Gaspar’s eyes widened as he stared at the sight before him. He had witnessed countless arcane occurrences throughout his life and was intimately familiar with most all contemporary barriers and defensive spells. There were few that the Rising Isle’s wizards did not have in their vast repertoire. Unless it was one of the Zuverians’ forgotten magics, he hadn’t thought anything could surprise him anymore.
Yet what he saw now made him question his own eyes. A vortex of dark energy shimmered in the air, completely enveloping him and his fellow wizards in a dome of churning shadows. Streaks of ominous violet light pulsed through it, occasionally veined with crimson. The space inside the barrier was unnervingly still, a stark contrast to the chaos just moments before, when they had been bombarded by a barrage of offensive spells that might unnerve even an arch wizard.
In the oppressive silence, Gaspar thought he could discern a faint, haunting melody, its notes threading eerily through their surroundings.
He tried to trace the flow of mana composing the barrier, but the strands were elusive, shifting and weaving in almost nonsensical patterns. At times, they even seemed to vanish entirely, as though this wasn’t purely a magical construct.
Gaspar turned to Grand Wizard Clemmons. She had been the one to erect the barrier in haste to shield them from the robed echo’s attacks. But from the bewildered look on her face, it was clear that even she didn’t fully understand what had become of her own spell.
His gaze shifted to Shin, whose frown deepened as he studied the barrier. The youth appeared to be the only one not entirely caught off guard by this turn of events.
Turning forward again, Gaspar looked at the section of the barrier obstructing their view of the other members of Baroness Hartford’s party. Given the ferocity of the spells hurled at their group, it was doubtful that Clemmons’ hastily cast shield could have held. Someone else had intervened — someone who recognised the gravity of the situation and acted decisively. For that, Gaspar was grateful, though the nature of this intervention was deeply unsettling.
What exactly had the Baroness been hiding from them?
The barrier’s precise origin was unclear, but the traces of demonic influence were unmistakable. How it had so effortlessly superseded a spell cast by a grand wizard defied most explanations, as did the principles governing it. Its very presence felt almost designed to mock his understanding of the arcane.
It reminded him far too much of the infamously capricious and unpredictable existences that were bardic charms.
Seconds passed, tension hanging thick over their group, until at last the dark vortex protecting them began to fade. In its place, the translucent spell Clemmons had originally intended remained, offering a clear view of the corridor. With the change, sound seeped back in, and the haunting melody Gaspar thought he had heard grew much more recognisable.
At the far end of the corridor, Fynn was locked in a fierce battle with the robed echo. A tempest of swirling energies surrounded his form as he unleashed an onslaught of powerful blows. Ethereal claws of raw magic extended from his fists, tearing into the echo’s defences with prodigious force. The very air crackled with power as each strike sent shockwaves reverberating through the corridor, and wards that had withstood Gaspar’s spells shattered and regenerated in rapid succession.
Gaspar could scarcely believe this was the same youth he had met earlier. This strength appeared simply superhuman. Yet he wasn’t invincible; spells from the echo lashed at him, leaving Fynn’s clothing in tatters and his skin a growing patchwork of wounds that healed continuously.
Further back, Allyssa crouched behind a jagged column of ice, its surface pitted with scars from numerous attacks. Blood streaked down the girl’s forehead, but she seemed in far better shape than Fynn as she methodically loaded and fired her crossbow, its bolts tipped with glimmering concoctions.
Nearby, Rosa stood, practically transformed. An unknown energy suffused her, darkening the space around her, and in her hands was the instrument responsible for the affecting melody that filled the corridor. Her fingers danced over its keys, cranking the wheel at its bottom to produce chords that resonated with an unnatural power.
Gaspar froze for a moment, feeling something primal awaken within him — a surge of raw strength that flooded his limbs, threatening to overwhelm him. It was as if his latent potential was clawing its way to the surface, and he could barely resist the urge to unleash it on the world.
