The Mage's Limits: Mages of Martir Book #2 (32 page)

Only Erich didn't look quite like how Durima remembered him. His crystalline armor was cracked and burnt, one of his eyes was blackened, his nose was covered in blood, and one of his Mican crystal claws was missing a digit. His wings were missing at least a third of their feathers, with another third set in awkward-looking positions that looked painful.

“Durima the Demon,” said Erich, his breathing hard as he leaned against the side of the building Durima clung to. “First a murderer, now a traitor. What will you be next, I wonder?”

Durima raised an eyebrow. “I don't know what you're babbling about, but can't we talk about this later? I am in the middle of something very, very important and I don't have the time to talk.”

“Talk?” said Erich. He laughed like a maniac. “I don't want to talk. I want to kill you for what you did to World's End. Then I will find Gujak and kill him, too, unless he's already dead.”

Durima braced herself against the building as it shook ominously. “What did
I
do to World's End? I haven't even been here for … gods, I don't know how long because time doesn't make sense in the Void. I think you're losing it.”

“This,” said Erich, gesturing at the destroyed city all around them. “I know you are behind this somehow. I find it interesting how you and Gujak went beyond the Void; then, not too long after, Uron and his army of freaks emerge from within to destroy World's End. Without first killing you two.”

Durima clung against the wall again as a window far above their heads exploded open, raining down glass on them. “You're not implying that Gujak and I are working for Uron, are you?”

“Working for or with, I don't care,” said Erich, brushing some glass shards off his shoulders. He raised one of his Mican crystal claws. “The point is, you are still alive even though you should have died. My guess is that you allied with Uron to survive.”

“You don't know what you're talking about,” said Durima. She nodded toward Uron and Skimif below. “Right now, I am trying to defeat Uron, which I can't do if you try to kill me right now for doing something I would never even think of doing in a million years.”

“I'm sure you are,” said Erich. “Just as I am sure that Uron only wants to make Martir a better place. Not.”

Erich's crystal claw tore through the air, forcing Durima to sidle along the wall as fast as she could to avoid it. Erich's claw slammed into the side of the building so hard that the digits became stuck in the rock, causing him to tug on them as hard as he could in an effort to free them.

“Shouldn't you be protecting the Council or something?” said Durima. “Or at least making sure that they are safe?”

“The Council evacuated World's End after the first attack,” said Erich as he succeeded in tearing his claw from the building, sending chunks of stone falling to the streets below. “They're on their way north even as we speak. I stayed here in the city to stand along my Soldiers and to kill you.”

“Right,” said Durima. “Of course they would be the first ones out of the city. Why wouldn't they be? Not like they're fighters themselves.”

Erich stepped closer to her, his eyes blazing with anger. “The Council are not cowards. They are simply too important to be put in harm's way. But what am I saying? Of course you think they should have been here. You wanted Uron or one of his cronies to kill them, didn't you?”

“When will you listen long enough to hear what I am saying?” said Durima. “Read my lips: I am
not
working with or for Uron. I am trying to stop him, same as everyone else. So either get out of my way or help me. I don't care what you choose to do.”

“Lies,” Erich snarled. “Lies, lies, lies. I will take you head and bring it before the Council as proof of your death.”

“How will killing me stop Uron?” said Durima, sparing a glance at Skimif and Uron below, who still stood apart from each other without making any moves. “He's going to destroy World's End regardless, you know.”

“I know that,” said Erich. He raised his claw again. “But Lord Skimif already has him under control, so I thought I would be useful and take you out before you could complete whatever your evil plan is. Justice is justice, no matter how big or small you may be.”

Once again, he swung his claw at Durima. She ducked to avoid getting her head taken off, but her foot slipped and she fell. In panic she reached out and grabbed onto the ledge she had been standing on, digging her own claws into the stone. The pressure on her claws hurt like hell, especially when Erich stepped on them, causing them to crack.

“Let go,” said Erich as a strong gust of wind blow through, sending his hair flapping around his head. “There's nothing you can do now. Death is the only fitting reward for traitors like yourself.”

