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Authors: David Houpt
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witnessed their predecessors’ demise, and were therefore striving to evade the specter.
Lian forced himself to lie motionless despite the agony of reawakening limbs, to wait for the temporary loss of sight and hearing to recede. He had faith in what the goddess had told him, that he was not fated to die at the hands of the wraith.
Too soon, the wraith seized the squealing and shrieking rats, and hurled their ghostly forms one after the other into the flames. They vanished in a blue-white flare, and for an instant the protective circle actually flickered. The wraith advanced hungrily, then halted as the fire was quickly restored by the sword’s song. The effort required to do this was too great, however, and Gem sank to the floor, where she came to rest beside Lian’s hand. The radiance emanating from the heart of the emerald grew dim.
I knew that you would fail, sword spirit , the wraith gloated into Gem’s mind. Lian also heard the remark, but made no response. Sensation had returned to his right arm and both legs, though he couldn’t feel his left shoulder and arm at all. His hearing had also been restored, for the low, steady thrums of power that Gem was sustaining had become discernible to his ears.
Gem, show me the situation , he asked.
She did so, her mental touch saturated with exhaustion.
Do you have enough power left to enchant your blade’s edge ? he asked, gathering the energy to force himself to his feet. The spell she’d used at the beginning of the fight with the wraiths had been quite effective. He felt a little better than he had in the vision, and wondered if the meal had strengthened him somehow.
I’m sorry, lad, but my magic’s almost completely depleted. It’ll be days before I can sing another spell , she said. When the circle collapses, which it certainly will with the next poor shade he throws into it, that’ll be it. You couldn’t have cut it closer, I can tell you .
He didn’t seem overly concerned at her admonishment. Sorry to have kept you, Gem. It’ll be all right, I promise. His words carried such conviction that she wondered briefly if the wraith’s touch had driven him mad. That happened sometimes, according to legend.
The wraith, meanwhile, had captured another ghostly rat, and returned to fling it into the circle of flames. It understood that the weapon’s arcane capacity was depleted, and it was impatient to finish its meal. Gem imagined that it was grinning gleefully, though she couldn’t actually see its features. It threw the rat into the flames, poised to follow and consume the remainder of the boy’s soul.
The resultant blue-white flash was slightly brighter than before, as Gem projected the remainder of her mana into it. Now, Lian ! she exclaimed as she saw the wraith pursue the rat’s trajectory through the flames in anticipation of the final attack. Her senses weren’t blinded by the flares and flashes, as Lian’s and the wraith’s would be.
Lian seized the sword hilt and struggled to his knees, slashing at the wraith with every vestige of will he could muster. “Die, you shit!” he howled as the phantasmal robes were sliced by the Truesilver weapon’s enchanted blade. The wraith hurriedly reversed its course, darting back out of striking distance, clutching its arm against the wound. Pain was something to which it had become unaccustomed.
It had failed to notice the dozen or so spectral rats that had gathered at the periphery of the hallway, or perhaps it had ignored them except as additional ammunition for its siege. However, in its present state, wounded by Gem, the wraith finally revealed weakness. The rats weren’t exactly rats anymore, but they recalled enough of their former corporeal existence to realize that an injured creature meant a meal more often than not. Squeaking in a plethora of unearthly voices heard only in the mind, the rats swarmed the wraith with a vengeance.
Lian and Gem had no doubt that the powerful specter could defend
Lian forced himself to lie motionless despite the agony of reawakening limbs, to wait for the temporary loss of sight and hearing to recede. He had faith in what the goddess had told him, that he was not fated to die at the hands of the wraith.
Too soon, the wraith seized the squealing and shrieking rats, and hurled their ghostly forms one after the other into the flames. They vanished in a blue-white flare, and for an instant the protective circle actually flickered. The wraith advanced hungrily, then halted as the fire was quickly restored by the sword’s song. The effort required to do this was too great, however, and Gem sank to the floor, where she came to rest beside Lian’s hand. The radiance emanating from the heart of the emerald grew dim.
I knew that you would fail, sword spirit , the wraith gloated into Gem’s mind. Lian also heard the remark, but made no response. Sensation had returned to his right arm and both legs, though he couldn’t feel his left shoulder and arm at all. His hearing had also been restored, for the low, steady thrums of power that Gem was sustaining had become discernible to his ears.
Gem, show me the situation , he asked.
She did so, her mental touch saturated with exhaustion.
Do you have enough power left to enchant your blade’s edge ? he asked, gathering the energy to force himself to his feet. The spell she’d used at the beginning of the fight with the wraiths had been quite effective. He felt a little better than he had in the vision, and wondered if the meal had strengthened him somehow.
I’m sorry, lad, but my magic’s almost completely depleted. It’ll be days before I can sing another spell , she said. When the circle collapses, which it certainly will with the next poor shade he throws into it, that’ll be it. You couldn’t have cut it closer, I can tell you .
He didn’t seem overly concerned at her admonishment. Sorry to have kept you, Gem. It’ll be all right, I promise. His words carried such conviction that she wondered briefly if the wraith’s touch had driven him mad. That happened sometimes, according to legend.
The wraith, meanwhile, had captured another ghostly rat, and returned to fling it into the circle of flames. It understood that the weapon’s arcane capacity was depleted, and it was impatient to finish its meal. Gem imagined that it was grinning gleefully, though she couldn’t actually see its features. It threw the rat into the flames, poised to follow and consume the remainder of the boy’s soul.
The resultant blue-white flash was slightly brighter than before, as Gem projected the remainder of her mana into it. Now, Lian ! she exclaimed as she saw the wraith pursue the rat’s trajectory through the flames in anticipation of the final attack. Her senses weren’t blinded by the flares and flashes, as Lian’s and the wraith’s would be.
Lian seized the sword hilt and struggled to his knees, slashing at the wraith with every vestige of will he could muster. “Die, you shit!” he howled as the phantasmal robes were sliced by the Truesilver weapon’s enchanted blade. The wraith hurriedly reversed its course, darting back out of striking distance, clutching its arm against the wound. Pain was something to which it had become unaccustomed.
It had failed to notice the dozen or so spectral rats that had gathered at the periphery of the hallway, or perhaps it had ignored them except as additional ammunition for its siege. However, in its present state, wounded by Gem, the wraith finally revealed weakness. The rats weren’t exactly rats anymore, but they recalled enough of their former corporeal existence to realize that an injured creature meant a meal more often than not. Squeaking in a plethora of unearthly voices heard only in the mind, the rats swarmed the wraith with a vengeance.
Lian and Gem had no doubt that the powerful specter could defend
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