by Rick Field
As quickly as it appeared, so quickly did it vanish.
Liane opened her eyes, remaining in her leaning position. This time, it wasn't just for show, and she was struggling not to show how quick her heart was pounding or how much air she really needed.
Danulia, who had remained in the back and outside of Liane's range, stared aghast. “That was-”
She got no further, Milor unleashing himself from the position he had kept at Liane side. DawnBreaker screaming through the air, preparing to cleave the rebellious elder Mage in half. To Milor's immense and obvious surprise, the striking edge of the weapon hit a protective barrier, a flash of light and the sound of a gong accompanying the complete and utter arrest of the blade.
Liane was still leaning on her staff, out of breath and struggling for physical stamina, but her eyes were wide open. Right as the weapon was about to hit Danulia, a spell had intercepted... Milor spun, blade extended, attacking from the side rather than the top. Once again, magic intercepted the strike. Now that she knew to pay attention, Liane could see the magic intercepting the strike, once more diverting the energy into light and sound.
Three, four, five, six more strikes were diverted in similar manner before Milor jumped back, carried on the back of a hasty spell word to enhance his leap.
“As I was saying,” Danulia said, her arms crossed. Despite her earlier words, it seemed that the elder Mage was unaffected by the loss of half a dozen of her people. “That was an impressive spell, My Lady. It saddens me to see you chose a stance opposite our viewpoint. After all, you too came from humble background, and should know the plight of the Commoners. It is not right that they have no say in government, and are used for nothing but labor and trade.”
She could see Milor building up his magic from the corner of her eye. Liane didn't know what magic protected the Mage in front of them, but she trusted Milor. If he thought a stronger attack could break through, she would buy him the time for it. “I do not see what my background has to do with your rebellion, My Lady. You are about to replace the Emperor with yourself, and nothing will change except that you were not chosen by the Arbitrator. At least, not voluntarily. That makes your capacity to lead highly suspect.”
Danulia scoffed. “I would only be in charge until the election. Besides, the Arbitrator was rigged; none of the royal bloodline would ever be denied.”
“That is not true!” Milor grated out. “History has noted the instances where a member of the royal family was denied, and was killed for it!”
“I never disputed the fact people died from the thing,” Danulia snapped. “I am simply stating those people were not a member of the royal family. Either they were illegitimate children, or adopted, or anything else. If they were not a member of the family, the Arbitrator would have killed them if they did not pass its tests. I am simply stating that the Arbitrator would have never executed a member of the Royal family, no matter how badly they failed. I've been studying it for days now, remember?”
Milor apparently refused to answer. “Perhaps My Lady has misunderstood the runic sequences,” the younger Mage offered. She had to draw the older woman's attention...
Danulia scoffed, and was about to reply, when Milor let out a barely articulate yell that may have, at one time, been construed as a word. A rampaging torrent of magical lightning burst around Danulia. Light and sound and magic raged and howled, detonating into a twisting cacophony of elemental energies. Liane winced, and tightened her eyes, attempting to see through the maelstrom of conflicting wills, trying to discern what was happening. What she saw filled her with dread.
When the spell finally died down, Danulia was still standing, in the same position, arms crossed, not a hair out of place. The woman sighed.
It was Liane who broke the silence first. “My Lord, her defense is absolute,” she said. It didn't matter now, her friend had to be informed. “It is based upon the same principles I have barely begun to understand on our walk here. It pulls the energy out of your attack, and diverts it into harmless light and sound. It is probably uncomfortable for her to be in, but it will not harm her. It will just as happily pull the kinetic energy out of the swing of a sword as it will pull the magic out of a spell.”
“Impressive, My Lady,” Danulia said. “There are very few who could understand my defense so quickly as you. You are indeed correct. No attack will harm me, and the amount of magic it uses is negligible, especially as the protection will fuel itself off of the attacks it negates. You cannot harm me. I suggest you leave; too many have already died, and I will still entertain the notion of important positions for you should you join me.” The elder Mage shrugged. “Well, after the necessary oaths, of course. You did turn me down initially, I can no longer trust you at your word.”
The jibe ignited Liane's magic. So she couldn't be trusted, could she!? She was untrustworthy because she was loyal to her country, was she!?
Liane took two steps forward, and planted Lucifer. Danulia frowned slightly. “My Lord, remember my warning,” the Pillar said. Danulia looked confused, but Milor sprinted as quickly as he could to stand right next to her, even as her eyes dropped closed. “Protect me, My Lord,” she managed to whisper just before her angry magic filled the spell construct held in her mind.
Forget Runescape’s initial levels. She was going to destroy the older woman!
Level 5, Annihilation, Liane's lips formed.
Darkness fell, and Liane's eyes opened. Magic lashed out, trying to accomplish its primary directive, to kill all that was being seen by Liane's eyes. Her annihilative magic smashed against Danulia's protective barrier, and for a moment an irresistible force met with an immovable object.
