Her hand jabbed at him. Daniel saw a flicker of light, an instant before the spell hit him. A wave of pain rushed through his body, his mouth opening to scream in utter agony before melting into nothingness. His vision twisted painfully, as if his eyeballs were on the verge of popping out of their sockets... his entire body twisted painfully. He thought he felt his bones breaking and shattering as the magic coursed through him. It was... he understood, now, why Blair had fled the town without looking back. The spell was no joke. It was pure torture. It was... it was...
His vision cleared. He found himself looking up at the witch. She was a giantess. No, he’d shrunk. His body felt weird, as if he’d been changed... horror ran through him as he realized he had been changed. The lads had joked about the witches turning boys into frogs, but... there was nothing funny about this. He couldn’t move... what had she done to him? She stared down at him, her pretty face oddly slack. Her foot - her huge foot - rose and came down. Hard. There was an instant of soul-shattering pain and then...
Darkness.
Chapter One
EMILY HID BEHIND A ROCK AND closed her eyes, concentrating. It wasn’t easy to sense anything, let alone a whorl of magic, in the forest, but she knew Void was out there. Void was looking for her. She felt a flicker of excitement, remembering the days Alassa had made her play hide-and-seek in the corridors of Whitehall. The consequences of losing had been embarrassing, back then. Now... they were a great deal worse.
You told Void you were up for it, she reminded herself, severely. Get this wrong and he will be very unhappy indeed.
She smiled, although it wasn’t funny. Void had taken her away from Cat’s new castle - Kuching Castle, he’d named it - after the war, pointing out that the death of her bilocated self would have severe effects on her. He hadn’t been wrong, she conceded. The shock had caught up with her shortly after he’d teleported her home, the trauma of being killed sending her into meltdown. Void had been as comforting and supportive as he could be, but... Emily still had nightmares about her death. It wasn’t really that reassuring to know she’d survived her own death. And he’d insisted on keeping her isolated until she’d recovered to his satisfaction. Emily had found it a relief, at first. It hadn’t taken long for it to become maddening.
The forest seemed empty of human life, save for herself. She could sense flickers of magic and life darting through the trees, a faint haze that shouldn’t have hidden a full-fledged sorcerer from her. Emily wasn’t reassured. Void was out there somewhere, looking for her. He’d agreed to let her leave the tower for a day if she beat him... he wouldn’t let her go easily. She reached out, masking her presence as best as she could. She had the feeling it wouldn’t be particularly successful. She’d spent the last year exploring the forest and valleys, but Void knew them like the back of his hand. He’d had years to weave his magic into the warp and weft of the mountains themselves. It was his place of power.
Her eyes snapped open as she heard something running through the trees above her. She looked up and frowned as she saw a squirrel. It looked harmless, and she couldn’t sense any magic around the little creature, but she knew that was meaningless. Void could have turned the woodland creatures into an early-warning system, if he wished; his mind could be riding inside the squirrel, seeing through its eyes without tipping her off before it was too late. She prepared a spell, then stopped herself. The squirrel didn’t deserve to be shocked - or killed - because it might be an unwitting spy. And if it wasn’t, blasting the poor creature would have given away her position. Void would be looking for her too.
He knows I won’t have left the valley, Emily thought. She considered, briefly, doing just that... but it would be cheating. Probably. Void wouldn’t be amused. He’ll keep scanning the valley until he finds me.
Her mind raced as she considered her options. Void was strong, the strongest magician - in skill if not raw power - she’d ever met. He wouldn’t crash around like a necromancer, smashing everything that got in his way until his madness consumed him and he forgot what he was looking for. He’d keep his power masked as he tried to locate Emily and get the drop on her. And that meant he wouldn’t stop looking... unless he thought he’d found her. She frowned as she glanced around, noticing just how many creatures were running along the branches or flying through the trees. Void might have already found her. It wouldn’t take more than one unwitting spy to uncover her...
