag herself away but her hands slipped on rubble. She was stuck unless…no. She couldn’t risk it.

  Her body tilted forward as Jasper’s magic caught hold of her, slowly pulling her toward him. The agony of it was unbearable. Nia screamed, the sound cut short as her voice broke on a sob. A female Sidhe appeared at her side, her eyes glowing and enchanting. There is no other way.

  Nia’s head swam. She blinked and the Sidhe was gone. But behind Jasper, the male dire wolf paced back and forth, head canted low, watching her and snarling. Get up, he growled. Get up, or they all die with you. She looked around the great hall; saw the nobles cowering behind the overturned tables, behind a row of Others who were keeping the destroyed floor from buckling beneath them all. They’d heard her.

  Move! the dire wolf snapped viciously. Fight!

  No other way, the Others whispered all around. They were watching her, willing her to do something other than lie there and wait for the sorcerer to get her close enough to finish her off. She had to do it.

  If she wanted to survive, she had to call her magic back.

  She slid another pace closer to Jasper, toward a massive hole in the floor. He was matching her, moving toward her as she was pulled to him, but he wasn’t walking. Instead, his feet hovered off the floor, over thin air where parts of the floor were gone. A waste of power if she’d ever seen one. He was very careless for someone so close to destroying himself.

  “Come on, magicker,” he said, his voice distorted by many others. “Get up. There’s only one way to defeat me, and you know it. Get up and fight me. Get up!”

  There was flicker of movement behind him, and then a flash of metal stabbing through his heart. Nia heard the sorcerer groan, a sound not of pain but annoyance. Black magic poured out of the wound instead of blood; she could feel it. It was heavy and sought the floor rather than disperse into the air the way natural magic should.

  He made a tsking sound, turning from her to face whoever was behind him. Only one person was still capable of moving on his own, the only one Jasper hadn’t enchanted. He grasped Saeran by his shirt and bodily tossed him into the throne. His impact shattered it and the floor beneath it, and Saeran didn’t get up again.

  Nia screamed louder than she ever had in her life. The sound hurt her ears; made the humans and Others double over in pain and, were he not floating, the sorcerer would have dropped to his knees at the force of it. The very air shuddered. Like an out of control river, her magic came rushing back into her, all that she’d drained herself of and more, from the great hall and Nico’s library; taking his power as well, and Saeran’s and some from the Others. It filled her near bursting, forcefully mending injuries and lifting her to her feet, though she’d not commanded it. Her scream ended as she drew a breath.

  Without thought or intent, she started moving, step after step, stalking the sorcerer as he backed away from her, wide eyed. She was in a whirlwind that didn’t exist, her hair and cloak whipping around her. She was glowing like a lantern as her power leaked out, illuminating the great hall better than the torches she’d extinguished. Nia felt herself on the brink of losing control. If she let go now, she could destroy not only herself and the sorcerer but everything and everyone within miles.

  Two of the tables flew at the sorcerer without her conscious command. No more warnings. They flattened him between them, as far as his power would allow. It was still shielding him, though he fueled it now with his own life. It wouldn’t last much longer; he had very little physical strength left, depending on magic to sustain him.

  The tables shattered as he screamed.

  Nia tore out more boulders, hurling them all at once. He had no chance of defending against all of them. Several scored a hit and the sorcerer staggered and fell to his knees, his body broken and his power raging out of control. He gasped big, pained breaths, but still launched another volley of magics at her. She swatted them away without breaking her stride.

  By now there was little left of the floor but what pieces there were arranged themselves before her to pave an easy path to her target. The Others were retreating, one by one drawing back from the awful sight of the two of them. The dire wolf was the last to depart, still snarling.

  Strange growling words spilled from Jasper’s lips, sinking into the ground, making it recoil. He shot at her everything he had. What little part of her mind
was still conscious of strategy discerned a pattern to his attack. He never aimed a fatal blow. This was all a studied lure to catch her magic.

  At the last moment Nia stopped herself from touching him, physically or magically. Instead, she called to the banners hanging from the walls. They tore themselves to strips and wove together to form ropes that wound around the sorcerer’s arms and neck. She used those binds to lift him from the floor as she continued her forward press. He hung before her as she dragged him out of the great hall, out of the castle.

