Helpless (Blue Fire Saga) (27 page)

43. bLACK AND WHITE

Dominic’s grip on Leesa’s shoulders tightened.

“You cannot come,” he said. The look in his pale blue eyes was hard, intense. “I forbid it.”

Leesa tried to meet his stare with an equally powerful one of her own.

“I have to,” she said. “I can help. I know it.”

“It’s too dangerous.”

“Your concern for me is keeping you from seeing this clearly,” Leesa said, her voice steady. “Hasn’t your plan all along been that your enemies will not be able to sense my magic? That’s how I can help.”

Dominic shook his head, but Leesa could see in his eyes that his resolve was wavering.

“My plan counted on you having mastered your magic, not having barely begun your training.”

“I know. I’m not fooling myself. I realize I can’t hurt Josef in the slightest. Heck, I don’t think I could hurt even an ordinary human with the little I know. But maybe I can be a distraction.”

Dominic removed his hands from Leesa’s shoulders and dropped them to his sides.

“You have to remain well back and out of sight,” he said after a moment, and Leesa knew she had won the argument. “If Josef sees you, he will snuff you out with no more thought than he would a flea. But if he doesn’t know where the magic is coming from, no matter how weak it is, he has to be concerned.”

“I’ll stay hidden, I promise,” Leesa assured him. Now that she had gotten her way, she tried to imagine how her paltry skills might be of any use, but had trouble coming up with anything. It was too late for any dream, though perhaps an answer might come to her in a waking vision, like the one that had shown her the Necromancer. Telekinesis was probably her best bet, she decided, if only she could find the strength that had allowed her to hurl Edwina away from Cali. She didn’t think sliding some stones across the ground was going to bother Josef. She would need more—much more.

If Dominic recognized any sign of her internal struggle, he didn’t show it.

“Let’s go, then,” he said. “We must get off campus as quickly as possible.”

They headed north, moving rapidly across the Weston grounds and then walking west on Washington Street. After half a mile on the road, Dominic turned and led them north into the woods.

They walked so fast that Leesa did not feel the cold at all, even as the afternoon waned. The rain had stopped completely, but the descending sun was still hidden behind a layer of dark clouds. Here in the trees, the ground was covered with wet, slippery leaves, forcing Leesa to watch every step. After fifteen minutes, Dominic halted.

“We have to separate,” he said. “Josef is not far now, and he knows I’m coming. I can feel him tracking me.”

Dominic bent and picked up a fallen branch, breaking off a few smaller branches to create a crude staff. “I’ll mark my trail with this.”

Leesa thought he was going to use magic somehow to create a trail, but instead he merely scratched the staff across the ground, leaving a dark line on the wet leaves.

“Follow this, but remain out of sight,” Dominic instructed. “You will know when Josef and I have found each other.”

Leesa swallowed hard. “I will,” she managed to say.

Dominic nodded once. “Be careful, Leesa.”

“You, too,” Leesa said, but Dominic was already heading off into the trees, dragging his staff next to him. She watched his back until it disappeared, then followed his trail.

Neither Dominic nor Josef was surprised when they came within sight of one another. Their magical senses had alerted them to the presence of the other long before.

“So, Dominic, you’ve finally decided to come out of hiding,” Josef said. “I’m glad. I was growing tired of waiting.”

“I’ll try not to disappoint you then,” Dominic replied. He dropped the staff to the ground, freeing up both his hands.

“I’m curious,” Josef said. “What made you use your magic after more than a century? Did you perhaps grow too fond of some human?”

Dominic shrugged, not wanting Josef to know how close he had come to the mark.

“I did what had to be done.”

“I hope it was worth it.” Josef smiled. “But if the human did not survive, perhaps I can show you how to raise him.” His smile widened. “It’s not too late for you to join with us, you know. We are close to breaking the seal, and then nothing will be able to stop us.”

“No, thank you,” Dominic said resolutely. “I prefer to honor my oaths.”

“I expected nothing less, but I had to ask. Perhaps one day you will join us—after you are dead.”

