Chapter 14 – 'Die, Fool!'

Corinna's glowing fists and feet struck repeated blows at Daelynn, missing by only fractions of an inch each time, as Daelynn dodged each attack.

The woman paused, breathing hard. "You're a fast one, elf."

"I have had a century and a half of practice", replied Daelynn, panting.

"I've had three", smiled Corinna, landing a jab on the elf's right shoulder, numbing the hand that held her knife.

Daelynn spun away, avoiding a follow-up strike.

Cradling her numb arm against her chest, Daelynn quickly reached into her right sleeve, pulling out a small piece of wood with her left hand. Snapping her fingers, she spoke a Word. The sliver of wood vanished.

Corinna, fast approaching the elf, miss-stepped, pausing her attack.

"Wha… what?"

Daelynn leaped forward, striking Corinna in the face with her left fist, hoping to overcome her before the Daze spell she had just cast, wore off.

Tymora, Goddess of Luck, was not with the elf.

Shaking her head, Corinna lashed out at the elf. A mighty backhanded blow sent Daelynn flying through the air to crash onto a low table, upsetting a dozen glass containers filled with variety of coloured liquids.

Pooling on the floor, the liquids mixed, giving off a thick oily vapour. Green flames rippled across the liquid's surface.

Daelynn gained her feet and saw Corinna, separated from her by a waist-high wall of grass-coloured, searing, flame.

"You just ruined several months work, elf", the near naked young-old woman glowered at her.

"Dragon Fire is not an easy alchemical concoction to make. It calls for three hard-to-come-by ingredients, one of which is a cup of elf's blood." Corinna smiled a very unpleasant smile. "Looks like you'll be replacing some potion components for us."

Daelynn vaulted off her table onto an adjacent one. The table that held the Tome.

The elf grabbed the book and hoisted it over her head.

"Shall I drop this into the fire?" Asked the Herald. "I am certain you have a copy somewhere, or you have memorized the requisite spells for your transferences."

Eyes wide, and head shaking, Corinna held up her hands.

"No! By my Demon Lord's horned head, no", she shouted!

A stillness settled around Martinus, interfering with the mere-Lich's magic. His attempt at releasing a second spell from his wand failed. Growling to himself, the pseudo-Lich moved aside to escape the restraining effects of Daelynn's Silence spell.

Climbing up onto the wooden platform that encircled the chamber he found he could hear again. The dwarf was moving towards him, but at a slower pace than before. Good. A second blast from the Wand of Withering would slow the dwarf even more.

Corinna screamed.

Turning his head, or what was left of the decaying skull of the former student-Mage Harker, Martinus spotted the elf holding a large, familiar looking book above her head. It looked as if she was about to toss it into a noxious green blaze.

The Tome! No!

Ignoring the weakened dwarf, Martinus quickly cast with his free hand.

"Why lure your prey here, Corinna?" Asked the elf, holding the Tome over the flames. "Could not this be done more simply at the Academy? Answer quickly! My arms tire."

Corina glared at the elf. Bound with copper strapping, the Tome of Mysteries was large and heavy. The elf could drop it at any moment. Where was Martinus?

"Questions would be asked if mages disappeared from the Academy", answered Corinna, hurriedly. "Even if they disappeared decades apart, rumour and gossip could lead to our un-masking. But young, foolish mages-in-training running off in into the wilds in search of treasure? No one questions that sort of disappearance."

"Thank you", said Daelynn, a wicked smile playing across her lips. "Oops".

Daelynn dropped the Tome into the Dragon Fire.

Corinna looked on in horror as the book fell into the emerald-coloured flames. But in the space of a mere breath, horror changed to glee as a large ethereal, blue, translucent giant-sized hand, materialized in the flames, catching the book, lifting it out of the fire.

Borne by Martinus' Mage Hand, the Tome floated across the chamber.

As Garlt paused to catch his breath, he watched the skeletal mage cast a spell in the direction of a wall of green flame. It was difficult to breathe. Whatever Martinus had hit him with, it had left him winded and aching.

He tossed out a quiet, choice dwarven curse as he saw the Tome of Mysteries carried across the chamber by a spectral hand.

Reasoning that if the book was something the Mage and Corinna wanted, then it was probably bad for Stefane and likely not good for a meddling elf and dwarf. He hefted his axe.

He took aim.

Now.

The weapon was a blur as it spun end-over-end towards its target.

Martinus, his attention focussed on guiding the Tome out of the fire and around several pillars, held his left hand high, skeletal fingers making slight movements that adjusted the course followed by his Mage Hand.

An object flew by his head. He felt a jolt in his left arm. Something clattered to the floor beside him.

With his spell disrupted, the glowing hand vanished and the tome fell to the chamber floor.

Looking down, Martinus saw an axe laying on the ground. Several pieces of bone including a few skeletal fingers lay beside the weapon. His fingers.

The Mage looked at the stump of his left arm, now just shattered bone with a few dangling, shredded ligaments.

There was no pain as the body he had usurped was far too decayed to have any such sensations. That didn't mean that he wasn't royally pissed off at what had just happened.

Concentrating, he called forth his Mage Hand, reforming it at the end of this damaged left arm. Flexing the magical appendage, Martinus turned to search out his assailant, when an impenetrable darkness enveloped him.

Corinna glared daggers at the elf, turned and lithely ran towards where the Tome had fallen.

From her vantage atop the table, Daelynn scanned the chamber for Garlt. The dwarf was nowhere to be seen.

