Trial By Fire (Schooled in Magic Book 7) (47 page)

But he still has two decades on me
, she thought bleakly, as Lady Barb stepped up behind Emily.
And he was trained at Mountaintop.

Mistress Irene cleared her throat. “The challenged may choose to refuse the duel,” she said, her voice echoing in the chamber. She turned to look at Master Grey. “Are you insistent on accepting the challenge?”

“I am,” Master Grey said, simply.

A low rustle ran through the chamber. Emily understood; it wasn’t common for the referee to remind the challenged - Master Grey - that he could refuse the duel. Mistress Irene was asking him, all but begging him, to withdraw his acceptance. But Emily wasn’t surprised at his refusal. He’d set out to kill her, after all. There was literally nothing she could offer him that would compensate for turning down the challenge. He couldn’t repay Fulvia whatever he owed her if he let Emily go.

Bitch
, Emily thought, coldly. Melissa had told her that Fulvia could be vindictive, but she’d never expected anything like
this
.
She’d let the world burn just so she could have her revenge
.

She gritted her teeth, fighting down the urge to wipe her sweaty palms against her trousers. It hadn’t been easy, forcing herself to use a memory charm to re-watch the one duel she’d seen him fight, but she’d done it. He always let his opponent strike first...Emily hoped - feared - that her first strike would be fatal, yet she had her doubts. Master Grey was not only experienced, he was more flexible and adaptable than she was. She felt her heartbeat start to pound in her chest - so loudly that she thought everyone could hear it - as Mistress Irene started to speak for the second time.

“Then I must remind the contestants of the rules,” Mistress Irene said, coldly. “You must enter the circle, which will then be sealed...”

Get on with it
, Emily thought, as the Charms Mistress droned on. Was she stalling for time? Expecting Void to burst in or Emily to flee? Or, perhaps, to strike at Master Grey before they entered the circle? It was futile; even if she’d found a way to kill him before they fought, she would have been the prime suspect. Who
else
would have had a motive to kill him?

She raised her eyes to the gathered students and instantly regretted it. Frieda was standing with a couple of Second Years, her eyes shining as she watched; Melissa was standing alone, her arms crossed under her breasts. There was no sign of Caleb or Jade; Emily was almost relieved. They might be stuck helping the demon’s victims, but at least they wouldn’t have to watch the duel. She wanted to send Frieda away, but she knew it was too late. The younger girl would just have to watch.

“The contestants will now be searched,” Mistress Irene said.

Emily gritted her teeth as Lady Daniele walked around the circle, stopped in front of Emily and patted her down without enthusiasm. One finger touched the snake-bracelet, clearly parsing out the spell, before motioning to Emily to remove it. Had Master Grey deduced the snake’s existence from Nanette’s injury, if he’d seen it? Or had someone told him? Emily pushed the thought aside - there was no way to know, beyond asking a very revealing question - removed the bracelet, and passed it to Lady Barb. She’d know to keep the snake under control if Emily died. Anyone else would get a very unwelcome surprise.

Lady Daniele cleared her throat - Emily was sure, just for a moment, that she was going to insist on taking the bracelet herself - before she thought better of it. Emily was almost relieved. It was clear that Lady Daniele wasn’t a willing participant; she didn’t deserve to find herself holding a lethal snake. She watched as Lady Barb searched Master Grey, finding nothing. Master Grey hadn’t deigned to bring anything more than his staff and dueling robes.

He doesn’t need to cheat
, her own thoughts mocked her.

“You may now enter the circle,” Mistress Irene said, finally.

Emily had to force herself to step forward. The circle’s wards rose up around her, thrumming with power, fading as she passed through them. They’d block anyone from leaving now, she knew; they wouldn’t fall until one of them was dead. She wondered, absurdly, if the wards
couldn’t
be dismantled from outside? What would have happened if they’d come to a peaceful resolution at the very last minute?

Concentrate on the fight
, she advised herself, sternly.
This is no time for your mind to wander
.

