Rune Mage [Fantasy/Adventure | Book 1 +2 | Complete]

Chapter 91: Butterworth, Burned

"Butterworth works with steam," said Kommora under her breath. Seiren could barely hear her. "He's fast and his powers explosive, but his flaws are his arrogance and that blind spot on his right side. We can make good use of those."

"But there's a water source everywhere. The entire tunnel is his arsenal," said Seiren, biting her lip.

"True. But don't forget the most basic of how magic is channeled, Nithercott."

The celestial energy can be harvested by those who can combine it with their own magic reserve, those identified to have potential as mages, in the form of rune, flash, or burst magic. How much is useful energy depends on how well-trained one is to channel it. It was as if she'd only read the textbooks yesterday.

"He may have the potential for an endless attack, but there is only so much he can channel--"

A torrent of steam poured in, drowning the surroundings in a hazy smog. Shadows moved in the background, but it was impossible to determine if they were friend or foe -- or anybody at all. Felora and Peron's guns would be useless if they couldn't see their target; they'd just as easily hit Kommora or Seiren. As if realising that at the same time, footsteps retreated behind Seiren as the soldiers sought a better vantage point. Seiren followed them, pulling out her chalk and paper. When the mist grew thinner, she squatted and waterproofed her runes before sketching a series of blue runes, modifying it the same way she'd seen Kommora alter the red runes to give it an extra burst. From within the steam cloud, the sound of sizzling and explosions emanated. Seiren wrapped the runes around the throwing knives.

She closed her eyes, emptying her mind. The act came easier now. She found the flow of her magic. Blood drummed in her ears, but that also faded. Her eyes flew open. Energy poured down her arms. With a clap of her hand, she threw the magic out in a rush of burst. A torrent of wind tore out from the palms of her hands. The steam parted, fleetingly, just in time to see Kommora's violet rune get soaked in mid-air. Kommora tsked in annoyance and fished for another rune, but before she could, Butterworth rushed at her and kicked her square in the chest.

Kommora's feet left the ground before she crashed onto the tunnel's rubble-strewn ground on her back. She coughed, clutching her front.

"Don't think you can keep up with someone twenty years your junior, Kommora!" Butterworth called out with a laugh. "Your runes might be fancy, but there's only so much they can do in combat."

He cracked his neck left and right before interlocking his fingers and stretching them out. A sinister grin stretched across his scarred face, his single visible hazel eye glinting with triumph.

"Well, it was nice knowing you, Kommora Haigh. Rest assured, I will remember this moment as one of my happiest. Who knows, maybe I'll even think of you instead of how successful I was with the Woodbeads' fall when I next use flash magic."

Seiren's legs pounded the ground before she registered what was happening. Butterworth gestured. Steam swirled before him. With still hands, Seiren sketched the same rune she'd seen Kommora use when fighting against Jarsdel's sound waves. She hoped against hope it would still activate. It was not a pristine drawing being on the go, despite all the practice she'd had before. She skidded before Kommora and threw up the rune in the air as she'd seen the old mage do, and snapped her fingers. The steam rushed towards her for the kill. The violet flashed. The solidifying element did activate, but the see-through wall she conjured was uneven. The majority of the steam aiming for her ran along the invisible surface but seeped through the cracks. Definitely not as well-prepared as the one she'd used in Acrise.

The steam withdrew. Butterworth opened his mouth, but shut it before he could utter a word and leapt backwards, waving his arm. Several violet runes activated on the wall to his side and bricks shot out at him. They would have skewered him had he not reacted in time -- and had the runes not been wonky due to Kommora's compromised position, making their activation slow and weaker.