The man moved so quickly that he became one with the shadows themselves. He was in one place, and then in a blink he was before her. Red magic sparked off his shoulders, casting the relief sculpture on the wall of the battle between the gods in a bloody glow. He held up a hand, a red circle forming around his palms, and brought it down to her.
“No!” Ellene cried.
Suddenly a column of stone emerged from the ground at Vi’s feet. The side of her foot caught its edge and was pushed upward. As she slid off, she lost her balance, staggering and hopping from foot to foot. Her fire was extinguished and the only light was from the man’s red irises.
“This doesn’t concern you, child,” he growled from the other side of the column. Vi was quickly scrambling to her feet, heading opposite of where Ellene stood; she had to draw his attention away from her friends. “But that won’t stop me from killing you.”
Vi held out her hand. Strands of magic were already collecting, illuminating the room.
“Juth!”
Vi felt her magic split and the glyph took shape. The swirling circles curled around him, a smaller replica before her palm. It happened in a single breath, but Vi felt every shift and change in her powers. She had never been so utterly confident wielding magic before. There was not an ounce of fear at losing control; every inch of her will was woven into the carefully crafted glyph.
The only person that should be afraid was the man she was levying it against.
The elfin’ra spun, raising his hands upward, as though her circle had become ropes around his arms that he was breaking with muscle alone. But this wasn’t a physical resistance. His magic pushed against Vi’s, and they shattered together in an explosion of flame and red lightning.
Fearlessly, Jayme dove in with a shout.
She leapt through the fire and sparking magic, sword in hand, elbows tight to her, point tracked over the man’s chest. She lunged, and the sword point almost hit. But the man, or whatever he was, was too fast and well trained. He brought up a hand, as if batting the sword away with a shield. The magic that arced from his middle finger to twist around his pinkie to form the half-shield was hotter than any blacksmith’s tool.
It seared off the edge of Jayme’s blade and cast the woman off-balance. Vi could see her eyes, bulging in shock, outlined by the glowing red stump of her sword.
“You think that could harm me?” The man laughed. “You worthless girl, you do not even have magic, not even an element of Yargen’s precious, splintered boon on this Dark Isle.”
Luckily, Ellene was not so distracted. A box of stone rose up around the man. It stretched in a blink up to the ceiling, trapping him in a column of rock.
“Let’s go, now!” Ellene shouted.
Jayme had recovered and was on her feet, sheathing her now useless sword. Vi started to move, but then looked around.Where had Andru gone in all the chaos?
Her eyes landed on him, huddled in the corner by the statue, looking between Vi and the stone box trapping the elfin’ra in. Vi sprinted over and linked her arms around him. “We have to go.”
“What’s going on?” He jerked away, eyes wide. They were fearful… of her. These were the eyes she’d expected from the Southerners.So why did they hurt?
“We have to go!” Vi ignored the sensation. “Get to the noru, get away.” She ran around behind him, pushing the small of his back. Andru finally spurred into motion and Vi wasted no more time behind him.
A surge of magic had her skidding to a stop.
“Vi, come on!” Ellene shouted.
He was about to break free. She could feel it before she saw the red cracks in the stone or felt the rumbling. Even if they ran, they wouldn’t get very far. The elfin’ra was faster than lightning and more powerful than all three of them combined. They had to fight here, or they would die running.
Her mind cycled through all the words she knew. She repeated everything Taavin had ever told her on how to string them together. Every lesson they had stolen with each other would have to pay off now.
“You three go ahead.”
“I’m not leaving you. I am your guard and—” Jayme started an objection that Vi would have none of.
“That is an order from your Crown Princess!” Vi shouted. Jayme stared at her, shocked. “I know what I’m doing.”She hoped.
“Fine. Andru, Ellene—”
“No, we’re fighting with Vi,” Ellene insisted. Andru looked less than certain at the notion, but said nothing.
“You three need to go now!” Vi looked between them and the column of stone frantically.
“She seems to have a handle on this.” Jayme pushed on Andru and yanked on Ellene.
