Andrew Rowe - Sufficiently Advanced Magic

Sera stood tall, pointing the gauntlet at the creature, and fired a burst of mana.

It glanced harmlessly across the creature’s skin.

The karvensi grinned.

Magic resistant and as intelligent as a human, I remembered.

Derek lashed out in the air with his crimson blade, sending a flaming shockwave in the monster’s direction.

It raised a hand, and a wall of ice — near identical to the one Sera had used — rose and stopped the blast.

Oh, and the strongest ones can cast spells.

I grimaced and wished that incredibly dangerous sword-creature was still around.

The karvensi flapped its wings, taking off into the air and settling atop the wall of ice. “Oh, hello, little ones. This is one of your little sports, yes? How am I doing?”

It raised a clawed finger and scratched at its chin. “The objective is to kill you, correct?”

Derek took a few steps back, closer to Sera. “I suppose from your perspective—”

“Excellent! I haven’t had permission to do that in years. So, if you’d be kind enough to burn…” It stretched its hands out in a t-shape. “I’d be much obliged.”

A red glow manifested across the entire stage.

Derek jumped, impossibly high, swinging his sword in a horizontal sweep — but the karvensi simply took off, floating out of reach.

Sera pointed downward as she jumped. “Freeze!”

An icy platform manifested below her just as jets of flame flashed upward from the stage.

A barrier flashed around Derek, but it was a weak one. It cracked almost instantly on impact. And when the flames died down, they left pools of molten lava across the stage floor.

Sera reached out before Derek could complete his fall. A whip of ice lashed out from her hand, wrapping around his torso, and she pulled — jerking him onto the platform where she stood. He smashed into her hard, knocking her down and nearly off the ice, but she stopped her slide inches from the magma edge.

“Thanks.” Derek knelt and pulled Sera away from the burning floor.

A blast of mana slammed into his back an instant later, knocking him flat. His face smashed into the ice.

“Don’t forget about me, children!” The karvensi flapped above, clapping his hands together. “Ice, fire…what’s next? Remind me? Ah, correct! Lightning !”

A dark cloud spread across the top of the stage. I stared incredulously.

Sera grimaced, waving a hand upward. “Shell!”

A glacial dome formed above Derek and Sera mere instants before the first flash of electricity arced downward from the cloud. Chunks of frost burst free at the impact, but the dome held.

The dome was opaque. For a moment, I could see nothing of my sister’s fate. Bolt after bolt rained from the cloud, tearing away layers of their protection.

When a single bolt finally broke through, a hurled sword emerged to answer it.

The karvensi floated to the side, dodging the hurled weapon without difficulty. “Really? Throwing swords ? You do know that’s not what they’re for, right?”

The stone creature chuckled, forming a sphere of electricity in its hands.

It was still looking down at the threats it had seen before.

It had no way of seeing the crimson skinned humanoid descending through the air, clutching the weapon that had just been thrown.

Lightning sparked in the karvensi’s hands — and died as the burning blade slammed into its back.

The weapon, however, left only the slightest mark.

The karvensi spun in mid-air, grabbing its new attacker and hurling the crimson figure into the inferno below.

Meanwhile, the remains of the protective dome vanished. Sera pointed a finger at the creature above. “Bind.”

The swirling pattern of runes engulfed the karvensi, but it just laughed, turning its head toward her. “Really? You’re doing that now ?”

Sera grinned. “All part of the long-term plan. You’re cute, but you keep getting distracted.”

Its eyes narrowed, apparently noticing at the same time as I did that Derek was no longer anywhere in sight.

It, most likely, also noticed the hole in the bottom of the stage around the same time as I did.

It spun around just as Derek burst upward from another newly-formed hole in the stage, shooting upward high enough to grab the karvensi in a bear hug.

From my perspective, that seemed terribly unwise.

I, however, also missed the crimson figure that was standing — completely unharmed — in the flames.

“Master has commanded for you to burn.”

The flames that had spread across the stage began to flicker, as if blowing in the wind, and then surged inward, gathering around the crimson figure.

“Delsys will obey.”

The crimson figure began to rise from the stage, the residual flames surrounding him like a whirlwind.

The karvensi turned toward the sound, grabbing Derek and hurling him straight at Delsys.

Delsys waved a hand, and a gust of wind blew Derek off that trajectory. Another rising jet carried the swordsman safely to the ground.

The karvensi turned toward Delsys and growled. “A weapon-bound? How fascinating. Insufficient, but really quite fascinating. Let’s see… what was the girl doing earlier? Ah, yes. Permafrost Cascade.”

Hundreds of blades of ice appeared around the karvensi, vastly outstripping the results of when Sera had cast the same spell. They shot forward, meeting the incendiary sirocco around the Delsys.

Some of blades made it through the fire storm.

A few of them were sufficient to pierce its chest.

Delsys sank down to the stage, fire leaking from its wounds.

As more blades arced downward to impact the wounded creature, Sera waved both hands toward the karvensi.

“Reverse!”

The frozen shards stood still in the air.

The karvensi turned its gaze toward her. “You lack the strength to turn back my spell, little girl.”

She shook, pushing her hands outward as she struggled for control over the spell. I’d seen Shapers do that sort of thing before, but I wasn’t aware Summoners were capable of it.

The shards shivered, inching closer to Delsys, who had fallen to a knee.

Finally, she smirked and spoke. “I don’t have to.”

Derek flew upward from the back of the stage — the golden sword back in his hand, its edges glowing bright — and he slashed upward, cutting through the base of one of the karvensi’s wings.

“Aaaaah!” The creature screamed in shock as it fell from the sky, landing hard against the surface of the stage.

Derek landed atop it. “An excellent fight. You should be proud.”

Then he shoved his gleaming sword into its neck.

I winced as the karvensi vanished.

The crowd erupted in uproarious applause.

My feelings were…mixed. Had they just killed an intelligent creature for a mere show?

I knew summoned creatures worked more like simulacra. They were copies of a person, not real people. But I still felt a sinking in my gut at the thought.

For the moment, though, most of what I felt was relief. Sera was safe.

“Well done, contestants! You have cleared the second round.”

More applause.

“As you know, normally this would be our final round for the competition. Tonight, however, we are honored by the presence of a special guest!”

Oh, no.

“Our house Summoners are quite exhausted, but our guest is among the most talented in her field. Our audience should know her well — and our contestants should know her even better. Introducing Derek Hartigan’s former partner, the incredible Elora Theas!”

A woman in a pristine red and gold suit, complimented by a tall hat and a dueling cane, appeared in the largest box directly above the stage. She was definitely the same woman I’d seen in the memory crystal working with my mother. “Found a replacement for me so quickly, Derek? She’s quite lovely, but a little young, even for you."