Nearby, a door opened and Offendorl stepped out onto the roof. Zollin already had his defenses up, but now his whole body tensed. He stood on his toes, ready to dash from harm’s way, but Offendorl took no interest in him. The ancient wizard was pale, his gray strands of hair clinging to his skull and plastered with sweat. He was breathing in great ragged gasps, his eyes wide at the sight of Gwendolyn inside the ring of fire.
“So, we meet again, master,” she said, ignoring Zollin completely.
“What are you doing?” Offendorl growled. His voice was ragged, almost hoarse, but still filled with a magical power.
“I am fulfilling my destiny,” Gwendolyn said. “Surely you know it. I found it hidden in the books you refused to share with me, or anyone else. You have hoarded your power and secret knowledge too long. Now, your strength is broken and mine is just beginning.”
Offendorl lashed out, casting a stream of crackling fire at Gwendolyn, but the witch just laughed as the fire bounced harmlessly off the invisible barrier created by the ring of fire. Offendorl tried again, this time levitating a massive stone, his face grimacing in pain as his magic began to tear at his physical body from the strain. The stone flew through the air and Zollin moved backward, away from the ring of fire, raising his own shields to ensure that he wasn’t hurt by the stone. The rock crashed into the invisible barrier and shattered, sending shards of rock flying in all directions except toward Gwendolyn.
Offendorl rocked unsteadily on his feet, and even though Zollin knew the elder wizard was evil and dangerous, he felt sorry for his ancient adversary. Gwendolyn just laughed, the flames around her and her warlock sister growing higher and becoming translucent.
“I want you to see,” Gwendolyn laughed. “I want you to see it all, old man. And you,” she said, turning to Zollin. “I want you see real power. You may have resisted me in the past, but no longer. I shall unleash a power the world has not seen since the dawn of time.”
“Don’t do it,” Zollin said. “We’ll give you the city. You can rule Osla.”
Gwendolyn frowned. “Do you honestly think you can buy my obedience? Shall I bow and lick your boots because you want to give me what I already have? Osla is mine; the Five Kingdoms will cower in fear before me. I shall become the great queen of darkness, the immortal god of this world. Then I shall have your bones polished and hung on the walls of my throne room as a reminder to all who might oppose me.”
Zollin wanted to run, but he couldn’t turn away.
“We must stop her,” Offendorl said, his voice sounding weak and strained.
“How?” Zollin asked.
“Break the barrier and her spell shall be broken.”
“How do I break the barrier?”
But Offendorl didn’t answer-he was struggling just to breathe. Zollin moved closer to the ring of fire. He knew the dark magic was strong, having just seen it resist Offendorl’s attacks. Zollin reached his hand toward the dancing flames, even as his breath billowed in thick clouds of steam from the cold. Zollin remember lying helpless in the snow deep in the Northern Highlands. The cold then had seeped into his body, first burning and then hardening as if his body were freezing solid. The ring of fire seemed even colder, but he believed Offendorl. Gwendolyn was planning something terrible and she had to be stopped.
Zollin touched the dancing flame, the cold so terrible that he almost instinctively pulled back, but instead he pushed his hand through. The flames didn’t resist, but he could feel his arm burning with frostbite. He jumped across the barrier.
“You dare enter the circle of power?” Gwendolyn hissed.
Andomina was healed, but her skin was wrinkled and warped from the fire that had burned her in the tower of the Torr. She lay flat on the rooftop, her naked, hideously disfigured body outlined by what looked like white powder.
“You must stop,” Zollin said. “Your sister needs help. End this dark magic and I will heal her.”
Gwendolyn laughed.
“My sweet sister, burned by your dragons,” she said. “Now you care about her, about us?”
“I don’t want to see you fall into darkness,” Zollin said.
“I live in darkness, fool. I come from the darkness, and now I summon it forth.” Gwendolyn raised a wicked looking dagger with a black blade and silver scrollwork.
Zollin acted without thinking, levitating the knife from Gwendolyn’s hands. The witch fought back, sending an icy blast at Zollin that pushed him back toward the flames.
“Don’t leave the circle,” Offendorl shouted.
Zollin tried to push back with his own power, but he was too close to the flames-the icy cold seemed to sear his back and sap his own magical strength. He felt his feet sliding across the rooftop’s gritty surface. He knew he couldn’t push back hard enough to stop Gwendolyn from pushing him out of the circle, so he spun to the side. Gwendolyn followed his movement, but she was a fraction slower than Zollin, who kept moving. He ran, moving a little further from the ring of fire with each step. Then, when he felt his strength returning, he sent a wave of magic hurtling toward Gwendolyn.
The witch raised her defenses, but at the last minute Zollin altered the wave’s course and pushed Andomina toward the ring of fire.
“Don’t touch her!” Gwendolyn shouted, her voice cracking with fear.
“She’s the one with power,” Zollin taunted. “You’re nothing but a controlling witch with no real power of your own.”
Gwendolyn took hold of Andomina with a magical grip, but Zollin reacted again, this time sending an electrical blast at Gwendolyn. The magic found it’s mark, but Gwendolyn had a magical shield up to protect herself. The magical energy snapped and popped, but did no damage to Gwendolyn. The witch then turned her eyes back to Zollin and he felt the fight go out of him. Instead of fighting, he wanted to take Gwendolyn in arms. He wanted to protect her, to make her happy, to make her love him.
“Men are all the same,” Gwendolyn said. “You may be stronger than I am, but your weaknesses are obvious and oh so pathetic.”
“Fight her charms,” Offendorl snarled from outside the circle.
“No, fight him,” Gwendolyn said. “Leave the ring of fire and kill Offendorl. Then I’ll give you what you want. What every man wants. Me.”
Zollin felt the decision to obey Gwendolyn was wrong somehow, but he wanted to obey her. He wanted to do whatever she wanted. Fighting her was painful; he wanted to give in. He turned and ran outside the ring of fire.
Immediately the knife dropped to the ground. Gwendolyn summoned it magically, levitating it into her hand and plunging it down into Andomina’s heart in one fluid motion.
As soon as he stepped out of the circle, Zollin knew that he had made the wrong decision. It was like a brand of shame burning into his shoulder, a mistake that he could never take back or undo.
Lightning began to shoot down from the black clouds overhead.
“Nooooo!” Offendorl shouted.
Zollin wasn’t sure what was happening, but he could feel the dark magic surging.
Something bad was about to happen and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Chapter 33
What happened next was seen by people all over the kingdom of Osla, and in parts of Falxis and Otis. Light seemed to pour down from the sky above the darks clouds. The light was brighter than the sun, causing people to cover their eyes and look away from the sky. Then the light focused, and a fiery object was seen plunging toward the earth.