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Demon Scroll

Page 30

by Tim Niederriter


  Losing face here could cost him his guild mastership. Kadatz would fight with everything he had, and according to her studies, Takyron was one of the most difficult demons to harm physically.

  She doubted herself, but she also trusted her teachers.

  Elaine and Niu waved to her from one of the sidelines. She walked to them.

  “You two, thanks for coming.”

  “Where else would we be?” Niu said.

  Elaine nodded.

  “I don't know. It’s good to see you both.”

  Elaine smiled.

  “I know I've been absent a bit lately.”

  “Now we’re all together,” said Melissa.

  Niu nodded.

  “I’m your second but I don't think it's going to come down to me.”

  “Hope not,” Melissa said. Because if it came to a second, she thought, I wouldn't be well.

  Niu laughed.

  “What can one old man do to you?”

  “A lot,” said Melissa.

  Niu shrugged.

  “Don't let him.”

  “You'll do well,” said Elaine. “Just remember the basics and try to force him into positions he doesn't like. The more often you do that, the more likely he will assume his sacra form.”

  Once he assumes his sacra form, Melissa told herself, that's when I must strike hard.

  If Melissa missed Takyron she doubted she would have a chance for a second strike.

  She turned from her friends. Ricklon Kadatz stepped into the plaza opposite Melissa. He held no weapon, but his hands wove intricate patterns before him as he muttered an incantation.

  The governor sat on a platform between them on one side of the square. She motioned to her chamberlain. The chamberlain called out in a loud voice

  “Witness the duel between Melissa Dorian and Ricklon Kadatz. Whoever shall fall from the circle first shall be defeated and whoever stands fast, victorious.”

  Melissa turned over the archaic speech in her mind. The circle, drawn by chalk and stone markers in the center the Plaza was some thirty spans across.

  “The duel shall begin once both challengers enter the circle,” The chamberlain said.

  Melissa walked toward the circle, holding her spear loosely, its point in the air.

  She and Kadatz approached the circle. They stopped, just outside on either edge and stared at each other.

  “I can't believe you challenged me,” he said.

  “You're the one who accepted,” said Melissa. “If I’m so small, you wouldn’t have.”

  Kadatz offered no reply.

  He kept weaving spells between his hands. Whatever he attempted, she needed to be ready to counter.

  Melissa stepped into the circle. Kadatz waited on the outside a moment longer. The chamberlain looked at them. His eyes grew large as everyone waited.

  The guild master stepped into the circle.

  Melissa faced Kadatz, spear forward to protect her while she focused, muttering incantations over and over again to strengthen the electricity sprites throughout her body. In a close-range battle, I may have an advantage.

  Kadatz moved evasively despite the tight space of the circle. She prowled toward him, essences ready. Electricity flickered at her fingertips. One jolt with her new sprites could paralyze a human. She doubted Kadatz would give her an easy shot. She aimed along the spear, keeping it low, to keep her view of Kadatz clear.

  His lips formed the ritual words for separation. Could he still be planning to rob me of my magic? With most of her sprites activated electrically, trying to attack her up close would be his downfall. Separation would result in contact and with charged sprites, shocking him.

  Melissa advanced. Kadatz remained on the edge of the circle. If he stayed there Melissa would shove him out.

  She got within ten hand spans. Halfway across the circle, Kadatz moved.

  He darted to the side. A cloud of essences flickered into view around him, emerging from his body like a wave.

  A combination of wind and mist. The entire circle filled with cloud in an instant. Melissa stepped back, apprehensive. The thick fog inhibited her senses. She couldn’t hear Kadatz’s magic or any essences outside the circle even her spear’s head vanished into the mist.

  Kadatz let out a laugh. Melissa couldn’t determine where he stood. He must be circling her, looking for a chance to strike.

  She sent out mind sprites to locate him. She found more essence fragments dispersed in drifts throughout the cloud. The large number of them created enough presence to keep Kadatz concealed from her seeking sprites. The entities themselves might not be intelligent, but they could fool each other.