Josef jerked up his hand toward Dominic. A bolt of black energy shot from his palm.

Dominic was ready for him. A stream of yellow-white light streaked from his hand, meeting Josef’s bolt halfway. The two bolts crackled and sizzled where they met.

Leesa limped slowly through the trees, following the trail left by Dominic, until suddenly a flash of yellow light brightened the dimness ahead of her. She stopped immediately. Dominic had said she would know when he found Josef. She didn’t know what the glow was, but she knew it was magic. Dominic and Josef had come together.

She moved ten or twelve paces off the trail she had been following, and then crept forward, being careful to make no sound. She was thankful the leaves were packed and sodden—had they been dry, approaching unheard would have been impossible.

The woods grew steadily brighter until she finally saw the two wizards. She stopped behind the thick trunk of a tree and peered carefully around it.

Dominic and Josef stood some thirty feet apart. The yellow glow came from a beam of energy shooting from Dominic’s right palm. Halfway between the two wizards, the yellow-white energy met a bolt of black coming from Josef’s right hand. Where the two magical bolts met, the energies had spread and flattened in to a small starburst. She could hear the magical energy sputtering in the quiet. It looked like a stalemate to her. She wondered how long each of the wizards could maintain so much magic.

While she watched, Josef raised his free hand and pointed to a spot above Dominic. With a loud crack, a thick branch broke free and hurtled down toward Dominic’s head. Dominic waved his free hand and the branch fell off to the side, narrowly missing him. The effort had cost him about a foot of distance where the two beams of energy met, though.

Leesa saw Dominic’s mouth move as he invoked some kind of spell. The ground opened up beneath Josef’s feet. The black wizard dropped into the hole up to his knees before his counter spell raised him back up and sealed the hole. Dominic gained back most, but not all of the ground he had lost.

Leesa understood what was happening. The yellow-white bolt and the black bolt were the most powerful magics the two wizards could bring to bear. The rest was just distraction, trying to gain an advantage for the killing blow. She could only imagine what would happen if one of those bolts hit home.

Dominic and Josef appeared fairly evenly matched. She thought Dominic had probably been the more powerful wizard before Josef turned to the black magic, but the evil power seemed to give Josef a slight edge now. Leesa strained to think of something she could do to turn the tide in Dominic’s favor without giving herself away. If it came down to it, she would certainly reveal her presence to save Dominic’s life, but she hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

Glancing down at the forest floor, an idea came to her—a totally inconspicuous idea she hoped would distract Josef by its very simplicity. She peered around the tree and focused on the ground behind the black wizard’s foot.

“
Blitha egras sumuss
,” she whispered, picturing one of the small vines she had seen growing near her feet.

A tiny vine sprouted from the soil behind Josef’s foot, too small to be noticed by the black waziri.

“
Blitha egras sumuss
,” she intoned over and over again.

She watched as the vine increased in length and thickness. Next, she pictured it wrapping itself around Josef’s ankle, like the man-eating vines she had seen once in a science fiction movie. 

The vine circled Josef’s ankle twice before he noticed it. Startled, he tore his foot away from the slender vine, snapping the wood in half. His head jerked from side to side, searching for the source of the magic. Leesa could tell he knew it hadn’t come from Dominic. She pulled herself farther back behind the tree.

The small break in Josef’s concentration cost him several precious feet in his battle with Dominic. Dominic had been right, Leesa thought—you never knew when a spell might come in handy, even a simple one like the growth spell. For a moment, she hoped Dominic would now prevail, but Josef’s bolt grew even blacker than before and began to force Dominic’s beam back. Somehow, Josef was increasing the amount of black magic he was pouring into his bolt. Dominic seemed to have no answer.

