"No," Zorian said. "I will not allow it."
The words amused Rory at first. He had never heard his companion sound so pretentious before. But then the words did something else. It formed a spell that caught at the tattered edges of his thoughts and forcibly pulled him back to where he really didn't want to go.
Rory put up a fight.
"Stop that, you fool! At least now I am stronger than you, and I will not let you slip away."
There was a pause, and Rory felt Zorian distracted by some other problem. He almost tried to break free of the hold, but he sensed Zorian's real worry and didn't want to take him away from some other problem.
Something.
Rory couldn't fully connect to that world where Zorian stood. Where Zorian fought a magical battle and still held on to Rory, who only wanted to go away and rest...
Did he really want to die?
Maybe that wasn't as important a question as another one. Did he want to give up the battle and not help to save the others?
Even asking that question brought him closer to the world filled with yells, howls, and pain.
Zorian didn't need to call him back after all.
Rory opened his eyes to find Zorian and Jamison fighting back two enraged dragons. Keltrina had picked up a bow but seemed reluctant to use it. Good. It would not do anything against those metal-like plates on the dragon's bodies, and if she hit a weak spot, it was likely to annoy the dragon more.
Rory's hand felt like it was on fire, but he shoved that pain behind a wall -- something good Pyrida had taught him. Then he stood, shocking Zorian, who at first gave him a mistrustful glance.
Pyrida had yet to notice.
Rory didn't even wait to get his footing. He threw himself at Pyrida, who was just out of reach to the left of the dragons. The man saw Rory and snarled, bringing up a ball of power that he threw --
But Rory had already thrown himself on the ground and used a little magic to slide forward and knock him down.
Pyrida was already so weak that he couldn't get back up and couldn't keep control of the dragons. The sudden roar from the two of them brought Rory back to his feet, wondering if the dragons would realize who was an enemy and who was not.
The arrival of Greenal helped there. It even freed Zorian to come and help Rory. Greenal had no trouble directing the other two at the real enemy, and they kept Pyrida busy.
"He wants away," Rory said, holding his injured hand to his chest. He put a shield of sorts, like a glove over it to stop the bleeding. "Door -- do you see the door? Does it lead out?"
"Not out," Zorian said. "Deeper into this nightmare. Let him go."
Rory didn't want him to go because it meant the man would come back again at some point. Rory didn't want to deal with him again, or worse, to consider a time when he was no longer around.
Or had Eket changed all of that?
This was not the time to consider such a future. Rory had to take care of the problems here and now. Pyrida might be heading to that door to grab other power from beyond it, or he might be running to safety.
Rory bet on a panicked run for safety. He had already noted that the nightmare into which they had fallen was slipping away and edges of reality pressing close enough to touch.
So when Zorian started to cast a spell toward the man, Rory stumbled into him, and Zorian lost the magic.
"Sorry," Rory mumbled. "Let him go. Need time."
Zorian didn't want to agree until Rory shook his head and hoped the man understood he had more in mind.
"Must reach the door," Rory said aloud, all that he dared say where Pyrida could hear. Zorian had no idea what he intended, but he and Rory pursued the mage. Pyrida gave a laugh of panicked glee when he reached the door and threw it open.
Rory sensed the evil there more than he saw it, and he didn't care. Rory threw himself at the door, grabbed hold of it was a power he didn't think he still had and pulled the closed again. Had a brief view of Pyrida's startled face as the door slammed closed with him on the other side.
"I don't think we have enough power to destroy the door," Zorian said with a touch of panic all his own.
"Not destroy," Rory said, his voice soft and his hands shaking. "Sealed. Trapped. As long as this exists, Pyrida will focus his power here to get back out into our reality. His nightmare is shrinking, and he is losing the outer shells. We want them trapped in this one."
Rory knew he didn't have any more time to explain. He lifted his hands, traced the pattern of the door in the air, and then sealed it shut with a glowing red spell.
Zorian added a spell of his own, the power Bright calling blue as it overlaid the red and braided in with it. Unexpectedly, the three dragons added their own magic. Rory was starting to think that even a God would have trouble escaping this trap.
The last of Pyrida's magic dissipated as the light of day reached them again. Rory had already noted that the man's powers beginning so much that some of his nightmare had disappeared before he went through that door. Now all that remained of him was that door hidden behind layers of magic.
Everything seemed remarkably calm and quiet. Rory looked at Zorian with surprise, but before he could say anything, Rory started to fall forward…
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