Radiance - The Alight Archives Book #1

93. Dark Clouds Passing

Elaine ducked low as the enormous basilisk's pain-strewn shrieks echoed throughout the forest. With its moving scales and blazing crimson eye, the basilisk violently protested its rage. It thrashed and squirmed, its powerful muscles straining against the oppressive darkness binding it.

Desperation fueled its every action, but the shadows nevertheless constricted around its form. The basilisk could barely part its jaws to unleash a roar, only for the unyielding grip of the shadows to tighten around its snout, forcing its mouth shut once more. Professor Marsh's magic had it trapped in a grip as solid as iron and refused to let it go, no matter its relentless show of wrath.

How such a mighty beast could be rendered helpless in only a matter of seconds was a mere testament to her professor's mastery of the mystic arts. He stood before her, shrouded in darkness as fluid as water, the wand he carried drawn low by his waist flickering with purple energy as his dark hair floated weightlessly over his shoulders. She could see the bright, reddish gleam of his normally dark-colored eyes illuminating the sides of his face, dulling in time with every blink he took.

The magical energy he harnessed surged out of his Core like a steaming current lunging from the mouth of an active geyser, reaching far for the heavens. Professor Marsh stepped forward, snake-like tendrils slithering out from underneath his boot and merging with the numerous other shadows binding the basilisk in place. Pulses of Essence discharged out of him as he moved, dispersing throughout the environment like gusts of wind that caused the grass to sway and the branches of galbora trees to give off their wooden groans.

Then, Professor Marsh halted, but not before he was so dangerously close that the basilisk could lean down and tear his head clean off if he didn't mind himself. The reptile resisted, however. Instead, it unhinged its maw of a mouth and released a roar straight into Professor Marsh's face, causing his clothes to billow wildly. The sorcerer didn't move; rather, he challenged the snarling and huffing creature with an unyielding glare, glistening eyes piercing out of an intense, black flame.

Elaine held a worrying hand for him. "Professor...be careful...it can..."

"You needn't fret, Harwood," Professor Marsh told her without looking back. "Now, then, I find it hard to believe that the Serpent Fang Syndicate possesses the skill to successfully domestic a fully-grown basilisk, one of Incante's most dangerous apex predators. Nor do I recall ever coming across a basilisk capable of producing fire. All that destruction back there, that was your doing, wasn't it?" The basilisk launched another hissing snarl at Professor Marsh, its forked tongue fluttering inside its mouth as smoke poured through its fangs. "I'll take that as a yes."

"It's transformation magic, sir!" Elaine called to him. "An advanced form of it, at least. If it weren't for you, it would have..."

"Yes, you're quite skilled, aren't you? I'm dying to acquaint myself with such a talented sorcerer. Why don't you shed your facade and reveal who you truly are? Although, I get the feeling I already know your identity." The festooning shadows containing its serpentine figure tightened, earning a startled shriek from the basilisk, its crimson eye bulging out of its socket with surprise. Its oily scales splintered and cracked apart as the unnerving sound of crunching bones rattled from within. The basilisk lifted its head high into the air, the tip of its elongated nose arching toward the sky. A guttural, croaking roar erupted from its maw, and its forked tongue flicked out erratically across the corner of its twisted mouth. "Hurts, doesn't it? But this isn't even a fraction of the pain and suffering you and your comrades put my students through."

"Professor!" Elaine shouted. "Stop! You're going to kill him!"

"No, I won't," Professor Marsh said nonchalantly. "Besides, if he wishes to spare himself the agony, he need only deactivate the transformation. It's pretty simple, really."