Winter of Destiny (Celestia Chronicles Book 4/Seasons Arc: Book 4)

Chapter 13: The Battle of Godarik's Spire: Catalyst

Syvix charged at Gremdar full force as Gremdar managed to crouch into a position where he was able to throw Syvix over his back into the ground. Syvix got back up and charged again as Gremdar moved around Syvix's punch and kicked him in the back. Syvix, now visibly angered, got back up and began sizing up Gremdar.

"Very clever using my own strength against me" Syvix said. "I still hold the advantage."

"You are unable to use your magic in this form" Gremdar stated. "And even then your magical ability is only a quarter of what it once was because of how the memory prison curse is made."

"You've done your research" Syvix said, slightly impressed.

"You actually hold a distinct disadvantage in this fight" Gremdar continued, "One I seek to capitalize on."

Syvix once again charged at Gremdar but at the last second jumped over him and knocked Gremdar to the ground by sweeping his legs. Syvix got on top of Gremdar to pin him down as Syvix went for Gremdar's sword.

"I will admit it was a good effort" Syvix said, "But you still can't react fast enough to play the defensive game."

An explosion was heard in the distance as Syvix turned away from Gremdar to see the spire had shattered. As he turned back to Gremdar he saw Gremdar holding something made of metal and slammed it onto Syvix's throat. Syvix saw a glow coming off of it as he felt it close around his entire neck. He stood up and tried to pull it off to find that this collar seemed to be fused shut. He tried to charge at Gremdar but immediately tripped over his own feet as he realized what was happening.

"What did you do" Syvix demanded, his voice shaking.

"I took a page from my daughter's book" Gremdar said with a smile, "I negated your magic!"

"How?! You are just a filthy maglis- you have no magic power!"

"I still understand how it works" Gremdar said. "As the only maglis among my two siblings and being married to Arda I knew a lot about how it worked even if I could never use it myself. When I saw my daughter use her power to negate yours it game me an idea. A fundamental aspect of magic is the use of runes and symbols to amplify magic- but what about the reverse? After some research in the library of Atlantis I came to realize it was possible to create the same effect my daughter made using runes and symbols."

"You still need magic to activate those runes and symbols" Syvix declared through gritted teeth.

"Which you yourself provided" Gremdar said, taking delight in this moment. "The collar I made is activated through the magic of whoever wears it without them need to do anything- it is self activating once in place and now you have no magic to use. You may know how to fight hand to hand but you are only able to come out on top when you can react faster than your opponent. I told you that you had a distinct disadvantage- it is your over reliance on magic!"

Syvix smiled, finding a bit of irony in the way he was finally beaten. "I absolutely underestimated you... You have won- kill me."

Gremdar grabbed Syvix by the throat and held him against one of the rocks that fell from the shattered spire. He pressed the blade of his sword to Syvix's throat.

"Join me in stopping Lucifer or die" He said.

Syvix looked confused. "I thought you'd want revenge" He questioned.

"Revenge is pointless" Gremdar said. "My wife was never meant to live past this year- she would have died with or without your involvement. You have information on Lucifer- information that could be used to bring him down for good. You choose if you want to live to stop him or die in vain."

Syvix smiled and began to laugh a bit. "I cannot begin to express just how badly I underestimated you." Gremdar smiled. "Fine- let's start with how to reach Lucifer- the entrance to his-"

Syvix was stopped short as a arrow stuck him in the throat. Gremdar stared in disbelief as Syvix bled to death. He quickly looked around at the fighting armies trying to see who shot the arrow. For a split second Gremdar saw Vex, holding a bow in his hands as he raised a hood to cover his face. Then he disappeared into the crowd as if he was never there to begin with...