“Come,' he said, 'come, we must see and act. Devils or no devils, or all the devils at once, it matters not; we fight him all the same.”

― Bram Stoker, Dracula

“So slander it is.” The Prince surveyed the gathered forces and made a cutting gesture shouting more forcefully, “Shouldn’t you find some more believable lie. Or has grief made you lose your senses?” Carl became calm again and looked down at Lieseleta contemptuously. “Because of the tense situation, I will be merciful. Anyone who steps away and leaves now will not face my retribution. But if you stay I will not hold back.” His face was shadowed by the fires and only his teeth and hair shone in the dim light.

Lieseleta looked at him searchingly then gazed to the side and saw the army battalion marching towards their position. “So there is no other solution. I will say it too. Walk away and don’t look back or come with me- then and only then will I not harm you. But if you chose to side with a kinslayer you will be judged the same.”

Heloise took a step forward, “Carl. Give up and accept exile. That’s the most I can do. Vilander and me we did not see eye to eye that often and I once argued against the appeasement policy regarding the south but what you have done makes everything else inconsequential. Give up or I will stand against you.” Her gaze brushed over the assembled nobles on the other side. “I second my niece's words. Stand aside, stand with us or never stand tall again.”

Alberich sighed to Maximilian who stood beside him, his sodden clothes dripping with moisture, “Shall I let fly a handkerchief and shout something about the code? I seem to be in such situations a lot in the last weeks.”

And as an uneasy silence descended on the platform only broken by the cries and rumbling explosions from the battle below- a bright flash dazzled eyes accustomed to the darkness and one of the knights beside Lieseleta raised his shield instinctively catching a blast of force which crumbled the metal and broke his arm. Nonetheless, the force was spent and the knight was thrown back like a toy while rotating with the momentum. A heavy-set noble standing behind the prince's lines looked half-horrified, half-elated as the widowmaker rod in his hands dropped smoking into the snow hissing as it melted a hole. Cries of anger and one or two voices of reason were drowned in the noise as the first spells were cast.

Alyssa thought she was prepared but when the battle started she froze. Those were people she knew and even if she did not like Carl and even despised him there was always the thin layer of disbelief that he really did do the things they suspected.

Mireille saw her friend hesitating and decisively jumped in front of her before pulling deep on her gate. The exercises she had been learning had made the lightning more of an instinct, just another muscle to be moved and she raised her hands and formed a shield of interlocking bolts of energy coruscating in blue and white, blindingly bright. A lance of ice, and several bolts of force thrown by wands impacted the scintillating barrier but did not break through.

Alea was panicked, she wanted to fight but not hurt her own, and the chaos and her rigid point of view were not conducive to this situation. She silently prayed to Jaros, she never had the habit but why not try? And spoke a complicated spell forming an octaeder made of glyphs shining with light and directed the healing energies as best she could.

Tharus the vampire spoke a short spell and the necrotic energies infusing his long-dead form intensified and supplemented his already prodigious strength grinning he lashed out with the great axe and clove into a hapless guardsman that hilariously tried to block with his sword. The strength of the blow brushed away any resistance and the axehead cut deeply into the guard's sternum before he ripped it free in a shower of blood. With the backhand, he whirled the heavy weapon like others would twirl a stick slashing into the side of a knight who blocked with a forearm wrought with spell-runes. Sparking like fireworks the runes burned out and the bracer bent with the force but held- barely- tossing back the hapless fighter.

Laughing he forged into the press trying to reach the princess and end this whole mess.

Heloise was calm and spoke a short spell releasing several time-sealed spells on her body. She had been apprenticed to the master of the tower of time when she first came to the academy but then her gate had opened and every other avenue but light was closed to her. Shields of force, a spell speeding up her perception, several spells to shield her mind, glyphs lit the air around her. She raised her hand and spoke another incantation forming a thin beam of bright light that cut into a noble that arrogantly shot missiles of force from several wands tucked into his belt. With a dumbfounded look, the old man looked at the smoking hole in his ruffled shirt and as the blood fountained from the wound he stumbled and fell to the ground.

