Chapter 5 Part 14

Ultrecht felt the hairs on his neck rise and he heard the muffled explosion as his magic cloak turned aside the first magic attack. The horse was not so well protected and Ultrecht was thrown as the animal was cut down in mid stride by the bolt of lightning from the sky.

Ultrecht miraculously suffered no ill effects from the fall and quickly rolled to his feet. The cloak had done its job. It would never turn another attack, but it had bought him time.
Morteous watched as his lightning bolt was turned by a defensive trigger spell. A contingency spell obviously designed to protect against unexpected attacks. Very clever he commended. This mage knew his business. This would be a good fight.

Morteous saw his opponent get up--apparently unharmed--and took a defiant stance as if challenging Morteous to land and duel it out on the spot. Morteous was no fool. Airborne he had a tactical advantage. He would not lose that.

Morteous clenched his fist and set his mind to the task of producing another spell. He chose a spell which would engulf the mage and his immediate surroundings in an explosive flaming sphere. With a thrust of his psyche he produced a small sphere about the size of a pea and hurled it downward towards its target.

As it approached the spot where Ultrecht stood, Morteous felt a surge in the local flow of magical energy. He watched his fireball as it erupted scorching the ground and everything in the vicinity.

Morteous turned his mount to keep the area in sight. As the flames and smoke cleared, he was not surprised to see Ultrecht had vanished. Obviously he had teleported away at the last moment.

In sudden alarm he kicked his steed urging it to change directions and fly faster. Too late. The expected counter attack came from the left and behind him as he was hit by a cone of freezing air and ice. The numbing temperatures almost succeeded in putting him into a state of shock and several jagged shards of frozen water vapor tore into his flesh, but he weathered the attack out.

The dark creature he rode was less fortunate. It took the full brunt of the attack on its less protected underside, and was seriously injured. As a result, Morteous found himself falling from a considerable height. He quickly activated a contingency spell of his own allowing him to float gently to the ground.

Morteous was suitably impressed with the power level of the spell he had just experienced. He made a mental note that Ultrecht may be fond of cold based spells. That could prove useful.