Chapter 24

I kept my eyes on Penny as I ran, trusting that Sal would warn me of any other threats.

We quickly passed out of the ring I'd burned, me leading the way to break the barrier, and the foliage was ready and waiting. As soon as we were clear, the salamander ran ahead of me, looking almost like a comet of flame as he ran through the vines. A trail was left open for me, and I felt the power flowing through me as I went. I might not have been the Flash, but I was moving faster than normal.

When we were halfway to the building, a motion to one side drew Sal's attention. I spared a glance, and saw that Martin was breaking free of the spells Argondian had used on him. Another black marble necklace had been secured around his throat, which should have kept him unconscious. But that didn't seem to mean much to the Revenant wizard, as I watched the bead crumble and fall apart.

Sal broke off, turning toward him. Following his lead, I slid to a stop, but didn't slow down. My left hand moved in a flash, ripping first one snap tab from the leather bracelet, and then another. They were both gone in a flash, the spells following one after the other. "Naur-luth! Lith-luth!"

Up on the roof of the building, I saw Penny cross her arms in a warding gesture. Her copper wand and twisted wood staff were both in hand, and I saw the vines on the building around her start to rise up to shield her from what I'd thrown. Which I'd figured she'd do, which is why I'd thrown two spells rather than one.

The first ignited on impact with the wall of foliage, the fire spell exploding into an swirling inferno that engulfed the vines. As thick as they were, the spell was spent quickly, but the fires had burned hot enough to turn the flora to ash all around it. A bare spot appeared on the building beneath where Penny stood.

Vines had risen up in front of her, to the point that I could barely make her out. Had the second spell been aimed at her, it never would have made it.

Thankfully, it wasn't.

The brown crystal of the earth tab smacked into the stone wall beneath Penny's feet. When the spell ignited, the stone that had stood for two centuries or more was reduced to a fine grit. I could barely make out Penny's form as the roof beneath her was caught in the spell, and she fell into the building.

I could only hope I'd incapacitated the girl without any lasting damage. But before I could check on her, I turned toward Martin, who was rising with his staff in hand.

The wizard thrust his right arm forward, and the rings on his fingers glinted as a now-familiar thick band of yellow light shot out. He hadn't been aiming for me, but at Sal, who was several steps ahead of me. The salamander saw the strike coming, and rolled to one side while shrinking in size, letting the beam pass him by. He rolled twice before coming up in a crouch, his wedged jaw open in a toothy snarl as he quickly assumed his larger form again.

With his first spell spent, Martin raised his staff in defense as I reached him. My own weapon slashed down against his, the metals clashing together and shedding yellow sparks that arced through the air.

As soon as I was close enough, the same disorienting spell I'd felt before hit me. I swung my spear again, only to see the slower and clumsier wizard deflect the strike away. It was as if he'd worked spells into the weapon. One that aided him while hindering anyone that attacked. I wouldn't call them luck spells; instead, it was more like they muddled my thoughts while sharpening his own.

Whatever they were, I got the distinct impression they were worked into the steel staff. I'd seen the engraved runes in them briefly before, and as we dueled back and forth, I caught glimpses of them glowing with a golden light every time our weapons crossed.

"Alright, smart guy," I growled as I pivoted, taking up a two-handed form. "Let's see how well that weapon of yours is made."

Rather than resorting to stabbing attacks and broad swings that had been deflected, I changed my strategy to that of a slashing attack. As I brought the spearhead around, Martin raised his own staff to defend. But I checked my swing as I went, drawing back enough to allow the red-hot steel of the spearhead scrape against the steel of his weapon.

Yellow lightning crackled as amber sparks flew, and I saw the wizard's eyes widen in surprise. The emotion was quickly muted by the spell Salvago had cast over him, and the green in his eyes throbbed as his face slid back into a passive, slack state.

I wondered at that, even as I felt a certain satisfaction in seeing the deep score my blade had cut into his staff.

Power snapped and sparked from the gash, which had cut through one of the enchanted symbols. Whoever had made his weapon, it was certainly powerful, but it wasn't a warden's weapon. It wasn't even a knock-off like Moretti's, or based on Kenku tempering techniques like mine.

At the end of the day, it was just an enhanced metal staff. One that my own tempered and enchanted blade could slice to ribbons.

Three more slashing passes connected, each scoring more cuts into the staff. The wizard realized the danger as yellow lightning started to crackle along the length of it. It looked like some damage had already been taken during his fight with Anya's borrowed blade earlier, and now mine was close to finishing the job.

