Fladd remained silent on the earstone, wary of a potential breach. Instead, he listened intently to his disciples' reports, adjusting his course accordingly.
Each time they discovered tracks, he moved beyond their findings, anticipating where Riniock might go next in an attempt to catch him off guard.
Everything had been progressing as planned – until the latest report – the surprise attack. Then, silence.
Fladd's grip tightened on the device as unease crept in. His fears were confirmed when a voice finally crackled through.
'Team 3's wiped out. Three bodies confirmed, all killed with wind-elemental magick.'
A muscle twitched in Fladd's jaw. His teeth ground together in seething frustration, fingers clenched so tightly around the earstone that fine cracks splintered across its surface. Tiny embers flickered at his fingertips as his temper flared.
'Useless. Every last one of them.'
But their failure wasn't enough to deter him. The reports, the tracks, the direction of Riniock's movements – it all pointed to one conclusion. His quarry was heading straight for an area Fladd knew better than anyone.
A grin stretched across his face. He strode forward with renewed purpose.
Elsewhere in the swirling storm, Riniock and Niann pressed on, putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the search parties.
Then, through the haze of sand, a massive crater came into view, its edges fused to the base of an impossibly high rock wall.
They craned their necks, but the peak was lost to the storm. There was no way up.
A dead end.
Niann exhaled sharply, exhaustion and frustration evident in his tone. 'We have to turn back.'
Riniock, however, studied the crater's size with fascination. 'Something massive must have hit the earth here. I wonder what kind of monster could have caused this.'
Niann's patience was at its limit. 'Come on, Riniock.'
The two turned back, Riniock leading the way with Niann close behind. As they moved, Niann kept his eyes on the ground – until he abruptly walked into Riniock's back.
Riniock had frozen in place, staring straight ahead, his body locked in a rigid stance. His breath hitched, and his fingers trembled at his sides.
Niann rubbed his forehead, annoyed. 'Why did you stop?' He leaned to the side to see what had him so rattled – then immediately wished he hadn't.
A cold dread washed over him.
'Finally.'
The voice carried through the howling winds, steady and composed. There stood Fladd, his robe untouched by the storm, the sand itself parting around him as though unwilling to trespass upon his presence.
'You've been a real thorn in my side, Riniock,' he mused, his tone calm but edged with disdain. 'I must admit, I can't decide if I should be impressed or enraged by your continued defiance.'
Riniock exhaled through his nose, his expression darkening. 'Fladd…'
Fladd took a slow step forward. 'Three of my personal disciples – all but slain by your hand. And today, more. You, a masterless wretch, slaughtering without consequence. As if that weren't insult enough, my fourth disciple – turned traitor, bewitched by your poison. Even your death won't balance the scales of what you've cost me.'
Riniock said nothing, his throat tight with a weight he could not swallow.
Fladd's expression twisted with fury. 'A thousand times, I could have ended this. But always, some meddler stood in my way. And while I was delayed, you butchered my students – warped their minds with fantasies of vengeance and love.'
'Rodgut and Frisian forced my hand.'
Fladd's lip curled. 'Perhaps. But what of Arthian?' His voice rose, sharp with accusation. 'What had he done to deserve his fate?'
Riniock kept his silence.
Fladd tilted his head, eyes gleaming with cruel amusement. 'And Linry – that little whore. Did you think she was innocent in this?' His smirk deepened. 'I bought her once, to settle her father's debt. Yet it seems she no longer cares about his life.'
Riniock's jaw clenched. 'Linry has nothing to do with this.'
A pulse of magick surged from the academy master. Though it left no visible wounds, it sent agony searing through their bodies – an illusion so precise that every fibre of their being screamed in pain.
Fladd scoffed. 'She has everything to do with this.'
Through clenched teeth, Fladd murmured, 'Once I've finished with you, I'll pay her father a visit. Then, when I return with his head, I'll deal with her personally.'
Riniock's fists curled, but he did not move. Though fury raged within him, outwardly, he remained frozen – his body stiff with fear.
'You will die a slow death – a dog's death!'
Fladd's voice turned to ice, his usual fiery temper replaced with something far more dangerous. He raised a hand towards his target, fingers curling like the claws of a predator ready to strike.
Riniock's body moved on instinct, breaking free of its paralysis. A blade of wind shot from his palm, slicing through the storm as it hurtled at Fladd.
The academy master did not flinch. He merely flicked his hand, casually swatting the spell aside as though an insect. The wind blade veered off course, carving through a boulder as though it were paper before gouging a deep, clean line in the sand.
Riniock's breath hitched again. 'Gods…'
Fladd scoffed. 'Pathetic.'
