Firra was silent for too long as Angelique flung ash over the roaring chimera, temporarily blindingthem.
“He’s not dead,” Firra finally said in a shaky voice. “But he needs help. We need toretreat.”
“Should we back up to join Sir Isaia?” Angelique craned her neck, looking forPegasus.
A brilliant white light ignited, catching her attention.Please don’t be moreenemies.
She carefully shifted, spinning her magic as fast as shecould.
Before she could make out the newcomers, five notes were blasted on a horn. Some of the light subsided, and Angelique could make out a band of approximately twenty mounted MagicKnights.
Off to the west, another group of Magic Knights came galloping over a hill, their golden armor gleaming in the light of the fallingsun.
The knights swept past Rosalinda and Sir Isaia in an organized formation, and as one, the knights roared. “For Sole—for the BriarRose!”
A knight dressed in fancy armor pulled ahead of his squad and flung a dagger at a pack ofgoblins.
When the dagger struck the ground, it flooded the area with an explosion of light. Goblins shrieked and pawed at their eyes, smashing into one another as the blinding light faded and the knightspounced.
The other squadron of knights that came riding in from the west fell upon the chimera, instantly easing Angelique’s load so she didn’t feel quite so cornered. Leading them was a knight with a lance that shone a bright gold color and radiatedmagic.
He and the one with the dagger must be legendaryknights!
Angelique hadn’t seen them in action before, but as she watched the knight of the lance thrust his weapon at a pouncing chimera—and throw the monster backward with enough force Angelique could hear its skulls crack—she dimly realized why Severin had despaired over Sole’s absence from theSummit.
“You irksomewretch!”
Angelique spun around and saw Carabosso throw an oily liquid at Donaigh—who was still sprawled on the ground and outcold.
Angelique shouted, sweat dripping down her temple as she threw up an earthen wall, shielding Donaigh from thestrike.
Queasiness boiled in the pit of her stomach, but Angelique tried to ignore it.I can’t give up—the knights just got here! Surely we can win and capture Carabosso andSuzu!
The female and male black mage joined forces, attempting to create what looked like tar-covered blackvines.
Angelique smirked for a moment—for the male was still holding a hand to his broken nose—then tapped her magic and pulled a geyser of water from the ground that shoved the duo apart and drenched them inwater.
An angry hiss made her look up, and Angelique’s heart lightened at the sight of three swans circling overhead. “Rosalinda!” she shouted, eyeing Suzu as the sorceress threw a few black orbs onto the ground—each one erupting into another chimera. The Legendary Knight of the Lance plowed one over before it even had time to uncurl to its fullsize.
In one frenzied moment, Angelique flung a small ball of lightning at Suzu, waved her thanks to the swans, and then yelled to the princess, “Lookup!”
She pointed to Odette and her companions who—with an ingenious hookup of ropes—carried the Legendary Weapon Rosalinda had requested: the two-handedsword.
As they came closer to the fight, light surrounded the swans—cutting straight through theropes.
The sword fell free of the hook up and struck the ground, bladefirst.
The three smugglers fell like miniature meteors and hit the ground with a loud crack that raised a gust of dust and debris. When the light faded, Odette, Misha, and Nadiaremained.
Odette looked somewhat murderous as she stood barefoot on the battlefield. Nadia danced around her, snatching a rudimentary spear from a fallen goblin and attacking the nearestcreature.
Odette ignored the chaos of the battlefield and glared at Angelique. “That was beyond dangerous. We are never doing that again! Angelique, do you hear me? We are smugglers—notthieves!”
“Technically, it was not stealing, as the princess has a right to the sword.” She threw a ball of flames at the female black mage—which shedodged.
Yep, it seems I have more luck with weirder spells.Angelique poked a finger at the male dark mage as he chanted and tried to loop chains of black magic around her. A spark from her alteration magic, and a rock became a slippery fish that smacked the mage in the face—hitting his now-twice-broken nose and making him flop to the ground inshock.
Odette was not impressed by the show. “Oh, is that why you told us under no circumstances could anyone find out what we weredoing?”