  Melissa scowled.

  When will he strike and from where?

  He might finish her off a single blow if she remained still. Melissa circled, calling upon her knowledge of electricity. Lightning shot through air, but liquid could carry it as well. The material of clouds contained water. Could she shock Kadazt with a sprite without seeing him? She had to try.

  She drew out four Banes, each carrying electricity, and then shot them away, one in front, one behind, and one on either side. They streaked into the mist. She waited for them to travel a short distance, then activated their electrical fields. Jags of lightning jumped through the cloud.

  Charge struck Melissa. The jolt would not be enough to slow herself down but it made her blink. Kadatz must have gotten a similar shock. He would have to guess if she could find him or not. Her banes returned to her.

  Melissa whirled, sweeping her spear in an arc. The spear cut only mist. Kadatz essence returned to him and the mist parted as she moved her spear through it. She spun in the fading fog and found Kadatz standing six hands away. His hands still wove a spell. He shouted and surged toward her. Melissa braced her. Kadatz wouldn’t be foolish enough to charge head-on. He threw himself to one side.

  She turned to face him, moving her spear to block his path around the circle. He leapt over the spear’s head and landed on the tiled stonework beyond her reach. Melissa swung the weapon backward, striking Kadatz in the back. The haft cracked against his shoulders. He stumbled forward.

  Kadatz and Melissa circled each other. He kept out of reach. Her spear darted forward, aimed for his chest. He laughed as he stepped backward. She released a jolt of electricity from the point of the spear to leap to him. The electrical impulse empowered by her sprite sent Kadatz jagging one side. He shuddered and his laughter died away.

  Melissa followed him, grabbing for his arm. She extended the spear to one side to block his movement. He retreated backward out of reach but stumbled. The guild master rolled on his back as another jolt of electricity shot through him. He scrambled out of reach as Melissa slammed the butt of her spear down where he’d fallen. I'm winning, Melissa thought, but he must have set a trap.

  Kadatz bounded to his feet, completing his woven incantation. The sound of thunder rumbled above. Lightning made a powerful tool, Melissa knew all too well.

  “Lightning,” said Kadatz, “you know, your electrical tricks are simply that. Tricks.”

  The cloudy day above them started to coalesce into swirls of storm.

  Melissa grunted. Kadatz must have sent a sprite into the cloud layer. Such reach he has. Not one, she realized as she listened for the sound from above. There were three essences up there, and only one sprite with two banes. That could be enough power to...

  Melissa jumped backward. A bolt of lightning struck the ground or she been standing. Thunder roared in her ears. Stones blackened. The stench of burnt air filled her nose. She circled, needing to be careful while at the same time completely unpredictable.

  The crowd around them was inaudible to Melissa’s ringing ears. Most of them would not grasp the battle full. Until her training, Melissa would have only seen fog and lightning, not any of the gamesmanship going on within the essences and mind.

  Behind their eyes, mages contained skills that allowed them to do more than shoot electrical impulses, or control
wind and rain. The fog cloud Kadatz had created drifted away as the last of its essence returned to him.

  Melissa needed to stop his plan or lightning would strike her with accuracy any second. She had no way of reaching up and disrupting sprites and Banes in the clouds unless...her mind raced as an idea formed.

  She raised her spear, drawing out her iron bane. The bane flew into the clouds, aimed straight at the cluster of essences circling in the cloud layer above to form more lightning. The clouds parted above the square with a sonic boom.

  Melissa grimaced. She faced Kadatz once more. His disrupted sprites broke apart and fell to join his body once more.

  “So you have learned something,” he said.

  Melissa glowered.

  She rushed at him, spear in both hands. This time, she spun it like a windmill as they closed. He couldn’t dodge the weapon except by retreating and he was just a few hands from the edge of the circle. Kadatz held his ground. He drew all the essence he’d released into himself and transformed as if into mist. Was this Takyron? No, Melissa thought, he matched himself with the clouds. She passed through the wet cloud that was the magister's guild master. Her other hand shot out, sending electricity toward the cloud.

