So fast, I could barely see it. Magnus withdrew a short blade from his cane. With a single fluid motion, he severed Brute’s hand clean from his arm. His dripping hand dropped to the ground, still holding onto his weapon.
You could have heard the drop of a pin; it was so quiet. Brute didn’t even register the loss of his hand for a solid second. Magnus wiped the steel and sheathed his blade with a distinct click. With that singular sound, Brute dropped to his knees and screamed, trying to stop the stump of his arm from spurting blood everywhere. He fumbled for a health potion on the nearby wooden table and clumsily uncapped it, pouring the entirety of its contents down his gullet.
After a moment, his hand regrew, and he stopped his bellyaching. Magnus was standing in the same position as before. If I hadn’t seen him move with my own eyes, I couldn’t have told the difference. The set of his shoulders seemed to convey a sense of superiority to them. With good reason. He moved faster than nearly anyone I had ever seen before—less than a second to sever Brute's hand and return.
A truly marvelous display of skill. Could I have done it? Maybe…with a lot of practice, so could Wilson and Evelyn. But beyond the three of us, I doubt many could replicate such a feat. Magnus had just become my priority target. The others were children compared to him. That level of speed and precision was genuinely terrifying.
The other men were looking at Magnus with a new light, not as stupid as they appeared. They mumbled a few words of apology and gratefully accepted the still decent-sized bag of gold on the table and bowed to him respectfully, departing.
I didn’t want them to leave; they’d all participated in the abduction of Eris, and I wanted them to suffer, but I’d let my anger and bloodlust cloud me before, and it was the reason I was here. I can’t be so careless again, not when it comes to Eris. If I disregarded my position to try and take them out, it would be a foolish mistake. Those chumps were merely hired thugs, small fish compared to Magnus.
He’s who I came here to find. Once Eris is free, and he’s dead, I can find the rest, but not before.
Magnus was the threat, and he would die first.
The men unbolted the heavy door and shut it as they left. Magnus looked at the door, and with a flick of his wrist, the bolt slammed home, locking the door.
Which was impossible.
What the fuck? What was that? Did he use magic? That’s not possible. My thoughts ran rapid-fire through me, my mind not understanding what just happened. You can’t use magic like that; he didn’t even use Script!
It wasn’t possible to use magic without Script. I believed that to be fact, up until I met Eris, whose own spells didn’t use the language. But she still has the strange smoke that pours out when she uses magic; there’s still an aspect of tangibility to her magic. Casting required a tangible element to cast. You couldn’t just wave your hand and affect change like that.
What Magnus had done was simply impossible.
It looked like telekinesis magic, but every telekinesis spell used Script. I knew several mages who used telekinesis magic, but they had to use Script circles to cast. It didn’t make sense that he could do that. It went against the rules of magic. What is he?
Guess it doesn’t matter, he’ll be dead before he knows it.
Magnus strutted over to the cage that housed Eris, tilting his head to peer down at her, speaking in his unnerving voice. “Look at you, such a beautiful specimen you are. A shame, the fate that awaits you, dear. A waste, in my opinion.”
He chuckled darkly and walked over to the table with an assortment of goods and items arrayed on the wood. He set down a large black key on the table and picked up a large syringe filled with a noxious green liquid. The needle was the length of the blade of a dagger and dripped with whatever poison resided within it.
Magnus started walking back to the cage, preparing to inject Eris with whatever was in the syringe. I wasn’t about to let that happen. I drew my sword, activated Dance of the Immortal, and leapt over the railing.
I landed just shy of him and was finally able to see all of his face.
It was long and thin with sharp edges and a wicked, malicious set to it. Even in the gray-washed landscape, his teeth glinted within his cruel grin. He sported a dark goatee, and his purple eyes flashed with devilish light.
I moved to cut his head off when a thought struck me. Purple eyes? What the—?
Before I could finish the thought, Magnus moved. His blade came up and blocked mine, stopping me cold.
Impossible!
He smiled nauseatingly at me. “Well, well, well. What do we have here? An intruder? How rude of you to interrupt my fun."
Chapter 25 – An Offer Made
The color was still drained from the world; every hue of gray surrounded me. "How are you able to move?" I asked.
Dance is still active, and this shouldn't be possible.
Magnus just laughed, raising his hand and with a snap, shattered Dance of the Immortal. His purple eyes faded to blue as color bled back to the world. Time returned to normal, and I sagged to my knees as my battle fatigue raised. Not good, not good. How is he doing this?
"How did you disrupt my ability?"
"Easily." He grinned.
Eris struggled against her chains and cried out. "Sam!"
She kept on, railing against her chains
