by Rick Field
Danulia twitched. “They needn't have died, had the government peacefully surrendered! It was you who resisted!”
“It's always someone else's fault, isn't it?” Milor commiserated. “So few realize that it takes both sides to have an argument, and it only takes one not to have one. The government is in the right; it was you who instigated the revolution.”
Liane had reached her friend, finally, and Danulia eyed her strangely for a moment, before turning to the Crown Prince. “And yet, you could have avoided this by surrendering!”
Milor refused to glance in Liane's direction while she slipped in behind him. He even refused to acknowledge the fact that she suddenly leaned against his back, a clear invasion of his privacy. Instead, he focused on the revolutionary. “Will you? Should you find yourself in charge, will you surrender to the first uppity person to approach you with dreams of conquest and demands of capitulation?”
Danulia grimaced again. “Of course you won't,” Milor said. “Demands are not how a government is run. There are channels, there are procedures. Those in charge do what they feel is right for the country.”
Liane's hand was in the middle of Milor's back. She closed her eyes, and whispered. She had no magic with which to cast, but rather, appealed to the bond to grant her access to Milor's magic. Her friend's large body twitched, and something snapped into place with a suddenness that surprised both of them. She could feel his gasp when his core was suddenly drained, trying to equalize the pressures between his nearly full core and her completely empty one. Unable to help herself, the memory of a poor Assistant, drained by her Proctor, flashed before her mind's eye. She hoped that she wasn't about to damage her friend in a similar way, and that he would forgive her.
Her core filled, and her dark thoughts vanished as if they had never existed. Instead, the Pillar wanted to cheer. The amount of magic Milor had available to him was staggering, compared to the thimble-full her own damaged core seemed to hold, and she opened her eyes to glare at Danulia. Words slipped from her tongue, chaining spells together in intricate patterns. The old mage was suddenly encompassed in a cylindrical tube holding a hard vacuum, while the gravity was increased a hundred fold.
The increased gravity was annulled by her protective shield it seemed, while the hard vacuum certainly did its damage as the woman started screaming silently. With no air, there was no sound. Knowing her opponent's abilities, she did not stop to watch, and Liane pushed on. She knew how much this must be hurting her friend, yet she dared not stop. Once again, she hoped he would forgive her later.
She pulled more energy, and formed an acid cloud, which snapped into place just as the elderly mage had broken the vacuum and was drawing in big gulps of needed air. The acid splashed and was denied by the robes the woman wore, but found fertile ground on her exposed skin. The woman's screams were audible through the restored air, right before she managed to cancel the acid and neutralize it.
Milor incanted a spell, and suddenly all the pain in Liane's body was gone. Spells cast were shared! Milor had numbed his senses to pain, and because she was sharing his magic, her pain had been dulled as well!
Liane lifted more magic from Milor's core, and thanked the bond for having given her a base of her own upon which to build. She anchored a single power-raising chant, and braced herself for the influx of energy.
It was as smooth as a cup of Iron Belly tea, and she could feel Milor twitch when the power she raised fed him. Already, she ignored the power chant, and started forming her next spell.
Danulia, injured and hurting, wasn't about to just let them kill her, raised her hand, and vocalized a sound that made Liane shudder, right before the air thickened around them. Knowing the tricks she herself used, she held her breath and broke the enchantment. Milor shuddered against her hand, yet didn't pull away, allowing her to continue to use his magic for herself.
Once again, she tried to form her spell, a major reworking of the laws of biology within a localized space. In effect, she wanted to change the absorption factor of oxygen, preventing lungs from diffusing it into the bloodstream. Unfortunately, her spells took words, and while she had learned how to do some basic magic nonverbally, her damaged core still prevented her from actually casting combat magic without speech.
And so, Danulia broke her spell again with a nonverbal sound that seemed to trigger some form of magic. The hairs on her arms stood up, right before Lucifer shoved her. Hard. Hard enough to force both her and Milor away, sending both early-twenties warriors tumbling over the ground in a tangle of limbs. Behind them, lightning impacted the ground, blackening the floor and leaving a deep hole behind.
The air thickened again, and Liane broke another air-based spell, before having to dodge out of the way of a piece of rock hurled in their direction. From the corner of her eye, she saw Milor doing the same. It seemed their opponent had stopped playing around, and was now determined to kill them, and do it quickly.
Grateful for Milor's magic jumpstarting her core, Liane focused on the power raising chant that continued to fuel her magic. Without access to Milor's magic, she was now more than ever aware of just how small her own reserves were, and just how much she was able to do with it.
Now faced with two targets, Danulia was forced to split her attention between them. When the first few area of effect spells were either canceled or broken by Liane, the older Mage focused entirely on the Pillar, correctly noting how it was Liane that was able to find holes in her defenses.
The room grew cold when Danulia drew another fireball and hurled it toward Liane, and Lucifer once more had to shove her away. Her injured and hurting body was nearing its limits, and the Panacea effect seemed to have completely run its course. Without access to Milor, the pain-numbing spell had slowly vanished as well, and the full extent of her injuries once again made itself known.
