Law of Shadows

“The first magic wasn't used for love. It was used in rage.”

- A memory of the Old Ones.

***Atlantis***

***Sely***

Emil shakes his head. “You have no right to demand a duel!”

I pull at Magnus's sleeve to hold him back. “What are you doing? Are you mad!?” I don't want him to fight a duel. He might die! And then I'll be the one who has to tell our child that he died in a stupid, avoidable duel. It's not like Emil has any claim on me once the truth is established as fact. The majority of the clans will disdain him and we can just go back to our territory.

Tina grabs my arm to hold me back. “If we don't do this, then there will always be doubt. Emil could come back if something happens to Magnus.”

I hiss at my aunt. “Then I'll deal with him myself. This is my problem. There is no need to risk Magnus.”

Magnus snorts and frees himself. “Don't worry about me. And even if he defeats me, he won't have any claim on you. You are already a Bathomeus and the mother of the next clan-head. That makes you the clan-head in case something happens to me.”

And if I am the Bathomeus clan-head, then I can't be married to someone outside the clan. The marriage with Emil would be void. Magnus should become a lawyer. “And that scenario is absolutely useless to me, because you will be dead!”

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The elder inside the arena scratches his head and then runs two fingers down his chin. “I've heard of the whole incident with the Hammons. The situation is fucked up and feels like one of those human legal cases. I doubt that our ancient laws ever foresaw a scenario like this. The female should belong to the Baucheaux, but they acquired her through dishonourable means. Then the Bathomeus took her in and were attacked. To avoid a loss of reputation... Hmmm.”

He looks up at the pulpits. “I say that a marriage ceremony is legal. The female could've said 'no'. If she was sound of mind, then her words are binding. But there is also the issue of illegal trespassing and the attack on another clan. So the Bathomeus are right to demand compensation. I say that the challenge was spoken in accordance to our laws. Baucheaux? Are you going to defend your honour, or are you willing to pay the price for being forgiven?”

Brennan's head turns as red as a tomato. He turns around and grabs his son at his jacket. Then he hurls him into the arena as if he is feeding something to the dogs. “He wants her, so he has to fight for her!” Emil lands flat on his belly, which causes laughter in the ranks of the audience.

Magnus places a hand on the balustrade and jumps over it.

I slap Tina's hand away, but I am smarter than to follow him. If I interfere in front of the other clans, then this whole charade might turn against us.

***Atlantis***

***Magnus***

I land on the sandy ground and the elder hurries out of the way. Emil is already approaching me. His face is a mask of rage. I would pay lots of money to learn why he is angry. Is it the loss of his minions? No. It's more likely because his father became aware of Emil's machinations. Emil must have pulled some strings for Gavin without Brennan's authorisation. Even if Emil wins this, there will probably be no escape for him. His father will be eager to learn what happened.

As Emil approaches, I realize that he is a lot bigger than me. Like, two heads bigger! He didn't look that big in the projection.

I pull my gun and aim at his head. Emil doesn't even bother to react as the bullet impacts his forehead and is deflected sideways. Stoneskin. Simple, but effective against all forms of physical attacks.

The whole coliseum starts laughing as if I did something funny. I grumble, angry that they are dismissing me so easily, “Sorry for conserving my energy. Nobody said that human weapons are forbidden.”

I flip the switch on the pistol, changing it to fully automatic. At least the resulting spray of bullets causes a reaction from Emil's side. I hit him in the chest, causing him to stop his advance for a moment. He collects himself quickly and continues forward.

I throw the empty pistol at him, hitting his chest. Then I circle to the side, wondering what he is up to. But Emil just keeps shortening the distance. Is he the same as me and focuses only on defence?

My question is answered when I feel a surge of magic from him. He blurs, moving at incredible speed. His fist impacts my chest like a truck and I am thrown backwards. The world tumbles. Or am I the one who is tumbling? I must've blacked out for a second, because I find myself flat on my back when I open my eyes.

The audience is laughing again, but they stop when I sit up and get back to my feet. Seems like they didn't expect me to be alive. I dust off my clothes and poke my chest tentatively with one finger. Yeah, definitely broken. Then I realize that one rib is poking out of my side, sullying the suit with blood. “Damn! It had just healed after the fight with Marlene.” I carefully push it back in and channel magic through my chest to increase the healing speed.

Emil had punched me to the other side of the arena and he is now closing in again, walking as if there is no rush. “What the fuck are you? I've never met someone who just stood up after taking one of those punches. Normally, they just lie on the ground and squirm.”

Yeah, most people would do that. I am glad that I am always channelling a little power through my system. Otherwise I couldn’t have taken such a punch. My body would’ve simply separated into two parts. I cough to check if my lung was impaled, but there is no blood in my mouth. “I've had worse. It's nothing more than a scratch.” I smile at him and channel more power through my body.

This time I recognize the surge of power and start dodging sideways before he activates the spell. His fist passes through empty air. Whirling around, I kick the hollow of his knee. Emil grunts and almost falls, but he catches himself. He went down to one knee, though.

Following up with my palm, I slap his ear and release force magic. I am not even trying to punch through his stoneskin spell, but popping his eardrum should be easy. Howling, he swings his arm and I jump back. His methods may be brutish, but one hit was more than enough for me.

“I'll get you for this! You and that whore!” Emil gets back to his feet, and sways. Blood is coming out of his ear, so my attack was successful. His sense of hearing, as well as his balance, must be affected.

Emil raises his hand and conjures a ball of fire. “I'll scrape your spawn out of her belly and take her for my own!” He aims at me, releasing a torrent of flames.

