“You need to get out of here too!” Syla waved for them to return to the tunnel. “I’ll be right behind you.”
Fel looked at Jhiton and kept coming.
“Don’t let him cut you!” Syla yelled. “It’ll kill you. I can’t heal it.”
More roars came from the direction of the cliffs.
You and Agrevlari need to get out of the way,Syla warned as she reached out with her mind toward the weapons platform.
She was farther away now. Would it hear her? Would she be able to command it to fire again?
You need our help!Wreylith replied.
I’m going to fire a projectile from the weapons platform at the cliff. And that hole.
Wreylith roared again. With defiance? Frustration? Either way, Syla hoped it included acquiescence. The prisoners reached the tunnel and hurried away, Relvin in the lead, eager to escape. Maybe he had a sense of what would happen.
Fel reached his target, but Jhiton moved with such speed and power that he knocked Fel flying in an instant. It had happened so quickly that Syla hadn’t even seen Jhiton’s attack. Behind him, Vorik rose to his feet. Bleeding from myriad wounds, he rushed at Jhiton once more.
Syla felt the weapons platform acknowledge her and respond.
“Stay back from him, Vorik!” she yelled, trying to add power to her voice so that he would obey.
But Jhiton had almost reached Syla and lifted his swords. As she skittered back, she commanded the weapons platform to launch. Four projectiles sprang forth and sped toward the cliff. She couldn’t see them but sensed them and their routes.
Vorik swung at Jhiton from behind. Jhiton spun, deflecting his slash, then kicked and knocked Vorik away once more.
Good. Three of the projectiles slammed into the rock around the tunnel entrance, blowing huge slabs of the cliff free, but one found the opening and entered.
Blazing silver, it sped into the laboratory. Jhiton must have sensed it because he spun and threw one of his swords at it.
Syla swore, afraid that might intercept or deflect the projectile, as he’d once used a knife to knock aside an explosiveshe’d hurled at him. And the two powers did meet, not ten feet away from him. They blew up with a huge blast of light and energy. It flung Syla against the stone wall again, and her head struck, pain lancing through her skull.
This time, she couldn’t recover and slumped to the ground, unconsciousness threatening. She tried to push it away, afraid that Jhiton hadn’t been struck and that he would survive and kill her and Vorik. She might never waken again, never get a chance to thank Vorik for helping and say once more that she loved him. But blackness won out, and, as magic swirled in the air all around her, she lost consciousness.
Each breath brought pain, but Vorik managed to stay conscious as he lay on his side, his vision slowly clearing after the tremendously bright and powerful blast. Had that attack come from the weapons platform? It must have.
He could make out Jhiton, down to one sword and lowered to a single knee. He’d kept the projectile from hitting him, but he’d been so close to the blast. It had to have hurt him.
Vorik tried to summon the strength to rise but couldn’t. He could feel malevolent energy in him, oozing through his body from all the places where Jhiton had bypassed his defenses and stabbed or slashed him. It would kill him, he realized numbly, but he needed to save Syla first. She’d been knocked into a wall and wasn’t moving. Her bodyguard was down too, and all the prisoners had escaped and fled. Vorik had wanted that, but now there was nobody left to help Syla. She would be an easy target.
But Jhiton struggled to rise, and Vorik sensed Agrevlari and Wreylith approaching. Earlier, they’d been outside the cliff,unable to get in, but now they were entering. Had one of those projectiles blown open the way?
Stop Jhiton,he told Agrevlari.Please.
Stones cracked, and thuds sounded. Maybe the way wasn’t entirely clear.
Jhiton rose and turned toward Syla with his one remaining sword. He looked dazed and confused, but then determination solidified on his face.
“No,” Vorik rasped and again tried to rise.
She has proven herself,a feminine voice said.
That wasn’t Wreylith, and Vorik couldn’t tell where it came from.
Many times,a gentle male voice said with a laugh.
That couldn’t be the storm god, could it? No, it sounded kindly rather than malevolent and mad.
