The knife-wielder slashed and dodged, struggling to keep Zev at bay. He was fast, light on his feet, but not fast enough. His legs and arms bled where teeth or claws had caught him. Rawn and Lucenna teamed up against the elf, simultaneously attacking with sword and magic. Their exploding spells lit the forest, the underbrush catching fire.
Tarn’s men began retreating. They wouldn’t win this fight. The wolf lunged for their retreating backs. The man slashed, catching him in his face. Zev whined, shaking his snout as blood leaked into his eyes. Dyna moved to help him, but Cassiel gripped her tightly.
With a wave of one hand, the elf knocked Rawn’s sword away. He chanted another spell and a new hexagon formed. This one had two rings spiraling around it.
“Shield!” Rawn shouted at Lucenna.
She cursed and thrust up a fist, and a crackling dome of light arched over them, covering a wide berth that included the blue tree. The spell exploded, and the clash of purple and blue blasted them off their feet. Lucenna’s shield shattered. The explosion ricocheted, hitting a formation of rock, and it came crashing down.
Tarn’s men dashed into the woods for their escape. Rawn darted back, and Cassiel yanked Dyna out of range. A boulder came for Lucenna. Dyna screamed for her to run, but the sorceress froze beneath its shadow. Zev rammed into her, and they fell out of the way as it smashed into the ground behind them. Thick smoke and debris choked the air. The knife-wielder slinked out of the smog. There was a flash of silver, then a cry as Rawn stumbled.
“Rawn!” Dyna struggled against Cassiel to get to him.
Lord Norrlen held his bleeding shoulder as he grunted,“Orum ed erb’mul.”
A wall of flames blazed between them and Tarn’s men, forcing them back.
“You’re lucky I missed, elf,” the knife-wielder snarled with a venom that sounded personal. “Next time we meet, I’ll put one in your chest.”
Then he and the elf vanished into the forest.
Rawn dropped his fire and Lucenna waved her arms outward, casting them in another golden shield that formed like a round hut with them inside. “Containment dome,” she told them. “It will serve as an impregnable shield until we’re certain they’re gone.”
Cassiel continued holding on to Dyna so tight it hurt. He was shaking.
“Cassiel,” Dyna laid her palm over his hand clamped on her waist. “It’s all right. I’m safe.”
“I told you not to go without me,” he said tightly. “This is what happens when you do not listen. What if I had not—”
He cut off, and she followed his wary gaze to the others.
What if I had not felt your fear?He didn’t say it, but she sensed the question somehow. The bond was their unspoken secret they both agreed others couldn’t know of yet, if ever. Especially Zev.
“I’m sorry,” Dyna murmured. It was a peace offering and an apology for last night. She didn’t want to fight anymore.
Cassiel searched her face, seeming to understand. His thumb brushed over the scrape on her temple, and she winced. It must have happened when she crashed into the tree.
“They hurt you,” he said, his mouth bracketing.
“I’m all right.”
He searched her over, and her skin tingling as his hands grazed her arms. “Are you injured anywhere else?”
She shook her head, muted by the concern in his gaze. His fingers found the bruise on her arm, and his nostrils flared. A stream of his anger slipped through the bond. It doubled when he spotted her bleeding shin.
“It’s nothing,” Dyna reassured him. “Barely a scratch.”
“I could—”
“No, it’s fine.” She drew back, and he nodded stiffly, his hold slipping away.
After everything he had done for her, she couldn’t ask him for more blood to heal such a tiny cut.
Dyna went to her cousin. The wolf whined as she lifted his head to peer at the lesion along his face. It had barely missed his eyes. “You will let me tend to that.” She gave Zev a stern frown before turning to Rawn. “Lord Norrlen, please allow me to tend to your wound.”
“Thank you, Lady Dyna.”
Pressing her hand over the injury, she called on her Essence once more. She’d been fortunate Lucenna had followed her into the woods, but she needed to be more careful with her safety. Tarn wouldn’t cease until he captured her. He was getting too close.
