The Sorcerer's Abyss (The Sorcerer's Path) (24 page)

The magical bolt lit up the street like a small sun as it streaked toward its target. The girl’s eyes flared as she tried to bring up a ward but was too slow. The strike sent her careening into the wall of a building where she lay moaning but unable to muster the strength to move. Magus Harvey strode toward the incapacitated girl with a smile on his lips and a spell at the ready. Magus Parkes burst from the alley just a moment later.

“What have you done?” Oliver asked his fellow wizard.

Magus Harvey looked confused a moment then looked at the form huddled on the ground. He conjured a light and saw that he had struck down Magus Brown.

“Blast it all! The girl must have dropped an illusion on Melanie when she came out of the alley. She’s clever, I’ll give her that.”

“There!” Oliver pointed when he spotted movement from down the street.

“Come, we cannot allow her to escape!”

“What about Melanie?” Magus Parkes asked.

Robert looked down at their comrade who was slowly regaining consciousness. “Leave her, Oliver. She will be fine for now.”

The two men hastened after the fleeing girl. The pair drew nearer until the single figure split into two and went in separate directions upon reaching the next cross street.

“Damn her and her illusions!” Magus Harvey shouted. “We’ll have to split up, but be careful.”

Robert turned right while Oliver hastened after the figure running to the left. Both men continued to catch glimpses of the girl as she raced down the street and darted around corners. Magus Parkes nearly ran into the rogue wizard when she apparently found the alley blocked and tried to double back. Oliver did not hesitate to lash out with a force strike. Ellyssa dove to the ground and tried to roll out of the path but the spell caught her with a glancing blow and turned her roll into a tumble. She released a stream of brilliant bolts, but the wizard’s shield absorbed most of it.

She tried to run again but another assault took her in the back. The spell lifted her from the ground and slammed her into the wall of a small shop. Ellyssa lay on the ground gasping for breath and quietly weeping as the wizard cautiously approached. When Magus Parkes looked down at the girl, he could see she really was little more than a girl, a girl who may never see full womanhood if her trial went poorly.

“Stop fighting now. It’s over,” Oliver said softly.

“No, It’s just beginning,” Ellyssa said as she stepped up behind him.

Magus Parkes saw the girl on the ground vanish and spun around to face the voice at his back. He had just a moment to capture the cold determination in the girl’s eyes before she hit him hard enough to send him through the wall of the shop. He looked up just in time to erect a ward as Ellyssa brought half the roof down on top of him.

Robert Harvey heard the exchange of magical attacks echoing through the night-shrouded streets. He realized he was the one chasing the phantasm while Oliver had obviously found the girl. He ran back toward the sound of battle with a curse and hoped he got there before it was over. Given their level of success thus far, he had less than high hopes of Parkes defeating the girl on his own. Even that tiny bit of optimism was smashed when he reached the ruined store.

Magus Parkes’ muffled shout came from under the destroyed timbers. “She ran toward the docks!”

Magus Harvey refused to allow the girl to slip away. He knew her tricks now, and her illusions would not fool him again. He spotted Ellyssa as she darted down another alley. Robert took a small gamble by using the Source to coax more speed from his fatiguing legs and quickly began closing the distance separating them.

Ellyssa found her path blocked by a low wall of cracked and warped boards. She demanded more speed from her muscles, leapt up, and grasped the top of the boards. She ignored the splinters digging into her hands as she pulled herself up.  The flash of light practically blinded her and pain shot across her leg from the lightning bolt the Academy wizard unleashed upon her.

Ellyssa winced when her injured leg struck the ground. She staggered slightly as she ran, blinking away the brilliant motes of light swimming crazily in her eyes. Magus Harvey did not bother trying to scale the wall. Instead, he simply unleashed a ball of fire and obliterated the flimsy structure. His spell had the added effect of illuminating the dark street and showed Ellyssa racing for the docks.

Magus Harvey saw the girl flee down another narrow street before bursting out into the open ground of the dock front. Crates, nets, and crab pots exploded as Magus Harvey launched a series of simple force strikes at the fleeing mage in an attempt to trip her up and stun her long enough to subdue her.

Ellyssa raised an arm to shield her face from the flying splinters of wood despite the protection her ward offered. She felt several strike glance off her hasty shield and knew it was only a matter of seconds before the wizard realized he would have to expend more power to take her down quickly.

Robert saw the girl rapidly approaching the end of the dock front. The girl looked panicked as she realized there was no place to go. A large fish-processing factory blocked her egress to the right and only the long dock and an endless ocean offered an option other than turning and fighting. The girl chose flight until she reached the end of the dock.