He’d be on top of me by now if he knew where I was, Emily thought. He wouldn’t hold back.
She scowled as she inched backwards, one hand reaching for the dagger in her sleeve. Void had been insistent she stayed in the tower, even though he’d been popping in and out so often it was hard for her to continue her apprenticeship. She’d loved learning magic with him, pushing the limits of what she could do and developing newer and better ways to combine magic with earthly concepts. It was frustrating to be so isolated, particularly after Void had warned her that not everyone was happy with her. She knew he meant well, but it was still stifling to be indoors for two months.
The dagger felt solid in her hand. Void had suggested she charm the blade - he’d taught her a number of enchantments, including the runes that had almost killed Imaiqah - but she’d resisted the urge. Charmed blades could be dangerous to the wielder as well as the victim, she knew from grim experience; they could be sensed and guarded against by a magician who might not think to look for a mundane weapon. Emily braced herself, then carefully cut her hand just lightly enough to allow a dribble of blood to splash to the ground. Void was going to read her the riot act, when he found out what she’d done, but... hopefully, he’d also appreciate the trick. She touched the blood, summoned a tiny flicker of magic and shaped it -carefully - into an illusion. And then she hurried back into the shadows and reached out with her senses once again.
She shivered as the ether started to shimmer with magical essence. Her magical essence. The spell felt like a convincing search-spell, an attempt to locate Void before he could come after her... she opened her mind wider, bracing herself. Either Void spotted the spell and came for her or the spell spotted him, hopefully allowing her to get the drop on him before it was too late. She felt her heart pounding in her chest as the seconds grew longer and longer... Void was no fool. He’d sense the magic. Would he realize it was a trick? Or would he try to drop a hammer on her before she realized her mistake?
He might assume I made a deliberate mistake, she thought. She’d learnt that tactic from several of her teachers, including Void himself. Or he might be going easy on me.
Emily shook her head. Void had never gone easy on her. He’d put her through dozens of tests and training exercises, each one more complex and dangerous than the last. Emily was all too aware he was pushing her to the limit, with every test raising the specter of serious injury or even death. No, he’d want to make it clear she wasn’t ready to leave the tower again. Not yet. If she made a mistake, he’d want - he’d need - to rub her face in it. And that meant she’d have a chance to hit him first...
She barely registered the black shape in the sky before it dropped to the ground in front of her, right on top of the charmed blood. Void had flown? Emily kicked herself, a moment later, for even doubting he would. She didn’t know how to fly herself, but she knew it was possible... if one was prepared to accept the dangers. She could have cancelled Void’s spells and sent him tumbling to the ground, if she’d seen him coming in time. He’d flown very fast to keep her from realizing what he was doing until it was too late.
Void started to swing around immediately. He knew he’d been tricked. Emily didn’t hesitate. She mustered the first piece of spellwork and thrust it into his wards. Void lit up brilliantly as his wards struggled to fend off the corkscrew of magic digging through his defenses. Emily could sense him shoving his wards away, pushing the tip of her attack further and further from the core of his being. Magic sparked in all directions as streams of light were redirected. She was genuinely impressed. Void was the only
sorcerer she’d met who’d taken a direct hit from a necromancer and survived. The corkscrew magic she was using was sneakier than anything a necromancer would use, but far weaker. She could sense the spell structure already starting to break up.
She readied the second piece of magic and thrust it into his wards, using the first spell to cloak the second. There was so much magic crackling around him that he shouldn’t be able to pick out the second spell before it nestled itself within the wards. She could barely follow it herself and she knew it was there. She hoped. The spell vanished into the blaze of magic, like a candle against the sun. It was suddenly difficult to be sure it was still intact. Emily felt the remnants of the corkscrew shatter a moment later, magic spilling out in all directions as Void ripped the spell apart. She separated herself from the magic before he could reach back along the threadlines and catch hold of her, then turned and ran. Void would be after her the moment he realized she was running. He knew he had to run her down and catch her before she mustered the power for another attack.
