THE BLACK THORN CODEX
Episode 56 — Wizards' Law
Date: November 18, 2023 — Time: 7:15 AM
A new energy surged forth. They moved at inhuman speed, striking, dodging, disappearing, and then reappearing. The head wizard howled in rage, his clones dislocating under the combined power of the two heroes.
For the first time since their arrival, they knew they could stand up to Selerion. But the chasm itself seemed to be watching them, ready to test their limits again and again.
The chasm had calmed for a moment, as if Selerion were holding his breath to watch them. Leander and Clarisse floated above the black water, panting, their bodies still searing from the powers they had just used. The fusion with Borax kept them alive, but fatigue was making itself felt.
The lead wizard, the one who had first attacked them, stood up, his violet eyes shining in the darkness. Around him, the shadow clones moved like a living cloud, but this time they weren't charging. They remained at a distance, monitoring the two heroes' every move.
"You survive... but you understand nothing of our world," the wizard said in a hissing voice.
His hands made precise gestures, and suddenly, the clones froze in impossible poses, forming a perfect circle. Glowing symbols appeared in the water, revealing the structure of the spells that governed them.
Clarisse watched closely. The symbols seemed to indicate each clone's weaknesses: some were susceptible to fire, others to ice, some only to mental attacks. Leander understood that they had to adapt each power to the target, rather than striking blindly.
The head wizard raised his arms and a mental wave crossed the abyss. It wasn't destructive, but exploratory: it probed their minds, searching for their fears and limitations. Léandre felt his memories of Marseille blur, fragments of pain and doubt. Clarisse felt her emotions overflow, her fire flickering.
"Together!" Léandre shouted.
They joined forces. The Borax fusion created a halo of white energy around them. Every thought of fear was transformed into power. Clarisse focused the fire on a heat-sensitive clone, while Léandre struck another with her electrified lightning. The effect was immediate: the clones exploded into black dust, reforming barely further away, but still weakened.
The wizard observed, intrigued:
"You learn quickly... but not quickly enough." »
He stretched out a hand, and the water around them transformed into living tentacles. Each tentacle attacked simultaneously, but Leander and Clarisse moved as one, dodging and countering. They discovered then that they could combine their powers in a new way: Clarisse's fire pierced the frozen tentacles, then Leander electrified the remnants, dispersing them forever.
Meanwhile, Borax whispered instructions to them:
"Feel their rhythm... each sorcerer follows a law. Observe their gestures, and you will know their limits."
They began to understand: each sorcerer was linked to Selerion by an invisible thread of energy. Their powers were formidable, but orderly. If Leander and Clarisse could interrupt the thread or reverse its flow, they could incapacitate a sorcerer without destroying the rest of the world.
The head wizard roared and launched a simultaneous attack of fire, ice, and lightning. Their bodies, reactive thanks to Borax, dodged by teleporting short distances. Clarisse disappeared and then reappeared behind a clone, striking with a combined blast of ice and fire. Leander leaped, striking the head wizard with a concentrated arc of electricity, splitting the air around him.
The fight continued like this, a deadly dance of strategies and powers. With each move, they understood Selerion better, and the wizards themselves seemed amazed at how quickly the two fused humans mastered their powers.
At the heart of the abyss, Leander whispered to Clarisse:
"If we understand their laws, we can survive... and perhaps find a way back."
Clarisse nodded, her eyes blazing:
"And we will learn... or die trying."
A white light then burst from Borax, enveloping the two heroes. For the first time, they felt that Selerion could be understood, not just fought. The fight was no longer blind. It was a cruel lesson... but a necessary one.