He'll do nothing! The mere thought of him hurting Sely and the child makes my blood boil. I feel the red haze closing in on my vision and rush through the flames, howling like an animal! My wards flare up and divert most of the heat. A part of my face gets singed, but I don't care. It hurts less than the hot irons of my cousin.

Then I break through and jump. Bringing up my knee, I place it directly on his chin, cutting off his own scream. The force of my charge carries me forward, so I cling to his head like a mad squirrel.

My thumb lands on something soft, so I push my thumb inside and twist.

Somehow Emil gets a good hold on my leg and throws me off. I tumble twice before I dig a hand into the dirt and correct my fall to land on my feet. In my other hand is Emil's ear. In my rage I didn't realize what I got my hands on, but it was soft, so I figured that ripping it off must hurt.

Emil fumbles at his head, searching for his missing ear. When he realizes that I have it, he screams, “I'll show you what's truly painful!” Mumbling an incantation, he flings a few droplets of blood in my direction.

Recognizing the bloodmagic, I raise both hands and use force magic to summon a powerful gust of wind, spreading the droplets even further. The blood is carried back to Emil and even though he jumps backwards, he didn't react in time. Due to the wide spread of the droplets he wasn't able to avoid everything. He howls when his own spell hits him. Sizzling, his blood acts like acid and eats huge holes into his left leg. But he got most of it onto the arm which he used to protect his face.

As if it is a liquid, his arm dissolves and pours to the ground in mere seconds. It looks a lot like what happens when someone pours acetone on styrofoam. I start chuckling when I realize that Emil lost the fight because of his own stupidity.

He pours all his power into healing magic. It stops the blood and further dissolution, but healing so much damage takes time.

Figuring that his stoneskin spell must've worn off, I gather a large portion of my power and throw it at him in a ball of concentrated force. Emil is taken off his feet, and flips twice in the air before he lands roughly on the ground.

Like every good monster, he gets back up. He is too stupid to die. “I won't die like this. This isn't what I worked for!”

“What did you work for?” I approach him carefully and reach into my pocket to retrieve a very special card. The spell matrix inside it is a finishing move, designed to make sure that the target doesn't come back to haunt me. And I want to show off. It's not every day that I duel in front of others.

“That's between Gavin and me. I've sworn an oath, so you'll never know.” He raises his hand, but I am faster. I infuse the spell matrix inside the card with power and throw it at him with a little force magic for guidance. The edge of the card buries itself in his chest.

“Then of what use are you to me?” I mumble.

Emil opens his mouth to scream, but nothing comes out. Nothing, except for a red ice crystal. It glows in a red light, using Emil's own power to grow. With his defences weakened, he wasn't able to stop the foreign magic from invading his system.

I watch as the ice crystal grows, using his own body's fluids as a supply. It fans out like a beautiful snowflake. Parts of it burst out of Emil's chest and his eye, breaking the skull and other bones in the process. The sound reminds me of the ice breaking on my town's lake when it's especially cold. When the ice sheet on the lake grows faster than it can take, the tension causes it to break. This creates a very distinct sound.

At a height of two metres, the snowflake stops growing. Without Emils's body, there aren't enough fluids for further growth. Emil’s remains turned to a dry husk.

I turn to the silent audience. “Nobody laughing? Come on! That was the best part of the show!” The people in their pulpits are still and silent. Nobody speaks.

The elder returns from his secure position at the edge of the arena. He pokes at Emil's corpse, just to have it crumble to dust under his fingers. “I declare Magnus as the winner. The Bathomeus get all of Emil's possessions, including the female.”

***Atlantis***

***Sely***

I sigh in relief and throw my arms around Magnus when he returns to the pulpit. He winces and tries to push me away. “It's okay. I won! Just don't squeeze me. It hurts! You'll ruin your dress.”

Remembering that he did this without my consent, I squeeze harder and force him down onto his seat. “I told you not to go, you oaf! And look at you! A burnt steak is in a better state of health.”

“A burnt steak is dead!” He crosses his arms in front of his chest like a defiant child. “I won. Now there's no dispute and I've made a reputation for myself. Where is Brennan by the way?”

I turn around to check out the pulpit on the other side of the arena. “He just left when Emil lost.”

Tina chuckles. “Yeah. You really made us wait until you used berserker. I've only ever met three people who could use that spell without going mad. But you returned from it and even stayed halfway sane, even while the bloodrage affected you.”

He looks puzzled. “What's berserker?”

She coughs. “You are joking, right? You used the berserker spell and don't even know what it does?”

I look at Tina while I cast a healing spell on Magnus. “Do you mean the red energy that surrounded him? I saw him doing that twice so far.”

“Ah, that's what you mean! I always get like that when I am angry. But it's no problem. Even if I lose it completely, I always come back once I run out of power,” Magnus explains casually.

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Tina squints her eyes at Magnus. “You want to tell me that you are using one of the most dangerous close combat spells on instinct? You have no idea what it does, or how dangerous it is? Are you shitting me!?”

I try to smile. Now I am worried all over again. “Why is it dangerous?”

“Oh, it just activates several potent body enhancement spells at once. So many that the user's mind becomes overloaded and returns to a primeval state. It's like body enhancement on steroids. The creator of the spell designed it as a last-ditch, 'all-or-nothing' move. For most people it's nothing more than a kamikaze spell because they don't find their way back. You really want to tell me that you aren't consciously casting the spell?”

Magnus shakes his head. “I am certain. I don't cast the spell.”

She sighs. “Then you are using it instinctively. That's very close to wild magic. I suggest that you learn the real spell as fast as possible.”