Trick Question

[Atzar]

Solo.

Cocky, they say. My mouth was as dry as the air of Fallien, my hands as clammy as bedsheets after a nightmare.

Reckless. A tornado raged in my head, scattering thoughts a thousand different ways. Say something! they screamed, but afraid that the words I spoke might be the ones to forever lock me out, I couldn’t utter a sound.

Arrogant. I stood in awe of the tall, well-built man standing in the doorway before me. His short, snowy beard and hair betrayed his age, yet he carried himself like a man in his prime. He wore a robe of the purest white, and his power radiated from him like heat from the sun. This man was a legend, kin of deities; I, but a lowly mortal. It didn’t help, of course, that his stern gaze likened me to a rat scurrying underfoot.

“Well, boy? Speak!” he commanded with no preamble. He didn’t need one; I knew exactly who he was. I had, after all, sought him out at his estate some distance from Radasanth. Even now we stood in the shadow of his home, its vast façade hewn of the finest marble.

“L-Lord Levis.” The words sounded cracked and unclear to my ears, so I tried them again. “Lord Levis. I wish to learn from you.” Chancing a glance at his fierce, unrelenting stare, I quickly amended that. “If you’ll accept me, of course.” What a weakling I was.

For an eon his green eyes bored into me. I stood uncertainly, awaiting his judgment, growing more convinced with each passing second that it would be accompanied by lightning – or perhaps some ethereal energy beyond my comprehension. Imagine my surprise, then, when he responded with laughter. The low, quiet sound was a sharp contrast to his strong, authoritative voice.

“Lord Levis,” he repeated my words, still chuckling. “How delightful. Lord, indeed.” He stepped aside and beckoned me into his home with a wave of his hand. “Come in, come in. I suppose I have time enough to dissuade you of these foolish illusions.” Trembling slightly, I did as I was bidden, and he ushered me inside before following and closing the door. “Lord Levis, indeed,” he chortled one more time.

He led me to his library. Emboldened by the simple fact that I had not yet been reduced to cinders, I licked my lips and appraised the interior of the big room. It was about what I’d expected from a wizard’s home, even one as famous as Levis. Books and scrolls overflowed from tall shelves, piled on wooden desks and even spread over much of the polished granite floor. Halfway up the high stone walls rested six simple bronze sconces, each bearing a wax candle that burned bright enough to banish the shadows from all but the darkest corners.

“Sit.” Levis pointed to a chair amidst the maze of paper. As I picked my way toward it, the sturdy old wizard crossed the room and stopped behind the only desk in the room that was free of books. Ignoring his own chair, he merely leaned forward on his fists. His imposing stare returned, reading me, judging me. “Do you know why I live out here, boy?” When I shook my head wordlessly, he continued. “Radasanth is a fair place - there are certainly many worse cities in the world, at any rate. It has anything a man could possibly need or want. So why wouldn’t I simply live in the city, so that these conveniences would be that much closer to hand?” His eyes narrowed. “The reason is people like you."

Any comfort I had begun to feel in his presence immediately vanished.

“Radasanth is full of people like you. You can produce a few modest arcane acts fit for street performers, so you fancy yourself a true wizard. You proclaim yourself a student of magic to all who lend an ear, and you practice, and you study, and in the course of your studies you happen upon my name. ‘Oh,’ you say, ‘but what better way to further my abilities than to apprentice myself to such a powerful individual?’” His voice dripped with scorn. “If I lived in Radasanth, there would be a crowd outside my door day and night.”

I could feel my cheeks burning at the blatant insults. “But I’m not like the others!” I flared. Street performer indeed. He may have been a powerful wizard, but I wouldn't let anybody disrespect me.

His stare twisted into a sneer as he saw his remarks hit home. “But you are, and your response is proof! You all make that selfsame claim. ‘But I’m different,’ you all say. Ironic, I think, that your desire to stand out from the pack is what places you so easily in its midst.”