Then, with no visible sign of casting, Riniock was wrenched from the ground. An unseen force hoisted him into the air, holding him aloft.
Then he was hurled backward.
The impact came fast – too fast. The rock wall behind him met him with brutal finality, the force of the slam knocking the air from his lungs in a violent gasp.
Before he could even react, Fladd curled a finger.
Riniock was yanked away from the wall – only to be slammed into it again.
And again.
And again.
The rhythm was relentless.
A dozen times over, Riniock's body was sent crashing against the unforgiving stone. With each impact, his bones splintered further, his flesh bruising and tearing under the relentless assault. Blood poured from his lips, his body little more than a shattered husk.
Niann stood frozen. The deafening crack of Riniock's body meeting stone filled his ears, each collision driving an unbearable weight deeper into his chest. He watched, horror-stricken, as the repeated blows began to carve a dent in the rock, an imprint of Riniock's broken form.
He couldn't just stand there.
Niann's breath came in ragged bursts as he willed himself to move. His legs trembled but carried him forward. His hands rose, the beginnings of a spell forming at his fingertips –
But nothing happened. The sandstorm's effect was simply too great for his meagre skills.
His spell fizzled out before it could even take shape.
Tears blurred his vision as panic set in. Fladd turned, barely even acknowledging him, and lifted his free hand. Flames gathered at his palm, flickering hungrily in the storm's unnatural stillness around him.
Niann barely had time to close his eyes before Fladd fired. The spell streaked through the air, its sheer force rattling Niann to his core.
But it never struck him.
A figure had stepped between him and certain death, his silhouette distorted by the swirling storm. His hand remained outstretched, the air still crackling from the force of the deflected attack.
'Hands off my nephew,' the person declared.
The voice alone was unmistakable. It carried the same authority as the sun setting in the west – absolute, undeniable.
Niann's breath hitched. His legs nearly gave out beneath him. Had he…had he just soiled himself?
Talien cast a quick glance at him and hissed. 'Shameless.' He spat onto the sand, his expression one of utter contempt. 'At least your friend has the decency to resign himself with some dignity.'
Niann's lips trembled. 'Uncle?'
Talien silenced him with a glare. 'Enough. You've disgraced our family name plenty for one day.' His tone was sharp, unyielding. Then, turning slightly, he barked another order. 'Siegmun, take your cousin and move him somewhere out of my sight. I'll retrieve that one in a moment.'
Through the haze of sand and chaos, Siegmun emerged. He nodded once before gripping Niann by the collar.
'Yes, uncle.'
Fladd's eyes widened at Talien's sudden arrival.
His plan had accounted for countless contingencies, including the possibility of the college's high maegi interfering. But he had never actually devised a countermeasure for it.
His frown deepened. He had to act fast – before Talien had a chance to interfere.
He had to kill Riniock once and for all.
Fladd turned his focus back to his captive, intending to end Riniock's life before the high maegi could intervene.
But his grasp found nothing.
His heart lurched. Snapping his gaze back to Talien, he saw the man now holding Riniock in his arms.
In the blink of an eye, Talien vanished, reappearing beside Siegmun and Niann, who instinctively stepped back. He gently laid Riniock on the ground before straightening.
'Is he dead?' Siegmun asked, already pressing fingers to his pulse.
'Unconscious,' Talien replied. 'Give him a remedy while I clean up this mess.'
Siegmun nodded and dug through his bag.
Fladd's face twisted with fury. 'Not again!' he bellowed, summoning the largest sphere of fire the two acolytes had ever seen.
The air pulsed with blistering heat as the blazing mass shot forward, carving a path through the storm. Sand beneath its wake melted and solidified into glass in an instant.
But just as it neared its targets, a wall of hardened sand erupted before it. The fireball tore through the barrier with ease, but another followed. Then another.
Seven walls rose in rapid succession – until the final one absorbed the last of the sphere's destructive energy, reducing it to harmless embers.
Fladd clenched his fists. 'Talien, you meddlesome bastard!'
The high maegi exhaled, unconcerned. 'Hush now. This is an exchange of magick, not words.'
'Watch your tongue, cur!'
Fladd clapped his palms together, and over a dozen serpentine fire arrows materialised around him. They slithered through the air, hissing like living creatures before he sent them hurtling towards Talien in a relentless assault.
Each arrow moved with deliberate precision, twisting, coiling, and darting along unpredictable trajectories. No two followed the same path – Fladd controlled them individually, a testament to his mastery.
Yet Talien remained unfazed.
With a simple snap of his fingers, an orb of radiant light flared to life above his head, its glow unwavering.