Suddenly, a dark blur streaked through the trees toward Josef from his left. Leesa’s heart soared as she saw Rave racing toward the wizard. Surely Rave and Dominic combined would be more than a match for Josef. The black wizard raised his free hand and Rave came crashing to a halt just ten feet from his foe, stopped by some magic Leesa could not see. While she watched, two thick black bands appeared around Rave, one pinning his arms to his sides, the other holding his legs together. She could see Rave straining against the magical bands. Blue fire burned from his fingers, but the bands steadily tightened. His volkaane strength and magical fire could not break the black magic. 

Josef kept his left hand raised toward Rave, keeping him pinned while he turned his attention back to Dominic. Slowly but steadily, Josef’s black energy forced Dominic’s yellow-white beam backwards.

Leesa watched, horrified, as the bands tightened around Rave and the dark bolt pushed relentlessly toward Dominic. She had never felt so helpless. The man she loved and the man she needed to help her embrace her magic were both about to die.

44. desperation

L
eesa’s heart raced, her body shot full of adrenaline from fear and worry. Josef’s black bolt had pushed to within five feet of Dominic now. In moments, the black magic would overwhelm him. And once Dominic was out of the way, the black wizard could turn his full might against Rave. Rave wouldn’t stand a chance. She had to do something—but what?

The growth spell had produced a distraction, but it was much too short-lived. She needed something bigger, something that would grab Josef’s attention in a much more solid way. As hard as it was for her to do it, she pulled her eyes from Rave and Dominic and scanned the woods around Josef, searching desperately for some kind of idea.

Ten or fifteen feet behind Josef, she spied a small log. It was about a foot thick and maybe eight feet long. She had never moved anything close to this heavy. But she had sent Edwina hurtling through the air, and she was a vampire. If she could just get the log rolling….

She looked back at Rave, watching as the black bands continued to tighten around him. His bronze face had darkened from the exertion of struggling against the magic. She didn’t know whether it was pain or frustration, but she hated the expression that twisted his handsome features. Unless she somehow stopped Josef, those bands were going to squeeze the life out of her beloved. Her anger rose to near boiling.

She forced her eyes away from Rave and back to the log, picturing it rolling toward Josef’s legs. For a moment, it seemed to rock back and forth, as if trying to break free of the inertia that held it in place. She squeezed her jaw shut and redoubled her concentration, fueling it with her anger.

Slowly, the log began to move, just a little at first, but a bit more with each moment. Finally, it started rolling, picking up speed as it drew closer to Josef. Leesa held her breath as the log prepared to smash into the back of Josef’s legs. She wondered if a wizard’s legs might snap as easily as a person’s, but she did not get a chance to find out. Somehow, at the very last moment, the black wizard sensed the danger behind him and leaped into the air while the log rolled harmlessly beneath him. Dominic seized the chance to press his attack but gained only a few feet. Leesa could see that the bands around Rave had loosened, but not nearly enough for him to free himself.

She watched as Josef quickly scanned the woods behind him, seeking the source of this new attack, but of course he found nothing. Leesa had hoped the unseen threat would distract him much more than it had, but it seemed as if Josef’s inability to sense her magic was actually working against her. Apparently, since Josef could detect no other source for the magic, he was assuming the attack must have come from Dominic. Leesa was crushed. She had failed.

Convinced there was no other threat, Josef redoubled his dual attacks on Dominic and Rave, unleashing the full might of his black magic. Dominic’s knees began to buckle under the onslaught as the dark bolt pushed against him.

Leesa had no choice. There was only one thing left for her to do. She sucked in a deep breath and stepped out from behind the tree.

Josef looked at her with surprise. He studied her for a brief moment, but when his senses detected no magic he turned away, confident she represented no danger.

Leesa needed to show him different, to grab his attention. She focused on the log. She had moved it once, giving her an immediate visual that she used to help her move it again.

It rolled more easily this time, heading back for Josef. Once again, Josef easily jumped over the log. This time, however, he focused his gaze on Leesa. For the first time, she saw a faint trace of confusion on his face.

“
Blitha egras sumuss
,” she chanted loudly, making certain Josef heard her casting the spell. A tiny branch near the end of the log began to grow longer. Exactly what the spell produced didn’t matter—the twig itself was inconsequential. She just needed to show Josef she possessed magic. She need him confused, distracted.