I stood up, clenching my fists in anger. “Let me prove it, then.”

He laughed at that, not of mirth, but rather derision. “Prove it? Boy, what could you possibly do to convince me that you’re a worthy apprentice? I have no need for an underling. I have no desire for one. It would simply be a burden, an imposition.”

If he was trying to goad me, it was working. “I’ll fight you to prove my ability.” I hissed the words between clenched teeth. I knew that he would likely eradicate me, but I no longer cared.

But to my surprise, his expression changed. The jeering, contemptuous sneer disappeared, giving way to a peculiar mix of amusement and exasperation. “If you pitted your skill against mine you’d be but a twig in a forest fire.” He sighed. “Does your pride mean so much to you, boy? Have you sought me for guidance or simply validation?”

Still offended, I opened my mouth to respond, but something stopped me. Perhaps it was the contrast, his sudden curiosity after his intense mockery. This was a serious question - an important one, I sensed. And I knew the answer. “For guidance, Lord,” I stated proudly. “You’re one of the best. I would be honored to learn from you.”

I studied his eyes for a reaction. To my dismay I saw no pleasure there; only irritation. “It takes more than empty flattery to impress me,” he snapped. Then his expression softened. "You intrigue me, boy, your painful attempts at manipulation aside. A fair few of your kind show up at my threshold even out here, but few hope to gain my tutelage by challenging me to a fight!" He snorted. "You are correct about one thing: you must first prove yourself worthy. You will be tested. I must know if you have the ability and disposition that I require in a pupil.”

My heart leapt at first, and then plummeted as I recalled my challenge. “You’ll fight me, then?” I asked, my skin going cold.

Admittedly I was relieved when he shook his head. “No, no. My wisdom would be of little use to a cadaver. I know of a better way to evaluate you – one that measures factors far more important than whatever meager power you may have already accumulated.”

He stood up straight, then, and fixed me with a commanding eye. “In Radasanth, there is an establishment known as the Citadel. Are you familiar with it?” When I nodded, he continued. “It is a place of wonders, a place that can bring to life any training ground imaginable. It is there where I will decide if you have what it takes to benefit from my guidance!”

I did my best to present a sober face despite the excitement that welled within me. I was in. This was what I was good at. Once Levis got a taste of my capabilities, there would be no way he could turn me down.

[Atzar]

Despite having lived in Radasanth for most of my life, the sight of the vast Citadel towering over the city was one to which I had never truly become accustomed. A bleak, forbidding aura emanated from its high battlements, as if the scene could only be completed with a peal of thunder and a flash of lightning on a backdrop of heavy, threatening clouds. Perhaps I felt the oceans of blood spilt, the innumerable final breaths exhaled within those walls. Or maybe I tapped into a dark, sinister history long forgotten by the citizens of Corone today. I would probably never know.

The people below milled about as always, oblivious to my imagination’s harrowing imagery. Many greedy merchants set up shop along the cobblestone street, aiming to take advantage of the gullible, the weak and the unprepared. But there were pleasant places as well. I loved the perpetual smell of freshly-baked bread and well-seasoned meats wafting from the diners. I caught the eye of a book vendor with whom I had done business in the past, and I returned his wave of acknowledgement.

Levis strode with the bearing of royalty, crowd crumbling from his path as he approached the Citadel with single-minded purpose. He took the broad steps two at a time, and I struggled to match the elder wizard’s pace. When we reached the great fortress’s threshold, he tugged open the door and entered, looking back only once as if to make sure I hadn’t yet tucked my tail and fled. But this might be my one chance to prove my worth to him, and I wasn’t about to ruin it. With no hesitation I followed him.

The inner atrium vaulted high above my head, its ceiling hardly visible at the edge of the reach of hanging iron chandeliers and wall-mounted torches. Dozens of warriors, both real and imagined, lounged in every direction. I always found it striking how many different ways people found to prepare themselves for death. Some gathered around fire pits cut into the ancient stone floor, swapping war stories and raucous laughter. Others paced to and fro, or polished the tiniest of nicks out of sword and breastplate. A few even sought out shadowy corners for a last-minute nap.

