by Ben Marble
A few misplaced lightning blasts flew, but none came close to tagging him. In response he threw a few fire balls in the general direction of his assailant to try and force them to move. He opened the dimensional door connected to the marble enough that sound would carry in and kept running sure that his friends would soon be joining him.
A deeper rumbling filled the cave behind him and a loud crack and rumbling told him that the entrance the tunnel had collapsed. There was no going back in that direction. He was sure there might be another tunnel down or two, but the dwarves were going to be disappointed if they planned on surfacing this way.
"You should have taken my master's offer," Dell yelled over the noise. Xander tried to pinpoint where he was, but the dust in the air made it impossible to see. He could clear it, but that would leave him exposed.
"Well, I considered it, but I don't like killing people. Call it a personal flaw." With small pops Sierra, Michael and Brianne all stepped out next to him. He nodded and they all spread out. "Speaking of your master, I'm surprised he's not here to greet us."
"He had other matters to attend to. The dwarven council was more than happy to let him know where this entrance was when he asked, so he dropped me here to wait. I'm pretty confident that his presence won't make much difference here." Suddenly a twisting feeling gripped Xander's stomach and the dust simply disappeared. Dell was using Chaos magic.
With the dust cleared the situation was shown to be even worse. Dell stood comfortably next to the Chimera. The Chimera looked at them with foggy eyes, a telling sign that Dell had enchanted it. The beast had the head of a lion with a shaggy black main, and a second head sprung next taking the form of a goat’s. Where one would have expected a tail, the creature sprouted out a snake’s head, with a long enough neck that it could coil and snap at anything that came close to it. Chimera's were traditionally stupid creatures, but they could give up a pretty good fight. Having to handle Dell at the same time would make this difficult.
“Brianne, you and Michael take the Chimera, I have Dell.” Without waiting for an answer Xander moved forward throwing lightning bolts and fire. Brianne ran towards the Chimera and Michael’s footsteps went over with her. Sierra was behind him adding ice spikes and rock missiles in concert with his attacks.
Dell didn't even bother to counter cast. He simply stood there as Xander and Sierra's spells moved around him like they were slipping against and oily surface. Xander tried to reach through and manipulate the stone beneath Dell, only to find that he hit an invisible wall his energy wouldn't go through.
"Nice. Let me return the favor now."
Dell started throwing lighting and ice back at Xander and Sierra forcing them to switch to protecting themselves.
✽ ✽ ✽
Brianne supported Michael and let him lead the attack. The last thing she wanted to do was be here fighting for her life, but she knew her strengths. Michael led the way with a fireball that the Chimera simply shrugged off. Leathery wings snapped out on either side and the monster launched itself at them.
Their spells seemed to slip off the monster the same way that Xander and Sierra's magic was slipping around Dell telling her that the Chimera had similar protection. That meant direct attacks were not going to work and they had to find some other way to take the beast down. She managed to get clear as she jumped to her right, but the snake head snapped at Michael and about caught him as he dodged around the monster.
The Chimera turned and spit acid from the goat head at her. Brianne managed to get her shield secured in time but got knocked back a couple feet. The lion head belched a stream of fire at Michael at the same time, which he managed to avoid easily. The problem with three heads was that the monster could watch them both at the same time, with little trouble.
Michael continued to throw some spells at the creature and Brianne started throwing bursts of light, popping them in front of all the different sets of eyes to blind and confuse the monster. A multi-booming growling showed that while they had not managed to hurt the chimera, they had certainly made it angry.
There was a blast of smoke from the snake head and suddenly Brianne could not see. She moved quickly to the side, so she could get out of the way of the monster if it chose to attack where she had been standing. Brianne suppressed a scream when she bumped into Michael and she felt him jump as well. He smiled at her and quickly gave her a peck on the lips then turned so he had his back to her. Brianne blushed and focused on keeping an eye on everything around them.
The smoke cleared, and the chimera was nowhere to be seen.
"That's not good," Michael said just as the monster dropped down on top of them.
✽ ✽ ✽
Xander threw a quick shield in front of Sierra when hers suddenly crumbled as she got knocked aside while stopping a lightning blast. The chaos infused magic seemed to suck the energy out of his spells as they struck, and he was expending more energy than he normally would. Whatever Dell was doing now had to be like the energy rip Michael had created when he almost killed him.
He vaguely remembered that moment. Xander knew defeating Michael had been dependent on blowing something up that already had been energized inside the field he had created. That was not an option now, but he might be able to work with that.
Throwing his shield up against an ice spike he concentrated on pushing some of his energy through at the frozen missile. Like the rest of the spells it felt like it was draining his energy, but when he gave that push the ice spike drank it up. He felt a slight weariness come over him, but he also felt his energy surround Dell for a moment. There was potential here, if he could figure out how to exploit it. He risked a glance at Sierra and saw that she was pinned down. Quickly he threw up a stone wall between Dell and his fellow apprentice and ran over while dropping his darkness spell over their adversary. It would not affect the immediate area Dell was standing it, but it would keep him from seeing clearly giving them some precious time.
