The wooden weapon clacks! impressively against the sorcerer’s pearlstone helmet and bounces away, vibrating in Gil’s hands.
The sorcerer, unfazed, grabs the staff and pulls hard.
Gil holds on to the staff for dear life. He collides into the sorcerer’s armored back.
Ahead, Gil sees Jaruna scramble across the floor towards his bow. But now the sorcerer has both his hands on the staff. He jabs Gil with his elbow and angles the staff’s tip towards Jaruna—
Light pulses from the gemstones in the sorcerer’s helmet. Tingling static runs through the staff, pricking Gil’s hands. The tip of the staff glows bright blue—
Gil jumps up and then presses down all his weight on the end of the staff, seesawing the tip upwards.
Lightning explodes from the staff. It hits the ceiling instead of Jaruna, sending dust and shards of stone showering down on everyone. The thunderclap assaults Gil’s eardrums.
The sorcerer elbows Gil again—this time square in the mouth. Gil’s head whiplashes, and his teeth cut into his lip. He releases the staff and collapses backwards.
The gems on the sorcerer’s helmet and staff light up again—and then his body spasms. A spray of blood mists against Gil’s face.
The sorcerer falls face-first, twitching and gasping grotesquely on the ground. A flint-tipped arrow juts out from the back of his neck, right below his still-glowing helmet.
Gil wipes the spray of blood from his face. Some of it is his own—his mouth is bleeding badly.
The sorcerer’s crumpled figure twitches once more and becomes still. A pool of blood collects below his face, the same color as his scarlet cape. The light from the gems on his helmet and staff fades and dies.