Master Grey leaned on his staff, his eyes following her every move. Emily declined the unspoken offer of a staring contest; instead, she braced herself and allowed her magic to flicker against her own staff. The spells responded to her touch, ready and raring to defend her against all threats. They’d buy her time to cast more aggressive spells of her own. It was unusual, according to the books, but workable. Besides, a conventional duel would give him all the advantages. She tested the floor - the wards pervaded it, holding the stone in place - and sighed inwardly. One of her concepts was doomed before the duel even began.

There are alternatives
, she thought, darkly.
But they will have to be used under pressure
.

She pushed the thought aside as Mistress Irene walked to a point, just outside the circle, where she could see everything. Emily had no idea why she even bothered - it wasn’t as if there was any way to actually
cheat
- but it hardly mattered. Maybe she just wanted a solid memory to show Void, later. He
was
Emily’s Guardian of Record...

“You may begin,” Mistress Irene said.

Emily braced herself, then relaxed and triggered the first defensive spells. Master Grey quirked an eyebrow - he’d clearly expected her to launch a devastating offensive as her first move - but did nothing, apart from watching her. Emily solidified her defenses and gathered herself.

Master Grey did nothing...nothing she could see.

She couldn’t help wondering if he was mocking her, or if he had a plan of his own. Lady Barb had warned her, after all, that he
wouldn’t
waste time. A duel to the death was no place to show off.

Or he just wants to stomp me into the ground
, she thought.
I...

Master Grey stepped forward. Emily braced herself, and aimed the first set of transfiguration spells at him. She saw his eyes go wide with astonishment, then anger, as the spells glinted and broke against his wards. He had to think she was mocking him. The prank spells would be devastating against a mundane opponent, but any magician worth his salt would be able to counter them with ease. Emily smiled, and launched the second set of spells. One of them was different, aimed at the air around him. Lady Barb had missed it, when she’d tested the concept, but would Master Grey...?

She smiled savagely as the air turned to pure oxygen, then threw the fireball. Poison gas - even something as simple as carbon monoxide - would have triggered his wards, but oxygen was safe. Master Grey jumped backwards as the air seemed to burst into flame,
mundane
flames. Wards designed to shatter spellware into nothingness weren’t able to stop
fire
. It was a weakness Emily had noted years ago and kept to herself. Wards capable of stopping physical objects were much harder to build and far more draining to keep in place.

Master Grey snarled, and threw back a series of fireballs of his own. They struck the pure oxygen in the air and exploded just outside his wards. Emily saw him grimace in pain, and fire off a lethal combination of ward-killing spells. She cast a counterspell through her staff, allowing the spells to latch on before she killed the wards herself.

Master Grey threw a second set of fireballs, then a tongue of flame that lashed out towards her. Emily ducked back as fire crackled around her wards, and muttered a summoning spell. Water droplets manifested in front of her, quenching the flame, just as a wave of magic struck her and sent her flying back into the wards. Master Grey was resorting to brute force. She hastily altered her own wards, deflecting rather than absorbing the spellwork. She hadn’t been sure it would work, but it seemed to; the magic crackled
around
her, rather than falling apart.

Gritting her teeth, she cast the next set of spells, aiming a makeshift laser at him. His wards flared, suddenly overloaded; clearly, he’d modified them after her trick with the fire. She followed up with blinding light, but it didn’t seem to slow him down. Blinding someone through light was such an obvious trick, she realized, that
someone
had to have thought of it in the past.

She darted to one side as Master Grey fired off a set of spells she didn’t recognize, and threw another set of transfiguration spells at him. This time, the air became gunpowder; the explosion threw Master Grey back, snapping one of his arms as he slammed into the wards with terrifying force. Emily hesitated, unsure if she’d won...

The moment of hesitation almost killed her. He slammed
something
into her wards. It was another ward-killing spell, but grossly overpowered; it flared from ward to ward, breaking them down before she could cancel them herself. She had no choice but to cancel all the spells and rebuild them, giving him time to heal himself and come after her.