"You don't need to save me, I have it." Sierra snapped as her ran to her. She had stopped casting as she could not see the target anymore.
"I need you to do something," Xander quickly explained his plan to Sierra quickly and quietly. Her eyes went big and her mouth remained shut in a firm line as he spoke to her.
"You’re insane, I could kill you."
"You could but you won't." He tried to give her a charming smile and Sierra just continued to glare at him. If anything, her eyes narrowed a little. Michael had to have been teasing him earlier because there was no way the Sierra liked him. "Just trust me, this is our chance, otherwise we are not getting through his spells." He also noted that Dell was patiently waiting for the darkness to dissipate rather than coming out to face them. He was confident that he did not have to worry. It also might mean that there was not a quick way out of this cave. In turn meaning more trouble ahead after they finished this.
As he ran from Sierra's position, he threw the wall of stone at where Dell had been and dropped the darkness. Dell immediately destroyed the stone wall and turned his lightning on Xander, in retaliation. Xander kept just enough energy to maintain his shield, and then started channeling the rest of his energy to Sierra where she could pull from him as needed.
Sierra threw a flaming ice spear at Dell making Xander blink. He had no clue that she had figured out how to mix elements. He sure had not figured that out yet. The spell itself shattered against Dell's defenses as they expected, but also as expected he turned his focus to Sierra in response.
The purple lightning hit Sierra's shield and Xander worked his gamble, he felt Sierra grab his energy and pull so quickly that his shield dropped and had Dell switched to attacking him he would have been a dead man. Sierra pushed all her energy and Xander’s into that lightning bolt, and he felt his energy gather around Dell inside his void. Sierra had to have her energy in there, but he was beyond sensing anything aside from what his power was doing. As the energy gathered around Dell Sierra did the most insane thing that you can prett
y much do as a wizard. She broke the energy bubble.
This was not ripping energy, or reality to cause an effect. This was the immediate release of energy into a space where it flies out explosively. When that energy is released into a controlled explosion it pretty much blows up anything near it. This is something that wizards avoided for the same reason you do not demolish a building while standing inside. You leave yourself open to the destruction from the blast, and even with shields it can be hard if not impossible to block your own energy with a creation from the same source.
The area around Dell filled with fire, and then a large boom rocked the cave. Xander managed to pull the last scraps of his energy out in time to shield both him and Sierra from the blast. He managed to keep them from being burned alive, or outright killed as they were thrown back.
Dell stood in a crater looking at them madly. His hair and clothing were mostly burnt away and his body was more char than skin. One red eye looked at them from the charred mess and he stumbled forward. He was amazingly still alive by the grace of whatever type of shield he had managed. He started channeling energy, and it seemed to be wispy and disjointed as if Dell could not quite grasp the magic.
Normally he could have destroyed the enemy apprentice with little trouble, but it was all Xander could do after the energy drain to keep his eyes open and watch Dell advance on him. He glanced over, and Sierra looked like she was fine, but she was also out cold. It would be up to him. Xander tried to stand and his body gave out on him. He lay back in a sitting position with his cheek laying against the cold stone wall as he watched Dell finally manage to summon a long stone sword. The other apprentice was surely not long for this world, but Xander was betted Dell would have time to take Xander and Sierra with him.
✽ ✽ ✽
Brianne and Michael had been reduced to fighting to keep their shield up as the Chimera kept them pinned each under one giant lion's paw. Every now and then one of them managed a spell that the giant monster just shook off, but if they let the energy go too quickly their shields would collapse and they would be killed by the sheer weight of the monster. That was not mentioning the fangs and claws that kept trying to break through the apprentice’s defenses.
Blinking Brianne watched some more acid roll down over her face as it traced along the edge of the shield. She heard it sizzle as it hit the stone near her ear and she barely managed her fear enough to keep the shield protecting her from dispersing. She had never really taken battle practice seriously before, since she was more interested in healing and building things with magic. This however made her thank Ember for forcing her to train in that stupid battle practice. Without it she would have been dead already.
She looked over and saw Michael try to push the Chimera up using his energy, only to falter and have to strengthen his shield again. Brianne felt the bump as the weight of the Chimera returned after the brief respite and had to strengthen her shield as well. They had to figure something out, sitting here and waiting for their defenses to run out was a losing strategy.
On inspiration she suddenly started to slowly trickle out her energy to a point in the floor directly underneath the Chimera. They could not do anything quick and taxing, but she might be able to manage something slowly. Michael looked over and saw what she was doing and added a small trickle of energy from his own faltering energy.
Slowly they worked keeping their shields up and constantly watching fire, acid and fangs burn and snap at them. Every single time she felt her heart jump a little and hoped that they might be able to pull this off.
With a glance Brianne was almost surprised to see that they were halfway to the point she wanted to achieve. The tricky part would be the moments after they succeeded with the first part. but first was first. The hardest thing now was not to channel too much energy into the stone in excitement and to keep the shields strong.