Levis spoke briefly with an attendant monk; the hooded man nodded and disappeared down one of the many halls that branched from the main hall. The wizard then sought out a bench and seated himself, producing a small book from within his flowing white robes and flipping open its pages.

I paced. It wasn’t due to fear, or even anxiety at all really. I knew what I could do. What had I to fear? Rather, I was brimming over with excitement. A man could wait his entire life and not find such an opportunity, yet here it was, waiting for me to reach out and snatch it for myself. This was the first day of the rest of my life, the first step to becoming great. To being remembered.

Minutes crept by before the Ai’Brone monk returned, another young man in tow. I judged the new arrival to be a few years older than I, perhaps twenty. He presented a contradiction. Here was a clean, well-kept figure, with neat hair and elegant clothing free of wrinkles or spots. What was such a fellow doing in the Citadel?

“Well met, Blandion,” Levis said gravely. He nodded in my direction. “We have ourselves here another prospective pupil.” Another? “Come introduce yourself, boy.”

Boy. I bristled a bit at that. I also hadn’t expected Levis to have other students. No matter. This guy didn’t look tough at all.

“I’m Atzar.” I said it with force and extended a hand. I would command respect from this apprentice, even though it was clear that I hadn’t earned it from Levis just yet.

He accepted my handshake with a smile and a grip that I found rather weak. “Blandion,” he responded. “Call me Bland. Pleasure to meet you.” Bland indeed. A rather apt nickname, I felt.

“Likewise.” My words were civil. But behind my idle pleasantries, I envisioned his lifeless form encased in ice. I would knock this well-dressed sod down a peg or two.

[Atzar]

“The two of you will be allies in the upcoming assessment,” Levis announced.

Disappointing. I was convinced that I would have defeated him in a contest of power. Now I was looking at dragging him through whatever test the archmage concocted. I glanced at Bland’s face, trying to read his reaction to this curveball. I found nothing but the mild, irritating smile with which he had greeted me. Either he was one of those people who enjoyed life way too much, or he had a hell of a poker face.

Oblivious to my unspoken objections, Levis turned once again to the Ai’Brone monk, speaking for a moment in a voice too low to hear. Then he turned and beckoned to Blandion and I before following the brown-robed man down the hall from whence he had come. The corridor stretched to the limit of my vision, glowing lanterns interrupting its length at intervals. Our steps muffled in the depths of a blue carpet, once luxurious but now thinning and faded with age and wear.

“We are in for a treat,” Levis said as we walked. “Our man has agreed to allow us to observe as they create your chamber. This is an honor not even I have experienced, so be thankful and attentive. Perhaps you will learn something that could be of use to you.”

“Can I ask the nature of Atzar’s test, sir?” Bland asked. Atzar’s test. The phrase annoyed me. He acted like he was doing me a favor.

“All will be revealed in time. Momentarily, in fact.” At that moment we turned to face a metal door. Nearby torches glimmered golden in its polished brass surface. When the monk gave it a gentle push, it swung open. The room beyond was completely dark, but the monk entered anyway. As soon as we passed through, the monk held up a hand.

”Wait here. Do not move,” the words sounded in my mind. I felt violated, uncomfortable with the idea of somebody else lurking within my head. Could he hear my thoughts? What else could he do? Despite my objections, I did as I was bidden, as did Levis and Bland.

The door slammed shut behind us, leaving us in oppressive blackness. Footsteps echoed briefly as someone – the monk, I guessed – left our party. Then, silence. I strained my senses, trying to pick up something, anything at all. The air smelled slightly musty. I became faintly aware of my own heartbeat.