Maximilian looked through the visor of his self-formed metallic armor, the spell that he had used in the Exhibition was put to good use. A blade of vibrating and endlessly rebuilding metal cut into the shield of the knight facing him. Some scion of the house of Bowers Edge a small fiefdom on the coast, south of Landesend. The young man was sweating profusely as he shook off the now uselessly dangling metal and let the ruined shield drop to the ground. Gripping the longsword he was wielding in a two-handed grip he slashed at Maximilian and the latter simply blocked. A look of incomprehension formed on the young knight's face as blood began to well from his lips dripping in thick rivulets on his breastplate.

Alberich took a step to the side and a thin reddish blade was withdrawn from the armpit of the knight. A raised eyebrow and the formerly frivolous student took a step back before his form blurred and illusion cloaked him once again. Maximilian nodded and quickly gasped his thanks.

Magister Illimen looked at the melee and the flames that had been reflected by his pupils seemed to catch and his eyes began to burn with a reddish flame he gestured and oval missiles shaped from living fire burst into being around him. A wave pushed the projectiles into the melee and with a deft hand, he avoided hurting his allies while badly burning an assortment of foes. Limiting himself to not cause collateral damage he cursed softly under his breath. Then he saw a figure in white behind the second prince and for a moment he was dazed.

The master of the tower of time did not change his expression. He was always a logical person, or so he secretly thought of himself, and as he was more and more dissatisfied with the king in recent years he saw potential in his ambitious son. He looked at magister Illimen and shrugged his shoulders. Was it his fault when his colleague could not distinguish the good from the bad? The little girl he was fighting for would never be more than a figurehead and what few decisions she made would surely be emotional and thoughtless. He would be on the winning side and there were a few privileges that the magi of old had once enjoyed he would not mind coming back to him. Forcing gravity to do his bidding he rose swiftly into the air and raised an eyebrow mockingly at Illimen who did the same.

Drathur Illimen rarely lost his composure but now he shouted angrily while a vein on his temple rose prominently, “Gerferak Lordrum! This is no game for funds and pleasure, people are dying and you, especially you, should know what kind of person Carl Askander is. Help end this madness and do not prolong it yourself!”

“I have all the time in the world.” The towermaster could not help but retort which made the magister wince. “The young Lieseleta should be married and bring prosperity to the kingdom and the prince at least understands politics and has firm ambition. Go back to your books and lectern old teacher.”

A slight movement of his hands shifted his form and suddenly there were several white-robed mages facing Illimen. Fractures in space and time served as mirrors that not only reflected his form but his being and the spells the projections formed were quite real.

Illimen activated his last pre-prepared defensive spells and concentrated on forming the first of several interlocking spell forms while his golden flames resisted the barrage of force and spatial magic.

Tharus grabbed the throat of the young guardsman before him, throwing him to the side and down the steps as if he weighed little more than a sack of feathers. Laughing harshly he endured several bolts of force thrown from the wand in Jera’s hand who stood between him and Lieseleta. He had swiftly overwhelmed the defenders and thrown the ranks into disorder. With a powerful swing, he cleared the space around him as a sword was shoved into his side. He felt the cold sting of the metal but his reinforced dead flesh was tougher than wood and the damage minimal.

He tackled Jera and with a roar lifted her from her feet to then whirl the axe one-handed with his left trying for a quick kill. Metallic reflexes shimmered in the air as the honed blade completed its deadly arc but then there was a massive clanking sound as metal hit metal and the unstoppable force met the immovable object. Vanessa stood before him holding a small sword on which runes shone brightly sparks sprayed from the point of impact. Vibrations from the massive strike nearly let him drop the axe and Tharus was forced back. His momentum broken several knights began to attack him while a bright flash of light burned into his right pauldron. Cursing in old Andorian he spoke a spell and bloody light framed his form redirecting the attacks.

Vanessa subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief. She had tried to get the mortal habits under control but stress brought them out again. Her spellwork had anchored her blade to the stone steps beneath otherwise she would have flown clear to the midst of the stadium with her negligible weight.

Jera gave her a look laden with suspicion but with how the battle was going they would not reject the help.

The large vampire spat a command word and dark flames engulfed his weapon. The large draw on his reserves filled him with urgency and as another bolt of force impacted the blood sanctuary shielding his body he attacked Vanessa in a frenzy raining blow after blow on her. The small vampire girl jerked backward and then jumped on the great axeblade using its upward momentum to somersault over his head, the small blade in her hand slashing into his visor seeking his eyes. And as he was using his right arm to shield his head Iseret appeared from the shadows and stabbed both daggers into his midriff. Black poison flowed unnaturally into his wound and even dead flesh began to rot causing him to bellow in pain and anger.

