ANOTHER ROARING CRACK thundered through the throne room. Ravenna's attention pulled upward. Snaking through the ceiling stones, a large crack formed across the length of the room. Dust and small fragments of stone rained to the ground.

Ravenna's gaze focused on the humans. Their eyes glowed bright crimson. Her eyes widened in horror as a large piece of stone broke free from the ceiling, crushing a human and two ice soldiers beneath it.

Her fingers grasped at Vyses' robes, ice crawling across her knuckles. She wrenched him closer. "Release them!" she gasped, "Release them now!"

The action started Vyses.

For a single heartbeat, his eyes widened. His crimson-colored irises clouded with a childlike sense of fear. His gaze shifted away from her, toward the humans that fought along the edges of the room.

Her grip on his robes tightened. A thin sheet of ice crawled across his shoulders, his chest. She glared at him and shook him, hard. "Do it, now!" she screamed at him.

The gleam of crimson faded from his eyes. A flood of frantic shouts and heroic commands filled the throne room, drowning out the clash of swords. Ravenna released Vyses and turned toward the humans. With a wave of her hand, the ice soldiers melted from existence.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Caelan dart forward, toward them. Lyth appeared to his right. Dark shadows crawled across the child's skin, his sunken face marred with false rage. He lashed out at Caelan.

Caelan blocked. His blade moved swift, piercing through undead muscle and sinew. Lyth's knees buckled.

The sword in Caelan's hands vanished. Caelan's hands darted out, swiftly catching the child's thin body. His stoic expression faltered, torn with remorse and the heavy weight of guilt. Gently, Caelan eased Lyth to the ground. Lyth's shadowed body started to disintegrate — crumbling into crimson-colored ash.

To her right, Ravenna heard Vyses curse.

She swung at him. He jolted backwards and created distance between them. Ravenna did her best to focus. Ice ghosted across her skin and concentrated around her fists. The crown on her forehead glowed bright. A sea of daggers formed around her. Vyses broke into a sprint. Her daggers shattered against the stones and debris that surrounded him — a trail of splintered ice forming at his heels.

Larger pieces of the ceiling started to break, plummeting to the uneven floor. The jagged stones shattered the ground around them. The walls trembled, unstable. Ravenna lifted her hand. A thick shield of ice arced over her head, protecting her from the falling debris.

It wasn't safe. The structure would not hold up for much longer. She and Caelan needed to finish Vyses — and fast.

Her gaze skirted around the room, searching for the alabaster haired man. Flattened against the walls, a small group of guards remained frozen, their eyes wide with fear.

"Oh, crap," she whispered.

She sidestepped a massive piece of stone and tried to focus. Her ice moved with her hands — forming a sharp, crystalized shield high above the guards. Fragments of heavy stone rained against the icy barrier.

"Move!" she shouted at the humans. "Get out of here!"

The humans instantly jolted into action. Large, heavy weapons clattered against the cracked stone flooring — abandoned as their owners sprinted out of the throne room. Once all the humans had escaped, her hands dropped back to her sides. The barrier evaporated.

Her shoulders slumped and a relieved sound escaped her.

A whistling sound suddenly pierced her eardrums. She turned her head and ducked, narrowly missing the blade of a dagger. Anger bristled through her. Vyses' crimson-colored hand drew back. A beam of red exploded past his fingertips. Her hands moved fast. Ice materialized in the form of a circular shaped shield. She easily deflected the red magic and shot forth a blast of her own. Vyses hastily avoided it.

Before either could make another attack, Caelan appeared in between them, his glowing white sword aimed at Vyses's throat.

A childish pout marred Vyses' expression. "You're in my way," he sulked. His hands lowered down to his sides. "Can't you see? We're just having a little lover's spat."

"You destroyed my cottage," Caelan said. Genuine anger stewed within his voice, dripping from each word like poison. "You destroyed the life that I built. The town that I nurtured."

"And you destroyed my life years ago," Vyses retorted swiftly. His expression darkened and his hands clenched into tight fists. Crimson magic coated the skin of his hands, glowing brighter with each passing second. "So I would say that we are even now."

He took a step to the right and Caelan mirrored it. "I don't know what you are talking about," the latter snapped. His sword maintained its position — pointed and ready to slice.

"You killed her!" Vyses shouted suddenly. His lips curled back over his teeth, revealing sharpened canines. The hair on top of his head shifted — a pair of wolfish ears formed. Bolts of red shot forth from his hands, aimed at Caelan. "You killed Ellie!"

"We both are at fault for her death," Caelan shouted back, his voice resonating through the throne room.. His sword cut through the beam of crimson-colored magic. Another tremor caused the walls to quake.

Chunks of the shattered ceiling and walls tumbled downward, shattering against the remnants of the floor. Snippets of human screams and chaos flooded the room as bits and pieces of the world outside broke through.

"You are the one that performed that spell," Caelan said. His voice echoed over the destruction. "You are the one who cursed her!"

