City of IF

[Smee]

Chapter 10 : Back to basics

It seemed like weeks had past before I managed to come up with a plan. I just didn't know enough about Mical and it had put me off balance. I decided I needed to rely on something basic to take control back.

I gathered my power and felt a fair proportion of it tighten into a ball ready for release. I moved as I began the gesture, towards where I'd seen the mist, but I was too anxious to put my back to the beast. If it gave itself away again I wanted to see it. So I travelled almost sideways trying to look every way at once. The gesture was completed quickly, nothing fancy here. The ball of power pulsed in time with the rune that glowed in my mind's eye. Before I released the attack I quickly traced a second spell, more complicated, to make sure my own invisibility wasn't effected by the first.

Swirl

I was intensely focused on maintaining the two runes ready to release and I almost missed the haze to the air. It had closed half the distance despite me moving away and the shook almost made me lose the prepared runes. I pushed the horror from my mind, and readied myself to release when another idea came to me. Did I have time for a third spell? I felt the first rune slip slightly and knew I couldn't risk it.

I released.

A light of blinding white, so intense it made the sun dull in comparison, filled the arena like a silent explosion. A mighty gasp reverberated from every one of the crowd as they all covered their eyes, even with the effect dimmed by the shield that protected them. My eyes were glued to where I had last seen the green mist, and I instantly saw a distorted image of Mical, sat in a meditation position behind the green shield as his hands moved over his face in anguish. Only a second had past before I was sprinting towards him, bun unable to resist the briefest of glances behind me.

The monstrosity that I saw almost made me trip over but I just manage to keep my feet and carried on running. What had the blind fool conjured? It looked half ape, half reptile, moving on powerful hind legs with long arms that would likely hit the ground with every step. It reacted to the light like everything else though and was crouched down covering its head with huge hands, a low growl audible even over the crowd.

The light dimmed and faded after a few more seconds and I came to a deadstop just a handful of paces away from Mical. Before his invisibility hid him again I lashed out with bolts of power that slammed into the mist hard, my arms working furiously to gesture as fast as I could. Nothing clever, just keep it going. It became a mantra that floated through my head as dozens of red sparks continued pounding into whatever it was that protected him. His eyes were open again now, but the anguish was still there on his face, mixed with a level of desperation as he gestured as quickly as I did. Behind me I heard a roar that almost froze me, but something in my head measured it far enough behind to ignore...for now; I needed more time.

Inspiration made my gestures change, the bolts slowed as I added a touch of illusion to my actions. Suddenly we were alone, surrounded by tall walls of stone than enclosed us away from the rest of the arena. Another roar, but it seemed to scream frustration and didn't sound any closer than before. I pressed the attack, aware that my mana were getting worryingly low.

~

Mical's eyes snapped to the hazy figure in front of him, still partially invisible but clear to see with the number of bolts materialising from its raised arms. He winced at the walls that now enclosed them. Clearly they were illusion but no less real to his beast. He was cut off from line of sight with it too, which meant he could no longer control it directly. Already he could feel it get distracted by the crowd as it snapped uselessly at the arena-shield.

Continuing his gestures Mical worked to maintain his shield, the remarkable green-mist like spell that had rendered him invisible and protected him so effectively. He could feel his power waning, yet the cursed Gorin was going like he'd had a week's rest. But Gorin must be tiring too. No one could make an illusion the size of that jungle, not to mention the bloody flash he'd just done, without massively draining themselves. Mical suddenly smiled, he couldn't waste his remaining power on defence, if he was going to snatch victory he'd have to attack, and he knew exactly what to use. But he'd have to send back the beast, and lift his shield to do so, he needed every spare scrap of power...
~

I was on the edge, hammering with near everything I had left; surely he must have been weakening? Yet I was certain I'd just seen him smile through the haze of the green mist. The icy understanding drifted through my mind, interrupting the mantra. He must be planning something, an all-out last attack. That same icy feeling immediately made me aware that I'd forgotten a shield too. He could attack with the simplest spell and I'd be as unprotected as a babe.

I floundered desperately for something to do, even as I tried to maintain the barrage of bolts to keep him as distracted as I could. I saw the glowing rune in my mind, holding the illusion of the walls in place; an idea! Just the thought coming to mind made me feel exhausted, but it was my only chance. It was far easier to reshape the illusion than cast another spell entirely, especially a shield.

It might as well have been exactly the same time, as I began my new gestures I saw him start too. This was a race to the end. My right arm circled and swirled, maintaining the bolts, if only half as many, whilst my left quickly traced a familiar rune to alter the illusion around us. My mind seemed to be scraping itself with a file as it dug for more mana, but it came and I felt the rune come alive. With one movement I released and stepped sideways as I saw Mical throw a palm forward.

