Right into the Torii gate.
The beam cut into one of the legs, blowing a large chunk of the supporting stone away. The gate creaked slightly, swaying from the impact of the blast.
“No!” he yelled, looking away from me and focusing on the compromised gate. “Shut it down, boy!”
“No,” I said, my voice full of both fear and determination. “You’re trying to kill me, which means you get to die first.”
“Don’t be daft,” Dex said, looking at me and angling the beam away from the gate into a nearby wall. “If I wanted you dead, I could have ended you several times over by now. Now, shut it down, or both you and Tristan are lost.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked. “You’re trying to kill me.”
“Listen carefully,” Dex said, keeping his voice calm while still deflecting the beam. “If that gate falls, Tristan will be exposed, and you will be trapped here, with me until I can reopen the passage. By the time I can create another gate, it will be too late; Evers or the other sects will have found him, and then I will kill you.”
“That’s not very motivational.”
“I’m glad you’re understanding the severity of your situation, boy,” Dex said with a grimace. “Now shut it down.”
“A few moments ago, you wanted to blast me.”
“What makes you think that’s changed?”
“Lowering my defenses doesn’t sound like a smart plan.”
“But burning your arm off is?” Dex asked, pointing at my arm. “You keep this up, you’re going to lose that limb, boy.”
I looked down. The violet energy had burned away my jacket sleeve. Wisps of violet colored smoke wafted off the surface of my now darkened arm. I had jumped past sunburn, into sunbaked with a light charbroiling.
“Shit, that can’t be good,” I muttered. “Fine, I’ll stop, but if you start getting murdery, I’m blasting you.”
“Aye, I’m properly warned,” Dex said. “I need to repair the gate, before it collapses. Do you have enough control to stop it?”
“I think so.”
“Now would be a good time,” he said, looking at the gate. “I need to repair that damage before it’s too late.”
I nodded.
I took a deep breath and slowly forced myself to step away from the energy around me. It was difficult, and felt like running in thigh-deep mud. The power wanted to hold on, wanted to continue coursing through my body.
Part of me wanted it to.
I forced myself away finally, with a grunt, falling to one knee. Dex raced to the gate and began gesturing. He had his back to me as he focused intently on repairing the stone.
If I attacked now, he’d never see it coming.
That little voice in my head cracked its knuckles and nodded. It pointed out how vulnerable Dex was, with his back turned, and his focus diverted.
Take him now. He won’t expect an attack—he’s too focused on the gate. This is your chance…kill him. That old fart tried to blast you to little bits. He threatened Peaches. For that alone, you should put the old bastard out of his misery.
No one threatens your hellhound…and lives.
I looked down from my charred arm to the still-furiously working Dex. The energy around me was still there. A sense of anticipation filled me. It was only a word away, and I could be using the power again. It beckoned me to channel it again, enticing me to wield it. With a shudder, I closed my eyes and got my breathing under control.
“No,” I said under my breath. “No, he may be psycho-batshit crazy right now, but that would be wrong. Even if he did threaten Peaches and try to blast me to bits.”
“Good choice,” Dex said, clapping me on the shoulder as he stood next to me, nearly startling me into a heart attack. “That’s all I needed to know.”
“I just nearly shot you,” I said, keeping my voice calm despite the fact that my heart was stomping out a sprint in my chest. “How is that possible?”
I looked over and saw the Dex at the gate disappear. The damaged gate shimmered for a few seconds and settled into solidity. The damage from my blast was nowhere to be seen on the gate.
Next to me, stood Dex.
I reached out slowly and poked him in the chest.
“Aye,” Dex said, slowly pushing my poking finger away. “It’s me.”
“You…are a dangerous, old man,” I said. “This was all an illusion?”
“Not everything,” Dex said, looking at my arm. “You did real damage to yourself.”
“The beam?” I said, looking at my burned arm. “Are you saying it wasn’t…?”
“It was real,” Dex said, shaking his head. “In a few more centuries, you may actually be dangerous.”
“How did you get over here so fast without a teleportation circle?” I asked, looking over from the gate to where Dex now stood beside me. “You were over there. I saw you over there.”
“By now, you should know enough to see with your proper eye,” he said, tapping my forehead. “You saw what I needed you to see.”
“It was an illusion?”
“A third-order simulacrum,” Dex said. “Let’s just say, I refracted light to create a likeness of myself. A quite handsome likeness, if I have to be honest.”
“But it looked, no…it felt real.”
“Because you’re using the wrong sense to see,” Dex answered. “The illusion precedes and informs reality. I’d explain it to you, but then, frankly, most of it would be beyond you, at your current level of understanding.”
“Are you saying I wouldn’t understand you?” I asked, not understanding what he was saying. “I may not be a mage, but I can grasp some of the concepts.”
“I’m saying that delicate structure you call a brain would snap,” he answered. “I need you firing on all cylinders.” He gave me a look. “Well, as many as possible, considering the circumstances.”
“You deflected my beam from here?”
“Actually from over there,” he said, pointing several yards away, across the courtyard. “Like I said, with a few centuries of training, you will be a minor threat. Except,
