“Father?” she whispered. “What is happening?”
“Alecia!” he breathed, voice trembling with relief. “Thank the Power!” The old mage helped her into a sitting position. “The news is not good. Herrenbourn is overrun; the giants slaughtered. By some miracle, the enemy has not found us yet, but I fear it is only a matter of time.”
“And Adam?” she croaked. “Is he alive?”
Aristomus sighed. “I know not. Some moments ago, I saw a brilliant flash of light far to the west, but nothing since. I believe Craigen helped him leave Herrenbourn to confront the Dark Mage. Alecia,” he said, choosing his words with care, “I think it unlikely he still lives.”
“No!” she shouted, tears spilling from eyes reddened by the smoke. “No, it cannot be true!”
“I am so sorry, Ale...” A loud rumble, like a distant earthquake, cut the mage off. The rumble grew in volume, building until their refuge shook as though tearing itself apart. Aristomus and Alecia clung to one another, fighting to keep from being dislodged from the roof. In the street below, both Dread and Unsouled collapsed to the ground. Not even the giants could stand and they held one another, desperate for something solid to cling to. A damaged building collapsed, all noise of its destruction drowned out by the ear-splitting reverberation.
A brilliant beam of white light erupted to the west, stabbing into the heavens like a sword of prophesy. Every eye stared at the gleaming shaft—human, giant and enemy alike. It shone like a beacon of hope, a promise of redress for the depredations of the Dark Mage.
“Adam!” Alecia shouted, raising her arm in exultation. “Father, he is alive!”
“Aye, Alecia,” he replied, grinning like a lunatic. “He must be!”
The thunderous resonation ceased. In the sudden silence, the two mages shook their heads, wondering if they’d been struck deaf. In the distance, the laser-like beam of light flickered once, twice... Then without transition, it disappeared, effaced from the sky.
“By the Power,” whispered Alecia, her voice loud in the abnormal stillness. “Adam. He needs our help!”
The mages scrambled to the edge of the roof. Below, both the Unsouled and the Dread withdrew, racing back toward the forest. “The Dark Mage recalls them,” guessed Aristomus. “Perhaps he is in more trouble than it seems.”
Dozens of giants lay dead in the street with many more injured. Torlaine and her soldiers worked feverishly to save as many as possible. With the help of Marshel’s men, the mages climbed down. Aristomus sent them in search of their horses while he hurried over to the giantess.
“Torlaine, we must attack,” insisted the mage. “Adam has struck a serious blow. We must press our advantage now.”
“Press our advantage?” she replied, incredulous. The giantess motioned to the dead and dying. “What advantage do you see here? I know not why the Unsouled retreated, but my responsibility lies here, to save as many as possible.”
Aristomus explained his theory that Adam and Craigen had snuck out of Herrenbourn to confront the Dark Mage. “Naught else makes sense,” he continued. “Someone has attacked the Dark Mage. Why else withdraw his forces with victory so close at hand?”
Torlaine frowned at his description of the battle, but then relented with a sigh. “Perhaps you are right. It would be just like Craigen to attempt something so foolhardy. Colburne!” she shouted. Her second-in-command trotted over. “You are in charge. Get the wounded away and pull together some of this debris to form a barricade. I know not if the Unsouled will return, but we must be ready, regardless.”
“Where are you going, Captain?”
Torlaine gave a grim smile, pointing to the west. “It seems my husband has wandered off again. I mean to collect him.”
In the distance, the shaft of light returned, but weaker this time, its purity tainted by strands of black.
Chapter 35, Defiance
The pain went beyond anguish, unendurable. Adam felt his sanity slipping as the fabric of his soul tore loose from its moorings.
And then he tumbled across the ground, agony gone and soul still intact. Stunned, he forced open his eyes in time to see Craigen rising to his feet. The giant had crashed into him, breaking the hold of the Unsouled and releasing him from the Dark Mage’s spell. Now Craigen turned on the Dark Mage himself. Raising his arms, fingers intertwined, he brought both fists down in a killing blow.
