Destiny squinted as the bright sunshine outside the dojo hit her eyes. Ares came out behind her, Kida leaning heavily on his shoulder. The poor girl had trained just a bit too hard, and was still recovering from a particularly hard blow to the head. The plan was now to head back to the house and rest for a few hours, then go out somewhere for dinner.
As they walked, Destiny felt her muscles complaining quietly, still sore from training with the man with the dragon tattoos. It bothered her that she didn’t know his name, or even just something to call him, but she supposed it was for the best. There was no way she could betray or turn against him this way - not that she would. He had won her respect, and with it her allegiance.
It had turned into a beautiful day outside, the sun keeping the air warm and banishing most of the late autumn chill. This was probably one of the last truly warm days Gerse would have before winter set in. They’d probably already had their first snow up in Blowin. Destiny couldn’t believe time had moved so fast - had it really been two weeks ago that they were in the wizard city? So much had changed… she looked over at the still-dizzy Kida. By the end of the next day, her friend had to be dead by her hands.
Dark thoughts began to swirl in her mind, but were abruptly banished by the sight of an all-too familiar diminutive mercenary accompanied by a very strange entourage. There was the hunter, and the girl, Renee, but between them was a man dressed in black who she recognized with a shock. It was Midas. His hands were tied at the wrist in front of them, and Kiri appeared to be holding a rope that was connected to them.
They were walking straight towards them, and before Destiny could say anything, Kida had noticed them as well.
“You!” she snapped, pushing away from Ares and taking a few shaky steps forward. “What are you doing with him?”
“Who, Midas? Well, if you must know, he surrendered himself to me. Quite nicely, in fact.” Kiri grinned, but one of her hands fell to its pistol, loosening it in the holster.
“I don’t believe you…” Kida hissed. Kiri shrugged and glanced back at Midas.
“Tell ‘em,” she said, and gave the rope a tug.
Midas stepped forward, managing to appear almost regal despite the rope. “Yes, it is true. I surrendered myself to the mercenary girl. I wish to confront Black Diamond, and saw no reason to deprive her of the completion of a job that was assigned to her on unfair terms. I dislike it when people are used as pawns, as she was.”
From the look in Kiri’s eyes, Destiny could tell this was an explanation she had heard before, but still didn’t like. Destiny could understand. Learning that you had merely been a pawn in a game between two people was an unsettling feeling - similar to the feeling she herself had when she thought too hard about the task the Wor clan had asked her to carry out.
Kida still didn’t seem happy, glaring at Kiri the whole time Midas was speaking. “So what happens now? Why are you here in Gerse?”
“Because you are here, as is Black Diamond.”
“How do you know?”
Midas smiled secretively. “Trust me, I know. In fact, if you all would be so kind as to follow me, I believe I can take us to him.”
Glances were exchanged between the members of each party, and a quick whispered conference took place on the other side. As far as she went, Destiny knew she would follow. She wanted to see how things would play out between Midas and Black Diamond. Clearly there was more to their conflict than was apparent. What Zadkiel had told them revealed that much. If Black Diamond had been the one responsible for the disappearence of Midas’s friend, Matt Fisher, then Destiny could easily understand his desire for revenge.
Then again, Midas didn’t act like a man out for revenge. It was a mystery, and one that Destiny fully intended to solve. So when Kida looked at her questioningly, she nodded. Ares did as well, although it was with a rather bemused expression. It struck Destiny that he had only the barest of notions about what was going on. When Kiri had given her approval of the plan and they set off, Destiny dropped back to walk next to Ares. In a whisper, she filled him in on the high points of their adventures, including all that both Midas and Zadkiel had told them. By the time she had finished, they’d ended up in an almost abandoned section of town, and Ares looked only slightly less confused.
Midas led them around one final turn, into a narrow alley between two warehouses. Standing not fifty feet away was a man. He, too, was wearing all black, although his came in the form of a tailored three-piece suit. His hair was impeccably groomed, his face handsome in a hard, almost cruel way. It was his eyes, though, that caught Destiny’s attention. They were pure black, no pupil or white. Just a pool of darkness.
With a slight movement of his hands, Midas slipped out of the rope, ignoring the startled look of indignation that appeared on Kiri’s face. He stepped towards the man and nodded his head slightly.
“Black Diamond. We meet at last.”