Time seemed to stop.

~

Mical's grin widened as he felt the number of bolts from Gorin slow considerably. The fool must be trying to get a shield up. He was weakening otherwise he could surely have done it without slowing the attack. Mical could practically taste victory as he readied his counter attack. As the rune came alive he released his hold of the beast and felt it wink out of existence. The power diverted instead down his new rune and it glowed with his remaining power. This would take split second timing. He had to lift the shield, force the power into the attack and release all at once. One last glance at Gorin, and... he released.

The green mist evaporated in an instant and a swirling pulse of dark blue shot from his outstretched palm and slammed into Gorin's middle. Mical ducked as Gorin's last bolt flew harmlessly over his head and then watched as Gorin's body was thrown backwards and smashed into his own illusioned walls. As it slumped to the ground the walls vanished and the crowd came into view.

Mical could barely believe it as he heard the huge cheer from the crowd, and managed to throw his arms into the air in triumph, basking in the applause. The flash of red to the side didn't even register in his ecstatic mind.
~

Wrapped in the remains of the illusion spell I allowed the walls to fade as I watched the hasty illusion slump to the floor.

One final bolt flew from my hand and struck Mical directly in the side of the head. As he fell to the floor, still smiling from his few seconds of victory despite the six-inch hole in his skull, I felt the invisibility spell collapse around me and all went black, a faint sound ringing in my ears.

MIC...er NO, IT'S GORIN WHO IS THE WINNER.

~

I spent the rest of the day, the night, and most of the next day, in bed, although this time there was no pretence about it. Vague moments came back to me, seeing Jarad looking down with concern. Never anyone else. Only Jarad. It was about midday when I finally came round with any amount of clarity.

"Water," I managed to croak first, and within seconds Jarad was there with a cup to my lips. I drank greatfully, acutely aware of it travelling down my throat and seemingly around my body.

"Gorin, you're revealed."

It took some moment to realise what the cryptic remark meant. Realisation crashed through me, and I was halfway sat up before I felt him restraining me from doing more. My hands clutched my throat.

"My amulet!" I tried not to sound too anxious, but Jarad didn't respond, just took it up from the bedside table and gently fastened it around my neck. I felt its influence spread over me and gingerly my fingers traced the long familiar rune and released. I felt no pain from casting, my mana was restored and I was relieved to feel my body sink into the comfortable mattress more deeply.

"I got to you as fast as I could, but it happened when you blacked out in the arena. I covered you and got you here. No one else has been near you. I was really worried." His eyes showed none of that worry had yet faded.

The water had worked its magic and my voice was stronger. "You have outdone yourself Jarad. I can never reward you enough for past service let alone what you've just done. Thank you my old friend."

His eyes still held the worry, but he smiled. A sudden urgency gripped me as I realised how long I must have been unconscious for my mana to have recharged so much.

"And so to business. Time waits for no man. What's the situation?"

Jarad raised an eyebrow.

"With the second round out the way, as you know, we are now into the closing rounds. You've been unconscious most of the time we have before your next fight, and I've had to stay here to prevent anyone coming in, but you're not fighting until tomorrow morning, we still have a small window of opportunity."

"Do you know who my next opponent is?"

"It's a woman called Sleen, but from what I've managed to find out from Sindor, no one knows anything about her. She's won both her first two rounds in just a few minutes."

"But surely someone saw how?"

"Not at all. Everyone Sindor's spoken to says that the arena immediately goes pitch black and then a few minutes later it is lifted to show her opponent unconscious."

"I can't go into another fight blind again, you saw what happened with Mical. I knew nothing about him and look at the mess it caused. Has Tokes not managed to find anything out? What about her opponents, if they're not dead then surely they know what happened to them."

Jarad suddenly looked embarrassed, and it took me by surprise. He never looked that way!

"Tokes has been digging for information about her, but found nothing. It never occurred to me to send him to the healers to find her opponents."

He didn't make the excuse, but I knew it was his concern for me that had made him forget such an easy avenue for information. Another thought popped in to my head.

"What about Jakeen, and the other one, Yahoo?"

"Both through the second round. I think one is fighting this afternoon, and the other first thing in the morning."

"I've only seen the two of them fight once, and if we all get through these next couple of rounds I could be facing either or both of them in the final. I need eyes and ears on both of them."

Remarkably Jarad suddenly looked embarrassed again.

"Tokes is the only guy I have left. All the others haven't reported back since before your last fight."

That was odd. "So I have two people to spy on, dozens of healers to circulate to look for Sleen's previous opponents and only one spy. Tokes can't do all three tasks as I'm sure you're about to tell me."

Hoping I was wrong, I winced as Jarad nodded.

