Chapter 411

The pained grunt that came from Rian was immensely satisfying for Lucien and he took a moment to rub at his elbow. His whole arm was throbbing because of the way he had landed when the sneaky bastard had thrown a little shield under him and he had tripped. Even more, Lucien enjoyed the enraged expression on the dark-haired fae's face when he had righted himself and glared at Lucien, hair still smouldering just a little.

"You like it hot?" Lucien asked, and the snarl that met him by way of reply made him grin hugely. Rian lunged at him with another over-the-shoulder sweeping attack, and it was all too easy to get around. "Too slow, friend." He laughed, "You really don't need to be so showy. Smaller, faster movements are what you need. Less power, more speed. Do you know that it takes less than half a kilogram of pressure to break skin…?"

"I'd rather carve you in half."

Lucien ducked the next blow that came at him about shoulder height. "I'm sure you would." He chuckled, "But I'm faster than you."

"You won't be forever."

Lucien rather doubted that. He had spent half his life getting around his brothers, and they had been far more savage than this idiot. He just shook his head, moving around, keeping both eyes on Rian. In an instant the other male lurched for him again, blade flashing in the bright light and Lucien deflected it with a flick of his own. Rian had spun and come back at him and instant later and Lucien found himself forced back several steps to keep himself intact. He didn't like the smile that was forming on Rian's thin lips, and he figured out why when his back hit a shield that hadn't been there a moment before. Prevented moving back again, out of the way, Lucien tried to deflect the next blow, but didn't quite manage it, and choked back a pained cry instead when Rian's blade sliced into his left shoulder.

He felt Elain's shock followed by her worry, and he forced himself to look her way, sending her a wink of reassurance. His mate stood with her hands clenched together in front of her, and she looked as if she might dart forward into the fight at any moment. Remembering the way she had thrown herself in front of him when Tamlin had gone savage, or the way she had jumped onto his brothers to try and help him, Lucien swallowed his own worry. "Stay there, Petal." He said.

Rian chuckled again, still smiling and Lucien wanted nothing more than to wipe that smile from his face. A shield went up to Lucien's right, and he realised that the other male was about to try boxing him in with nowhere to go. "I don't think so…" he muttered, shattering that wall, and then doing the same to the one he had backed into. He could feel his blood running down his arm, making his grip on his sword slippery and difficult to maintain.

"Lucien…" Helion's voice held warning and a hint of impatience, and Lucien remembered his father telling him not to hesitate to kill. He'd been humouring this bastard for too long and this needed to end now.

Reaching for his magic, Lucien gripped it tightly and thrust it all forward with a grunt at the effort. Flames engulfed Rian and sent him backward toward the stairs once more, and Lucien turned away, not really wanting to see the remains.

He'd reached Helion when he heard a pained cough from behind him and he gave a sigh as he turned to see Rian pushing himself up to sit on the steps. One of his shimmery shields hung tightly about him and it seemed that he'd managed to protect himself at the last moment. "For that," Rian muttered, moving slowly in a way that suggested he was in a decent amount of pain, "Once your little mate has given the new High Lord a useful prophesy, I'm going to take great joy in throwing her from the highest tower."

Lucien went cold as the involuntary image of that flashed through his mind. He could practically hear Elain screaming in his head and, without even meaning to, he had reached out with his mind. Somewhere within Rian he could see the core of his magic, of what gave him his abilities. Lucien grabbed it and flooded it with as much light and Day Court magic as he could. It came apart then, pieces of it coming off as he held it, and Lucien ripped the rest of it apart as rage moved through him. From somewhere nearby, he heard Rian's protest, his cry of pain, and he threw it all away from himself. It wasn't until he looked Rian in the eyes then that Lucien realised what he had just done. It dawned on Rian himself a moment later, and Lucien could see that understanding fill the other male's eyes. He watched as Rian tried again and again to cast a shield in front of himself, but nothing happened. Nothing would happen for him ever again because Lucien had ripped his magic apart; had destroyed any shred of it within him. Not a spark remained and he would never be able to use any form of magic again.

Rian surged to his feet, blade in his hand. Lucien expected the male to come for him, but Rian ran instead toward Elain and Ashk. Kaii and Siv moved in front of them, ready to protect them but Lucien got there first. With two quick movements he had disarmed Rian, sending his sword clattering across the floor, and then he had driven his own sword through the other male's chest. Rian fell then, and Lucien pulled his blade free. He could see the blood seeping out from beneath the dark-haired faerie, and he watched as those cold eyes closed and did not open again. Behind him, on the dais, Colm gave an angry bellow.