Lily was a storm of magic. Her repertoire of spells had expanded since Abigail had last fought her; it was impressive to see. It was also quite enlightening.

  This wasn’t how she’d taught her to fight.

  Abigail was a fan of simple spells in battle. Casting battles were a lot like using a sword, the fancy swings looked good, but it was the fundamentals that carried the day. In some ways it was it was a difference in styles. Abigial was used to being at the front and holding the line. The way Lily was dressed made it clear she spent more time duelling or wiping out lines. Endurance versus power she supposed.

  A force spell came towards her, and she caught it on her sword and unravelled the runes beneath it and kept running. It was a complex trick, but it took less energy than parrying or blocking.

  If this were a normal fight, Abigail would let it continue as it was. All of Lily’s spells were centred on her instead of the rest of her team and she’d tire out before Abigail did. If she had time, then she would win.

  Yet time was at a premium. Ratface was in danger now and the empty in that space couldn’t mean anything good. The barrier to other worlds was thin there and given even the elves prayed to keep the thing trapped, she can’t imagine letting it loose was a good thing. She needed to close the distance. That was her win condition.

  Lily knew it too; a lot of her spells were attacks but at least half were dedicated to keeping her from moving forward. The earth would ripple and push her back and a constant wind was trying to help it. Sometimes the earth would rise into walls around her, and she had to spend time unravelling the spell before she could move. The only mercy was that they tired Lily out. She was panting with her wand raised when the wall fell apart.

  “I’m not trying to cheat the trial, Lily. There are intruders in the inner city, and they’ve let loose the empty.”

  “How telling that the few times I deal with the empty, you are always there,” said Lily with a sneer. “Is your solution to intruders in the inner city more intruders?”

  She cast a spell, and the wall erupted in fire. Abigail just bore the brunt of this one. You weren’t partnered with a demon princess without her making your armour fire resistant.

  “So, you and I can just go. The whole point of the favoured is to go into the inner city.”

  “I won’t let you influence the trial,” Lily said. Her eyes were a cold mix of fury, and the spells began again. Abigail trudged forward.

  The spells Lily weas casting seemed like they were designed to fight Abigail, but an Abigail in theory not in practice. Distance and spells that took up large spots. A younger Abigail may have struggled with this but as an adventurer she had fought things that made the ground tremble, and helping Claudette meant going up against some of the most accomplished casters there were. The truth was that Abigail knew she was a better caster and fighter than most people she ran into. It was a sad truth to know she was better than her once squire. A failure by her as a teacher.

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  She tried reason again, she didn’t want to hurt Lily, but they were running out of options.

  “Your squire is in there too; don’t you want to protect her?”

  “The trials are designed to test you. She has to face it alone just as I did. I turned out fine despite the hardship.” The other spells stopped, and she started weaving something above her. It crackled with electricity once before turning into a ball of white light difficult to look at. Abigail went to dodge it then looked behind her. Albert and the rest were in the firing line. If she moved, they’d get hit by this. Them and their guards.

  The worst part was Abigail knew this was acceptable practice. If there was a creature this close to the inner city, then they were meant to use any spell that could keep it away. Even civilian casualties were considered acceptable.

  Abigail planted her sword and squatted down, ready to catch it. She’d always hated that rule.

  Lily threw the white orb down at Abigail. It moved quickly and slammed into her. She caught it in her gauntlets but the sheer force of it nearly bowled her over. Her mana burned blue as it tried to offset the damage, but she could already feel her gauntlets heating up and the skin beneath beginning to burn.

  She delved into the magic before her. This was Lily’s finishing spell, and it was unpractised. In time it would become a thing of power and ability but right now it was more theory than anything. She could feel where the runes were written incorrectly, where it was already unravelling.

  She helped that along with a sort of mourning. This was her fault. She should have been there. She should have been there when Lily took her trial, should have taught her how to weave this spell, should have stayed by her when she had taken the rest away from her. She was the worst moment in her squire’s life.

  The familiar weight settled in her stomach. She didn’t regret standing with those goblins. It was the right thing to do.

  She just wished she could have done more for Lily.

  With a final yank she pulled the spell apart and it faded back into the air. Her armour was steaming and her hands burned, but she was still okay.

  Lily looked at her in silence. She sheathed her wand and drew her sword. Abigail sighed. She drew her sword from the ground, grimacing at the feel of moving her burned hands, then flashed blue.

  In the blink of an eye, she was in front of Lily, her sword held against her neck.

  “Stand down Lily, it’s over.”

  Lily fell to the ground. She looked up at Abigail with the same hurt she’d had the first time Abigail had left.

  “You could’ve ended this at any time,” she said.

  “I don’t want to hurt you, Lily. No more than I already have,” said Abigail. She looked down at her old squire, a mix of pity and disappointment worming through her face.

  “I shouldn’t have left you back then, even if it was the right thing, I should have taken you with me. If I’d known your trial was so bad I wish I’d been there to help you.”

  Lily went to yell something at her, but Abigail kept talking in the same gentle voice, a voice so soft that you didn’t notice the knife until it was there.

  “But right now your squire is in trouble and you’re too busy fighting me to be there for her. You have the chance to be better than me and you are failing.” She sheathed her sword and walked past her old squire, leaving her staring up at the knight who’d once taught her. Abigail hovered by the inner city’s barrier and turned back to Lily.

  “I’m going to go help them, because their lives are more important than some trial. It’s not too late for you to do the same.”

  Abigail walked through the barrier, leaving Lily behind.

  Again.