The impact against her left side came so suddenly that her half-formed shield shattered, and the next thing Ruethwyn knew, she was bouncing off a wall, gasping as pain exploded through her ribs, along with the sound of shattering ice.
“Ice armor, not bad against blades, but hardly useful against blunt strikes,” Essryl said, her voice pleasant as she added, “I’d guess you broke one or two ribs from the sound, Ruethwyn. Not that that will stop you. You’ve been through worse.”
Alaran flashed toward Essryl like a living shadow, and Essryl spun around, locking her blade with his for a moment as she grinned, grabbing his wrist with her other hand. As Ruethwyn regained her feet, struggling for breath, Essryl threw the man toward the stairs and sent him tumbling down it.
“You’ve improved, Alaran. Last time you couldn’t move half as well, and your terror was palpable. Now you’re—” Essryl began, but Ruethwyn took a hissing breath and reached into herself, trying to find the same power she’d felt against Hekara.
At the same time, Ruethwyn saw Sella out of the corner of her eye, as the young woman stood in the doorway, a crystal-tipped wand outstretched, and murmured a word. The crystal flashed and exploded, and a golden beam of light blasted out from the wand toward Essryl. The dark elf responded instantly, darting away, but this time she wasn’t quite fast enough. The glow exploded into a dome over the area it would affect, and Essryl was just inside its radius.
Essryl staggered and nearly fell, her hand spasming around the dagger she held. She didn’t fall, but Ruethwyn felt just a bit of hope and snapped out an incantation. As she did so, Sella called out, “Am I passive now, Essryl? Good luck, Rue!”
Sella vanished through the doorway in the wake of the former captives, and Ruethwyn finished her spell as Alaran charged back up the stairs, bleeding from a cut on his face.
Ice chains burst from the ground just as Essryl began straightening, wrapping around the dark elf and pulling taut. Alaran lunged forward, and Ruethwyn flinched as he lashed out with his sword, only to hear the sound of cracking ice.
One of the chains cracked as Essryl kicked, pushing the limits of her mobility enough to hit him in the knee and force Alaran to lose his balance. At the same time she leaned backward, and Ruethwyn’s breath caught as she saw the gash his blade cut into her face.
Alaran regained his footing quickly, recoiling as he found his balance. Ruethwyn started casting another spell, but froze as she heard shouts, and then the deep, ringing sound of the bells atop the palace. A moment later, a deep roar echoed through the palace, sending a shudder through Ruethwyn.
“Guardian’s impact,” Essryl said, and her foot hit the floor hard. An immense impact shook the floor, cracking stone tiles and the chains alike, but the shockwave sent Alaran staggering back. The injury on Essryl’s face was closing quickly, but the blood didn’t vanish, and the smile on her face was wide. “It seems that My Lord is aware of the attack, so I’d best finish this quickly. Princess, soothe my wounds.”
Blue light enveloped her, and the injury vanished, along with the blood. Alarm exploded through Ruethwyn, and she suddenly latched on to an idea. One hand reached into her belt pouch, grabbing the silver cube, and with her right she began casting another spell to restrain Essryl. Alaran darted forward and sliced at Essryl, but the Illisyr vanished before he reached her, the chains of ice collapsing as they did so. Ruethwyn threaded mana into the silver cube and dropped it, praying that she’d anticipated Essryl’s actions correctly.
The next moment, Essryl appeared next to Ruethwyn and kicked her again, sending stars flashing through Ruethwyn’s vision as she went flying sideways again. This time, she was expecting it, though, and even though her ribs shrieked with pain, Ruethwyn smiled as she bounced off the wall, gasping. “Thank you.”
Essryl’s dagger was sheathed again, Ruethwyn saw in the next moment, and the dark elf was instead holding a sword in both hands, one carved of wood and which was wreathed in purple flames. Essryl looked puzzled, but she didn’t have time to do anything, Ruethwyn knew.
The silver cube activated, and a glowing gray bubble ten feet across snapped into existence around Essryl. Alaran bounced off it with a curse, and Ruethwyn laughed, then winced and regretted it as pain speared through her. She stood, fishing out a healing potion as Essryl cut at the interior of the bubble, her blade bouncing off it uselessly. It looked like she was saying something, but Ruethwyn couldn’t hear what she was saying.
