“Busybodies,” she mumbled. “I’m sure they told you that things with Ovir are far from simple. I guess that’s just part of the reality of my freedom that I’ve been avoiding.”
“And you’re sure that’s it?”
Pale eyes narrowed as they met his. “Nothing gets by the sun-blessed protector.” She fiddled with the notebook in her hands as her chin dropped. “You know I’m capable of emotions, right?”
Cason stilled.
She sighed. “The other night, we were talking about shutting off feelings and you brought up my training to detach from emotions. That doesn’t mean I’m unable to have them anymore. You do know you’re not the only one feeling things, right?”
“Brela, that’s not what I meant,” he replied, shaking his head. “Of course I know you’re capable of emotions. Just look at—“
He started to gesture toward Farrah and Elias when she cut him off.
“I’m not talking about them, I’m talking aboutus.About what I feel for you that’s stronger than normal.”
He blinked at the rawness in her voice. “What are you saying?”
Brela chewed her lip for a moment, twisting the notebook in her hands. “I… I need to tell you something.”
Cason was vaguely aware of the others tensing where they sat, but he was more confused at Brela’s sudden nervousness; her fidgeting and racing heart.
Brela opened her mouth to speak.
Chaos unleashed.
Everything happened at once. The spitting hisses. Rocks tumbling and trees cracking. The horses going wild as two of them plunged off the edge of the cliff. Farrah’s scream.
Four noglida leapt from the trees on the other side of the cavern and landed in front of the fire—with a grace Cason never thought possible from a fifty or more foot drop. Three more were working their way across the rock ledges above the horses, their barbed tails and long, leathery necks balancing them. He could hear the claws of at least five more climbing up the cliff to their camp. There were echoes of too many more surrounding them.
Brela was a blur next to him, three knives already embedded in the underside of a long neck as she swung down and severed a forked tongue that licked for her. Green blood sprayed, but Brela was faster. She dove.
At him.
Four hells. She tackled him into the rocky ground, knocking the breath out of his lungs. Snarling, she launched back to her feet with Night Carver swinging. Green stained the back of her shirt and pants, but none of the poison had touched her skin.
It would have coated him.
Sharpened teeth snapped above his face as he came back into himself.
Fire burst from his hands, launching the noglida away. The creature rolled once, twice, then slammed its tail barbs into the stone to keep itself from falling off the cliff entirely.
Cason dug into his fire again, this time aiming for the three trying to flank them. Red flames tinged with just enough blue burned through the six-legged lizards, blackening everything—including blood—until they were nothing more than ashes.
He had to be careful with his magic in this confined space. A burst of fire could get out of control too quickly. He wouldn’t just set the trees and mountain on fire, he’d burn them too.
Behind him, Farrah was defending Serill and Elias with ice. The earth-wielder lay unconscious on the ground, one arm and both legs bloodied as Serill leaned over him, using his magic to heal the wounds. Farrah didn’t need the help, though. Two noglida were already sliced and gushing green onto the rocks. She kept the remaining beasts at a distance, whipping them back with water and turning any spraying blood into ice before it could shower over them.
More beasts hissed from the ledge. Cason turned back to Brela as she dodged a whip of tail and nearly fed her arm to a second noglida. It was close enough. A third’s claw sliced through her forearm with the movement. Red blood burst from the wound as her scream echoed off the mountain.
Her retaliating strike didn’t falter as Night Carver sliced through the beast, the angle of attack barely keeping the spray of blood from coating her hand.
Lightning came naturally. The bolt tore through the other two beasts circling her, white sparks ripping through the thick flesh. The closest one jolted back, knocking another over the edge of the cliff. Two more took their place behind the other noglida who remained twitching with electricity.
He realized Brela’s idea too late.
“No!”
She kicked anyway, earning her own shock of too-powerful lightning that knocked her to her knees. At the same time the three beasts collided and tumbled into darkness, pain lanced through Cason’s thigh and stomach.
