Chapter Twenty-Six - The Staff of Rhodhinia

Adric froze. He could have sworn he had just seen the necraphym. He kept his eyes peeled, looking intently for them, but he could not locate them. If they were here, they were certainly doing an excellent job of keeping their presence unknown. Why, though? Adric wondered to himself. Why keep out of it? They certainly had the power and the ability to strike down a great number of Alldelans. Maybe they wanted something different, but what was it? Amos would know, but Amos wasn’t there. He knew he was going to have to solve this mystery on his own. Spinning on the spot, he vanished again.

He reappeared somewhere near the fourth legion. He noticed one of the garrisons was getting backed up by several wraiths. Seeing this, he brought the Staff of Alldel down hard, a tingling sensation ran through his arm as he watched the group of wraiths collapse. His job here finished, he moved on.

“Adric, sir.” Someone behind him grabbed him by the shoulder. Adric turned to find a man whose face had been dirt splattered. Blood soaked one of his shoulders. The man was injured. His left arm hung limply at his side.

“You’re hurt,” Adric said.

“Nothing I can’t handle when we get home.”

“I’m sorry, there isn’t anything I can do to help your arm,” Adric said.

“I do not ask about myself. The third legion is being hit hard. Can you help them? Please, my brother is in the third legion.” Adric nodded to him.

“I will help them.”

“Thank you, sir.” True to his word, Adric made for the third legion. It was true. The surge of wraiths had taken their toll here. There seemed to be a great many more casualties than Alldel had sustained elsewhere. Seeing a group of them close by, he raised the Staff of Alldel, and struck them down with a single blow. He got their attention. A great multitude of wraiths nearby saw him, and several of them tore after him. Adric reached around and pulled his sword from its sheath.

Sword in his right and staff in his left, he fought mercilessly against the wraith army. He was flourishing on the battlefield, and if he was honest with himself, he loved every second of it. It was like a dance. Swordplay with his right arm, and sorcery with his left, he fought with both hands fluidly, spinning around, jabbing, crossing, and even kicking a time or two. With the Staff of Alldel in his hand, he was able to take the wraiths one-on-five continuously.

Even with the Staff of Alldel, he knew he must soon tire. He could not expend all his energy on the wraiths. He knew another foe awaited him, somewhere. In a small gap, as more wraiths made their way to him, he grabbed the Staff of Alldel with both hands, still holding the sword, and he thrust it into the soft ground below. A rippling wave issued in all directions from the staff. It moved across the battlefield with such force that wraiths fell and crumpled around him, leaving a clearing directly in front of him. And then he desisted. That had been foolish. He suddenly felt completely drained, out of breath, and slightly lightheaded. He took a minute to gather himself, and then he saw something to make his heart stop. The timing could not be worse. Directly in front of him, standing at the end of the clearing, stood a cloaked man. He was dressed all in black. The cloak was so long it brushed the grass at his feet. The man was looking directly into Adric’s eyes. Adric knew the man. He knew him, for he had seen him that fateful night in the library in Eladin.

The man approached Adric. It was as though the battle around them wasn’t even aware of the two of them. He continued to walk toward Adric. Still winded, Adric stood up, for he had no other choice. The time had come. He stood there, attempting to catch his breath, and watched the man draw nearer. He was hooded, just as he had been in Eladin. There was no doubt this man was Karina’s kidnapper. This bolstered him. Somewhere about ten feet from Adric, the man came to a stop, and he lowered his hood.

“Hello, Adric.” The man said.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Roman.”

“How do you know me?”

“I have been watching you,” he said, simply.

“What does that mean? Why are you interested in me?”

“Who wouldn’t be interested in you? Look at you, king of Alldel, you hold that marvelous staff in your hand with such ease, such distinction.”

“How long have you been following me?”

“Only when I can. I followed you to the library because I needed to know what you know. I took your friend because I needed to make sure you were properly motivated. I also followed you to Gnostgate.”

“Liar!” Adric shouted though he knew Roman wasn’t lying. “Why would you let me take the staff if you were able to follow me?”

“Amos was a little more than I wished to handle at the moment. That and I don’t get along with the necraphym. We don’t like each other much.” Roman said, his conversation becoming casual.

“What were the necraphym doing there? What did they want?”

“I’m afraid that is something I cannot reveal to you.”

“Are they here, now?” Roman did not answer, he merely shrugged his shoulders. But Adric knew this meant they must be.

“As much as I have enjoyed this chat with you, I’m afraid I do have orders to carry out,” Roman said, and he pulled the front of his cloak back. Behind his cloak was concealed what could only be Heartsbane. The sapphire gleamed on top of it. Instinctively, Adric reached for the Staff of Alldel.

“Roman, listen to me, we don’t have to do this. That staff, Heartsbane, it’s controlling you. It’s evil, Roman.”

“It has given me powers beyond anyone’s wildest imagination,” Roman said, as though not hearing Adric.

“Cast it aside, Roman. We can break the curse together.”

“I have no interest in your proposal,” Roman sneered, and then he readied himself for battle.

“So, be it,” Adric said, and he took his stance. Roman smiled. The battle had progressed beyond conventional weapons. The battle of magic, of staff versus staff, was about to begin. He gave the Staff of Rhodhinia a casual flick, and a tremendous wind caught him off balance.

