At Eicewald’s command, the Ice Magi raised their staves in front of them and grasped them firmly. The great spell began. Lasgol raised the Star of Sea and Life above his head. It was not activated yet, so he felt no adverse effects. Eicewald began the spell, intoning words of arcane power, and the Ice Magi joined in. The Specter was moving towards them, while at the same time the enemy hosts intoned their own chant.
Lasgol knew it would take some time to create the spell. He prepared himself by invoking all the skills he thought might be able to help him at that moment. Suddenly Eicewald pointed his staff at the Star of Sea and Life, which seemed to take on a life of its own, glowing with an intense sea-blue, mingled with white flashes. Lasgol began to feel that there was not enough air, as if he could not breathe properly. He tried to get air into his lungs by inhaling with all his might, first through his nose and then through his mouth, until at last he managed to breathe, but with difficulty. A horrifying sense of drowning under the sea overwhelmed him, so that he almost dropped the Star.
Eicewald went on with the spell, trusting that Lasgol would hold up. All the Rangers above the battlements were watching, their expressions full of uncertainty and worry.
“Arrows of fire!” Gatik ordered as the Frozen Specter approached.
The Rangers readied their weapons and released. The arrows hit the Specter, which uttered strange shouts of rage. Fire could not destroy it, but it certainly annoyed it. They launched more arrows, which forced it to stop.
“Stop shooting!” Gatik ordered.
They needed the Specter not to turn round and leave, or else it would move out of range of the spell. At the same time, they wanted to stop it reaching the gate, because if it did so it could stretch out its deadly arms and destroy the Magi.
The Specter seemed to hesitate, but the chanting echoed throughout the area and it set off once again toward the gate. As the Rangers did not have enough arrows, they hauled up cauldrons of fire and tied strips of cloth to the arrows so that they would burn. At Gatik’s order, they repeated the strategy. The Specter stopped again for a moment, but this time it seemed to grow furious and lurched into movement again.
“Release again!” Gatik ordered.
The fire arrows hit the Frozen Specter, which grew more and more furious, but carried on. The strategy was no longer working. Had they gained enough time to allow the Magi to finish the spell? They would soon find out, because the Specter was less than twenty paces from the gate and was heading straight to it as if it knew that this was where the spell was coming from.
Lasgol was having a terrible time as the Ice Magi conjured more and more intensely. The gloves were preventing him from drowning, but the lack of air and the sense of being at the bottom of the ocean was now overwhelming. His lungs and head hurt, and a terrible pain was clutching his chest.
Suddenly there came an arc of blue energy from Eicewald’s staff. When it reached the Star of Sea and Life, it lit up in blue and white.
The final phase of the spell now began.
Lasgol did not know whether he would be able to hold out any longer. What he was feeling was pure torture. When he tried to breathe, he felt like a fish which had been taken out of the water. The other Magi directed the conjured arcs of energy toward the Star, as Eicewald had done. The energy of all five Magi was now reaching the Star, which glowed more and more intensely. Lasgol had the impression that it had more energy and power than the Snowflake.
You well? came Camu’s worried message.
Lasgol had to make a tremendous effort to answer, because he felt that he was dying. Holding up the Star was all his mind was able to manage.
I’m … fine …
Not fine, I help, Camu transmitted, deeply worried.
No! If you step in … you’ll destroy the great spell …
I want help.
In that case … don’t do anything …
By now the Specter was only five paces away from the gate. In the midst of the chanting of the hosts of the Ice, it began to extend its arms. Time was running out.
Eicewald stopped conjuring and opened his eyes, followed by the other Magi an instant later. He fixed his eyes on the Specter and pointed at it with his staff. A beam shot out of the staff and hit the creature in its horribly disfigured face. Eicewald uttered a command of power, and the Star of Sea and Life generated an enormous burst of brilliance, followed by an equally tremendous bolt of blue-and-white light which rose to the sky. The monstrosity raised its arms, and a moment later the descending bolt fell full on it.
The creature of the frozen abysses gave out a deep, agonized scream, as though it had been run through with a great sword of fire. It shook its arms in an attempt to get rid of the pain, and its disfigured face was full of terror.
Lasgol’s jaw was almost dislocated by now. He felt as though he was dying. Once again Eicewald uttered the command of power, and a new burst of blue and white rose from the Star of Sea and Life. Another great bolt of light fell, smiting the Specter like a hammer of magic. The creature gave another scream and doubled up. An enormous pain penetrated its corrupt, empty soul.
The Star’s great spell, which contained the energy
