Selissa kept quiet, her eyes darting between them.
“Nothing to do with me?” Alassane asked tersely. His voice was cold. “You killed me!”
“You were weak. That weakness became your death.” Ilyan answered calmly.
Alassane let out a short, cold laugh that didn’t sound like him at all. Selissa wondered what it was like facing the man who had killed you. From the cold look in Alassane’s eyes, she didn’t think you would be very forgiving.
“Then your arrogance will become your death.” He said. Selissa’s eyes widened, when she saw the flames around him flare up, and she barely had time to get out of the way before the air exploded in flares of energy.
The time of talking was over, and she pressed her back against the wall, as Ilyan and Alassane started flinging deadly spells at each other.
Most of them missed and exploded against the walls, while some collided in bursts of blue and black.
She would have been perfectly content to keep out of it, but she knew she had to stop them before they brought the building down on top of them.
‘Just run.’ Cadeyrn urged her. ‘Get out while you can.’
“No.” She told him. “No more running.”
48
A wayward spell exploded above her head, as she made her way towards the fighting sorcerers. She cursed as debris fell from the ceiling and covered her in a layer of dust. She coughed as it got in her mouth and settled in her throat.
Another ball of light blasted past her, and she only barely managed to dodge it before it hit her. It grazed her arm and burned her skin, like ice-cold fire. It left a glowing black mark on her arm, like the magic had embedded itself in the wound.
It didn’t really hurt. It felt more like something warm and cold pressed against her skin at the same time. She wondered what effect it would have if the spell had hit her in the chest instead of merely grazing her. Considering the fact that its user was able to raise the dead, she didn’t believe it could be anything good.
Ilyan and Alassane were fighting closely now, Ilyan swinging the sacrificial knife dangerously close to Alassane’s throat. They were so intent on killing each other that they paid her no heed.
Ilyan swung the knife again, aiming to take off Alassane’s head. Alassane jerked his head backwards, but the blade still managed to cut a small line across his throat. The sight of the thin line of blood running down his neck stirred Selissa into action.
She charged at Ilyan, who had his back turned to her. She felt her heart in her throat as she watched the knife descend towards Alassane’s chest. She reached them just as Ilyan was about to make the death blow, and swung her sword at his neck.
He moved too fast for her to react. The knife, which had been just above Alassane’s chest, suddenly flew through the air and blocked her blow.
Shaking off her surprise, she quickly moved to the side and swung the blade again. A sharp metallic sound echoed through the room as she once again hit the long knife.
She narrowed her eyes as she looked at the knife. It was almost long enough to use as a sword, and that was clearly what he was trying to do.
She grabbed the sword hilt with both hands as he charged forward. She didn’t have the time to block the incoming strikes, instead getting forced backwards as he started stabbing the air with the long blade.
Stumbling backwards, she raised her sword to defend herself. The blades clashed, both trying to force the other back. She placed all her strength into the swing and hit the knife with enough force to knock it out of his hand.
It flew through the room and clattered to the floor. However, being unarmed didn’t stop him.
The spell he sent at her hit her square in the chest and sent her flying backwards. She dropped the sword as her back hit the wall. Bits and pieces of the already crumbling wall collapsed, and she hissed in pain when pressure was placed on her injured shoulder.
Ilyan approached her, just as the aura switched in the room. Bright green light shone behind him, and the magic pressure in the room intensified tenfold.
Selissa looked up in confusion, before realizing what was happening.
A line of green flames shot forward and snaked in front of Ilyan, cutting him off from her. They flared up and created a fiery wall between them.
She watched in awe, as Alassane stood before them in his skeletal form, surrounded by green fire. He slowly stepped closer to Ilyan, bright flames burning in the place where his eyes should have been.
“We didn’t finish, now did we?” He asked. His voice was strange, a low rasping sound compared to the way he normally sounded. Of course, it might have something to do with the fact that he had no vocal cords anymore. The only thing keeping him together was the magic coursing through his body.
