Chapter 31: The Light in the Loop
Now that Elina had pointed it out, the wrongness hit all at once. They’d walked out of the cabin minutes ago, cutting a straight line without taking a single turn. Yet the main plaza sat right in front of them, unchanged, like they hadn't taken a step.
Silence fell over the group.
"What's happening?" Alina asked, her voice tight.
It had the same strange edge as the cathedral, but the spatial warping here felt heavier. Compressed. Nuri glanced at Lucien, expecting the man to have an answer ready. Lucien just shrugged, completely unbothered.
Nuri swallowed a sigh. Even if Lucien knew what was going on, he wasn't the type to give away answers without demanding something in return.
"Is it like the cathedral?" Elina looked over at Nuri.
"No," Nuri said, searching for the words. "Feels denser. The cathedral spell moved faster."
Behind them, Mo studied Nuri with a slight tilt of his head. The kid actually had an eye for this. Maybe he wasn't completely useless after all, might explain why the knights took him on.
"Alina..." Nuri rubbed the back of his neck, second-guessing himself. "Try using your ability. Don't aim for the physical space, though. Target... the idea of it?"
Hearing it out loud sounded ridiculous. Heat rushed to his face, but Alina didn't laugh.
She closed her eyes, muttered a quick word, and a spear materialized in her palm. The glow was faint compared to before, but the weight of it was obvious.
She threw it.
The tip slammed into empty air with a heavy crack.
The space didn't shatter. Instead, the plaza rippled, overlapping like a bad reflection, and the spear rebounded with twice the velocity. Alina lunged, driving the shaft into the dirt to brace herself as the recoil dragged her back a good three feet.
Nuri and Elina scrambled over to her. Lucien stayed back, his eyes fixed on Alina's hands.
Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
"Why are you looking at her like that?" Mo muttered.
"It's a strange gift," Lucien said softly. "The God of Freedom usually doesn't give out toys like that."
A quick flash of annoyance crossed his face. He clicked his tongue, shook it off, and strolled over to Nuri, tossing an arm over the boy's shoulders.
"Your sister’s full of surprises. Thoughts?"
Nuri didn't answer. He reached up and grabbed Lucien's forearm, clamping down hard.
Lucien paused, surprised by the grip from someone who usually flinched at his own shadow.
"Don't you dare," Nuri hissed.
The realization hit Lucien instantly. Nuri was terrified Alina would end up like him, twisted into another one of Lucien's projects.
Lucien smiled, entirely amused. "Relax. She'll figure things out on her own when the time comes."
He yanked his arm free. Nuri’s eyes stayed locked on him, burning holes in his back as he stepped away.
"What was that about?" Mo asked under his breath.
"I do what I want, Mo. I don't owe you a play-by-play."
Mo shut his mouth. One second the man was cracking jokes, the next he was snapped tight.
Lucien turned back to Alina, his tone dropping into something almost gentle. "You alright?"
"Yeah," she breathed, shaking out her wrists. "Just didn't expect it to hit back."
"Don't beat yourself up," Lucien said. "Someone probably caught the hit and threw it back at you."
He spun his umbrella on his shoulder. Mo blinked, a wave of sudden dizziness washing over him as the motion caught the light.
Nuri stood still, tuning out the noise. Lucien had dropped a hint on purpose. Why? What was he pushing them to do?
Whatever the motive, the logic held up. If someone was actively countering Alina, they weren't miles away. This kind of localized bending took focus. The caster had to be close.
Nuri scanned the surrounding square. Nothing. Empty dirt, quiet buildings.
Invisibility? Unlikely. Maintaining high-level spatial warps and hiding your body burned through mana too fast. No sane mage could sustain both without pulling their own brain apart.
So where were they?
Light.
If he flooded the area, a hidden body would still block the rays.
Nuri didn't wait to explain. He flared his mana, sending a blinding, violent flash ripping through the entire plaza.
"Shit!"
The spell snapped. The illusion shattered into flat light, and a shape stumbled out near the edge of the square.
"You little—!"
Elina was already moving. She summoned a blade as long as her arm and lunged at the noise.
The others closed in right behind her, tracking the sound. But the hidden figure was fast. They ducked under Elina's swing, deflected her follow-through with a short burst of compressed air, and scrambled backward into the dirt.
The veil dropped completely.
Dally.
"You people!" Dally spat, wiping dirt from his jaw. "I had one job, keep you pinned until Rowen finished the prep! You couldn't just stand still?!"
He stopped trying to play it smart. Dally slammed his hands together, jagged arcs of wild energy bursting from his knuckles.
A wall of white light blew out in every direction.
A split second later, the plaza went deathly quiet. Everyone was gone.
Dally hit the dirt, gasping for air, his muscles twitching from the drain. Banishment took everything he had left.
"That'll... buy him time..." he muttered.
His arms gave out, and he went face-first into the dust.