“She’s trapped, Alaran. That should hold for a few minutes, so let’s go,” Ruethwyn gasped, downing the potion.
“What? Oh! The freezing cube! I thought you said that was a shield, not a trap,” Alaran said, pausing for a moment, then nodding and starting toward the open door.
“It is. We just realized she liked sending us flying after getting in close, and hoped our timing would be right. It was,” Ruethwyn replied, chasing after him as she dropped the potion. Her ribs hurt immensely, but the potion helped ease the pain. Zaria approved, she knew, and was amused at the idea.
“Right, well, we don’t have much time,” Alaran said, grimacing as he added, “That’s one scary woman.”
“You don’t say,” Ruethwyn replied sarcastically, then she turned the corner and paled.
The clamor of battle filled the halls, and ahead of them, around the exit, she saw her friends fighting over a dozen guards, including a couple of magi. Tadrick was steadily being driven back by an older human man with a black greatsword and heavy black armor, while the last few women were retreating down the passage as they watched.
To Ruethwyn’s shock, Anara was among her friends, and the blonde was leaving trails of lightning in her wake as she pummeled a guard, dodging the attacks of a second one as she did so. Lissa was there as well, and an eight-foot-long dragon made of fire was battling a group of guards alongside Korima, who had a dagger in one hand and a whip of fire-edged rock in the other while wearing her earthen armor. Sella was sparkling with lightning again, throwing bolts at the mage as they held them back.
Alaran cursed and started forward quickly. “Shit, that’s Captain Gardner! Tadrick, hold on a second!”
He raced ahead, and Ruethwyn started after him, preparing to join the fight.
The next moment, Ruethwyn felt an immense surge of mana, and at Zaria’s urging, she skidded to a stop, as the next moment an immense, glittering barrier of purple and black magic flashed into existence in front of her, then pulsed with magic that sent her flying backward.
Chapter 41
“Well, crap,” Picking herself up, Ruethwyn looked at the barrier in shock.
The amount of mana she could feel rippling through the wall was terrifying, and there was no way her ward breachers could break it. It only took Ruethwyn a moment to realize that, and her lips thinned as she realized that there was only one person who could’ve done so. Resvarygrath. Zaria agreed with her, too.
Realizing the others would try to break it, Ruethwyn quickly cast a spell, sending a message to Alaran as she spoke quickly. “Alaran, the barrier is too strong for our breachers to get through. We’re going to go invisible and try cutting through the throne room to get to the other side. Otherwise, I’ll go over the wall. Get everyone out.”
She pulled out the invisibility disk and activated it, quickly darting back the other way as she tried to remember the layout of the building. The first branching hallway should have a link to the throne room, and it was connected to the palace antechamber and to one opposite, which she might be able to use to circle around. She didn’t have a lot of faith in that, but it was worth a try. She doubted that the others would be happy with her decision, but they could live with it.
“Rue, if you get captured, I’m coming back for you! And if you die, I’ll never forgive you!” Korima’s voice suddenly appeared in her ears like a whisper, almost as if prompted by her thoughts. The kitsune sounded incredibly upset, not that Ruethwyn could blame her. Still, Ruethwyn couldn’t help a smile as she shook her head.
“Alright, Korima, you made your point,” Ruethwyn murmured, and she paused as a couple of guards turned the corner and raced down the hall toward the barrier. She pressed against the wall to ensure they didn’t bump into her, then turned the corner to head for the throne room.
The doors were slightly ajar from where the guards had come through, and Ruethwyn lunged through them, scampering into the throne room without pause. The room was immense, even compared to the halls, nearly sixty feet across and a hundred long, with numerous pillars and immense double-doors to admit petitioners from the other end, while bright lights illuminated it like the noonday sun. The sound of a sibilant voice hissing out a spell caused her to stiffen, but before she could turn around, the doors all slammed shut and locked.
