The Elfmaid's Curse (The Elfmaid Trilogy Book 1) (42 page)

            Cat scowled, "A sorceress."

            A shrill roar like that of a dragon blasted from around a corner down the left passage, followed by a crashing of blades and flung curses. Danica recognized Talar's voice, cursing furiously.

            "This way!" she cried, and charged around the corner.

            They found Talar engaged in the most violent, lightning swift swordfight they had ever seen. Danica couldn't believe anyone could move that fast, with hardly a pause to rest, much less breathe. Magic. Only magic could give men and women such supernatural speed and strength. For the first time, Danica had second thoughts on joining that battle.

            The woman Talar was fighting was more than holding her own. The same woman Danica had seen so many months ago in Mother Zelma's magical mirror. The mirror hadn't told what the High Mage's role in this would be or how she would react to Danica entering the fray.

           
Ayesha, the White Rose
, Danica thought darkly. She had a particularly nasty reputation, as she was reputed to be one of the most powerful sorceresses in the world.
She appears just as beautiful and deadly as I've heard.

            Cat pulled her back into some shadows. "There are two of them, Danica. Nobody said we had to fight two mages."

            "Maybe we won't have to," she said. "That sorceress is Ayesha, the High Mage of Allaria. She may be on our side."

            "Sorceresses are never on anyone's side, but their own," Cat snapped, shooting the battling mages a sharp look. "I think we should talk about this some more."

            Pulling her arm free, "The time for talking is over. Stay hidden in here. I'm going to join the fight."

            "What am I supposed to do?"

            "Back me up," she said. "If I get in too deep, bail me out."

            "I have a bad feeling about this," Cat said.

            Scowling, "You have a bad feeling about everything."

            Clutching the warm, vibrating talisman, Danica moved closer to the fight. She watched them battling with sword and spell in fascination. Never had she seen such a battle. It was awe-inspiring in its grace, speed, and wanton destructiveness.

            She again flirted with the thought of joining the sorceress in the fight, but decided that Ayesha might kill Talar. She needed him alive, and hopefully uninjured. Holding the talisman out toward them, she visualized them both frozen in place.

            She cried, "Paralyze!"

            A brilliant flash of light erupted from the globe and knocked both fighters down. Talar and Ayesha both looked over at Danica in astonishment. Danica, for her part, was at a loss. Despite Elise's warning, she had steadfastly avoided thinking on the possibility that the talisman would prove too weak or her method of attack inadequate. The consequences had been too terrible to consider.

            Fearing for her life as they came to their feet, "Paralyze!"

            Another flash.

            This time both maintained their feet. They crouched low, hands beginning to glow brightly.

            "Ayesha! I only want Talar's body! My stolen body! You can have her when I'm through," Danica cried.

            The sorceress moved instantly. Dropping low, she swept Talar's legs away and began pummeling him with bolts of blue eldritch lightning.

            Remarkably, Talar managed to counter her assault while rolling away. Danica feared he would regain his feet and even escape. Holding the talisman out, she visualized lightning striking Talar.

            "Lightning!" she shouted as he rolled to his feet.

            The bolt thundered out —
Ka-Boom
— hitting Talar full in the chest. He stumbled back against the wall. Pain and fear now showed on his sweat-soaked face.

            Ayesha moved in, sword held ready and her other hand glowing with blue eldritch fire. Talar sneered at her, then mumbled something as he drew strange symbols in the air with his left hand. The sorceress screamed in rage as she launched herself at him.

            Chairs, tables, and pieces of broken furniture began flying straight at the sorceress. She was forced back until she cast a counterspell, which sent everything slamming to the floor.

            Talar dropped his sword, clasped hands tightly together and aimed them at the sorceress, "Die, Ayesha!"

            A Word of Power spoken, then a horribly thick and powerful bolt of glowing energy erupted and hit the sorceress full in the chest, enveloping and holding her. She screamed and writhed in agony as she struggled to escape, unable to break free from his torturous magic.

