Catalyst(32)

I tried to draw in magic to stop it, but I was too weak. All the pieces of mana I’d used to summon it slipped out of my hold. My body let me down as much as my magic did. I blinked my heavy eyes, trying to bring things into focus.

“You have a lot of power in you. I'm going to enjoy this.”

The creature smothered my head in its hazy body, engulfing me like a duck eating a fish. The mist-like being surrounded me, blinding me. Little surges of lightning emanated from it, pummeling me. My body jerked in response to each sting. Those prickles of its strange magic transmitted bits of my power to it. I could feel it taking it. I roared, thrashing and flailing like a bird struck down by an arrow. My hands went right through it. No matter how much I rolled or contorted my body, the damn thing wouldn't come off. The longer it stayed on my head, the more of my magic it stole, and the weaker I became. I couldn't keep up this fight forever.

I stopped trying to use physical force and used my brain. The creature's intense burning magic increased. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from crying out with the pain. I focused and did the one thing Master Stradus told me to do when all else fails—use your strongest mana.

I let go of all the magic I was trying to hold. The creature laughed in response, sucking all the incredible power into it. I seized the one magic I wasn't letting go of—my fire.

My anger and frustration took over. It surged through my body, growing stronger than the agony this creature visited upon me. Flames shot out of me. The scorching inferno encircled me until it became my aura.

My fire assaulted and battered the maleika. This was no spell, just raw magic waging war. The creature’s magical attack halted, and its grip loosened, granting me a chance to breathe normally again.

My brief reprieve passed. The maleika screeched in rage. The creature backed off slightly and spoke in a weird language, casting another spell. Its magic wove and flew, passing through my elemental magic and hammering me. A blinding agony seized me. The pressure from all the magic being cast in the Nexus made my head feel like it was about to rupture and explode, but I couldn't stop. If I did, I was dead anyway. My skin tightened against my face as I yelled. My veins felt like they were popping out. I knew if my magic reached the creature, it would die. I just had to concentrate and keep pushing.

Yet the fire within me slowly wavered. My shoulders slumped and my body swayed. My mind and body couldn't take the crushing magic anymore. Blood ran from my ears.

The door crashed open. Master Stradus arrived, bringing the winds with him. They doused my already exhausted fire, and the maleika wasted no time in reattaching to my head, draining the life force from me.

The force of a storm tore at my head while Master Stradus tried to get the maleika off me. The creature struggled to stay on. Master Stradus increased the winds, strong enough to cut me or tear my head off, but using such skill that they never touched me—only the maleika. My master’s winds wrapped around it until its grip loosened. The maleika let go of my head and slammed into the wall. I fell to the ground, barely getting my hands up in time to keep my face from striking the floor.

“Hellsfire!” Master Stradus rushed to me. “Are you all right?”

I shook my head. My sweat poured to the ground, and I gasped for air.

“How nice to see you after all these years, Wizard,” the maleika said, glaring at my master with its one eye.

“You?” Master Stradus said. “I remember you. I owe you.”

“You owe me?” it said. “You owe me? It’s I that owes you. I have only one eye thanks to you. Time hasn’t been kind to you, old man. Remember what happened last time? Let’s see how well your pupil fares now.” The air in the room thickened as the maleika gathered in power.

“No!” Master Stradus said. He conjured a gust of air, pushing the maleika back towards the wall and keeping it in an invisible cage of air. It fought against the cage, unleashing wisps of power at it. “Hellsfire, finish the ritual quickly. This is no ordinary maleika. Drink the potion and say the words while I hold it back. You must use a great deal of energy on this one. No matter how strong it is and how hard it fights, it’s still a maleika. You summoned it here, and it must obey the rules of magic.”

Master Stradus struggled against the maleika. He used his staff to focus his power. The inside of the globe swirled. Dark blue, spinning round and round.

“Do it quickly!”

I mustered what reserves of strength I had left. I forced the potion down, focusing on all the parts of mana I used to summon the creature. What was left of my fire blazed, heightening the spell. My body swayed, and stars appeared in front of my eyes. The room spun. I couldn't tell if it was because of what I saw, or my master's spell. The maleika resisted my mana, but Master Stradus kept it occupied. I cried out, “Maleika, I summoned thee and now I banish thee. Go back where you belong!”