“Well, now that that’s settled,” Kaelun said, “Lady Nyleeria and I have to prove Uncle Artton wrong, which means we should go.”
It took a good twenty minutes to say our final goodbyes, Fiora torn between going home and spending more time with Kaelun. And although I wasn’t sure it was possible, I was starting to believe that she loved that kid more than her sons when she cried as she told himhow proud she was of him like she’d never see him again—even though his centennial was just around the corner.
Kaelun valenned us to a large field where I now stood, looking over his shoulder as he knelt on the ground, one of Endymion’s magical blades in hand. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” I asked. “Because the humming and hawing isn’t exactly instilling confidence, you know.”
“Do you want to try?” he asked, holding it up.
I stared down my nose at him and crossed my arms. Just because he’d called me on my bluff didn’t mean I had to act happy about it.
“That’s what I thought,” he clipped.
“Careful, fetus, you’re beginning to sound a little bit like your uncle?”
He looked up at me, wounded. “Take it back?”
“Which part, the fetus or the uncle?”
His eyes narrowed. “Both.”
“Yeah. I don’t think so. Now, are we doing this, or what?”
Knowing we didn’t have time to continue to spar, he refocused on the dagger. “You said that the ancient runes lit upbeforethe magic settled in the chamber?”
“That’s the third time you've asked me. My answer isn’t going to change.”
The space between his eyebrows crinkled as he concentrated on the blade, and I could sense the magic powering his unara as he probed the dagger for answers I wasn’t sure he’d get. “Whelp, I guess I’m just going to have to try it and see what happens. What’s the worst that can happen?” he said, looking over his shoulder for moral support.
“Don’t look at me,” I said, raising my hands. “I have no idea. Besides, it wasyouruncle who mentioned property damage.”
“Yeah, but I can’t always tell when he’s being serious or not,” Kaelun admitted.
“That’s what happens when you have the personality of a gnat.”
My shadow laughed. As if the humor recharged his bravado, he jumped to his feet, almost knocking heads with me. “Careful,” I groused.
“Sorry,” he said, giving me a sheepish look. “I’ve never seen weapons like this, and I doubt I’ll come across ancient script that’s been this preserved again, so I’m a little excited.”
I had to admit, I was pretty excited too. “Okay, I think it’s now or never,” I prompted, “Before your uncle finds us.”
Kaelun nodded and took half a step back. Unable to help myself, I leaned over, wanting to see what happens up close.
“Ready?” he asked, though a part of me thought it was more for him.
“If you are,” I said.
“Here goes nothing.”
I could sense Kaelun rally his powers and pluck at the threads he wanted to call forth, which seemed like fire. A heartbeat later, flames erupted in a turbulent sphere above his right palm, the blade in his left. Moving the hand with the blade over to the flames, I replayed how Endymion had filtered his magic into the dagger, and my stomach dropped. “Kaelun, wait,” I said, but it was too late.
As if I were forced to watch in slow motion, I watched helplessly as the flames tickled the antechamber.
Bang!
I barely registered the deafening sound before the explosion of magic pushed me back a good ten paces, my back hitting the ground hard enough to kick the air out of my lungs. Feeling disoriented, I blinked away the spots in my vision as I tried to catch my breath. “Kaelun?” I rasped.
“I’m okay,” he said, sounding as good as I felt. “You?”
“Alive.”
