HE RELEASED HER and jolted backward, narrowly escaping the burst of magic that exploded across her skin. His hands clapped together. A bolt of crimson erupted from his palms and raced toward her. Her sword arched upward, slicing down through the crimson before it could reach her.
Distance stretched between them. Vyses slowed to a stop and watched her. His smile was vicious. "You see nothing — you know nothing."
She didn't really listen as he started to prattle on. Instead, she focused her attention toward her magic and her surroundings. Her hands glowed light blue, as crystalized ice started to dance atop her skin. It pirouetted between her fingertips, waiting patiently to strike.
Through her peripheral vision, she could see Caelan, his image tainted with the crimson glow of the barrier that separated them. He darted across the stone floor — a blurred movement encased within light. Lyth matched his pace, his darkness a shadow to Caelan's every step.
Behind them, human soldiers clung to the corners of the throne room. Weapons trembled within their hands. Their eyes glowed crimson red. As small increments of time stretched on, it became apparent that the humans could not move — their bodies frozen in formation, controlled by a single spell.
And Vyses continued to talk.
Bits and pieces of his villainous speech managed to pierce through her thoughts — but she mostly ignored it. He prattled on about how Caelan was a monster that needed to be stopped. About how Caelan ruined his life. About how she was delusional to think that Caelan even cared for her at all.
It became abundantly clear that Vyses was utterly obsessed with Caelan.
After every third word of his endless speech, Vyses would take a few steps to the right. She mirrored his movements, but moved away from him, attempting to maintain the distance between them.
"He can't even manage to break through a simple barrier spell," Vyses was saying, his hand dramatically gesturing toward the thick red wall of magic.
In between attacks, she observed Caelan attempt to blast his own magic against the barrier. A tiny crack had begun to form — but the barrier still stood strong. Its magic was too strong for Caelan to break down on his own.
She would have to time it just right.
"Did you truly believe that I would return to your side?" she asked Vyses suddenly, cutting him off mid-sentence. Her tone was taunting, and filled with amusement. She even laughed a little. "At least Caelan attempts to treat me with respect. You locked me up in a dungeon."
A crimson colored sword appeared in each of his hands. An angry shout pried past his lips as Vyses lunged at Ravenna. Her own sword arched upward. Metal clashed against metal as she deftly blocked his attacks.
"You wretched woman! I created you!"
His scream echoed against the walls around them.
Ravenna matched his enthusiasm. "I existed before you came into my life," she screamed back. Ice exploded past her fingertips, racing down the length of her sword. She took aim. Sharpened shards of ice burst from the tip of her sword and sliced through the air. "I had a life. A purpose. A family!"
Her ice shattered against his swords.
She lifted her sword high above her head. Her fingers curled tight around its frozen hilt. With all her strength, she brought the sword down. It shattered against the stones beneath her. Ice erupted from the impact — cutting through the air in all directions. It fractured against the crimson barrier.
Caelan's tiny crack grew. It now stretched from floor to ceiling — still almost too thin for the naked eye.
Vyses lunged at her again, his expression contorted with an agonized pain. Both of his swords aimed for her head. She ducked downward and another sword materialized within her hand. One of the swords vanished and his hand grabbed her wrist.
He wrenched her close. Only a small sliver of space existed between them.
"I gave you a new life!" he shouted. Agony and anger mixed within his irises. "I gave you magic! And this is how you show your gratitude?!"
"Gratitude?" The word came out shrill and dripping with anger. She seethed, "You think that I should feel grateful?"
Ice cracked across the floor around her, spreading in all directions. It lashed out at Vyses, forcing him backwards. Her sword swiftly followed. "You murdered everyone! My mother. My hometown. Me!"
Vyses blocked her attack. Genuine anger cracked across the light-hearted mask he usually wore. Crimson magic coated his skin. It cracked through the air around him — a sea of red lightning, vibrant and alive.
"I gave you everything!"
His voice echoed throughout the throne room. It vibrated across the walls, causing a tremor to disturb the old stones. A burst of crimson followed it, slithering along the walls. Small cracks formed in the floor, zipping across the length of the room in the shape of a spiderweb.
The spelled-humans that stood within the crevices of the room instantly bolted forward. Their mouths opened and a uniformed shout filled the air. Their glowing crimson eyes blazed with fear.
Ravenna waved her hand. An army of ice soldiers materialized around her. The soldiers lunged forward, attacking the humans with swift, precise movements. She commanded her soldiers not to harm the humans — simply render them unable to fight.
Vyses lunged at her again. The sword in her hands clashed against his. She mirrored his movements, dancing across the cracked stones beneath her feet. As she moved, she observed.
His movements were fast — chaotic and hard to track, similar to how his thoughts appeared to work. She searched for a pattern, for anything that could give her an edge forward.
It didn't take long to find it.
Any overhead strike with her sword caused his movements to falter and slow. He expected her to stay low, or at least maintain her sword at a level that could easily block any attack made at her torso. Anything otherwise threw him off and triggered a change in his attacks.
While his methods were aggressive, it seemed like Vyses did not want to actually hurt her — at least not fatally.
In one swift movement, her sword arched above her head. Vyses ducked backward, his sword pulling back. His free hand shot out. A bolt of crimson burst forward from his fingertips.
Her left arm took the hit. Pain scorched through her veins. Her right arm drew back. She took aim. With all of her strength, she threw her ice sword at the barrier as hard as she could.
The tip of her sword touched the barrier, sliding between the broken edges of the crack. A thunderous crackling sound froze all movement within the room. Caelan's head turned. His gaze met Ravenna's, eyes wide with surprise.
Color instantly flooded his features. Jagged red pieces of the barrier rained down to the stones at their feet, shattering against the hard surface.
Ravenna whirled around — just in time to block another heavy handed attack.
Vyses glowered down at her. "He doesn't care about you," he growled. "He doesn't care about anyone."
Heartache dripped from every word that left his mouth.
"He doesn't love you like I do."
"Good," Ravenna told him firmly. "Otherwise, I would have to kill him too."