He brought his right hand up to send another bolt at me, but he didn't see Sal in time. The doberman-sized fire elemental flew at him, his teeth snapping down on the wizard's arm before he could unleash the blast. I saw his face twist in pain, a silent scream mimed by wide-stretched lips.

I felt bad for him, but the wound wasn't fatal. So while he was falling to his knees, I swung down with the spearhead, chopping at his staff.

The blow whistled as it went, the power running through me adding more to the strike than I'd ever managed before. The red-hot blade sheared clear through the staff, and then it was my turn to look surprised as power exploded from the broken weapon.

I was thrown back several feet as a pulse of energy washed out. It stung, but as I rolled back to my feet, I could tell Martin himself had taken the worst of it. The power had coursed along the part of the staff he'd been holding, and his body was still shaking as small sparks of citrine light rippled across him.

Sal had released him in time, so the power hadn't been conducted to him. He was a few feet away as well, and I saw his tail swish as he glowered at the downed wizard.

But despite having already escaped being subdued twice, something told me Martin was out for the count this time. Electrical burns sizzled several places across his hand and face, and he was completely slack as he lay across the vines we'd danced around.

"At least he's breathing," I said to Sal, who gave a barked response that may or may not have been sympathetic to the Revenant wizard's state. "Let's check on Penny."

I ran for the building, but Sal took one look at the other battles in the square, and ended up running toward Argondian. The older wizard had been left alone to face Peña when Nelson had gone to help Moretti with the Hound. I glanced toward Anya, who had single-handedly worked her way through almost all of the thralls. She'd dropped her swords at some point, and was now just laying into the Chians with her fists. It was slightly better than using the swords, but not by much. Not with her blood-lust up and her strength all but unchecked.

I dashed into the building where Penny had been, and spotted her sitting midst the rubble from the roof. Most of the structure had remained standing after my sandstone spell, but enough had fallen to partially bury the girl. She'd been working at uncovering herself while simultaneously healing some wounds she'd taken. I watched as a gash in her forehead sealed up before my eyes as the leaves on the twisted wood staff grew and wilted in a flash.

"Sorry about this," I said with genuine regret. She looked up at the sound of my voice, her emerald eyes still slightly glazed over from the fall. My right hook snapped her head back, and the girl collapsed across the rubble.

"Sorry, sorry," I reiterated to the unconscious girl as I fished a beaded necklace from one of my pockets. I knelt beside her to tie it around her throat, and I thought I saw her sag with relief once it was in place. "I'll let you hit me later to make up for it," I assured her as I tried propping her head up into a more comfortable position.

Once I was sure she was out, I grabbed her copper wand and staff and headed back outside, tossing them aside as I looked over the others. Nelson was down, and it appeared that his left arm was out of its socket by the way it dangled limply. Maybe the Hound had done it, although for all I knew, Moretti had hit him with a back-swing of that steel arm of his.

The surly wizard was holding his own again with the Hound, a second wind allowing him to pursue the beast on open ground now that Penny's vines weren't constantly reaching out to snag at his ankles. I figured he'd hold up for the moment, and sprinted toward Argondian and Sal.

The wild-haired wizard was down, with Sal standing guard over him. Peña stood in a crouch a pace away, his warden sword pointing at the fire elemental. A bloody wound ran along Sal's right flank, no doubt from the steel of the sword biting at his supernatural flesh. Thankfully it looked shallow, and my friend was up and itching for a fight.

Seeing that his odds would change when I arrived, Peña stomped his foot forward, as if preparing to charge. But rather than moving, the earth mage unleashed a spell that sent the ground beneath Sal surging up. He wobbled as he fell off-balance, and then the warden was flashing forward, his sword straight out to cut through Sal's heart.

I felt no sympathy for him as my throw rocketed my spear toward him, the weapon humming through the air to impale Peña in the chest.

The impact rocked the wizard back, and the attack on Sal fell short. The salamander rolled away before coming to a stop in a crouch, growling at the wizard that was now on his back.

"Pel-forma," I whispered, holding my right hand out. The summoning spell drew the red-hot blade from the warden's chest, snapping it through the air until it returned to my palm. I continued to stalk toward the fallen man, my face grim as I watched him struggle to rise.

"He's not finished," Argondian gasped from the ground. I spared him a glance, and saw that he'd taken a vicious wound to one leg. The wizard had torn away the fabric of his lime green pants, and blue paint had been dribbled over the wound. It seemed to have sealed it shut, and more markings had been hastily finger-painted around it, perhaps to begin the healing process. "Mortal wounds have had no effect on him," the wizard said as I strode past.

