Lessons from my demons

Chapter ten: dueling fates

"Three weeks to prepare? We'd better get started," Thalia stated, "and best not speed him up any more than we already have." The twins angrily studied Viola.

Valetta stepped forwards. "I need you to meld with me, now."

"Never."

"Actually..." Tiana admitted, "You're not going to let go of Talis until you do this, so I'd say you had better do this, even if I don't really approve of the rest of them." Viola couldn't believe her ears. She turned to her other friends, but they were nodding in approval. Couldn't they see that they were abandoning Talis in his time of absolute need?

"Fine. I'll meld," she said finally, bringing the others close to cheering. "If Valetta can beat me in a fight to the death. If I win, I want all of you out of my life, or so help me!" she shouted.

"Gladly," came her challenger's reply, "The war is here. All I have lose is a chance to become an Immortal."

The courtyard was their arena, their magic their only weapons, and the four other pairs their spectators. "Ready to see whether Creation or Destruction magic is best at destroying?" Valetta teased.

"Ready to see if an Immortal teaches better than you taught yourself?" Viola countered. Rachel gave Viola the cracked pseudo-wand of creation, and Valetta was given the never-used wand of destruction by Ria, and the duel began with Valetta shooting a bolt of lightning- a destruction spell. Viola could only hope the cracked and amateur-made wand could still function- and it could, as well as any other, creating a shield of light. Why, Viola wondered, walking forward and conjuring a sword at her side, is she not destroying my shield? It was an illogical act, to be sure, but as a prideful magician herself, she understood it- Valetta wanted to prove that she was the superior magician, winning with pure power. If that was the case, Viola would have to outsmart her. She knocked the bolt sideways with her shield, deflecting it onto the ground, and charged. Valetta was forced to conjure a shield. Creation magic. So much for showing the pure power of destruction, she thought, now there's no holding back.

Quickly, she conjured a sword and the two began parrying, Viola with what little combat training the King had provided her, Valetta with only the realm as her teacher. Valetta drew closer and closer, Viola mostly countering the best she could and taking no damage other than some deep scratches on her face. Her sword went flying not half a minute later. In a last-ditch attempt to survive the duel, Viola charged in with her shield. It knocked her down, but not for long. Viola used the spare moment to conjure a wall of flame to torch Valetta, sure she had won.

The flames shot from the mage's hand and flowed like an arc of destruction towards Valetta. Viola dropped her conjured sword and shield to preserve her near-empty magic reserves, depleted from the massive destruction spell. Then, she noticed the flames were hitting a human-sized rectangle- and it was charging. With her sword of light, Valetta cut through the flames. She wasn't sure how much more of these creation spells she could take. The cube shield failed her just a moment too soon, and she landed forwards, burned and bleeding, but in front of a disarmed opponent, flames failed and magic low. Another leap and victory would be hers.

As she painstakingly bounded in and raised her sword, she saw that Viola, while weaponless, was preparing something far worse: a force field. She scrambled to avoid it, but it was too late. It knocked her back several feet the moment her sword hit it. The weapon landed dozens of feet away, and she done; magic reserves empty, blood not far behind.

Viola stood over her, keeping her force field up with painful amounts of effort. She, too was bleeding heavily. Without medical attention, neither would last the hour, let alone the night. "I can't kill you, you know. I have no more magic. The sword turned back into dust when it hit the ground. I'd have to do it physically, and I don't know how." Then, the cracked wand broke, its gem falling straight out from the strain and the wood splintering like a tree struck by lightning.

"Good!" Valetta wheezed, lunging forward and grabbing Viola's legs. Just as Valetta was about to snap her victim's neck, Viola held her hands up in submission. "You've won! You've won! Take mercy!" she loosened her grip on Viola's neck, but not too much; a white flag could hide a gun, after all.

"You won the magic duel. I don't win unless I kill you."

Viola looked harshly at her. "You might have won if you weren't trying for honour. Almost like for a second, you cared about the means, not just the end." Her words stung.

"Well, you might not be dying if you hadn't spent so much magic on failed destruction spells."

"Don't pretend you didn't use creation!" there wasn't any malice in either of their words, but a surprisingly light vibe. Valetta released Viola's neck and fell over beside her. The fight was over.

"You know, the war is happening now, like it or not. I guess I'll let you go."

"But we have so much to learn from each other. I'm scared of melding, but if I'm going to die in a war-torn world, I might as well take as much knowledge as I can with me. I-I think I might be wrong about King Talis. Why is it so hard to meld?"

"You're losing your purity and place in Talis' ideal world. Of course it's uncomfortable. But, you're not supposed to be a programmed book-smart fool any more than I'm meant to be a war mongering bully. When we come together, it'll be," she was starting to get out of breath, "Who... we really are."

Viola's eyes met hers in understanding. And the two touched and became enveloped in a light. One mage walked out, body and mind repaired.