by Andrew Rowe
The door to the roof shattered to pieces, and a look of shock crossed Lavender’s face.
Asphodel descended from above. She had wings of glimmering amethyst protruding from her back. Her entire body was shimmering with power.
And her once bright crystalline hair was almost entirely grey.
“You. The other oracle.” Lavender snarled, her grip around her sword tightening. “You’re too late.”
“No.” Asphodel smiled softly. “I believe I am precisely on time.”
With a wave, Lavender sent a dozen black swords in Asphodel’s direction.
With a single beat of her tremendous wings, Asphodel had flown out of the way, her hand reaching up and grabbing something from the ceiling.
As she descended in a lunge, golden light flashed along the surface.
The Heartlance.
Asphodel’s lunge was deflected by a swing of War’s sword, but a second jab followed, and a third.
Lavender stumbled back. Her burns and cuts hadn’t entirely healed, and the wounds that Velas had inflicted with her strange light hadn’t healed at all.
After a momentary exchange, Asphodel was pushing Lavender back.
A flick of a wrist changed that. Asphodel flew backward, and a wall of icy spikes appeared behind her.
She swerved, her wings buffeting her out of the way of the icy wall, only to have Lavender appear right behind her.
She...teleported.
More of Rialla’s sorcery.
Asphodel ducked a swing aiming for her neck, but took a blast of fire straight to the chest.
Need...to help...Asphodel...
Velas grunted, attempting to push herself back up, but a surge of pain through her chest made it clear that was impossible. Even with Aladir’s last healing breath, it took every effort just to remain conscious.
Asphodel winced, then parried a swing from War’s sword with the Heartlance.
Lavender vanished again. When she reappeared, she found Asphodel already lunging for her. Lavender barely managed to raise the greatsword in time to parry, and even then, it skidded along the edge and jabbed into her left arm. She staggered back with another bleeding wound.
Lavender blasted herself backward, snarling. “Enough of this. I only have to touch you once, delaren. You’re just as vulnerable as War was.”
Asphodel nodded. “I know. You won’t.”
Lavender screamed in fury, vanishing.
She reappeared only inches from Asphodel, her hand reaching out.
Asphodel used her free hand and smashed a vial in Lavender’s face.
Lavender stumbled back, screaming, black fluid trailing over her face. “This is...what have you...”
“The same thing Susan Crimson did to me. Void essence. And while Sterling might be a void sorcerer with some resistance to it, you, Shrouded One, are not.”
Lavender lashed out blindly. Even without her sight and with her sorcery weakened, she was tremendously fast. Asphodel managed a parry, but only barely.
And then, before Asphodel could recover, Lavender stepped forward and grabbed the Heartlance by the shaft with her off-hand.
Asphodel struggled, but even empowered by her transformation, she couldn’t match Lavender’s strength. The Heartlance slipped from her grasp.
There was a critical moment as Lavender wrenched the spear backward with her single-handed grip. An instant in which she’d thrown herself off-balance.
And in that moment, two people struck.
Asphodel surged forward, smashing Lavender in the chin with a fist. The blow caused little harm, but it served as an ample distraction.
Velas wasn’t able to stand, but she could see the battle clearly enough to sense an opportunity.
Her hand clenched and she focused.
Motion sorcery could do more than just push. She remembered when The Wandering War had used it during the paladin trials to tear her out of the sky mid-jump.
And, as much as she loathed to mimic one of Taelien’s tricks, she had to admit that pulling could be just as useful as pushing at times.
Pull.
With a surge of every bit of essence she could muster, she wrenched the Heartlance from Lavender’s hand. The spear few from Lavender’s grip straight to her own.
Lavender struck again a moment later, the blackness of void already beginning to fade from her face. Asphodel tried to dodge, but her movement seemed sloppier than usual.
She can’t predict Lavender’s movements. Their oracular abilities don’t work on each other.
War’s sword scored a gash across one of Asphodel’s forearms. Asphodel’s jaw tightened, but she said nothing. She simply circled to the right, looking for a window to strike.
Lavender didn’t spare Velas a glance. She put every effort into cutting her last opponent down, swinging furiously. Asphodel could find no window to counter, more cuts managing to make their way through her guard every few moments.
Velas focused on the spear in her hand.
This had better work.
“Blood of the fallen, ignite my spirit.”
It was the command that Jonan had written for her — one to unlock some hidden latent power within the Heartlance. As a technique made for an esharen wielder, she knew it had the chance to harm her as much as help, but she could see no alternatives. If it failed, she saw no chance at victory.
The spear glowed brightly for an instant with inner light.
...And then nothing else happened. She felt no well of inner strength, no further healing of her wounds, no change in the power of her spirit.
Then the glow faded, and she was once again helpless on the ground.
Lavender tossed a glance in her direction, raising an eyebrow. Asphodel surged in again, trying to take advantage of the distraction, but earned only a slash that cut a chunk off of one of her crystalline wings.
Then Asphodel was falling back again, avoiding another swing.