Feeling the energy being drained from her attack, Liane bit out a growl, the vision of her eyes narrowing, tunnel vision focusing increasingly narrow upon her target. The howling magic could no longer be heard, colors started to fade. The pounding in her chest was felt, not heard, and her magic's scream filled her mind.
Her right knee hit the ground, and the sudden jolt dislodged her supreme focus. The shield around Danulia glowed as white as burning magnesium, and the moment Liane's spell fell away, it unleashed a torrent of sheer, raw, unformed magic straight up. The ceiling of the throne room vanished, obliterated into dust, before rampaging on, bursting clouds and vanishing into the skies above. Danulia slowly stood from where she had dropped into a huddle, her hair, clothes, and body caked with sweat. A few patches of skin were raw and blistered, evidence that even her protection could not contain all of the energy called up by Liane's spell.
For a moment, the Warlock and the two mages stared at each other.
“What kind of spell was that!?” Danulia shouted, the first to break the tense and stunned silence.
“Annihilation”, Liane muttered, unable to believe that her ultimate attack had just failed. “Should have obliterated your soul.” If their enemy wanted to be a fantasy villain, and talk in the middle of battle, then Liane was more than happy to oblige her. Especially as said talk would give her a chance to get some energy back.
“You would have destroyed my very soul?” the old Mage managed, her voice fearful for the first time.
“I would,” the younger woman declared.
Danulia raised one hand, and Liane could feel the air temperature plummet as the old woman drained the ambient temperature. She tried to force herself upright, and managed nothing more than an explosion of pain. She closed her eyes as the fireball launched her way. Despite her closed eyes, her magical senses still beheld the magic.
Suddenly, the ball was intercepted, dispersing against DawnBreaker. Startled, the mage opened her eyes, looking straight at Milor's back. “Do not worry,” he said, right before launching himself back at their enemy.
Maybe it was the remains of the Panacea in her body, but Liane could feel how her magic and her body were pulling together, stitching up the damage done by the Annihilation level of Runescape. Last time, she had been out of commission for days, and it had
taken a Master Druid to save her life. Perhaps she hadn't been as injured before using it, or perhaps it was the Panacea, or perhaps a combination of those facts, but Liane was happy that she could at least remain conscious.
Slowly, she pushed herself to her legs. The protections around her magic had been badly damaged, and she spent twenty long seconds pulling the worst of the damaged areas back together while Milor engaged the old Mage. The woman was engaged in battle now, unable to be hurt by Milor's weapon, and yet unable to hurt him due to the same weapon.
A smile tugged at her lips in pride. She had built that weapon, and like any proud parent, she was happy to see it perform well.
She didn't have a lot of magic left. Annihilation had proven that Danulia's protections could be overpowered. Overpowered, or broken. Liane didn't have the time she needed to build up the mental picture of the runic construction required to create Danulia's protective effects, so she had no hope of finding a hole she could exploit, or a way to break the protection permanently.
All she could hope to do was overpower it, do enough damage, either knock the woman out or kill her.
Overpower...?
Liane blinked. The woman was breathing. That meant air could get through the shield. She dredged up the last remains of her power, and removed all the oxygen from the air in a bubble around the woman's head. Danulia wavered; DawnBreaker hit the invisible protection half a dozen times, before the woman muttered something. Liane felt her spell shatter.
“Good work, My Lady!” Milor shouted, going after the older woman once more.
Liane just nodded, panting deeply. That last spell had hurt to cast, her reserves now completely depleted. She needed power. She set a power-raising chant, and anchored it into her depleted core. Not even waiting for the first round to complete, she anchored a second chant, two phrases into the first, staggering them.
The moment magic hit her core from the first chant, it felt like ice freezing through her core and all over her body. The sensation was alien, painful, and completely unexpected. It surprised her so much she wasn't even able to cancel the chants before the second chant hit its first completion. The second injection of magic was as hot as the first had been cold, and Liane screamed.
Her hand slipped from Lucifer, and both her knees hit the ground right as she vomited blood. Her body had torn itself to shreds, both chants finally cancelled as her body rejected them and the magic they had conjured.
She vomited again. More blood.
“That was a bad idea, My lady. Power raising chants don't work well when your core is completely depleted,” Danulia said, her voice barely making it to Liane's brain.
The Pillar cursed silently. Damn her anger for making her go for the big spells! Had she kept herself calm, had she thought things through, she would have known to go for indirect attacks! She needed magic if she was going to defeat this opponent.
There was one last thing she could try, she suddenly realized, and closed her eyes, trying to focus, and slip into a trance. If she could summon an Elemental Spirit, she may be able to trade some days of her life for a boost of magical energy. Liane, known as the MagicWarper...
Her trance shattered at the sound of a word, and the Mage looked up. Danulia waggled her finger as if faced with a naughty child. “I'm sorry, My Lady, but I can't let you do that,” the older mage admonished. Milor growled angrily, still unable to penetrate her defenses, and utterly enraged at how the Mage barely paid attention to him.