To the side and up the hill there was a flash of dark lightning and reality inverted before several persons came stumbling through the portal to the astral plane. Snow plumed from their unsteady steps. Kadira tasted the air with her forked tongue and with quick gestures ordered several half-snake fighters to assist the princess’ forces. Three mages accompanying them slumped to the ground completely exhausted. They wore hastily assembled tabards depicting a white lily and a princess crown. The Reborn under Kadira enjoyed a reputation for thorough planning and it was well deserved.

Matane the gorgon directed dark energies at some of the Nordmark nobles heroically guarding the up-to-now relatively peaceful flanks and caught them off guard leading to screams from slowly petrifying men and women.

Alyssa shook off her momentary apprehension and began the chant for the second seal both Cyrus and Asandria supported her. The ease with which the dimensions parted made her afraid for a moment but the sheer rush of power soon swept that away. Frost beyond the mere physical shrouded her and the oval of utter darkness pressed against the thin skin of the world. All the death, all the tainted magic that filled this space roiled in that darkness, and the white-haired girl decisively inserted her hand grasping for that power.

As a new star seemed to come into existence far overhead and the downdraft of heat vaporized the falling snowflakes the third seal was broken and with a wail partially destroyed spirits and forms from the fierce fighting laden with death broke from the black gate. Alyssa used every ounce of skill and willpower to keep the torrent of void energies under control focusing on the enemies ahead. The knights, nobles, and royal guards supporting the prince pressed the princess' followers sorely and Alyssa shouted, "Out of my way!" Her own allies stumbled to the side, barely avoiding the roiling darkness. Flesh was stripped from bone and sinew rotting away like fat caught on a hot grill. A faint sound reached her ears and she realized it was Mireille shouting at her. Then there was a sharp pain in her left ear as Cyrus bit her to wake her up.

A face like her own gazed at her from the darkness immense and small at once she felt a light tug and regained control.

Stopping the deluge was probably the most strenuous thing she had ever done and the seconds she had held the spell seemed like ages to her in hindsight. Stumbling as the dark fire guttered she fell to her knees but the damage to the enemy had been done and a big hole gaped in the defensive line of the prince's forces.

Kettra shouted, “For the princess and the fallen king!”

Tharus roared unwillingly his armor was damaged and broken in many places and the ground around him was littered with corpses, the guardsmen stood back in fear only Jera and Vanessa stood between him and his goal as a voice shouted, “Close your eyes! Vanessa- back!”

Alea drew upon the gate and light filled her soul, sightless eyes blazed through her blindfold, and with a gesture streams of brilliant energy shot for the vampire. The light grew ever brighter and with gasps of pain, the fighters held their hurting eyes. The large vampire stumbled back and ashes drifted from where his skin burned from the light. Vanessa hurled herself to the side seeking shelter behind the combatants but her left arm was only bones held together with some blood and sinew.

And then there was Carl. He had waited in the back and seen the battle turn. The master of time was sorely pressed, the snakes dismantled his flank, and the trump card, his vampire, was stymied by the determined defense of several potent mages. His face grew determined and he cast some spells before he then surged forward past his retainers and his blade sought for Lieseleta’s throat.

The princess raised her arms in defense and hidden artifacts on her body activated diverting the blade at the last second and a shallow cut scored her shoulder bleeding red onto white skin and on her cream-colored dress. The blade was so sharp that the pain just hit her after Carl had drawn back for another strike. Too shocked to scream she stood as the tip of the sword approached her chest. Her blue eyes were opened wide and she looked at her brother whom she did not understand anymore. Face contorted into a grimace he jabbed the sword towards her heart. “Little teacher, don’t.” Without meaning to, she called the term of endearment she had not used for years. When he was helping her learn and hid her from the stern tutors she praised him so.

The prince staggered as if hit. And Jera used this chance to grab Lieseleta pulling her to the side. Carl looked at her in a daze and opened his mouth to say something as a searing beam of light impacted the side of his head. Burning into flesh and bone the flaring spear of light shone into the night sky. Heloise turned her head away lowering her still glowing hand.

The light that so brilliantly lit the darkness dimmed the spark in his eyes and with a final step, the young man fell heavily blood leaking from the smoking hole.