Angelique snorted. “You thought we could throw that much magic around without beingnoticed?”
“Halt! Display your permits!” an escolta shouted, barely audible above Angelique’s heavybreathing.
The war mage’s expression turned ugly, and with an animalistic roar, he flung an armload of black daggers ather.
Angelique threw up another shield, but she miscalculated, leaving a tiny sliver of herself uncovered, and a black dagger slashed the back of her right calf. She swallowed a shout and shoved her hand through her shield—which held the rest of the weapons back—channeling a gust of wind straight into the mage’schest.
He was sent skidding backwards. He created a black sword and stabbed it to the ground, halting himself and staying upright. A push off his weapon, and he was chasing after Angelique again, catching up with her faster than a regular humanwould.
“Display your permits—now!” an escolta wearing a feathered hatshouted.
Both Angelique and the mage ignored him as they ran—the war mage throwing bladed weapons at Angelique that she veered toavoid.
Pain gnawed at Angelique’s calf and forearm, and she was aware she was leaving a blood trail. But even so, she noticed when the feather-hatted escolta stepped back and spoke to hermen.
The escolta raised their arms, and the hair on the back of Angelique’s neckprickled.
Magic churned at their palms, and Angelique threw herself to theground.
“Got you!” The war mage smashed his booted heel onto Angelique’s right heel, pinning her in place. He smiled viciously and formed a black sword as Angelique curled into a ball and prayed shesurvived.
Just as the war mage started to stab his sword down, a boulder the size of a large kettle smashed him between the shoulder blades, tossing him to the ground like a ragdoll.
Angelique pressed herself closer to the ground. Pain radiated from her injured wrist as sweat dripped off her nose. Vines tried to wrap around her wrists, but it only took letting a little bit of her core magic flicker to slice straight throughthem.
The black mage struggled to his feet, only to get a fireball to the chest. His defensive shield deflected the flames, but the spell hit him with enough force to make his shield recoil and to toss him to the groundagain.
Angelique waited until she heard the escolta leader shout before she leaped to her feet and started running for the wallagain.
High above her, a hawk screamed and dropped into a nose dive, aimed straight forher.
Angelique twisted a bit of her magic and thrust her arms up, rebuffing the hawk with a gust of wind—though she noticed whatever good the healing spell had worked must have been undone by the tumble to the ground, for her forearm wound was now bleeding evenheavier.
The hawk screamed and retreated, its voice almost covering the low growl of awolf.
Angelique glanced back over her shoulder, her heart faltering at the sight of a giant white wolf racing towardher.
Shapeshifter mage—wolves don’t get that bignaturally.
Angelique kept running as she struggled to choose what spell to twist her magic into. (Shewould notharm an escolta. Not unless things were trulydire.)
The wolf howled, and Angelique tugged on her magic, hurriedly forming another blast of wind. She scooped up a handful of snow and fired off the gust of magic at the same time, flicking stinging snow into the wolf’seyes.
The beast (mage?) shook its head and leaped, slamming into Angelique’s back, sending her crashingdown.
The air was ruthlessly knocked from her lungs, and the wolf kept its front paws on her back, its claws ripping through the thick layers of her clothes and digging into skin andmuscle.
Angelique’s head yanked back in pain, but she had no air toscream.
There was a commotion off to her left, and she thought her lungs might collapse when the wolf pushed off her back and bounded toward the black mage, who was struggling against a regular army ofvines.
Angelique lay still for a moment—until air finally filled her lungs again—then bolted. She heard the escolta shout, but she kept running, even as the trickle of warm blood dripping down her back made hershiver.
She almost cried in relief when she reached the wall and started forging her way up its unevenside.
The black mage roared, making her twist hazardously to peer back over hershoulder.
A veritable hoard of black weapons surrounded the black mage as he viciously sliced through the vines. He ran for the wall, but the shapeshifter mage was right on hisheels.
