I exchanged an uncomfortable glance with Azarin, because Rufus was appallingly bad at math. “It’s a good thing he’s handy with an axe.”
“Just be sure once you get your three to keep swinging to make up for the slower students, Rufus,” she shouted at him, before muttering to me, “He’s got molasses for brains, but you can’t fault his enthusiasm.”
With Trax’s aid, we were rapidly approaching Korthican’s Warning. It wasn’t much to look at, just a lump of rocks encircled by sand, with the remains of the lighthouse in the middle, which was nothing but scattered brick piles and a few crumbling walls. A hundred yards away, another boat had been pulled up onto the sand, and mangled bodies of other would-be treasure hunters were turning the surf around them red.
A weirdly shaped figure was crouched on top of the tallest boulder on the island, obviously on look-out. It turned its strangely shaped head our direction, stared at us with its huge eyes that stuck way too far out the side of its head, before opening its black beak to let out a terribly loud hooting noise.
“They know we’re here now.”
As I said that, a dozen more creatures rose from among the rocks.
Let the adventure begin.
Twenty-One
Asmall army of slimy mutants were running across the sand toward us and we weren’t even close to the shore yet. If they caught us still in the water, we were doomed. They’d swamp our boats, and we couldn’t fight and tread water at the same time. Trax was strong, but he was just one Squalo trying to pull two boats.
“Everybody, row like your life depends on it!”
They did, but I don’t know if that extra effort made much difference. We were still a good thirty yards out. At this rate, by the time we reached solid ground, we’d be entirely surrounded, trying to fight aquatic monsters while struggling in who knows-how-deep freezing cold water.
“I’m going to jump ahead and slow them down.”
“By yourself?” Azarin grabbed my sleeve. “You’ll be killed!”
“It’s better than rowing.” I gently removed her hand, then lifted one glove and made a fist. “Ascend.”
The air solidified around my arm and yanked me violently up and away from the boat. As the wind cut right through my damp clothing, I had a terrible thought. Neither Trax nor the locals mentioned the creatures having anything like arrows or spears they could throw, and I was currently presenting a wonderfultarget if they did. Luckily, I didn’t get knocked out of the air, so that must have been anoon them having any missile weapons.
Rather than going straight up, I ascended at an angle. Azarin had taught me to keep my eyes on my destination, so I concentrated on a spot above the beach. When I looked down, the boats were behind me, the shore was still ahead of me, but from here, my arc would let me fall on the beach if I did everything right. I aimed my other glove at the solid ground, released theAscentspell, and began falling.
“Descend!”
As I focused on the sand, air magic curled about me and tugged back against gravity. I was still dropping fast, but at a velocity where landing would merely hurt, not break bones. Thankfully, my hasty calculation worked, and I fell toward the island instead of plummeting directly into the water. I even managed to stick the landing—mostly—as my boots hit first, and I took a few running steps before tumbling. My heroic effort got me a face full of grit, and then a wave of saltwater crashed into me, soaking my clothes anyway—I’d landed too close to the edge. That shock of cold made me yelp and jump to my feet.
The monsters were shuffling this way fast. They were of various sizes, between gnome to dwarf height, except they were lumpy, bipedal, andsquishy. Their awkward gait created a weird, moistsquelchnoise. It was difficult to tell their true shape through the clothing they wore, made from slimy leaves and vines. That had to be what the fishermen called seaweed. Their arms were too long, and flopping about behind them as they waddled, like their bones were too soft. Their gigantic eyes were fixed on me, and their black beaks snapped hungrily.
Trax had been right about one thing. They sure didn’t look like they wanted to talk it out.
Azarin landed gracefully beside me. “What’re you waiting for? Blow them up!”
I’d not been expecting her to join me, but I was way ahead of her on the blowing them up part, as I’d already pulled a snail grenade from my vest. I concentrated on the Red embedded in the iron, and the instant the magic awoke, I hurled it as far as I could. And I had a good throwing arm!
As the snail grenade sailed through the air, it began to shine. It hit the ground in front of the herd of mutants and bounced. By the time it rolled in front of their stomping feet, it was glowing bright orange.
BOOM!
Iron snail fragments zipped through the monsters. They stumbled through the dust and spreading smoke. A couple of them fell over. A few blundered to the side dazed.
Azarin had not only landed smoothly—she’d not even gotten her shoes wet—but she’d done so with a wand at the ready. This particular wand had been among the magical items I’d taken off the Frunza Tarlev students. There’d been another wand too, but Trax had accidentally eaten that one along with the user’s hand.
With Azarin’s affinity being air magic, this wand worked a lot better for her than the rest of us, so she’d kept it. She didn’t have the skill to replicate the enchantment yet, but Azarin knew enough to set it off.
“Daggers of Air!”
It helped me to think of the Clear like it was a sort of heavy air that could solidify temporarily, just like the invisible ropes that helped slow my falls.Only for this spell, the Clear hardened little bits of atmosphere into vicious little knives which sped into mutant flesh.
They were barely visible whipping through the salty mist. The monster Azarin was pointing at began leaking purple blood from the tiny puncture wounds that appeared in its chest. The one behind it must have caught a stray air dagger right in theeye, because that big protruding globe suddenly burst, squirting jelly.