I looked to the warden, who was covered in lacerations that would have left anyone else dead from blood-loss. Argondian's whip had even taken Peña's left arm off at the elbow. No blood spilled from the wound; instead, a clotted mass had formed on the stump. I saw the rest of the arm a dozen feet away, still grasping the gnarled wooden staff.

Peña was trying to rise as I reached him, his smoking green eyes staring up at me without any sign of pain or fear or hate. Like the others, he felt nothing save for the ghost of emotion in the shock of the moment. Like the others, the still and deathly stare was all that remained of what had once been a good man.

His mouth worked silently as my spear swung. Whether he was trying to unleash a death curse or not, I couldn't know. The burning spearhead decapitated him before he could finish, and I felt nothing but a cold regret as I watched him slump to the ground.

I stared at him for a moment, before turning back toward Moretti. The sounds of his struggle had faded after my spear had been thrown, and I saw that he was standing alone, looking up at the roof the three-story building. My gaze followed his, and I saw the outline of Salvago as he looked down. There was a flicker, and then the shorter form of the Hound stood beside him.

A long moment passed, as the Lich realized the last of his Revenant wizards been defeated. And then he began to turn away, conceding the field.

"No!" Moretti shouted, his energy surprising even me. He took off toward the building, and I started that way myself. But rather than heading for the door, like a sane person, Moretti ended his run in a crouch, before jumping straight up. The earth around him cracked as he pushed down with pure kinetic force, and the steel-armed wizard shot three stories up to the top of the roof.

"Fuck that," I gasped as I ran for the door. I'd stopped my unconscious mantra at some point, and a deep fatigue had quickly replaced the energy I'd felt. It seemed I was at the limits of what my meditation could do, and my legs were heavy as I ran toward the ancient and broken stairs that led up.

It felt like an eternity passed as I went, climbing the stairs two at a time, much to the protest of my aching body. When I reached the third floor, I couldn't say I was pleased to find no stairwell leading up to the roof. The only access was a collapsed section of the ceiling, which revealed the stars overhead. The rubble had piled up enough to give me an unsteady ramp to take up.

I stumbled as I reached the roof, and I used it as an excuse to catch my breath as I looked over the scene before me.

Salvago stood in the middle of the roof, his body turned toward Moretti. The Lich had turned in my direction upon my arrival, but was now facing the wizard. Tendrils of green smoke drifted out from his fingertips, and I could see where the mist trickled out across the roof. It tumbled over one side, and I wondered if the dark mage was still trying to control the zombies and thralls in the lower town; still trying to salvage something from his failed defense.

The Hound stood between them, seeming no worse for having fought for however long we'd been at it. Moretti was quite the opposite, his large and muscled chest heaving. His cloak and shirt were ruined, the jagged tears from the Hound's paws gaping open to reveal the horrid wounds he'd taken. But something in the wizard refused to give in to the pain; somehow he was blocking it out, determined to see the battle finished.

"Yannis Salvago," Moretti proclaimed breathlessly. "You are guilty of breaking the Laws of Magic. You have corrupted the minds of others; you have enthralled them against their will; you have profaned magic by using it to raise the dead." The warden lifted his sword to point at the accused. "You have killed with magic."

The warden paused, as if awaiting some response. Some admission of guilt, or declaration of regret.

Salvago was beyond that. Those were mortal concerns.

"Very well," Moretti finally said. "As a Warden of the White Council, I will execute the sentence deserving of such blasphemies against magic: death."

Perhaps I should have done something. Perhaps I should have reminded Moretti that he was nearly dead on his feet. Perhaps I should have pointed out that Salvago had done nothing during the battle but manipulate others.

In all honesty, I was just too damn distracted at the sight of Violet.

The girl I loved was crouched on the roof not far from the dark mage. Her robes were filthy, and the hood had fallen back from her head to reveal her wild and disheveled mulberry tresses. She'd looked up at my arrival, and my heart had stopped in my chest at her condition. Her skin was sallow and sunken, stretched tight across her bones. Her eyes were dark, the light that normally played in them all but gone. Her mouth hung open, sagging mutely as she stared without seeing.

Even her torch was muted. The lively flames I recalled seemed to burn limply atop it. The amethyst fog I'd seen tumbling from it in the graveyard was still pouring out, trailing over the side of the roof in the same direction as Salvago's green tendrils. The dark mage was still using its power to supplement his own, using its seemingly infinite wellspring to work his necromancy.