“It is a long swim to anywhere,” Magus Harvey told the girl who was looking from him to the water like a trapped animal. “You are stronger and more skilled than I had anticipated. It is a shame you chose the path of a criminal. The Academy is lacking in true talent like yours these days.”

Ellyssa glared at the wizard. “You let slavers take people away, you ignore the suffering of the common people knowing you have the power to make a difference, and you call me the criminal?”

“Had you attended a proper school, you would know the history of our order and why we must remain separate from the daily running of the kingdom.”

“Your order would never have allowed me in. I came from a poor home with no titles or wealthy benefactors. I am one of those people you would have watched sold into slavery or worse. You people are the criminals for ignoring what you have the power to stop! I have the power, and I will not ignore the suffering!”

“You may have stopped the suffering of a few faceless commoners,” Robert said, “but how much suffering have you caused to those you know in the process? Has all the pain and tragedy your actions caused been worth your vaunted ideals? Was it a fair exchange? I had dinner with a lovely woman and bright young boy who would certainly say it was not.”

Ellyssa intentionally kept the man talking so she could distract him so he would not notice the small tendril of power she directed at one of the thick coils of rope behind him. Despite this, his words burned her like fire down to her soul with their truthfulness. No, it was not a fair exchange. Not yet. Not until Captain Jake was dead, and not even then. Probably never.

“You are exhausted and out of room to run,” Robert continued. “Tell me where the Codex Arcana is and surrender to me. It is time to end this pointless crusade.”

Ellyssa coaxed the rope toward the wizard and struck. Magus Harvey let out a yelp as the animated cord constricted around his ankle and jerked him into the ocean. Ellyssa channeled her power into the rope until she could no longer affect it. By the time she had reached the limit of her power, Magus Harvey was treading water and shedding his heavy clothing half a mile from the docks.

After a rapid sprint out of the city, Ellyssa practically fell through the magical gate and stumbled into the dark chamber of the cave now serving as her home. Despite her exhaustion, she went immediately to the Codex where it lay open upon the natural shelf of stone protruding from the wall. Or perhaps not so natural. Many of the features within the cave looked to have been molded by human hands wielding magic. She was not sure what she could do with the dagger, but she was certain the book would.

“I need to find Captain Jake. I have his dagger.” A smile played across Ellyssa lips. “Show me.”

The pages fanned as if blown by a strong breeze or an invisible hand. The pages ceased their turning and words formed upon the pages, each perfectly penned character glowing faintly with a silver light.

“Yes, this will work. I need to kill him when I find him, and I want him to see my face. I want him to look upon me with terror in his eyes so great it follows him to the abyss where it will be the thing of his nightmares for all eternity. Show me.”

Again, the pages fanned before her eyes and the glow of the letters shined off her sweat-glistened face. Another smile found its way onto her face, darker and more sinister than any before. The spell the book showed was perfect, as were they all, but it was very complex and it would require a great deal of study. Ellyssa had never heard of such a spell or dreamt such was possible. It would take her to the edge of her strength and very possibly beyond.

Having recovered from their arcane beatings, Oliver and Melanie raced toward the docks. By the time they arrived, Magus Harvey was calling out to them only a few hundred feet from shore.

“Throw me a rope!” Robert gasped out, obviously very fatigued.

With help from his associates, Magus Harvey soon stood on the docks, shivering. He had shed almost everything except his underclothes to keep from drowning. A simple spell dried him out and warded off the cold.

“It appears that we have underestimated the girl,” Magus Harvey declared. “Her innate strength and access to the Codex makes her more than a simple journeyman mage.”

“So what do we do now? Seek her out or lay in wait again?” Melanie asked.

Robert pursed his lips in thought. “No. We shall return to The Academy and hand this over to the inquisitors. Given her actions this night, I have no doubt the council will agree that their involvement is warranted.”

Magus Parkes frowned his displeasure. “You do not think we three can take down a child? You want to go back to The Academy empty-handed?”

“I have no doubt we could overpower her regardless of the Codex or her abilities. She is just a novice after all. The problem lies in taking her alive so we can recover the Codex Arcana. Its acquisition is paramount above all else. The inquisitors are trained for this sort of thing. We are not, and I will not allow even my great arrogance to jeopardize the recovery of the Codex.”

Magus Harvey spent the several days of travel back to Southport preparing to address the council. He and the other two members of his ill-fated expedition soon stood before the assembly. At least two dozen wizards sat upon the benches behind them.

“Magus Harvey, I presume you and your colleagues called this council to session regarding the mage, Ellyssa Jensen, and the disposition of the Codex Arcana.” Headmaster Florent stated bluntly. “Since you have not handed over either of those two things, I can also assume your mission was not a success.”