“I smell a little rat.” Resvarygrath’s voice was booming, and Ruethwyn heard him breathe in, and without a moment more thought, she threw mana into her ring, bracing herself as the wedge-shaped shield snapped to life with all its layers, pointing it toward the dragon’s voice. The invisibility effect vanished as the shield appeared, and Ruethwyn caught only a glimpse of glittering scales from far too close by before the fire came. And as it came, she realized that she should’ve worn the ring which hid her scent.
The torrent of blinding flames rippled over her shield, which succeeded in splitting the fire, but one layer after another shattered as the stone cracked on either side of Ruethwyn. For a moment, she was afraid that the shield wouldn’t hold, but then the breath cut off. She almost breathed easy, but flinched as a massive claw casually swiped above her head, clipping the shield and shattering the last two layers.
“Hm, just as Essryl said. A clever rat, but not too clever. Your shield might part my flames, but it isn’t nearly as effective against physical strikes,” Resvarygrath said, and Ruethwyn’s eyes widened as she looked up and up at him.
The shade she’d faced in the Halls of Trials had been terrifying, but it hadn’t been anything like the real thing in many respects. The one time she’d seen him, Ruethwyn had been half dead, but this time was different. This time she was conscious, and he was practically on top of her.
His scales glittered like polished shards of obsidian gilded in gold, the source of his title as the Gilded. His belly was a deeper gold, and his eyes were a slightly different matching shade. His claws were pure obsidian, while his teeth, which she saw glittering above her, were white as snow. He was taller at the shoulder than Lissa’s little dragon was long, and killing her would likely be like swatting a fly at this range.
“Crap,” Ruethwyn said, swallowing hard, almost paralyzed by fear. She thought about trying to cast a spell, but she was too close.
“Yes, very clever. You realized you’re in a situation you can’t win. The question is… why did my love want you? You’re her student, yes, but there are more potential students out there. Who needs to so carefully groom one like you? You’re pretty, but beautiful creatures are countless in the world,” Resvarygrath said, moving his head from side to side to examine her. “I truly do not understand.”
His comments sparked anger within Ruethwyn, and she felt Zaria’s surprise, then approval as Ruethwyn threw caution to the wind, straightening as she retorted. “Your love? You claim to not understand her, but of course you don’t! Your sick obsession with our teacher led to you killing both her and her sister, then you chose to defile them by using your magic to twist their minds and souls somehow. How could someone like you know what it is to truly value another for who they are?”
Resvarygrath’s eyes narrowed, and with a snort a puff of smoke left his nostrils. His voice was softer and angrier this time. “A disrespectful little rat. Perhaps it’s for the best that I asked her to keep watch over her sister while I dealt with the intruders.”
An icy sensation prickled up Ruethwyn’s spine, and she made a decision. Bidding Zaria goodbye, she conveyed her apologies, even as the shocked fey vanished. The next moment, Ruethwyn brought to mind the summoning name of Imris. She didn’t want to do this, but she would if she had to. Instead, she braced herself, baring her teeth at the dragon as she retorted. “And? You’re an untrustworthy magpie, something that collects every shiny object you can get your claws on. You’re going to just kill me and do the same thing to me that you did to Sinera, aren’t you?”
“Precisely,” Resvarygrath said, baring his teeth savagely. “Goodbye, little rat.”
Ruethwyn started to call for Imris as she stumbled backward and Resvarygrath inhaled, not sure which would happen first, but both her own actions and Resvarygrath’s inhalation stopped as she heard a level, icy voice speak. A very familiar voice.
“I think not,” Sinera said, and Ruethwyn’s eyes widened as her gaze turned to the back of the room at last.
Three thrones stood at the end of the hall, though they were widely set, to leave room for the immense figure of Resvarygrath to stand or lay. A door pierced the wall as well, along with a huge one for the dragon, but Sinera stood next to the small door, a black wooden staff in her hand, and looking both younger and more beautiful than Ruethwyn remembered her being, as she wore an elaborate black and gold robe embroidered with golden dragons. Sinera’s blue eyes were glittering with anger, and Ruethwyn’s moment of relief turned to caution, since she didn’t quite recognize her teacher.
“My love! I thought you were with your sister! My apologies, I was just going to teach your errant student—” Resvarygrath began, but Sinera interrupted, slamming her staff against the ground with an echoing sound that rippled through the room.
