still cackling.
“She’s right you know. You’re weak and old. I am immortal. You can’t kill me!”
Claire tried to ignore his taunts as she threw herself into a dodge-roll from another bolt of lightning. “Damn the Caelites and their lightning!” She cursed between ragged breaths. Why do they have to specialise in that? You can’t dodge it! Give me a fireball any day . She thought bitterly, as she worked her way towards the kneeling Inquisitor. He was unguarded now, the cultists once defending him lay smoking in the melted snow. His focus never wavering from the task at hand.
“You know nothing of magic, Morveil. Nothing.” Razakel said, his voice calm and measured as his blue translucent shield began to fade.
Claire ran towards the Inquisitor her arm pulled back ready to impale him, she could hear his muttering now, desperate and hurried. The energy gathering around the fallen dragon intensified with each passing second. Her sword halted mere inches from his back striking some invisible force; despite the cold air surrounding them the blade began to glow and melt.
“Stay out of things that don’t concern you girl.” Haures said with a distant voice. “This is not your fight.” With a single open palmed gesture Claire rose off the ground, carried by that same invisible force. Unable to move.
“You’ve made it my fight!” She spat back. The more she struggled the tighter his telekinetic grip became.
“The smart hunter picks her battles. I learnt that one from your mother.” He replied with a silken voice, not deigning to look at her. “She could appreciate the bigger picture.”
“You know nothing about her!”
The man beckoned with his free hand and she floated closer against her will. “I know all about her. In some ways it might be fair to say she created me.” This time he turned to face her so she could see the sincerity in his lined face. “I owe much to her.”
Behind them more bolts of magic met waves of green energy and exploded as Morveil was almost upon the weakening, kneeling Razakel.
“Stay out of my way.”
He turned his attention back to the heresy at his feet. Before Claire could respond with any number of biting, hateful retorts on the tip of her tongue; The Inquisitor flicked his wrist to shoo her away. She was thrown several metres away from him, hitting the ground hard despite the padded snow. Dazed and recoiling with pain she tried to sit up. Nearby her sword lay melted and useless, her quiver snapped off and just out of reach. As her vision cleared she could see Razakel’s blue shield fade as he struggled to stand before the hideous Morveil before him.
“I told you, you’re finished.” The levitating abomination spoke with unconstrained glee. “After all these years, you’re done.”
Razakel looked up, a wide smile on his face. “Come now Morveil, you should know me better than that.”
Morveil cocked his head quizzically. “I know one thing that you never seem to understand. I know when you’re beaten.”
The sorcerer took a long deep breath and shrugged. “No. You don’t.” His left hand shot out and grabbed Morveil who squealed in surprise. With a mocking, polite smile Razakel gripped the man’s face tight causing his skin to darken and solidify. The necromancer’s claw-like hands grabbed at the sorcerer’s robes but could not find purchase as his movements dulled and he became still. Like the Caelite statues around him he was now solid stone, his face frozen in a beautiful mixture of hatred and confusion.
Alvis Razakel stood up, his breathing problems gone in a flash, his weariness faded as if it had never been there. “I don’t need magic to trick you. I don’t need to cast illusions when you delude yourself. You were where I wanted you, not the other way around. You’re finished Morveil.” He released his grip on the statue’s face and smiled. With a flick of his wrist the petrified Morveil floated before him as it had done in his
“She’s right you know. You’re weak and old. I am immortal. You can’t kill me!”
Claire tried to ignore his taunts as she threw herself into a dodge-roll from another bolt of lightning. “Damn the Caelites and their lightning!” She cursed between ragged breaths. Why do they have to specialise in that? You can’t dodge it! Give me a fireball any day . She thought bitterly, as she worked her way towards the kneeling Inquisitor. He was unguarded now, the cultists once defending him lay smoking in the melted snow. His focus never wavering from the task at hand.
“You know nothing of magic, Morveil. Nothing.” Razakel said, his voice calm and measured as his blue translucent shield began to fade.
Claire ran towards the Inquisitor her arm pulled back ready to impale him, she could hear his muttering now, desperate and hurried. The energy gathering around the fallen dragon intensified with each passing second. Her sword halted mere inches from his back striking some invisible force; despite the cold air surrounding them the blade began to glow and melt.
“Stay out of things that don’t concern you girl.” Haures said with a distant voice. “This is not your fight.” With a single open palmed gesture Claire rose off the ground, carried by that same invisible force. Unable to move.
“You’ve made it my fight!” She spat back. The more she struggled the tighter his telekinetic grip became.
“The smart hunter picks her battles. I learnt that one from your mother.” He replied with a silken voice, not deigning to look at her. “She could appreciate the bigger picture.”
“You know nothing about her!”
The man beckoned with his free hand and she floated closer against her will. “I know all about her. In some ways it might be fair to say she created me.” This time he turned to face her so she could see the sincerity in his lined face. “I owe much to her.”
Behind them more bolts of magic met waves of green energy and exploded as Morveil was almost upon the weakening, kneeling Razakel.
“Stay out of my way.”
He turned his attention back to the heresy at his feet. Before Claire could respond with any number of biting, hateful retorts on the tip of her tongue; The Inquisitor flicked his wrist to shoo her away. She was thrown several metres away from him, hitting the ground hard despite the padded snow. Dazed and recoiling with pain she tried to sit up. Nearby her sword lay melted and useless, her quiver snapped off and just out of reach. As her vision cleared she could see Razakel’s blue shield fade as he struggled to stand before the hideous Morveil before him.
“I told you, you’re finished.” The levitating abomination spoke with unconstrained glee. “After all these years, you’re done.”
Razakel looked up, a wide smile on his face. “Come now Morveil, you should know me better than that.”
Morveil cocked his head quizzically. “I know one thing that you never seem to understand. I know when you’re beaten.”
The sorcerer took a long deep breath and shrugged. “No. You don’t.” His left hand shot out and grabbed Morveil who squealed in surprise. With a mocking, polite smile Razakel gripped the man’s face tight causing his skin to darken and solidify. The necromancer’s claw-like hands grabbed at the sorcerer’s robes but could not find purchase as his movements dulled and he became still. Like the Caelite statues around him he was now solid stone, his face frozen in a beautiful mixture of hatred and confusion.
Alvis Razakel stood up, his breathing problems gone in a flash, his weariness faded as if it had never been there. “I don’t need magic to trick you. I don’t need to cast illusions when you delude yourself. You were where I wanted you, not the other way around. You’re finished Morveil.” He released his grip on the statue’s face and smiled. With a flick of his wrist the petrified Morveil floated before him as it had done in his
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