True, with one rocket Killian had probably wiped out most of the senior command, but others would rise to take their place. This war had never been about conventional troops and leadership, it had always been about who had had more mages, and until Victor had chosen to show himself that had been Voll. Once Voll died, it would be Victor who would continue things.
I watched with amusement as Killian and his cronies fanned out to attempt to overpower the master Mage standing before me. Victor looked in my direction to see if I was going to intervene or if perhaps I had been behind this attempt. I didn’t give the him anything, keeping my face impassive in the face of Victor’s fury.
“Voll,” he murmured, “I should have killed you when I had the chance. You will not escape me again.”
CHAPTER TEN
It appeared like everything seemed to happen all at once. Victor spun into action as a dozen threads sought out his foes, including myself. Fortunately I had expected such an act and had already moved to defend myself as the threads smashed into the ground where I had been standing.
Several of the other mages hadn’t been so lucky and their shields buckled as Victor sent them barrelling into the wreckage. I couldn’t see Voll, but I knew that he had managed to dodge the attack intended to kill him.
Several counter-attacks were levelled against Victor, who dispatched several threads that could level mountains with threads that contained far less energy. There was a reason this man was an undisputed master.
I vaguely pondered throwing my hat into the ring. I could influence the outcome of this fight, but if I committed myself I needed to ensure that Victor would fall, and that was by no means a surety now.
I had only one chance, and this wasn’t going to be it.
Victor must have realised by now that I was not going to be a threat, as he had focused his attention solely upon Killian and his men. Marcus had once thought that six master mages would be enough to take down Victor, but the dozen that Killian had brought were getting in each other’s way. The simple fact was that our kind don’t work well together.
Two of these idiots’ threads collided with each other in an attempt to finish the old man. The loud clash echoed across the ruined room. Victor’s single thread took them both down and sent them sliding across the ruined floor. Only one of the two rose again.
Watching Victor fight was a lesson unto itself. He didn’t appear to move during combat, certainly not to the same degree that I would. Even paralysed, I still launched myself into the air and tried to fight acrobatically. In my weakened state, I couldn’t compete like that any longer. I didn’t have the flexibility or the stamina and I weakening my potential power in trying to do so. Victor relied on his magic to protect himself. I had seen him only step once to the side in this whole battle, and even that looked grudgingly taken.
I needed to leave and I needed to leave now, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. The experience from watching Victor’s Mana signature in battle was invaluable and had confirmed my earlier suspicions. I was glad I had chosen not to intervene – it would have failed.
“Wills!” Killian called out in fury. “Help us! You can end this!”
Killian was trying to force one of the old man’s threads back to lay an attack directly against him. I could only see a couple of his allies still standing. I had to assume that in asking for my help he had already come to the conclusion that he was outmatched.
I didn’t bother to reply; instead I watched as Victor slowly but surely overpowered him. Killian’s thread wavered and cracked. Victor was merciless and pressed his attack viciously, sending a dozen snake-like hits against Voll’s shield. Killian’s shield amazingly held, despite the abuse it endured.
With a shout of anger and pain, Killian launched himself into the air to avoid the inevitable death awaiting him. It would seem that Victor had been waiting for such a moment; as soon as Killian’s feet left the ground a second thread appeared from nowhere and swatted the man as if he were no more a threat than a fly. Killian’s shield was smashed into pieces as Victor’s thread knocked him from the sky.
Had Victor been able to follow up the attack, he would have finished him, but another of Killian’s allies intervened and took Victor’s attention away from finishing off his stricken foe. The ally didn’t fare too well as he was quickly overpowered and killed, but it allowed Killian to regain his feet and raise his defences once again. Blood was flowing freely from his mouth and he appeared to be favouring his right side. He glanced around in fury and despair as he now took stock. He had come to the conclusion that this simply wasn’t going to work.
