Spell Weaver [Book 2 Complete]

Ah, fuck. I really hope this doesn’t hurt.

Val, come back down here, but come down in between the two of us so he can’t tell which is which! I need a bit more mana; I’m almost completely out.

Alex stood, overlapping with his mirage in Rylan’s vision, as his companion came down between the two of them before returning to the original’s shoulders. Rylan was still a distance away, though he seemed to be getting impatient with the lack of movement from Alex.

As quickly as he could, Alex explained the plan to Val.

He took a single deep breath, despite the intentional effort it took to do so, and then both Alexs stepped away from each other, then back in line and away from each other again. Without another glance at himself or the waiting Rylan, he took off at a sprint. He pumped his legs and his arms, willing them to move as fast as they could. Despite the panic he was feeling, he could hear the corrupted giant in pursuit.

The warded barrier shimmered ahead, and he saw where the draining spell circle still hung.

Alex glanced over his shoulder and adjusted the blue cloak to see, somehow maintaining his speed despite the backward look. Rylan was gaining ground with his unnaturally long strides, fueled by his Strength stat.

Where they’d started stood another Alex, moving with jerky movements and trying to follow after the pair. Even though they were more fluid and controlled than they had once been, the arms were still raised unnaturally fast and at slight angles in the joints.

Come on, move more naturally. He’s got to take the bait.

Alex thought in frustration as he put everything on the gamble. Rylan bellowed as he followed toward the warded barrier.

Alex let out a sigh and wondered what the best way to proceed would be.

Keep moving toward the barrier? Or make a stand?

Alex slowed his pace and pivoted while lifting his jian into a defensive stance. He realized in the final moments, as the Tyrant closed the distance, that he greatly wished his friends were there to fight by his side.

Rylan closed the distance in a few heartbeats. His massive fist cocked back, and a feral grin was on his face as he pushed off with a final leap toward Alex’s much smaller frame.

Alex looked on and set his jaw, determined to come out on top. He took in as much of the warrior’s posture and trajectory as possible, noting where he’d land and where his weight would be distributed.

Taking a small step back, Alex turned to the side, prepared to meet the clash head-on with the jian, and dig his heels in. Only to have his foot meet with several broken fragments of a scattered box from earlier in the fight. He cursed out loud as his footing slipped, and he fell to one knee.

Rylan landed and, seeing Alex no longer ready to meet the blow head-on, kept his fist held back as he smiled down over him. “Your tricks are so pathetic. At least at New Year’s, you were willing to fight me.” The look of pure triumph and gloating glory grated on Alex’s every nerve.

So, he decided to take it from him.

Without warning, Alex lifted his hand. In full confidence, he pointed it at Rylan and smiled as his middle finger slowly rose. The look of sheer confusion and anger that crossed Rylan’s face made it all worth it.

At the same time, Rylan sent his large right arm hurdling forward, and his fist was aimed directly at Alex’s head. Time seemed to slow as Rylan committed to his attack, his weight driving forward.

The fist connected with nothing but air as Alex dissolved into a small shower of blue motes.

In that fraction of a second, what had appeared to be a poorly controlled illusion dropped all pretense of unnatural movement. With practiced speed, this Alex—the real Alex—activated his movement skill to close the distance and lashed out with his jian in a stabbing lunge that had been repeated hundreds of times in practice and combat since his time in the spider caves.

The blade slipped between Rylan’s shoulder blades with a sickening sound of metal piercing flesh and scraping bone.

Alex’s second consciousness snapped fully back into his body, where his hand still gripped the jian buried in Rylan’s back.

Rylan’s forward momentum stumbled to a halt, and his body trembled. He tried to turn and look over his shoulder but couldn't. “You…” he gasped, disbelief widening his eyes.

Alex twisted the blade, as Eura had taught him, to ensure the wound was fatal. "You were so sure you knew my skills," Alex said with a steady voice, though in reality, he felt like the hammering and drumming sound in his head would threaten to make him pass out. "But I'm sure that's what happened with the elves, too. You keep thinking you're in control because you have all of this power." He yanked the blade out in a spray of dark blood.

The reactionary strike from Rylan was telegraphed, however, and Alex easily used the movement from Willow Branch Sways to duck under it, slide his rear foot around in a wide arc, and slash out with his sword as the two of them spun around the other.

Rylan’s form fell to the ground without the support of his leg on the heavier side, and he yelled out once more in pain. He coughed, causing more blood to leak from his mouth. "The elves," Rylan said in a wet, gurgling tone. "They didn't tell me…I didn’t mean…I thought—"

"They used you," Alex cut in. "Just like you tried to use and manipulate everyone else." There was so much more that Alex wanted to say, to explain, and to just rub in the spoiled, delusional man's face. But as he saw the rune on Rylan's cheek flicker and pulse with an erratic light, he knew he should end things fully.

“Wait. Please, help me…” Rylan’s arrogance finally shattered, and he looked up at Alex. He clutched at his chest with a deformed hand, and tears welled in his eyes. “I can still be useful… I can tell you about them. I don’t— don’t want to die.” The last part of the sentence was thrust out, and despite everything, Alex felt his heart clench.

Alex looked down at Rylan and gave a final, clean thrust at an angle, through the gap between his collarbone and shoulder. The blade slid through with less resistance than expected and easily punched into the chest cavity. He removed the blade and stood over Rylan. He was surprised that triumph didn’t fill him after a hard-won fight, and was worried to note that no pity or remorse filled him either. Instead, he felt a grim sort of satisfaction that the constant threat and scheming bully was dead.

A familiar swarm of warm blue motes of light floated up from the body on the ground and hung still for a moment. As Alex watched them, breathing heavily, the entire world seemed quiet. The motes rushed into his chest, and a sensation washed over him as golden motes joined the blue ones in a small snowstorm of energy around his body.