Chapter 30: Hollow Victories

LYDIA

Lydia’s heart dropped as she saw Lucius collapse to the ground. Above him stood Evine, staring at Lydia with a look of annoyance.

“Sentimental old fool,” she said as she brandished her dagger, the blade still stained red with the wizard’s blood. “I suppose he believed martyring himself would absolve him of his many wrongdoings. No matter; his sacrifice only delays your demise.”

Lydia clenched her fists as she felt her blood reach the boiling point. Evine took a step back as flames began to lick the ground around her feet.

No longer would she allow herself to be at the mercy of this vile sorceress. Evine had already done enough damage, both to Lydia as well as to her loved ones. There was no way she was going to let her walk away—not this time...

“Now, now, let’s not do anything reckless,” Evine said. “We wouldn’t want the old drunk to have died for nothing, would we?”

While Evine’s words implied confidence, her tone conveyed an entirely different feeling. The usual calm cadence in her voice was now absent, replaced instead by a slight, almost imperceptible tremble.

Had she not been presently blinded with rage over the loss of Lucius, Lydia may have picked up on this and realized something important:

Evine was scared.

Without hesitation, Uzier threw up a hand, sending a wave of shadows slithering toward Lydia. Just as it was about to strike, Gabriel leapt into the path of the attack, parting the shadows like sea waves breaking on a sheer cliffside.

“We can handle Uzier,” Gabriel said to Lydia. “You take care of Evine.”

Swallowing her rage, Lydia focused on the task at hand and channeled her anger into fueling her powers. Lucius would be avenged tonight…

Without another word, Lydia aimed a flying leap at Evine, flames enshrouding the Slifer’s body.

“Stay back!” Evine shouted, raising her knife. She brandished the weapon threateningly, preparing to target Lydia with her blood magic.

This time, however, Lydia was prepared. The Slifer launched a ball of searing flame directly at Evine’s hand. With a cry of pain, Evine staggered backward as her knife clattered to the ground. She doubled over, hissing through her teeth as she clutched at her burned hand.

“You’ll pay dearly for that,” Evine snarled, but the threat was too little and too late; already, a ring of fire had begun to encircle her, preventing Evine from picking up her knife.

As Lydia drew closer, Evine backed up to the edge of the fire ring anxiously; she stared up at Lydia, the intent to kill in the Slifer’s eyes perfectly reflected in her own.

Decimus taught Lydia that fire can have a variety of different uses beyond simple violence. You can light a candle, for example, or create a warming bonfire.

But sometimes, Lydia thought to herself, sometimes you just want to burn something.

Lydia let out a primal scream as a column of flame erupted from beneath Evine.

These flames, fueled by the sudden surge of emotion, were brighter than any Lydia had ever conjured before, taking on a brilliant blue hue from the sheer heat and intensity they exuded.

Evine let out a wail of agony, which was quickly drowned out by the roar of the fire as the blue flames consumed her.

In an instant, it was over. Lydia collapsed onto her knees, feeling suddenly exhausted from expending so much energy all at once. The column of blue flame collapsed in on itself and quickly fizzled out; there was no trace of Evine left, save for her bloodied knife, which still lay on the cobblestones.

“Evine?” came Uzier’s voice from behind Lydia. The Slifer turned around and saw the shadow wizard staring at the spot where Evine had been. His gaze then shifted to Lydia, his inky-black eyes alight with vengeful malice.

Uzier lifted a hand toward Lydia in retaliation, but was interrupted as Gabriel took advantage of his distraction; using his own shadow magic, the king’s shadowy tendrils quickly lashed out and coiled themselves around Uzier’s arm, preventing him from completing the spell.

“This changes nothing!” Uzier shouted. A stamp of his foot created a ripple of shadow which quickly expanded along the ground around him, flinging the other combatants away. Lydia fell hard, bashing her shoulder into the cobblestones as she rolled to a halt.

“My plans have come too far to end by some petty setback,” Uzier said, his voice dripping with hatred. “My wife and son may be destroyed, but my army of Wizard Hunters shall persist! My will is indomitable! My empire shall be eternal!”

Just then, the sound of a war horn echoed from the other side of the castle walls, followed by the sounds of hundreds of thudding footsteps approaching Ellesmere castle.

“The army has returned?” asked Adria. “But how? It would have taken them at least two days to return to Ellesmere.”