A wave of magic washed out behind her, brushing against her wards. Emily suddenly felt naked as his magic locked onto her, making it impossible to hide. She ducked as a spell shot over her head, unwilling to take the risk of catching or deflecting it with her wards. She thought she could dismantle a dueling spell before it caught her, but there was no point in taking chances. Void wouldn’t mess around, not now she’d caught him by surprise. She’d probably singed his pride as well as his cloak.
She realized her mistake a second later as the trees came to life, branches withering in the air as they reached for her. The ground below her feet shook and burst as roots thrust their way out of the soil and wrapped themselves around her ankles. Emily stumbled, a stab of pain running up her legs as she tried to pull herself free. The roots were growing stronger, layer after layer piling themselves on her until... she gritted her teeth and hit them with a disintegration spell, pulling herself free and levitating into the air before they could grip her again. A branch struck her back, the magicless wood reaching through her wards as though they weren’t there; Emily threw a blasting curse back, blowing the tree into little chunks of sawdust. She wasn’t sure if Void’s animation spell would survive, but it would take it some time to muster the power to strike again. She glided forward, throwing back a series of spells to buy time. Hopefully, it would look like she was panicking. She doubted Void would fall for it.
Buy time, she told herself. Keep him focused on me.
She glanced behind her as she landed on the ground and kept moving. Void was lost in the trees... she looked up, half-expecting to see him dropping out of the sky. Or trying to snipe her from high above. Magical snipers were rare, but they existed. She stayed low, grimly aware there was no point in trying to hide. He had a solid lock on her. All he had to do was get the drop on her and the game would be over.
A necromancer would be crashing through the trees as if they were paper, she thought, as she wiped sweat from her brow. Her shirt and trousers felt sodden. Void is a great deal smarter.
She frowned as she sensed a wave of magic moving towards her. Void... coming at her from the front? That was odd. She would have expected him to try to sneak around her and put a knife in her back. He was immensely powerful and skilled, far more than she was, but he’d told her - more than once - that there was nothing to be gained from taking foolish chances. A weak but smart opponent might prove far more dangerous than an overpowered enemy with little in the way of common sense. There was certainly no point in showing off when it could put one in mortal danger. Emily’s eyes narrowed as she reached out carefully with her mind, looking for the second spell. There was no trace of it in the magic moving towards her.
Which means... Emily allowed herself a smile. He’s sending an illusion out to trick me while he moves up behind me.
Bracing herself, Emily started to move towards the fake. Void wouldn’t expect her to go on the attack, not until she regained enough magic to have a chance of victory. Even if he thought she was more powerful than she actually was, he might assume she’d want a moment to catch her breath. If she was right... she picked up speed, knowing she couldn’t hide from him. But she should be putting more distance between them....
She pushed through the trees. A whorl of magic greeted her eyes as it glided towards her, a faint impression of Void’s magic resting on a complicated piece of spellwork. It was very nearly a mimic... Emily reached out to cancel the spells, then stopped herself and tried to trace the magic back to its source. Void couldn’t have completely automated the whorl, not in the handful of minutes he’d had before sending it after her. It had to be drawing power from him and... her blood ran cold as she traced the power, her legs automatically hurling her to one side as another wave of magic flashed past her. He was behind her. She couldn’t help feeling impressed. She hadn’t even had a hint of his presence.
Another burst of magic slammed into her wards. Emily shoved them away from her, using the movement to throw herself across the clearing and land on the muddy ground. Void stepped through the remains of her wards, then snapped out a single spell. Emily threw back a cancellation spell of her own, erasing his magic before it could strike her and then driving the spell into his wards. Void smiled - she thought she saw a flicker of respect on his face - before he banished her spell and cast another one of his own. Emily sensed movement behind her, too late. The branches caught her by the arms and yanked her up, holding her in place. This time, she didn’t have the power to budge them.