Vyses seethed. "You didn't teach me," he spat viciously.

"You refused to see the bigger picture," Caelan responded.

"You left me alone and just hoped for the best," Vyses screamed. He charged forward. His swords reappeared within his hands. "I was just a child!!"

"You knew better."

Their swords clashed. Sparks of crimson and white exploded from the impact of the blades. Vyses lashed out again. "How could I?" he shouted. "You never taught me anything! I hardly knew anything about magic!"

Caelan's glowing fist connected with Vyses's chest. Vyses stumbled backwards and countered with a hasty swipe of his swords. Caelan blocked his attacks and moved back, creating more distance between them.

"You weren't ready for a spell like that. It was beyond your skill-level," Caelan snarled. "It shouldn't have even been visible to you."

"But it was," Vyses hissed. "It was visible to me. But you never explained anything. How was I supposed to know that the spell was written wrong? How was I supposed to know that it would result in turning her into...into that creature!"

The distance between them lengthened. Vyses jabbed a finger in Caelan's direction, his expression contorted with anguish and rage. "My own teacher wasn't even observant enough to notice that I was experimenting with spells that were beyond my skill level."

Caelan's eyes widened. The glowing sword in his hands dimmed. His shoulders dropped slightly, as if a sense of disbelief had captured him. Then she saw his expression darken.

"And to make matters worse," Vyses continued, "You did it again!" Anger radiated from every ounce of his being, echoed within the violent tendrils of crimson magic that exploded around his feet. He aimed one of his swords at Caelan's throat. "You left Ravenna alone with that stupid spellbook. You treated her exactly the same way that you treated me. You thought it was safe for her to read and experiment with."

Caelan's next step faltered.

"But you are wrong. You make the same mistakes time and time again. Tell me, would you have killed her too?" Vyses jabbed a finger in Ravenna's general direction. "Last time, you had your little mentor, Tylat, present to help you. He isn't here to rescue you this time."

Ravenna grimaced and moved closer. Vyses growled at Caelan. "Had she performed the wrong spell and turned into a monster, would you have killed her too?"

"I have a much stronger understanding of that magic now," Caelan said. His voice was low and even, filled with a radiating fury. His jaw clenched. "And Ravenna isn't you. She is smart. She knows how to form solutions of her own. Or come to me for help when needed."

"You have a lot of faith in someone who went behind your back to learn from another teacher," Vyses spat.

Something dangerous entered Caelan's expression then. His eyes narrowed. "You are foolish to believe that I wasn't already aware of your interference," he said. White magic crawled up his arms, covering his entire body like a second layer of skin.

"You know nothing!" Vyses roared.

"I know that you used that cursed spell on countless human beings — framing them for the murders that you committed. And you continued to use that spell over and over," Caelan snapped.

Vyses glowered at him. "How else was I supposed to learn? As you always used to say, practicing a spell is the only way to get better at casting it, right? It's the little changes that make a world of a difference."

"So you had to go and try to perfect it."

A hysterical laugh escaped Vyses. His hand made another sweeping gesture toward Ravenna. His grin twisted with pride and malice. "And I did it, didn't I?"

Ravenna lingered behind a particularly large piece of stone. She watched Caelan and Vyses circle each other like vultures. A few more seconds passed, and then she shook her head. A chuckle almost escaped her.

"They're just screaming at each other," she whispered to herself. Each faint word was lost within a torrent of emotion and heavy-handed attacks. Her gaze shifted upward toward the ceiling above their heads.

More pieces of stone dangled precariously — jagged stalagmites simply waiting for another tremor. One wrong move and the entire ceiling would collapse, killing anyone beneath it. Her next few movements would need to be fast. She needed an attack that would give her and Caelan enough time to escape the danger overhead.

An icy dagger formed within her hand.

She knew that Vyses would be listening now — waiting for her to make any kind of advance toward him. The moment that he heard something, she knew he would turn toward her. He would attempt to defend himself from whatever attack was coming. He wouldn't be prepared for anything else.

Her free hand aimed at the floor, glowing vibrantly blue.

Ice flooded the ground. It raced across the spiked pieces of stone, coating everything within sight. Ravenna readied her dagger and waited.

Vyses's wolfish ears twitched. His head whipped around. His eyes widened. Right before the ice touched his feet, he jumped upward.

Right into the path of her dagger.

The icy blade sunk deep within his chest. Hot tears brimmed over and burned Ravenna's cheeks. His body hit the broken stone beneath them with a hard crack.

For a moment, the world paused.

Vyses didn't move.

She looked at Caelan. His eyes were wide with shock. His mouth opened around words that she couldn't hear. His feet were frozen within the ice that coated the stones.

Then a beam of red erupted from the ground around Vyses's body. It grew, stretching toward the remnants of the ceiling. More chunks fell and Caelan shouted.

Ravenna watched in horror as Vyses stood and turned toward her, the blade still pierced through his heart. His eyes locked with hers and his maniacal laughter echoed through the air.