“Indeed we do,” the man replied. His voice did not seem to fit with his appearance. It was too light and high pitched, the tenor voice of a young man, not of an evil, Chaos-possessed wizard. Then his eyes flicked to her, and she felt a shudder of fear run through her at the sheer force of his gaze. Fortunately, he only lingered on her for a moment, favoring each of the others with a moment’s look, ending with Kiri. With an unpleasant smile, he swept her an elegant bow.
“My dear… you have performed your job admirably, but I am afraid I must ask more of you. You see, Midas here has only come with you because he intends to fight me. I must ask for your help in the battle that is to come.” Behind the polite mockery of his words, there was an underlying current of power that Destiny was glad was not directed her way.
Kiri immediately shook her head and stepped back, hands raising in denial. “Oh no,” she said. “The contract was just to bring him to you. Never said anything about fighting.”
“Oh, I am aware of that. It amuses me that you think I would abide by your little contract, but such is the world of the mercenary. Now, it seems you made the mistake of assuming I offered you a choice. You will be helping me. As will you, Tomlyn. My service is not so easy to escape.” He lifted his hand and beckoned. Kiri and Tomlyn both jerked oddly, then began walking forward. It was strange and almost painful to watch, as both were clearly fighting whatever magic was directing their movements. They looked like broken puppets, staggering down the alley then turning once they were flanking Black Diamond.
“I expect you to give your all in this fight, lest I am forced to exact my revenge on you. Or perhaps…” He looked at Renee. “On your little friend there.”
“Don’t you dare touch her!” Kiri shouted, fighting all the harder against his control. Destiny had the feeling the girl would have attacked Black Diamond if she had been able to.
“Oh, don’t worry, I won’t. Unless you cross me, that is.”
All this time, Midas had been silent, watching the proceedings with an expressionless gaze. Now he stepped forward, raising his cane. It lengthened and thickened, becoming a full fledged wizard’s staff in his hand as they watched.
“Enough. This quarrel has gone on long enough. Let us end it.”
“Yes, let’s.” Black Diamond agreed with another of his unpleasant smiles. He flicked his hand and a wizard’s staff appeared out of thin air, floating in front of him. He grasped it lightly and placed it on the ground in front of him, the mirror of Midas’s stance. There was a moment of absolute silence, then all hell broke loose in the alley. Lightning flashed, thunder boomed, fire roared. From Midas there came multicolored threads and swirls of magic, each of the elements being called upon, although a large part of them seemed to be the white of Hope spells. From Black Diamond there also came multicolored spells, but they were dominated by the black tendrils that swept around them. To Destiny’s horror, within moments the black Chaos spells were beginning to overwhelm Midas’s.
She heard a voice in her head. “Please, I need your help. We must not let him win! Do not bother with physical attacks, they will not harm him. If you wish to help me, direct what spells you have at him. Disregard the others, focus on him!”
Destiny was about to wonder what he was talking about when she realized that Kiri and Tomlyn had joined the fray. Kiri had a shotgun in her hands and was steadily firing at Midas. The bullets disappeared into the blaze of spells, but she could only assume some of them were striking home. Tomlyn had a pistol, but was alternating shooting with the casting of a Lightning spell Destiny didn’t recognize.
She made her decision in a moment. Closing her eyes, she searched for the pool of magic within her. While she knew a variety of spells, most of them were minor. There was only one that would truly be helpful in a situation like this. She focused her attention on the space in front of her, stretching out her hands to aid her concentration. With a single shouted word, she sent a fireball flying towards the mass of darkness that surrounded Black Diamond. The spell struck and seemed to splatter against an invisible shield. Although she couldn’t tell if it had done any good, Destiny kept going. She cast fireball after fireball at Black Diamond, hoping that they were at least distracting him.
To one side, she could see Kida, sword held out in front of her. The light that poured from its blade was purest white, the physical manifestation of the Hope spell she was casting. Ares stood next to her, staff held high, mouth moving in a steady stream of chanting. As a wizard, it was clear he knew a much wider variety of much stronger spells, as the tendrils of light that flashed from his staff actually seemed to be fighting off some of Black Diamond’s spells.
Still, it seemed that all they had managed to do was bring the battle to a draw. Neither side seemed to be gaining or losing ground anymore. And still the air crackled with magic.
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