The Greatest Sin

Arascus watched the mage cohort leave as they followed Elassa back north. Fer had a few hours, it should be enough. The goal of this operation was simply to give her an opening. Killing Elassa would have only been a bonus that would have made the future easier. He sighed as he looked at Kassandora through the window. The politicians and clerics were cheering, the public had come out. The Kirinyaan anthem was starting to be sung.

And Kassandora stood behind them, her sword still in the ground, completely shut down at the fact her plan had gone awry. He should get to her before she popped off.

Edmonton kept up the pace as he walked past the corpses Eliza had made. He turned to the girl. She stood there, cold faced as lightning sparks of sorcery sparked between her fingers. Fleur took a step back as Eliza pulled the ribbon from her brown her and let it fall loose around her shoulders. Edmonton took looked down at the corpses. They had killed before during Fer’s rescue attempt, but that was quick bouts of magic that had been unleashed in the heat of the moment. When he downed White Pantheon planes, that was just as cold and impersonal as the Artican snow that had surrounded them.

And now? He looked at Eliza again as she took a step into the blood, hard-faced and straight backed. Those brown eyes that once reminded Edmonton of fertile soil now where as terrible as rot. “We’re here to save Lyca.” Eliza said. “Keep moving, we don’t have time.”

They turned further into the containment ward as alarms started to blare. The noises chaos from Fer’s forces, the screams and roars and explosions and gunshots, dulled when they turned the first corner in the stone structure. Three mages were here, all with full-coloured robes to mark their status as staff members of Arcadia, already prepared with magical barriers. They looked at the three youths that had turned.

The tallest man held a staff, the woman and man either side to him held were armed with glowing wands. “What is happening?” The tallest mage shouted. He didn’t lower the barrier though.

“Are we under attack?” The woman shouted.

“You are.” Eliza took a step forwards as she drew her own wand, the emerald gemstone glowing along with the red heartstone necklace on her chest. “By me.”

The walls ripped apart as vines and roots and flowers tore through them. A beam of red reflected off the mage’s red barrier. He started to move his staff and then a sharp branch pierced his leg. The man fell in a scream as Eliza weaved magic and sorcery together. A vine pierced the witch’s chest, a flower sprouted from between her breasts. The final man managed to expel fire from his wand. Edmonton stepped forwards, his arms extended. A small red circle caught the fireball and both of them exploded. Eliza red beam pierced the tallest man, then twisted and turned like a lashing snake. The last of the trio fell as he was pierced by her red trident conjured by sorcery.

Edmonton took a step back from Eliza. Fleur came close to him and they joined hands. “Eliza, are you alright?”

The girl did not even turn around to look at them, she simply kept walking forwards. “We’re going to save Lyca, that’s all that matters.” They kept on walking until they came to a cross. The path split in two. Eliza said nothing, she simply looked both ways. It was bright in here, lighting crystals hung off the walls to illuminate the plain stone hallways.

“Which way are we going?” Fleur asked. Eliza closed her eyes and waved her wands. The cold grey stones underneath them rumbled and cracked as vines crept out of them. They started to sprout colourful flowers and Eliza waved her wand. Then the vines started to slither across the ground like snakes. They picked up speed as Eliza stood there, humming a tune, her wand making pirouettes in her hands. Edmonton heard shouting from the entrance.

“We’ll cover you.” Edmonton said as he took a position. The alarm from outside was still blaring but this deep in, there was no sound of the battle from outside. No sign of the chaos, it could have just been another day here, were it not for the corpses lying on the ground.

Fleur took up position next to Edmonton. A team of mages ran in, already clad in protective shields. Water spiralled around one man, another hand flames in his hands. The rest had their wands already glowing with mismatched colours. “Who are you?!” They asked, obviously stunned at the three students being in here.

Edmonton said nothing, he snapped his fingers and lances sprouted around him. Fleur started to hum and a barrier went up around them. It lasted less than a second, but a second was enough to gauge intentions. The mage with fire in his hands stepped forwards and took aim. A column of flame hurled down the corridor at Edmonton and Eliza.

It hit Fleur’s barriers as the girl drew her own wand. Winds howled and hurtled it back as Edmonton launched his lances. Two men fell, pierced and pockmarked by his assault. The water mage stepped forwards, his hand clad in sapphire rings that shone with dazzling light. Edmonton tested the man’s strength. Stronger than him but of a different mindset, he had not come to kill.

Edmonton drew his own wand and unleashed a flurry of his own magic. It was difficult to steal another man’s water, as difficult as clawing a key out of another man’s closed fist. A howling wind swept down the corridor as Fleur waved her wand again and knocked most of the men over. Edmonton felt his chance as his will probed the water. Surprise and shock gave him an opening, a relaxation of that closed fist, a single finger grew weak.

