Spellcaster series #4: The Virtuoso

The Opal

VICKY

I regained consciousness with Dean's hands around my neck.

I gathered all my strength and pulled out my dagger. I cut his forehead, barely missing the eye, and again at his chest. He flinched and grunted as he threw a punch but I rolled away.

I knew he was there to eliminate me first.

"You are just like Voltaire," he growled, "weak!"

I stood up and readied my dagger. "Yeah well, he managed to kill you the last time. If it weren't for your sister, you would have still stayed six feet under."

He cast a spell at me, "Gornius attacus!"

A djinn materialised in my peripheral vision. I swerved as it lunged itself at me and crashed into the wall. I swung my dagger at it and it immediately burst into flames.

"You're getting sloppy, Dean," I taunted. "Sloppy and predictable."

He narrowed his eyes. "I see where Heidi gets her mouth from. Ignatus liquidus!"

I was flung back before I realised what it was. I fell through the door and landed inside the mansion. Dean walked towards me. I had to act fast.

I slipped into the shadows, out of his sight. His yellow eyes floated in the dark.

"Come out, Vampire!"

I waited until he passed me when I crept noiselessly from behind. I raised my dagger but he was quicker. He knew where I was all along. He held my wrists and kicked me in the chest. I stumbled back into some kind of cabinet, losing my balance. Dean grabbed me by the throat.

"Am I predictable now?"

I lifted my boot and kicked his head. He flinched and released me.

"The problem with you," I spoke, "is that you see me as a soldier."

He frowned. "Yet you are."

I couldn't resist a sneer. I raised my dagger.

He glanced at it before flickering his glowing eyes back at me. "I know you took my sister's blade."

"The same weapon she used to kill Voltaire," I felt my voice shake at the mention of his name, "will be the same one to end you. But I won't be the one to do so."

I swung the dagger but before it reached his eye, Johnny kicked me in the ribs and I dropped my weapon.

Two against one. That seemed fair.

"I'm going to kick your butt, Vampire!"

I cringed. Who invited this frat boy to adult business?

He swung a kick but I dodged. Dean summoned the djinn that attacked me earlier. There were three now. I readied the dagger in my hand.

"Delirium!" A voice cried out and immediately sent the djinn into a frenzy.

I swung a boot at Johnny and he stumbled backwards. Wynona formed a protective shield around us just as Dean cast another explosive spell at me.

"What happened?" I questioned, eyes remaining fixated on the enemies. "It's about time!"

"Heidi sent the Magic realm into some kind of a void. We were able to escape but at a great cost."

"Where's Jessie?"

Wynona shook her head, "No time to explain."

She pointed her wand and yelled, "Furium!"

The spell didn't affect Dean because Wynona didn't target him. Instead, the djinn and Johnny turned against each other.

"Is that all you have, Sage?" Dean asked, unimpressed. He was beginning to form a black mist around himself.

"I can't kill him if he's going to cocoon himself with Synto's raw energy. We need to draw him out."

"Any suggestions?"

I thought for a moment. "Remember the old prison?"

She eyed me like I was unhinged. "But Voltaire—"

"I need you to gather the Sages around this lunatic and call me as soon as you do. Leave the rest to me."

Her violet eyes flickered to me and nodded before turning back to Dean. They began to glow as she channeled the energy from her gem.

"Are you two ladies done chatting or can we get back to business?" Dean mocked.

I narrowed my eyes at him and raised my dagger. "Is that all you got? A tacky remark?"

"Oh, sweetheart," he grinned, "I got more than that."

I turned to Wynona. "You handle Johnny. I got Synto's boyfriend."

Johnny lunged towards her but she teleported he and the djinn elsewhere. Dean stood before me, yellow eyes bright and wild. I felt my aura pulsate as I readied my stance.

"You better watch your mouth, Victoria. The Underworld is already crumbling as we speak."

I winced. "You lie."

"You can see it for yourself, after I send you back to whence you came."

He cast a dark spell towards me but I ducked. It landed behind me and melted some metal display frame. He shot out another of the same spell and I dodged as fast as I could. I hid in the shadows and slipped my hand into my pocket. I had kept Voltaire's opal ring in there since he passed.

A royal gift, he once said.

I let my Unholy black aura course through my veins and unleashed my full shadow form. I raced towards him from the shadows and lunged my full body weight into him. We crashed through a door that led into what used to be the kitchen. In my shadow form I could see everything in the dark. Dean shot another spell at me, right onto my chest. I felt my skin sizzle and burn and swung my dagger at him. He evaded and cast another spell. I swerved in time and winced at the searing pain on my chest.

I leapt onto him and wrapped my fingers around his throat. I let my weight pin him under me as he fought to shove me away. Quickly, I pulled out my dagger but he grabbed my wrist. His yellow eyes obscured for a second before a dark mass encircled us. He was shifting into his Synto form and I would soon be encased by it.

I garnered all my strength to stab him in the eye but he was quicker—Dean placed a palm on my forehead.

"The throne of the Underworld hath broken," the voice was no longer Dean. "Thou art too late!"

Soon, all I saw was pitch blackness.