Paragon of Destruction

Rockblaze glanced at the ruins in front of him, then turned back to Arran. "What aren't you telling me?"

Arran smirked. "You'll find out if you walk up to the wall."

A dark look appeared in Rockblaze's eyes. "I don't trust you. What are you planning?"

"The city contains the lingering Essence of the battle that destroyed it," Arran said. "Someone created a formation to contain it, but when you approach the city, it will overwhelm your Sense."

Although he was tempted to talk Rockblaze into approaching the city unprepared, he decided against it. It would only serve to further increase the tension between them, and worse, it would waste precious time.

"You expect such a cheap trick to work against a Master?" Rockblaze stared at him in disbelief.

"I do," Arran replied simply.

"You think some lingering Essence will harm a Master?" The adept scowled as he spoke, and there was a trace of anger in his voice. "And even if it could, how do you plan to draw him inside?"

Arran took a deep breath, resisting the urge to shout at Rockblaze. Instead, he said calmly, "We will drop the Lifesense amulet here, and I will go into the ruins. When he appears, I'll shoot a few arrows to make it look like a failed ambush — and when he comes after me, the city's pressure will incapacitate him."

"What's to stop him from just evaporating you where you stand?"

With a sigh, Arran gathered a mass of Fire Essence in his hand, then shot a fireball at the city. Before it could reach the city walls, it dissipated into thin air. "The barrier works both ways."

Rockblaze frowned, then launched a fireball of his own — one that was many times stronger than anything Arran could create. Yet for all Rockblaze's strength, his attack fared no better than Arran's, simply disappearing when it hit the invisible barrier.

Naturally, this did not surprise Arran. He had spent months in the city, and although most of his time had been spent training his resistance to magic, he had investigated the formation around the city as well.

Still, Rockblaze did not appear satisfied. "If you can withstand the Essence in the city, you cannot possibly expect it to stop a Master."

"It will work," Snowcloud interjected, a trace of annoyance in her eyes. "I've experienced it myself, and the pressure in the city is overwhelming."

"Lady Snowcloud," Rockblaze said, and his voice suddenly turned respectful as he faced Snowcloud, "while you are undoubtedly a talented mage, you are only a novice. Us stronger mages can withstand powers far beyond what novices like yourself can imagine."

The annoyance in Snowcloud's expression grew stronger, but before she could reply, Arran cut her off with a soft gesture.

"If you don't believe us," he said to Rockblaze, "then follow me."

Without waiting for a reply, Arran began to walk toward the city walls, and Rockblaze followed behind him after only a brief moment of hesitation. Although there was an uncomfortable look on his face, it seemed he was unwilling to show himself fearful of something Arran faced so casually.

When Arran crossed the barrier, he winced in discomfort as the city's pressure fell upon him. Although the feeling was a familiar one, it was far from pleasant, and it took him a moment to steady his mind before he turned around.

"Your turn," he said to Rockblaze, who had paused at the edge of the barrier.

For a moment it looked like the adept was about to back away, but a scowl appeared on his face, and he stepped forward — then collapsed instantly.

Arran grinned as he looked at Rockblaze's trembling body on the ground before him. After a moment, he looked up at Snowcloud and Zehava, who had remained a few places behind.

"Will he be all right?" Zehava asked. This was the first time she had spoken in at least a day, and her expression was one of shock.

"That depends," Arran said. He turned to Snowcloud. "I don't trust him. He has a part to play in my plan, but if you think he might turn against us…" He didn't finish the sentence, but his hand moved toward his sword.

Snowcloud was silent for a moment as she considered his words. Then, she shook her head. "We will need his help on the way to the Valley. And whatever there is between the two of you, I'm certain he will not betray us to the Iron Mountain."

Arran nodded, then reluctantly dragged Rockblaze out of the formation.

Even without the city's pressure, it took several minutes for the adept to regain his senses, and when he did, he was greeted with a grin from Arran.

"Still doubtful?"

"That…" Rockblaze blinked, trying to steady his vision. "How did you withstand it?"

"Practice," Arran replied. "If you want, I can toss you back inside. A few weeks from now, you should be able to resist it as well."

Rockblaze slowly sat up. "Your plan might work," he said, though he did not seem particularly pleased about it. "What do I have to do?"

"I need you to hide in the treeline until our opponent arrives," Arran said. "If he stops before the barrier, or if he has adepts with him, you'll need to find a way to push them inside."

"Hide?" Rockblaze frowned. "You expect me to hide from a Master?"

"You have that Shadowcloak technique, don't you? I've seen novices use it. Surely an adept like you has already mastered it."

Rockblaze shook his head. "Using a Shadowcloak takes too much Essence. I can only keep it up for a few minutes."

This was something Arran had not foreseen. "Only a few minutes?"

"Shadow Realms are hard to train," Rockblaze said. "And while mine is stronger than most, it isn't enough to keep up a Shadowcloak for hours on end. I doubt even a Master could do that."

Arran frowned, but only for a moment. "Then use this," he said, taking out his Duskcloak. "It only needs a sliver of Essence, and it will hide you until you move."

"You have a Duskcloak?!" The adept's eyes widened when he saw the cloak in Arran's hands. "How did you get it?!"

Arran had not expected this strong a reaction, but either way, he had little interest in debating the matter right now.

"It doesn't matter how I got it," he said, handing the cloak to Rockblaze. "What matters is that we get in position. Unless you think we should wait for the Master to catch us here?"

Rockblaze accepted the cloak silently, though Arran could see that the adept's eyes were filled with suspicion. But there was no time to deal with that now — they had already wasted too much time.

"But what about us?" Zehava spoke in a soft voice, almost as if she was afraid of getting in between Arran and Rockblaze. "If Ghostblade goes into the city, and Rockblaze hides in the treeline, where will we go?"

Snowcloud smiled cheerlessly. "Ghostblade will take us into the city," she said, with a look that told Arran she had already seen through this part of his plan. "It's the only place where we'll be safe."

"But…" An ugly expression appeared on Zehava's face. "If the city has that effect on adept, what will it do to—"

"It won't be pleasant," Snowcloud interrupted her, "but we'll survive. I've experienced it before." She glanced at Arran. "Now let's stop wasting time and get in position."

A few minutes later, Arran stood alone at the edge of the barrier. Rockblaze had hidden among the trees, concealed by the Duskcloak, and Arran had carried Snowcloud and Zehava into the city, laying them down behind the walls. The pressure within the city had rendered the two novices unconscious as soon as they crossed the barrier, but they should be safe with the city walls.

Now that the trap was set, all that remained was the bait. Arran took a final moment to consider whether there was anything he had overlooked, but there was nothing he could think of. With a deep breath, he took out the Lifesense amulet.

"Time to find out how tough Masters really are," he muttered.

Then, he tossed the amulet on the ground outside the barrier.