Edmonton went from zero to a hundred in an instant. His will entered that water, pushed the over man out. By the time he recovered, Edmonton was already in control, the water hung still in mid-air as the man’s brown eyes widened in fear. Sorcery was good, sorcery was powerful. But Edmonton had been training his magic for most of his life. Sorcery was strong but it was difficult. Magic was second nature to him, it was easy as breathing.

Edmonton stabbed his wand into the air and showed the man what fighting required. The water shot backwards like lightning into the heart of that group. It tore through a man’s side and downed as the magicians scrambled to put protective barriers. Too slow. The water burst like a porcupine, thin spikes piercing every beating heart and throat still there. They all collapsed as the water surged back down the corridor and spun around Edmonton.

He finally let out a breath and wiped the sweat of his face. “Eliza, are you done?” Training with Anassa was exhausting but he knew she wouldn’t kill him. Now, it was difficult to pace just how much of his power he should expend. Anassa had been correct, he wasn’t delusional enough to throw his life away and risk using the minimum amount of power.

Eliza pointed down the corridor to the right. “We’re going that way, that’s deeper in.”

Fleur looked the other way. “What’s that way?” Eliza started walking as she replied.

“Dead-end, barracks room for the guards.” She said coldly.

“Are there guards in there?” Edmonton asked as he caught up to Eliza, still looking backwards.

“There are.” Eliza said as they turned a corner. This one was empty luckily.

“Shouldn’t we prepare for them?”

“They’re dead.” Eliza said flatly as they came to another junction. Eliza’s vines, sprouting with flowers had made their way here too. Fleur gave a warning look to Edmonton and then pointed to Eliza behind her back, shaking her head. Edmonton nodded. How Eliza saw them, Edmonton did not know, but she replied. “We’re here to save Lyca. I will save Lyca.” She said flatly, almost without any emotion. “I do not care about anything else, I will save him.”

They followed the flowering vines through the corridors in silence. Eliza broke it. “There’s more coming in, they’re slow.” She said.

“From the entrance?” Edmonton asked. The water around him settled into his hands as he finally calmed down enough to not waste his magic. His legs were getting heavier, his steps slower. Fleur grabbed his hand when she noticed and started to pull him forwards.

“From the entrance, we’ll run into them on the way back.” Eliza said. “There’s a barrier up ahead.”

“Guarded?”

“No.” Eliza stopped and clicked her tongue. “There’s something here.” Edmonton sensed with his magic. There was indeed something here, but it wasn’t of his element. They both turned to Fleur. She shook her head. Eliza took a heavy breath. “Fleur, I’m almost out. Cover us.”

“Okay.” Fleur said. A barrier of opaque pale red sorcery appeared around them as Fleur waved her hand forwards. Eliza nodded and turned to look back down the corridor. She waved her wand, a vine burst from the wall and slowly thickened until it became a root. It started to creep over the floor, covering every tile.

Something clicked. In the next moment, fire burst out from the walls. They scorched the stone black, Edmonton could feel the heat even as the flames roared against Fleur’s barrier. Eliza kept pushing onwards. Another click, another column of fire. Ten in total. Fleur was breathing heavily by the time Eliza had finished. They both were, with beads of sweat running down their faces. “That’s slowed us down.” Eliza said flatly. “We move on to save Lyca.” She took a step forwards as Edmonton half-carried Fleur. She wrapped her arm around his shoulder as they kept on moving. “This is the way to the cells.”

One narrow corridor further, there was another group of mages guarding. Ten men. Edmonton reached for sorcery with what he had remaining. Eliza stepped forwards, vines sprouting along the walls. Fleur’s winds sung down the corridor. The guards had raised their shields and had readied spells already.

A blast of fire hit a vine. The plant’s outer coating incinerated from existence as Edmonton’s water, amplified by sorcery raised through the fire. Someone caught the drop in a protective shield. The water harmlessly impacted against it like a steel hammer slamming into a soft cushion. Then the sorry hit. It cracked the barrier.

Fleur’s winds came in. The guard’s multicoloured robes whipped in the wind as one of the men smashed the butt of his staff into the floor. Rocks started to shift form a barrier. Another raised a stone into the air, simply pulled it out of the wall and launched it at the three. It hit Edmonton’s barrier and exploded into a thousand small shards.

Eliza’s vines ripped through the walls and burst out near the feet of the mages. Immediately blades of air sliced them down. Edmonton felt his reserves of sorcery start to fade. If he had to rely on just magic, then he could not stand against ten mages. Three against ten was simply not a match. Fleur pushed herself off Edmonton and took a step forwards.

Edmonton felt all traces of magic and sorcery leave her as she walked through his barrier. Her arms held wide to either side. “STOP!” She shouted. Eliza looked at her, Edmonton felt his eyes bulge, but the mages at the end put their wands down. They didn’t let go of magic, but the streaming stones, the snake of fire crawling towards Edmonton along the floor and the icicles hovering in mid-air came to a pause. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Fleur shouted.