  Kadatz flowed away to the other side of the circle. She rushed at him once more, stopping short to launch electrical banes. The shock caught him as his body reformed into a solid. He staggered, turned, and shot sprite darts tipped by banes from his hands. She caught a dart across the forearm. Another bane sliced through her upper elbow. Her blood flowed freely. She kept her grip on the spear despite the wounds. She switched the spear to her left hand. Her right arm quickly grew numb with pain as she sent her iron bane to close her senses from that arm. Otherwise, the pain would have overpowered her. She folded her arm at her side.

  Kadatz grinned.

  “So simple. I'm going to take you to pieces.”

  Melissa raised the spear in her left hand. She did not aim, but made a slashing motion, sending out two sprites to draw a line. The ward she had used on the floor of the world well cavern should be enough to separate sprites and banes should he attempt to attack with the combined darts again.

  She limped around the circle, her electrical impulses flaring, her right side unprotected. She withdrew all her sprites from her wounded arm except for her iron bane. If Kadatz attacked that side. She kept her left side to him.

  “A reversed stance,” said Kadatz, “impressive.”

  “Kadatz,” said Melissa through gritted teeth. Time to finish this. She pressed him to the side of the circle with her spear.

  Just a hand from the edge, he faced her down. Bane bolts erupted, three this time, each driven by a pair of sprites. The bolts rushed toward Melissa. Her spear spun, empowered by multiple sprites. The wooden handle cut the air, taking down a bolt. It thudded into the stones at her feet. The head of her weapon deflected another bolt from striking her face. The third bane bolt sliced through, missing her by less than a span. She brought the haft of the spear down, smashing into Kadatz’ shoulder. He rushed toward her, essence flickering on his fingertips.

  He grasped for Melissa's shoulder. She darted backward, but he gained a hold on her numb shoulder. She twisted in his grip. His other fist struck her stomach.

  She gasped. Her insides roiled as if she’d throw up.

  She staggered, dropping her spear. She shoved his blow off target. Darting forward, Melissa shoved her numb shoulder into the guild master’s chest, forcing him backward. He stepped onto the circle’s edge, almost out. One more inch and he would lose.

  She shoved with all her might. He drove his banes darts into the stone beneath him His feet nailed themselves to the pavement. The stones cracked beneath him.

  Melissa staggered back a step. Her right arm hung limp at her side. She faced Kadatz with a grimace on her face.

  “It won't be that easy,” said Kadatz.

  Melissa grimaced.

  “Of course not.”

  She marched closer and sent her electrical banes straight into the ground. Where his darts entered the pavement, they conducted electricity to him. Her banes shocked through his limbs. Halfway paralyzed, shaking, he stood on the edge of the line

  He spoke a final incantation and then a desperate plea.

  “Takyron, help me.”

  The demon emerged.

  Takyron's face looked like a skull, his body a cloak of shadows. He drifted off the line and into the circle, leaving the electrical surge from Melissa's attack behind. The demon swished toward Melissa like a wraith.

  Melissa had read up on spectral demon’s the last few weeks. Such entities moved swiftly and proved immune to most physical attacks. Takyron flew toward Melissa. Her electricity jolt did nothing. She retreated, abandoning her counterattack. Melissa couldn't reach her spear where it lay behind Takyron. Demonic claws tensed with violent intent.

  One wound from those and I’m done.

  Her right arm left trails of red on the stones below her.

  She turned her back on Takyron and jumped to the edge of the circle. She landed on the chalk line, then spun on her heel. She faced Tayron once more. The demon rushed toward her.

  She faced him down, hands one good hand weaving a ritual spell, the only one she knew could affect the ghostly demon directly, her mind fog. She sent banes forth held together by a lone sprite to form a spear of essence. The demon caught the sprite and the banes one side. His arm went limp as she matched the damage on her right arm to the demon’s body.

  They were even. Melissa's blood dripped. Her right hand twitched. The iron bane held the limb together while her shatter sprite dulled the pain.

