Jeff Inlo - Nightmare's Shad

Instead of attacking Ansas, he placed a shield around himself, Holli, and Heteera. He would not allow the dark sorcerer another opportunity to focus a spell on only one of them. He would have to break through the shield, and that would mean defeating their combined power.

Ansas restrained any immediate attempt to attack as he studied the defensive field around the three.

"Proud of yourself?" Ansas posed.

Jure did not answer immediately. He waited for direction from Holli. She said nothing, but he could sense her desires. She wanted him to distract the dark sorcerer as she tapped into Heteera's power for her own purposes.

"Actually, yes I am," Jure finally replied. "I have achieved a pure white circle. Even with the help of others, that is something to respect."

"I don't respect it."

"I don't believe you're that foolish."

"You are the fool. You believe that casting in white gives you power over all the elements, including ebony energy, but you are wrong in that regard. A sorcerer that seeks only to deal in dark magic is not open to the weaknesses of the other elements."

"Weaknesses?In the energy itself? The elemental power is different from hue to hue, but there is no weakness in the purity of one aspect."

"But there is, and deep down, you know it. Blue water can douse orange fire. Brown can whither green. Yellow light chases away gray shadow. Purple storm can redirect blue water. Yes, you cast in white, which means you open yourself to every weakness of each color."

"Are you saying you have no weaknesses at all?"

"No, but I have remained pure in my magical intent. I have kept myself clean of other hues, and so, I do not share those inherent flaws. My weakness is limited where yours is not."

"Let's see if that's true."

Jure took greater hold of his connection with Holli. He opened himself not only to her determination, but also to the emerald energy that was her natural element. He pulled from her a greater understanding of the energy and cast a new attack.

Another ring of white formed over the three, but it quickly turned a bright and crisp green, like the new growth extending from the branches of a healthy spruce tree. Jure immediately took control of the swirling green energy and directed it to the ground in front of him.

The dirt roads of Pinesway were no longer traveled by merchant carts or farmers' wagons. Weeds had sprung up along many of the side alleys and even in places along the main streets. These weeds responded quickly to Jure's spell.

The plants took off in a wild spurt of spectacular growth. They quickly grew around Ansas' feet. They wrapped around his ankles and then sprung up towards his knees. They reached for his arms, but they could not move fast enough.

The dark sorcerer pressed his fingers against his temples. A pure black circle of magic formed around his throat like a necklace. It oozed thick black sludge that ran down his chest and back. It did not stain his shirt, but instead, slid quickly off like droplets of water skimming down a well oiled metal sheet.

When the black liquid hit the plants wrapped about his legs, it smeared every leaf, every stem, and every blade. The ebony sludge choked the weeds back down to the ground and Ansas stepped out of the dying mass with a shrug of indifference.

"You chose to attack with the life of nature. I chose to defend with suffocating death. The weakness of your spell was easy to expose. Now let us see about your other weaknesses."

Ansas called once more upon the ebony power and a grand black circle formed at his wrists. He flashed his hands outward and a dark flash of lightning speared toward Jure's chest.

The defensive shield of white power surrounding all three absorbed the spell, but not without consequence. The pure white energy sizzled and smoked. The shield held, but a slight gray stain remained visible. The three magic casters appeared as if they were placed under a shadow.

"The power you steal from the woman is vast," Ansas allowed, "but now your control weakens. Even you must admit that now your shield is vulnerable to an amber casting that would shatter it with little effort."

"But you don't cast yellow light."

"That's not the point. I was able to weaken your shield with nothing more than black lightning."

"The shield remains. That's all I care about. And what if I attack with an ebony spell of my own? I have equal power over all the hues, including black energy," Jure challenged. "Would we cancel each other out, or would I outlast you since I can tap into Heteera's deep pools of magic?"

"You can try if you wish, but you could not possibly hope to overcome me if we both cast in black. My focus is pure, yours is not. The difference is subtle to be sure. It is the difference between the darkest of gray and black. It often cannot even be seen, but it can be felt."

Once more, Holli communicated through her link to Jure.

"Keep him talking, this may be important."

Jure acknowledged the directive with a nod, but otherwise kept his attention upon Ansas.

"But my casting would not be gray. It would be as rooted in the ebony magic as any spell of yours."

"And that is where your logic fails. You cannot possibly have full control over dark magic because you open yourself to the other elements, thus you lose the complete immersion needed to understand the true base of the element. You can cast in black as well as in any color, that much is true, but you can never fully immerse yourself in the ebony power for the very same reason. Black is more than death, as aspects of death can be found in brown. Black is more than shadow, for gray can find the elements of shadow as well. Black is beyond change, as all hues can be mixed into new ones. The totality of ebony magic is its ability to darken every other color without exception. Do you understand? There is no other magical force that can match my power in that one regard."

"That's it? You can darken other elements, and that somehow gives you an advantage? By the same token, white magic can lighten all other elements. What's the difference?"

"The difference is clear. Dark magic overpowers weaknesses. Light magic softens it, and that is the difference between life and death."

Jure scoffed at the definition.

"You're wrong. You may understand death, and that may give you some greater insight of life, but it's limited."

Ansas didn't appreciate being insulted and his tone revealed his growing annoyance. "And yours is not?"

"Not in the same way, no. You know where Baannat is, I can tell. I've been probing his existence-and non-existence-as well. I've seen not only what is between life and death, but also the edges of each. You think your focus on the dark element gives you some kind of advantage? That's arrogance. Death is a gateway, a door to something larger, larger than me and certainly larger than you. Shadow is a break in light, nothing more. Change is a byproduct of every struggle, no matter how great or how small. You say your energy is this and much more. You believe you can overpower every other element because you have remained pure. Nonsense. You have limited yourself, that's all you've accomplished."

"You're right!"

It was not Ansas who made this startling remark but Holli, and she said it aloud for even Ansas to hear.

"You wish to add something to our conversation, elf?"

"Only this; if your strength is based on overpowering your foes, then all we need to do is reflect your power back upon you."

"Reflection!" Jure agreed. "Of course."

He slapped his hands together and shattered the shield that surrounded them. Before Ansas could attack during their moment of vulnerability, he cast another spell. This time he drew on the blue energy that was his initial focus of power. The spell, however, was very simple in construction.