The Dark Mage raised a single finger, flicking the giant away like an annoying insect. Craigen crashed to the ground in a tumble of arms and legs, but regained his feet in an instant, face contorted in rage. But before he launched himself again, the Unsouled piled into him, biting and clawing. The Dark Mage turned back to Adam, dismissing the giant as though he didn’t exist.
“Now, where were we?” he leered. “Oh, yes. You were about to surrender yourself, body and soul.” The Dark Mage took a step forward, lips curling in a ravenous smile.
Adam scrabbled back on hands and knees, frantic to avoid the evil mage’s touch. One foot connected with something solid and he reached back, hoping for a rock, a stick, anything to use as a weapon. But his fingers wrapped around smooth, fine-grained wood. His staff!
Molten rage replaced his fear. Both ends of the iron-shod staff burst into white-hot flame and he leveled a blast at the Unsouled, hurling their burning bodies away from Craigen. “Not anymore,” he snarled. “I’m through being a victim. If you want me, come get me!”
The Dark Mage looked uncertain, head swiveling from side to side as though looking for a means of escape. Finding none, his features hardened, and he turned molten eyes on Adam. “All right, boy,” he spat. “I will teach you fear!”
He swung the metal staff, leveling a blast of ebony force cold enough to shatter iron. In an instinctive gesture, Adam threw a blast of blistering white flame, groping in an unconscious attempt at self-preservation. Their opposing powers met with a thunderous rumble, mounting into a coruscating battle of cold and heat. As Adam poured himself into the fight, his mastery grew. The ground rumbled, shaking with the intensity of the conflict. Craigen flattened himself, clinging to whatever he could grasp to escape the buffeting energies around him. It cast the Unsouled away like tumbleweeds. The encounter intensified as the mages battled for domination. Trees in the forest below bent double, cracking and snapping before the onslaught. The ground itself split, deep crevasses opening before closing once again.
The Dark Mage snarled as he leveled blast after blast, scouring Adam with arctic cold like burning acid against his skin. But it felt like a summer breeze compared to the agony he’d suffered just moments before. All doubt, every moment of self-distrust and hesitation, peeled away layer by layer in the onslaught, honing his will to endure like the blade of a knife.
He took one trembling step forward, then another. The Dark Mage struck back with gelid black fire, wild and desperate to stop him. White flames roared higher, engulfing the black, consuming and burning them clean. Exalted, Adam raised the staff above his head, compressing his fire into a white-hot beam of light that ripped into the sky, scorching as though the heavens themselves burned. Crying out his pain and rage, the shaft of light pulsed in time to his beating heart. The Dark Mage groveled at his feet, broken and defeated.
A voice broke through. “Kill him, Adam! For all the lives he has taken... for the life of my son! Kill him!”
For a moment seeming to stretch into a lifetime, Adam wavered at the edge of something he could never take back, never undo. And it would be so easy. No blame cast, no finger pointing in condemnation... except perhaps his own. Could he take a life, not in the heat of battle, but rather as a cold-blooded executioner? Would he not be givng in to his own inner darkness? Might he not risk becoming another Dark Mage himself?
Adam shuddered... and stepped back from the abyss. But he had a new battle to fight, this one internal. With every shred of willpower he possessed, he concentrated, recalling the Power. At first he feared it might be too late; that he’d gone past the point of no return. Th
en his control reasserted itself. The coruscating beam of white flickered, weakening before it went out. Night reasserted itself and silence fell over the clearing.
The giant knelt on the ground, hands covering his face as he wept uncontrollably.
“I’m so sorry, Craigen,” Adam choked. “I can’t... I can’t do it.”
Craigen looked up, cheeks wet with tears. “It is I who am sorry, Adam. In my thirst for revenge, I overstepped myself.” The giant gave a wry smile. “Perhaps retribution is as overrated as despair, my friend.”
Adam smiled, humbled by Craigen’s understanding and strength. He reached out to take his friend’s hand when a look of horror came over the giant’s face. “Adam, look out!”
