Now that the onslaught had ended, the barrier dimmed then faded away after just a few seconds had gone by. Did this mean it was gone for good? Cah’lia wasn’t sure, but she had a feeling it was still there, as it only seemed to show itself when struck directly. To be safe, it was probably a good idea not to move around too much for the time being; she didn’t know what would happen if she accidentally grazed it while it was still active.
“Shina,” Orellia said, “are you ready?”
“Yes.”
“Kellar?”
The boy nodded, took a breath, and then gave a thumbs-up. “Yeah. Do it now, Shina.”
“Yes…take it down,” the Champion whispered.
“Okay,” Shina said. “On three.”
She held up three fingers, then lowered one. Then she lowered another so that only her pointer finger was raised. Finally, she made a fist, swung it diagonally down and to her left side, and shouted, “The barrier’s down! Go!”
Now what?
Cah’lia wondered.
What are they planning to—?
In hindsight, Cah’lia wished she would’ve been given some kind of warning, because what followed was a counterattack so violent and so destructive that it caused the entire stage to vibrate with all the force of an earthquake. The moment it began, she threw herself flat down on her belly, and so did Patrick; it did not surprise her when Patrick gripped her hand in his own and squeezed.
“Cah’lia!” he whimpered.
“I know, Patrick. I know!”
As if unleashing all of their wrath in one mighty burst, their four magic-using friends launched an aggressive, devastating series of strikes against the ten High-Mages who, from what Cah’lia had gathered, were more experienced and had access to a far greater arsenal of spells with which to fight. Yet this didn’t appear to do much at all for them. Apparently, all the magic in the world meant little to someone with no experience in using it.
Shina and Orellia were the first to start things off. Together, they unleashed forked bolts of lightning at the High-Mages, who danced around to avoid being electrocuted. Little pieces of the stage chipped off and sprang into the air each time their electrical magic bit into the floor. Though easily avoided at first, with each successive strike of lightning, they came gradually closer to zapping one of the High-Mages. It was as if they were casting a net that became smaller and narrowed in on their targets; each one of the forked lightning strikes had the mages clumping closer and closer together in their efforts to move out of the way.
The Champion, on the other hand, didn’t seem to care who or what he hit. One after the next, he threw stones that appeared in the palm of his hands. These stones, despite not being on fire, left behind a trail of black smoke as they sailed through the air, detonating whenever they made impact with something solid. Unlike Shina and Orellia’s lightning, the Champion’s magic was loud and destructive, though it was also effective. One of these exploding rocks nearly killed a High-Mage, but the man just had time to jump out of the way, and instead the detonation blew out a small section of the stage.
After throwing a few such stones, the Champion paused, whispered something about an executioner being foolish, and then ran off somewhere behind them with his sword raised above his head.
It was in this moment that Kellar called out some kind of warning. Cah’lia didn’t know why, exactly, but it must have been important, because Orellia and Shina immediately stopped what they were doing. With a curt nod to one another, both dashed backwards until they stood just off to the side from where Cah’lia lay on the floor next to Patrick.
What’s happening? Why’d they stop?
With her forearm protecting her face and partially obscuring her vision, it was difficult to get a full view of her surroundings, but Cah’lia could still make out the sight of Kellar placing his hands together with his arms extended. There was a brief flicker, and then a single fireball four-times larger than anything she’d ever seen Sehn create emerged from both of his palms, speeding across the stage.
Two High-Mages directly in its path hurried to get out of the way. Unfortunately for them, they were both clumsy and uncoordinated. Each of the men made a desperate, forceful movement in the same direction, bumping into one another and causing them both to collapse on the stage. Then the two High-Mages gaped in horror as the giant ball of flame struck them dead-on.
For the second time in less than a minute, Cah’lia wished someone would’ve warned her of what to expect in advance.
The fireball exploded in the exact moment it impacted with the High-Mages, and the result was as devastating as it was terrifying. First, there was a brief flash that lasted no more than a fraction of a second but was enough to momentarily blind Cah’lia. Then came the tremendous boom that caused a shaking so terrible that she could feel the vibrations in her bones. Cah’lia squeezed Patrick’s hand with an even tighter grip, fearing the entire stage would split in two.
Then a moving object caught her eyes, which were still partially flash blinded. That was why, at first, she thought she was seeing things. But a moment later she realized that it was exactly what it looked like: a massive chunk of the stage—the entire center of it—had split off and now rocketed directly upwards into the air, where it then broke apart and rained back down in the form of tiny wooden chips. Several pieces even managed to fall far enough away that many of those watching from behind the barricades were forced to remove their shirts, wrap them around their hands, and then raise up their arms to shield themselves, their family, or their friends from the shower of scorching hot wooden pieces that were definitely hot enough to leave at least minor burns if exposed to human skin.
When it was all said and done, half the stage had been blown apart, a cylindrical plume of smoke rose high into the air, and there was no sign whatsoever of the two High-Mages who’d been on the receiving end of the giant fireball. They simply vanished. Cah’lia couldn’t be certain, but she thought it safe to assume Kellar’s magic had incinerated them. They were now likely part of the ash raining down, mixed in together with the tiny chips of wood.
“Is…is it over?” Patrick asked. He immediately buried his face back down into the stage as the clang of steel on steel rang out from somewhere behind them, followed by the loud death cry of the last remaining executioner; if he’d been smarter, he would’ve run away after seeing what became of his three friends.
Due to the explosion, Cah’lia could see nothing behind the screen of thick, greyish-black smoke that obscured everything more than a few feet in front of her. It was difficult to breathe properly with so much of it filling the air, and both she and Patrick coughed several times while it cleared. For the moment, though, all she had to go on was sound alone to know that the fighting had resumed—assuming it had ever stopped. Well, that and the fact that Orellia and Shina were no longer by her side.