Master Grey pulled himself back upright, his dark eyes glowering. He’d expected an easy win, Emily realized, feeling a flicker of pride. Even if he won, he’d know he’d been in a fight. He stared at her for a long moment before hurling yet another set of fireballs at her.

Emily tightened her wards before she pushed one at him. The fireballs splattered against it, vanishing into nothingness rather than burning through her defenses. She countered with fireballs of her own, and followed up with a pressure spell. Master Grey dodged it, countering the spell even though he couldn’t have been sure of what it actually
was
.

She threw a disintegration spell at him, allowing it to trail along the floor. Unfortunately, the wards holding them within the circle refused to allow it to tear up the stone. He cancelled the spell before it could rip him into dust, and waved his hand at her. Jagged flashes of lightning flickered out of nowhere and tore into her wards, brilliant flickers of light tearing them apart, the feedback screaming into her mind.

Emily stumbled back, caught between two fires; if she cancelled the wards, the lightning would kill her, but if she
didn’t
cancel the wards they would eventually shatter anyway.

She forced herself to hold on, thrust the staff forward, using a kinetic spell to hurl it towards him at blinding speed. His wards weren’t prepared for something
thrown
at him; she’d seen enough stones stop in midair and fall to the ground to know that most kinetic spells didn’t actually impart velocity, merely pushed the objects forward. Lightning flared around him as the staff slammed into his arm, ripping it off. The staff shattered. Emily caught the dust with another spell and threw it at him, following up with more fireballs of her own.

He grunted in pain, and threw something back at her. The world seemed to shimmer around her and her stepfather appeared...

Not again
, she thought, dispelling the Nightmare Hex. Cold rage flared through her mind. How
dare
he throw
that
at her?
That won’t work anymore
.

But it had won him time.

She had no idea how he managed to heal himself - she’d been warned never to try to heal herself unless she was completely out of options - but he managed to stop the bleeding and even start repairing his arm. And she was reaching her own limits...she had to stop to gather herself, no matter what he did.

She saw his eyes glimmer with suppressed amusement and triumph - it struck her, suddenly, that part of him was
enjoying
the challenge - and felt her temper snap. Magic flared around her and she threw it at him, not trying to shape it into a spell.

He held up his remaining hand, deflecting the magic into the wards, and cast something back at her. The air seemed to turn to ice, trapping her in place. She hastily cast a counterspell, to no avail. It took her a long moment to realize he’d effectively duplicated her trick. There was no magic in the ice to dispel.

He marched towards her, eyes dark and shadowed.

Emily felt panic snapping at her mind; she summoned fire, lashing out with it to melt the ice. Her clothes were suddenly drenched in warm water as she stumbled back and turned the water to steam. Master Grey strode through, his face showing no sign of pain, as he fixed his eyes on her face. He’d tightened his wards, but it wouldn’t be enough.

She turned the puddles of water into acid, forced herself to move back. He grunted in pain, and cast a spell of his own, throwing the acid towards her. She barely managed to deflect it before the liquid scarred her face permanently.

Moments later, he slapped her across the face, sending her stumbling back against the wards. Pain flared through her head, again, but somehow she managed to cast another fireball. It smashed into his wards and vanished.

You can’t fight him hand to hand
, she told herself, urgently. If she’d had the snake-bracelet, she might have dared him into closing with her...she briefly considered trying to summon the snake anyway, before dismissing it as too dangerous. Lady Barb couldn’t touch the snake without being poisoned.
Maybe if I...

He slammed a wave of magic into her, hammering her body against the wards. Emily tried to counter the spell, but she couldn’t focus her mind any longer. She was sure she felt a couple of bones break, yet she was too dazed to feel any real pain. Her body staggered and fell to the ground, half-leaning against the wards.

Master Grey advanced, looming over her, already drawing back his fists to beat her to death. Emily threw caution to the winds and reached out with one of the soul magic spells she’d learned at Mountaintop. Master Grey froze, his eyes going wide with shock. But she was too drained to press her advantage.