“You stole this girl from the mansion, and you have the strength of will to shake off my magic…you have proven yourselves worthy adventurers.” Karla looked at them with honest admiration for a moment, then her ice-cold gaze swept over them. “It would be a pity to kill you now. Will you join me? You may not understand it right now, but everything I am doing is for the benefit of Lodoss in the end. I can give you all that you desire—wealth, fame, knowledge, or perhaps a beautiful companion?”
“No way!” Parn shouted, furious.
“If you don’t desire anything, that’s fine. Hand over the girl and leave this place at once. If you refuse, I will show no mercy. You will die here, your corpses charred to cinders!”
Karla waved her hands and chanted spells one after another in a flowing melody. With each incantation, a flaming red sphere appeared above her and started spinning like a living thing.
“Unbelievable,” Slayn whispered, his voice steeped in despair. “Each of those is a fire spell. Just one would be enough to kill us all.”
“Isn’t there something we can do?” Parn asked.
“No. It would take all my mental capacities to produce just one of those orbs.”
“Okay.” Parn made up his mind. He’d rather die fighting like his father than live in disgrace. He forced his breath to calm, scanned the landscape between him and the witch, then raised his sword to his shoulder and pointed the tip straight at her bosom.
Deedlit noticed what he was doing, gulped, and opened her mouth to speak.
“Wait!” a voice called out—it was shaky, but resolute. “If I go with you, will you spare them?”
Princess Fianna stepped forward. Etoh watched as her eyes turned to the witch, unwavering, with royal pride and dignity—though he also saw how her slender limbs trembled.
He edged discreetly over to the princess.
“Your Highness, we’ll buy you time,” he whispered quickly. “She won’t use magic that will harm you—if we all run, we might distract her long enough for you to escape. Take the horse, gallop through the fields and into the forest, then head for Adan. Have faith in Pharis’s protection.” Etoh raised his arms. “Now go!” he cried, and the holy light of Pharis flickered above his head. For a moment, a bright flash outshone even the sun, and the witch was forced to avert her eyes.
Fianna stared at Etoh as if she had no idea what to do. “Go!” the priest cried, and Fianna ran for the horse.
Slayn cast darkness and put the cloak of night behind the princess, blocking her from the witch’s view. He then stepped sideways to prepare his next spell.
Deedlit stepped up next. “Wind maiden unfettered, stop the air’s vibrations and muffle all sound,” she said, casting the spell of silence where the witch stood. Then she drew her rapier. Parn and Ghim were already running.
Karla gestured with her hands and tried to send the balls of fire smashing down on top of them—but when she opened her mouth, no sound came out. She recognized the elvish magic of Sylph, the wind elemental.
Impertinent fools! Karla shook the ring on her left finger and erected invisible magic protections around her. She stepped back out of the area affected by the elemental’s spell.
Parn ran in to stop her escape. He thrust his sword at her, but the blade was stopped by an invisible wall. The impact stung his hand, almost making him drop his sword.
“If you want to die that badly, I’ll indulge you!” Finally able to speak, Karla focused and spread the magic wall around her in order to cast her next spell uninterrupted.
Parn and Ghim were propelled backwards. Parn fought to resist the unstoppable force, furious at his own powerlessness. He knew they couldn’t win.
But then, in his moment of despair, a cloud of dust rose beyond the road.
Slayn’s eyes were still keen due to the farsight spell, so it was easy for him to see what approached. He removed his hood and called out joyfully to Etoh and Woodchuck, who were hiding under the carriage. “It’s the Valis Order of Knights—at least twenty of them! And those robes in front…that’s a wizard from the Academy! It must be Lord Elm, the Valis court wizard!”
With a quick prayer of thanks to Pharis, Etoh relayed the information to Parn at the top of his lungs.
“Amazing!” Parn’s face brightened, the despair and hopelessness disappearing.
Karla overheard—no, the obnoxious priest had made sure she heard. Rage coursed through her but dissipated quickly.
I suppose fate is on their side. She switched to another spell as she glanced behind. As the priest had said, a group of armed horsemen were galloping toward her at full speed, calling out for Princess Fianna.
Karla smiled. “Cherish your good fortune—just don’t let it go to your heads. And never appear before me again. Miracles don’t repeat themselves, after all.” She dissolved her magic wall and activated another spell—one that sounded quite different from her usual incantations, spoken in the ancient language.
Truth be told, it sounded very similar to Etoh’s prayers.
“That’s Marfa’s holy magic,” Slayn said to Etoh in wonder.
As they watched, Karla vanished, her smile unwavering the entire time.
“That witch must be a priestess of Marfa,” Slayn explained. “The spell she cast is known as the return spell and can only be used by Marfa priestesses.”
Etoh wondered why a wizard would be more familiar with holy magic than a priest like him. He’d heard that most wizards worshiped Rahda, god of knowledge—but he’d never seen Slayn pray.
“A Marfa priestess?” Ghim asked with a grave look as he pressed closer to the wizard.
Slayn nodded, surprised by the dwarf’s intensity. “And a high-ranking one, too. At least from what I’ve heard.”
“I knew it!” Ghim shouted.
“What do you mean?” asked Slayn. “You know something, don’t you? Something you’ve been hiding.”
“I’m not hiding anything,” Ghim scowled. His stomach heaved with emotion—joy and anger twisting together. “I didn’t think it could be true…but how is she casting magic? And why would she side with Marmo?”