Ascension

by Felicity Heaton

  Taig looked there and his expression instantly darkened. He tossed the supreme mage into the group of three male necromancers that had been acting as his back up and stalked towards her.

  “Let daddy take care of the kiddies.” He grinned again and then his eyes brightened, the fires of Hell filling them. Lealandra lost focus, drugged by the flow of his power through her as it rose and tangled with her own. It was intoxicating to feel such strength in her veins. Her magic swirled inside her, contented by the surge in power it gained from Taig.

  Darkness slammed into her stomach, knocking her off her feet.

  Taig growled. Her head spun. She tried to get up but the world shifted and twirled, spinning around in front of her eyes. A strong hand hauled her to her feet and set her down. Taig smiled at her. She shook her head and glared at Gregori. He stood far away at the other end of the room, a row of witches acting as a wall around him. He looked smug. Her eyes narrowed. She was going to wipe that look right off his face.

  “Little more careful. Can’t look after you all the time,” Taig whispered and then released her. He was gone before she could respond. An ungodly cry filled the room a moment later. A strange sense of icy emptiness flowed over her like mist, the same feeling she’d had back in the void that Taig had travelled through with her. A shadow had been born in this world.

  Angry at the idea that Taig thought she was weak and needed protecting all of the time, she severed the connection between them and forced her magic to focus. It darkened within her, irritated by her actions. Good. If it wanted to feel the connection to Taig again, it was going to have to help her.

  Lealandra raised her hand and focused on Gregori.

  The witches blocking her way to Gregori shifted and parted, leaving her path clear. They tried to move back again but she held them at bay. It was too easy to move such weak witches. Raising her other hand, she signalled her side to attack. They rushed past her, down either side of the invisible path she had created between her and Gregori.

  Gregori raised a hand and smiled at her. His hazel eyes shifted, the colour in them draining and then red surfacing. So that was how he wanted to play the game. Dirty. Lealandra released her focus and hold on her magic, allowing it free rein. It surged through her, claiming a fraction of control. She sensed the moment her eyes changed. It was the same moment that the voice in her mind joined with her own. Gregori was playing a fool’s game. He hadn’t ascended. His power was nothing compared to her own.

  Red ribbons of magic curled around her fingers, lacing them together, and spiralled up her arms.

  The fierce fight around them drifted away, inconsequential noise, a buzzing of flies that didn’t concern her. Gregori’s eyes melted completely to red. He was surrendering total control to his power.

  A fool’s game.

  She could sense how close he was to ascension. Surrendering to the magic now was risking it destroying him. It would seize control and act out its own will. He was taking a huge chance by believing it would want her dead.

  Lealandra ran at him, raising her hands and feeling the incantation at the same time. Three spells in one again. Bind. Silence. Pain. Only this time, they wouldn’t drain her and leave her open. She was stronger now. She could use high-level magic without fear of weakening herself. The magic around her hands turned blue and she launched her right hand forwards, sending the spell shooting towards Gregori. With an idle flick of his wrist, he dragged one of his supreme mages across the room and into the path of the spell. The man fell to the floor, twitching and screaming in agony. Lealandra made a noise of frustration and threw the second spell. Gregori looked at the window. Lealandra could sense the second supreme mage there. Gregori’s magic dragged him across the room, throwing him in front of the spell. He dropped to the floor too.

  Lealandra growled and began casting another spell.

  Gregori rushed her. He was across the room in an instant and slamming into her stomach. The force of the impact knocked the air from her lungs. Her arms flung forwards as she flew backwards. She didn’t hit the floor. There was a momentary darkness and then the sound of wind rushing and the chill night air surrounded her. The breeze threw her long black hair around and the cold brought goose bumps out over her flesh.

  She cast a quick glance around her new surroundings and got to her feet. Gregori had taken her to the roof. He stood on the far side of the helipad opposite her, his coat tails flapping in the wind and strands of his hair flying free from his ponytail. The low spotlights around the perimeter of the round helipad cast strange shadows on his angled face, forming dark hollows in his cheeks and around his eyes. Their red depths burned into hers.

  A split second later, a twisting spike of bright blue flew towards her. She rolled to one side to dodge the spell and then back again to dodge another. Gregori hurled two more spells at her, bigger this time, huge bright orbs of yellow that came at her fast. She stepped towards them and then the wind shifted and she was ten feet closer to Gregori, past the spells. They shot off into the distance behind her. Her magic rose and, without thinking, she cast a silence spell at Gregori. The second she sensed his intent to move out of its path, she hurled another spell. The binding spell hit him square in the chest, constricting his arms against his sides. He stared at her, frowned, and then raised his arms with considerable effort. His eyes brightened and his arms came free.

  Lealandra sent another two pink orbs shooting his way and then ran, casting faster smaller spells that he wouldn’t easily be able to avoid. He disappeared and reappeared quickly, each time dodging one of the spells. He winked in and out of existence so fast that Lealandra couldn’t keep up. The ease with which he avoided the spells made her cold. He was far more powerful than she had believed. It was almost as though he could sense them even as he was moving through the vortex opened during teleportation.