A single syllable shattered the silence with volcanic strength. I nearly jumped out of my skin. A point of light coalesced a few meters away, a mere pinprink but with the intensity of the sun at high noon. Four robed monks stood still as statues around their creation, casting vast shadows on the stone walls.

Another word, spoken in unison by the Ai’Brone. Shadows shifted and shrank as the sphere of light grew. I thought I saw colors swirl within the blinding orb, but I couldn’t be sure; I had to avert my eyes. To my left Blandion and Levis stood, the former shading his face with a raised forearm, the latter squinting stoically.

The monks intoned a third word. It expanded rapidly, now as big as my wingspan, now even bigger, annihilating even the hardiest shadows. I recoiled instinctively from this predatory light. It was going to kill us! I glanced behind me for the door handle.

"Do not move!" the voice in my head shouted. An unseen force rooted me to the spot, and helplessly I bolted my eyes shut as the inexorable light threatened to consume us all.

[Atzar]

When I opened my eyes, everything had vanished.

Gone were the monks who had called forth their magic into this world. Gone was their spellcraft, which seconds ago threatened to erase us from existence. Gone even was the room we stood in, its ancient stonework nowhere to be found. In their place was emptiness, a darkness even more profound than the one that had enveloped me in that chamber just moments ago. My conscience asked the obvious question: Is this death? Then, as if to answer my unspoken query, reality rebuilt itself.

First formed the land. Dark, rich soil materialized beneath me, gently sloping upward. In front of me towered a majestic mountain. Perhaps fifty meters from me rose its nearest face, steep and treacherous. I turned to survey the land behind me, noting the vast, golden plain that extended below. Then the sky appeared, blue and infinite, devoid of clouds save for one: a grim, black mass that belched from the nearby peak, blotting out the sun and filling the air with a sulfurous stench. Not just a mountain, I realized. Volcano. I wondered how the primordial beast would figure in this challenge.

Then came man. The bottom of the mountain’s façade yawned wide, as if a million invisible pickaxes clawed simultaneously at its surface. Sculptures and colonnades shaped themselves into the rocky flesh. Right in the middle stood the vast likeness of a goddess, her nude form facing a great stone anvil, her upraised hammer poised to strike. Piled at her feet was a range of items: bread, slaughtered livestock, flowers, weapons, and the unmistakable glint and glimmer of gold and gems. I noticed a cavern cut into the rock behind her.

Then I turned and realized that a city had grown around me. Primitive by my standards, the homes were simple constructions of stone and mud, their windows gaping, glassless eyes. Countless footsteps and wagon wheels packed the dirt road flat.

“Hold!” an authoritative voice interrupted creation. For the first time since entering this new world, I noticed Levis and Bland standing nearby. The student’s eyes were everywhere at once, but the archmage stared straight at me. A trace of my former nerves roiled in my gut; his gaze could fold the fiercest of men.

“You have entered this settlement at a perilous time,” Levis explained. “Their mountain will soon erupt. They know they cannot stop it, so naturally, they direct their pleas to those forces they think wield such power: their deities.” He turned and pointed at the eclectic medley at the goddess’s feet. “Offerings. Yet of more worth than all of that, they believe, is… you.”

I expected no different. I – we, I reluctantly corrected myself – had to avoid sacrifice for the appeasement of an angry volcano goddess.

“One thing you should know,” Levis continued, looking at each of us in turn. “Death offers you no release from the burden you have accepted. Should you fail to meet your goal here, you will be returned to this exact place at this exact time, and you will try again until you succeed.”

“What exactly is our goal?” Bland asked, finally finished gawking. It wasn't obvious enough for my companion; he needed it spelled out for him.

Then we were no longer alone. Dozens of shadowy warriors, armed to the teeth, hemmed us in on all sides. Levis closed his eyes. “Survive,” he said simply. Then he vanished, leaving nothing but a corona of spear points in his wake.

