by Halie Fewkes
“Thanks,” Archie called up to me. “You can come dow — wait! Stay up, STAY UP!” he shouted.
Corliss shrieked, “Go go go!” She and Archie took off up the stairs in a frantic dash, and I felt my stomach drop.
The Zhauri death hound, the lightning fast shanking death hound, bolted up the stairs after them, and I heard them collaborating in a panic to keep the thing at bay as it nearly caught up. Maverick, Zeen, and the newest Zhauri must be close, probably helping the kids.
I didn’t know what to do. Their voices disappeared as they fled, leaving me rooted to the spot in shock, alone.
I could drop down and risk running into more Escalis, or the Zhauri, apparently. Or I could turn straight around and definitely run into the Escalis still trying to get through the marble doors.
I leapt down to the staircase and climbed the glass-flecked steps as quietly as possible, trying to keep from being sick as I began to pass rooms occupied by Escali bodies, bludgeoned, scorched, and riddled with holes full of grey dust. Some of them had no markings at all to reveal the natures of their demise, but not a single Human kid lay among them.
I reached a long stretch with no more signs of fighting, probably meaning I’d taken a different path than the escapees, and continued hiking upward wherever I could.
Young shouts and screams resonated faintly above me and I bolted toward them, but before I ever reached the kids, the tunnel before me forked. The voices echoed from the right, but I could see daylight to my left. An Escali woman spotted me from behind, and before she could accuse me of killing her king, I bolted left to get away from her, towards the freedom of the outside.
Chapter Twenty Four
Ebby
Ebby landed haphazardly in a field of cotton-corn, where the tall, dense stalks hid her from a large group of mages circling a great commotion. She made herself invisible, blocked her thoughts, shaded her presence, masked the loud thudding of her heart, and headed straight toward the frightened yelps and snarls she could hear from Vack.
The cotton-corn caught on her white dress as she dashed out of the field and heard Prince Avalask shouting, “I’m not shading her! If you can’t see her, it’s because she’s hiding herself!”
Ebby was the fourth Epic in the clearing around a cave mouth, with the fathers squared off and Sir Avery holding Vack in a one armed vise. Vack kicked his feet out, hissed, writhed, and then whimpered when Sir Avery tightened his hold on him, crushing Vack against his chest.
“I’m ready to end this,” Sir Avery spat at Vack’s father. “I can’t go another day wondering what you’re doing to her, not knowing if she’s even alive. Give her back, or say goodbye to your own!”
Prince Avalask yelled, “You know I never did anything to her!” and Ebby reached her mind out to Vack.
I’m right here, she whispered.
Terror flooded into her as she brushed against Vack’s mind, unlike anything she’d ever felt from him. Every bit of him grabbed her presence and held tightly, crying help me help me help me, as though his soul was trying to jump right out of his body to escape Sir Avery.
“DON’T YOU DARE!” Prince Avalask shouted as a short rope appeared in Sir Avery’s hand, and he wrapped it around Vack’s neck to slowly begin strangling him. The end.
“YOU TELL HIM GOODBYE!” Sir Avery screamed, spit flying from his lips. “It will be more of a farewell than you gave me and my daughter!”
“Avery!” the Escali Epic took a shaky step forward with his arms held apart, as though surrendering. “Don’t do this. Please.” Silence fell over the field as Vack’s struggling grew weaker and he locked pleading eyes with his father as he tried to gasp for air. “You know he’s all I have.”
Ebby panicked and reached her mind out to Prince Avalask. Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it!
As soon as he felt her presence, he jerked around to look at her, then reappeared beside her and snatched her up.
Ebby screamed as her feet left the ground and she became visible. The arm around her waist felt strangely protective, but Prince Avalask also wrapped a glowing hand around her neck and shouted, “Is this what you want? We’ll just kill them both here and now? Let’s be done with this!”
Ebby flung her terrified feelings of betrayal at Prince Avalask, I was trying to help you!
He didn’t respond with worded thoughts, but Ebby felt Prince Avalask’s full reassurance she wouldn’t be hurt, no matter what happened to Vack. And she knew him well enough to believe it.
Sir Avery said, “We’ll trade. An Epic for an Epic.” He released the rope from around Vack’s neck and let his feet touch the ground. As Vack bent forward to cough and gasp, Sir Avery wrenched his hands behind his back and fused the rope around his wrists so he still couldn’t go anywhere.