Josef stared at Leesa, an incredulous look on his face. He had just heard her utter a waziri spell, yet could sense no magic coming from her. He did not think such a thing was possible. He knew she must have been the one who made the vine wrap around his leg and who caused the log to roll at him, so why couldn’t he detect her magic? More importantly, how big of threat did she pose? So far, her efforts had been weak and ineffectual, but Josef did not like the idea of leaving a source of magic unopposed on his flank.

Dominic took advantage of Josef’s momentary distraction to once again press his attack, but Leesa could see he was nearly out of energy. Josef beat back Dominic’s assault easily, then pulled his left hand away from Rave and raised it toward Leesa.

Leesa had no defense against the coming attack. The power that Dominic and Rave could withstand, at least for awhile, would consume her in mere seconds. She could only hope her distraction and sacrifice had been enough.

As Josef turned his focus to confront the mysterious new threat, the bands encircling Rave weakened. His strength reinforced by the danger to Leesa, Rave burst from his magical bonds and was upon Josef in a flash, pressing his mouth over the black wizard’s face and unleashing the full force of his fire before Josef could defend himself. Dominic had told them that not even a waziri could withstand a volkaane’s fire, and Rave quickly proved him correct. In less than a minute, Josef collapsed lifeless to the ground.

Rave turned his head and spat. The wizard’s life force had been a hundred times more perverted than even Jarubu’s. He hoped he never tasted anything like it again. He stepped away and watched as Josef’s body disintegrated into a pile of coal black ash.

Leesa rushed into Rave’s arms and hugged him tightly. His body was hotter than she had ever felt it, except for their out of control kiss. She didn’t mind one single bit.

All at once, wrapped up in Rave’s arms, the emotions of the last few minutes began pouring out of her—the fear, the frustration, the worry, the anger. She couldn’t hold them in any longer. She began to cry—great, heaving sobs. Raves simply held her tighter and stroked her hair.

Dominic joined them, but stood a few discreet feet away, giving them space.

Finally, Leesa had no more tears to cry, no more emotions to let out. Spent, she stepped back from Rave’s embrace, but kept her arms linked around one of his. No way was she letting go of him now.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I couldn’t help it.”

Rave and Dominic smiled.

“Sorry?” Dominic asked. “Sorry for saving both of us? Sorry for being the bravest person I have ever met? Sorry for confronting one of our deadliest enemies and confusing him so much that Rave was able to destroy him?” His smile widened. “Yes, I’d say you have a lot to be sorry for, young lady. A whole lot.”

Leesa smiled. “I guess I did do pretty good for a beginner, huh?” She pulled one arm free from Rave and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “But I don’t see either one of you crying like a baby.” Her smile assured them she was at least half joking.

Rave and Dominic both laughed.

“I never expected the growing spell to come in so handy,” Dominic said. “I only taught it to you so you could experience casting your first spell, not as something you would use to help destroy a black wizard.” He looked over to the pile of black ashes that had once been Josef. “There’s one more thing I need to do.”

He walked over to the pile of ashes and held his hands above them, palms down. White light shone down from his hands and the ashes began to crackle and vibrate as his magic burned into them. A thin rope of dark smoke curled up from the ashes as they slowly disintegrated. Soon there was nothing left but the narrow stream of smoke, which slowly disappeared into the dimness above.

“Josef’s foul magic is gone forever now,” Dominic explained. “Nothing can be done to reanimate it.”

Leesa was very glad to hear that. Unfortunately, there were still three more like him out there…and the Necromancer as well.  

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Scott Prussing
was born in New Jersey, but was smart enough to move to beautiful San Diego as soon as he received his Master's degree in psychology from Yale University. In addition to writing, Scott enjoys going to the movies (not renting!), hiking, riding his bicycle near the beach, and golf. He remains one of the few people in the United States without a cell phone.

Contact Scott and learn all about his books at www.scottprussing.com.