He backed away warily and gestured to his remaining men that it was time to leave. I wasn’t certain that Victor would allow them to leave, until I heard the tell-tale sound of a rocket bearing down on our position again. I glanced up in rage as I saw a missile launched from the helicopter flying above.
Victor smiled contemptuously and with a flick of his fingers sent the missile back to its originator. The helicopter exploded in a haze of yellow mist and shrapnel rained from the sky. Killian appeared to have been waiting for such a moment. At first I thought he was going to attack, but I was wrong. Instead he chose to retreat. He wasn’t as stupid as I had first thought – he knew when he was beaten.
He formed the Mana necessary for teleportation but I could tell it wouldn’t work. Victor brought his powers to bear and sent a wave of Mana disruption at the disappearing figures. Two were immediately fragged – they were foolish and had sent scry threads out first. Killian appeared to disappear just seconds before the disruption wave hit where he had been standing. He had chosen a small burst of teleportation – somewhere within sight. I didn’t know where he had gone, but it was time to go. I had no wish to remain behind to face Victor alone.
Like Killian, I wasn’t going to muck around with a scry thread. I picked an area on the far side of the compound and teleported there. Once I landed, I jumped again in three small jumps before I took stock and contemplated a longer jump. Now that I knew what I needed, things were going to move very quickly, but I had to be careful how I proceeded. I wasn’t going to simply return to Poland and possibly lead Victor back to my work. Now that he was aware of me, I would need to be cautious. He would be looking for me, possibly even hunting me. But I knew that wouldn’t happen for a few days at least. He would need to come up with a believable story for how he had survived the attack on the manor, and that would require him to be found by rescue teams. I had some time before he put his plans in motion.
In the meantime I had to get out of there. I scryed in a random direction and teleported away. To my surprise, someone waiting there for me when I arrived. I heard the sound of teleportation as I materialised and knew I had two choices: teleport away immediately, or double down and raise a shield. Then I cursed. May had already told me that Victor was tracking us through our scry threads. It was possible that he had followed me here with an intention to finish me. That’s what I would have done.
I had a third option, which was to throw everything I had into an attack before my assailant could materialise, but I didn’t think that was a good solution. No, best to protect myself first. I threw a shield around myself and prepared for the worst. In the end it didn’t matter much anyway, as the teleportee wasn’t Victor. It was a very ragged and seriously injured looking Killian Voll.
“Why didn’t you help us?” Killian snarled. “You know what he’s planning! He’s going to kill all of us!”
“You wouldn’t have won,” I informed him, “Even with my help. I’ve already tried and failed.”
“Better to die like that, than wait to be picked off one by one,” Killian replied.
“Then go back,” I replied simply, “and die.”
Killian looked at me with a strange mixture of anger, exhaustion and grief. “There’s nothing left,” he sighed as he moved closer.
At first I thought he was coming for me, and I readied myself for an attack, but he was moving over to a log t
o sit down. I had no intention to sitting next to him. This wasn’t a camping trip and we weren’t friends.
“We’re not safe here,” I grunted as I glanced back behind us. However it was clear that we had some time. If Victor was going to pursue us he would have already done so.
“Nowhere is safe,” Killian sighed wearily. “Trust me, I know. He’ll find us no matter where we go.”
“What do you want from me?”
“From you? Nothing.” Killian shrugged. “The moment where you could have helped has passed.”
“Then be on your way,” I murmured, “I have work to do.”
Killian shifted uncomfortably and winced as he inadvertently jostled his injured side. “I don’t think I’m going anywhere,”
Now that I had a chance to look at him properly. Killian was probably right. He was horribly injured. Most likely dying.
“You’ve got at least three broken ribs on your left side,” I informed him.
He nodded. “You’re probably right. Feels like it.”
“You could possibly bleed out.”
“Why didn’t you help us? You hate Victor as much as any of us. Before I die, I need to know.”