No. We can’t win this way. I need...
A deep voice caught her by surprise. “An...interesting...technique...”
The voice came from a figure on the ground nearby.
The Wandering War was looking up at her, his eyes glimmering faintly. One of his hands was still clutching at his throat, but the damage seemed less than she’d seen before.
With his other arm, he was slowly pulling himself along the ground toward her.
He’s...alive?
There was a pool of blood where he’d fallen, his face was contorted with agony and exhaustion. But he lived, albeit barely.
And he was crawling toward her with every bit of strength he could muster.
Aladir’s healing spell must have caught him, too, Velas realized. But it wasn’t enough to get either of us back in the fight.
“War...what are you...?”
He was near her now, almost within reach.
Asphodel took a cut to her other wing. She hurled another black potion, but Lavender dodged it, and it exploded harmlessly on the ground.
“The spear...” He reached for it. “Please.”
Velas narrowed her eyes. She didn’t like the idea of passing the Heartlance off to anyone. She didn’t like giving away her last weapon, the last symbol of her strength.
But when their eyes met, and she saw his pleading and resolve, she made a decision.
I can’t win this on my own.
This time...I’m going to give him my trust.
With the last of her strength, she pushed herself forward and passed him the spear.
A thin smile crossed his lips, though they still trembled with agony.
“Thank...you...Velas. The technique...requires sacrifice.” He coughed, producing blood. Then, shaking, he moved the spear.
“With this...perhaps I’ll be able to fight him again...someday...”
And then, with a single movement, he drove the Heartlance into the center of his chest.
The entire room darkened. A red aura crackled in the air around War.
And in t
he space of another instant, his body crumbled to dust.
The Heartlance clattered to the ground in front of Velas. The metal glistened blood-red.
Pull.
The Heartlance flew to her hand, easily this time.
And when her grip tightened around it, she felt a surge of strength like she’d never known.
The golden lines across her skin faded, replaced with trails of black and red. The air around her ripped apart, and the ground beneath her crumbled. A swirling aura of flame ripped around her.
When Velas stood, Lavender was staring at her, jaw agape.
Surge.
Velas flew forward, slamming the shaft of the staff into Lavender’s face. The vae’kes fell backward, staggering. Lavender clumsily raised War’s sword to parry the next swing.
But Velas was already behind her, jamming the Heartlance into Lavender’s leg.
Lavender screamed, falling to the floor.
She swung her sword upward, but Velas was gone, already moving to Lavender’s other side.
The shaft of the Heartlance came upward, slamming underneath Lavender’s jaw and snapping her head back.
Lavender hit the ground hard, then snapped her fingers and vanished.
She reappeared near the chamber’s entrance door.
I won’t let you run.
Surge.
The command shifted Velas faster than she’d ever believed possible. She was in front of Lavender in the moment, raising her spear again.
When she jabbed again, Lavender was ready this time. She abandoned War’s sword and grabbed the shaft of the spear with both hands, grunting with effort.
“I’ll...take that.” Blackness welled around Velas’ hands and she understood what Lavender was trying to do.
But it didn’t matter. The power burning within Velas didn’t dim. It burned brighter with every passing moment.
With a single movement, she wrenched the spear out of Lavender’s hands. “This is for Rialla.”
She jammed the spear into Lavender’s right shoulder.
As Lavender fell backward in shock, Velas struck again.
“This is for War.”
She smashed the spear’s haft across Lavender’s throat. Lavender choked, raising her hands to her neck.
“And this...” Velas spun the spear, her hands clenched tight. “Is for Garrick Torrent.”
With all the strength she could muster, she slammed the Heartlance into the side of Lavender’s head.
Lavender crumpled, insensate, to the ground.
Velas raised the spear again, her jaw tight...then jammed it down into Lavender’s arm, pinning it into the floor. “That should keep you from leaving.”
When she released her grip from the spear, she realized her mistake.
In a heartbeat, her new strength had fled her.
Asphodel caught her before she could fall.
“You did well.” Asphodel said.
Pain was rapidly returning. “I...” Velas coughed. Her vision reddened.
“You’ll be fine.” Asphodel helped Velas into a sitting position, then turned to Lavender. She retrieved another handful of black vials from her pouch, then smashed them all into Lavender’s unconscious form at once. “That will hold her for a while.”
Velas nodded blearily, her vision swimming. “I...”
The glowing swords that had been pinning Aladir and Jonan to the ground vanished, the source of their essence exhausted.
“Wait there.” Asphodel instructed.
Asphodel raced toward Aladir, reaching into her bag and retrieving a red potion. She poured it across his back.
We...did we...win?
That was the last thought that crossed Velas’ mind before her eyes closed.
Chapter XXII – Lydia VII – A Path to Victory
Lydia’s jaw tightened. “Sterling. I’d suspected your involvement with Kyestri, but I couldn’t be certain.”
“Well, well. You’ve managed to make a real mess of things here, haven’t you?” Sterling clapped his hands, stepping away from the portal. “As usual, it seems I’ll need to clean up after your messes.”