I couldn't tear my eyes away from her. I couldn't move, or speak, or do anything. All I could do was search those dead eyes for something familiar; some spark that would show me the girl I loved was still in there. Still fighting him, as she must have been when she'd saved me in that unknown town.

Because I was so distracted, I did nothing to help Moretti as he charged the dark mage. I barely noticed when Salvago simply flicked a wrist absently, his voice soft and almost gentle as he whispered, "Kude."

Whatever Moretti was expecting, it wasn't a wall of air that struck him like a freight train. I heard the wizard grunt in pained surprise as he was blasted off his feet, hurtling back through the air before disappearing over the side of the roof.

I knew from experience how far that drop was from the first floor, to say nothing of adding another twenty feet or so. And the steel-armed wizard didn't have a handy Revenant to break his fall.

I finally tore my gaze away from Violet to watch Moretti disappear, his eyes almost comically wide as he fell. I started to take a step toward him, but with another casual gesture, Salvago slammed me to the surface of the roof. I reached out, and discovered what felt like an invisible wall of air pinning me down. As I pushed against it, Salvago approached.

He came to a halt a few paces away, his dark eyes looking dully down at my prone form. I could see where his eyes had begun to marble over with pale cataracts. The wizard's condition had continued to deteriorate as time went on, with his flesh growing more spare by the hour. His skin was more like one of his zombies rather than something living. As he moved, I swore I could hear his muscles and tendons popping, as if he was actively resisting rigamortis.

And there was a nasty little hole in his throat where Q's bullet had taken him.

"We will take this one," the Lich exhaled softly, the rifle-powered tracheotomy whistling as he did.

And I realized with a start that he hadn't even been breathing; he'd only inhaled so that he'd have air to speak.

"Where are we going?" I asked as the wizard lifted a flattened hand. "I need to know what to pack."

As Salvago raised his hand, the wall of air shifted around me, lifting me rigidly off the ground. I tried moving, but found myself pinned within his power. My spear shifted in my grasp, and I tried to think of something that might break through his magics.

Ignoring my question, Salvago studied me with dead eyes. "You are more than you seem. There is a power within you that I did not sense before. You will be of use," he said, in that creepy way that only the un-breathing sociopathic undead with a hole in their throat can manage.

"I'm not really that interesting," I assured him. "Maybe you should have kept Moretti around."

Salvago waved a hand dismissively. "He is not worth the effort." He turned to start toward Violet, and my eyebrows rose as the air holding me pulled me along in his wake.

"I don't know," I said nervously as I resumed my struggles. "He's a lot more powerful than I am. I'm sure he'd make a great Revenant."

"Bonding with you will help me control her," the Lich replied coldly, his dull eyes looking down upon the kneeling Lampad. "Once I have learned the extent of my abilities, I may resume harvesting the Council."

At a gesture from him, Violet rose from her crouched position and walked to his side. The floating spear bobbed closer under Salvago's power, still pulsing with the beat that controlled whatever zombies that remained. I noted that the Hound started in our direction as well, and suddenly realized that we were leaving. Once we were close enough, Violet could take us into the Ways, and the others might never find us. Salvago would find someplace new, someplace the Council would never think to look, to become the best Lich that he could be. By the time they hunted him down, I might very well be dead.

Even worse, I might be dead and still standing.

"What if I'm not sure about signing on?" I asked quickly, my eyes darting about to find something that would break his spell. The only weapons I had were my spear and my bracelets; the former was pinned between the walls of air, and I couldn't reach the latter. "What's your benefits package like?"

Salvago just stared at me as he reached out to rest a hand on the Hound's head. His other hand began to reach for me as Violet rested a hand on his shoulder. Cold, hard fingers passed through the invisible wall to close upon one shoulder, gripping me tightly.

"Wait! Wait!" I shouted, growing desperate as I realized no-one was going to rescue me from the undead thing that wanted to eat part of my soul and replace it with his own.

Undead thing.

I blinked in surprise at the voice in my head, and turned to look at Violet's torch.

I wasn't the only one.

"What is the meaning of this?" Salvago asked harshly, glaring at the bone-white shaft.

Undead thing, the torch echoed. The purple flames atop it flared brilliantly for an instant, and the Lich took a step back. His hand slid from my shoulder, and I sighed in relief.

"What is this?" the Lich repeated, clearly hearing the same thing I had. It seemed he'd been unaware that the torch had a mind of its own, based on the surprised frustration creeping into his normally laconic tone.

Undead thing.

"I don't know," I said helpfully. "Maybe it's upset with the way you smell. You do kind of reek."