Milor shifted away when Danulia raised her hand and threw a fireball at him. The air shuddered when the old Mage drew on its speed, and suddenly the woman was standing right in front of the Warlock. A groan spread through the walls as she borrowed from its strength, and Milor grunted in surprise when her bare-handed strike hit the edge of his blade and forced him to his knees.
The moment his mobility was impaired, Danulia spun and threw a second fireball at Liane; this one fueled by conventional magic rather than heat from the environment.
It was strange what a person's mind did when faced with death. Time slowed to a crawl as the fireball approached, and Liane could do nothing but stare at it. The Pillar was down, her magic depleted and her body injured internally from her ill-fated attempt at recharging it. She stared at the slow-motion of the fire spell, wondering why the old Mage had chosen to charge it with magic rather than from the environment.
She abruptly understood when a shiver went through her ailing body. There was not enough heat in the air left to charge a proper fireball.
Not that it mattered, but at least she had broken this one last secret before the fire incinerated her. She was too injured to move properly. The fire was going to burn her. It was going to hurt. If she survived. She sighed, and reached deep inside, making ready to break her containment of her magic. Disassembling her magical containment would release the power she had stored in it. It would return her to her previous power levels, but it was going to be the last magic she ever did. After her magic destabilized, it would fall apart completely and be forever denied to her.
Her grip on her containment slackened. Did she really want to live without magic?
Suddenly, time jumped to its regular speed when Milor threw himself between her and the fireball, catching the spell on the flat of DawnBreaker, shattering it. “I will defend you, My Lady. Recover as best you can,” the Warlock ground out, his voice far from the usual placid, Decorum-inspired tones.
Liane stared at his back. There was no way Milor would be able to best Danulia, all Warlock spells were based on direct-damage spells and attack spells. No energy would be able to cross that protective field, which meant that it was only she, Liane, who had a chance of doing their opponent damage.
And she had no magic left. Except if she released her containment field, at the permanent cost of her magic.
Milor stood, and charged the older Mage once more. Liane dry-heaved, and swallowed. At least there was no blood this time. Another wave of pain hit her body. She crawled, slowly, to a corner. It would take her magic days to recover from this. If only there was a way for her to access magic... suddenly, she remembered how she had once shared magic with Amy, through the Proctor-Assistant bond. If she could do something similar, temporarily, she would be able to borrow magic from Milor.
She closed her eyes, and trusted on her friend to protect her. Danulia shouted that word again, but there was no spirit trance to break. Liane took as deep a breath as she could, which wasn't very deep at all, and focused on examining the bond of Championship that she now carried. She should have done that from the start, she reasoned. She cursed herself for getting caught up in her discovery of energy manipulation.
The bond extended from herself, to Milor, and through him, to his father and the entire Kirian Island. She could feel the Great Barrier, far away and focused on the island and keeping it safe from external threats. She could feel the census charms built into the island's protective matrix, and could access the data that the Great Barrier had once provided to her on the number of the living, both Commoner and Noble. The Tax Wards were still up above their maximum potency, and were set as read-only, even to her new state as 'Champion of Kiria'. They refused to lower.
She drew her consciousness back, dimply aware of how Milor covered for her. His grunt was deeper than she was used to, and it took her a few instants to realize that he had been hurt. She receded further, focusing solely on the bond that existed between them now.
It was designed for the passing of authority, so magic itself would recognize her as his word and his hand; it was never designed to allow the passing of actual magical energy. It was ethereal, this magic, based in word and thought and intent rather than motion and rune. Like a vow or an oath, there was no base inscription for her to modify and it would take her time and energy to do, both of which she no longer possessed.
She could feel something on the other side of the bond, maybe a twitch or a tickle. Excitement clouded her purity of thought for a moment when she realized that t
he bond was expanding on its own, recognizing the need of both of the involved parties. There seemed to be a base intelligence behind the process, an intelligence able to expand and to build when required.
Liane sucked at the bond as if it were an empty straw, trying to make the bond realize what it was that she wanted of it. She felt a hesitation, followed by another twitch, before confusion. The basic intelligence was unable to communicate, and was too basic to be really called 'intelligent'.
Milor let out another pained grunt, and Liane's concentration shattered when she heard his body thump to the ground. He was a few meters away, covered in sweat and blood and panting deeply.
“Now stay down,” Danulia snapped. “I do not wish to bloody my hands. Desist!”
Milor had gotten up to one knee, DawnBreaker held securely in his right hand. “Then perhaps you should not have instigated revolution. You cannot lead if you are unwilling to dirty your hands.” Liane forced herself to move, hoping that Milor kept Danulia's attention. She had to get to him. Physical contact would help; she was sure of it. Her friend went on, “Besides, hundreds have already perished. Their deaths are on your hands and head. You have already been stained, My Lady.”