The shove from her staff caused the fireball to miss, but it made her stumble with the sudden flare of pain it caused. Despite herself, she screamed when she hit the ground, hard. The revolutionist Mage grinned, and cast something short and vicious at the fallen woman, intent on finishing her off. For a moment, Liane wanted to close her eyes and await her fate.
Instead, Milor jumped in between the two combatants, and intercepted the fireball with DawnBreaker, and Liane had to resist the urge to cheer. She was hurting and tired, but the battle was still on, and despite Milor's determination to do so, he would not be able to shield her from Danulia's spells indefinitely.
The woman was no longer playing around now, and Liane knew their primary plan had failed. She doubted they would be able to kill the old woman, not with that incredible defense that made direct attacks useless, and especially not with most of Liane's spells taking such a ludicrously long time compared to Danulia's own.
“My Lord, keep her busy,” Liane whispered pleadingly. She might be able to attack the woman while Milor kept her engaged, but that was bound to fail after a spell or two. She doubted she would be able to do enough damage with two circumstantial spells to keep Danulia down, so she had to try something else. She hardly noticed Milor giving a sharp nod and charging the woman, making sure her field of vision was always interrupted. It wouldn't last for long, they both knew it.
Drawing a breath, Liane started waving her hands. Once, it had been a childish game taught to Mages, and while she had successfully used offloading of physical energy in her first duel, she had regularly used sacrifice of physical motions while enchanting Milor's swords. Now, she would use both to speed up a ritual. Channeling the runes through Lucifer, she successfully managed to get a circle of them around Danulia.
The Old Mage tried to jump out of the circle as soon as she noticed them, but Milor, the taller, broader, physically stronger Warlock, just shoved her back. At the same time, Liane's mangled words were accentuated by one arm waving in complex patterns, right before her right hand disengaged from Lucifer. Smashing her hands together, the Mage ended with,
“Prison of the Stone Golem!”
A murky red glow pooled from unseen seems between the rock casement, and Liane knew the old Mage would not give them the time. Forcing herself up, she grabbed Lucifer, formed a new circle around the original prison, and started again. Reaching for the throne, the Mage shouted, “Prison of the Metal Golem!”
The metal from the throne glowed with magic, transmuting itself from beautiful ornate blacksmithing into impossibly strong titanium alloy, winding itself around the original stone prison and taking the heat from Danulia's attack. For a moment, while the metal was still forming, it seemed the prison exuded an air of surprise, right before the burning increased. Liane at once realized that not even titanium alloy could withstand heat for long, and they needed Danulia encased as long as possible.
Both hands wrenched in the direction of the double prison, more words spilling from her lips. “Guardian of the Phoenix, Protect!”
Bands of runes corkscrewed around the bars of metal, and immediately the red heat dulled and vanished while the runes glowed. The air of the prison turned outraged instead of surprised, and Liane cursed. The Mage was crafty, and not even the double enchanted prison would hold her for long. Closing her eyes, she thought back to the single most formative event of her life. Before her mind's eye, with perfect clarity, formed the runic sequence that had been engraved on the magic-nullifying bracers that had once stripped her of her power.
Hands waving through the air to speed up her casting, the Mage engraved the magic-nullifying sequence onto the stone prison.
Immediately, it turned inert. No magic escaped it, and Liane let out her breath. “I do not know how long that will hold her, but I have encased her in stone and metal, reinforced both against heat, then engraved magic-suppression sequences on the stonework. I do not know what other tricks she has, however, so we should make haste and awaken the guardian.”
Milor dipped his head sharply, and they left immediately. “Epter, observation mode,” Liane whispered once they had left. The tiny construct wove through the crack in the door, and attached itself to one of the upright pillars now that the throne room no longer had a roof. At Liane's direction, it was able to see the entire room, yet be high enough to be impossible to see.
The communication circle bopped up and down in front of the Mage as she walked, as quickly as Liane's injured body would allow, through the Palace. Milor placed one hand on her shoulder, and she was about to jerk away from the unexpected intrusion into her personal space, when she felt him cast a spell. The pain vanished again.
“Be careful, My Lady,” he spoke gently. “The pain is hidden, that does not mean the injuries are not there. You can easily hurt yourself worse.”
“Thank you, My Lord. That is quite helpful,” she replied, grateful that the pain was gone.
“Once again, I am left with many questions regarding the things you did, and with notes of awe regarding the frightening displays of magic you have performed,” Milor said. “I wish that we had the time to discuss them.” He glanced at the prison in the middle of the destroyed throne room. “I also believe that my father will not enjoy what was done to his throne room.”
Liane tried to stop herself, she really did. But the spell Milor had cast felt so good, and she felt so free of pain, that she was unable to help herself when she blurted out, “I believe this is the reason why many parents refuse to allow their children to have a party while they are away. Inevitably, something gets destroyed.”