            "No!" Danica cried, fearing he would win. "Lightning!"

           
Ka-Boom!

            Again, Talar was slammed against the wall. High Mage Ayesha scrambled away through a hastily conjured portal as he turned on Danica. Danica raised the talisman to send another bolt, but he was faster. She never saw his bolt, but it hit the talisman and sent waves of pain through her. Several of the amulet beads around her neck exploded, stinging her neck. Even with the magical protection of the amulets, she felt a jolt of searing pain shoot through her body from hand to foot.

            Falling to her knees, she gasped for breath and struggled to control her violently shaking body. She felt as if the eldritch lightning that had shot through her had fried her insides. She was covered with gooseflesh and her mouth was dry. Looking up, she saw Talar stalking towards her through teary eyes, but she was too weak to fight back or even lift the talisman. Trying to call forth the lightning once more, she found her mouth too dry to speak.

            Halfway to her, a fireball engulf the wizard. The sorceress hadn't ran after all. She charged in through a yawning magical portal, striking him with bolt after bolt. He seemed to be holding up pretty well, so Danica called up all her strength and lifted the talisman with a shaking hand.

            "Lightning," she all but whispered hoarsely.

            Her weak command had no effect on the talisman's power. Once more, Talar was battered mercilessly by it. Now shaken, Ayesha's attack was harder for him to counter. She quickly got the upper hand and forced him back to his knees. Then an unexpected explosion between the two spellcasters left him sprawled on the floor.

            Ayesha screamed triumphantly. Lifting her sword, she prepared to run him through. With horror, Danica saw all her plans about to die, her rightful body die. She would be forced to live out her life as a woman. As an elfmaid.

            "No! That's my body," Danica cried. When the sorceress ignored her, she lifted the talisman, "Lightning."

           
Ka-Boom!

            Ayesha was knocked off her feet by the blast. Leaping back up with a feral growl, she sent a bolt into Danica. More beads exploded. With a cry of anguish, Danica fell back against the wall and then another bolt thundered into her.

            When the second bolt struck her, she lost control of her body and the talisman fell out of her hands. She watched in horror as the crystal globe dropped toward the hard stone floor. If it shattered she would be helpless against the sorceress and Talar.

            Ayesha spoke a single mumbled Word of Power and the talisman's course changed dramatically. It missed the floor by inches and flew straight to the sorceress's outstretched hand.

            Looking it over, "Maeve was right. A powerful talisman." Then glancing up at a startled Danica with fire in her bright blue eyes, "With this I will conquer the world." Lifting it high, she cried, "All the Kings and great mages will be forced to kneel before me! Today, the Empire of the White Rose is born!"

            "The Gods don't want that! They sent me to stop it," Danica said, not really sure what she said was true.

            Ayesha gave her a haughty look. "What your Gods want is of no concern to me."

            She was defying the Gods? The thought itself was frightening. Was it possible? She was a powerful sorceress, and maybe she knew things that ordinary people like Danica didn't.

            "You won't get away with it," Talar croaked out, struggling to a sitting position.

            Eyeing him warily, she snorted. "But I will, Taara. You and your sister were never more than petty annoyances to me and my plans. Now both of you are mine to do with as I please."

            Concern suddenly appeared on Talar's face. "My sister? What have you done to her?"

            Laughing triumphantly, "She was captured by my allies back in the Amazon Empire. Even now she awaits my pleasure." Talar made to move, but she stopped him, "Don't do it. We both know you are almost completely out of energy."

            "We're not the only ones sworn to stop you, Ayesha."

            "And you're not the first to fail, or the last," she said. Smiling wickedly, "I will enjoy stripping you and your lovely sister of your powers, dignity, and life." Turning to Danica, "You, on the other hand, are nothing." Raising a glowing hand, "So die."

            "No!" Cat screamed and stepped out of the shadows.

            Before the sorceress could recognize the danger, Cat threw her dagger and charged forward. The dagger buried itself deep in Ayesha's left shoulder. With a cry of pain she fell back, and dropped the talisman. Danica, Ayesha, and Talar all groaned as it shattered on the hard floor.

