That's So Wizard

Chapter 37 - Christmas Eve

Alchia gazed down at her wrist. "It just hit midnight. Let's wrap this up. Face it, weirdo. There's nothing you can do against two of us."

In an instant, Eldrian was there no longer. He was at their right, and with the Staff of Lightning tightly squeezed within his grasp, he thrust out his free palm to emit a sparkling burst. Pure, crackling energy fired in the direction of the girls like a beam of lightning, illuminating the area in a flickering glow.

Poppet leapt forwards. She was hurt, but not at all out of energy. With two hands up, she created a ward of magic to absorb the bulk of Eldrian's attack, but she knew it wouldn't hold. She was thankfully only one half of a team, however, and Alchia immediately started a spell of her own. Two hands went up, and then thrust down against the frosted grass.

Coming from beneath the ward as well as Eldrian's lightning strike was a small but growing wave of flames. It crawled along the ground, melting any snow and burning any grass in its wake, and as it neared the wizard, it burst up like an attacking shark. Bunsen Inferno!

Eldrian shot up into the air as scorching flames burst up from beneath his feet. His spell broke, and he wailed in pain. His sizzling body smacked back down against the charred earth with a thud. And when he stood up, he saw too late a strange cloud above him.

Poppet then fired her her puppet strings yet again towards Eldrian, and this time, they made direct contact with his legs. Not only did they wrap around them, but he felt tiny pricks against his skin, followed by the sensation of his energy being drained away.

"We've got him!" shouted Alchia. "Time to finish this guy off."

She raised a single finger in the air, and she spun it about several times as the air above her sparkled. The previously mentioned cloud pulsated. First, the rain was slow, but it sped up over time to inch itself closer to a downpour. Eldrian wondered what her plan was at first, but then his skin began to burn. Acid Rain!

"This is our combo move, old man!" Poppet shouted.

"I'm not... old!" grunted Eldrian. "What do you even want with me? Whatever it is, I can't die here. This staff was a gift from a friend, and it's not going to fail me now."

Roaring out with both pain and adrenaline, Eldrian slammed down the Staff of Lighting against the ground with all of his might. It glowed like the sun for only a moment—a flash—and sent out an explosive wave of electrical energy. It moved out in a sphere of crackling lightning, and not only broke the strings, but launched the two girls backwards. Shock Nova!

Protruding from the tip of his staff was a magical umbrella top. It stopped the acid rain, and allowed him to shield himself long enough to escape.

"Gah! Get him!" yelled Poppet.

Alchia rubbed her eyes. "He's running at us!"

Eldrian bolted nimbly past the taller one, and the shorter, before reaching the trees. He moved almost like a dancer, weaving and spinning by the other wizards, but he seemingly didn't touch them. Eldrian then rested back against one of the trunks and raised his free hand in the air. The umbrella disappeared, but he did something more.

Almost transparent wires around Alchia and Poppet contracted, and the two were yanked into each other tightly enough to squeeze their cheeks against one another. They crashed together, disorienting them both.

Poppet groaned. "He's doing something else."

"Block it, quick!" shouted Alchia.

Eldrian's entire staff lit up with lightning power, and within his free left hand, there was a spark of absolute black. He moved both the staff and his hand around in an intricate dance, and both the light and the dark started to merge upon the middle, creating a rapidly sparking power of both electricity and shadow magic. Thrusting his staff forwards, a beam exploded forwards and towards them.