Edmonton got it immediately. They could not defeat these mages in open combat. One of the guards shouted back. “WE SHOULD ASK YOU THE SAME!” Fleur took a deep breath and replied.

“There’s some madness going on outside! People are killing each other!” The guards all looked at themselves. The snake of fire on the ground faded away, the icicles dropped and shattered on the ground.

“Are you mad?” One of the guards shouted back and Fleur dropped her arms to her side.

“Do I look mad?”

“You did attack us out of the blue.” Someone else shouted back.

“We came here because we know you’re trained.” Fleur slowly put her wand back into her belt and put her arms out to either side. Edmonton and Eliza followed along. “So we thought it’d be safe, the guards near the entrance all have killed each other.” She took a tentative step forwards and the mage’s protective barriers stopped as Fleur indicated to Eliza.

“This is Eliza, she led us here.”

“I’m Anton.” One of the guards shouted back. “Do you know what it is?” Fleur shook her head as she took another step.

“Can we stay here? At least until someone arrives?” Fleur made her tone weak and tired. It wasn’t hard to fake, they had all exhausted themselves in the fights before.

“Alright.” Anton replied. “You shouldn’t attack people like that though.” He nodded to the other mages and they all relaxed. Some even put their wands away. “What’s happening outside?”

“People just started to go mad. I can’t tell you.” Fleur said. “I think it’s some enchantment but…” She sighed heavily. “On this scale? I’ve never heard of it.” The guards all looked grimly at each other as they started to talk about madness enchantments and what could cause it. A few people mentioned Olephia, another said Kassandora but then that got dismissed as Kassandora was in Arika.

Edmonton looked at the heavy steel door that separated them from the cells. Eliza nodded to it and gave him a tiny thumbs up hidden behind a stretch. Someone came to her. “You’re talented in Floromancy.” He said.

“I try.” Eliza replied flatly and the man gave her a confused look. Fleur could act but Eliza had never been good at subterfuge.

Anton came back to them. “What are your names?”

“I’m Eliza.” Eliza replied.

“I know yours already.”

Fleur gave hers. “Fleur.” And Edmonton quickly acquiesced.

“Ed.” Anton’s expression darkened as his eyebrows furrowed.

“Like Fleur Ambelee and Edmonton Weaver?” The man asked. “Haven’t you been missing for like three months? There was a search for you.” Edmonton did not respond. He snapped his fingers. Fleur waved her hand.

Magic required catalysts to use but sorcery flowed straight from the body. Catalysts only amplified it. They could not defeat the mages in an open contest of strength but now? When all of them had lowered their barriers? Red lightning roared from Fleur and Edmonton as it cascaded through the guards. It pierced through throat and heart and head in the blink of an eye. The guards were magicians, but they fell to the ground as corpses nonetheless.

“They’re close.” Eliza said as she pulled out her hand and channelled magic and sorcery again. Two red waves hit the steel door, blew it from its hinges and a vine tore out of the ground to push it over. “LYCA!” Eliza shouted. The three crowded into the hallway before a reply even came. A burst of fire chased them in, Fleur turned on the spot, raised her hands and put up a barrier of red sorcery.

“Go! Quick!” She cried out as the fireball exploded over her shield.

Edmonton took the left side without saying a word, Eliza took the right side. The first door, he got cut with sorcery. It fell to reveal a small windowless cell with nothing but a sink, a toilet and a bed. Eliza moved to her third as Edmonton took the second. He heard the girl shout Lyca’s name and burst out into tears as Fleur screamed out.

Fleur’s barrier fell, shattered into pieces as the girl dived into one of the open cells. Edmonton quickly retreated into his own as flames came hurtling down the corridor. A stone propelled through the air cut his shoulder when he launched himself towards the nearest cell. He could just about see the inside of Lyca’s cell from here.

The man had grown, he was more muscled, his hair was darker. The pale grey prison garb he wore did little to make him less imposing and his hair was as shaggy as ever. He stood there looking at Eliza as the girl looked at him. They embraced each other and started whispering. Edmonton rolled his eyes at the sight as another fireball hurtled down the corridor passed the open cells. “HEY LOVEBIRDS!” He shouted.

Lyca looked up from Eliza’s shoulder and Edmonton kept shouting. “WE CAME HERE FOR YOU! SO GET US OUT!” Lyca’s eyes sharped. Eliza wiped her face before she turned around.

Lyca’s face twisted into a wolf’s snarl as he took a step into the corridor. Sorcery’s red lightning crashed from his eyes. He waved his hand.

The corridor was submerged in the red glow of sorcery.

No more flames came.