Sorceress, Interrupted - By A. J. Menden Page 0,52
he’d spent with me back when he was Adam’s age. I smiled. That had been a good time. Then there was a flash of him leaving me after that weekend, a slashing grin and a jaunty wave.
I understood the implication. Yes, I know you’ve got to go, I thought back gently. But before you go, tell me who did this to you.
Our connection was fading, going black around the edges. I got one last flash: someone at my bar, sitting at one of the tables—
There was a sudden glare of brilliant light; it seemed to sweep in and consume both Howard and me. I had a sense of happiness and peace . . . and then something tore it away from me. Its loss was like a sledgehammer of realization. It was perfect peace. It was the end of a life. It was something I would probably never experience.
I had the sense of Adam pushing me away from Howard’s side. I stumbled to my feet and made it to the trash can on the other side of the room, but then I heaved. A good friend of mine was gone, dead and traveling to someplace I’d never visit. And I’m not talking Heaven versus Hell, I’m just talking Peace. My insides were torn up from having lost yet another friend, and for that friend go in such a terrible and violent way. I also was jealous of his passing.
In the distance I could hear Adam crying, but I felt as disconnected from him as ever. Then the tension in the room expanded and there came the bright flash of a teleportation spell.
Four people stepped out: one woman and three men. All were pretty nondescript—you would pass them on the street without a second glance—and all were wearing simple black garments that left their arms exposed. They’d clearly dressed this way on purpose just to show off the markings of the Dragon, the tattoos they all took when they joined his service. The lizards corrupt, Adam had said. That was for damn sure.
My first thought was that my father was going to be weirdly pleased to be proven right; the Cult of the Dragon was behind this! My second thought, on the heels of the first, was that none of these was the leader. These were all obviously minions sent to do some dirty work. Since the Dragon was still locked away in the DarkLands, courtesy of my father, it couldn’t be he.
“Well, at least I know what the deal is with the magic stealing and the will draining now,” I announced. “You’re trying to gain enough power to perform a spell.” I shook my head. “Well, tell your boss this—he’s still not going to be powerful enough to let the Ancient Ones out.”
The female cultist gave me a nasty smile. “We’re not trying to skip ahead quite that far, love.”
Before I could reply, one of the men cast a spell. It was a blast of power strong enough to obliterate a normal magic-user, and it would have obliterated Adam if I hadn’t shielded him from it. This made me revise my previous assumption. Minions these might be, but our nameless enemy was sending out some heavy hitters.
The spell hurt me like hell.
I glared at the quartet. “Not powerful enough, junior.” And before he could say or do anything else, I unleashed on him the power he’d used on me.
He went down quick, his body convulsing as it hit the ground. The other three cultists scowled hatefully and launched attacks at the same time, magically dogpiling me. I gritted my teeth in concentration, managing to get a new shield up at the last possible second. The cultists were powerful, not a huge threat on their own, but working together they gave me a run for my money. My shield was weakening, and when it went down they might take me out of the game long enough to do to me what they’d done to Howard.
Would physical damage coupled with such powerful magical damage be enough to kill me? I wondered for a brief moment and, God help me, part of me remembered that moment of peace I’d seen of Howard’s and longed for the end. It had an effect on my shield. I dropped my guard just enough that the cultists pushed all the way through.
I began to sink to the ground, my mind shutting down in the face of all the pain. Off in the corner I dimly recognized Adam