The glance Milor shot her was either amused, or highly sarcastic. He did not reply verbally, and they made their way in silence through the deserted hallways of the Imperial Palace. Once again, Milor was their guide and Liane merely followed obediently, her mind already detaching itself from reality and focusing on the magic instead. Diligently, she started dissecting what she had seen Danulia do, trying desperately to figure out the theory behind her spells, building upon what she had already learnt. For a moment, Liane wondered where the older Mage had been able to acquire her knowledge.
Then the circle drew her attention, and with a single motion she turned up the volume of Epter's pick-ups.”.. Crush! Kill! Destroy!” Whatever earlier words had spilled from the now clearly deranged woman encased in Liane's prison were lost, but the last three sent chills down Liane's spine. Next to her, she felt Milor tense as well.
Epter's visual pick-up panned the room, to a forgotten corner, where the air suddenly wavered and seemed to fall apart.
Liane could see the power in the cloaking and containment circles that failed, even through Epter's remote eyes, and what those spells revealed made her blood run cold. Despite the difference in build and properties, she instantly recognized the four-legged creature, the distant cousin of which still haunted her occasional nightmare. Who knew where Danulia had brought up that piece of arcane and sealed knowledge?
“By all the gods above and below,” Liane muttered, her free had grabbing Milor and yanking him forward. “Run!” she shouted at him. “For all you're worth! Run!”
Milor's initial jerking reaction was to free his hand, and yet he failed to break her grip. His longer legs easily caught up with her. “My Lady? What is the meaning of this?”
Liane glanced over her shoulder, imagining the creature bearing down upon them, despite the communication circle clearly showing the strange construct sniffing around the doors of the throne room, trying to pick up their trail. Once more, Danulia's deranged voice shouted, “Find them! Crush! Kill! Destroy!”
“My Lady?” Milor attempted again, not at least encumbered by what was clearly Liane's fastest speed.
“Blood construct,” Liane replied tersely between heaving breaths. “That. Is a. Blood Construct. It will. Destroy us.”
“I do not understand, My Lady,” Milor answered calmly, sending a spike of annoyance through her at his lack of reaction to their running. Despite their speed, they rounded a corner without problems. “What is a Blood Construct?”
Liane panted, her mind struggling with the task of explaining the concepts with as little words as possible. “A Blood Construct. Is not. Like a construct,” she panted. “It can. Use Magic. Lots of Magic.” She looked at the communication circle. The Blood Construct looked up, at Epter. The next moment, the circle went white, then vanished; at the exact same time they were thrown off their feet when the ground underneath them danced furiously, their eyes filled with roaring magic and groaning walls.
The Pillar had but a moment to lament the loss of her faithful companion before she tried to get her feet back underneath her, her entire body hurting despite Milor's free-pain spell from earlier. Her large friend was already upright, and had no problem pulling her up. “I understand,” he told her, his voice completely flat. Seemingly without effort, he yanked her forward, his longer legs eating ground at a rapid pace. She floundered behind him, exhausted, in pain, out of breath, and unable to match his speed, yet somehow keeping upright and moving forward, pulled through his strong grip and supported by his magic.
They raced through a nondescript door at the end of the hallway, and arrived in a large hall with high vaulted ceilings. “I must pass through that door,” Milor told her, indicating the door in question. He seemed to want to say more, but floundered suddenly, as if he were unable to find the words.
Liane made a decision, and stepped closer. “I will buy you as much time as I can, My Lord. Please hurry,” she told him, her free left hand going forward, reaching for DawnBreaker.
His hand intercepted hers. “My Lady, despite it being your Masterpiece, it is my sword, bound by blood and magic. It will harm you should you attempt to use it while it is bound to me, and you would lose all advantages it could give you if you broke the bond to me.”
She smiled faintly at him, and grabbed the handle of the weapon despite his restrainin
g grip. “My Lady,” he cautioned her.
The Mage pulled the sword free. “No weapon I have built will ever harm me,” she assured him. “Nor would I ever break a bond between wielder and weapon.”
He clearly wanted to say more, but she had already turned away, facing the door. He saw her point the sword – his weapon – to the entrance, and shout out her magic. At once, the hallway beyond collapsed, before the door slammed shut and blurred into the walls, and a large barrier seal appeared to strengthen the barrier. He didn't have time, he realized. “Good luck, My Lady. Please be safe.” He didn't wait for an answer, and vanished through the door leading down.
Liane smiled faintly; the demonstration she had planned had worked perfectly. Using his sword to cast her spells had shown him that she could indeed control her own Masterpiece despite it being bonded to him, and had reinforced the sense of urgency. It was time to prepare now. Hopefully, the Blood Construct wasn't as powerful as the one she had unwittingly created. Failing that, she hoped that it was at least subject to reason, as it seemed Danulia had been able to exert some measure of control over it. Somehow.
