“Maybe,” I said lightly. “But where would the fun be in that?”
A lopsided grin tugged at his mouth. “If this turns ugly, you leave. No arguments.”
I nodded, then watched in awe as he sent a wave of energy toward Ignara, the force of it locking her mid-step.
He glanced at me. “So, what do you think, wordsmith? Can you make time stand still one more time?”
“Only if you promise not to let me anywhere near water afterward,” I said. “For everyone’s safety.”
A huff of laughter escaped him. “Have mercy! Even I have limits, Maelis. I’d be very grateful if you kept your clothes on this time.”
I grinned. “Noted.”
“Good,” he said, energy already gathering at his fingertips. “Then we have a deal.”
Ignara was getting back on her feet, blood dripping from her mouth.
“Well, isn’t that cute, the virgin has found a new best friend. Aren’t you sad to think that you’ll never be able to truly satisfy her, Theo? I mean she looks like it wouldn’t take much to get her off, but still, I doubt that history lessons and quotes of poetry will keep her faithful.”
With that she jumped forward, her sword of fire raised above her head, spewing a wall of fire across the field. Auretheos stepped in front of me, but he wasn’t quick enough to pull up his shield. The fire wall slammed right into him and he stumbled backwards. I stepped back so it wouldn’t floor us both, but held out my hand against his back to steady him.
The second my hand touched his back, it felt like the air was vibrating again like it had done the first time we touched at his office. Auretheos groaned in pain, but rasped, “Keep your hand right there and stop time on 3. Are you ready?”
One breath. One act. One choice.
Do good. Stay clean. Hold steady.
“3…2…1…” and with all my might, I did what I had done at the river. I raised my hand and willed time to slow down until it came to a halt. Auretheos turned, one shoulder sagging. Fire had burned his skin to black, the damage too deep to ignore. His gaze flicked past me, already measuring the danger.
“Take cover, wordsmith.”
I nodded quietly and ran towards the temple, kneeling behind a toppled pillar. What I saw next was nothing but pure magic, in every sense of the word.
Ignara was halted in midair, on the verge of launching another attack on Theo. I could feel it in my bones that my spell wouldn’t hold too long, Ignara was already struggling to get free of the time trap I had set. Auretheos had to be quick. He raised his burnt arms and performed a gesture that looked like he was opening an invisible book, pooling purple light between his hands. He held it in front of him for a few seconds and looked over to me, smiling reassuringly.
Fates, he was beautiful.
The disheveled hair, his bunching muscles visible under his robes, the pure power and strength he was projecting, it was magnetic.
A second later he released all of that energy with a loudroar, blasting the light at Ignara with a force that sent her flying back and crashing to the ground. That seemed to have broken my spell, Ignara groaned. To my horror, she slowly got back up.
How the hell could anyone survive this kind of a blast?
“Freezing time, Auretheos? How very original of you!” She dusted off her clothes.
He chuckled. “That’s where you’re wrong, Ignara. That was all her, the virgin’s new little friend.” He unsheathed his sword and twisted it in the air in a move so effortlessly impressive that I almost wanted to clap and cheer.
“That’s impossible, bookworm, and you know it. But if you want to give her a good show without your little magic tricks, let’s have it out right here, right now.” She launched at him, sword in the air, metal clanking against metal. Ignara swung at him over and over again, but he countered her every move. I had assumed that he knew how to handle a sword, but watching him yield it with so much grace and cold precision was a different thing entirely. Gone was the gentle and considerate scholar and in his place stood a skilled warrior.
Ignara kicked out, trying to throw him off balance, but he caught her ankle with the hilt of his sword, eliciting a hiss from her.
“Interesting,” she panted, “so you still don’t do the touching thing, huh?”
Auretheos’s face was a mask and instead of rising to her taunting, he attacked again, this time hitting true with his blow and burying his sword deep into her right shoulder. Ignara screamed out in pain and let out a few unholy curses.
“That hurt, motherfucker,” she hissed, shifting the swordinto her other hand. She lashed out at him again, grazing his left flank and cutting open the fabric of his tunic. He gave no indication that he felt the pain, but started an attack of his own, crashing his sword down on her hard. She stumbled backwards, but didn’t fall and lunged herself at him again.
It was hard for me to concentrate, the giddy feeling inside me after using my heka was pulling at my senses. Now was not the time to be drunk on magic, but I could feel the rush in my veins taking over. I started giggling and fidgeting, every fiber in my body telling me to move. Theo and Ignara were still at it, landing blow after blow, but neither of them faltering. My vision was getting blurry, but I didn’t miss the Goddess of Fire landing a direct blow to Theo’s head and him falling to his knees.