[Atzar]

They stood silently, still as the statue that loomed above us. Human in shape but not substance, what I saw peeking beneath helmets and through leather armor wasn’t flesh, but rather resembled the coalescence of shadow. Pitch black and featureless, they lacked visible eyes but leered menacingly at us all the same.

“What’s our move?” Bland asked me. “We can’t fight them all.” I glanced at him, noting with a certain morbid satisfaction that his empty smile had vanished. On one hand, I wished I knew his capabilities; I had no idea if he could help me.

On the other, I didn’t need him anyway.

“Watch my back,” I growled. Then my gift sprang to life, as did the elements.

The air, once still, blasted outward with force enough to knock the first ring of enemies on their heels. Water seeped along the ground around me and Blandion, then froze into a treacherous sheet of slick ice.

Lethal flames followed, fist-sized kinetic missiles battering the faceless foes back into their comrades. Concussive reports assailed my ears. My nostrils picked up the powerful odor of scorched leather. Having thus bought myself precious space, I turned to my bread and butter.

A blizzard of ice chunks erupted from my palms, sweeping in a circle at head height. My victims did not die. They dispersed, vanishing in a dance of wisps and curls, their smoky forms breaking from the bonds that lent them structure. The rest of the shadowmen fell back, seeking sanctuary behind a perimeter of interlocked steel shields. Bad idea. The air crackled as electricity charged in my hands. I couldn’t miss.

“Archers!” At Blandion’s call I whirled. A squad of twenty bow-wielding warriors crept up the hill below us. I swore and dispelled my lightning, mind racing. They were outside of my range. I could knock down their arrows safely with my air magic, but I couldn’t afford to play games with them while a wall of hostile shadows hemmed us in from all sides. And I was getting tired. Time to get out of here.

Too late; a thud and a cry. To my right I saw my companion fall to his knees, a thrown spear lodged low in his back.

An unmistakable twang of many bowstrings. A cloud of arrows arced through the air to silence us. Again the air awakened at my hurried command, and many of the projectiles stalled and fell. But not all. Two of them were unimpeded, too close to stop. One traced a path to my heart.

Then, with no warning, it disappeared. I briefly saw Bland, ashen-faced and still on his knees, a hand upraised as he weaved magic of his own. Then the last arrow erupted through his neck with a spray of blood. He slumped backward, dead. We had lost. We – I – had failed.

I had little time to mourn my shortcoming. I heard, rather than felt, the spear slam through my upper back. The metallic tang of blood filled my mouth. The ground rushed up to meet me, and the world dissolved into blackness.

[Atzar]

“Death offers you no release from the burden you have accepted. Should you fail to meet your goal here, you will be returned to this exact place at this exact time, and you will try again until you succeed.”

My eyes opened, and my vision filled with the towering goddess’ likeness. I blinked and swayed, then realized that I was somehow on my feet.

“What exactly is our goal?” I heard Blandion’s question. I remembered Bland’s question. Only then did my mind right itself.

“Survive.” And just in time. Once again the dark warriors materialized, and once again Levis departed. I looked around at the shadowmen with a new respect. Momentarily I wondered which of the faceless constructs had slain me.

“What’s our move?” Bland asked me for the second time. “We can’t fight them all.” A nagging voice in the back of my mind wondered why my companion’s words repeated, even though he was right here with me. Nonetheless, I saw the advice within his despair this time. He was right. As strong as I was, I couldn’t take on the entire city with any hope of survival. The grim truth gnawed at my pride as I pondered our options. There weren’t many.

“We surrender.” I could scarcely believe the words came from my throat.

“Atzar, they mean to bring us in for ritual sacrifice,” he objected. “We can’t survive that anymore than we can survive open com-“

“Just trust me,” I demanded, my voice strong with an authority and confidence I no longer felt. Truth be told, I didn’t like the plan either. I was used to charging in, firing spells until I ran out of targets. That had failed. This, at least, figured to buy us some time while they set up whatever rites they had in store for us. And if they just killed us on the spot… well, then we’d be on trial number three shortly.