From beyond the screen of smoke, she repeatedly heard what sounded like a broomstick being thwacked against the stage floor, which she took to be lightning from Shina and Orellia. But now there was another sound, too. It was difficult to be sure, but it resembled the whoosh of a whip cutting through air.
After a minute had passed, the smoke cleared enough so that Cah’lia could see most of the stage. The first sight to greet her eyes was that of three High-Mages on their backs, twitching and jittering but still alive. This must’ve been Shina’s doing. Smoke trailed off their clothing, and a myriad of scorch marks stained their faces and arms.
Aside from those three, it seemed another three High-Mages had also been taken down, though unlike the ones Shina had dealt with, these three no longer numbered among the living. In fact, Cah’lia had to search around for a moment to be sure that it was, in fact,
three
High-Mages and not fewer or more, as all three of them were in pieces—many, many pieces. It was probably Orellia’s doing. Hands, feet, legs, and arms were everywhere, and quite a few body parts were missing, likely having fallen into the massive smoking hole in the center of the stage that now divided it into two completely separate sections with nothing left to connect either side together. Cah’lia’s earlier assessment had been correct in a manner of speaking: it really had been split in half.
It was difficult to believe that Kellar, Shina, and Orellia had been the cause of so much carnage. She had never known the three of them to be so…powerful. These were the same three people she’d shared a cell with. She’d become so comfortable around them that she’d forgotten each of them were formidable mages who could commit acts of mass slaughter if only they were inclined to do so.
I’m
glad they’re on my side
,
Cah’lia thought with a shiver.
She got back to her feet and then helped Patrick get back on his. Once the Champion had returned to their corner of the stage, all six of them stood together once more. Staring out across the large gap formed between her side and Duncan’s, Cah’lia saw that only two of the High-Mages were still standing: Ammecia and the short, ugly one with the disfigured nose. A yellow-orange light surrounded each of them; Cah’lia assumed it was also a barrier like the one Shina had used only a few minutes before.
“What just happened back there?” Duncan called to them. He did not look over his shoulder while he spoke to the two High-Mages; he was still occupied blasting away the mysterious robed men.
“Everyone except Tomas and I have fallen,” Ammecia said, curling her nose disdainfully.
“
How
? You’re High-Mages.”
“Some of us are worthless, apparently.” She spat on the torso of one of the High-Mages whom Orellia had shredded to pieces. “They didn’t even know how to form a barrier. It’s no wonder they—”
Whatever Ammecia had been about to say became drowned out as the crowd, which had been mostly silent until then, broke out into loud, boisterous cheering. In just a matter of seconds, the city square exploded back to life, going from uncomfortably quiet to powerfully energetic.
Together, the citizens of Magia filled the air with their words of encouragement, shouting their support to Cah’lia and the others while many shook fists at Duncan; some even found the courage to yell out a few threats of their own, though Cah’lia doubted they’d make good on any of them if called on it.
“Patrick and his resistance are the saviors of Magia!” they chanted, falsely attributing everything to Patrick, who from the way he frowned at Duncan was likely not even listening to them.
“Amazing! You’re all amazing!” they cheered.
“Long live Prince Patrick and his resistance!”
“Kill the Archmage!”
“All hail Prince Patrick, savior of Magia!”
Duncan, Ammecia, and the other High-Mage that Ammecia had called “Tomas” grimaced at the sight of Magia’s people cheering on their demise. Cah’lia wondered if it infuriated them to see the enlivened people of Magia show such an outpouring of support for the side opposing him.
Wiping away a bit of blood on her lip, Ammecia shook her head. “How is it that these men were promoted to High-Mage, Lord Duncan?”
“Issius’s doing, no doubt,” Duncan said. “It’s the way he thinks. He believes there is value in learning magic just for magic’s sake. Do you see it now, Ammecia? This is what happens when a weak old man teaches an entire generation of mages to treat magic as…as a form of art instead of what it actually is: a weapon and a tool.”
“You’re wrong,” Orellia said from beside Cah’lia. A crease formed in her brow, and she curled her lower lip. “That is
not
what magic is. That is a
perversion
of what magic is.”
“Nonsense,” Duncan replied. “Magic is a weapon.”
“You’re wrong.”
“Oh? Tell me this, then. If it is not a weapon, why is it so effective at killing you?
“K-killing…me?”
Duncan nodded. “Yes. Killing you.”
Cah’lia tried to help Orellia. She truly did. So did Patrick, Kellar, Shina, and even the Champion. But there was nothing that could’ve been done. Before anyone could intervene, Duncan muttered something, and Orellia was lifted up then flung across the stage, over the gaping hole formed from Kellar’s explosion, and dropped down near the Archmage’s feet. She landed with a thud on her side, and she gasped as if the wind had been knocked out of her.
It didn’t matter that several of them reached out and tried to grab her. Overall, less than five seconds had passed after Duncan had plucked her off the floor like a child playing with a doll before she’d ended up over on his end of the stage opposite them, where Ammecia and the other High-Mage had now fallen back so that they occupied each of his sides.
“Magic is the sharpest blade,” Duncan said. “Let me show you.” Hovering over her, the Archmage lifted his staff above his head and then shifted his grip on it, holding it the way a soldier would hold a sword. “It’s a weapon, you see.”
“Oh no you don’t!” Shina yelled at him.
Without warning, she took off at a run in his direction. With a display of alacrity that went far beyond what any normal human or elf could achieve, she leapt into the air and over the hole in the center of the stage.
“Shina, no!” Cah’lia called after her, as did Kellar.
Before another second had passed, the mage-boy swore under his breath and hurried after her. But both of them would be too late; the Archmage’s staff was already bearing down on Orellia’s throat.