  She hurled more spells, low grade binding ones that wouldn’t stop him but would slow him down long enough for her to get a better shot in. He disappeared and the hairs on the back of her neck rose when wind blew across them. Behind her. She turned but wasn’t quick enough. Gregori’s fist slammed into her cheek, sending her mind spinning and her toppling to the ground. Before she could hit it, she opened the vortex and fell inside. She reappeared above Gregori and roared as she hurtled towards him, her foot outstretched, aimed for his head. He caught her foot, twisted it, and flung her across the roof.

  Lealandra bounced along it, tumbling and turning, and barely managed to stop herself from falling over the edge of the helipad to the roof below.

  Her entire body ached and protested when she pushed herself up. Physical fights weren’t her style and they weren’t Gregori’s either but he would easily best her in one. She dragged herself to her feet and resumed a fighting stance.

  Two bright pinpricks of purple shot towards her, so small she could barely make out their centres and so dazzling that they hurt her eyes. She didn’t recognise them but her magic did.

  It whispered words of death at her and she ran, skirting the edge of the helipad. The wind rushed against her, slowing her down, and she cast a frightened glance over her shoulder at the twin spells. If one hit her, she would survive. It would take both to impact in order for the spell to be effective. They shifted course and shot towards her, tracking her. She ran harder, her heart exploding with panic. They were closing in.

  Glass smashed in the distance.

  Lealandra tripped.

  The helipad came up at her in slow motion and then the wind changed course. It shot downwards and she shot upwards. Below her, the two purple dots of light moved course again, heading up with her. Wind beat down on her, strong against her back. A firm arm held her tight against him. Taig.

  Lealandra raised her arms in front of her face as the spells closed in, so bright that she couldn’t see anything but them, but her inevitable death.

  And then they stopped.

  She stared wide-eyed at Taig’s extended hand. His human skin was gone, replaced by dark b
rown scaly claws, their tips longer this time and gleaming. His palm faced the two orbs and his dragon-like wings beat the air to keep him stationary. Taig moved his fingers and darkness grew around the twin spells. More than an absence of light again. Lealandra could feel what was on the other side, what waited there, eager for the power that Taig was sending them. The spells dulled, growing faint as though the darkness was sucking the light out of them, and then they winked out.

  Taig clenched his fist, his long pointed claws curling around.

  The darkness disappeared.

  “I leave you alone for a second…” Taig muttered in her ear and wrapped his other arm around her, holding her close. “I said to be a little more careful.”

  Lealandra nodded, rested her head against his chest and let her magic latch onto his power. They slowly descended towards the helipad and Gregori. He was watching her, waiting, reminding her of the dark things that lived in that other world that Taig could so easily command.

  Taig set her down. She readied herself, her focus split between Gregori and Taig.

  Taig backed off a step and stood motionless at the edge of the helipad behind her. She frowned, surprised by his actions. Gregori wasn’t stopping him. He was keeping back, letting her fight by herself, as though he had sensed her need to be the one to end it with Gregori. She smiled inside at that. The magic must have communicated it to him. Taig’s presence was a comfort though. He wasn’t only her back up but her pillar of strength too, the one person she could rely on to give her what she needed without judgement and with affection. He would give every last drop of his power to her if she needed it. She knew that without asking, and she might just need it.

  Gregori’s eyes brightened, until the red completely filled his eyes, absorbing all of the white.

  His power rose and hers followed suit, intent on being stronger than his was.

  Lealandra took a deep breath and then ran at Gregori. He came at her, throwing spells in quick succession that she dodged by leaping and stepping on the air itself as though it was a physical platform for her to use. The magic continued to rise inside her, guiding her and giving her an inkling of just how far she could go now. She could walk on air, could step great distances without the need to open a vortex. The feel of the wind against her, the cold silence, was comforting. It gave her peace as she moved without thinking, avoiding everything that Gregori was throwing at her. His face darkened and he snarled at her, revealing sharp teeth. She had to stop him before he became too powerful. If the magic controlled him completely, she wouldn’t be powerful enough to stop him, not unless she drained Taig of every drop of his power.

  She raised her hands and rained fury down on Gregori, whizzing red spells that slammed through the air like bolts of lightning. They struck true and Gregori jerked backwards with each collision. The spells sapped his power but it rose again, until a dark red aura surrounded him. He was losing control. She launched herself at him, cutting through the air towards him. Her eyes narrowed on him and she drew her hand back, readying the highest level binding spell that she knew.

  Gregori smiled at her.

  Before she could release the spell, he slammed into her, his hands against her chest, sending them both up into the night air. Bright green light filled the space between them and then it felt as though a bullet train had hit her. Her ears rang, her body felt heavy, and her mind felt numb. Gregori disappeared.

  Lealandra fell backwards, her hair streaming upwards as she dropped downwards. Her arms hung limp in the air above her and she could only stare as the side of the building appeared beyond her feet. An odd sense of calm filled her as she fell, dropping down through the cold night air. She didn’t feel the rush of wind or hear the sound of it as her hair fluttered and flapped. She felt nothing but peace and an overwhelming sense of tiredness.