Chanting from across the room drew her attention to the orb of darkness she had cast over the mage. The inky globe vanished to reveal Martinus, already casting again. His skeletal features conveyed no emotion, but his empty eye sockets were directed at Daelynn.

Not good, thought the elf.

Daelynn leapt from her table top, her body flipping end over end and twisting in mid-air.

A bolt of lightening crackled as it tore a hole through her cloak, and splashed against a stone column at the far side of the room.

Daelynn landed with typical elven grace, her cloak scorched and smoking.

Damn! That cloak had been one of her favourites!

She scurried away from the acrid green flames, which showed no desire to die out any time soon.

Movement to her right.

Crawling under tables and between benches, the dwarf wriggled towards the elf.

In a harsh whisper Garlt keenly observed. "That boyo has more'n a few tricks up his skinny, boney sleeves."

"Yes", agreed Daelynn. "We have to get out of here. Stefane?"

"Lad's tucked under a table. Safe fer now. We should grab 'im and head for the doors."

"Agreed. Before we…"

Daelynn's comment was cut-off by a shout from Corinna.

"Herald! Dwarf! There are only two ways out of here. The main doors are locked."

The sound of heavy metal doors slamming shut and the clanking of chains echoed throughout the room.

"And we guard the only other way out."

Daelynn and Garlt stuck noses and eyes above the work bench behind which they were hiding.

The large doors, through which they had entered the chamber, were closed. Corinna, holding the Tome of Mysteries, stood beside Martinus on the raised wooden platform.

"That alcove in front of which they stand, must lead out of here", opined the elf.

"Nah. I walked by that way when we entered. It's no passageway, jest a large mirror", stated Garlt.

"Then there must be a concealed doorway behind it ", said Daelynn.

"Surrender now. We will be merciful", promised the young-old woman.

Garlt's shouted suggestion, while physically impossible, strongly suggested that he, for one, did not believe the promise.

Corinna spoke softly to Martinus. It was eerie watching the skull nod in silent agreement. The mage cast again.

Four round, red-hot rocks, each the size of a child's head, appeared floating and circling around the mage's waist.

"Huh. What do ye suppose those do", asked Garlt?

Daelynn grabbed the dwarf, pulling him low a mere breath before Martinus released one of the objects towards them. Glancing off the table top above their heads, a searing hot stone smashed into a slender pillar, snapping it in half.

"Meteor Swarm", stated the elf. "Or a variation thereof."

Laying on her back against the cold stone floor, Daelynn quickly cast. The room darkened. Shadows shifted and flowed.

She cast again and the room dimmed further.

"Dancing Lights", she informed the dwarf. "Actually, a reversed version of that spell. I call it Dancing Shadows. It will help hide us and makes it difficult to discern what is movement and what are mere flickering shadows.

"He gits flaming rocks to toss aboot and ye get to play with shadow puppets? An' I thought the lad's magic was bad", grumbled Garlt.

Daelynn gave the dwarf an annoyed look. "Heraldic spells are meant to assist in the passing on of messages, ferreting out or hiding secrets, determining truths, and acquiring objects or information. They are not for battle."

"Jest sayin'", murmured the dwarf.

Corinna shouted and pointed to something at the far side of the chamber. Martinus unleashed a meteor in that direction. Tables, spell components, and alchemical paraphernalia were swept aside by the flaming stone. This meteor also ended its flight by crashing against a fluted column, shattering it.

Garlt snuck a quick peep over the table.

"Is it my imagination, or do theys look tired?"

"If Corinna is to be believed, then her life essence is fading. I would guess that Martinus is held together by spells and a fierce will. And too, he is having to concentrate on keeping a number of spells active. Perhaps we can outlast them?"

As if in answer to the elf's query, a large chunk of black volcanic rock fell from the ceiling, crashing to the floor scarce twenty yards behind them.

The dwarf cast a practised eye around the large room. "This place is a hardened natural cavern. We lose a few more pillars and the roof comes down on us right quick."

"That means they too are in danger. If we can get them to leave, we could follow", explained Daelynn.

"I suspect they'd be waitin' fer us on 'tother side of thet doorway", complained the dwarf.

"We move fast. Hit hard. Or stay here and get very flat."

Another piece of ceiling on the far side of the chamber plunged to the floor.

Garlt's response was cut-off by a shout that came from their right.

Peeking out from their hiding place, the elf and dwarf saw Stefane standing several yards away from them. He was pointing the Rod of Vines at the two lovers.

Daelynn jumped up, yelling for the young man to get down.

"Idiot!" hollered Garlt as he rushed towards Stefane.

Like striking serpents, two vines sprang from the Rod, covering the fifty-odd foot distance in the blink of an eye, and wrapping themselves around the necks of the Mage and Corinna.

"Stop what you are doing!" Commanded Stefane. "Dispel your magics and let us leave!"

Dropping the Tome, Corinna grabbed the strangling vine in her two hands. Straining against the greenery, her fists flared brightly as the vine snapped apart.

Martinus raised his wand and touched the vine that encircled his boney neck. In half a breath, the tough green fibres withered and the leaves wilted, as the vine fell apart.

"My turn", rasped the Mage. "It's a shame to kill a Weave-Finder. Such a waste. But…"

Martinus pointed his wand at Stefane "Die, fool!"

A/N: I've tried to stick to the number and type of spells a mid-level Herald would use. They are truly useless in a fight. Martinus is an OP wizard (as far as the three companions are concerned) but lucky for them most of his current spells would be research-focused.