Durima held on as tightly as she could, even as Erich pressed his foot down on her claws. Bits of stone fell off the ledge as her grip on it loosened. She still did not look down; if she did, she knew without a doubt that she would let go and fall to her death.

Her arms grew weaker, as they were unable to hold her weight like this for very long. Durima could not concentrate long enough to use her magic to help, either, largely due to the pressure Erich was putting on her claws. She probably had only a minute or two left before she was forced to let go and fall to her doom.

“Fall,” Erich said, pressing down even more on Durima's claws. “Fall, damn it, and die like the pig you are.”

Durima didn't listen to someone like Erich, but she felt her strength rapidly leaving her. Soon, she would have no choice but to fall, and when she did, she would have no strength to open a portal to the ethereal and save herself.

But then Durima heard a familiar
pop
of an ethereal portal opening. Then she saw Gujak appear beside Erich on the ledge, but instead of announcing his presence, Gujak shoved Erich forward.

Startled, Erich tipped over the side of the ledge and fell. He reached out with his claws for Durima's foot, but Durima lifted her legs out of his reach. She saw Erich's eyes widen in anger and hate as he fell screaming to the streets below; at least, until an ethereal portal opened beneath him and he fell into it.

“Durima, grab my hand,” said Gujak, bending over slightly as he held out a hand toward her.

Once Durima was safely back on the ledge, which she now clung to as if it were her mother, she looked at Gujak in surprise. “You got here fast. Is the ethereal empty?”

“It should be,” said Gujak, nodding. “No one listened to me, like you thought, but when the Mysterious One spoke, everyone obeyed him just like you thought. Everyone is in the Northern Isles now, living on human islands, so we're pretty sure that the ethereal is empty.”

“Except for Erich,” said Durima with a scowl. “Damn idiot has to go and mess things up.”

“Maybe Erich went somewhere else,” Gujak suggested. “I doubt he'll stay in there for long. He probably went to find the Council, I bet, and lick his wounds.”

“You're probably right,” said Durima. “We'll just have to risk putting Uron in there and hope it's as empty as you say. Not like we have any other plan, right?”

Gujak nodded.

“By the way, where is the Mysterious One?” said Durima, looking in both directions, but seeing no sign of that strange talking skeleton from earlier. “Wasn't he with you?”

“He vanished,” said Gujak. “Literally. When all of the katabans left the ethereal, I turned and he was gone. I don't know where he went. I wish he was still here, though, because then I would thank him for his help.”

“Doesn't matter,” said Durima. “What matters is putting the next step of the plan into action, which is getting Uron into the ethereal. We'll have to move fast before he realizes what we're doing.”

Gujak gulped and looked down at the building where Uron and Skimif were squaring off. “Uh, how do we do that?”

“Simple,” said Durima. “You distract him, then I tackle him. When I tackle him, I'll open a portal into the ethereal. Once we're inside, I will leave immediately, before Uron realizes what happened, and Martir will once again be safe.”

“That
is
simple,” said Gujak. Then he cringed at the sound of some monster roaring somewhere nearby. “Almost too simple. Something
has
to go wrong.”

“Knowing our luck, something probably will,” said Durima. “But who knows? Maybe Rujan will smile on us today and everything will actually go right for once. Now come on. We don't have much time before Uron and Skimif begin trading blows again.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

D
arek wiped away the tears in his eyes as best as he could, but the grief in his heart continued to pound away like a blacksmith making a sword. Mom didn't even try to clean up her tears. She just continued to stare up at the blazing fire ball in the sky, which was actually starting to shrink, as if Jakuuth''s energy was running out.

“What do we do now?” Darek asked, looking at Mom—or, as he should probably more rightly think of her now, the Magical Superior—in confusion.

Mom looked at Darek through teary eyes. She sniffled and said, in a surprisingly matter-of-fact voice, “We have to help the other students and teachers beat back the rest of the Limitless Army. Jakuuth may be dead, but his men might not be aware of that yet. It shouldn't be as difficult now, though, because the Limitless are leaderless now.”

“So are we,” said Darek. “I mean, I know the Superior made you the temporary Superior for now, but—”

“We'll be fine,” said Mom, though she certainly didn't look like she was fine herself. “We just need to go down and help however we can. With Jakuuth dead, I bet the Limitless Army will lose its morale, probably be easier to beat.”

