He fell, stiff and straight as a board, caught in the bonds of the Shrouded Mage’s composition. I winced as pain jarred up my arms. The rest of Zak’s body would be feeling the same pain, but his head was the most important. All that mattered was keeping him alive.
I lay on top of him, not scrambling off as I used my body to shield my movements.
“What are you doing?” growled the Shrouded Mage, stepping toward us. He seemed to think I’d gone mad with terror and attempted to escape, colliding with Zak in the process.
My hand slipped inside Zak’s jacket, my fingers feeling for the first pocket. Last time, Zak had told me to reach past the first pocket to the second, and I could think of only one type of composition he would want in easier reach than a healing one.
Pulling out the wad of parchments I found inside—each one a tiny roll—I ripped one at random.
I couldn’t tell if anything had happened, but the Shrouded Mage bellowed wordlessly and leaped toward us.
I didn’t bother wasting time reading any of the others. I just ripped the next one. And the next. Still nothing happened that I could see, but the masked man in front of us bellowed again.
I kept going, ripping every parchment the pocket had contained. If I was right, and they were shields, then we were now cocooned in every protection Zak had in his arsenal. There was still a risk to me. Zak might have written them to protect only himself. But I didn’t feel afraid. I knew Zak, and he had too much compassion to think only of himself in crafting his shields.If a sudden disaster befell him, he would want to shield everyone in his radius, regardless of their status.
The Shrouded Mage tried to reach for me, but he bounced back as if he’d encountered an invisible wall. He glared at me, the force of his eyes suffocating as he reached into his own jacket.
I gulped and plunged my hand back toward Zak’s pockets. I pulled out parchments as quickly as I could, emptying his various pockets, but this time I took the time to read them.
The Shrouded Mage ripped a parchment, and I glanced up, but nothing happened. He growled and pulled out another one as I turned back to the parchments in my hands. Zak was a Callinos. He was strong. His shields would hold.
They had to.
Again and again, I plunged my hand back into Zak’s jacket as the mage only steps away from us ripped a second, third, and fourth parchment. Finally, my desperately skimming eyes found the words I was looking for.
I ripped the paper, still half-sprawled across Zak’s still body, flicking my fingers awkwardly toward him. He moved beneath me, pushing me gently aside and springing to his feet. His full attention was locked on the mage who stood feet away from us, another parchment in his hands.
Faster than seemed possible, Zak’s hand flashed into his jacket and reappeared with a fresh composition. He didn’t need to look at it, tearing it confidently and watching his opponent.
For a moment the Shrouded Mage looked fearful. But when nothing discernible happened, he grinned.
“You’re going to need more strength than that,” he taunted, and I realized he must have worked a shield of his own at some point, the power of it strong enough to beat back whatever power Zak had sent at him.
Zak didn’t respond, merely plunging his hand back into his jacket and emerging with two more parchments. The Shrouded Mage also lunged for another composition, but Zak was faster. Our attacker’s hands froze, an untorn parchment clasped uselessly between his fingers.
His eyes rolled wildly in his head, but they seemed to be the only part of him he could move. I gave a gasping sob of a breath, and Zak turned instantly to look down at me where I still sat on the cobblestones beside him.
“Are you hurt?” He pulled me up, examining me from head to foot. His frown landed on the scraped and bloodied skin on the back of my hands.
“You protected me,” he murmured softly, so much love in his voice that it hurt.
He pulled me toward him, and I sank against his chest, my whole body trembling with the aftereffects of our desperate struggle.
“You saved us,” he murmured into my hair. “I was so afraid for you, but you were magnificent.”
I laughed shakily. “They were your compositions.”
“But I was helpless to make use of them without you.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “We make a good team.”
I drew a shuddering breath. “I’m sorry I used all your shields. I didn’t have time to read them and pick the right ones, plus I didn’t know how strong they were.”
“You did the right thing,” he said immediately. “I can replenish shields.” He pulled back to look at me. “But how did you know that I would even have shields or where to find them?”
I explained my reasoning, and he shook his head. “Your mind never ceases to amaze me.”
I glanced uneasily at the Shrouded Mage, unable to relax while he stood so close to us, even if he was bound. “How long will your binding power last?”
“Long enough,” Zak said grimly. “My first one burned out against his shield, but it burned most of the power of the shield in the process. So I worked two more. He’ll be held that way for hours unless someone releases him.”
