The Power and the Glory

Book 3 Chapter VII: Rampant

When I hear the gates close I can let the barrier fall, she thought. That was quickly followed by, I hope the guards don't interfere.

This would be the absolute worst time for them to be seized by a sudden attack of competence. She would have enough to do just trying to keep herself safe without worrying about other people.

Crash. Crash. Crash. The front door began to creak ominously beneath the continuous attacks in spite of the magic supporting it. When it broke Abi's barrier would be all that stood between her and that thing. She looked around for ways to escape. In the background she heard the gates close.

There were flights of stairs built into the wall, leading up to the second storey and the attics. Owing to the unique architectural design of Gihimayel Palace it was less of a building and more of a block of flats with little chance of the residents encountering each other unexpectedly. None of the upstairs rooms were occupied at the moment; they were reserved for diplomats and royals from Dolovera. If she got into one of them before the door broke she could hide and keep an eye on the-- Her mind skidded to a halt as she wasted time trying to decide how to refer to the thing. It wasn't Ilaran and it wasn't a walking corpse. It was more like a parasite.

All right then. She could hide and keep an eye on the parasite while she figured out what to do.

You'll be trapped if it follows you up there, a little voice warned her.

That thought gave her pause. But there was really nowhere else for her to go -- unless she wanted to run all the way around the palace to reach the main hall, and who knew if the parasite could outrun her?

If I have to I can open a window and jump onto one of the other stairs, she thought.

It wasn't a very comforting idea when there was the possibility she would miss and fall all the way to the ground.

The door splintered. It didn't completely break but it was now cracked in two.

Abi summoned up more of her magic. Dimly she realised she should have run out of it by now, but she had no time to worry about that now. The parasite threw itself against the broken part. At the same time Abi threw a spell directly at it. She'd meant it to be a disorientating spell that would leave the parasite confused for a few minutes. To her own amazement it struck the parasite with such force that it went flying back into the house.

Her triumph was mitigated by the fact it was still possessing Ilaran. I hope that didn't hurt him too much.

And there was the worst part about this sorry mess. She couldn't try to kill the parasite for fear of harming Ilaran. The best she could hope for was to try to exorcise it and destroy it as soon as it let go of him.

While the parasite was still somewhere inside Ilaran's house Abi took advantage of the opportunity to flee. She ran up the nearest flight of stairs, wincing at how loud her footsteps were on the metal. When she reached the door there was a moment of blind panic when she found it was locked. She wasted precious seconds struggling with the doorknob before she gave up and hit the door with an opening spell. Not only did the door open, it almost fell off its hinges. Abi blinked. After all the magic she'd used recently she shouldn't be able to cast such powerful spells. Then she dismissed it and ran into the house.

All of the furniture was moved to the edges of the rooms and covered with dust sheets. To get to the window closest to the next staircase she had to climb on top of a table. When she looked out she could see the garden below, the path leading round to the main gates, and the tall hedge surrounding the palace. She couldn't see a single sign of life, not even so much as a bird perched on a tree branch.