Over the next five minutes, Zorian painfully dragged himself behind a nearby cart, hoping that it would shield him from at least some of the destructive power that was being thrown around in the battle. Zach was keeping the lich occupied enough that it didn’t send any more spells after Zorian, which was fortunate because Zorian was no longer in any state to evade them. He watched with growing unease as Zach and the lich exchanged various destructive spells that Zorian couldn’t even identify, realizing with rising dread that his prediction of their grisly death was well founded — no matter how good Zach was, he was not even in the same league as the lich. The thing was toying with the other boy, and was bound to tire of the game sooner or-
He winced as a spear-like red bolt punched straight through Zach’s aegis and impaled the boy through his flank. He suspected the hit was in a non-vital spot only because the lich wished to gloat a little more, and his suspicious were all but confirmed when the creature didn’t finish Zach off with anything destructive, opting instead to hurl Zach into the air with a single casual gesture. Zach collided with the wall near where Zorian was taking cover, and groaned in pain.
Apparently not in any sort of hurry, the lich approached slowly. It seemed unconcerned that Zach was rising shakily to his feet, a spell rod clenched tightly in his left hand. Zorian could see that his right hand was pressed tightly against the bleeding wound on his flank.
«You put up quite a fight, child,» the lich said. «Impressive for someone who is supposed to be a mere academy student.»
«Not… impressive enough,» Zach gasped out, the spell rod dropping from his hand as he clutched the wound on his flank with both hands, apparently in great pain. «I guess… I’ll have to… try harder… next time.»
The lich chuckled. It was strange sound, hardly fitting the creature. «Next time? Silly child, there will be no next time. There is no way I’m letting you live, surely you know that?»
«Bah,» Zach spat, straightening himself with a grimace. «Enough talking, just get it over with.»
«You seem surprisingly unconcerned considering you’re about to die,» the lich remarked conversationally.
«Ah, whatever,» said Zack, rolling his eyes. «It’s not like I’ll be dead for good.»
Zorian looked at Zach incredulously, not really understanding what Zach was getting at. The lich seemed to understand, though.
«Aaah, I see,» the lich said. «You must be new to soul magic if you think this makes you invulnerable. I could just trap your soul in a soul jar, but I have a much better idea.»
The lich casually gestured towards Zorian, and he suddenly felt his entire body freeze up as if it was encased in some alien force. Another wave and Zorian was hurled with great speed towards the shocked Zach, where he painfully slammed into the other boy. They both ended up on the ground in a tangle of limbs, and Zorian was relieved that at least the unknown force paralyzing him was gone.
«It doesn’t matter if your soul can be reincarnated elsewhere if someone mutilates it beyond recognition before it gets there,» the lich said. «After all, the soul may be immortal, but no one said it cannot be altered or added to.»
Dimly, Zorian could hear the lich chanting in some strange language that definitely wasn’t standard Ikosian used in traditional invocations, but any curiosity about this was washed away by a wave of pain and unidentifiable wrongness that suddenly slammed into him. He opened his mouth to scream but then his world suddenly erupted into bright light before suddenly going completely black.
Chapter 5
Start Over
Zorian’s eyes abruptly shot open as sharp pain erupted from his stomach. His whole body convulsed, buckling against the object that fell on him, and suddenly he was wide awake, not a trace of drowsiness in his mind.
«Good morning, brother!» an annoyingly cheerful voice sounded right on top of him. «Morning, morning, MORNING!»
Zorian stared at Kirielle in shock, trying to understand what happened. The last thing he remembered was the lich casting that spell at him and Zach, and then blackness. His eyes darted left and right, taking in his surroundings and confirming his suspicions — he was in his room, back in Cirin. That didn’t make any sense, though. He was pleased that he survived the whole experience, but at the very least he expected to wake up in the hospital or something. And Kirielle shouldn’t be this casual with him after he went through so harrowing an experience — not even she was this inconsiderate. Besides, this entire scene was… eerily familiar.
«Kiri?»
«Um, yes?»
«What day is it?» Zorian asked, already dreading the answer.
«Thursday.»
He scowled. «I meant date, Kiri.»
«First of Chariot. You’re going to the academy today. Don’t tell me you forgot,» Kirielle prodded. Literally — she accompanied her words with a well-placed jab at his flank, sticking her bony little index finger in between his ribs. Zorian slapped her hand away, hissing in pain.
«I did not forget!» Zorian snapped. «I just…»
He stopped there. What was he supposed to tell her? Frankly, he had no idea what was going on himself!
«You know what?» he said after a moment of silence. «Never mind that, I think it’s high time you got off of me.»
Before Kirielle could answer, Zorian unceremoniously flipped her over the edge of the bed before jumping up himself.
He snatched his glasses from the set of drawers next to his bed and his eyes swept through his room with more attention to detail this time, seeking anything out of place, anything that might unmask this as a giant (if rather tasteless) prank. While his memory wasn’t flawless, he had a habit of arranging his belongings in very specific ways to detect nosy family members rummaging through his belongings. He found nothing massively out of place, so unless his mysterious re-enactor knew his system inside and out (unlikely) or Kiri finally decided she’d respect the sanctity of his room while he was away (hell would sooner freeze over), this really was his room like he left it when he went to Cyoria.
Was it all a dream, then? It seemed altogether too real for a dream. His dreams had always been vague, nonsensical, and prone to evaporate out of his memory soon after he woke up. These felt exactly like his normal memories — no talking birds, floating pyramids, three-eyed wolves and other surreal scenes his dreams usually contained. And there was so much of it, too — surely a whole month worth of experiences is too much for a mere dream?
«Mom wants to talk to you,» Kirielle told him from the floor, apparently not in any great hurry to get up. «But hey, can you show me some magic before you get down? Please? Pretty please?»
Zorian frowned. Magic, huh? Come to think of it, he learned quite a bit of magic. Surely if this was all a particularly elaborate dream all the magic he learned there would be completely bogus, right?
He made a couple of sweeping gestures and words before cupping his hands in front of him. A floating orb of light promptly materialized above his palms.
Huh. Not just an elaborate dream, then.
«That’s amazing!» Kirielle gushed, poking the orb with her finger only to have it pass straight through it. Not surprising, really, since it was just light. She withdrew her finger and curiously stared at it, as if expecting to find it changed somehow. Zorian mentally directed the orb to fly around the room and circle Kirielle a few times. Yep, he definitely knew the spell — he retained not just the memory of the casting procedure, but also the fine control he developed with repeated practice with it. You don’t get things like that from a mere vision, even a prophetic one.