My knees met the packed earth in wordless capitulation. Behind me Blandion did the same. I gazed up at the statue of the goddess. These people had built her for themselves, yet I could feel her soulless eyes searching me, judging me. Resentment, however irrational, welled within my heart.

A boot in my back. An involuntary groan escaped my lips as I pitched forward onto my face. A blunt object cracked me over the head once, twice. Clinging vainly to my fraying rope of consciousness, I wondered if they would simply beat me to death.

Strong hands grasped my ankles and then we were moving. They dragged me along the ground, my head bouncing painfully at every bump. After only a moment, mercy cut the last threads of my awareness.

[Atzar]

My head throbbed, each beat bringing with it a new blast of discomfort. My ribs ached, and my face felt as if it had been peeled away, but I was alive.

My eyes opened to a large, underground chamber, lit by the red glow of many torches. At the opposite end stood an exhibit of reverence, or perhaps merely opulence. The tribe had recreated the goddess and her colonnade, smaller and wrought not of stone, but of gold and gems. Her obsidian eyes glinted in the dim light; even here I couldn’t escape her condemnatory gaze.

I sat up, noting that an iron shackle chained me to the wall by the ankle. No problem. I’d deal with that when the time came. Blandion, similarly restrained, sat nearby. His lights were on, but nobody was home; he gazed sightlessly ahead, dazed and slack-jawed.

A number of shadow people inhabited the chamber, their forms eerily immune to the torchlight. A small number of armored men watched me, spears readied and bows half-drawn; the rest milled restless about the open cavern. I sensed that they awaited something, but I knew not what.

I found out soon enough. A rumble shook our world, several small streams of pebbles and dust escaping from the ceiling. The shadows paused and looked around, anxiety evident even on their featureless forms.

A drum beat out a steady rhythm, matching the throbbing between my own temples. Four shades, conspicuous by their red-painted attire, broke through the perimeter of drawn weapons. I watched them dispassionately as they looked between my semi-conscious partner and I. Then, they grabbed Blandion and, after freeing him from his chain, towed him roughly away by the arms.

I stood with a clank of my shackle, wincing at the pain in my ribs. The warriors raised the lagging points of their spears but did not strike. I watched them drag Bland to a dais before the golden goddess, where two other painted shadows already loomed. I tugged readily at the strands of my magic, much as a swordsman’s fingers might flirt with the handle of his weapon before a battle. Bland hadn’t yet shown that he was alert enough to defend himself. Hell; I didn’t trust him to do so even when fully aware. I looked on, burdened by the knowledge that he would live or die depending on whether I was strong enough to save him.

They reached the platform and shoved him to his knees. He remained there, shoulders slumped, disheveled hair masking a face caked in blood and grime. The pounding of my heart rose to join the throbbing in my head and the beat of their ritual drums.

As if in response to that percussive chorus, the earth awoke.

[Atzar]

The quake gashed the ceiling, tearing down chunks of rock in a spray of dust and crushing rubble. The shadowmen piled through the narrow chamber exit, shoving, tripping and trampling their own. A strange quiet hung over their panicked exodus, their screams silent, their footfalls drowned out by the quivering earth.

I saw that the armed guards were distracted. A quick thought unlatched the shackle from my ankle. Then, fire. It erupted from my hands, fueled by a reservoir of vengeance, engulfing each of them in turn. An archer loosed an arrow from somewhere beyond the flames, but the projectile mercifully clattered off of the uncaring stone behind me. When I relented, nothing remained but a jumble of weapons amidst smoldering bits of leather armor.

Thus free, I injected my own special brand of chaos into the mayhem. Nature herself declared war on the hapless shades as I fought my way to the platform where they still held Blandion. Balls of fire, bolts of lightning and bricks of ice cut down armed and unarmed alike. When I reached the base of the dais, only two of the red-painted shadow priests remained. Religious fervor, it seemed, was not quite as valuable as one’s own skin.