“Don’t lose yourselves,” came a voice, cutting through the haze and snapping Gaspar back to his senses.
Shin had stepped up to the edge of the translucent barrier, sword and shield ready, casting a calm but determined glance over his shoulder. “Fynn needs our help, so focus. And please bring the barrier down. The echo isn’t targeting us anymore.”
Gaspar looked back at his wizards. Many were still dazed, some glaring dangerously at one another. His expression hardened into a scowl.
“What are you all doing, you addlepated fools?!” he bellowed. “You’re seasoned wizards, not green apprentices! Pull yourselves together! And Clemmons, dispel your barrier.”
Fortunately, his words seemed to jolt the remaining wizards into action. Clemmons blinked, then dissolved the protective barrier, exposing them to the fray once more. Gaspar’s attention snapped forward as Shin dashed ahead, moving past Rosa and Allyssa to aid the beleaguered Fynn against the echo.
Gaspar shook his head to himself in dismay. To think they would need the remarks of a boy several decades his junior to regain their composure. Disgraceful. Yet he could not ignore the enthralling potency of whatever effect had nearly overtaken him, either. If that was what Fynn was fighting under…
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Bah. Less time spent thinking, more time spent acting!
“No more tarrying!” Gaspar called to his fellow wizards. “Follow my lead. Only targeted spells!” He gripped his staff with both hands as he began weaving his mana into a precisely focused spellwork. A lance of searing flame materialised before him, sharp and deadly. He released it, and a volley of elemental spells from his fellow wizards followed.
To his astonishment, the spells suddenly morphed mid-flight. Turning darker, ghostly streaks of violet and crimson laced through them, just as they had with the barrier before, and their synchronised volley of spells coalesced into an erratic dance of energy that twisted and split into fresh courses. Deftly, the storm avoided both Shin and Fynn, converging upon the robed echo from all sides.
The corridor lit up in a cascade of explosions as wards and distorted spells collided. For the first time, some of the attacks broke through the echo’s defences, striking its form and causing it to stagger momentarily.
As unsettled murmurs rippled through the ranks of wizards behind Gaspar, his gaze shifted to Rosa, studying the bard intently with narrowed eyes. Then, eventually, he returned his focus to their common foe.
The amplified spells had afforded Fynn a precious opening, and now Shin joined him, the Shielder’s blade blazing with silvery light as it struck against the echo’s defences. It wasn’t enough, however.
“Again!” Gaspar commanded.
He and his wizards unleashed another coordinated assault, and once more, their spells surged through the air, overtaken and reinforced by the same unseen force. The impact of their combined power battered against the echo’s protective wards, layer by layer. Gaspar felt a flicker of incredulity at the power they were producing. It might very well be beyond what even an arch wizard could commonly muster.
“One more time!” he roared.
With the echo’s full attention remaining locked on Fynn—who, despite his egregious injuries, continued to fight with a strength that defied sense—Gaspar seized the moment to pour everything into his spell. Flames coalesced at the tip of his staff, condensing into a single, blazing pillar of white-hot fire. He released it, hurling it forward, and as it merged with the storm of spells, it grew darker and smeared with violet energy. Guided by an unseen hand, it streaked past Fynn and Shin, crashing into the echo in an explosion that sent waves of inky shadows rippling through its defences.
Finally, something gave way as several of the wards faltered at once. In a single, fluid motion, Fynn surged forward. His clawed fist, glowing with raw power, struck the echo directly. The impact resonated down the corridor as he dragged his arm downward, splitting the entity in two.
Silence fell. The unsettling melody faded, leaving Gaspar with a disquieting sense of emptiness. Rosa, visibly drained from the ordeal, staggered back, catching herself against the wall. She managed a weary smile and waved lazily with her instrument in hand towards Gaspar and the others. “The help was much obliged, fellows,” she called out before sliding to the floor.
