There were two trapdoors in the floor that seemed to open to giant storage chests full of weapons—swords, crossbows, bolt shooters, the works. My palms itched to get into the action, to grab a sword and cut a Nightling to pieces with it.
Madame Mondpoint had recovered from her weakness and went around the room again, reinforcing the shields as the Nightlings attempted to batter them.
“If those wards fall—” Mr. Whitlock yelled to the surrounding students.
“They won’t fall!” Madame Mondpoint barked, tossing sheets of blue glowing light at wall after wall.
Mr. Whitlock pulled his sword, an orange flame erupting from it. “If they do, we give those bloodsuckers everything we’ve got! For our queen and our city!” he cried, and a cacophony of students’ screams resounded at his call.
A man’s face suddenly pushed its way through the barrier, and a few students yelped, but Madame Mondpoint walked right up to him and tossed her magic directly in his face, causing him to shriek and disappear. She fell to one knee then, panting as she swayed, seemingly trying to keep upright.
“Let me through!” I shouted, feeling my hands heat up as I knew the healing marks were already spinning. One by one the crowd parted, and I ran to Madame Mondpoint’s side and laid a gloved hand on her back. I couldn’t touch her skin, but I knew from Ariyon that that wasn’t needed to heal her.
She swayed again, almost losing balance, and then held her hands up. They shook as she pushed more and more energy into the blue wall. I furrowed my brow, letting my sight lose focus, and then her energy signature was revealed. It was like a golden halo of buttery-yellow light that grew three feet from her body, but it was very dim and there were black, shadowy gaps.
Reaching out, I touched one of the black holes in the halo, and golden light shot from my own palm and filled it.
“There you go,” Mrs. Reebus coached from beside me.
I startled a little at her voice. “Do you see that? The golden energy?” I asked her.
She nodded. “Keep filling the holes. I envy your power, Fallon. I usually need a patient to ingest herbs and oils to carry out a healing like that.”
I waved my gloved hand over the holes in her energy and, one by one, filled them up. All the while Madame Mondpoint continued to strengthen the wards.
“I’m…not sure how much longer—” Madame Mondpoint said.
“It’s okay, Glenda. Let go if you must.” Mrs. Reebus took her hand in hers and tried to encourage her to come to terms with the fact that the shield might not hold.
“No,” Mondpoint growled, and a huge burst of blue light shot from both of her palms, coating the walls. Her energy signature flickered then, like a light going off and on again. Her eyes crossed, and she collapsed into Mrs. Reebus’s waiting arms.
“Oh dear. Help me get her into the center of the circle?” Mrs. Reebus asked me.
I hooked my gloved hands under her armpits and dragged her backward as Mrs. Reebus gripped her ankles. When we got her to the center of the circle, a sudden chill rushed down my arms.
‘Where are you, daughter?’The voice of Marissa Bane was inside my head, and my eyes went wide. I flicked my gaze to Yanric, who looked just as terrified.
He heard it too.
The blue wards started to shake then, like something—or someone—was pulsing them with electric power. They vibrated and wobbled, and I stepped out of the circle and stood before the warriors. If Marissa was going to burst through the wards and into here, I wanted her to get to me first. No more of my friends were getting hurt on her account.
‘What do you want?’I growled in my head, projecting it outward and hoping it reached her.
Was I hearing voices, or was she actually talking to me? Could Yanric hear it too? Was Marissa even here?
The blue glow on the walls dimmed before growing a sickly dark gray.
“Get ready!” Mr. Whitlock cried out.
“Fallon, get back!” Eden barked.
‘What do you want, Marissa!?’I shouted it inside my head again, feeling like an insane person.
I felt her then, like a piece of clothing slithering over my body with her awareness.‘I want my heir, and then I want the throne. Both of which are mine by birthright.’
The throne? The Gilded City throne? She was insane.
With a cracking sound, the ward shattered into a million burning embers, as if it had been lit on fire from the inside.
