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Young Writers Society


16+ Violence

The Last Spell 5.3

by SilverNight


Warning: This work has been rated 16+ for violence.

Cyrin’s entire body seemed to protest when they stepped into the alley, all of their senses warning them that it was uncomfortable and they should be moving away from their Hollow, not closer. Their communicator buzzed again, and after scanning their surroundings, they spared a second to check it.

>autumnleaf:

just don’t pick your favorite quilt of course! i want you to have that

Before Cyrin could even decide whether to type I’ll be back or just reply to her later, something invisible slammed into their chest, knocking them backwards and off-balance.

They didn’t turn it into a somersault when they started to fall, like they’d told Mireya they could do, but they did recover quickly. Cyrin pivoted, turning their backwards momentum sideways, and managed to half-stagger, half-glide to the right. They quickly reached into a coat pocket, finding the knife artifact that Clarity had commissioned with Concealment and Force— the only weapon that they could smuggle through security and had on their person now— and clenched it in their hand, searching for what had hit them.

It didn’t take long to find. A viciously grinning person materialized in front of them a few feet away, the last wisps of a Concealment spell wearing off as he stepped closer. He held another spell in his hand, and when Cyrin’s stomach turned at the sight of it, they had to guess it was Tremor. Strangely enough, their attacker didn’t activate it immediately. Instead, he closed a fist over it and cast a different spell with his other hand, a simple spinning of magic that Cyrin recognized as Flare.

“Are you here to mug me?” Cyrin asked flatly, while shaking out his wrist to get rid of the pins and needles.

The Minor Mage laughed, lifting the Flare spell. “Do you think I am?”

Cyrin inched backwards towards the wall behind him, which his attacker took as a chance to step forward. He waited a moment, then swung his arm out at the man’s head. The mage ducked, mistaking the hand holding the invisible knife for a clenched fist. Instead of punching like it seemed he was about to, Cyrin flicked the knife at the hand holding the Flare spell. The man shouted in surprise and pain, pressing his other hand to the wound. The knife, no longer in contact with Cyrin, reappeared as stuck in the mage’s wrist. Before the man could have a chance to remove it himself, Cyrin drew it back to him with a pulling motion, the Force magic causing it to fly back to his hand.

“I hope it’s not your intention,” they said as they wrapped their fingers around the grip, fighting to keep the tremble in their body out of their voice. “You aren’t doing the best at it.”

Grimacing, the other mage stepped back, a haze in his eyes as he let his injured hand fall limply to one side and transferred both spells to his other palm. “Don’t sound so smug just yet,” he snapped, stretching his fingers in the way that spellcasters did to warm up when they were about to perform a complicated weave.

Cyrin felt their breath catch in their throat, and they moved away, putting the knife in their coat and backing out towards the street again. Tremor and Flare together would make an explosion of fire that would spread wide, in one of the most dangerous hybrid spell combinations. Even if Tremor wasn’t so debilitating to them, they really didn’t want to be here for that.

They’d left the Minor Mage one-handed, though, with both parts of his spell unactivated. There was still time to recover this.

Cyrin flung out their arm, trying to take control of the Flare spell. The man struggled against the resistance, messily combining the two spells in a sloppy weaving. While the two of them fought for control over the magic, Cyrin’s gaze landed on the mage’s MagicBox. It was on his belt, hanging wide open with more magic inside. They hardly had any left of theirs and no time to get it, but that magic was easy to take.

Giving up on trying to sabotage his attacker’s spell, Cyrin instead made the unguarded magic fly to his hands. Urgency and the lack of feeling in his fingers made the casting hard, but he worked fast as he spun up a Force spell, then hurried backwards to the sidewalk just as the other mage finished his spell.

“Get back!” Cyrin shouted to the pedestrians around him, activating the Force spell as a barrier closing off the alley the moment before the other spell activated.

The vibration that went through the ground under his feet was more than enough to make him and everyone else nearby fall down. A wave of burning heat rushed his way before the Force shield pushed it away, saving him from the firestorm. Cyrin managed to sit up just in time to watch the explosion fall back in on itself, going out in a blaze. The rumbling in the ground lasted much longer, and he had to wait several seconds before it had subsided enough for him to stand.

A dozen car alarms were going off, and windows from both buildings in the alley— of which the lobby of his apartment building— were shattered. The people directly around him were slowly staggering to their feet, looking at the scene or him in shock. Others, out of range on the other side of the street, were pointing and gasping. But for the moment, no one could react.

The mysterious fighter was just as shocked, scrambling to his feet and smothering a flame burning the edge of his coat. He and Cyrin stared at each other for a moment, then they both moved— the mage to push his way through the crowd and run, Cyrin to dash to the entrance of their apartment. A few people moved after them, and they thought they saw some following the other mage too, but now that there was feeling in their hands, they could pull out their keycard and race through the door before slamming it locked shut behind them. Their momentum made them stumble towards the elevator, fumbling to press the up button as they quickly wrote a message to Mireya.

