“Don’t come any closer, or I swear
I’ll let her fall!” Evan shouted in strangled tones.
The girl floated in midair a few
feet away from the tenth floor balcony, surrounded by a sickly green light. Her
mouth was open in a silent scream, and her eyes locked on Malcolm’s as he raced
toward them, begging him to save her. He hoped she saw confidence in his face.
Evan stood loosely against the
balcony, drenched in sweat, with his long blond hair hanging in unkempt strands
around his face. He held his left hand outstretched, holding his glowing
talisman. Malcolm faltered. He knew in that moment that Evan was finished. It
was one of their most sacred rules: never reveal your talisman. He surged
forward and stopped suddenly, as if he had run into a wall. He pounded his fist
against it.
“Evan! Don’t be a fool! She’s just
a kid! Let her go before—”
“Like this?” Evan sneered, and
waved his hand sharply toward the girl. She dropped down and screamed aloud.
Still screaming, she stopped with a jerk and fell to her hands and knees, still
suspended in midair.
Malcolm felt the fury rising in
him and tried to quench it. He dared not touch his talisman with so much anger.
He took a deep breath and reached for the pouch at his neck. Throwing out his
other hand, he released a bolt of sizzling fire that burned bright yellow
against Evan’s shield. It collapsed in a shower of sparks, and Malcolm threw
his hand toward the girl, surrounding the green glow around her with yellow
fire.
Evan slashed his hand down, and
she fell again. Malcolm swept his hand to the side, and her descent slowed
until the touched the courtyard floor below, where a crowd had gathered to
watch. He didn’t take his eyes off Evan to check on her.
Evan sank to his knees, dropping
his hands in front of him, still holding the glowing talisman. Despair hunched
his shoulders and bent his head forward. He said in a voice thick with tears,
“Please, Malcolm. Help me. I can’t control it any more. Save me from it.”
Malcolm flinched. It was rare for
a talisman to take over, and there was only one way to save Evan from it. To
save the world from Evan.
“Evan, no! We’ll—”
“Mal, I want it to be you. You
deserve it, not the Morlenbane. They’re coming. Please, do it now!” Evan
sobbed.
Malcolm squeezed his talisman
tight. He couldn’t refuse Evan’s pleas. They’d been friends too long for him to
leave Evan to the merciless justice of the Morlenbane.
“I’m sorry, Evan,” he said through
gritted teeth.
“Me too, Mal. I wouldn’t have hurt
her…I don’t think...”Evan said. His face twisted as he held up his hands and
the talisman.
Malcolm nodded once. His fingers
bit into his own talisman through the soft leather pouch. He flung a bolt of
blazing yellow fire straight at Evan. It flashed against his hands and flared
around him in a vortex of green and yellow light. Evan howled and fell writhing
to the floor as the fire burned. Finally, he lay still, and the yellow light
surrounded the green and arced back past Malcolm’s outstretched hand to the
leather pouch at his neck, pouring the energy from Evan’s talisman into his
own.
He dropped his hands and bowed his
head, walking over to Evan’s still body. Released at last from the battle he’d
fought for so long, his young face was unmarred by the struggle or the talismans’
fire. His outstretched hand offered up his talisman to Malcolm.
Malcolm reached down to pick it
up, and at his touch, it flared once, then fell dark. He would deliver the
cursed thing to the Morlenbane, but Evan was finally free.
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Music
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Allegro Classical
Fall 2011 Sampler
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Time writing:
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~35 minutes
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September word
count:
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16,540
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