But before I reached it, a stunning spell hit me from behind. Frozen, I tumbled to the floor. My staff fell from my hand and clattered onto the marble paving.
His laughter echoed inside the rotunda.
As soon as the stun faded, I tried to reach for my staff, but it was inches too far away.
“Oh, you want your staff?” he said.
He tried to get past me to grab it first, but I snagged his pants with one hand, and pulled him down. A stabbing pain hit me in the back, but I ignored it. Then I drove my fist into his nuts.
While he was screaming with pain, I scrambled past him. Something was seriously wrong with my back, but I didn’t care. The black staff stood out clearly against the light stone paving.
I was still on my hands and knees, and I grabbed the closest part of my staff, which was the top. As soon as I made contact, Gill’s voice boomed in my head. HIT HIM WITH THE RING, NOW!
Escobar had risen to his feet already, and he stepped closer to the railing to keep away from my feet.
I pointed the top of my staff at Escobar as he towered over me and chanted, “HOLARTHON, ELBO DÉTRUIT.”
The jolt of white lightning hit him in the chest and hurled him backwards. His butt hit the waist-high railing, and he tumbled over it. The last I saw of him, he was spinning head over heels like one of those gymnasts in the Olympics. Then I heard a loud thunk. The buzzing in my ears ended.
-o-o-o-
I KNEW THE FIGHT was over, and I’d won. I had no idea whether he’d survived the fall, and I didn’t care. If he’d survived, I was going to make his life a living hell. Carol hadn’t survived her encounter with him, so he deserved the worst.
While I sat catching my breath, I checked my injuries. I had a couple of nasty bruises on my head, and one on the left side of my chest, but my cut lips were the worst. They were still dripping blood.
Feet pounded on the stone walkway behind me. Laura yelled, “Ian, are you all right?”
I tried to turn to face her, but something was wrong with my back where his stunning had hit me.
Her hands roamed over the sides of my head and my shoulders.
“Be careful,” I said. “There’s gotta be blood everywhere, and lots of it is mine.”
Ian,” she replied, “it was a magical fight. It left no evidence that we were even here. Now, though, be careful. There’s blood on your hands that could stain the floor.”
She healed me and helped me stand. All the blood was gone.
“What happened to the bastard?”
She sighed. “He hit the stone floor with his forehead first. Crushed his skull. Your uncles are carrying the body out.”
The surge of power from the sorcerer started, and I had to steady myself against the railing. The bastard had been incredibly strong, and the heat was almost overpowering. It seemed to flow for minutes before the stream slowed. My mind turned giddy, and I knew it would be days before my head cleared.
After a few deep breaths to regain my equilibrium, I followed her downstairs. Escobar was already gone. Everyone except my uncles had waited for me. A loud cheer filled the rotunda. Folks crowded around me, and Gill patted me on the back.
“I told ya it’d be easy!” he yelled in my ear. “If anybody deserved killing, he did.”
“I know.” I’d said many times that I wanted to kill him, but in the end, I’d rather that he’d become my slave. I could’ve really made him suffer. The main thing was that he was gone for good.
Sorcha stood to the side of the others. I took both of her hands in mine and swirled her in a circle like we were square dancing. From the shocked look on her face, I could tell that no one had done that to her before.
“Congratulations!” I said. “You deserve the credit more than anybody. You actually managed to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.”
She gave me a warm smile. “The Roman historian Tacitus said it right. Victory is claimed by all, and I’m pleased to have had a hand in it.”
Gill brought his hand to his forehead and pretended to tip an imaginary hat at her. He’d been smart enough to see how she could help me, and that idea had paid off big.
Then my grandparents came up to me and hugged me.
“Your mother can finally rest in peace, and so can I,” Grandma said.
Grandpa tried to speak, but words wouldn’t come. He simply held onto me for a minute until he said in a broken voice, “N-now we all can rest in p-peace.”
In ones and twos, my supporters came close and told me I was the greatest thing since sliced bread. It’s customary at such times to exaggerate the importance of the win, and I let them do that without contradiction. But I knew the main importance was to my own peace of mind and the rest of my family. Vengeance had been delivered upon evil, and that was good.
-o-o-o-
Brigid’s Community Ranch, Boulder County, Colorado
BY THE TIME WE returned home, it was almost midnight, and the party was already in full swing. I grabbed a beer and my wife and gave her a smacking kiss. She’d put up with a lot of crap, and she still hated the fights, but she’d understood why I needed to take care of Escobar. Now we could take some time and decide the next steps in our life together.
Christina ran up to me, jumped up, and threw her arms around my neck. I held her tight and spun her in a circle.
“Are you okay this time?” she asked.
“Better than ever. Justice has been served on the man who killed my closest family before I met you and your mom.”
She didn’t ask what that justice entailed, and I didn’t want to get into the specifics. She had a right to stay a little girl if at all possible in this insane magical world.
I held her in one arm while sipping my beer in the other. Her mom stayed close, and the three of us chatted with everyone who wandered by to offer congratulations. These were mostly members of the clan that had stayed at the ranch because those with me at the capitol had already said their piece.
When the clan members had paid their respects, I wandered over to where Diana was holding forth to a small group, including her daughter and Crystal. By now, Christina had gotten bored and wandered away to talk with some of her friends, but Laura stayed close.
During a break in the conversation, I asked our Great Leader, “Do all the sorcerers in the Rocky Mountain region have to leave within five days?”
“Exactly,” she said. “Plus, all of Escobar’s personal wealth is now yours. He has to be worth millions. You’ll also receive title to the slayers’ regional headquarters, which is a two hundred acre ranch southwest of Denver near the foothills. That’s also worth millions.”
I already had more money that I knew what to do with. “Maybe we can use most of these new funds to enhance Gill’s happiness project. Witches who feel threatened in their current homes could use help in moving to this region.”
“Of course,” Diana said. “Talk to Katie about that.”
Another question popped into my mind. “I’m not sure I ever heard what makes up the Rocky Mountain region?”
Diana began running states off using her fingers. “All of Idaho, Montana, the Dakotas, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico. In addition, all of Kansas but Kansas City and all of Nevada except Las Vegas. It’s a huge area, but relatively few people.”
It was also a very scenic region filled with tribes. Well worth saving for their sake, too. “Glad I could help clean it up.”
My uncles didn’t arrive until late in the evening, and when they did, Grandpa told me, “They brought you an urn full of ashes.”
“Good, I’ll add it to my collection. The next time I fight, Escobar’s earthly remains will accompany me into battle.”
“Is there going to be a next time?” Grandpa asked.
“I don’t know for sure. Laura and I need to talk, but I doubt I’ve heard the last from the sorcerers on the national slayers’ council. They’re probably already plotting their revenge.”
I really wis
hed I was wrong about that.
~Finis~
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Vengeance (The Sorcerers' Scourge Series Book 3) Page 23