The links of power crackled and sizzled in front of Ilyan, the bright white light, shining throughout the room. Ilyan pushed the chain toward Ryland; it wrapped around him, restraining his movements. It was only just visible before his body seemed to absorb it. Ryland moved his hands up in a counterattack toward his brother, but I didn’t see anything further. A large crack sounded in my ears as a heavy body landed directly to my left.
I spun around with a small scream. A well-dressed man with a neatly-trimmed beard was hovering near me, his sneer barely visible through the brown hair. My heart clenched in fear at what could have been Timothy’s twin. I backed away from him, careful to keep my body from falling off the unstable edge of the balcony.
The tiny man said nothing; he only laughed as he raised his fingers and snapped repeatedly. At each snap, small explosions shook and shredded the ground around me. I squealed and screamed in panic as I was littered with sparks and debris from the explosions. The Trpaslík took another step forward, his hands still raised menacingly.
I flung my hands toward him, his body flying away from me as my attack hit him square in the chest. He hit the floor, came to a standing position, and began to advance, more explosions rocking the floor with each step he took toward me. I raised my hand again, sending a weaker wave toward him. He stepped back as it collided with him, but recovered quickly.
I did not wait to find out what his intentions were. I rolled off the balcony, sending my body flailing into the fight below. I had only fallen a few feet when I caught myself, my strong wind catching my spinning body as I moved myself toward yet another portion of the steadily deteriorating balcony.
I only made it halfway across the large space before a large mass landed on my back, dropping me down to the floor of the ballroom like a boulder. I crashed hard into the marble floor, my back instantly clenching in pain. I screamed out as I fought to get away from whatever had landed on me, surprised when hands shot out and enclosed my wrists.
“Thought you could run from The Master did you? Stupid, little half-breeds.” The Trpaslík who had attacked me on the balcony pushed me down onto the floor, his legs straddling me as he restricted my movements.
I clawed and fought and threw any little rocks I could at him, but it was no use. He batted away my pathetic arsenal before clasping his hands on either side of my face as I had seen Ilyan do to someone else only a moment before. I screamed out as I felt the heat growing in his hands. It continued to build until it felt like a fire was burning inside my skull, its raging power boiling inside of my head. My vision blacked out as the pain grew, as my screams increased. Then it was gone.
The Trpaslíks weight left my hips as he fell to the side, his lifeless body slumping onto the cold floor. I sat up, my vision returning. I didn’t wait to find out who my savior was; I simply turned and jumped, taking off into the air again. My fear had supercharged my magic, and I slammed into the balcony on the opposite wall, unable to stop myself in time.
I panted as I stood, my back seizing in pain. I ran forward, toward a door that would lead me out, my left leg dragging a bit. If I could just get to the door, I could make it to the large, second-floor balcony and escape as Ilyan had wanted me to. I didn’t make it far before another body landed in front of me, the body unfolding to face me.
“Cail,” I gasped.
“Awww, you remember me. How sweet. Probably not as well as I remember you.” He raised his hand to me and a bright red light flew toward me. He didn’t let it build as he had before; I had no warning this time. I leapt to the side, my back flattening against the hard wall. The red ball erupted right where I had been standing, sending out the wood and stone of the wall in a splintering explosion. Cail looked at me and smiled.
I raised my hand and released the prickling energy in a rush. It slammed into him, but the energy wasn’t strong enough to do any damage. He laughed as he straightened out to face me, while I turned and went to launch myself off the balcony again.
My feet had just left the ground when Cail’s wind intercepted me and slammed me back, hard against the wall of the balcony I had just left. The wind continued to move around me and hold me in place, my shirt whipping around.
“You and your mother,” he mocked as he walked toward me, his steps faltering as an explosion from below shook the room. “You are both such fighters. Why can’t you die easily? But, you know it’s going to end the same way, don’t you?” He came to stand right next to me and I cringed against him, my body unable to resist the pull of his magic.
“You both end up dead.” He placed his hand against my stomach, his palm against my skin. I could feel it grow cold as his magic entered me before beginning to warm as he generated a ball of energy. He formed it inside of me, the weapon building underneath my skin. I screamed out as the warmth turned into a burning heat.