  Something sparked in her mind, a quiet voice that said to teleport, to get her backside back up to the helipad. The voice had an aura of fear around it, panic lacing through it. Hurt. And something else. Love. Overwhelming love. A shiver raced down her spine. Taig. Her eyes widened when she realised that she was falling. The top of the building was so far away now. The floors rushed past her, a blur that she couldn’t keep up with. She didn’t have the strength to teleport to the roof and she couldn’t clearly make out a floor to teleport onto. Panic filled her and she reached up, silently stretching for Taig.

  She didn’t want to die.

  Her magic burst through her, taking control for a split second at the exact same moment that she hit something hard. Not the pavement. It dropped with her and then she was going up again. Fatigue engulfed her and she leaned against Taig’s chest. The feel of his arms around her, holding her close against his chest, and his warm scent soothed her, stealing away her fears and restoring her balance.

  “Thank you,” she whispered and tried to stay awake.

  Whatever Gregori had hit her with, it had drained her strength but not her magic. That was hurtling around inside her, furious about the spell that he had cast on her and pushing for control. She closed her eyes and surrendered to it. Her only way of winning now was to fight Gregori with everything she had, and that meant letting her magic take control, just as he had done. She had to trust that it would surrender control to her again when the fight was over. She had to trust that it wouldn’t dare utter a spell that would harm Taig or anyone other than her enemy.

  Taig pressed a kiss to her hair. The top of the building passed her by. She looped her arms around Taig’s neck and claimed his lips with her own, kissing him softly and drawing strength from the love she could feel in him. She wouldn’t let him down again. She would defeat Gregori and then they could be together, just as she knew he wanted them to be, just as they should have been all this time. They belonged together. A mismatched but perfect for each other couple. Nothing in this world would separate them again. She wouldn’t let it.

  Taig moved her so his full length pressed against hers and then he lowered her to the floor. The moment her feet touched it, she felt the net that Gregori had spread over the area, a tangled web of magic that would feed his senses. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, her hair causing the image of him to stutter as it blew across her eyes.

  Lealandra crouched and held her hand out above the ground, feeling the threads of magic he had woven over the helipad. They were strong and tuned to her. She released her magic a fraction, letting it steal more control from her, and the change shocked her. Strength surged through her, erasing the fatigue she had felt and filling her with a sense of invincibility that ran bone-deep and bathed every fibre of her being.

  Taig moved back again, her sentinel, always there if she needed him. She knew he would help in a heartbeat if she faltered. He wouldn’t let things go on so long this time. He wouldn’t allow her to endanger herself again.

  Lealandra stood and faced Gregori, readying herself. It all came down to this. One moment that would decide both of their fates. Their magic was in control now, guiding their destiny, choosing whether their carrier should live or die.

  Her mind receded but her consciousness remained, joined with her magic, one with her power at last. All of her faith, all of her trust, was with the magic and its reaction surprised her. It didn’t snatch control or fill her mind with dark thoughts this time. There was no sense of threat about it. It truly was one with her, a part of the same being, joined in a common purpose.

  Eradicating the man that had dared to hurt them.

  Gregori raised his hands. Black wires of magic twisted around his arms, sucking the light from the area surrounding him. Lealandra’s eyes widened.

  She knew what she had to do. The moment she realised it, her magic began the process. It burrowed into her flesh, dark red ribbons that sank into her, going down into her bones, into the depths of her body and her core. It fused with them, with her, and in her mind she heard the words, heard the magic’s will and intention. Revenge.

  Her magic reached out to Taig but it didn’t hav
e to reach far. His power was right there with her. She latched onto it, absorbing as much as he would let her so she could cast a spell beyond her dreaming, beyond her abilities, and beyond her knowledge. It was a spell that her magic knew, one that only a powerful demon could help her cast. She needed Taig’s full strength to summon the incantation, all of his dark power and his connection to the underworld. The words jumbled together in her mind, weak and fading.

  A spark, a tiny leap of electricity bridged the gap in the connection between her and Taig and then immense power coursed into her through the bond, mixing with her own magic. Power so strong that her magic wrapped around it, entwined itself with the invading force and drained the strength from it. Her magic used it to grow and become stronger, until it was powerful enough to form the words in order and to bring about the spell that she needed to cast.

  The stilted wires around Gregori’s hands grew wider, jagged, menacing as they writhed against his flesh. His eyes darkened to black. The wind rose, sending Lealandra’s hair floating upwards and her power rose with it. The words fell into line in her head and she raised her hands. Red magic seeped out of her skin, soft smoke-like ribbons that wound themselves around her arms, illuminating the darkness.

  Her mouth opened and silent words fell from her lips, each landing heavily in the air and shaking the world.

  A dark void opened around her, chasing outwards from her back, from where Taig stood immobile, her bridge to the world that she was calling. It was his power that allowed her to do this, that would see her end this fight and become the victor. It was his strength all along that had helped her, through both the ascension and also through what lay ahead. She would always need him and his power, his support and guidance, but most of all his love and devotion.

  She needed him as she needed no other.