Emily cursed as a red-robed man leapt at her, his face twisted with hatred. She slammed a force punch into his chest, tossing him through the air and into the far wall. Another appeared, his staff blazing with light; Emily threw a wand-cracking spell at him, and had the satisfaction of watching the staff shatter into dust. Moments later, raw magic tore the priest apart…
“Justice,” Janus repeated. His staff glowed brightly. Magic flared through the chamber. She launched a fireball at him; it flickered out of existence an instant before it struck its target. “Come!”
And then Emily felt the presence all around her.
Chapter Thirty-One
EMILY GRITTED HER TEETH AS THE presence tore into her, a wave of energy that threatened to bring her to her knees. It whispered to her, promising a world of stability, of security, of justice, if she only let it into her heart. The torrent of power was so strong that her resolution buckled, nearly breaking once and for all. The rune on her chest heated, keeping her focused. She still had to fight to get out of the way as Justice coalesced in front of her. The entity looked more godlike than ever before.
“Justice!” Janus shouted. “Justice!”
Emily focused her mind, trying to think. She had to get out, she had to run…she felt the creature tugging at her magic, trying to drain her. Her wards, already damaged by Janus, started to break completely. No wonder Alba had been so badly drained, she noted as she hastily reinforced them. Alba had lacked the control to rebuild her protections – or her mother’s protections – as Justice stripped them away.
She looked at Justice. The entity flowed so brightly that it was impossible to see details, but her mind filled in the blanks. She felt a moment of sour admiration for the person who’d designed the entity – Master Wolfe or one of his students, perhaps – as she realized how well it went together. They’d taken one of the nastiest mind-control spells she knew – that anyone knew – and melded it into the entity. Any attempt to break the spell ran the risk of speeding up the end.
“You’re not real.” She took a step backwards, then another. “You’re not real.”
The magic surged. She forced herself to jump to the side as a lightning bolt snapped through the air, passing through the space she’d been and slamming into the wall. It wasn’t just a lightning bolt, she noted, as she threw herself over an altar and ducked behind it. A second bolt crackled over her head. Justice – or his creator – had wrapped a number of spells into each bolt. If one of them didn’t get her, the others would.
Justice kicked the altar. It shattered, pieces of rock flying everywhere. Sparks of raw magic tore at Emily’s wards, screams of pain echoing through her mind. She stumbled to her knees, her defenses starting to buckle under the onslaught. A volley of impressions - screams - stuck her as she brushed against the altar, a mark left behind by the dead. The early sacrifices might have been volunteers – she wondered if Janus had tried to sacrifice magic-users or people with undiscovered magic potential – but their successors had been held down and drained for the good of society. Janus, like all fanatics, would build his utopia on a pile of dead bodies.
Damn him, she thought.
She forced herself to crawl as the entity loomed over her. It was playing with her, inching forward to make her think she had a chance to escape. Or was it? Did it have more in common with a Manavore than she’d thought? Could it see her as long as she didn’t use magic? She looked up at Janus, still standing in what remained of his office, and knew it wouldn’t matter. He’d direct his god to her if she tried to escape without using magic.
Gritting her teeth, she pulled herself to her feet. Looking at Justice with her senses was like looking into a blinding light, but the more she looked the more she saw the complex chain of spells that held him together. Master Wolfe had definitely been a genius. And yet…
She braced herself, then cast the single most powerful dispelling spell she could. Justice flickered, just for an instant. Beyond him, darkness fell as light globes flickered out of existence and wards failed. Emily thought, for a second, that she’d actually won. And then the god lunged forward, power billowing around him. Emily had to throw herself right across the room, drawing on her magic, to escape its reach.
“There is no escape,” Janus shouted. She couldn’t see him any longer – her eyes were starting to hurt – but she could hear him all too well. “Judgement is coming!”
The dispelling charm didn’t work, Emily thought. He’s too complex to be easily banished.
Justice walked – or glided – towards her, his appearance blurring into a mass of lights and raw power. She wasn’t sure if he’d switched off the glamour or if it no longer affected her, but it hardly mattered. Janus still ranted, behind his god. She tuned him out as she tried to think of another option. Direct attack was futile. But there were other possibilities.
She launched a fireball at the nearest altar, then picked up the pieces with magic and threw them at the entity. Justice didn’t react as the chunks of stone flew towards him, but staggered when the rocks passed through his chest. Emily felt a flicker of surprise – she hadn’t been sure what she’d expected to happen, but clearly something had – and launched more pieces of debris at him. Justice slowed, yet he wasn’t stopped. And that meant…
I could thrust my mind into the maelstrom, she thought. But I’d never get out alive.
She looked up. Justice was backing her up against the wall. His power beat against her, pushing her back until she could retreat no more. But there were still options…she gathered her magic, then slammed a powerful hex into the ceiling. It shattered, dust and rocks raining down on the entity. Justice staggered, again, under the weight of the assault, distracting him for a moment. Emily yanked her wards around her, then hurled herself up and through the hole. The spell started to fail a moment later, as Justice started to drain the mana, but it was enough to get her to the top.