“Until you can overcome the sorcery that keeps Victor alive, there is no point in killing him. When I first fought him, I broke his shield and threw a metal pole through his stomach. He pulled the pole from his body and healed himself.”
“Then he’s unbeatable.”
“Pretty much,” I agreed.
“He’s killed so many of us. It’s over.” Killian held his head in his hands.
I didn’t answer immediately. “Perhaps he was right to do so.”
Killian sighed and leaned back on the tree behind him. “I was just trying to save our kind.”
“You started a war. You killed innocent people.” I accused.
“No!” Killian’s voice rose. “I sought to stop a war! I was trying to prevent it.”
“You did a wonderful job,” I replied wryly.
“I made mistakes,” Killian grunted. “Who hasn’t? I’ll own them, but those who followed me didn’t deserve this.”
“Then perhaps you should be more careful where you lead.”
“Devon,” Killian whispered, suddenly serious, “I’m dying, aren’t I?”
“Yes,” I whispered as gently as I could muster.
“Good. I don’t think I want to live in the world that’s coming.”
“I know exactly what you mean.”
“Please, don’t leave,” Killian murmured as his voice trailed off. “I don’t want to die alo-”
He never finished that sentence. It took Killian an hour to die, and as I promised I remained with him until the last moment. He wasn’t conscious for most of it. I don’t know if my presence made a difference, but he seemed peaceful when he passed.
Once he was dead I burned his body until there was nothing left but ashes. It was strange doing so, but it seemed a fitting end to a worthy foe. I’d never understood the whole “honour your fallen foe” thing before this moment. It seemed alien. He was dead. What did he care? But then I understood – it wasn’t for him. It was for me. I’d spent the best part of the last six years trying to kill this man. I’d done so for a variety of reasons that didn’t much matter now. He was dead –the war was over. That was all that was important.
I vaguely wondered why Victor hadn’t pursued me; I was only a few kilometres from the site of the attack. I had heard in the distance emergency vehicles and support teams arriving on the scene. It would have been simple for Victor to find me, and yet he didn’t.
Perhaps he was trying to establish an alibi for his survival, or maybe he was scared of me. He would see my studies into Necromancy as the first very real threat he had faced in a very long time. It would be easy to imagine that he might find fear in such a scenario, but perhaps I flatter myself. In any event, it was time to go. I had what I came for, and if I was very lucky Victor would take my bait and pursue a very motivated Levenson.
It was all coming into place.
* * * * * *
Or so I had thought. I had taken special care in retuning to Poland. I had no intention of letting Victor follow me. Using a variety of teleportation and shading detonations, I made my path all but untraceable. When I arrived at the station, it was as I had left it. Karl was still in his induced torpor and Randall was still locked away.
It took me some time before everything was in readiness; the room still bore the signs of Karl’s Mana assisted rage. Karl was pretty much in the same state that he had been when I left him. I had expected further regeneration. I could see a slight darkening that would indicate hair around the base of his skull and his skin had an abnormally pink hue, but it didn’t look like the sorcery had accelerated his regeneration any further. If things went well, he would never awake from his sleep.
I placed a palm over the man’s chest as I attempted to figure out just what the hell had caused my previous attempt to go so horribly wrong. Now that I had seen the successful thread employed in Victor, I had hoped my examination of Karl would be easy. I wasn’t wholly wrong. I could now see the fey lines of Mana that were responsible for the regeneration and they were similar to the bands of Mana that flowed through my former master, but they weren’t identical. The differences were minor, but distinct. It was now simply a matter of finding out exactly how to undo the process.
My earlier theory was correct: fighting the process would only result in an increased level of regenerative effects. My theory at this was to try to subvert the process to cause the correct end result. But there were hundreds of variables and I had no way of testing them all – even if I had the time. It was guesswork at best.
The trick to the procedure would be to isolate the thread responsible for the regeneration. Once I had done that I could begin work. But the damn thing moved throughout the body in pulses, and when I found the thread it would dissipate. It took me about ten minutes before I determined that I’d found the right thread.