Fynn and Shin stood over the dissipating remains of the echo, which, mercifully, showed no signs of reforming. Behind Gaspar, murmured conversations grew louder between the wizards. He frowned, catching snippets of unease. His gaze landed on Grand Wizard Clemmons and Magister Penney, who both turned to him, as if silently asking what to do next.
His jaw tightened. Straightening, he began walking towards Rosa. The woman smiled faintly at him as he approached, but his attention was drawn to her eyes, noting traces of receding darkness within them. A soft glow also emanated from her chest, pulsing faintly beneath her clothes, with lingering aspects of mana and something more emanating from the spot.
“Thank the cheeky gods we weren’t alone to deal with that one,” Rosa said, bringing out a flask and unscrewing it to take a sip. “Haven’t tried maintaining that many charms at once, and I’d really rather not do it again. I was pouring everything I had into just keeping Fynn from losing his head thrice over. That boy wouldn’t know what restraint was even if it smacked him upside the head with a war hammer.”
Gaspar stared down at her in silence. “…What was that power?” he finally asked, voice firm.
The sheer potency of the woman’s charms was unlike anything he had seen from her before. It had gone far beyond what he ever could have expected, almost defying the limits of what he thought should be possible. Her charms did not appear to take any regard to the number of people or spells around her; they affected them all the same. If the Rising Isle had access to magic like this…
“Does it matter?” Allyssa interrupted, stepping up beside Rosa as she lifted her protective goggles and wiped the blood from her face. She gave Gaspar a defiant look. “She just saved us all, didn’t she?”
Gaspar held her gaze for a moment, then looked down the corridor where Fynn and Shin were walking towards them. Fynn’s ruined clothing revealed a gruesome jumble of blood and freshly healed skin. The large scowl on the youth’s face deepened the impression of raw power and ferocity he exuded now, somehow even more imposing than during the fight.
It did not intimidate Gaspar, but he couldn’t help but question where the Baroness had found these people — and what they had done to wield this sort of power.
Eventually, he turned back to Rosa. “Once we have concluded our business here, we will need to have a proper conversation.”
The bard’s smile didn’t disappear. “Sure. But first, let’s find Scarlett. I’ll bet you five hundred solars she’ll want a front-row seat for that chat.”
Gaspar lingered, studying her for a few seconds longer before he turned and strode back towards his fellow wizards. Behind him, Rosa’s voice carried through the air.
“Hey, Fynn, next time we’re in a fight like that, do me a favour and don’t make me force-feed you enough healing to revive a small herd of horses. Ever heard about this thing called self-preservation? It’s trendy, you know.”
“There wasn’t any choice,” Fynn replied. “If it didn’t focus on me, it would’ve gone after you and Allyssa.”
“Fie. Don’t hit me with logic — it doesn’t suit you. And get yourself cleaned up. There are children present.”
Gaspar let their banter fade into the background as he reached the mouth of the corridor, where Magister Penney and Clemmons were waiting.
“What did they say?” Penney asked, looking at him with an uneasy expression.
Gaspar shook his head. “We’ll discuss it later.”
Grand Wizard Clemmons looked back towards the Baroness’ retainers. “…Can we really just ignore this?”
Gaspar fixed her with a stern look. “We’re not ignoring anything. For the time being, we are prioritising the task at hand. It is abundantly clear that we have no inkling of what dangers we might face in these halls, and that is all the more reason why we cannot allow whatever is causing these disturbances to fester beneath the Isle. We cannot afford to be divided while we are here.”
He cast a glance over his shoulder at Rosa and the others. Fynn was pouring water over himself from a waterskin as Allyssa retrieved fresh clothes for him from one of their spatial bags.
“…As ominous as those powers are, they clearly have their uses,” he said. “And remember — they are here because of the Baroness, whom both of you voted to cooperate with.” Turning back to his colleagues, he added, “Once we find her again—if we find her—I suggest you bring your concerns up with her directly. Let us hear what she has to say about all of this. I’m sure it will be…enlightening.”
He both dreaded and anticipated that conversation.