back through and closed the doorway behind him.
He was more careful this time as he raced the rest of the way up the hill. He watched the shadows and the trees for any sign of movement or spark, but there was none. It took him several seconds to realize that the screaming from the battle had stopped. Was it over? Had he missed it all?
And then an awful thought hit him. Was there no screaming because Ari was dead? Had the Carules Prodigy and his Guard killed her while Will fought two roaming warriors on the wrong side of the hill? Terror propelled him forward and he sprinted the rest of the way to the top, skidding to a halt before he threw himself over the side.
His eyes landed on her bright red flames immediately. The reason the field was silent was because everyone had stopped fighting to watch them.
The Carules Prodigy and his Guard had found her, and the Carules formed a tight circle around them. They still fought, throwing spells at Ari every chance they got. In the few seconds Will watched, he saw her get hit twice.
Finally, the Edrens on the outside burst into action, fighting their way through the tight circle, trying to help their own Prodigy. “It's about time, you blasted—” before he could think of an awful enough word, he leaped over the side of the cliff. It was steep, but not a freefall. He half-ran, half-tumbled down the sharp face, until he landed on his knees right above them, close enough to hear the weird, dislocated voice of the Prodigy scream, “This ends now!”
Ari answered with a spell thrown right at the Prodigy's heart, a vicious lirik that sought to finish him forever. He threw himself to the side as his Guard attacked. It was like watching the most horrific choreographed dance Will could ever imagine.
He pushed himself to his feet and jumped.
He landed hard on the ground just beyond the circle. He had to get in to her. Now . He threw his hands up, and his flames responded, exploding from his palms, feeding off his fury and desperation. The Carules in front of him burst into screaming, writhing masses of flames and the circle broke apart as they sought to escape.
He saw Ari's shrouded head jerk toward him, and by the way her entire body tensed, he knew she recognized him. Oh yeah, if he lived through this, she would kill him for it. “Get out of here!” he screamed at her, but she ignored him, backing up until she stood shoulder to shoulder with him.
They turned and faced the Prodigy together. Not so tough now that you don't outnumber her, are you?
The rush of the battle was upon him and his blood practically sung. He burst into action, his hands moving faster than he thought possible. He threw spells at everything except Ari, because everything except Ari was trying to kill him.
That got the Guard's attention. Will pushed a lirik at the Prodigy and spun out of the way as the Guard turned his attack from Ari to Will. Ari threw herself in front of him, dodging flames from random Carules warriors, and threw a masas . A spell that attacked multiple targets at once.
And Ari was the only one who could throw them.
The Prodigy and his Guard dove out of the way and Will sucked in a breath before he willed the sparks to his fingers again, burning his next spell in the air. He went to shove it toward the still-recovering Prodigy, but Ari was there, in between them. Protecting him. And in his way.
“You need to go!” she screamed, the voice hers, but not hers, disguised by the shroud. He ignored her as she had him, but she'd distracted him just enough that the Guard was able to get around her. He threw a spell before Will had time to dodge out of the way, and he turned just as it slammed into him, spinning him completely around. He staggered, the pain nearly causing him to fall, but through a sheer force of will he stayed on his feet, only to see that the Edrens had realized who he was and had turned their attention from the Carules to him.
Awesome .
Ari swore, which, had the
Cynthia Felice
Andre Norton
Jez Strider
Rosalyn West
Patricia Hagan
Nikki Winter
Carrigan Richards
Yvonne Collins, Sandy Rideout
Shirley Rousseau Murphy
Beth Goobie