Page 111 of Arcane Entanglement
He blocked out the chaos around him and looked deep within, to where his magic dwelled. The four elements flickered and grew in his mind’s eye, a riot of blue, crimson, green, and gold energy bubbling and swirling where they twined around one another, hungering to be let loose.
Evander lifted the lid on them a fraction more.
Elemental power rushed thorough him on a wave that made him gasp and invigorated his senses. The station trembled, metal whining and glass vibrating in the face of the violent energies bursting forth from his flesh.
The fire magic racing through Evander’s bloodstream obliterated the dark power seeking to weaken and kill him. Air entered his starving lungs, cold and blissful.
He opened his eyes to find a veritable wall of ice spears and fire lances encircling him, each as thick as his arm. Spikes made of rock and compacted earth levitated amidst them. Above his head, spinning in a growing funnel that swept debris up from the ground, was a storm of wind magic, the currents ruffling the flames crowning his head.
Renwick recoiled at this devastating display of power, his pale eyes widening with a flash of fear.
The air crackled with energy as Evander unleashed a barrage of elemental attacks throughout the station. His magic swept across the interior of Charing Cross like a hurricane, absorbing the sinister tendrils thickening the air, smashing shadow bolts to smithereens, and sending mages flying into walls and pillars. The ground buckled and heaved, opening fissures that entrapped many of Renwick’s followers.
For a moment, Evander dared to hope the tide was turning.
Then he heard it. The screech of metal on metal. The hiss of steam. The rumble of an engine pushed far beyond its limits.
He pivoted on his heels, his pulse racing.
Renwick had abandoned the passengers he’d been holding prisoner and jumped down on the tracks so he could cross over to the other side.
Evander realised why when he saw the train barrelling towards Charing Cross. It was wreathed in dark magic and would jump the tracks and crash inside the station the second it hit the bend, killing all that stood in its path.
Evander’s heart thudded painfully in his chest as he fleetingly met Renwick’s triumphant, snake-like gaze where the dark mage had reached the opposite platform.
It was clear the locomotive had been rigged in advance, likely in anticipation of the fight he would put up.
Time seemed to slow.
The train, a juggernaut of steel and corrupt magic, would crush the people frozen in terror in a matter of seconds.
And Viggo was too far away to help.
Evander’s body moved before the decision had fully formed in his mind.
He jumped down on the tracks and sprinted towards the oncoming train.
“Noooo!”Viggo howled in horror. “Evander, stop!”
Magic surged through Evander, more power than he’d ever channelled before as he lifted the lid on his magic. The elements responded with a boom that shook the station and enveloped him in a maelstrom of energy.
Ice spread across the tracks and raced towards the train in a desperate bid to slow its progress. Wind roared, pushing against the unstoppable force of the engine. Earth rumbled and heaved as it tried to derail the massive vehicle. Fire took hold of the motor and wheels, melting metal to destroy its moving parts.
Still, the train kept coming, the dark magic and man-made machinery powering it smashing through the obstacles Evander erected in its path, a screaming demon hungry for destruction.
Evander planted his feet and stretched his arms out before him, his heart drumming a violent tempo against his ribs. He grunted as he poured everything he had into one last, desperate stand.
Walls of elemental energy given physical form sprang up before him, ice, earth, fire, and wind forming barrier after barrier the height of ten men and the thickness of a tree.
The train struck them with a noise like the world ending.
Metal shrieked. Magic flared.
The locomotive began to slow some thirty feet from the bend.
Evander’s vision flickered.
It’s too late. It won’t stop in time!