"As well as that, the other guys were all trying to trace the source of the attacks on you. I don't like it that they haven't come back. That threat isn't going to go away. I'd recommend you try and cope with the fights on your own, and let Tokes try to find trace of the others."

I winced again. Too many tasks, only one trustworthy spy.

What to do?

[The White Blacksmith]

Go to the healers. Right now we need to concern ourselves with our next opponent. And there's sure to be some sort of gossip going around.

"Ohh, did you hear that Gorin is being attacked by a Dark wisard next... "

"Ooh, really? Well I never. The sly old dog. He's going to have problems with this one."

[The Powers That Be]

Well, that was difficult. We're not exactly breezing through these contests, are we?

I'm a bit concerned that we've used the same trick to win twice now (an illusion of us losing). There's no question Sleen will be ready for that one, so we're going to need to be more clever.

Forget all the other stuff - we need to focus on the contest and winning. Talk to Sleen's victims, and do it yourself - Tokes may miss something that an expert in magic would see. I'm actually willing to miss whichever of Yahoo or Jakeen is fighting today. You can always find some man-in-the-street to describe it later. If you don't get through this next bout, it doesn't matter what tricks they have up their sleeves.

[LordoftheNight]

Finding out about Sleen is the most important thing to do, worry about the upcoming challenge before looking to a possible future.

[DoomBuggy]

I agree with The Powers That Be and Lordofthenight. Sleen has to be the prime target now. There's no real reason for him to research the other two until they come up against him.

What about this amulet though? Is this the first mention of it? I don't remember hearing about it before, but it seems to be too important to Gorin for us to know nothing about it.

Are we allowed to know more?

[Smee]

Only that it is central to the reason Gorin wants in the Lyceum. If he wins the tournament and gets the prize of entry, you'll find out. :)


Great comments so far, thanks guys :D

[Smee]

One point that certainly raises concern has been mentioned already.

Other contestants will clearly be learning what they can about Gorin, and will be expecting many of his earlier tricks.

We need something new, and unexpected. What aspects of Illusion haven't been touched on?

Ideas?

[The White Blacksmith]

Self-illusion. Make an illuision of your opponent. Or mirror-illusion. make an illusion that you are doing exactly the same as one of your previous opponents did, fool Sleen into thinkning you've picked up new tricks.

[LordoftheNight]

How will making an illusion of your opponaunt help you? THey'll still know who is who. However, if you find something out about your opponaunt - friends or loved ones - and take on their appearance.

I mean, how likely is it that they'll want to stike someone they love?

[Muaddib]

Maybe we could try subtler illusion, which would not be of great use in the short run but n the long run. For example making the arena seem bigger so that the opponent feels comfortable with his postion before the fight but realizes that he's been enclosed only later.

[DoomBuggy]

Illusion can be a very powerful tool. For example, what Mage is going to be able to concentrate with a giant eagle flapping in their face, talons outstretched?

Can we use feel illusions? Can we cover someone with cockroaches complete with the little squirmy tickles as they crawl over the flesh?

Can we find their greatest fears and project them with horrible clarity where they would most distract?

Can we put a wall of darkness around our opponent, making him have to concentrate on removing that before he can see us to attack?

I can't think of any more off-hand, but I'll be back if I get any brainwaves.

[sparta12]

How about a maze illusion? When things start to look grim Gorin will pull a few hand gestures and out of the ground come walls that form a maze. Seeing that he knows it's an illusion he could ambush his opponent via walking through the walls?
Probably one of my most flawed ideas yet but I'm just throwing it out there :lol:

Nice chapter Smee. :D

[Smee]

No that is a good idea :)

I like it.

Any mana our opponent has to waste burning through walls etc is all helpful - great stuff.

That could be just the thing to give us time once the darkness decends - for all we know her darkness might only last a few minutes, that's why she works so fast.

Good going team - keep it coming.

:D

[Smee]

Ok guys the new POLL'S UP.

3 days to vote and then we can move into the next fight, where I'll be taking into account much of your discussion.

Thanks for reading :)

[Muaddib]

Oh crap. Smee I intended to vote for Smee to find about his next opponent, pressed the wrong button.

Anyways, I think it would be arrogant and presumptous not to conentrate on our next opponent. We aren't that good.

[Smee]

Quote: Smee I intended to vote for Smee to find about his next opponent

Some might hint that there is some ...slight...similarities between me and Gorin, but not quite to the point where I replace him with myself ;)

Worry not Muaddib, I'll take your vote for the first option - thanks for voting :D

[Muaddib]

Aaaargh, yeah you got it.

[LordoftheNight]

Voted to find out about Sleen, just like everybody else.

[The White Blacksmith]

I suppose we all thought we were being totally unique when we voted *sigh*

[Smee]

Thanks for the votes guys - that'll do me.

The chapter will be up very soon :D