We all stood over the conference table staring down at the words on the parchment. There was even a helpful picture to give us an idea of what it meant. Queen Celestea looked up at me. “Are you certain you can pull this off?”

I shrugged and Jagriel chose to answer. “No mortal can achieve the mana required for such a spell. This is World Magic. It takes the cumulative mana of an entire world to cast.”

“Won’t that cause mass destruction?” Joe asked, running his fingers over the sketch.

“It can.” Deductus reasoned. “Not in this case, however. This spell is designed to contain, not destroy. If employed properly, it can turn the tide in your favor.”

“What happens if we do it wrong?” Kalli asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

Jagriel laughed. “In that case, you will nullify all of your magic and go into battle as a bunch of children with pointy sticks.”

“Actually, we didn’t bring any pointy sticks.” Wendy pointed out.

“All the more reason not to screw this up,” Jagriel replied with a wicked grin on his face.

I took a long hard look at the image on the parchment again. It showed a man in a pointy hat on his knees looking up at a shimmering cage that hung over a monster’s head.

The words on the parchment shimmered and rearranged themselves constantly. I rubbed my eyes and turned to Jagriel. “Why do the words do that? It makes them hard to read.”

Elysiana traced her finger over the words and replied for her brother. “That is a fail-safe that was placed on ancient magic to prevent it from being abused. Words of magic that work today will no longer be effective tomorrow.”

“We can’t read this,” Kalli complained while squinting at the ever-changing words.

Jagriel rubbed his chin. “Merely looking at the words and sounding them out isn’t enough for world magic. There are steps you must take. First of all, you must possess the raw power to cast such a spell. Only one or two beings throughout history have ever been so powerful. For the rest of you mortals, you must have access to a sufficient mana pool. This means that only the two of you can do it. You will pass mana through your link from Luna.”

“Okay!” I said, nodding vigorously. “Tell us how to do it.”

The god hesitated for a moment before letting out a long sigh. “Very well. Both of you pass your mana into the scroll. Yes, like that. Just over the words. Take them into yourself, let them burn into your core. Become one with the magic. Remember that a single lapse in concentration may bring calamity. These spells have another name. Doomsday spells. Get it wrong and the worst can happen.”

Kalli and I felt the magic within the words as the power washed over our cores. We exchanged a glance with one another as the words appeared in our mind’s eye as the spell made itself known to us.

“Xxtrypx Zymalgoz”

We both mouthed the words as the essence of the spell marked us. Jagriel continued his explanation. “When you invoke the magic, open your connection to Luna. The spell will draw the needed mana and no more. Both of you must focus on controlling the spell.”

“What does it do?” Kalli asked, touching her chest softly as though the spell had left a mark.

The god shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. At a glance, this appears to be more of a control spell than a destructive spell, but be warned, even the mildest spell can cause great damage if you lose control.”

Kalli squeezed my hand which I hadn’t realized she was holding. I’m nervous about this, Mel.

I gave her a reassuring smile.

Don’t worry. We can do this. Together.

Together. She echoed.

It was too bad we couldn’t practice the World Magic before needing to use it. For all I knew, I was about to drop the magic equivalent of a nuclear bomb on the enemy.

Realizing that we were on the verge of a major battle, I started to worry that I didn’t know all that much about waging war. Kalli must have felt my apprehension because she asked, “Does anybody know what we should do next? It doesn’t feel right using World Magic as a first resort, but I also don’t want to hesitate and get anybody killed.”

Joe offered some advice through group chat. We should check in with Alariel and see if she managed to reason with her mother.

Since the conversation shifted to group chat, Alariel was able to respond herself. She is very upset. She wants Melvin and Kalli to surrender to her or she is going to attack.

Kalli swallowed hard as she met my gaze. We were both thinking the same thing. Celestea seemed to realize something was wrong as she rushed to Kalli’s side. “What is it? What’s going on?”

“Mardella.” Kalli began tentatively. “She wants to see Melvin and I by ourselves. Or she…she will um…”

“No!” The queen bellowed causing Charles to rush to her side. “Royalty doesn’t surrender. We will fight to the last man. Well, in your case to the last troll.”

I shook my head wearily. “I’m tired of sacrificing people. If she wants the manipulator and someone with a connection to Luna, I fit both requirements. I’ll go. Kalli doesn’t need to.”

Kalli clutched my arm. “Never! There is no way I’ll let you go alone. It’s both of us or nothing. I’d rather use the World Magic and end it all right now rather than give you up.”

I sat hard and Kalli followed into a chair beside me. For a long moment, everyone was silent until Jagriel spoke. “I agree that it is not a good idea to split the two of you up. Since neither of you has any experience casting a spell of this magnitude, you will need to be together for the best chance of getting it right.”

Wendy, who had been relatively quiet up to that point, cleared her throat to get our attention. “I think I have an idea, but I’m going to need to borrow the gods.”