Then, as effortlessly as one might swat away insects, he pointed at each incoming arrow. The orb responded instantly, firing beams of concentrated light, striking down every flaming serpent before they could breach his perimeter.
The moment Fladd's attack was neutralised, Talien turned his attention to him. Without hesitation, he flicked his finger forward – once, twice, thrice – each motion sending a razor-sharp shard of light streaking towards the academy master.
Fladd's eyes widened.
His reflexes, honed by years of battle, surged into action. Channelling raw power into his body, he heightened his senses with a spell, his vision sharpening to perceive even the smallest of movements.
In an instant, he conjured a great ward – far beyond the feeble barriers of mere acolytes. The shimmering shield formed, absorbing the barrage of light shards.
But Talien didn't give him a chance to recover.
Extending his hand, he curled his fingers as though gripping the hilt of an invisible sword.
Talien vanished from sight, reappearing behind Fladd in an instant. His luminous weapon arced upward, poised to end the battle with a single decisive strike.
Yet the moment his foot touched the ground, an amber light flared beneath him.
Acting on instinct, Talien propelled himself backward – just in time.
A pillar of fire exploded from beneath him, a trap spell meticulously prepared by the academy master.
'Curse you!' Fladd bellowed, summoning pillar after pillar, filling the battlefield with relentless eruptions of flame.
But Talien moved with effortless precision, weaving between the blazing infernos as if he had choreographed the very dance of battle itself.
To Fladd, it was maddening.
No matter what he threw at the high maegi, Talien had a way to sidestep, to counter, to render it meaningless.
Despite their difference in age and experience, Fladd found himself utterly outclassed. There was simply no matching Talien's mastery, his command of magick, his sheer force of will.
'Out of tricks already?' Talien's voice remained unnervingly calm, laced with quiet amusement.
'Monster…' Fladd seethed through ragged breaths.
But he wasn't out of tricks.
His gaze flickered towards the three acolytes huddled behind their high maegi's formidable presence.
'I have one more left,' he murmured, then thrust his hands forward and into the sand.
The earth trembled.
The sand quivered.
The very ground beneath them split open.
A deep, violent fissure tore through the battlefield, dragging the sands into an abyss beyond sight. Like wildfire, the rupture spread, branching outward like skeletal fingers stretching through the rock barren.
Even Talien was forced to retreat, moving with speed beyond the limits of the eye.
The fissures reached the crater, then the endless wall. The brittle terrain cracked and collapsed, revealing a gaping chasm – a black void swallowing all light.
Its depth was immeasurable. Its darkness, absolute.
The earthquake raged on, growing stronger the longer Fladd maintained his focus. His intent was clear: he would not stop until the Gorlean acolytes were swallowed whole.
'Help me lift him!' Siegmun urged Niann as they struggled to move.
Their timing could not have been better – only moments later, their previous position crumbled into the abyss.
Riniock, stirred by the effects of the remedy, began to regain consciousness at the most crucial moment. No longer dead weight, his movement made their escape far easier.
Still disoriented, he barely processed Siegmun's urgent words.
'Pull yourself together, mate! We need to run like Murat!'
Though his vision was still blurred, Riniock obeyed without question.
Fladd clenched his fists, his hold on the spell weakening.
'Blast it!' he spat, straightening. 'Those bastards are still alive…'
For a brief moment, the thought of his enemies escaping faded into the background.
Even Talien, having moved beyond the collapse, refrained from pressing his advantage.
Something stirred beneath the devouring sands.
Then came the sound.
A snarl, deep and bone-chilling, rumbled from the chasm. It was followed by a guttural growl – an otherworldly reverberation so powerful that the entire rock barren trembled in response.
Nearby cliffs splintered.
Rocks shattered into dust.
Blood dripped from their ears as the sheer force of the noise threatened to rupture their skulls.
Even the most powerful amongst them – both the high maegi and the academy master – felt their bodies quake beneath the monstrous pressure.
'What's happening…' Riniock clutched his ears, barely recovered from his wounds, only to be inflicted with a fresh agony.
'I don't know!' Niann cried, his hands pressed against his bleeding temples.
The answer came too soon. And they all wished they had never asked.
From the chasm, something gazed back at them.
Bulbous eyes!
A myriad of them, glowing with an ethereal, nightmarish radiance. The smallest amongst them dwarfed the humans who stood before the abyss.
Then, the largest eye opened.
And fear took on a new meaning.
'Gods above…' Fladd choked, stumbling backward, dragging himself away from the very hole he had torn into the earth.
The eye was colossal – so vast that even with the enormous fissure, only a fraction of it was visible. Which meant that whatever horror lurked in the depths below…
…its eye alone eclipsed the crater.