The Vampire & Her Witch

On the stone platform, Ashlynn turned her attention from Nyrielle to Dirar as soon as she was certain that her lover was fine. She doubted that this was Rastlan’s fault, but whether the flash had come from his arrows of light or something Aspakos had done, Dirar would know the most about the sorcery both men used.

”Lord Dirar,” Ashlynn said, swallowing heavily and speaking through clenched teeth while she glared at Aspakos. The feathered sorcerer looked completely unharmed, and no new cracks had formed on the barrier of ice.

”What exactly was that?” Ashlynn asked as she clenched her fist. ”I didn’t think the Sovereign of the Stars or his followers had the power to call upon the light of the sun,” she said. ”And did that come from Rastlan’s arrows or...”

”It was the Trumpet of Dawn,” Dirar said in mild disbelief, as if he’d seen something truly unexpected. His eyes were fixed on Aspakos, whose hand held a series of glittering stars that formed the shape of a curled horn.

”It’s the faintest of constellations claimed by the First Musician,” Dirar added. ”Khorijin might be able to sound its call, with practice and training, but Rastlan never could,” he said, carefully not mentioning whether or not it was a constellation that he could call upon.

”The constellation is only visible in the summer sky, close to the horizon, just before daybreak,” Dirar explained. ”It may not draw its power from the sun directly, but the Trumpet of Dawn is the herald of the sun,” he explained. ”And before the light of the sun, all starlight fades...”

”You don’t need to worry, my darling,” Nyrielle said, wrapping an arm around Ashlynn’s trim waist once she’d regained her composure.

”This technique seems short-lived at best,” she said, gazing up at Aspakos on the platform. ”It isn’t useless. A blast like that could be greatly disruptive. But it isn’t life-threatening, to me or to anyone else who was kissed by the light,” she said.

”Still,” Ashlynn said as she leaned into Nyrielle’s touch and returned her attention to the duel. ”I intend to have words with him about his choice of defense...”

”I imagine he would have excluded you from the effects if he could have, Your Eternity,” Dirar told Nyrielle as soon as his vision cleared enough to reveal a critical detail. The four shining points of crimson light affixed to Aspakos’s shield, the ones he’d called ’Acat’s Snare,’ were still there, completely unharmed.

”It seems that Commander Aspakos chose to defend his own trap rather than those outside the duel,” Dirar said. His brow furrowed, and his lips pressed tightly together. ”And it seems like Rastlan has noticed as well...”

On his platform, the four points of light affixed to Aspakos’s shield seemed to taunt him. Mocking his efforts to blot them away with precise shots from his Bow of Stars. For his opponent to go as far as to wound the Midnight Empress in his desperate attempt to defend the formation of stars implied that just creating it carried a heavy cost... One Aspakos might not be willing to pay again.

”The Watchman stands before the gate,” Rastlan intoned, releasing his Bow of Stars to retrieve his glittering spear. ”But when enemies come, he does not stand alone,” he continued, moving into a defensive stance with the spear.

”The Watchman gathers his brothers,” Rastlan shouted, summoning four luminous spears beside him that mirrored the angle of the one in his hands. ”He calls to his friends and neighbors,” he added, doubling the number of spears beside him, then doubling it again. ”Until a rank of Watchmen stand together, united to defend their homes!”

When the final word reverberated across the field, Rastlan stabbed forward with his spear, thrusting low, as if to attack the feet of his enemy. The sixteen luminous spears he’d summoned, glittering with pure white starlight, mirrored his thrust, slamming into the base of Aspakos’s shield of ice.

New cracks formed, spreading upward from where the spears slammed into the ice, but Rastlan wasn’t content with a single thrust. He struck out again and again and again, until the whole shield of ice trembled from the force of repeated blows.

”No home is safe until the enemy falls,” Rastlan shouted. ”And the Watchman’s spear takes the enemy’s heart!”

Suddenly, all sixteen spears changed direction with Rastlan’s next thrust of the spear, stabbing toward the glowing dots of Acat’s Snare.

-CRAAACKK!!-

The spears struck with thunderous force and cracks shot across the surface of the shield. In several places, whole chunks of ice broke free, crashing to the ground and shattering in clouds of icy shards. Here and there, a few more shards bounced off the shields protecting the audience, but few noticed as everyone stared at the spot where Rastlan had struck. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

The four crimson dots, the constellation of Acat’s Snare, were gone. In their place, there was nothing but a gaping hole in the ice, twice the size of a man’s chest. Broken bits of ice lay strewn across the platform Aspakos stood on, and there was nothing at all between the sorcerer and his opponent.

Sweat matted the fur across Rastlan’s brow, and his chest heaved with the effort of summoning so many spears by himself. The light of his luminous weapons had already faded away as he gulped at the cold night air in a desperate effort to bring his trembling body back under control. The butt of his spear struck the platform with a heavy thump, and without its support, it was unlikely he could stand.

But now, he had a clear path of attack. He’d broken a hole in the shield directly between himself and Aspakos, and most importantly, he’d destroyed the...

No.

No, it couldn’t be, Rastlan’s mind screamed in frustration as he stared at the four dots of Acat’s snare, now hanging from the very top of the ice shield. And wrapped around it, like the coils of a serpent, was a set of stars that Rastlan couldn’t place.

Whatever they were, they’d stopped him yet again, and this time, it was Rastlan who wondered if he could afford to pay the price to attack Acat’s Snare again...