Sometime later our ragtag group made its way across the field. Since we had no way of communicating with King Thomas, we couldn’t be sure his army wouldn’t attack us.

We convinced Celestea and Charles to retreat to the Thief’s Corridor for safety. In the distance, the light of the sun glimmered off of Lady Mardella’s armor as she strode across the field with a slew of shadowy Wraths in her wake.

Our group consisted of Kalli and me along with Joe. Joe frog-marched Raverly behind us attached to a leash. He was securely bound and had a strange helmet covering his entire head.

Seeing Lady Mardella for the first time up close, I decided to inspect her.

Name

Mardella Lobo

Class

Archmage

Level

108

Affection Level

Dubious

She was way outside of our level range. It was going a small miracle to win if we ended up having to fight her.

“You were told to come alone!” Mardella roared as she came to a halt in front of us. “It’s you for all of them. Don’t worry. I don’t intend to kill you. You will just provide me with access to that castle as well as transfer your manipulator status to me and then you can then live happily ever after.”

I folded my arms, taking a few steps back out of what I assumed to be her weapon range. “What do you want with the castle? And I can’t just make you a manipulator. It doesn’t work that way?”

Mardella rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “I see. There must be limitations on what you can do with your class. Perhaps it is not as powerful as I was led to believe. You will still pass down useful traits to your next of kin so you might be of use. We can discuss that later. For now, access to the castle will suffice.”

“And if we refuse?” Joe asked, turning everyone’s attention to him.

Lady Mardella chuckled. “Why, then I’ll kill you all as well as that army you’ve gathered back there. I just need to take the princess alive for what I need.”

A gentle breeze began to blow around us as we considered her offer in silence. Starting to tap her foot, Mardella said, “I haven’t all day. Make haste with your decision.”

In the distance, the Dabian forces were separated into two groups. The King’s army formed ranks next to a group of Mardella’s mages who were surrounded by wraiths.

Suddenly, a funnel cloud appeared in the sky heading straight toward the mage group. Mardella craned her neck to watch her forces flee the approaching storm. She then turned to glare at me. “This is your doing, isn’t it?”

I made a show of looking confused. “I don’t know how to do any weather magic.”

The moment Mardella had her attention focused on me, I shouted in group chat. Now!

The tornado vanished as quickly as it had appeared, revealing Wendy and Rundell. Moments later the seven gods appeared along with a small army of Shades. The shades made quick work of the wraiths while the scattering mages quickly surrendered with seven angry gods hovering over them.

“You!” Mardella screamed, waving a shaky finger in my face. “I’ve changed my mind. I’m just going to kill you.”

She drew her short sword faster than I could react. Before I knew it she brought the blade down on my head. Once again, my armor reacted and the black material reached out to catch the blow. Mardella’s eyes widened in shock as she withdrew the blade for another blow.

By that time, I was ready for her. I brought my mana blade out in time to meet her next strike. Mardella drew back for a third attack just as Kalli’s fireball struck her in the side.

Repeated flashes of light informed me that Joe’s flash grenades were keeping the wraith guards at bay. Mardella’s temporary distraction by Kalli’s fireball was all the time I needed to transform the artifact into a full suit of armor.

Her next strike was weak and I easily parried. Then I felt a burning sensation in my abdomen and the armor tugged at my mana to repair itself.

The air smelt of ozone, making me realize that The Archmage had cast a spell and it had penetrated the artifact. Fortunately, the damage didn’t feel too bad. I looked up to see a wand in her left hand.

Suddenly, Mardella winced as Kalli struck her with another fireball. “Stop that, child! I’ll deal with you in a moment.”

She lunged at me with the sword again but I dove out of the way. I was confident that I could parry the blow, but the added risk of magic made her unpredictable.

Mardella took advantage of the confusion by launching a spell at Kalli that looked like a ball of darkness with lightning infused into it. She held her hand up, desperately trying to conjure another fireball.

Realizing that she might not make it in time, I teleported to her side. I saw the terror in her eyes as I appeared facing her. Melvin! Look out!

Then the spell hit me in the back. I felt the same pressure as I had the first time Mardella’s spell struck me. The force of the blast sent me sprawling into Kalli and we both tumbled to the ground.

“Be reasonable,” Mardella growled. “You don’t have to die.”

I shook my head desperately, seeing a black shape swirl and dart around in my dizziness. By the time I cleared my head, Mardella towered over me, sword raised at the ready. “Last chance, boy. Do you truly wish to die?”

Kalli knelt beside me. Do we do it now?

I let go of the mana blade, allowing it to dissipate as I glanced over at the area where the army of mages used to be. From what I could see, Wendy and Rundell had managed to subdue the mages with the help of Kiki, Alariel, and the gods.

I held up my hands in submission as Kalli and I began focusing on the World Magic. It was going to be our one chance.