>cyring-wolf:

so, i nearly got burned alive

That type of message was completely normal between them, and when they got it after the elevator doors opened and they stepped inside, Mireya’s response was just as unconcerned as they expected.

>bluelightningrod:

medium rare?

>cyring-wolf:

actually, it would have been more like well done

probably even past that at a “congratulations”

>bluelightningrod:

oh you would hate that wouldn’t you

you *still* have opinions about steak

>cyring-wolf:

some things die hard

>bluelightningrod:

such as you!

i’m adding this to the ledger of your near-death experiences

Cyrin let out a tired laugh, slumping against the elevator wall as it carried him upwards. He used the rest of his time to type out a longer message.

>cyring-wolf:

in all seriousness, do watch out. it was a mage who tried ambushing me, and i’ve got a feeling someone sent him. i’m on my way, just be careful

>bluelightningrod:

we can talk about it when you get here

in the meantime, no crashing into anything

>cyring-wolf:

no promises

The elevator dinged, opening to a hallway. Cyrin kept an eye out unlocking his apartment, grabbing his jetpack, and taking the elevator all the way up to the roof so that he’d be able to take off. The wind was fierce in its greeting when he stood on the edge of the building, giving him a taste of what he’d be feeling when he was flying through it. He didn’t need to take a deep breath before jumping— this hadn’t made him nervous in ages now— but he did anyway. Letting winter air fill his lungs before the leap felt just as natural as first falling, then soaring, the wind answering to him as he wove through buildings and back over the jagged cliff.


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235 Reviews


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Mon Feb 13, 2023 1:40 pm
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4revgreen wrote a review...



>autumnleaf:

just don’t pick your favorite quilt of course! i want you to have that

I really like the idea of these messages and the way it's structured throughout the chapter. It nicely breaks up the chunks of texts so it's not too overwhelming for the reader.

They didn’t turn it into a somersault when they started to fall, like they’d told Mireya they could do, but they did recover quickly. Cyrin pivoted, turning their backwards momentum sideways, and managed to half-stagger, half-glide to the right.

the whole fight sequence is really nicely written, fast paced, with action literally escalating from the moment Cyrin enters this alley.

so, i nearly got burned alive

This made me laugh, I love how casually he puts this quite terrifying fight into words.

medium rare?

Okay, Mireya's response was even funnier. I love the dynamic between these two.

actually, it would have been more like well done

probably even past that at a “congratulations”

I seriously love the way your incorporate humour into this story. I've laughed out loud at a few different times now in the chapters i've read and i just overall love your style of writing too.

Although there is a lot of action and dialogue, there is very little description of the setting or the characters themselves. I know this is a later chapter so descriptions of characters like Cyrin probably happened at the beginning, but descriptions of the surroundings in more detail could balance out the pace of the story and create a more immersive experience for the reader.

Overall i yet again really enjoyed the chapter! I can't wait to real more




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Sat Dec 17, 2022 8:50 pm
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Shady wrote a review...



Heya Silv! At this point, I am running out of ideas on how to open these reviews xP So I guess I'll just give the obligatory "excited to see what's gonna happen in this part!" and then skip past the greeting straight to your review...

They didn’t turn it into a somersault when they started to fall, like they’d told Mireya they could do, but they did recover quickly.


xD I like that you've brought this back in. It adds humor to a tense situation and is a nice bit of comedic relief.

The mage ducked, mistaking the hand holding the invisible knife for a clenched fist.


Dangerously close to breaking POV here, telling us what the mage is thinking ^^

>bluelightningrod:

medium rare?


hahahaha omg

~

This was a nice conclusion to this chapter! I feel far more satisfied than if you'd have left off on part two ^^ Although it raises questions about who this mage is and what he wants with Cyrin -- but I think those are the good kinds of questions. Like, the kind of question that makes me want to read on to get answers, not the kinds of ones that frustrate me because I'm confused, if that makes sense?

The bit that I'm slightly confused about is all of these different types of magic. Like... the Tremor magic made him go numb... so is it like his weakness? Like... kryptonite vibes? And if so, why was he strong enough to cast a spell to ward off the attack, especially if it was as deadly as they were letting on that it was?

I do love that they stole the other mage's magic, though. That seemed very in character for Cyrin lol and I liked his text exchange with Mireya right after. Excited to see their next meeting, but assuming we're hopping back over to the Heirs in Chapter 6, so I'll try to be patient ;)

Hope some of this rambling was somewhat helpful!

~Shady 8)




SilverNight says...


there will be answers to all these questions B) hopefully both to the ones you're supposed to have and the ones I need to clear up for you XD




"I never expected that I should be a queen so soon."
— Alice's Adventures in Wonderland