Something hard and unforgiving smashed against the back of Adam’s skull, knocking him to his knees. Pain exploded as starbursts flared across his vision. His head felt wet and broken and his hand came back covered with blood. Graying vision blurred to darkness at the edges. Adam’s consciousness wavered, a narrow ledge crumbling into dust under his fingers while the yawning chasm of death stretched below. He felt Craigen’s strong arms pulling him back from the brink.
“Fool!” spat the Dark Mage. “Such maudlin sentimentality proves you cannot defeat me. The strong crush those who oppose them, as I shall now crush you!” Waving his staff, black flames once again engulfed the Dark Mage.
Adam struggled to concentrate, the blow to his head scrambling all thought. “Craigen,” he slurred, tongue thick and swollen, “hold me up.”
Without hesitation, the giant stood, holding the young mage’s back tight against his chest. Adam’s arms felt clumsy, uncoordinated. But he somehow extended his staff. Weak flames, white tinged with sickly yellow, flickered over the smooth wood, his strength no longer sure.
The Dark Mage smiled, certain now of victory. Black flames roared in a release of energy intended to obliterate Adam in a single blast. But the white fire answered, the two powers colliding in a paroxysm of uncontrollable might. From the midst of the conflagration, the shaft of white once again burned skyward. But this time far weaker, its clean power shot through with veins of darkest night.
The trod of heavy footsteps sounded. “Adam,” whispered Craigen, his voice urgent. “Dread approach!” Four of the terrible beasts appeared from the edge of the wrecked forest. Following silent instructions from their master, they encircled Adam and the giant. Ebony shadow shot upward from the Dreads’ extended claws, adding their might to the conflict. The black worms writhing in the white fire thickened, growing stronger as they fed on the young mage’s strength. Adam sagged in Craigen’s arms, his strength spent.
THE HORSES ESCAPED injury. But of the soldiers, only Marshel and three others still lived. The mages mounted up and, escorted by Torlaine and a score of volunteers, set out at a gallop for the beckoning flare of light to the west.
Uprooted trees, broken branches and shattered limbs littered the forest. Torlaine and her soldiers cleared a path for the horses; slow going, but still faster than traveling on foot. A few minutes later, they overtook the fleeing Unsouled, but the creatures refused to engage, intent only on reaching their dark master.
When they arrived at the edge of the forest, the battle appeared over. Encircled by the Dark Mage and four Dread, Adam’s strength waned fast. The once pristine beam of light now contained thick tendrils of black. What little white remained had dimmed to gray and grew darker by the minute.
“Father!” Alecia shouted. “He is hurt!” Adam’s head rested against Craigen’s chest, the giant’s vest awash with blood. Heavy red droplets ran down to soak the giant’s leggings.
“Craigen!” cried Torlaine. She took only two steps before Aristomus’ voice brought her up short. “My husband is in danger!” she snarled. “I must help him!”
The mage held up one hand in a placating gesture. “I understand, but we need your help! We will do all in our power for Craigen, but you must ward our backs.” Aristomus looked back at the forest just as the first few Unsouled crawled through the twisted wood. “I do not believe they will disregard us this time!”
The madness in Torlaine’s eyes faded as she nodded in understanding. “Very well, mage. While strength and fortitude endure, you will stand protected. But,” her voice lowered to a fierce whisper, “you must redeem him. My heart cannot bear another loss.”
Aristomus nodded. Dismounting, he held out one hand. “Come, Alecia. We are too weak alone. We must link if we are to aid them.” Alecia climbed down from her mount and the mages linked their fingers around her staff. Together, they hurried toward the titanic battle.
The buffeting energies increased to hurricane force before they closed half the distance. Though they could see, it felt as though they forced their way through a driving sandstorm, their skin scoured raw by the fine grains of the Dark Mage’s power. But no reserve remained to protect themselves from the assault. Adam needed what little strength they had left.
Fighting and clawing for every inch of ground, Aristomus and Alecia closed the distance. They had but one advantage. The Dark Mage and Dread disregarded them both, engaged in their own personal battle.
“Try to reach Adam!” Aristomus panted through clenched teeth. “Our only hope is to join him to the link! Perhaps what little strength we have left will be enough!”
The girl’s auburn hair whipped about her head like a flail. “I shall try!” Careful to maintain contact with her father, Alecia stretched out her fingers, reaching...
