The Consumption of Magic (Tales From Verania 3)

And I snapped. “You leave him the fuck alone!”

But Myrin ignored me. “Love is a curious thing,” he said as he stood in front of Ryan, looking up at his bowed head. “Don’t you think, Sam? It creates art and poetry. Death and destruction. Cities are razed because of it. Wars are fought. It is humbling and all-consuming, and it can drive a person out of their mind.”

He pressed a single finger against the hilt of the sword sticking out of Ryan’s stomach. He moved his finger side to side, causing the sword to shift the barest amounts. Ryan groaned, another thin stream of blood spilling from his mouth.

I screamed for Myrin to stop.

“I loved once,” Myrin said. “With my entire heart. And even when I realized my path was different than those I loved, I still loved them. I told them as much. I told them both that nothing had to change, that we could still be as we were. I understood that they could not follow me. I understood that. Our paths would diverge, but I knew what I was meant to do. And even when they begged me, even when they pleaded with me to turn away from my fate, to ignore what I could truly be capable of, I loved them.”

He shook his head as he dropped his hand from the sword. “They said they had no other choice. They did, in the end. Because it always comes down to choices. They chose to burn the love I felt for them from my heart. They chose to encapsulate what remained in shadow. They chose to let me suffer in a realm that only exists to contain the worst of all existence. And I did suffer, Sam. I don’t want you to think I didn’t. Maybe they thought it’d be a shock to the system. Maybe they thought it’d give them time to find a way to bring me back to the person they’d known.” He laughed bitterly. “But it didn’t. It made me more. And I knew, in the end, that I just had to bide my time. That one day I would return and face my destiny.”

He turned away from Ryan back toward me. He stopped just outside of the circle again. “You, Sam. You are my destiny. We are intertwined, you and I. Chosen by the gods. It’s really rather elegiac, don’t you think? There is a sense of fatalism to it. Was I always meant to be here, now, standing in front of you as I am? Do the gods dictate every single move I make? Has the ending already been written? Because if it has, Sam, if everything I have done in my life has led to this, has led to this moment, what am I to do with it? With this culmination? I feel as if I stand upon a precipice, and all it would take is one final step and—”

“Yeah,” I said. “Do it. You step right off that cliff, you asshole.”

He sighed. “You’re not listening.”

“Oh I am,” I said. “You’re monologuing, but I’m listening. And you know what I think about it? About this whole thing?”

“Tell me,” he breathed.

I leaned forward until I could feel the hum of the barrier just beyond my face. “I think you’re fucking crazy.”

His eyes narrowed.

“I think you’re fucking crazy,” I spat at him. “I think you’re just like everyone else who has come before you. Except no, that’s not quite right. You come with a godsdamn pedigree, all this extraneous bullshit. You’ve somehow got Ruv, and I’ll give you credit for that. You got Lady Tina. You’ve got thousands of people on your side, even though they don’t know they’re on your side. You’ve done all of this while remaining hidden in shadow. That’s just going to make your failure that much worse when it happens. Because mark my words: you will fail, Myrin. I will end you.” I glanced over his shoulder at Ruv. “You too. You shouldn’t have touched my cornerstone. You’re going to pay for that.” I felt a savage satisfaction at the way Ruv’s eyes widened. I looked back at Myrin, a nasty smile on my face. “I’ve got four dragons on my side and a need to kick your motherfucking ass.”

“Four? And what of the fifth?”

My smile widened. “What’s the plan? I’m in here, you’re out there. Hey, if you want to come in the circle with me, I’ll make room.” I took a step back, beckoning for Myrin to step inside. “We could see what happens when neither of us has our magic. Because no matter how strong you think you are, even you can’t fight dragon’s blood.”

“Or,” Myrin said, “I can ask Ruv to pull the sword from the Knight Commander’s chest and use it to cut off his head right in front of you.”

“Don’t you fucking touch him!” I roared, rushing forward and banging my hands on the barrier again.

Myrin laughed. “And that is the downfall of love.

The way it ensnares you, holds you captive. You are wind and bluster, pounding your chest and inviting me inside, but the moment I threaten something you love, you descend into snarls and teeth. Can’t you see, Sam? It is a weakness. And that is the difference between you and I. You are shackled by it. And I am free.”

“You will never win,” I promised him. “Never.”

“I already have,” he said simply. “You have a choice, here. And you will make it quickly, as I grow weary of this back-and-forth. Either you submit to me or Ryan Foxheart will die here and now. His blood, Sam, will be on your hands, more than it already is. There is still a chance he could be saved as he is now, but he doesn’t have much time.”

“Fuck you.”

He shook his head, a frown on his face. “You have to know you’ve lost. Even now I can see your mind whirring about, scrambling for something, anything you could use to talk your way out of this, to live to fight another day. Sam. You. Are. Wrong. This is it. This is the end.”

“And what do you want me for?”

“You know,” he said, eyes flickering down to my chest.

And I did. Of course I did. “The consumption of magic.”

“It will hurt,” he said. “I cannot lie about that. But it will be over soon. I promise you, and unlike Morgan or Randall, I am a man of my word, Sam. I will break the circle. You will bow before me. And I will consume your magic. It will be swift, and once it is complete, I will let Ryan Foxheart go. However, if you step outside that circle and attempt anything, I promise you that I will do everything in my power to make sure Ryan Foxheart suffers. And you may be thinking that you could take me by surprise, but I will remind you that there are two of us and one of you. No matter how powerful you are, Sam, you cannot come for us both before I rip the life from the Knight Commander. His blood will spill and you will watch.”

“Why?” I asked, trying to stall for time, but for what, I didn’t know. “Why are you doing all this?”

Myrin’s eyes narrowed. “Really, Sam? That’s what you’re going with? After all you’ve said about villains and monologuing. I’m disappointed. That was shameful, even for you.”