The person Ebby wanted most appeared from the depths of the Escali caves with a mob of kids she recognized behind him. “Ratuan!” she shrieked, struggling to break free from Prince Avalask. Ratuan saw her and breathlessly mouthed Ebby? He was so close!
Ratuan obviously couldn’t run at Prince Avalask, so he ran at Vack instead and launched a fist into Vack’s stomach. Ebby yelped too as Vack doubled over, still held up by Sir Avery, and Ratuan used his elbow to strike Vack across the face. “Tell your father to let her go!” Ratuan shouted at Vack who was bleeding from nose and mouth. Vack hissed at Ratuan and twisted sharply to kick Ratuan in the jaw with a blow that threw Ratuan to the ground.
Prince Avalask flicked a palm through the air to fling Ratuan all the way back into the trees, his hands and eyes taking on a brilliant glow as Sir Avery shot raw crackling power at him. The Epic kept a tight hold on Ebby, but turned so she was behind him, and he could battle Sir Avery with one hand. Sir Avery dropped Vack so he could channel magic through both palms, and he threw fire and lightning at Prince Avalask, shouting, “If you want to trade, do it now!”
Ebby heard Prince Avalask’s deep voice in her mind, This may be the last time I see you. Grow up to be different, Ebby.
Prince Avalask leapt into the air, leaving Ebby behind, and Sir Avery took his place in less than a second. Her father knelt immediately in front of her with wide, terrified eyes, his arms held passively apart. “Ebby?” he said frantically, as though afraid she might not recognize him.
Ebby quickly took in his brown eyes with just a hint of muted blue in the middle, and saw the deep lines of worry permanently creased around them. He did care about her. She wanted to say something in return, but broke into tears instead and ran into his open arms. Ebby expected a sense of comfort to envelop her as he wrapped them tightly around her shoulders, but it just felt like the hug of a stranger. “It’s alright,” he said softly, and Ebby could feel his chest rise as he took a deep breath. “It’s over.”
Ebby couldn’t help knowing nothing was over. Her nightmare of a life was just beginning. Sobs wracked her entire body, and as she gulped air, she realized how unfamiliar he smelled. Like mud, rain, and destruction.
She turned her head to make sure Vack and Prince Avalask were gone, but an entire tree had wrapped its thick limbs around Prince Avalask, and two mages in white cloaks fought him, one taking hold of his arms while the other dug his fingertips into the Epic’s skull. Ebby couldn’t tell what the two women with outstretched hands were doing to Vack, but he was struggling just to get to his feet with nobody touching him.
“No,” Ebby breathed, but when she tried to pull away from Sir Avery, he kept his tight hold on her.
“I want Avalask alive,” Sir Avery shouted to the mages, and Ebby looked back into his eyes just long enough to see they were hard and determined. Vack was going to die.
“No!” Ebby screamed, trying to break free from his grip on her shoulders.
“Ebby!” he commanded, and she could feel forcefully calming thoughts at the edge of her mind. “You’re safe. Just calm down.”
“Ratuan!” she shrieked, seeing her best friend halfway between her and Vack. He had a knife in his hand. He could help. �
�Help me!” Ebby cried, fighting against Sir Avery with every limb, every thought. “Ratuan, help!”
Ratuan’s hazel eyes met hers. “Hang on,” he said in reassurance, giving her an encouraging smile before he flipped around and ran at Vack.
“NOOO!” Ebby screamed after him, but Sir Avery pulled her cheek against his chest so she couldn’t see.
“Don’t watch. It’ll be over quickly.”
“It can’t be over!” Ebby brought green skinfire to her hands and took him by surprise as she tried to set him aflame. She ghosted herself back through his arms and met his eyes again to lunge mentally at him. Sir Avery recoiled, giving her just enough time to shield herself and sprint away from him, toward Vack and Ratuan.
“Ratuan! Don’t do it!” Ebby felt all her magic leave her body and realized why Vack hadn’t been able to stand. The women had taken magic from the air around him.
And she was too late.
Vack lay shuddering on the ground with his tied hands pressed into the dirt beneath him. Ratuan crouched over Vack, digging his knife further into Vack’s chest as he whispered something to the young Escali about to die.
Ebby couldn’t even breathe, let alone say anything. She just found herself standing in a dull stupor, gaping at Ratuan and Vack on the ground until Ratuan stood.
“Ebbs?” Ratuan said, extending his arms to her. “I can’t believe it. It’s finally over.”
Something about Vack’s blood on Ratuan’s hands snapped Ebby back to reality, and she ran straight past her best friend, ducking beneath his arms to kneel next to Vack.