  Takyron slashed at her with his left claw. She caught the blow, across her thigh and it drew blood. She staggered, almost falling from the line. Takyron’s skull group gleamed in the little light remaining. Rain began to fall.

  Raindrops speckled the skull.

  Melissa's eyes widened.

  Takyron loomed higher, seeming to grow as clouds mounted. The raindrops struck his skull but passed through his robe. The robe isn't solid, thought Melissa. The robe is immune but the skull isn't.

  She forced herself to move and swung her left fist. Her mind fog attacked the skull. His robe rippled. A gust of wind blew toward her. The wind caught her. Melissa sprawled on her belly. Takyron loomed over her. She rolled to avoid is diving claw. His fingers sliced through the stonework. She climbed to her feet, trailing blood.

  The demon spun. Her left arm was extended as far she could. The blow passed through his robe without resistance.

  Takyron's arm came down, bludgeoning Melissa’s shoulder. A pop sounded her ears and the pain became intense. Her shoulder had been dislocated by a single blow.

  She recoiled, aching and bloodied. The demon held every advantage.

  Her fingers twitched. She withdrew her sprite from her left hand. The shattered sprite dulled all her pain. She let the pain fill her as her right hand formed a fist.

  Takyron’s claws seized her shoulder. Melissa's right fist collided with his jaw in a blow as strong as she could muster. Takyron went flying, his light frame taking to the air as if someone kicked a skull across an open field. One blow was enough to send the demon over thirty hands across the square. He flew out of the circle. Takyron settled onto the stones. His sockets grew dull. Kadatz replaced the demon. The guild master sank to his knees in acknowledgment of defeat. Melissa stared at him.

  Her eyes grew clouded with tears. She sank to her knees. She remained in the circle. She had won.

  She raised her fist over her head.

  “You magister’s will decide who wields magic, no longer!”

  Saben

  The wagon arrived at the seashore. Jaswei, Saben, and Rond unloaded while waiting for the ships on the horizon to close with the coast.

  Jaswei and her large luggage of clothes proved difficult. Finally, she chose what she could fit in a rowboat. The three of them waited. Jaswei’s smaller luggage still stood as tal
l as she did. Saben and the others watched the sea alternately.

  Jaswei glanced at him from time to time. Saben began to think what they wanted might align after all. Her attraction to him might not prove so inconvenient.

  He glimpsed the black sails of outriggers and the metal shells of Kanori fortress ships on the horizon. The fortress ships, great weapons of the previous war, had been improved over time. Each one was a leviathan of armor on a reinforced hull, and a work of art as well. The family insignias they carried told the tales of generations of artisans and engineers. Each vessel held a strict position in the fleet.

  Determined by hierarchy, these positions left the greatest ships in the center. Lesser vessels arranged outward, creating Kanor’s famous formation. Kanor wielded its fleet often to fight foes across the sea to the south. However, these ships were not bound for the south. They rowed for Lowenrane.

  Saben and the others watched a fortress ship break from the fleet and approach the shore. The armored dome of the vessel was adorned with spines made of steel. The ship moved by rowing oars churning the water on either side. Even those oars, were mostly covered by sheets of metal.

  Their steel curtains made for tough vessels. Each fortress ship could take on two rival vessels and survive for a long while without support.

  The shoreline turned luminous as flare shot from the ship to hang overhead. Saben waved his arm. Two rowboats descended in the twilight, then approached the shore.

  Saben, Jaswei, and Rond made their way to the beach. He signaled to the rowboats with sprites. The crews on board appeared to recognize his signs. They boarded the ships and set out across the water.

  The lesser fortress ship near shore met them quickly. Folt and the other four members of the Fist of Nassio greeted them with shrugs and nods, except Heen. The boy grinned with excitement and stepped forward to shake each of their hands. The girl, Rina shook her head behind him.

  The ship was hot, but spacious inside. This is how Kanor fights, Saben thought.

  Folt bowed to them, an exaggerated gesture, given their lack of any real status.

  “When will we meet with the king?” asked Saben.

 

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