Amma went for the entrance, but Xander’s spindly fingers dug into her shoulder. She pulled out of his grasp but waited as Kori went in first and Pippa was encouraged to follow. There wasa plan, of course, one they had agreed to over an uncomfortable breakfast, but she was eager to find Damien.
The two women disappeared into the darkness of the temple as Xander and Amma stood on the threshold, eyes adjusting too slowly to see where they’d gone. Amma drummed fingers on her dagger’s hilt, chewing her lip.
“If Delphine doesn’t feel me coming through the noxscura in the air, she’s going to feel your jitters vibrating through the earth. Relax.”
“Can she do that?” Amma’s head snapped to him.
“No.” Xander rolled his eyes. “But you do need to calm down so you don’t get yourself killed. Remember what we discussed: observe first, run through the options in your mind at least twice, and only then act if it’s opportune. They’re expendable; you’re not.”
Amma scoffed, crossing and uncrossing her arms, shifting from foot to foot. “As if you want me alive at the end of this.”
She could actually hear the smile breaking out on Xander’s lips. “We could only be so lucky. And remember to save your best plan for last that way you’ve got it when all else fails.”
“I still don’t understand that,” she squinted into the darkness, eager to get on with it. “Why wouldn’t I do the smartest thing right away?”
A yelp from inside appeared to be their cue, Xander striding in and giving her a wink. “Well, it’s for drama’s sake, kitten. Otherwise, what’s the point ofanything?”
Amma followed, hackles raised and even more annoyed with Xander than usual. They passed through a corridor filled with closed doors to its end, following the sound of screaming. The hall spilled into a round room that had once been used as a small library but was currently a battlefield.
Bats darted through the air, Pippa cowering in the room’s center. She had her arms over her head as they scratched at herwith every pass, blood already spattered all over the floor.
“Do something,” Amma urged in a hiss, Quaz on her shoulder squealing in agreement as they stopped short before falling out into the fray.
“Then what are they for?” Xander gestured, and just as he did, there was a flicker in the shadowed corner of the room. Kori appeared, and a knife flew through the air, spearing a bat to the wall just beside the entry.
Amma gasped at the impaled creature, not actually a bat but a tiny wyvern, as it choked out its last breath and fell limp on the knife.
“You see?” said Xander as if it were obvious.
Kori had pulled open a flap on her cloak, two rows of minuscule daggers there, and began whipping them at the flying menaces, cutting them down through the air, some impaled against the books, others littering the floor with heads and wings shorn off. The creatures turned their attention on her, finally leaving Pippa alone, though the priestess had crumpled to the ground in a ball, covered in weeping scratches.
“Let’s go.” Xander strolled across the room, using a single spell to flick away one of the wyverns as the rest converged on Kori who was running low on daggers. “Up,” he commanded to Pippa, the woman barely catching her breath.
There were only a few left, but there was a fluttering coming from somewhere down the hall, another flock on the way. Amma ran to the opposing wall and pulled out as many daggers as she could from the shelves, Quaz helping from her shoulder and wyvern parts dropping to the ground as they were freed. She slid the daggers across the room to Kori’s feet then went to Pippa and pulled her up.
“I cannot stand this dawdling.” Xander’s hand was on her again, and he yanked her around a corner just as the second flock of wyverns passed by. Pippa was practicallyhyperventilating, falling into Amma and squashing her up against Xander in the cramped space. The blood mage grinned down at her, and she would have scoffed if Quaz didn’t gnash his teeth instead, and then Amma ducked away.
Xander took a hold of Pippa’s arms when she fell against him in a quivering mess. “Really, Pips, isn’t your god more inspiring than this?”
The priestess took a breath, fingers going to the symbol around her neck and smearing blood on it. Behind her, there was an opening into a much larger chamber, brightness there. “Goddess,” she corrected, looking up at Xander, eyes glistening, braided hair askew, robes torn.
“Sure, whatever.” He nodded with something like sympathy, his knowing smirk almost convincing. “Remember, this is your chance to destroy a great evil.”
Pippa’s features went, well, not steely, but at least a little coppery, and Xander turned her to face the hall, giving her a shove out into the light.
Amma waited at Xander’s side as the priestess eased deeper into the room beyond. “She’s so scared.”
“She’ll be fine.”
A shriek pierced through the air, and Amma lunged after, but Xander stopped her yet again. They watched as Pippa fell to the ground, convulsing, her bloodied arms covering her face, a crackling of blue light over her.
“Was that the plan?” Amma gestured wildly, remembering how the blood mage had told the priestess she would draw Delphine out with her divine magic, and that since she was her goddess’s disciple, she would be untouchable.
“Yes. She’s drawing Delphine’s power, and the more distractions the witch has, the better for the both of us.” Xander was uncorking one of the vials around his neck and pouring blood into his palm, slow and steady, watching it drip. “I lacedthe priestess’s powers with enough noxscura to allow Delphine to manipulate her.”
“You set her up?” Amma hissed.
Xander scoffed, recorking the vial. “I figured she’d be strong enough to attack, or weak enough to be enthralled and pull Delphine’s power. Either way, she’s helping. Now, shall we?”
