by T. S. Snow
It was one of the only things I had left of her, a daily reminder of a time when she’d loved me unconditionally.
Spirit casting was all about intent, about controlling what was around you, what was other. From what I’d heard of other branches, they used the magic that was inside of them, but our source of power was outside. After all, if we tapped within for too long, we might cause irreparable damage to our own souls, and that would be a disaster.
So I focused on that. I focused on the ghosts I’d seen around us, the ones I could feel even now. Not only those touching me, but the ones above and below. I imagined tiny little webs going from me to each one of those ghosts, wrapping around them over and over.
Sweat beaded my forehead, and I felt lightheaded by the time I managed to wrap every single one of the ghosts. If I’d counted correctly, there were almost two hundred of them. Two hundred spirits stuck inside this godforsaken place, trapped, wanting to get out.
I could see brighter souls in the building too, those still inside their owners. People who were alive. But I couldn’t worry about that. I couldn’t focus on that.
The living could wait, it was already taking everything I had to take care of the dead.
Soon, you will be free, I promised them as I wrapped my strands around the last one of them. My hands shook and my breathing was starting to get uneven from the strain of expending so much of my power for so long.
But I had them.
Pulling another bead of my MET, I pushed my will over all of them at the same time.
And they stopped.
I opened my eyes, and it was like all the ghosts were frozen.
A noise from behind me had me turning and almost losing my focus.
But I held on to it, just barely.
“Ward is broken,” Nightshade informed me, and I wanted to yell in relief.
“Thank fuck,” I said instead.
I pulled at the strings of the ghosts surrounding me, and I sent them one final command.
Be free.
As one, they exited the building, heading out to the streets. I wanted to do more, to tell them to do no harm, but the edges of my vision were starting to turn black.
“There are people here,” I warned Nightshade. “Living ones.”
“Fuck,” Logan cursed as I let darkness consume me.
I hope he wasn’t serious about leaving me behind.
21
Logan
The minute he finished speaking, Theodore dropped to the ground like a bag of rocks.
At the same time, noise started to come from all around us.
Fuck. Breaking that flimsy ward had probably alerted the damn rebels.
Theodore was about to owe me a fucking life debt.
With no time to carry him out, I moved so I’d be standing in front of him and called my magic to make a small protective barrier over his unconscious body.
Based on the signs, I supposed he’d exhausted his magic controlling the ghosts. Though why we had to bother with them, I didn’t know. It wasn’t like they could’ve done us any harm…unless there was another Spirit Mage around. But even then, Soulbinder should be stronger than whoever was here.
Or so I’d fucking hope.
The door to the stairs opened, and about ten different people came out, carrying guns and METs.
Shit.
There went my element of surprise.
With my short sword in hand, I activated the setting that would cover the blade in dark matter and sent out a bunch of small fireballs at them.
One of the mages raised a shield made of wind, blocking my attacks, while a few others either shot their guns at me or tried to hit me with whatever spells they could.
I let them all hit me. Or rather, I let them hit the magic enveloping me.
I wanted to go on the offensive and attack them with my sword, but that would mean leaving the damn Soulbinder heir unprotected.
Cursing my noble nature, I activated different magical projectiles and used illusions to hide some of them, while I let others fly free. I knew they’d try to block the ones they could see, but if they couldn’t see them…
I could feel the impact from each of the bullets as they continuously shot at me, even though my magic kept them all from actually hurting me.
I heard grunts as three of my attackers fell to the floor when my invisible dark matter orbs hit them, knocking them down for now.
Three down, seven more to go.
There was some loud yelling, and then five more people came from the stairwell.
Shit, I had to block that somehow, before even more fucking rebels came through there.
As it was, I was surrounded and had to carry dead weight.
At least it seemed like most of these people didn’t have anything strong enough to threaten my barrier, other than the guns.
Speaking of… Pushing even more power into my MET, I conjured a wall of dark matter to block the stairs. It would keep people from coming in, while also preventing them from throwing attacks at me.
Movement behind me made me act, and I cut through a bald, burly man who had snuck past me and was aiming a gun at Theodore.
Fuck. I’d have to get us out of here. I didn’t want to retreat, but while I knew I could take down these bastards in a fight without breaking a sweat, any mistake might cost Theodore’s life and I couldn’t risk that.
I’d have to leave him somewhere and then come back. Hopefully, I could do it all fast enough that they wouldn’t get rid of any valuable information.
Curse you, Soulbinder.
Three mages, two women and one man, ran at me together. One woman had a sword, another a staff, and the guy had a fucking axe.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted them to be METs or just normal weapons, but I didn’t really have time to think before all three of them descended on me at once.
I blocked the axe with my short sword and sidestepped it while I picked up my scabbard and pressed the button Charisma had told me was for emergencies, turning the scabbard itself into a flaming sword. With it, I struck against the woman’s sword, blocking her attack too.
