Becky ran up the stairs. Her lungs were burning and slowing her down. Still, she was almost to the top. When she saw the roof exit sign she nearly cried with relief. Upon pushing the door open her emotion and expression changed. Clenching her fists with helpless anger she snapped;
"What are you doing here?"
Drake looked up. He was sitting cross-legged and reading a book that looked like Dave's Incantus. His eyes narrowed and then widened with relief.
"Oh. Just you darlin'," he said, "Sorry 'bout the Arcana Cabana."
"I'm not your darling," snarled Becky, "And apology not accepted. Now, are you going to get out of my way or do I need to take you down?"
She wondered where these words were coming from. Perhaps it was her frustration from the past few days. Maybe it was that she couldn't believe that she was being stopped when she was so close to her goal. Either way she felt, magic or no magic, she'd be able to rip Drake limb from limb.
He held up his hands defensively.
"Hey, chill," he said, "I'm tryin' to figure out how to get rid of Morgana right now. So you could be just a little more supportive."
Becky raised her eyebrows.
"You're lying."
"Believe what you like," he said, "But I found this thing called a parasite spell. Sucks the life force outta a person. But she's got more than one person in her. So I figure we could a' least separate Morgana from that Veronica. Worth a shot I thought."
Still hesitant Becky took a step forward.
"We?" she asked.
"Yeah, we," said Drake, "The signal that's goin' back an' forth? I can hijack it for a minute, sort o' borrow its power. But after that it goes back to being the Rising. And Morgana'll just power up if tha' happens. I need someone to disrupt the satellite the second the parasite spell goes through. Couldn't do it by myself, and now you're here."
"You're so full of it," Becky said, "Why would you want to help us?"
"Look, miss," said Drake, getting to his feet, "I dunno if you know who I am, but I'm Drake Stone. I'm an entertainer. I like doin' that stuff, an' I can't if the world ends. This isn't really my thing. Besides, I owe your boyfriend."
She crossed her arms. She wanted to believe that he wanted to help them, mostly because it was convenient. The last sentence seemed especially strange though.
"What do you mean?" Becky asked.
"He saved my life when we were kids," said Drake, "Probably didn't mention it. Don't blame him. But look, are you going to help me or no? We don't have a lot of time."
Biting her lip she looked up the tower where the satellite was. Although she couldn't see it she knew that the Rising was being bounced back and forth in the air. If Drake was telling the truth then she'd save Veronica who'd sacrificed herself so that they could live. If not, well, he was alert. Now that the adrenaline had disappeared she realized she probably couldn't take him in any case.
"Looks like I don't have much of a choice," she said at last.
.
.
.
Balthazar dodged a plasma bolt. He ducked behind a stone statue momentarily, trying to get his bearings. Their fight had been going on for some time now, too long. Morgana was nearly done with her spell. If he had any hope of preventing dead sorcerers from rising then he had to end things with Horvath quickly.
A grimace crossed his face. He doubted that that that would happen.
"I hoped that you would show," Horvath said, "We do have such unfinished business."
He jumped up and sent a plasma bolt of his own at Horvath. He swung his cane at it, deflecting it into a tree that exploded into splinters.
"Ever since you picked up Dave it seemed like we were on an uneven playing ground," Horvath gloated, "But now I'm the one with the upper hand. You've lost your greatest weapon."
Fire poured from the end of his cane. Balthazar started up a vacuum spell and gathered it all up. He threw it back at Horvath, knocking his hat off and singeing him. In retaliation he sent what Balthazar thought was a time adjustment spell. He dropped to the ground in order to avoid it, narrowly missing the explosion.
"And despite everything," Horvath said, "you seem fond of the boy."
He smirked.
"Has Balthazar made a new friend?"
Struggling to his knees Balthazar pressed his hand to the ground. Vines shot out of it and wrapped around Horvath's legs. With another swing of his cane he chopped them off. In the same movement he sent another time displacement spell. This one was too fast for Balthazar to dodge. He felt himself encased in a thick, Jell-O like material. Even the blink he had been trying to make had suddenly slowed down.
Horvath brushed himself off and walked up to Balthazar.
"As her power grows, so does mine," he said.
He looked over at Veronica and sighed longingly.
"This must be terrible for you," he said, "You're about to die, the Rising is being said, and Veronica is trapped forever. Makes me wish Dave were here too; destroy everything you care about. It would be perfect."
A car horn blasted. Horvath whipped around and Balthazar looked out of the corner of his eye. At first he wondered if the effects of the time displacement spell were tampering with his mind. He saw his car coming at them with a Tesla coil attached to it and Dave leaning out the window with a trigger in hand.
"Careful what you wish for Horvath!" Dave yelled.
He flipped the switch. Lighting came out of the Tesla coil and hit Horvath in the chest. He was sent flying, far over the fence and into the street. He didn't get back up. The time displacement spell faded and Balthazar began to move again. Dave opened the car door and hurried to his side.
"Nice application of physics," gasped Balthazar.
"Yeah," Dave replied sheepishly.
Fire flared in front of them. It streaked the sky, lighting up the night in a blaze. Balthazar felt his heart sink. Dave's arrival had been for nothing. They were too late; the Rising had already been said.