But he had a choice now, a memory of Eryndor's words piercing the void. He controlled himself. He roared, not in pain, but in sheer exertion as he fought the very nature of his own power. The dark light was violently suppressed, and instead, a burst of pure, shimmering white light erupted from his palm and shot toward the ceiling.
For two terrifying seconds, the white light and the black barrier fought an invisible war. Then, slowly, painfully, the Dark Magic Barrier began to ripple and thin. It wasn't the violent explosion of a counter-spell, but a controlled undoing. With a final shudder, the barrier opened, the black mist dissolving entirely.
A wave of bewildered shock washed over everyone, the trapped students and proctors who were watching, and the exhausted Arcanums. Van Leon had broken the seal, not with darkness, but with a force that seemed to command and control the darkness itself.