~They may have had some help in getting here sooner,~ said a gust of wind as it blew past Lydia’s ear.

A wave of relief washed over the Fire Slifer; at the very least, Elise was still alive, despite everything that had happened.

“Elise?” Redmond asked. “Where are you?”

~In the dungeons beneath the castle,~ the wind said in Elise’s voice. ~But as the Wind Slifer, I don’t need to be present to lend a hand. The best part about being able to listen to the wind is this: the wind knows all the best shortcuts.~

The sounds of clashing weapons echoed from outside the halls as Marsie and her army engaged in battle with the Wizard Hunters. As she lifted herself off the ground, Lydia couldn’t help but smile as she saw a look of unbridled rage flash across Uzier’s face. The wizard rose high in the air as shadows began to swell around him.

“Redmond!” Adria commanded. Redmond nodded in understanding and lifted his hand toward Uzier.

On Redmond’s command, a tangle of roots erupted from the ground below Uzier, wrapping around the wizard’s legs and preventing him from levitating any further.

Gabriel lashed out with another tendril of shadows, wrapping around Uzier’s arms and binding them together.

“Lydia!” Gabriel shouted. “We won’t be able to hold him for long! Now’s your chance!”

Lydia rose to her feet, staring down Uzier with steely determination. Blue flames began to coalesce and swirl around the Slifer’s arm as a ball of fire formed in the palm of her hand.

“Uzier,” she said, her voice as hard and sharp as a tempered blade, “your reign of terror ends today.”

And with that, the ball of blue fire erupted from Lydia’s hand, consuming Uzier in a flash of brilliant blue light.

When the flames dissipated, the wizard Uzier was no more.

Her body racked with exhaustion, Lydia slowly limped over to Lucius, kneeling beside her fallen grandpa. He was still breathing, albeit faintly.

“Looks like you didn’t need my help after all,” Lucius said, giving a weak, raspy laugh.

“Don’t talk,” said Lydia. “Save your strength. We can still get you to a healer if you just hold on—”

Lucius held up a trembling hand to quiet her. “Lydia, I’m hundreds of years old,” he said wearily. “I think enough time has passed that I can confidently say I had a good run. At the very least, it comes as a pleasant surprise to me that I’ll be dying sober.”

Lydia laughed, though tears had begun to well up in her eyes.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do without you,” she said sadly.

“Neither do I,” said Lucius. “But that’s the fun of it...don’t you think?”

The old man managed to give Lydia a weak smile. “Uzier has been defeated. Your destiny has been fulfilled. What you do with your life now is entirely up to you.”

“But how will I know if the choices I make are the right ones?” Lydia asked.

“You won’t,” said Lucius. “But...for what it’s worth...I have faith. I raised you...to have a strong heart and a level head, and that should be enough for you...”

Lydia smiled, grasping Lucius’s hand in her own. “Thank you, Grandpa.”

And with that, Lucius slowly closed his eyes and released his final breath.

***

Seven days had passed since the defeat of Evine and Uzier at the Battle of Ellesmere.

After Lucius’s death, Marsie and the Ellesmere army repelled the remaining Wizard Hunters, many of whom became demoralized and fled after realizing the fate of their leaders.

The army spent the following days taking stock of their dead and wounded. They began necessary repairs on the battle-ravaged capital. With Agatha’s seat vacant, Marsie Maroo left her post to become the new chancellor of the Congress of Magic.

Slowly but surely, things were returning to some semblance of normal.

That morning, Lydia awoke at the crack of dawn, slowly sliding out of bed to avoid disturbing Gabriel. Her shoulder still ached from the battle with Uzier, and its dull but constant pain prevented her from sleeping for more than a few hours at a time.

That, and the fact that Lucius’s death still weighed heavily on her mind. Her dreams were becoming unbearable as memories of her mentor bubbled to the surface of her sleeping subconscious. She would have to solicit Redmond for a herb-based concoction she could use to ease the pain.

Now that she was wide awake, Lydia decided to take full advantage of the quiet, stepping out onto the balcony overlooking the kingdom of Ellesmere.

As she looked up, however, something caught her eye. Strange weather patterns seemed to be forming over the city. In fact, it almost looked as though the clouds themselves were parting as a ray of light came shining in through the balcony window.

Lydia’s eyes grew wide as she realized what was happening—

The Gods were coming to Ellesmere.