Inch my inch they neared their goal, and then there it was. A long stone blade that ended just below the monster’s diaphragm. If the Chimera was to crouch down it might immediately sense the danger and change strategy before they could make use of Sierra's trick. Locking eyes with Michael she nodded. This next part was critical.
Sierra pushed up with a large burst of energy. She felt Michael do the same and the Chimera was pushed upwards a couple of feet. The second she felt the paw leave her Brianne rolled out to the side and pushed energy back into the shield just in time to catch a burst of acid spat her way. Then the laws of gravity kicked in.
The Chimera roared in anger as it came back down. The roar was cut short as its weight drove the Chimera's chest down and over the large stone blade. A rumble from above surprised Brianne and she rolled back in time to dodge some rocks falling from the ceiling. Michael had taken the moment of the Chimera's shock to rip a large boulder from the ceiling directly from the ceiling and down onto the Chimera's back further impaling the beast through its chest.
The both sat there breathing heavily as the monster screamed one last time then stilled as it died. The cave suddenly seemed a lot quieter, and both she and Michael shared a triumphant smile.
Then there was a large boom from the other side of the cave and Sierra barely got her shield up in time as fire washed over her.
✽ ✽ ✽
Xander tried to feel angry as Dell looked down on him. He wanted to feel the fiery rage of loss burn through his veins. To feel the desire to completely hate Dell for bringing about his end while he was powerless to stop it. He wanted to scream in fate's face and meet death with a metaphoric blade in his hand. Instead he just felt cold and watched. He could move his head a little, but that was about it. He had a great view of the cave behind Dell as he waited to die.
Michael broke into his vision and he felt a big lump of hope rise in his chest as his friend ran towards him with Brianne right behind. Surely, they would be able to take Dell down in his current position without much trouble.
As if sensing the other two apprentices Dell turned around a lot more quickly than Xander would have thought was possible for a person that seemed to be made up of more char then flesh. Dell gave a mad laugh scratching at the edge of Xander's mind and if he had the energy to cringe he would have.
With the snap of his wrist, and Xander literally heard Dell's wrist snap, Nightfire's apprentice threw out his left hand while holding the sword in his right hand. A sudden rip in the energy in front of him caused both Brianne and Michael's shields to drop from existence. Xander felt his stomach twist like it had when Michael had tried to kill him. He knew without being able to test it that order magic was not possible now in the cave, at least for a little while.
Brianne had stopped dead when her shield dropped, but Michael roared a challenge and kept charging at Dell. Xander saw Dell's eye go wide in surprise and he started trying to channel only to have it slip away. Michael was closing fast and Xander almost laughed at the panic that lit Dell's face.
The Panic was a ruse. The moment Michael got close enough Dell's eye narrowed and he brought the sword to bear. Xander knew that Michael had seen the sword and had decided to charge forward anyway. Most wizards would not bother learning to use such a tool, and there was a good chance his friend might be able to overpower Dell.
Michael moved to knock the sword out of the way but was surprised when he found empty air when his arm moved out to slap the weapon aside. He assumed that Michael expected to get cut, or even seriously sliced with the move but he would have been able to get past the weapon and smash into Dell. Instead Michael screamed in surprise as the sword found his stomach and angled up into his lungs and then broke out the back of his rib cage as the end of the blade exited right behind his shoulder blades. The surprise did not stop his momentum and they all heard the blade snap as he crashed into Dell and both went down into the floor.
Xander managed a scream of his own, though he was not sure where the energy for it came from.
In defiance of his injury Michael wrestled the end of the blade from Dell as the enemy apprentice fo
ught him. The blade had snapped, but there was still a good half foot of weapon attached to the stone hilt. Michael managed to get a hold of the weapons remains and ripped it from Dell's grasp. Dell did not get a chance to make a sound as Michael rammed what was left of the blade into enemy apprentice's chest several times. When Dell lay still Michael managed to stand and look around.
With a wry grin Michael gave Xander a nod. He then fell to the floor dead.
Outside
whispering brought Xander out of his sleep. He did not know how long he had been out. For a moment he was able to forget everything that had happened over the last few days. He could have been asleep at home in his own bed wrapped in blankets. The worse consequence of staying asleep was if he did not get up, he was going to miss out on lessons and studying for the day. When he rolled over and realized that he was covered in sweaters, on a bed of shirts, everything came back to him. All the running and the fighting, and most off all watching Michael fall in front of him.
The whispering was broken by a soft sobbing he was sure belonged to Brianne. He rolled over again and opened his eyes. Xander noted he was in the dimension inside the marble. Brianne was crying softly in the corner, and the whispering he had heard was Chandler talking softly to her, trying to give comfort. Sierra was nowhere to be seen, which almost made him panic. He remembered that someone would have to be posted outside the marble as a guard, and in all likely hood she had not been as worn down. Ember still lay silent and sleeping.
He sat up, worried about how long he had been down. Not only did he feel like his energy was almost completely back, but he felt relatively uninjured. He did not want to intrude on Brianne and Chandler's conversation, but fear drove him to speak out.
"How long have I been down?"