Lydia glowered at him. “Clean up? You killed a friend of mine.”
“Oh, Torrent? That was unfortunate. I should have gone straight to the source of the problems.” Sterling raised his glimmering golden sword. “Really, such a waste. You would have made an excellent servant.”
Lydia snapped her fingers. A dome of stone appeared around Sterling, encasing him in an instant.
Still, she knew it wouldn’t hold him for long, and her body surged with pain from the effort.
Her strength was already rapidly fading.
She turned her head from side to side, searching. She could sense other figures in the distance, but they weren’t the immediate concern.
Wrynn Jaden was groaning and sitting up. Her forearms were both bleeding badly, but the bones that Lydia had seen protruding from them seemed to have vanished back into her arms.
A powerful regeneration effect, Lydia realized. But even with that, I doubt she’s up for fighting. She taxed herself tremendously in the battle with Venlyra and maintaining the barriers in the forest.
Taelien was still down, too. He’d released the Sae’kes and had one hand pressed against a wound on his throat. That would have been alarming enough in itself, but a voice informed her that was not the greatest problem.
[A petrification spell. He’s resisting it, but with difficulty. It’s too soon to say if he will succeed on his own.]
Thanks, Vendria. Can you help?
[If we can get close, yes. Just touch him, I’ll do the rest.]
Lydia nodded, turning toward Taelien and hoping that the stone dome would hold Sterling a few more moments.
Predictably, she hadn’t moved a step before Sterling appeared right next to her, shaking his head. “Speaking of Torrent, he did leave a lasting impression on me.”
Lydia swung her stone staff. The conjured weapon was crude, but she’d left her sword cane behind when she’d floated, half-aware, toward the fight with Kyestri earlier.
Sterling deflected the staff with a flip of his sword, then riposted. Sparks flew as his sword scraped against her barrier. It left cracks, but she was uninjured.
He hopped back before she could swing again, but that wasn’t her plan.
She dropped the staff, pointing her ring finger at him. “Eru volar—”
There was a flash, then her barrier cracked and her finger was missing.
Lydia screamed, stumbling back.
A second, green barrier fell into place as she stumbled, just in time to block Sterling’s follow-up lunge.
[Can’t...do...much more. Tired.]
Her bleeding wound froze a moment later.
Venlyra’s voice explained in her mind.
Lydia gritted her teeth. The numbness that settled into the stump where her finger had been diminished the pain, but didn’t stop it entirely.
“Lift.” She commanded the air, feeling her throat tighten. The wind carried her off the ground, and as Sterling swung again, she flew out of the way of his swing. He pursued relentlessly, but with a wave of her hand, she blasted him backward.
He vanished, reappearing right behind her.
Lydia flew to the side, earning a glancing cut off her barrier as she moved. She fumbled for the pouch of dust at her side, but with a missing finger, even the simple motion to get it open was agonizingly difficult.
Sterling readied himself for another lunge, smiling. Then something crashed into him from behind, sending him stumbling forward.
When he spun, Wrynn was there, surrounded by an aura of floating knives.
“Hi.”
She pointed. Dozens of knives slammed into Sterling, flashing with elemental energies as they made contact. A blazing knife set his shirt aflame, and anoth
er cut a length off his hair.
Sterling snarled, tossing off the burning shirt. The knives spun around in mid-air, crashing into him again, but not a single one broke through his skin.
Lydia finished opening her bag. There wasn’t as much dust left as she’d hoped, but it was still far from empty. With a gesture, she carried the dust on the wind.
As Sterling lunged for Wrynn, dust settled on his skin.
For a moment, his eyes fluttered, his charge abruptly stopped.
“...What...What was I...?”
Wrynn vanished, moving too fast for Lydia to follow. When Lydia saw Wrynn again, she was launching a kick straight at Sterling’s chest, her leg surrounded by a black aura.
Sterling blearily raised a hand to block the incoming kick, but he was too slow. The sheer force of the impact blasted him backward, straight back through the portal.
Lydia glanced toward Wrynn.
“Get Taelien on his feet and get out of here,” Wrynn said. “That won’t keep him for—”
A black-bladed sword flew out of the portal, straight at Wrynn. She dodged to the side, but it cut a long gash along her left arm.
She winced, slapping her other hand over the injury. “Void,” she hissed. “I’m...”
She bent over double, gritting her teeth.
Sterling walked back out of the portal a moment later, his sword once again sheathed at his hip.
Lydia flew toward Taelien as fast as she could. He was still writhing on the ground, struggling to breathe. His face was bright red.
Sterling continued to ignore Lydia, facing Wrynn. “Ordinarily, I’d be quite concerned to tangle with you directly. But you’re injured, exhausted, and don’t have access to the overwhelming majority of your powers. I’ve been watching. You’re struggling with that seal of yours.” Sterling smiled at her. “If you keep fighting, you’ll just wear yourself out.”
Wrynn grimaced. “Suppose you’re right. Do you really want to back me into a corner and see what happens?”