No. I can’t think of Kaelen right now, or I’ll lose any courage I still possess.
“Get me the key, Soli,” the druid says. “I’m bored. Nobody likes it when I’m bored, because I kill people just to liven things up. But as you can see, none of them can stop me.”
“I’ll stop you,” Trick says, revealing the warrior beneath the jokester and the thief. It’s not just this journey that has honed Trick into a weapon so sharp and fierce. His very hard life did that a long time ago, but I never had cause to see it before now.
If the odds were even, I’d bet on Trick every time.
But these odds are far from even.
“I’ll help.” I pull my second dagger from my thigh sheath and take a defensive stance. This causes Darnen to laugh so hard he actually bends over and clutches his gut. The Zhagarn in the room bare their teeth in ghastly smiles.
When I take a step toward him, Darnen whirls and crouches down next to Elianna, yanks her head up by her hair, and puts a knife to her throat. “How about you both put down the bladesand surrender nicely? Then nobody has to get hurt, and this pretty sorcerer doesn’t have to get dead, no matter how much I despise her father.”
The fury rising inside me bursts through my body like the amulet’s light did in that field. I won’t let him kill Elianna.
Iwon’t.
No matter what it takes.
But then I stumble back a step, bile rising in my throat. Because suddenly, horribly, I know exactly what it will take to stop Darnen.
What choice I’ll make to ensure his reign of terror is put to an end.
I will use the goddess’s amulet to cause harm.
No. Not cause harm. There’s no need for pretense with myself.
Tokill.
All this goes through my mind in seconds, and I let my dagger fall to the stone floor.
“Soli, no!” Trick shouts.
The druid smiles and drops Elianna’s head, which thumps to the stone floor hard enough to make me wince. When he stands, he raises his hands, holding them open, palms up. Blue flames dance between his fingers. “Come along then, little man. Show me what you’ve got.”
“I have a better idea,” I say. “I’ll get the key for you. But let Trick take Elianna and go.”
Trick grabs my waist and forcibly shoves me behind him. “Not a chance.”
He glances over his shoulder at me and drops his voice to a nearly silent murmur. “Run, Soli. You can’t save Elianna or me, but you can maybe help the others. Get out and get to Bern and Neville.”
“No!”
“Please. For any friendship we ever had, when I distract him,run.” Then he shoves me toward the stairway, whirls around, and runs for the druid, dagger out.
But Darnen is quicker.
Frozen where I stand, I can only watch in horror as the druidmanifests a spear of orange light that he drives into Trick so hard, the tip comes out of his back.
And then my friend—my only true friend from childhood—falls.
I scream and drop to my knees next to him, covering the wound with my hands, heedless of the spear tip slicing my palms. Blood pumps through my fingers like the years and memories racing through my mind.
Trick, sneaking purple ink into the library for my braid.
Trick, buying me a hot sweet roll at a festival.
Trick, grinning hugely when he gave me the wooden snow leopard.