  The revelers in the courtyard had dispersed. Only the bonfire remained, burning high and bright. Nia didn’t hesitate to send the sorcerer through it. He shouted and screamed; cast burning embers back at her. Nia didn’t waste her defenses on such trifling things. She let them sear her face and hair; the burns healed instantly.

  Jasper was still ablaze when she pushed him past the castle walls and started up the hill toward the altar. He put the flames out at the cost of his own body. More cracks appeared in the shell of his mortal form, his legs so damaged already they could no longer hold their shape. His limbs shattered, scattering pieces of him over the hill, leaving behind nothing but sloppy, dripping blobs of flesh.

  He spat more spells at Nia, though most of them dissipated before they reached her. One or two made her falter, and forced her to heal herself again or risk setting him loose. It was too much. She knew this, felt the strain on her own body. Nia couldn’t handle much more of his assault before she, too, began to shatter.

  Saeran.

  The sorcerer had hurt him. The image of him unmoving in the great hall squared her resolve, and she forced her body to endure. Almost there. Almost at the altar. Her hands were shining like stars at her sides, as were her feet where they peeked out from beneath her robes with each step. The wind howled at her to stop, the earth rose around her feet to slow her, but never quick enough to trap her foot before she lifted it again.

  The Others had gathered again, keeping their distance, but watchful. Nia felt their apprehension, but for the safety of their people they would stay and see this through. They would do whatever was necessary to contain this uncontrollable flare of magics. As much harm as those magics could do to the human realm, they could destroy Otherlands in an instant. It could not be allowed. They would kill Nia if they deemed it necessary, and knowing that gave her the courage to keep going.

  Jasper was beginning to look demonic. The watery stumps of his legs had touched at some point and melded together, forming one liquid mass below his waist. His fingers were breaking as he kept trying to bend her will to his, but she had to hear his commands to obey, and Nia was past listening to him.

  “Loki,” she called into the night when she reached the altar. Her voice was not her own, and in the depths of the forest wild beasts howled in fear.

  Fear for her.

  Fear of her.

  “Loki!” She made it a summons, imbuing it with all her will. Her power flared, searing her insides, and she doubled over, briefly loosening her hold on the ropes that held the sorcerer. It was all he needed to break free and drop to the ground. The grass died where he touched it, and the death spread out from him, poisoning the land.

  His teeth were gone, his mouth filled with darkness. Though he still had a voice, it growled rather than spoke. He couldn’t give his words any shape. One hand clutched the pendant, the source of his powers, as the black liquid he was turning into gathered around it.

  And still Nia felt its pull. It could sense her power; called it out. Nia fought to keep her magic reined in, but her control was tenuous at best and she was tired, so tired of resisting. Part of her was curious at this strange toy, wanted to reach out to it. Wanted to kill the sorcerer to possess it.

  She found herself drawing closer before a chilling screech in her mind made her fall back again. The dragon’s warning had come almost too late. And the sorcerer cackled madly, his cheeks breaking off, taking the lower half of his face with them.

  In the absence of a spoken command, his dark power spread out across the earth, killing everything in its path. It was almost close enough to touch her.

  The wolf pelt at her back shivered, dragging at her neck as if it could pull her away. Nia couldn’t leave. If she didn’t stop it, the darkness would cover all the land and everything would die.

  She cupped her glowing hands together and gathered light into them. It pooled and then rose, shaping a sphere that grew larger and brighter. In the back of her mind she noticed that the sorcerer had fallen silent. She felt his rapt attention on her, sensed his anticipation and impatience.

  The sphere swirled with currents, magic trying to arrange itself so that more could fit into a smaller shape. It became so heavy it almost had a physical form. Like a crystal ball. The fanciful thought became a spell and shadows moved across the sphere, forming into shapes. Nia saw the great hall and the people still trapped therein. It fascinated her. Eager to see what else the sphere might reveal, she fed it more power.

  The light was so bright it illuminated the ground where she knelt. As the sorcerer spread death, Nia’s light brought the earth back to life around her. The light, too, began to spread, overlapping and then banishing Jasper’s darkness.

  He cackled, staring at the approaching well of power. He was ravenous for it.