“Enough. I’ve had quite enough of your excuses, Resvarygrath,” Sinera said, shaking her head slightly, then smiled as she added, “In fact, I think I’ve had quite enough of you.”
“What—” Resvarygrath began, but then the dragon let out a gasp of pain and Ruethwyn’s eyes went wide.
Shimmering serpents of darkness began twisting around the dragon, hundreds of them writhing and enveloping his limbs, his torso, his neck… all his body was covered by them, and it was like they had physical strength as he twisted and struggled, and Ruethwyn’s eyes went still wider as some of them lashed around his head, holding his mouth shut. She quickly backed away from him, worried.
“No, no… I can’t have you talking, Resvarygrath,” Sinera crooned, shadows stretching from her staff to connect to the ones on the dragon, her smile distinctly unpleasant. “If you could talk, you’d be able to cast spells, and then you might be able to undo the spells I’ve woven over you. Did you truly think that I’d forgive you for killing Minerva? For killing me? The only reason I went along with your advances was to slowly, subtly weave the spells of your demise. You’re powerful… far too powerful for me to face directly. Last time we faced one another, you were far weaker, and you utterly destroyed my ability to face you for centuries.”
Ruethwyn swallowed hard, not really recognizing Sinera anymore. Her momentary delight at seeing her teacher again had turned to fear, and she wasn’t sure what to do. The thought of summoning Imris flitted through her head, but she refrained. Resvarygrath grunted, obviously in pain.
“There there… don’t worry, it’s almost over,” Sinera said, stepping forward and reaching out to pat one of the dragon’s haunches. “Goodbye, Resvarygrath. Don’t worry, I won’t resurrect you.”
Sinera slowly clenched her fist in midair, and Ruethwyn flinched as she heard what sounded like breaking bones. Resvarygrath’s eyes went dark as he spasmed one last time and fell to the floor, and a glittering orb of ethereal light drifted out of his body, covered in the serpents of darkness, which vanished from his body as it floated over to the staff, then melted into the wood.
“Teacher? What… what did you just do?” Ruethwyn asked, her voice trembling.
“What did I just do? I killed Resvarygrath, the scourge of Ovara and Selwyn. I killed the archenemy who I created by saving his life… I revoked that gift, just as was proper,” Sinera said, smiling warmly at Ruethwyn, her eyes glittering with a sharp light. “And in so doin
g, I also saved the life of my beloved student. I’m not surprised he tried to kill you; he always was a jealous little wyrm, but that’s dealt with, and now we’re back together.”
“I… but what did he do to you? You seem different,” Ruethwyn said, taking another step back.
“What did he do? He taught me that my methods were wrong. This little brat also meddled with forces which he didn’t fully understand,” Sinera said, almost affectionately patting the body again. “See, he rebuilt my body by wiping the mind of a shadow demon and using his magic to place flesh on my bones anew. Foolish, considering that atavism is meant to commune with elementals. Beyond that, an elemental is mind, body, and soul all in one. His attempt to wipe out her mind was doomed from the start, and she and I… well, we are kindred spirits, hm? We decided to end him together. Now he’s dead, and I will take everything that is his. His castle, his kingdom, his treasure… everything. You can even join me and Minerva, Ruethwyn… I have so much to teach you.”
“No,” The word slipped out without Ruethwyn even meaning to say anything.
“No? What do you mean, no?” Sinera demanded, her smile vanishing and the kindness vanishing from her voice. “I taught you everything you know, Ruethwyn. You owe me everything.”
“No, I’m not staying here. You’re… you’re not the person I learned from. The teacher I know would never have done something like that,” Ruethwyn said, gesturing at Resvarygrath’s corpse as her voice rose, outrage and panic rushing through her. “She’d never have decided to take over a kingdom, because she didn’t have a lust for power! You aren’t Sinera. You may have her voice and face, and maybe even her knowledge, but you aren’t the person who gave me history books when I was a child!”
Sinera scowled, slowly growing anger appearing on her face throughout Ruethwyn’s tirade. At the end, she raised a hand, and her voice was icy as she spoke. “I see. Well, if you truly feel that way, then you’re not my student, and I have no need for you.”
The Obsidian Palace (Through the Fire Book 3) Page 36