Emily didn’t hesitate. She sent the trigger code to the second spell, the one she’d embedded in Void’s wards. It came to life, tearing into his magic. The branches loosened, giving her a chance to pull free, as Void concentrated on saving himself. Emily braced herself, readying a spell. Void had only two choices, both of which would leave him vulnerable. Unless he was skilled enough to think of a third option...
Void shoved his wards away from her, the magic - her magic - crashing towards her. Emily levitated and launched the spell, blowing Void across the clearing. He landed badly, lying on his back... she felt a twinge of guilt, even though he’d knocked her down more than once during her apprenticeship. She dropped to the ground, raising her hand to cast the final spell, just as he produced a wand from his sleeve and jabbed it at her. Emily’s body locked, her arms and legs snapping together an instant before she fell and hit the ground. It was painless - the magic saw to that - but it was humiliating. She’d won! She’d won and... he’d tricked her.
She felt a hand flipping her over and found herself looking up. Void was staring down at her, his dark eyes unusually serious. The wand rested in his hand... she kicked herself, mentally, for not expecting a trick. She kept a dagger in her sleeve... why not a wand? Void was advanced enough, as a magician, to avoid the pitfalls and use it without danger. She wondered if he’d intended to use it to teach her a lesson or if she’d genuinely surprised him. It was never easy to tell.
Void waved the wand at her. The spell broke. She felt mud soaking into the back of her shirt as she found herself able to move again. He’d won. She scowled as she forced herself to sit up, the aches and pains from earlier in the duel returning to haunt her. He’d won and she’d lost and...
She found her voice. “You cheat.”
Void laughed. “Do you expect your next set of enemies to play fair?”
Emily shook her head in bitter resignation. Her teachers had been at pains to point out that the world wasn’t fair - as if she hadn’t known it already - and that no one, absolutely no one, played fair when the stakes were high. She’d never cared for dueling, at least in part because her tutors had never cared for it either. Duelists followed the rules or they got kicked out of the circle. A real fight had no rules.
“You did well.” Void held out a hand to help her to her feet. “You should have clobbered me while you had the chance, which is why you lost, but otherwise you did well. Your trick with the embedded spell was risky, yet it worked.”
“Thank you,” Emily said. Her legs felt wobbly. A wave of exhaustion crashed over her. She brushed mud and leaves off her shirt as she gathered her breath, forcing herself to carry on. “What now?”
“Now?” Void turned. “We go back to the tower to eat. And then... I suppose I can’t keep you here any longer.”
Emily frowned at his back. “What do you mean?”
“As your master, it is my duty - among other things - to protect you from the world,” Void said, curtly. He started to walk, his boots squelching in the mud. “I wanted to be sure you were able to look after yourself before you left the tower.”
“I can,” Emily insisted.
“You have powerful enemies,” Void said. His tone didn’t change. “You need to watch your back.”
Chapter Two
EMILY KEPT HER FACE UNDER TIGHT control as she followed Void back to the tower and stepped into the washroom. Silent, the maid, was already standing there, holding a pair of towels and a robe in her hand. Emily took them, then waved the maid out as she turned on the shower, undressed and looked at herself in the mirror. Her body was covered in bruises; some old, some new. The war and its aftermath had left scars on her flesh and soul.
She closed her eyes for a long moment, gathering herself, then stared at the face in the mirror. It was hard to believe, sometimes, that it was her. Long chestnut hair flowed down her back, framing a narrow face and light brown eyes. Her arms and legs were smoothly toned, more muscular than she’d ever expected them to be. She might not have muscles on her muscles, like Jade or Cat or the other combat sorcerers, but she knew she could handle herself. She’d spent the last seven years training. It just felt weird to know that the Necromantic War was over. It had overshadowed her life, ever since she’d been yanked into the Nameless World. And now it was over.
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