ADAM’S WILL FLAGGED. The Dark Mage’s blow broke something inside his head, leaving it full of glass shards grinding together, shredding thought and reason. He and Craigen still survived but only due to instinct, an inner force refusing to give up.
Craigen’s fierce voice whispered in his ear, “Adam! You are dying! We must flee this place!”
“No,” moaned Adam. Just enough self-awareness remained to realize dropping his tentative hold on the Power would mean their annihilation. “I’ve got to... got to...”
Slender fingers slipped into his own, tightening and gripping hard. A tender caress soothed the fractured pieces of his battered mind, a warm and gentle remedy to the unending pain and exhaustion. He knew that touch, had felt it at a distance when linked to Aristomus in the Hall of Healing.
“Alecia,” Adam sighed. Then his eyes widened in panic as he remembered the circumstances. “What are you doing here? You’ve got to get out!”
A warm tear fell on his cheek, trickling down to his neck. “Let us help you, Adam,” she breathed. “This fight is ours, too.”
Adam nodded, pain lancing from his damaged skull. But he no longer drifted in a murky sea of shadows. Alecia’s touch brought him back to himself. He faced the Dark Mage, holding Alecia’s hand tight in his own. With his free hand, he gripped the staff and focused on white fire.
Always before, anger and rage allowed Adam to tap into the Power. But as he stared into the molten eyes of the Dark Mage, saw the venom and loathing there, he realized hate wasn’t the strongest passion. Friendship, loyalty, sacrifice, love—these were the feelings which mattered, the ones giving life meaning.
“Put me down, Craigen,” Adam directed. A crooked smile took the sting from his order. He released Alecia from the link and placed her hand in Craigen’s. “Take care of them... my friend.” Turning back, he stepped forward to meet his fate.
CRAIGEN SWEPT UP THE two mages in his arms and backed away. Alecia screamed and clawed, begging him to let her go. She raised her staff, but then lowered it. Even if she could bring herself to strike the giant, she no longer had the strength. Aristomus slumped in Craigen’s other arm, too drained to do more than watch.
Adam stepped forward and raised his staff. Power screamed from the metal-capped wood. The flickering shaft of light solidified; the gray returning to white. Questing fingers of silver flame penetrated the shadows cast by the Dread, following each back to its source. When it reached the monsters, the flame stabbed straight down, cutting through each of th
e beasts like a scythe. The Dreads’ power collapsed at once. All four creatures wavered a moment, then split apart, sliced cleanly in half.
The loss of his servants’ power diminished the Dark Mage’s strength. The black veins staining Adam’s power thinned, becoming more like miniscule cracks in an immaculate white column. A moment later, they disappeared, too. Adam walked into the shaft of light and it bathed the young mage in intense, pure flame. “It’s over,” said Adam, voice calm and precise. “Your reign of terror is at an end.”
The Dark Mage spat. “I have lived the lives of a thousand men, boy,” he snarled. “Do not think I fear one such as you.” But the sweat dripping from his face and his trembling hands gave lie to the Dark Mage’s words.
“Lay down your staff. Submit yourself to the justice of the people of Tantris and I will let you live.”
Rage boiled in the Dark Mage’s fiery eyes. “You deliver terms to me, boy?” he barked. “I think not. You may have won this battle, but the war is far from over.” With a malignant snarl, he swung his staff and launched a blast of ebony power at Adam’s heart.
The young mage waved it aside, tapping the ground with his staff. The earth rumbled, pitching the Dark Mage to his knees. With a final wrenching groan, the ground split beneath him. Fiery heat from the mountain’s molten caldera steamed from the crack.
The Dark Mage swayed at the edge, scrabbling to regain his balance, then fell screaming, “I cannot diieee!”
Adam turned away, sickened. With the Dark Mage’s death, the Unsouled scattered. A few still attacked, driven by their terrible hunger, but the giants dispatched them with ease. Craigen held Torlaine in a crushing embrace. Alecia and Aristomus, now free, rushed up the hill toward him. Adam smiled at them all. Then his knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground.
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