            Turning on Talar, who was climbing to his feet, Ayesha sneered. "Next time you won't be so lucky, Taara!" With that, she spoke a Word of Power and vanished into the great black whirlpool that formed behind her.

            Talar's blade passed through the air a second too late. The portal collapsed an instant later. With a growl, he turned on Danica and Cat. Cat held her ground, presenting her sword confidently.

            "You two ruined everything," he said, face flushed. "I will rip you apart with my bare hands!"

            "I think not," Cat said.

            Cat's sword was hammered aside so fast that Danica cried out. Backpedaling, Cat fought desperately to hold him off. Danica struggled to her feet, struggled to muster her strength for a straight out fight.

            Talar's sword caught Cat in the wrist, and with a vicious flick he sent her sword flying away. He seized her neck in a viselike gripe with his left hand, his sword poised to bury itself in her breast.

            "No!" Danica cried, grabbing a piece of broken masonry and hurling it at Talar's head.

            The brick bat struck him a glancing blow just above the left ear. Cat slapped his hand off her neck while he was disoriented, and promptly dropped to the floor as his sword leapt forward to skewer her. Scrambling away as Danica loudly charged in, she snatched up her sword and hurried to join Danica. They both reached Talar at the same time.

            Even his magically enhanced talent couldn't hold off both women. They pressed him so hard he found it impossible to wield his magic. One or the other always managed to disrupt his spellcasting at the wrong moment, causing him to lose irreplaceable life energy.

            "Yield!" Danica demanded, sapphire eyes blazing as the point of her sword pressed against his throat.

            "You fools! If you win, all the world will fall into foul slavery and darkness. Ayesha will enslave you, your families, and your peoples. " he growled, gray eyes cold in their rage. "You have no idea of the evil she is capable of..."

            "But I'm well aware of the evil you are capable of," Danica said. "You stole my body! You are a godless Avatar."

            "I had to have it to forge my alliance to stop Ayesha," he said. "The fools wouldn't follow me, thought I was some pampered sorceress."

            Memories flooded in, making her hand shake.

            "They were right," Danica said through clenched teeth. "I paid a terrible price because of that, too. It took all these months to get this body into proper condition."

            Talar's eyes looked her up and down, sizing her up. She didn't like the way he was looking at her, either. At first it was scorn, that changed to something resembling impressed. Finally, his expression was calculating.

            "Then use it to help me," he said, his face suddenly lighting up. "You can save my sister and your people in the process."

            She didn't like the fact that he wasn't giving any consideration to returning her rightful body. Her eyes started burning, belly clench. It looked like she was going to have to kill her body. Destroy her only hope. Remain a woman, for a very, very long time. As an elf, Danica could live hundreds of years longer.

            "Ha! That's rich," Danica said. She glanced at Cat, who was grimacing. Had she come to the same conclusion? "Tonight, you will either return my body or die in it."

            Those were the hardest words she'd ever spoken. Talar didn't look like he believed her, though. He looked more like a man who just discovered a wonderful surprise.

            "I have a better way — "

            "No!"

            "Danica, hear him out," Cat said. "If you kill him, all your efforts will have been in vain."

            She looked at the big black woman in horror. Didn't Cat understand? Eyes burning, she tightened her grip on the hilt and ground her teeth. First, she would not cry, and second, Talar would die.

            "Yes, she's right," Talar said quickly as Danica prepared to thrust. "Just as you have your priorities, I have mine. Neither of us was willing to compromise. I'm willing now."

            "Compromise?" Danica repeated, not liking the sound of it. "What kind of compromise? Right off, it sounds like you get everything you want and I
compromise
everything I want."

            "I need you to rescue my sister from Ayesha's allies in the Amazon Empire. You will need to stay in that body to go there," he said. "Monique is a High Sorceress, maybe even more powerful than myself. With her added power by my side I can then defeat Ayesha."