Now I had to make a choice. Did I really want to end Karl’s life? Was it the right thing to do? I didn’t blame him for seeking death when he was but a twisted wight of a man, but now he seemed healthy and his quality of life would be comparable to anyone else on this god forsaken planet right now. The fact that he was almost a hundred years old was irrelevant. Still, I had made a promise that I would do this thing.
If there was one thing I did, it was keep my promises. I was only moments away from starting the sorcery that would end the man’s life when the hairs on the back of my neck shot upright. In seconds a shield sprang up around me and for the second time I had been discovered somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be.
Victor was here.
I took a deep breath and steadied myself. The time had finally come. I wasn’t one hundred per cent ready, but that didn’t matter. It would be just as effective to test my theory on Victor as it would on Karl. In many ways it was more fitting that he died here. So many people had died here because of him; there was a sense of justice that he now join them. With a calming hand on the wight’s body, I promised to return. I hoped I’d be able to fulfil this promise, but the odds weren’t in my favour. Like the last time, Victor was waiting for me in the compound above, but unlike last time I knew exactly what I was walking into and was more prepared.
Victor was still clad in his military uniform, although it was slightly scorched from the fire. He had an shield around him, but not that impressive: it could be broken. Perhaps a year ago I would have been impressed by such sorcery, but my own skills had progressed far since I had last faced him.
“I thought I would never have to return here,” Victor called out as I emerged from the stairwell. “Damn you for making me return a second time.”
“I can imagine this place would bring back some old ghosts,” I replied grimly as I approached my former teacher. Victor didn’t reply, but stood his ground.
I was about to suggest that he was lucky that he could return
to this place, that there were many who could not. But I was not on solid ethical ground there either - there were graves I had filled littering the outside of this compound that made me just as complicit as him.
“It is strange that it has come to this. With Master Voll’s death, you are the last one who could stand against me,” Victor said.
“Let’s not fool ourselves,” I grunted as I began to circle around him. “Voll was never a threat to you.”
“Perhaps not,” Victor conceded. He didn’t turn to face me as my arc brought me behind him.
“I never understood why you left this place standing,” I called. “It must have been well within your powers to destroy it, even then.”
“I could have, I suppose,” Victor agreed.
“It would have been wise,” I prompted. “It contained everything I needed to bring you down.”
Victor’s mana arched across his body at the threat. “Did it now? Perhaps it’s time to test that. One last lesson, master to student.”
“I’m not going to play your games, Victor,” I snarled as I prepared an attack. The Mana rushed to my hands as the desire to strike him down almost overcame me. Victor seemed impassive in the face of my aggression, but I could see the tell on this face and the subtle flow of power into his shield. He was a lot more worried than he wanted me to see, and he was right to be worried. He knew as well as I did that it didn’t matter how powerful our shields were, this battle wasn’t about sheer strength - the use of Mana Nova balanced out that particular variable.
I leapt back as Victor released a thread that I assumed was directed at me. It lanced under the ground into the medical complex. I didn’t have time to contemplate what he was doing as I had launched an attack of my own. Victor sidestepped as the Mana Nova thread I’d prepared speared towards him. A thread of his own lanced out in defence and deflected my follow-up attack.
I back-peddled out of the way as Victor turned on me. I had no intention of jumping into the air; I’d seen all too well how Victor dealt with those whose feet left the ground. Victor’s attack was precise. He wasted no effort in posturing and useless gestures. He had had decades to perfect his use of the Mana Nova thread; I’d only had years. There was no doubt that he deserved the title of master, but in the face of his attack I was holding my own. It wasn’t clear how I was doing this; in comparison to my former master my threads were sloppy and ill formed. I’d never seen it before, but with the direct comparison between the two the differences were obvious. With a grunt and a grim smile I adjusted my threads to match his.
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