Salvago's face had been slipping back into its passive state, but my words brought another flare of anger. I recalled his rage from the night before, as he'd let his human emotions wash over his inhuman nature. The man's hand flicked toward me, and I slammed down into the roof with teeth-chattering force.

"Silence," Salvago snarled, before death took its tole on his emotions again.

I wasn't sure if he was talking to me or the torch. Neither did it.

Undead thing.

"Looks like another dissatisfied employee," I said from the roof. Thankfully I'd managed to not stab myself with the spear. I was still pinned in the narrow gap between two walls of air; a glance over my shoulder confirmed that I was actually a few millimeters above the roof. "It's definitely not encouraging me to take you up on your offer."

"Control it," Salvago ordered, glaring at the Lampad.

"What's a matter, Yannis?" I goaded as I tried fighting against the spell holding me. "Not used to having your servants talk back to you?"

Undead thing. Un-living thing. Impure thing.

"SILENCE!" the Lich raged, even as he stepped further away from the torch. The Hound trailed with him, shadowing his master. "You are mine! You will do as I say!"

"Doesn't seem like it," I observed as I managed to shift the spear around. I sub-vocalized the spell that triggered the heated spearhead, and tried pressing it against the invisible wall holding me down. The air popped and crackled as if something were burning, but the pressure remained in place.

"You are mine to control!" Salvago screamed, his glazed eyes bulging. "You are mine!"

"I wonder if that's what Peabody thought, too."

Salvago froze at my words, his eyes swiveling from the twisting amethyst light to stare wide-eyed at me.

"What did you say?" he gasped, his chest heaving. His breath was ragged, but at least he was breathing again. It seemed like he only bothered to do that when he grew impassioned enough to forget he was dead.

Undead thing. Less living than his Revenants. Less living than the plant mage.

"Peabody," I said smartly as I realized the torch was talking to me. Now I just needed to figure out what it meant. "Oh, that's right. You hadn't heard. Peabody was revealed to be the traitor in the Council. The one who was spreading that corruption you talked about."

"Peabody," Salvago said breathlessly. "Peabody…"

Plants. Air. Vines. Air.

"Oh," I said stupidly, blinking as I put two and two together. "Right, sorry. I'm new to this fighting wizards thing."

"Peabody," Salvago growled darkly as I twisted the spear in my grasp. "Deceiver." The walls of air holding me in place were firm to my front and back, but I found that I was able to move my arms to either side in the thin channel between the walls. "Betrayer!" Doing so allowed me to extend the end with the rounded pommel out as far as I could. "Traitor!"

"Oh, like you're any better," I muttered as I got the spear into position. My words drew his attention back, and his cadaverous face twisted into outrage.

"I am no traitor," he rasped.

"Yeah, sure," I said as I rolled my eyes at him. "You've killed and enslaved how many of your brethren? How many of your fellow Chians? Betrayed your own laws of magic, and everything you once stood for. And for what? To stop the spread of this corruption?" My look turned hard. "Salvago, you're not stopping the corruption. You are the corruption."

"No," the Lich breathed furiously, lifting his palm toward me.

"How many wizards are dead because of Peabody?" I asked, not really knowing the answer. "Has he killed more or less than you have in the last couple of days?"

"No!" screamed the thing that had once been a man. "I am saving them! I am saving them from the darkness within them!"

"Darkness doesn't end darkness," I replied coldly. "Only the light does that."

Light the Way.

"NO!" Salvago screamed, rounding back and forth between the torch and I. "NO!"

My spear's pommel struck the ground as I sub-vocalized a spell. The same one that I'd used in the square below, to free myself from the vines. Flame erupted from the pommel to tear across the ground, arcing in a wide circle that extended out around me. The air rippled as the fire tore through the spells above and below.

Salvago realized what I was doing, and his hand flew forward, thrusting down. I felt the pressure around me build as he tried to crush me with his will. I gasped as my entire body clenched within the magical vise holding me.

And then the flames completed their passage, snapping together as the circle closed.

The pressure was gone in an instant. Like any inhuman creature, the Lich could not reach me within a circle empowered with my will. Like the enslaved Revenant he'd made of Lily, Salvago couldn't extend his power beyond the circle.

Perhaps if he were still mortal, still living, the dark wizard could have used his power against me. Maybe not. I wasn't hip to all of the wizards' secrets.

But it was no living thing I faced as I rose within the circle, wielding my spear. "You're blind to it, Salvago," I growled. "You've surrounded yourself with so much darkness that you can't see what you've become." I narrowed my gaze as I pointed the glowing spearhead at him.

"Let me enlighten you."