Adan stepped back from the tree, bringing the Keeper back to reality. “Is that it?”
The Drake answered with action rather than words. With both hands raised, Adan conjured a spell that brought forth a wave of cold air. It blew through the tree, rustling the needles, and continued to the next tree and so on. Moving his hands around, he cast his magic in an arc until every tree around them was rustling with the artificial breeze.
As he turned on the spot and came face to face with Kassian, Adan stopped and his eyes went wide. The Keeper knew that look. He had seen it in the faces of his mages time and time again. Acting protectively as well as instinctively, he pushed Adan’Karth back while, at the same time, throwing himself to the ground. As he rolled over his shoulder, he heard the sound of steel cutting through the air where he had just been standing.
Reavers!
There was no opportunity to rise before another swing came at him, this time high to low. Kassian launched himself backwards, narrowly avoiding the tip of the blade.
Landing on his back, he scrambled away from the Reaver as best he could but the undead wretch advanced with confident strides. As a third blow came down on him, the Keeper parted his legs and avoided amputation.
As the Reaver heaved its sword back with both hands, Kassian retrieved the wand from his thigh - he wasn’t going to let it deliver a fourth blow. Thrusting the wand, he poured his will into the spell, his focus harnessed by the Demetrium core. He squinted his eyes, preparing for the blinding light that would explode from the end and destroy his foe.
There was no explosion, however. Instead, his wand spat a shower of sparks at the Reaver, a spell no more potent than throwing a bucket of water over the fiend. Inevitably, that fourth blow arrived; this time aimed to slice through his head and torso.
The Keeper swore and rolled to the side at the last second. He tried to jump up but a boot pressed into his side and kept him down with a fierce push kick. Kassian used this forceful momentum to continue his roll, thereby avoiding a fifth strike from the Reaver’s sword. With what precious moments he had, the Keeper aimed his wand again and flicked his wrist this way and that to expel the destructive magic. Nothing. Sometimes there weren’t even sparks.
As the sixth hammering blow came down on him, Kassian rolled to the side one last time before shoving his boot into the Reaver’s knee. The creature felt no pain, but the damage to its limb caused it to stagger away, giving the Keeper the time he needed to finally get off the ground. It was only then that he noticed the Seeker advancing on Adan’Karth.
Giving up on his wand, he exchanged it for the sword on his hip. Muscle memory demanded that he draw the blade over his left vambrace, an act that would ignite the spell laid in the steel. He had done it hundreds of times and never once had it failed to come alive with that blinding white heat.
Except now.
The blade remained dull, its only shine from the moon’s reflection. With the Reaver limping towards him, he had only his skill with a sword to fall back on. He deflected three successive strikes while deliberately positioning himself to have a clear line to the Seeker. It growled and hissed as it stalked closer and closer to Adan, its jaws dripping with thick saliva. With few options, Kassian did the only thing he could to save the Drake’s life. He launched his only weapon.
The sword flew through the air, spinning end over end, until it slammed into the centre mass of the Seeker. The creature yelped as it was thrown into the side of a tree, there to die. Now, of course, the Keeper was left to face the Reaver with naught but his hands and his wit.
“The currents!” Adan shouted from across the clearing. “The currents are aligned with you again!”
The Reaver managed another three strikes - all of which Kassian managed to evade - before Adan’s words sank in. He gripped his wand again and whipped it up into the Reaver’s chest. Now there was an explosion of light. And the force that accompanied it was enough to take the fiend from its feet and hurl it into the forest.
As the dust settled, Kassian stepped out of the clearing and approached the Reaver. It was easy to find, impaled on a branch, its feet hanging above the ground. It writhed and struggled to free itself, but Kassian’s spell had severely damaged its arms and legs, leaving the resurrected knight to remain pinned to the tree. He aimed his wand at its head, intending to destroy the creature once and for all. This time, a harmless jet of water shot out of the tip and did nothing more than soak the Reaver’s armour.
The Keeper groaned and tapped the wand against the palm of his hand. It still refused to obey him, this time emitting a low humming noise.
“It’s your lucky day,” he remarked, before returning to Adan. “Are you alright?” he asked.
“I am unharmed,” the Drake replied evenly.
“Good.” Kassian planted one boot on the Seeker’s ribs and yanked his sword free. In his hand, the blade now came alive with a searing hot glow that took him by surprise. “This is getting tiresome,” he complained before looking to Adan. “What you said back there… You can see when the currents are flowing through me?”
“Yes,” Adan confirmed. “They are not flowing through you now.” With his last word, Kassian’s sword lost its enchantment and returned to ordinary steel.
Just to be sure, the Keeper ran
