Yanking on her magic, Angelique finished the extra copies of her spell—with which she had becomeintimatelyacquainted while chasing the wyvern throughKozlovka.
Carabosso was still monologuing as Angelique lightly squeezed Pegasus’sides.
“Let’s go!” shesaid.
Pegasus threw himself into a canter, swiftly closing the space between them and the blackmages.
Angelique clenched her teeth as she skillfully loosened her spells, sending the original and copies to strike different targets at the samemoment.
“And so,” Carabosso concluded, “you shalllose.”
Before he could open his mouth again, lightning crackled in the sky and struck three times, hitting each mage with perfect, pin-pointprecision.
I guess chasing after and trying to hit the wyvern as a moving targetdidpay off afterall!
The mages fell over, electricity crackling up and down their spasmingbodies.
Angelique bit her lip and threw a hastily created ball of water at Carabosso, but Suzu snapped upright and raised a shield, blocking the move. (Already, her male compatriot was climbing to hisfeet.)
“Yep, we don’t stand a chance. Let’s fly,Pegasus!”
As Pegasus charged past the mages, skirting the burnt husk of the village, his shoulders again movedoddly.
“I didn’t mean that literally!” shesqueaked.
Pegasus released a throaty snort that was his version of a laugh and continuedgalloping.
Angelique clung to her saddle and peered up at the sky, grateful to see the Black Swan Smugglers hadn’t fallen too far behind. “Let’s slow down a touch so they can keep up,” Angelique shouted above the whoosh of the wind. “When we get far enough away, we’ll stop to decide how toproceed.”
Pegasus tucked his head, making the arch of his neck over-pronounced, but he slowed hispace.
Angelique leaned back in the saddle and tried to calm her frantic heart.We made it. Though it kills me to leave Suzu, Carabossomustbe stopped. If I don’t mount a defense quickly enough or were to spend my time attempting to capture Suzu, how many villages would he destroy in themeantime?
* * *
“That was Suzu.”Odette gnawed on a red apple Angelique had retrieved for her from her charmed satchel. “At least, I’m pretty sure it was. I didn’t see her too often at Swan Lake, but she has a pretty distinctive style. What do you think,Misha?”
“The sorceress was indeed Suzu,” Misha confirmed. “Though I did not recognize hercompanions.”
“Carabosso was the one with the mark on his forehead,” Angelique said. “I didn’t recognize the other black mage,either.”
Misha tapped a dried chunk of jerky—again from Angelique’s satchel, apparently the smugglers needed to eat frequently to keep going, an understandable limit—on his thigh. “I heard rumors Carabosso was wreaking havoc in Sole. I didn’t think he was destroyingtowns.”
“I suspect it’s a new pastime for him,” Angeliquesaid.
Odette took another bite of her apple. “What makes you thinkthat?”
Angelique studied her own half-eaten apple. “Call itinstinct.”
Instinct? Yeah, right! More like if he had been doing this for any prolonged period of time, I’m sure either Firra or Severin would not-so-subtly be asking me to finish himoff.
She cleared her throat. “This does raise the question of where should we go next. It’s important to get the information on Foedus, but it’s in Ciane, which is still under my sleeping spell. If I am to face Carabosso and his ‘friends,’ I’ll need reinforcements from the Magic Knights of Sole. It will kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, for the knights should be able to help me capture Suzu so I can question her about Evariste’s whereabouts. Though I suspect Carabosso might know aswell.”
“We can travel to Ciane alone,” Odette offered. “We’ve been therebefore.”
“I feel confident I can familiarize myself with the library in a well enough manner that I can find the materials about this Foedus dagger you desire,” Misha said. “I imagine by the time you return, we will have compiled all the information, and you can reviewit.”
“That would be ideal, except Ciane is guarded by a single Magic Knight who—I’m told—takes his position very seriously.” Angelique nibbled on her apple—which was the perfect balance of ripe and crisp—but she had lost her appetite in her frustration with the situation. “He isn’t likely to let you inside. But maybe if I send something as a sign that you’re representingme…”
