While it looked like an ordinary—if flashy and extraordinarily effective spell—in essence it had the same terrible power as a strategic ritual performed by a multitude of casters at the same time. It was clever and devious, and the fact that Ethelgren had originally designed it only highlighted the mad wizard’s absolute genius.
They were outclassed on every level, and Will knew it down to his bones. Their defensive force-dome trembled as the fear rose within him.
Laina felt his fear, and though she didn’t understand the magic they were dealing with, she knew something deeper. Damn it, Will. You said you’d make me feel foolish. Show me what you meant!
He remembered his previous fear, and the goddamn cat’s insult. This was the same. His mind cleared, and then he remembered one of his earliest lessons with Arrogan:
“What can you do the next time someone decides to whack you with a stick?” the old man had asked.
“Make my own stick,” he had replied.
“That’s one solution, and it’s often the best one, but not always. Sometimes the other person has a much better weapon than you do.” Arrogan tossed his branch at Will’s face, and when he flinched, the old man stepped close and twisted the larger stick from his hand. “If your will is strong enough, and you have the skill, you can sometimes take the other person’s stick away from them.”
All this passed through his mind in an instant, from Laina’s encouragement to his moment of insight. Shifting his focus, Will deliberately allowed the force wall to begin crumbling, but his will latched onto the silver power that seeped through, taking hold of the turyn and bending its purpose.
He couldn’t have managed it without the momentary delay the force-dome provided, but it was just barely enough. A second later he felt searing pain tear through his/Laina’s body, not from the destruction of their flesh, but from the strain of controlling so much so suddenly. The silver beam came to a halt, arrested between Linus Ethelgren and Will, a blazing curtain flashing between their hands.
They had reached a stalemate.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” yelled Linus angrily. “You’re ruining it!”
“You’ll destroy the entire city at this rate!” shouted Laina, since Will’s concentration was entirely on his effort.
“That’s the point, you daft slut! It’s a purge! The city is already lost.”
“You’re insane!”
“No, I’m a goddamn hero, you trollop, and sometimes heroes must make noble sacrifices!”
Laina gaped at him. “Idiot! It’s only a noble sacrifice when you’re the one sacrificing. What you’re doing is simple slaughter.”
Ethelgren started to reply, but Laina hadn’t been idle while she conversed. She had been constructing a force-lance, her very first. It flashed at Ethelgren’s chest but was instantly deflected by a point-defense shield.
You’re a quick study, Will congratulated her internally.
Thanks.
“You asked for it, bitch!” screamed Ethelgren, and he returned fire with a high-speed barrage of force-lances. Will similarly deflected them, grateful once again that he could reflex cast the point-defense spell.
That went on for several seconds as they exchanged attacks, but it was clear that it wasn’t gaining them anything. Ethelgren was red-faced as he shouted again, “This spell wasn’t meant for dueling between wizards! As soon as one of us slips they’ll be annihilated. Do you think you’re good enough to outlast me? How long have you been a wizard? A few years? You’re nothing but a child!”
I’m going to restart the force-lance and defense battle, Will explained. Send your fire elemental out and around from a long distance. Make sure he can’t see it.
Laina understood his plan immediately and improved on it. Her earth elemental was still weak, but nonetheless she had it submerge itself beneath their feet and move forward while the fire elemental circled around.
Meanwhile, Will began sending a barrage of force-lances at Ethelgren. He kept his assault up, giving the ancient wizard no time to think as he defended himself. Laina’s fire elemental quickly moved into position, and then it sprang into action.
Surging toward Ethelgren’s back, it launched a series of firebolts. There was no way for the wizard to defend himself, given that he couldn’t see the threat, but Will felt his hopes fall as their enemy began to laugh.
The shining white coat the man wore flashed as it absorbed the fiery attacks harmlessly. “You fools! I was doing this while you were still just—erp!” Ethelgren yelped as Laina’s earth elemental seized his ankle and jerked him down into the ground.
The movement pulled Ethelgren out of line, and he lost contact with the silver river of power, which now fell under Will’s control and began ravaging outward from his hands in the direction facing where the other wizard had been. He could feel the power surging through him as it slew and harvested still more power, along with the inexorable need to turn, to continue unleashing it before it destroyed him as well.
Lifting his hands, he sent the power upward into the sky, where it slowly diminished as it crossed miles and miles of open air. The turyn gradually weakened, and eventually he was able to draw in what was left, pulling the spell to a final close. Tired and fatigued, Will sagged, leaving their shared body to Laina’s full control.
Exhausted, Laina Nerrow stood victorious, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. From the outside she cut a magnificent figure. Her hair had long since come loose, and while bits of it were stuck to her face, the rest flowed out behind her. Her dress was tattered and torn, but rather than detract from her appearance, it merely confirmed the heroic struggle she had endured. Darla knelt beside her, head lifted to gaze adoringly up at the woman she loved.
Inwardly, Laina and Will cheered each other, basking in the glow of their mutual success. Most of the vampires had fled the general vicinity of the battle by then, and some people were slowly emerging from their homes, where they had watched while in hiding. A few even cheered.
Laina reached out and lifted Darla back to her feet, and the two of them walked toward where Ethelgren had stood. Will idly wondered what he would do next. His body had been buried alive, so soon he would have to make his goodbyes.
The ground exploded in front of them, and Laina felt a powerful disruption in her link with the earth elemental. Elementals were impossible to destroy, but hers had been finely dispersed in such a destructive way that it would be hours before it could reform. Linus Ethelgren emerged from the crater, levitating on a magical disk that lifted him out and deposited him gracefully beyond the rim of ruined paving.
“You fucking asshole,” he spat. “You just couldn’t leave well enough alone, could you?”
Good news, Laina reported wryly. Your body is still doing just fine.