Unfortunately, I did not have three hands. The second woman hit me with the staff straight in my stomach, which I’d left open while blocking the other two weapons.
Most of the impact was absorbed by my magic, but not all of it.
My insides curled in on themselves with the pain, and I grunted but forced myself to stay standing.
I sent my magic outwards, towards them, ordering it to envelop all three. I knew that would leave them frozen in a nightmare of their own for quite some time.
Satisfied, I pulled both my sword and the flaming scabbard, then moved back to where I’d been, protecting Theodore.
Fuck.
While I’d been engaged in battle with those three, two men had grabbed Theodore and were dragging his unconscious form to where the shooters were standing.
Fucking inconvenience. I knew he’d be a pain in my ass when I relented and let him come along, but for fuck’s sake.
This was ridiculous.
Fine. They wanted to piss me off? They were succeeding.
Knowing my magic was starting to wane from the constant attacks on me, not to mention the strain of keeping the protective barrier around me and the block on the stairs, I had no other option than to go all out.
Especially since they didn’t seem to be running out of ammunition.
I’d lost count of how many bullets had hit my protective barrier, but I knew the minute I dropped it, it would be over.
I called upon my dark matter again, but this time, I keyed in the code for my orbs, summoning dozens of them, hundreds. I stood stock-still while I conjured orb upon orb upon orb of dark matter, each the size of my fist.
I opened my eyes, ready to find my targets and send the orbs flying, when suddenly, there was a loud crack coming from my hand.
My eyes widened when the Doridium crystal inside my MET shattered. I was so shocked by it, I barely ev
en registered the fact my orbs were vanishing, one by one.
Had I overwhelmed the crystal with my power? No, that couldn’t be it. Even the smallest pieces of Doridium could handle a lot more than that.
Something else must have caused it.
I scanned the room and saw that most of my attackers had dropped their METs and were now using only their guns. It wasn’t until I saw the woman behind them that I understood.
She was crouched near a wall in front of a generator I was willing to bet had just emitted an electromagnetic pulse.
It was the only thing I could think of that would successfully destroy my MET and all electronics in the room.
She’d just rendered all fucking METs useless.
Cursing, I dropped the dark matter wall that had been blocking the stairs and snuffed all the orbs, focusing only on keeping my protection up.
This was bad.
The worst possible fucking outcome.
I held up the short sword and ran straight at them.
I knew I didn’t have much time, but at least I could do some damage before my magic ran out and the bullets hit me.
I ran straight to the group that had Theodore, slashing at them with my sword. I managed to slash the one holding Soulbinder by the arm, making him recoil, and then I moved so I could kick the other. They dropped Theodore and raised their hands to attack me with their magic.
Twin activation circles appeared, one red and the other blue, then I was hit with both fire and ice.
Damn Elementals.
My magical barrier absorbed the hits, but this time, I wasn’t unaffected.
I felt the heat of the fire as it hit me, the sharp edges of the ice shards as every single one made contact.
I was sweating like I’d run a marathon; even my palms were covered in it, as I tried to prevent the short sword from slipping from my grip. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had to work this hard in a fight.
Footsteps sounded behind me, and I turned in time to see about five more people coming from the stairs, just when I was close to getting rid of them all.
Even worse, the one standing closest to me was a familiar platinum-blonde whose smile was as wicked as her personality.
Although, I’d never expected to see her like this.
“Got you,” she sneered, and the biggest activation circle I’d ever seen materialized in front of me, right before wave after wave of electricity hit me.
My muscles contracted, and pain like no other took over my body, consuming me. I gritted my teeth and lost control of myself as the shockwaves kept coming.
22
Charisma
Official magical duels for the title of heir or head of the family were completely different from anything I’d ever seen or experienced. I mean, I’d seen the records of it and some old recordings, but the truth was…nobody had been stupid enough to challenge one of the standing families since before I was alive.
Actually, there had been a challenge to the Soulbinder matriarch when I’d been a kid, but I’d been too young to partake or watch. They’d thought that because Esme Soulbinder was old, she’d be an easy target, but every single report of it showed that if anything, she’d been even more ruthless. Her control over spirit was a scary thing. According to the records, she’d managed to control her opponent’s spirit, and from then on out, he’d been nothing but a puppet being pulled by her strings.
The whole duel had lasted seconds.
Now, twenty years later, it was all happening again.
Except this time, I was not only old enough to attend, but I’d been the engineer behind Andres’ MET.
I just hoped I wasn’t responsible for his downfall.
Don’t think like that, Charisma. You know your stuff. His MET is one of the best you’ve ever developed, I reminded myself.
Now it was all up to Andres and his Battle Mage skills. He’d graduated with honors at the Academy, so that had to mean something, right? As biased as our system might’ve been, I doubted he’d made it to the top three with his looks and personality alone.
I looked up to the arena surrounding us and had to prevent my jaw from dropping. This was…wild. Bigger than a soccer field, the arena had rows upon rows of stands, and they were currently full of people. Mages from every house and every station had come to watch what might just be one of the most stupid, pointless magical duels of all time.
