Reader Believes

Chapter 20

            Hugh’s gasp from behind had Rika turning to look at him. Sweat dripping off his nose, he shook his head, one hand still outstretched while the other hung by his side. “They took out my other zombie,” he panted. “None of my others are close enough to get here, even if I had the power to summon them from this far away.”

            Rika did her best to ignore the dampening of her palms, instead resettling her grip on her staff. The fear that churned her stomach she pushed away until she had the leisure to deal with it, focusing instead on the immediate. “Alright,” she said. “We were lucky you were able to have one doing damage from a distance. We just have to hope help is coming soon.”

            Like her words had summoned it, the sound of approaching voices echoed into the room. But when the owners of the voices appeared in the doorway, Rika felt her fear rise again. Three mages, dressed in identical suits, stood there.

            Hugh didn’t hesitate. His zombie leapt straight towards the trio. It was almost immediately thrown backwards, its path followed by one of the mages, his hand outstretched in the same way Hugh’s was.

            Rika’s attention stayed with the remaining two, hefting her staff a little higher, her stomach feeling like it was filled with tiny bubbles. The one in the lead made a slashing gesture. A shard of ice appeared in front of her and came hurtling towards Rika. She instinctively swung her staff, smashing the hunk of ice into the wall.

            The woman made the gesture again. Rika, her mind consumed with thoughts of keeping both the mages and their magic away from herself, slashed her staff forward. But there was no ice to hit. For a split second, Rika saw the other woman’s smirk as she completed her move.

            The smile disappeared when she, and the mage beside her, were thrown backwards. Rika felt her mouth sag as she glanced around for the source of their fall. Hugh was still making rapid gestures with one hand as his zombie fought against whatever the mage he was fighting was doing to shove him continuously off balance.

            Movement from the corner of Rika’s eye had her head jerking back to face the two who were leaping to their feet. They were both watching her intently now. Rika tightened her grip on her staff and took a deep breath. This time, as soon as she the male mage began to gesture with his hand, she swung her staff in his direction, wishing something would interrupt his spell.

            This time, several of the fallen desks went screeching forward, not stopping until they’d struck the two mages in the doorway. Rika stared at them, then down at her staff. She swallowed. She had no idea how this was happening, she presumed her magic, but she wasn’t about to complain.

            She didn’t wait until they got up this time, jerking her staff in their direction again, her focus on the desks. Again, they flew forward, slamming into the two struggling mages again. Hope rising painfully in her chest, Rika swung her staff again, her eyes locked onto the desks.

            They moved a few inches forward then stopped. Rika frowned and held her weapon tighter. The desks, like they were suddenly rebelling, came shooting towards. She yelped and jerked her staff towards them. They stopped, but Rika could feel a pressure behind them. She bit her lip and kept her staff forward, her gaze flicking about the room.

            The mage Hugh had been fighting was staring at her, both hands outstretched, while behind him, the zombie struggled out of the pile of chairs it lay under. Rika met his eyes, turning her concentration back towards the desks. She reached for more of her magic, letting it fizz into her veins, picturing it flowing down her staff out, over the desks.

            They began to edge backwards. A triumphant smile spread across her face as she shoved more of her power into the metal and wood furniture. Increased tension from the other side had the desks slowing to a stop. Rika growled under her breath and gritted her teeth and she poured more power into the mental tug of war she was involved in, ignoring the faint feeling of weakness that was slowly growing.

            A whooshing sound drew her attention back towards the mages in the doorway, in time to see a fireball rushing towards her. Her concentration broken, Rika barely had time to dodge to one side to avoid both the flaming sphere and the stampede of desks that screeched towards her. She rolled across the floor, finding herself again grateful for Damek’s lessons.

            Regaining her feet, her gaze was on the mage controlling the desks. Annoyance and anger mixed with the fear already eating at her. She snapped her staff in his direction, picturing him flying backwards the way his fellows had at first.

            She saw his eyes widen as his feet left the floor. He hurtled backwards until he was stopped by the wall, narrowly missing Hugh’s zombie. The creature was fighting against the encroaching ice that was threatening to consume it. That explained why the ice mage had left her alone.

            Rika left Hugh to his fight, she looked towards the man in the doorway. She straightened, sending the mangled desks that lay in a heap rushing towards him. Without his fellow to stop her, they raced across the floor, striking him in mid-gesture. He went down.

            Having already seen what hesitation would do, Rika hammered them into him several times as sweat dripped down her back, until he finally stopped trying to get up. She could see his chest heave and hoped he was smart enough to stay down. She didn’t want to have to kill anyone, but if it came to a choice between killing or being killed…

            Her thoughts were broken when the desks fought against her control again. Rika growled again, her eyes darkening as they landed on the mage who was leaning against the wall. His face was pale, but the hands he held out in front of him were steady.

            Knowing there was no way she was going to be able to just roll out of the way a second time, Rika’s mind raced for some sort of plan. She eyed the other mage, noting the sweat that was darkening his hair as he continued to hold firm. She knew if she continued the battle of wills, it would be down to who exhausted their power first, and she was already getting low on energy.

            Rika nodded inwardly. Knowing she’d lose her nerve if she waited any longer, Rika released her hold on the desk and began running towards the other side of the room. She could hear the desk screeching behind her. Her attention was on the mage. She swung her staff in his direction, picturing him flying again, but up towards the ceiling, instead of against the wall eh already had his back to.

            He flew upwards, the desk careening to a halt only feet from her as he slammed into the ceiling’s tiles. Then he crashed into the floor as she released him, his breath exploding form his lungs. Rika didn’t wait to see if he’d move, running around the desks and towards him. She thought he might not be as capable at fighting without magic, or combing the two, as she was.

            When she reached him, she could see he wasn’t going to be bothering her any time soon, his body motionless except for the faint rise and fall of his chest. Rika looked towards Hugh and his zombie, surprised to find herself panting, holding her staff higher.

            Hugh, who was doubled over and gasping for air, didn’t need her help. His zombie broke through the ice surrounding it as she watched, lunging forward and clubbing the ice mage in the head with one arm. She went down with a cry. The zombie followed, its grey mottled hands grabbing her head and slamming it back into the floor until she stopped moving. Only then did it get off her.

            Rika looked at Hugh, who met her gaze. They didn’t need words to understand their situation. They were both close to drained and if help didn’t come…