Read Online The Sorcerer's Abyss (The Sorcerer's Path) by Brock Deskins - Free Book Online Page B

thirty feet above the ground. Ellyssa fed a trickle of the Source into the length of rope wrapped around her waist. The stout cord snaked out as if alive and wrapped around a thick limb ahead of her. Ellyssa held onto the knotted end as the rope guided her onto another limb several feet below its anchor point.
     
Another thought and trickle of power made the rope release its grip on the branch overhead and return to its home wrapped around her narrow waist. Shaping the Source into another spell, thick frost covered everything for several yards around two more of the dummies. The cold was so intense, loud pops echoed across the clearing as the trees caught within the icy spell split and cracked.
     
Ellyssa opened another gate and practically ran along the tree limb like a squirrel before disappearing into the glimmering portal and depositing herself back atop her rocky bluff. The young mage turned her attention to several fist-sized stones scattered around her. They floated up and began orbiting the girl with increasing speed.  The rocks quickly became little more than a blur until Ellyssa redirected their force outward and sent them hurling one after another into the effigies. She enervated the stones with the Source so they struck with more than simple kinetic force. Each rock exploded violently when it struck and sent shards in every direction, decimating whatever they hit.
     
“Hey, watch it!” a voice cried out from the nearby woods.
     
There was no hesitation and little thought as Ellyssa struck out at the unexpected voice. With a flick of her hand, the rope uncoiled and slashed across the clearing. The voice came again in a startled yelp as the rope yanked him from the foliage, hoisted him into a tree, and left him dangling by one foot.
     
“What are you doing out here, Roger?” Ellyssa shouted crossly across the field.
     
Roger wriggled around until he faced Ellyssa’s direction. “Oh, you know, just hanging around.”
     
Ellyssa stepped off the ledge and used the Source to lower herself gently to the ground. She stalked across the clearing and looked the upside down Roger in the eyes.
     
“You could have gotten yourself killed.”
     
“Yeah well, hanging around you has always posed a certain amount of danger,” Roger replied.
     
Ellyssa stumbled back and nearly doubled over. Roger’s words caught her like a punch to the stomach, but she recovered quickly and silently commanded the rope to release. Roger crashed heavily onto the ground and looked abashed as he got to his feet and dusted himself off.
     
“Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that,” he said.
     
“What are you doing here?” Ellyssa reiterated.
     
“You haven’t been coming to class, so I wanted to see what you were up to.”
     
“What I’m up to is called practicing,” Ellyssa responded waspishly. “Is there something wrong with that?”
     
Roger looked around at the oft-abused clearing. “It looks like practice with intent.”
     
“So what if it is?”
     
“So do you remember what happened last time you got yourself into trouble? A lot of people died coming for you, Wolf, and Sandy. It’s something you need to think about before you do something stupid—again.”
     
Ellyssa’s face reddened in a conflicting state of shame and anger. “I’ll tell you what I told Allister: I don’t want anyone’s help. Whatever problems I find, I will deal with on my own.”
     
“You can pretty much bet that won’t be a problem.”
     
“Good!”
     
Roger let out an exasperated sigh. “I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that you’ve become so unpleasant to be around.”
     
A thunderous roar cut off Ellyssa’s response and the small glen grew darker as an enormous shadow partially blotted out the sun. Sandy raced by overhead and released a thunderous clap of lightning into her own clearing half a mile away. Even from where Ellyssa and Roger stood, they both felt the shockwaves as the dragon released spells of