Radiance - The Alight Archives Book #1

78. Spirit Circle

The cluster of thorns and stalk of vines came crumbling back to earth practically at the same time, monsoons of dust rolling from underneath where they both now lay as enormous heaps of strewn plant life on the floor, buffetting into Fearne as well as any serpent close to them. Movement came from below the tangled cluster of thorny vines, and rising tall out of them was Adeline, her reddish hair pouring messily onto her shoulders as her dominant hand equipped with her Advanced Wand hung at her side.

At first, Fearne feared that the remaining Serpent Fang members would try and attack the girl while her guard was lowered, but another swift glance made her realize that each man was just as reluctant as she was herself, standing frozen in place as if they too had been caught in a prism of ice. One of the men, a tallish lad with a dagger grasped in his hand, looked as if he were intent on saying something to break his fellow serpents out of their petrified, wordless dazes. However, a slow turn of the head from Adeline was all it took to break him.

Her lifeless, pale blue eyes captured the man where he stood, a howling, coldish storm trapped swirling within her lifeless glare. "Anybody else?" she muttered, breath clouds streaming out the corners of her mouth. "I'll take you all on. If you have a strong enough conviction, then by all means, come at me with metal and magic."

Feeling a shiver come over her, as if a cold wind had just washed her bare skin, Fearne timidly glanced to where Adeline had nodded her chin. The ice pillar, still engulfed by the clouds of frigid steam streaming off of it, rose approximately five meters off the ground, looking like a jagged glacier Fearne had read existed in the upper north region of the planet, only this one had somehow managed to drift its way to Glyph Forest.

Valenka was still imprisoned inside of it, her mouth held agape for a noiseless scream to echo inside the ice, and Fearne had yet to digest the fact that they had actually found a way to overcome her dangerous magic. With her out of the picture, it meant one less problem for them to fret over. "Have you the power to finish the duel she could not?" Adeline asked, blood draining over her right eye. "Where's your venom, Serpent Fang?"

Had she been in her right mind, Fearne suspected Adeline might have entertained the prospect of interrogating one of the serpents. But alas, she did nothing to intervene as the men scrambled in a frantic panic toward the perimeter of the clearing, some of them tripping over themselves amidst their haste.

Fearne's heart continued to pound in her chest until she needed to strain to listen to the heavy footsteps of crunching leaves as they fled. Placing a hand over her breast, she let out a long, shuddering breath as the tension evaporated from her body, the gleam of her Thiste Wand flickering out. The Melodies of the surrounding plants seemed to have transformed, their songs more harmonious and triumphant, like boisterous trombones and trumpets filling the forest with victory.

Grunting to herself, wiping blood off her chin with the back of a hand, Adeline nearly collapsed with the first step she took. Despite her words, she was obviously in no condition to fight. Fearne could only praise Aeris' name that the serpents had bought the girl's bluff.

Ducking into a sprint, Fearne shot to Adeline's side, trudging her way through the knee-high mass of thron vines enclosing the ice mage. As she neared her, instead of offering her aid or helping her to stand straight, Fearne immediately brandished her wand and, without thinking, cast a spell. "Art of Abjuration: Synatus."

Green-colored energy exploded around Adeline, outlining her in a shimmering veil. The lines of blood trickling down her face disintegrated into black powder until they vanished completely, and the wounds and cut marks she'd received in multitude closed in on themselves until nothing was left. Adeline shut her eyes and took a slow, deliberate breath in through her nostrils, and as she did so, she consciously straightened her posture. With each exhale, she released the weight of fatigue dragging her down, and once Fearne saw that her friend had been revitalized, the green light of her spell dissipated like wisps of mist into the air.