Ilyan turned to look at him scornfully. “Do you really think a corpse stands a chance against a necromancer?” He asked mockingly. “I’m the master of the dead.”
There was no flesh left to form any expression on his face, but she imagined Alassane’s sneering at Ilyan. But looking at him, it was only his grinning skull that met her eyes.
She had had a hard time accepting the fact that Alassane was undead, but now it hit her like a thousand bricks. He was dead, and he had been long before she even met him.
She slowly pushed herself to her feet, while Ilyan had his back turned to her. She was very aware of the fact that she was unarmed, but then again, so was he.
She had the powers of an archangel. She didn’t need cold steel to defeat him.
She summoned up the power for an attack in the same moment Alassane sent a sea of green flames towards Ilyan. She sent her own spell flying, causing Ilyan to be surrounded by a storm of green and white.
It didn’t hinder him though. Selissa had to jerk back, when he suddenly shot through the flames towards her. Despite the flames catching on to his clothes and licking against him, he was dead set on getting to her. Black magic flew at her and only a quick reaction saved her from being hit.
Alassane rushed to her rescue, striking at Ilyan from the right. Ilyan, however, was prepared and sent Alassane flying back with a powerful spell. He landed on the floor, a sickly, hollow sound resounding through the air when his bones hit the ground.
Ilyan raised a hand towards him, as if he was establishing some invisible hold on him. Selissa’s eyes widened as she saw skin slowly grow back over his bones. Green flames extinguished and eyes grew back into empty eye-sockets. Soon every inch of Alassane was back to human form, leaving him looking oddly vulnerable.
“I told you.” Ilyan said patronizing. “I am the master of the dead. You can’t fight me.”
“Then think about those of us who are still alive.” Selissa said and lunged at him. She took advantage of his attention being on Alassane and sent a fist flying towards the back of his head. He turned his head just in time for her fist to connect with his cheek instead.
The power surging through her empowered her strike and sent Ilyan staggering backwards. She didn’t give him time to recover, sending a kick towards his stomach.
However, he was faster than she expected and caught her foot in his hand. She heard the bones creaking under the force of the kick, but he didn’t recoil.
He threw her leg aside, making her lose her balance and fall to the floor. She quickly rolled to the side and to her feet, avoiding the spell he sent her way.
“You should just give in. The result will be the same.” He said.
“If you want me, you will have to kill me.” She taunted as she sent a blast of her own flying. “But you won’t do that, will you?”
She clearly hit a nerve. Ilyan sneered at her, scars stretching unnaturally, but didn’t say anything. He needed her alive, so there was a limit to how far he could go.
“Even if you die, there will be more after you.” He said.
Selissa smirked mockingly. “The question is, how long can you wait?”
Her taunting was met with a flurry of attacks ra
ining down on her. She returned it just as fervently, blocking each attack with one of her own.
Despite that, she found herself being pushed back.
“I should just kill you here, like I killed him before you.” He spat. She assumed he was talking about Alassane. “Another one will take your place.”
“You honestly think I’m going to let you kill me?” She asked. She could not afford to lose. If she was going to die, she was going to take him down with her.
Another powerful blast almost knocked her off her feet. She stumbled back, feeling the magic lick her arms, burning like fire. Ilyan took a step closer, arm raised for another attack.
“You will die at my feet, just as your useless father did.” He taunted her, voice filled with contempt and disgust.
The rage that filled her was so powerful she could almost taste it on her tongue. This man had killed her father… It was his fault that she had grown up as an orphan, all because of his deranged scheme.
She let out a strangled scream of fury and lunged at him. She was done with these games. She wanted to see him dead.
The spell she hurled at him caught him off guard, and he didn’t have time to dodge it. Flames made of white light surrounded him, searing at his already disfigured face. Bits and pieces of flesh started crumbling, disintegrating under the force of the spell.
He let out a wild howl of pain, before lunging at her blindly. His half ruined face looked like something out of nightmares, as he threw himself at her, knocking them both to the floor.
His