We were close to the wall, and two more ashvan below were gearing up to join us.
“Wait,” the Blade ordered. “On my signal.”
I felt for the wall behind me, realizing we’d lined up exactly where the shield hung.
I reached for it, my heart heating, hotter and hotter. I couldn’t get it, it was being held too tight by rope.
The Blade was shifting his ashvan, preparing to charge.
I turned my back, using my sword to cut the ropes behind it. My blood began to buzz, my chest on fire, flaring with the heat. But this time it spread through my limbs, pushingout of my fingers. The shield started to drop, and I pulled it up, shocked at its weight, but thanks to my training, able to withstand it. And for a moment, a sense of awe and wonder pulsed through me. I held another lost shard of the Valalumir. But the moment was gone almost instantly.
The Blade’s sword was coming for me, just inches from my face when I blocked the hit.
I felt the reverberation of the starfire steel against the bronze in my hand.
He looked shocked, and spat. “You bitch.”
“I have more power than you know,” I seethed and kicked my ashvan forward, racing back out the windows.
“Oh no you don’t,” the Blade roared. “Vra!”
I held up the shield, and turned the ashvan, bright orange light radiating from my hand. Blue sparks were covering the Throne Room, flickering in and out of light with each step the horses took.
But the Blade hadn’t given up. I could see his sword, the point coming straight for me.
I thrust the shield in front of me, blocking his hit. There was a blast of orange light that nearly blinded me, and then I turned, and without thinking, I thrust, and I stabbed.
The Blade’s eyes widened as my own blade cut through his stomach, finding the one small spot in his armor that let me pass.
His mouth opened in horror, and blood spilled out, his hands releasing the reins of his ashvan. His entire body was aglow in the orange light of Ereshya’s shard. He tilted to the side, and fell.
The mages on the ground immediately started throwing spells again, now that the Blade wasn’t blocking their target.
“Volara!” I roared, steering back toward the broken window. We were almost there, just a few more steps and we’d be outside.
“Now!” came a shout.
The ashvan jolted suddenly.
“Come on,” I begged, we were practically at the window. Almost there.
But we were falling. I looked back and saw a sword buried in her right flank.
I made a wheezing sound as we landed. The horse took most of the fall, but every part of my body ached. And I was slow to roll off her, and to stand. My vision blurred, but then just as quickly, everything seemed to right itself.
The heat was growing inside me, strengthening me. It was pulsing through my very being.
I held up my sword, preparing to fight my way out. I recognized some of the faces I saw now. Guards who’d been at Theotis’s side. Who’d protected him. One who I was sure had been chasing us when we escaped. A dozen soturi lifted their swords, their eyes fixed on me. Some of the mages had run from the room, calling for help, not trusting their magic in a soturion fight. But half had remained, and I could see their staves glowing, ready to bind me.
I reached for mine, ready to shield myself against their magic. When all at once, their eyes widened, and their staves rolled onto the floor as if they’d been smacked from their hands.
“The fuck?” one said. And then all at once, they turned, as a door on the other side of the room creaked open.
A mage walked through, her movements slow and mesmerizing. Long shining raven hair fell to her waist from beneath a blue mage’s robe. She wore an orange gown with a deep V that cut to the golden belt at her waist. It was Bamarian styled, the fabric draped across her curves, and exposed lightly tanned skin. A deep indigo light cast its aura around her. A light I knew. Had known for centuries. It came from the indigo shard which she held in her hand like a scepter. Like a queen.
Morgana.
The mages were fumbling for their staves, while the soturi looked stunned, their fighting stances widening, their eyes moving back and forth between us as if they didn’t know who was the threat. Two soturi had vadati stones, glowing in their hands. Then all at once, the stones turned white.