  Entranced by this thing she had wrought, Nia’s attention never wavered from her crystal ball. Curiosity made her deaf and blind to the world outside of it. What secrets will you show me? What will you teach me?

  Shadows swirled in its depths, and Nia squinted, bringing it closer to her face. She saw a mother giving birth, a mighty dragon circling high in the air, breathing magic fire. She saw a young woman bursting into flames and a young man walking in illusions.

  Nia’s body began to shake, but she didn’t care. Looking deeper she saw demons dancing a horrible dervish in the desert night. A vast army gathering beneath the banner of a blood red cross on a grassy field. Ice slithered up her arms to her heart. Nia didn’t mind; she had the cloak and the wolf skin to warm her. And the light spread ever farther.

  The wolf pelt whined softly at her ear. Nia frowned, resenting the distraction. The crystal was showing her a drop of blood. It splattered on a shining wall of magic and shattered it, erasing the Veil between the human realm and the Otherlands and from that explosion arose a people who would carve a new order into the world. Oh, to walk among such giants!

  Nia’s light touched the edge of Jasper’s withered form. He screamed with glee, even as the blob of black that was his body began to solidify into rock. As the light moved up to engulf him, the pendant in his hand shimmered with white, shining through the black slime. The sorcerer’s laughter died abruptly as rock sealed shut around him and the night became quiet.

  Claws sank into Nia’s back, fangs bit into her ear. She cried out and almost dropped the crystal ball. Through watering eyes she looked up at the rock that had once been the sorcerer. She cocked her head, puzzled by how this could have come to be, or when it had become day. Everything was so bright, colors so vibrant they blinded her.

  The wolf whined again. Nia looked over her shoulder to see the wolf pelt she’d worn restored to life. He tilted his head at her and Nia reciprocated. Hadn’t he died? She recalled as much. Yes, poison. She’d felt him leave his mortal shell, yet somehow he was back, flesh and blood, or at least he looked that way. Could it be an illusion?

  The wolf shifted uneasily and then lifted his head and howled. Nia looked up. The moon was big and bright, the sky clear and glittering with stars. It was still night.

  The wolf whined and barked, got to his feet and jumped forward and back. Nia reached out to pet the beast, only to have him shrink from her touch. Her hands were still glowing. All of her was.

  The wolf sniffed the ground, backing away from the spreading light, lifting his paws high as if it bothered him.

  And then the ground shuddered and the rock began to crack.

  CHAPTER 38

  �
��Foolish girl,” Loki hissed in furious whisper, appearing just before her. “Look what you have done. This was precisely what I wanted to prevent!” He snatched the glowing crystal ball out of her hands, making her gasp. “You doomed all of humanity to make a toy?” he boomed.

  Nia reached out to take it back, but before she could, part of the rock behind Loki crumbled to reveal the shiny black crystal and her hand changed direction. It was too far. Must get up. Must possess it.

  Loki followed her gaze and straightened an arm out to stop her as she struggled to her feet. He flinched at touching her, but held firm. “Do not go near it,” he warned, though he, too, sounded distracted.

  Nia couldn’t look away. It was so shiny. Even from so far away she could see her own reflection in it. And every so often, it breathed! Its breath was as dark as its core. Puffs of black smoke emanated from its depths to disperse in the air. It was alive. And so beautiful and dark. She felt on fire with the light. It filled her, made her shine like the sun and it hurt. She needed that darkness to soothe her.

  I might die otherwise.

  “It’s the magics,” Loki said by way of explanation. “This is only the beginning. It will keep weakening until all of them are released.”

  “Pretty,” she said on a sigh, not recognizing her own voice.

  “Well, can’t have that,” Loki said brusquely and whistled. The pendant tore itself out of its cradle and as soon as the last contact was severed, the rock that used to be Jasper crumbled to dust. The pendant floated toward them, still puffing gently, and Nia’s eyes opened wider and wider the closer it got. So close she could almost touch it. It felt as if it wanted to come to her. She wanted it to. She reached out to it in welcome, undeterred even when Loki slapped her hand down. Nia tried to shove him out of her way, but she may as well have been pushing at a mountain. The Trickster didn’t budge a hair.