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Even for the middle of the night the city was too silent. I hadn't heard silence like this for years- no the more I thought of it, even the country had never been this silent. The darkness closed around me as I walked down the street twords the tower of London. It loomed above me like it had in my dream.
“This isn't right.” I breathed, exhaling a cloud of steam. “There should be someone here, guards, someone.”
“I presume you don't mean me.” My head whipped around, and there framed by the gate in the outer wall, was Henry.
“After you destroyed my shadow, I didn't expect you at all- and what have you done with them?”
“You will leave them alone.”
“And how to you intend to keep them from me?” he asked, lifting his chin arrogantly. “As long as they die before dawn their power will come to me.” Henry laughed,
A smile spread over my own face and I raised an eyebrow, crossing my arms over my chest. “Then you don't have all the time in the world, do you?”
His face fell from the self satisfied smile into a blank look somehow more terrifying than rage.
On the walk there, I had taken the key and it's chain from my pocket, and wrapped it around my wrist. I liked feeling it against my skin, and it did make it easier to pull it into my hand, though I didn't trigger the spell yet.
Henry pushed his hair back, smoothing it into place, and smiled again.
“It doesn't matter. You can jibe and joke all you want, but you can't stop me.”
“Tonight, I haven't even started to try.”
“I only need to kill you.- Perhaps I can strip your magic from you as well.”
I couldn't hear the next words he said. I could watch his lips move, but nothing came to my ears. But I could feel the power gather. However, when it reached out to me, it shattered against the chain of protection. Henry's eyes filled with surprise.
“What's the matter, Henry- I thought you always said I was a good magician.” I taunted without thinking. “Or did you think I would be easy to get rid of?”
“Actually, I rather did.” I felt the assault of another spell on the heels of the first. I didn't feel like waiting to see how many attacks I could withstand, and moved twords him. I wished, somehow, that I had had time to practice using the chain as a weapon; I knew that it could be used as one; it has injured Vlad most grievously, but I wasn't sure how to make it do that.
“You're oddly confident tonight, Alexander.” Henry mocked, standing his ground as I approached him. “What changed?”
“Nothing changed. This had to happen sometime. Tonight just happens to be it.”
“How long do you think that your little toy can last out?”
I thought of the shattered tower; of the sword and the wand. “Long enough, I suppose.”
We were face to face now, close enough to touch each other. His face quirked in that foul smile.
“Tell me, do you have the strength to kill me?”
“Don't make me find out.” I answered. I made a slashing motion with my hand and the chain followed. The teeth of the key tore open his shields; they weren't' very well constructed, and his jacket but stopped short of slashing his skin. The second pass would not be as kind, “Good God, Cedric, please don't make me find out.”
His face was hard, and anger burned deep in his eyes.
“I'm not going to loose. Not to you. You're so weak it's disgusting.”
“Maybe I only seem that way.” I retorted.
Cedric snorted, and made a sudden gesture, up, under the waiting chain. I was hit in the face with some sort of dust, or spell and closed my eyes to shake away the irritation.