The Breaker (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #2)

“He should have known better. So much work to be done,” muttered the Head, apparently not realizing Alex was still privy to his thoughts.

Out of the corner of his eye, Alex could see the Head was still a fair way away, standing at the entrance to the main hallway. But in the skeletal palms of his hands he was beginning to manifest a rippling ball of black and gold. It was like no energy Alex had ever seen, and he was certain it spelled out the end for him. Pinned to the floor, unable to move, the blade just a fraction too far away, there was nowhere to run, no way to win.

Suddenly, the very shadows around Alex and the others shifted. The darkness became liquid, whirling from the deepest recesses of the hallway. The air crackled, and a rush of frosty air sent icy fingers running through their hair. Alex lifted his head in time to see Elias appear, floating in vaguely human form before them.

He flashed his glinting teeth at Alex. “Why do I always seem to be doing the heavy lifting?” he quipped with a starry grin.

The sight of the shadow-creature startled the Head, his inhuman mouth twisting into a grimace of confusion and wry amusement as he and Elias prowled around each other. Only it wasn’t clear which was prey and which was predator.

“Oh, Elias, you are a thing of beauty, aren’t you? Just look at you. Still so powerful. You had such potential. The finest wizard I had ever seen—the only one who might have been of vital use to me, and yet you chose to waste it on this half-life. Such a shame,” the Head taunted.

“You have no idea,” snapped Elias, his voice brimming with bitterness. “I would have been more powerful than you could ever have dreamed if it weren’t for that sniveling little weasel Derhin. He was so desperate to take my place, and you listened! You are the fool here. Together, we could have fought and found another way out of this mess, but you were too much of a coward for that! As if I was just going to give myself up,” he growled, the rage building in his shadowy throat. “I would rather watch you burn. I will see it one day. I will watch your destruction and I will smile, as you did,” he spat, his sharp teeth glinting with menace.

“Now, now, Elias. No need to be so sensitive. It was all such a long time ago,” chuckled the Head.

“I am patient. I have been patient. Your days are numbered.” Elias smirked, as if he knew something the Head didn’t. “You have realized too late,” he whispered.

The Head sneered and conjured a spear of ice and fire, aiming at Elias’s head. The shadow-man evaded it easily, coming back at the Head with a rippling swarm of pure, dark energy that billowed in a mist toward the Head’s face.

“This is the end of you!” yelled the Head with a snarl, as he delved into the depths of his cloak. From within, he pulled out a bottle of black glass. Alex’s eyes widened in horror, knowing the bottle’s purpose. Elias froze too, his starry black eyes glittering with violent rage.

“Did you forget I had this?” the Head sneered, as he ripped the stopper from the top and tipped the contents out onto the palm of his hand. Within, Alex could see the dull red glow of something tiny. It was far smaller than the coiled, glowing essences he had seen stacked like condiments in the antechamber. It was only a section of the larger whole.

“That’s mine!” shouted Elias, lunging toward the Head.

The Head waved his pale hand over the small, glowing ember, and a ripple of pale pink light shot through the shadowy form of Elias’s body. Elias cried out in agony, slivers of his fluid form fading and slithering away from him, back into the darkness. Clawing the threads back into his shifting figure, Elias drew himself up and launched another attack at the Head. Jets of the purest black fired from Elias’s shadowy form, the Head unable to snatch them or push them away. They were made from another energy entirely.

With a sweep of his arm, the Head passed his hand over the small coil of Elias’s essence. Another cry shivered from Elias’s shadowy throat, echoing between the walls and chilling Alex’s blood. It was unearthly and inhuman and made goosebumps prickle along every inch of his skin. It seemed to come from another realm, the scream trembling the fabric of the world around them.

Elias swept backward, gathering up his errant shadows as he leveled a furious gaze at the Head. Alex had never seen rage like it. He was almost sure he saw a red glow burning, replacing the black, galactic irises of Elias’s peculiar eyes.

Elias rallied again, flowing back on the wave of pain. This time, the Head was not as fast. The black mist of Elias’s mysterious energy engulfed the hooded skeleton, blinding him for a moment as Elias swooped in with a rush of shadow and knocked the ember from the Head’s palm. It fell like a marble, bouncing across the flagstones. Elias scurried after the ember, sweeping along the floor until his fluid fingers settled across the tiny red glow. Alex watched with wonder as Elias buried the glowing red marble deep inside the glittering cavern of his chest, where he seemed to store all of his most precious possessions.

“Go!” hissed Elias as he slithered along the floor, a triumphant grin on his strange face. Alex understood. Now nothing stood between Elias and the Head. Without the glowing particle of Elias’s essence, the Head had no further control of the shadow creature. It was the moment Elias had been waiting a long time for, Alex realized, feeling a niggle of confusion in the back of his mind. Had this been the goal all along? The reason for the gifts and the books and the visits? Alex knew it would plague him later, but for now he had other things to worry about.

Alex scrambled to his feet, running to the others, who were doing the same, dragging themselves back up. He paused for a moment to pluck the almost-lost knife from the floor and slide it back into his belt.

The fight, so close to where they stood, intensified between Elias and the Head. All bets were off. Without the Head’s advantage, the two seemed to be more than evenly matched, even with Elias’s less-than-solid form.

Ellabell seemed frozen to the spot by the sight of Elias, her eyes staring at the shadow-creature in abject horror.

“Ellabell! You have to run!” Alex told her, grabbing her hand. She shook her head as if brushing off a trance.

“We can’t leave Aamir,” insisted Jari, just as they were about to break away from the fight.

Of course, Jari was right. They couldn’t just leave Aamir to whatever fate might befall him if left within close proximity to the two superhuman opponents down the corridor.