She could picture her teacher's words of admonishment. This thing before you isn't alive, he would say. It has no warmth, no compassion. It seeks only death. When confronted with such creatures as this in the world, you have no choice but to deal death first.
The wraith, finally distracted by the waving light, swooped low across the water, its face inches from the rippling current.
It was coming at her from the right. Icelin braced her feet, certain she'd be knocked from the raft if the thing hit her.
A sharp arc, and the wraith was up and over the side of the raft-
Suddenly, Ruen sprang up between them. He'd only been pretending to be injured. He planted the gutting knife in the wraith's chest and held on.
The wraith thrashed and screeched and lifted Ruen off his feet. For a scant breath, they hung suspended over the water. Ruen jerked, tearing ghostly flesh. He jerked again, and the wraith spun, flipping the thief over its body to shake loose his grip.
The move worked. Ruen's fingers slipped from the knife, and he plunged into the murky water. His hat floated to the surface, but Ruen did not reappear.
Alone on the raft, Icelin at last found a spell. Calmly, she waited for the wraith to circle again. She watched it come, a ghastly glowing arrow running parallel to the water. Ruen's fish knife protruded from its chest, but the light had faded from the blade. As the creature glided closer, Icelin saw the blade and handle crumble, sprinkling ashes over the water.
This time the wraith would not be distracted from its prey. Ruen was either drowned or too far down in the water to help her.
Trembling, Icelin extended both hands out from her body. Pressing her thumbs together, she chanted the dusty words and prayed that she would not be burned alive.
'Begone!' she screamed.
Nothing happened. The cone of flame that should have spread from her hands manifested as a feeble yellow sparking at her fingertips. The palms of her hands grew faintly warm, but the heat soon died.
'Get down!' Ruen shouted from somewhere to her left. Icelin was too shocked to react. She saw the wraith bearing down on her, but she couldn't think or move. There came a rush of air, and the creature enveloped her.
Light blinded Icelin. She closed her eyes, but it was all around her. Cold. A bitter, biting freeze crawled over her skin like wet snakes, immobilizing her limbs. She tried to take a step. Her boots scraped the raft. She opened her eyes, desperately seeking escape.
Hollow eye sockets stared back at her. Ghostly flesh clung to the wraith's lipless mouth. It was nothing more than a parody of a human face, but the body was smothering her, freezing her to death. In the faint gray light between consciousness and oblivion, her teacher's words came to her, propelled from her memories with a life all their own.
'If, gods forbid, you ever have to fight a monster in the wilds, remember that it does you no good to think like a human woman. Each being responds differently to magic, and some can resist even the most potent spells.'
'How will I be able to survive,' Icelin remembered asking, 'if I'm too weak to fight?'
'By being smart before you are powerful,' her teacher said. 'Certain creatures owe their existence to magical perversions. They are drawn to the Art, and can. be distracted by it. Remember that.'
Sucking in a ragged, painful breath, Icelin choked out the simplest spell she knew, one that always worked and never caused her pain. Long ago, she'd used it to mend tears in her clothing.
An invisible pulse of energy engulfed her hands as she finished the casting. Every successful spell she'd ever cast brought the sensation. Her teacher explained it away as one of the physical effects of magic on the body. Since the Spellplague, arcane energy was in a constant state of flux, manifesting in different forms for different wizards. This was hers.
According to Ruen, the wraith was a slave to the spellplague. Her distorted spell energies, however slight, might be enough to get its attention. Icelin prayed her simple spell would be enough.
Arcane energy sparked inside the wraith's incorporeal form. Whether from surprise or some other effect, the creature recoiled, forcing her out of its body.
Icelin stumbled back, but she was too weak to steady herself. She managed one feeble breath before she fell into the water.
After her brush with the wraith, the harbor actually felt warm. Icelin tried to swim, but her arms were still clutched into tight claws at her sides. She couldn't get her limbs to function.
Black spots popped in front of Icelin's vision. A part of her mind urged that drowning would be a better option than returning to the surface to face the wraith. Her lungs disagreed. She expelled her breath in a rush of bubbles. Above her, she could see the wraith's darting light. It was back in the watet again, disoriented, searching for the arcane energy it craved. But the creature and its light were growing smaller the farther she sank.
At first she didn't feel the arm that encircled her chest. The burning was too painful for her to notice anything. It jerked her upright, and Icelin felt herself smashed against a hard wall. The wall moved, drawing her to the surface. Whenever Icelin thought she would slip, the arm would pull her back from the abyss.
She broke the sutface gasping, choking foul water when she tried to suck in air. Her muscles were on fire. But she was alive.
Ruen was treading water directly behind her, holding het afloat with his right arm. The wall she'd been crushed against was his chest. 'The light spell on her arm still functioned. She could see the wraith making mad, swooping circles all around Ruen's raft.
'What did you do to it?' he demanded. 'Its senses are blinded.'
'I'm not sure.' Icelin coughed and spat water. 'We have to get away from here.'
She felt Ruen shake his head. 'Won't get far without a boat,' he said. 'Drive it away. Use your magic.'
The wraith burst into the air, spraying them with water. Its attention refocused on the swimming pair. A high-pitched scream rent the air, and the creature dived at them again.
Ruen dragged her underwater, and they barely dodged the attack. When they came back up, the wraith had circled around for another pass.
'Cast your spell,' Ruen ordered her. 'Make it a good one. You won't get another before it kills us.'
'You don't understand. I have no magic.' Icelin tried to swim away from him, but he pinned her against his chest.
'Your glowing arm suggests otherwise,' he said.
'It's also bleeding. Let me go!'
'Listen to me.' He raised his left hand in front of her face. Icelin remembered the silver band. It rested on his finger, its light dull. 'Everything this ring touches grows in strength, including magic. As long as our bodies touch, your spell should work.'
He didn't wait for her to respond. He put his glove back on and folded her left hand under his.
Icelin felt a tingle of electricity coming from the ring. She searched her memory again. The fire spell was gone, but there was another…
'When I cast this, I will likely lose consciousness,' Icelin said. She fought to keep her voice steady.
Ruen tightened his grip. 'You won't drown-you haven't paid me my fee yet. I'll hold you up, only work your spell!'
Icelin blocked out his voice, the icy water, the wraith's screams. She waited for the creature to glide close to the water again. When it was in her line of sight, she muttered the spell.
Burning pain erupted behind her eyes, a side effect Icelin only vaguely remembered from her early lessons. She had not cast spells of this magnitude for years. Her body was not ready for the shock.
Fighting oblivion, Icelin thrust her free hand above her head. The arcane pulse came again, strong and sustained. This time, the spell was going to work.
A stream of white vapor unfurled on the air like a sheet. It snapped and coalesced into a savage-looking spear, which shot across the water, trailing ice shards in its wake.
The magic impaled the wraith through its eyeless head. Unholy screams shattered the air. Ice flew in all directions. The force of the magic drove the creature back a full ten feet, and the light in its body flickered and died. The wraith collapsed in on itself, disappearing into the water without creating a wake.