Mom took one step toward the exit and almost fell to her knees. She staggered against the door frame as Darek said, “Mom, are you all right?”

She sighed. “I'm fine, Darek, you don't need to worry about me.”

Darek shook his head. “No, Mom, you're not. You used up too much of your power too quickly. You're not a Limitless like me. You should stay here. I'll go down and let the others know.”

Mom stood up, but she still leaned against the charred door frame, clearly too weak to do much. She looked at Darek in disbelief. “You're a Limitless now?”

“Yes,” said Darek. “Jakuuth taught me how to do it so I could 'help' the Army. We can talk about this later. The longer we stand here talking, the longer this useless war drags on.”

“All right,” said Mom. She slumped against the door frame. “You know, I think you have a point. I'll stay here and let my energy levels return to normal. No point in having a weak old woman by your side, eh?”

“Mom, you're not weak,” said Darek as he helped her sit down on the floor. “Just tired. As soon as I deal with the Limitless, I'll return and get you back to your bed so you can rest, okay?”

Mom nodded, the tears in her eyes starting to dry up. “All right. But be careful. Those Limitless are absolutely ruthless.”

“I know,” said Darek. “Be back in a minute.”

He straightened up and closed his eyes. A moment later, Darek felt the cold wind of the outside blowing on his face and when he opened his eyes, he saw that he was standing outside on the steps of the Arcanium. The corpse of Raka still lay at the bottom of the steps, which he ignored as he looked out over the courtyard, surprised by what he saw.

It looked like every Limitless soldier and North Academy student and teacher were present here in the courtyard. The two sides looked as beaten and wounded as any fighters in a war, yet they were not battling each other. Instead, all eyes were on the massive fire ball in the sky, which had shrunk considerably in the seconds that Darek had teleported from the Magical Superior's study to the courtyard.

Why isn't everyone fighting?
Darek thought.
Did they feel the deaths of Jakuuth and the Magical Superior? They must have. Those two were easily the strongest mages in the area; no way their deaths could have gone unnoticed for even a minute. Wonder how long this shock will last.

Above, the fire ball soon dissipated entirely, leaving behind a charred black skeleton; the remains of Jakuuth. The skeleton immediately fell from the sky toward the earth, but rather than falling down into the Superior's study, it headed straight for the courtyard. Soldiers and students alike shrank back as the skeleton crashed into the center of the courtyard, leaving a trail of smoke and flame behind it as it did so.

Everyone stared at the small, smoking crater in silence, as if they expected the skeleton to get up and walk away. Of course, no such thing happened, but people on both sides continued to stare anyway.

The first to break the silence was a Limitless soldier, one who Darek didn't recognize. He said, in a low, confused voice, “What …What
is
that? What happened? Where's Jakuuth?”

“And the Superior?” Jiku asked. “I can't sense the Magical Superior anymore.”

Seeing an opportunity, Darek pointed at the skeleton and raised his voice, shouting, “That skeleton right there is what remains of Jakuuth, the so-called Son of Grinf and leader of the Limitless Army. He is dead.”

The Limitless soldiers and Academy students and teachers looked at Darek as one. The students and teachers looked surprised, though pleased, to see Darek. Now that he got a better look at them, he saw that many of them were badly wounded, with burned skin, torn robes, bleeding arms and foreheads, and broken limbs, among other obvious injuries.

The Limitless soldiers, on the other hand, didn't look nearly as badly injured as the students and teachers, though it was pretty clear that they had just been fighting nonetheless. Aside from their torn clothes, many of the soldiers had cuts and bruises; one soldier appeared to have had his entire head of hair burned off, if his blackened scalp was a clue.

“No way,” said one of the soldiers, her voice full of despair and disbelief. She pointed at the skeleton. “That can't be Jakuuth. He's the Son of Grinf. He can't die, not that easily.”

“It's him, all right,” said Darek. He gestured toward the Magical Superior's study all the way at the top of the Arcanium. “Can you sense him anymore? If you can't, don't you wonder why?”