Radiance - The Alight Archives Book #1

46. The Lightning Mage

He'd grown taller since last Elaine had seen of him—he had a good few inches on Kliff and was head and a shoulder over herself—while his body became more pronounced, a lean figure pressed firmly against the exorbitant Glyph Academy uniform, creasing and folding with each of his movements. His dark hair was unkempt, as if a bolt of lightning had just zipped through it.

Another shutter pinched Elaine as she caught a glimpse of the wand he now had clenched in his fist, a Surge Wand, from the looks of it. A bizarre-looking thing with a slender handle and a crooked shaft that twisted fifteen inches ahead of him, replicating the appearance of a thunderbolt. 

Based on what she knew, those kinds of wands enhanced a sorcerer's Lightning Magic spells, a fitting match for someone like Lukas, who seemed skilled in the arts of throwing electricity. After all, it was a byproduct of his magic that Ellend couldn't— 

Elaine started as she shook the thought out of her head, ushering another quick, if not concerned, glance from Kliff. Dwelling on that tragedy wouldn't do her much now, but at the issue of Lukas' demand for a duel, the crowd around them swelled not with perturbance or scrutiny or even with fear; there was excitement in the air, a frolicking emotion that struck with the exuberance fresh thunder. 

The word "duel" carried with it its own set of connotations. Whenever people heard it, they tended to lose grip of reality and swayed in the direction that would have two magically-gifted sulmos hurtling spells at one another.

"A duel?" someone asked amidst the crowd. "Did Lukas just challenge him to a duel?"

"That's what I heard."

"But the other guy's a Dresden, isn't he?" a female student asked. "What good is there in dueling someone like that?"

A deeper voice whistled. "I'll tell ya one thing: that green-eyed kid must have some serious balls."

Truly, this was a school for sorcerers, and normally, Elaine would make it a point to ignore these trivial confrontations whenever they arose; however, much like with Ellend, this duel would pit a person she cared about—her friend—against the very same sorcerer that stole her brother's future. 

Lukas himself seemed thrilled at the prospect, bouncing his shoulders up and down as he hopped in place giddily, tilting his neck to one side and then the other until a prominent crack! came from his muscles. He was prepping himself for a fight, as opposed to Kliff, who just stood beside her looking bemused more than anything.

As good of a sorcerer as he was, Elaine realized that the last thing she wanted was for him to duel Lukas...and the scary part was, that she didn't exactly know why. Kliff's skills with sorcery were unrivaled, and if his fight with Todd and those others were any indication, he was more than capable of handling himself in particularly ugly situations. 

But this was a school, not a backstreet alley. It wouldn't be wise to have a duel here; they'd get in trouble if they were to be caught by a professor, which, given the circumstances, was more than likely to happen considering how much noise their ring of observers was making.

No, that's not it, Elaine thought as her heart pulsed at a frantic frequency. Above anything else, more so than any valid rationalization or conclusion that justified why this duel was unequivocally a bad idea, was that silent fear that coiled its cold scales over her body. It didn't appear as if Lukas remembered her, though. In fact, he hadn't so much as spared her a stare as he was far more interested in Kliff. 

Even still, this sorcerer, this monster, was dangerous. Elaine gulped as she removed her gaze from him, and felt the beads of sweat as they sprinkled her forehead, all the while sparks of the past electrified her consciousness.