A sudden jolt of pain. I glanced at my left thigh. A fresh tear in my pants seeped with blood. The two zealots leveled staves at me. Angry at the trivial wound they had dealt me, I gathered my focus to wipe them from the quaking dais upon which they stood. Another cut, this one across the left shoulder. I hissed in pain. A third striped my abdomen. Every passing second enraged me more. Every time I made to blast them with magic, their little niggling strikes broke my concentration.

Bleeding from numerous small-but-painful cuts, I backed away. A luckless unarmed shadowman passed. I grabbed him by the collar and positioned him between my flesh and the priests’ irritating trickery. That reprieve was all I needed. Powered by ire, intense balls of fire blasted the shades from existence. I ascended the three steps, contemptuously booting a fallen rod from my path, sneering up at the glittering goddess. Judge me now.

Bland was on his feet now, shaky but recovering. Kind of. He looked glassy-eyed at me as I approached. I opened my mouth to tell him to follow, but I knew I’d have more success being direct.

“Come on.” I wasted no time, grabbing him by the wrist and yanking him along behind me as I made for the exit, picking my way through the fallen rubble. My magic battered the delinquent shadows from our path. Terrified and demoralized, most no longer even tried to resist.

I spared one last smug look back at the golden idol before I left her to her burial in the collapsing cavern.

[Atzar]

My return to the world above offered no sunshine. The volcano’s noxious cloud roiled as it consumed the light from above, casting the primitive city of shadows into a darkness of a different sort. I had escaped the rumbling belly of the beast, but its flesh allowed no reprieve from the quakes. We did not have long, I knew.

The denizens of the city milled in mindless fear, gaping sightlessly at the deathly smog above. A few warriors challenged us out here, but they were disarrayed and easily dispatched, nothing compared to the disciplined force that greeted our arrival. Now alert enough to follow under his own power, Blandion followed me as I picked my way away from the angry peak. Yet my mind knew the effort was futile. If the mountain exploded, we were all doomed. No amount of running could escape its wrath.

“What do we do?” In our eleventh hour, I shelved my pride and appealed to Bland.

Haggard and still caked in blood, he returned my stare. “I have a solution,” he said after a few precious seconds. “I need some time to prepare. Keep them off me.” With that he wrapped his arms around himself as if cold and closed his eyes.

“What are you-“

“Saving us!” he snapped, cutting me off with uncharacteristic intensity. “Let me focus.”

I bit off a heated response and turned to do as bidden. I was bloody, beaten and weary, yet I reached into my reservoir of magic time and time again. No longer did I attempt any semblance of subtlety or strategy. Instead, a simple-yet-effective barrage of ice laid low any that approached.

A force of warriors advanced from uphill, cowering behind shields and long spears. My heart sank. They numbered no more than twenty, but I was tired; they were twenty more than I wanted to handle.

I dug deep, the hair on my arms on end as the air came alive with electricity. I fired. Missed. Swore. I glanced again at the mountain beyond the naked goddess. Charged energy again. This time, my shot arced true. A shield clattered to the earth as its bearer evaporated into gray mist. Another bolt, another kill. But eighteen still pressed down on me. This was taking too much time, too much energy.

”Atzar! Ready. Don’t move.” I heard Bland’s voice in my head, the same that had rooted me in place in the Citadel’s blank chamber. Did that mean…?

“Wait.” I had one thing I wanted to do first. Hands spread apart, I summoned every drop that I had left. An incandescent orb of fire grew with every tick. Then I let it fly. Not at the spearmen, bearing down on us only yards away.

An explosion split the air. The head of the stone goddess, whose gaze I’d grown to hate so much, plunged to the earth. It struck the ground with a crunch of sundering rock.

A colossal blast knocked me from my feet. House-sized boulders soared into the stratosphere like sand.

We vanished.

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

Congratulations!

Atzar receives 990 EXP and 100 GP!

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

All rewards have been added!