The Young Mage Ch. 06

"Why is she so shocked? Avernus... By the gods! That is the dean of the University of Magic in Charobny..." Magnus thought, his eyes going wide. The old wizard was renowned for his knowledge and wisdom and for his magical skill and power as well. Suddenly Magnus wasn't sure if he and Fiona were up to the task...

"It can't be that I am the leader of the cult? I am sorry to disappoint you," Avernus said, smiling apologetically.

"But why?!" Fiona said in frustration.

"The man must have been a paragon to her..." Magnus thought, seeing the distress on her face.

"Why? Why?!" Avernus said, suddenly raising his voice. "I am almost two hundred years old!" he said, his face turning into a grimace of anger. "For over a century and a half I have had to listen to various ordinary kings and queens telling me what I can and cannot do! I had to obey those ignorant fools when they were starting wars, when they were making silly mistakes, when they were spilling blood out of sheer stupidity and ignorance!" he hissed. "WE were meant to rule this world. WE have the knowledge and the wisdom to lead this world into the future it deserves!"

"By summoning demons?!" Fiona said, getting worked up herself.

"The ends justify the means," Avernus said simply, his anger more subdued now.

"So you are going to bring peace and prosperity by summoning demons to fight for you, is that it? You want to summon demons to slaughter the human armies for you? Who will be left alive to be ruled after all that?!"

"I want the exact opposite! I want to avoid spilling blood as much as possible."

"Your actions suggest otherwise!"

"You think you have things figured out but you don't know or understand anything..." Avernus said, shaking his head. "Listen... You are still young for a Sorceress. It takes time and experience to develop a certain view of the world. It takes time to understand. Join us, and in time, I promise that both you and your apprentice will see the wisdom in our vision of the world."

"You want us to join you? You want us to join assassins and murderers? You want us to help you summon demons into our world?! Never!" Fiona said, anger twisting her beautiful face.

"What she said," Magnus said with cold determination.

"So be it," Avernus said with a hint of regret in his voice.

There was a brief moment of tension but then everything happened in mere seconds. Magnus hurled a lightning bolt at Avernus and broke to the right, seeking shelter behind a stone pillar that supported the roof. At the same time, Fiona sent a kinetic push and ran to the left, crouching behind a massive table that was filled with papers. Yet the most surprising reaction was that of Avernus. He deflected both spells with ease, never moving from his spot.

"Fuck..." Magnus thought, erecting an air-earth shield barely in time to absorb a lightning bolt that would otherwise have killed him on the spot. He was standing behind a stone pillar, yet the lightning actually curved around the pillar to hit him. "This has to be a higher level version of lightning bolt spell..."

He peeked around the pillar and released a strong kinetic push that the old wizard deflected and sidestepped, once again without effort. At the same moment, Fiona hurled her own kinetic push, aimed at the wizard's legs.

"She wants us to alternate..." Magnus thought, recognizing the tactics he and Fiona practiced in his apprenticeship days. It was about distracting a strong opponent by attacking him with a constant barrage of spells coming from each side, alternating to keep the opponent from focusing on either of them. He sent a lightning bolt and then saw her push several objects towards Avernus and then he followed it up with a push of his own.

"Interesting tactics..." Avernus said, creating a strong, flawless shield around himself.

"His finesse..." Magnus thought, unable to stop himself from marveling at the old wizard's skill. The level of spells he was using, the perfection and the control he had over the magical energies... Gathering his resolve, Magnus sent a strong lightning bolt into Avernus' shield, hoping to break through, but the shield held. The wizard was about to cast something Magnus couldn't even recognize when his head jerked towards the window. Avernus sent a quick lightning bolt towards the window and only then did Magnus notice a shape that had climbed through the window. There was a short yelp and the shape crashed behind some crates.

"Damn it! That had to be one of ours... This bastard must have set some triggers on the windows," Magnus thought, shooting another lightning bolt into the shield, once again without success. He saw Fiona push some objects towards Avernus but then realized she was also pulling them from all sides of the room and sending them into the wizard from many different sides, once again displaying incredible mastery of kinetics.

"Ahh!" The old wizard cried out when one of the objects finally broke through and hit him in the ribs. "Enough games!" he said in an angry voice and Magnus saw something that could only be described as a hand made out of air that reached out and grabbed Fiona's neck, lifting her up and choking her, slowly. In panic, Magnus sent another strong lightning bolt but it got absorbed by the shield that the old wizard kept renewing.

"Damn you!" Magnus cried out, and using his kinetics, lifted a long steel spike that lay in one corner, propelling it towards Avernus. The spike impacted the shield but it didn't break through and Magnus pushed on it kinetically, pouring power into the push.

"Raarrggh!" Magnus roared, beads of sweat glistening on his face as he used every bit of his magical strength and pulled immense power into the spell.

"Such remarkable strength..." Avernus said in surprise, clearly straining to stop the spike, "... but not much finesse!" the wizard exclaimed, flicking his hand and sending Magnus crashing into the wall, the steel spike falling to the floor harmlessly.

"By the gods... We are completely outmatched here..." Magnus thought, fighting the dizziness from the impact. He looked at Fiona who was still struggling to breathe, her face completely red. He wanted to do something, he wanted to stop Avernus, but he felt completely drained... As despair took him over, he noticed a shadow move with lightning speed and then leap at Avernus.

"Ahh!" the old wizard croaked, choking with blood as Lanaya kept pushing and twisting her searite daggers into his neck. Magnus held his breath for a long moment, until finally, Avernus collapsed to the floor, his lifeless eyes still showing disbelief.

"Gahh, gahhh!" Fiona coughed violently, her lungs finally managing to pull some air. Magnus rushed to her, pouring healing into her neck, her face slowly regaining its usual color.

"A few seconds longer and we would have been both dead... Thank you," Magnus said walking to Lanaya. She smiled at him, her beautiful face grimacing in pain. Her left arm was bloody and singed despite her resistance... The old wizard had truly been a master mage.

"Here, let me," Magnus said, touching her arm and pushing healing against her resistance, as painful as it was for him in his drained state. After several seconds, he let go of her arm.

"How did the battle go?" he asked in a tired voice.

"We won," Lanaya said simply, stretching the arm that was rapidly healing.

"Casualties?" Fiona asked, joining them.

"Several of my scouts and about two dozen of Vistania's elite guards... and Wizard Anodar."

"We paid a heavy price but at least we managed to stop a huge threat to all of us..." Fiona said in a sad voice. Lanaya nodded solemnly.

"There are probably still groups of cultists in each region, but we have taken down their leader and their base, and most importantly, we have stopped their mad plan to summon a demon," Magnus said. "It shouldn't be that hard to eradicate the rest of this menace now..."

***

Dozens of miles away, a man paced through the spacious cave, his step lively, anxious.

"It should be enough, it must be..." he murmured, reaching his destination. He raised his hands, and with an elated and anxious expression sent a wave of magical energies into the strange-looking circle that had been drawn on the floor of the cave. The circle was about ten feet in diameter and it had some kind of container at its center. Strange symbols were drawn all over the circle and even stranger-looking totems stood at the edge of it. The man held his breath for a long moment.

THUMP THUMP!

THUMP THUMP!

THUMP THUMP!

"YES! YES!... Welcome, Divine One!" The Illusionist exclaimed in pure exaltation, as the sound of heartbeat resonated throughout the cave...

End of Chapter 6.

End of Part Two.

***

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