Adric regained his footing, shielding his eyes from the dirt with one hand, holding the Staff of Alldel out with the other. The barrier deflected the wind, and Adric could see the wraith army surrounding them begin to be tossed by the wind. Alldelans were also struggling to maintain their own footing. He had to stop it. He couldn’t just deflect it.

Adric grabbed the Staff of Alldel, the tamtan was urging him forward. He concentrated with all his might on the wind being generated by Roman, and he began to cause it to spiral up to the sky. As it caught the dirt beneath their feet, a whirlwind could be seen forming before them, but it was going nowhere. The wind was no longer interfering with the armies, but it was still there.

Adric and Roman were deadlocked in a contest of will. Roman was forcing the whirlwind toward Adric, and Adric was trying to force it to collapse. Appearing to have surrendered the struggle, Roman yielded his concentration, and he vanished. Adric turned, knowing where Roman must be going. He aimed the Staff of Alldel at the spot where he predicted Roman would appear, and a wave rippled across the battlefield.

Roman was suddenly visible just feet away from the wave, but he did not have time to react. The wave caught him across his neck, and he stumbled backward. On his way down, he had time to attack Adric. The dirt at Adric’s feet kicked up and flew into his face, temporarily blinding him. Eye’s watering, Adric looked around for Roman. He saw him standing down the battlefield, arms crossed, and smiling.

“They told me you would be a challenge.” Adric ignored him. He vanished and reappeared a few feet in front of Roman. He vanished again and reappeared a few feet closer. He repeated this maneuver four times, gaining on Roman each time. The last time, Roman looked to have braced for an attack. Thinking he would try to outsmart Roman, the last time he vanished, he reappeared behind him. He drew his sword and thrust it out forward, but Roman had anticipated him. Roman, turned on the spot and parried his sword with the Staff of Rhodhinia.

Adric swung the Staff of Alldel, and the energy coming from it shoved Roman backward several feet. Adric vanished again and tried again to catch Roman off guard. This time Roman was more prepared. As soon as Adric had reappeared behind Roman, Roman pointed the Staff of Rhodhinia in his direction, and a blue ripple found his chest.

Adric felt all the wind leave him. His chest tingled sharply from the attack. This was the first time he had sustained a direct hit from a staff. Perhaps his face showed this fact because Roman smiled and said,

“What’s wrong? You were doing so good.”

“What’s your problem, Roman? Why do you fight this war? What do you want?” Adric asked, his lip bleeding. Roman ignored him. With a turn of his cloak, he vanished. Adric waited for him to reappear, but he couldn’t find him. He was looking all around, staff held tightly in his hand. Still, he found nothing.

And then he was knocked off balance as something bright and blue struck the ground around him with great force. Adric dived for the ground just in time to dodge another one. He stood back up, shaking the dirt from his hair. He looked up, and he saw Roman hovering ten feet above. Adric was astonished. He just stood there and looked at Roman.

“How…” He said to himself. And then the answer was given to him.

“Catch him.” The familiar whispering urged him forward. With the tamtan directing him, he felt the energy flowing through his arms, the same tingling sensation he felt when using the staff. And then he felt that energy begin to push him upward, as an invisible force, lifting him from the ground below.

Adric sharpened his focus and felt himself being propelled swiftly upward. He met Roman face-to-face, and they stared at one another, equals, daring the other to be the one to make the first move. Roman was the first to act. He twirled the Staff of Rhodhinia in front of him. Adric could see those faint ripples like heat waves flying through the air toward him. As though they were dancing, they both moved in rhythm with one another. Adric was parrying every one of those energy waves coming from the infamous Staff of Rhodhinia. It was much like a game, except no game Adric ever played awarded the loser a fatal trip back to the ground. No doubt a missed queue or one wrong move would send him plummeting back to the ground. At this height, he would not survive.

And then there was the level of concentration required to maintain this cadence. He wasn’t just parrying Roman’s volley like swordplay, he still had to focus on keeping himself airborne. The first defensive swing he took at Roman’s attack proved this. His focus on remaining in the air wavered for only a fraction of a second when he blocked Roman’s first strike, but he felt himself slip, nonetheless. He had been careful since then to remain focused on staying right where he was.

Roman stopped his attack. And then he was seized by an idea. His sword was forged with the same ruby that resided in his staff. He remembered speaking about it with Thale. It seemed so long ago. This gave him an idea. If Roman didn’t know that, then he had the element of surprise on his side. But for it to work, he needed Roman to resume his attack. Adric made for land and attempted to provoke him by trying an attack of his own. Roman parried it just as Adric had done. But it worked. Roman followed Adric to the ground and was, again, on the offensive.

Ripples of faintest blue were making their way toward Adric once again. This time, Adric did not hold out the Staff of Alldel to stop them. Adric pulled out the sword. It was much more familiar in his hands. He swung at the blue ripples, and they dissipated on contact. His hands were tingling violently, like hundreds of needles picking at him. Using this tactic, he began charging across the field toward Roman, swinging at the energy ripples as he ran.

Roman was growing frantic. His movements becoming more and more erratic. He swung faster, harder, and less accurately. He began running backward, trying to get away. Adric continued to approach Roman as quickly as he could. And then he was swinging at Roman with his sword. Roman’s only response was to parry Adric’s sword with his Heartsbane. Treating the Staff of Rhodhinia as a sword, Roman went to battle against Adric. And then Adric felt a sickening crunch as his sword finally found its intended target.