At least, for those who didn’t know the truth, that was.
In the middle of the field stood a circular platform with the emblem of the Illudere family. Each Arcane family had its own stupidly big stadium, and they all had small—or big—tweaks that were better suited for the family’s natural-born magic. From what Andres had told me, the Illudere’s arena had high-definition cameras and a bunch of other shit that would allow the audience to follow along with the battle as well as see whatever illusions might be cast, since sometimes, illusions could be cast only on the target. That, and a clever arrangement of mirrors and reflective surfaces, gave the illusions more range.
If you asked me, it was kind of pointless when both sides were from the same house, but whatever. I supposed Magical Engineers weren’t the only ones who enjoyed their toys.
The announcer started to speak, proclaiming the challenge and the title on the line.
Heir to the Illudere family.
Kind of ironic, really, when they were both Illuderes.
The minute he said Andres’ name, big steel doors opened by my side and out walked Andres in all his glory. The crowd went wild. He walked in with confidence, waving at the crowd as they yelled, clapped, and whistled. Andres was wearing black track pants and a white shirt that really showed off his golden skin. When he passed by me, he sent me a wink that had a weird fluttering happening in my stomach.
You’re just nervous, Char, I lied to myself.
Because of my role as his Magical Engineer, I was allowed to stand right on the edges of the field in a box along with medical staff and his family. On Ricardo Illudere’s side, I was pretty sure the setup was the same.
Except, none of his family would be cheering for him today.
Well, maybe his wife. I was fairly certain he was married. Or maybe he was divorced? Who the fuck knew.
The announcer introduced Ricardo Illudere, and the doors on the opposite side of the arena opened. A man in his fifties, Ricardo was his brother’s polar opposite. While Diego Illudere’s smile, very much like his son’s, was full of mischief and joy, Ricardo’s had a mean edge to it that made me shudder, even from this far away. His dark hair was tied up in a ponytail, and he was wearing a navy-blue suit.
Seriously. A suit.
What was it with Battle Mages and suits, anyways? Didn’t they know that was the worst kind of clothing one could wear for a battle? Had they learned nothing at the Academy?
I looked up to the big ass screen right on top of the stage, seeing the official countdown start.
Fuck. I was going to be sick.
On five, the protective barrier finally appeared. The product of years and years of mages’ protective wards layered on top of each other, it ensured that no matter what transpired, no one in the audience would be hurt. It worked as a clear, transparent wall, so we could see what was happening inside, but nothing would get out.
On four, Ricardo took his sword out of its holster.
On three, Andres took his brand-new MET out of his pocket.
I saw with glee the moment Ricardo’s eyes widened before they narrowed in the direction of the box.
I couldn’t be sure, but I could’ve sworn he was glaring straight at me.
On two, both parties assumed their fighting stances, and I held my breath.
Oh please, please survive this.
On one, the tension in the entire fucking arena was so palpable, it could probably be cut with, well, Ricardo’s sword.
The buzzer sounded announcing the fight, and Ricardo ran up to Andres, faster than I expected of a man his age.
I wanted to close my eyes when he raised his MET above his head, ready to strike as he ate up the distance between them.
C’mon, Andres. Do something, dammit.
Right when I thought he’d frozen in fear or some shit, Andres moved.
And oh, it was glorious.
Like a dancer, he twisted out of the way. Using Ricardo’s momentum against him, Andres gave him a kick that sent the older man flying forward, straight to the barrier.
It was the weirdest thing to see the moment of impact between Ricardo and the wall, when there was no physical wall there.
Boy, a closeup of someone’s face being smashed against an invisible barrier was something I hoped to never see again. It kinda reminded me of what happened whenever I played Super Smash Bros and the K.O. sent the character flying right to the screen.
Ricardo righted himself, stepping away from the barrier, but the time it took him to do that cost him. Andres had already sprinted to the middle of the arena, unfolded his MET, and had the magic ice arrow pointed at his target.
Andres’ new MET was something I was incredibly proud of, to be honest. It was no bigger than a dagger when folded, but when unfolded, it resembled a high-tech bow done all in carbon fiber. I’d put a keypad on it that was easily accessible, regardless of the form he decided to keep for his MET. As for the arrows, they were made purely of magic, and he had an array of them depending on what he keyed into the keyboard—elemental arrows, dark matter, and even some explosive or illusion arrows.
And, of course, I had added quite a few tricks up his figurative sleeve, because if not, there would be no fun at all.
It was a pity I hadn’t been able to get Logan’s secret on the magical slime shield thing, because that would’ve given Andres a huge edge on this duel, especially when, like he’d predicted, his uncle preferred close range fights.
Andres shot an ice arrow, and it hit true. The crowd went wild. Except, the minute it pierced Ricardo, it broke through him like smoke.
I frowned just as there was a mixture of booing and cheering from the crowd.