“Ebby, what are you doing?” Ratuan asked. “This is Vack. The one who—”
“I know who he is!” Ebby screamed. “I told you I didn’t want anything to happen to him! Vack?” She set her hands on his vicious face and tried to look for any sign of life.
Vack’s eyes fluttered, but he didn’t seem to hear her until he whispered, “Tear-salt.”
Ebby snorted an irrational laugh at the fact he would die with an insult on his lips. Then, in his you-are-so-stupid tone, he breathed, “Get the knife out.”
Pulling the knife out wouldn’t help, especially without any magic in the air, but Ebby wasn’t about to deny him anything. She clenched her teeth together and ripped the knife back out, upset by the fact Vack barely flinched.
Prince Avalask was screaming, snarling, and crying out, and Sir Avery appeared next to the mages to help subdue him.
Ebby was nothing without magic, so she ran at one of the women keeping her disabled and rammed her shoulder into the woman’s stomach. “Stop it!” she cried, hitting the mage three times before Ratuan grabbed Ebby’s fists to hold her back. “No, we need magic!” Ebby shouted at Ratuan as he pulled her away from Vack. She stumbled over her feet as Ratuan tried to drag her and she tried to hold her ground.
“ALLIE!” Prince Avalask’s voice cut through the chaos. “GET VACK! THE MAGES NEXT TO VACK!”
Allie had just sprinted out of the cave, and Ebby could see her frantically taking in the situation as Sir Avery shouted, “Tally! Come help us with Avalask!”
The choice was hers.
Chapter Twenty Five
Allie
I burst into the cool daylight and the worst decision of my life, all in the same stride. Kit had his hands extended over Prince Avalask, who was struggling to free himself from the grasp of a thick tree limb, and the Zhauri mind mage had two hands around the Epic’s head as he thrashed. They also had half a mob around them, just in case.
“ALLIE!” Prince Avalask couldn’t even look at me with the mind mage overpowering him, but he bellowed, “GET VACK! THE MAGES NEXT TO VACK!”
Vack lay possibly dead on the ground, and Ebby was screaming, crying, and clawing against Ratuan to get to the Epic who was supposed to be her enemy.
Sir Avery also shouted, “Tally!” and my entire world froze as he demanded I help subdue Prince Avalask.
I had always known I would have to pick between Human and Escali, but I had no idea so much would be on the line when I had to decide. I could feel Liz’s eyes on me, wondering why I was even hesitating. On the one hand, I could stay with Liz, continue to live my life in the Dragona, and train with the friends I loved.
But the cost of such luxury would be letting Prince Avalask’s son die. Ebby would grow up under Sir Avery’s vengeful guidance, traumatized and unopposed, and Sir Avery would end the Escalis under those circumstances.
I brought crackling white light into my hands and eyes, which would be more than just conventionally destructive, and looked at Liz for the last time as her sister. I don’t know how she guessed, but based on the shock and anger spreading across her face, she knew what I was about to do.
I broke my gaze away and dashed toward the kids, bolting white destruction toward the women keeping Vack incapacitated.
My power should have knocked them both off their feet, but the blinding destruction fizzled into soft grey smoke before it ever reached them.
I swore at myself for not realizing they’d taken the magic out of the air. I had just announced my intentions with an assault that was less than useless.
An uneasy silence swept through everybody who knew me, as though they were trying to understand what they had just witnessed. And the last person to join the stunned group was Archie, who emerged from the cave just in time to not know what was going on. My hands glowed brightly, itching to release a more effective flash of energy, and I knew with a gut wrenching certainty who my first target had to be.
I flung my fingers wide and shot a thick flash of lightning at Archie, nearly enough to knock him over despite the shield he instinctually threw between us. I threw my next bolt at Iquis, and it grazed his left shoulder. Prince Avalask gasped in relief as Iquis stumbled back a step, but Kit still wasn’t letting him move. My next bolt of destruction ripped through the air on its way to Kit, but he threw himself to the ground and Sir Avery appeared between us to fire an equally aggressive lightning stream back toward me — the same as mine, but black.
I dropped one knee straight to the ground and launched white lightning at the terrifying bolt of magic that dimmed the entire clearing, except where mine still lit the grass. There was no flash of light, no fire, and no sound as the black and white collided and disappeared, which was more terrifying than a blinding clash of magic. Sir Avery’s magic absolutely swallowed mine into nothingness, and the noiseless point of collision crept terrifyingly toward me.
I shot every bit of power I could muster into the silent black bolt of oblivion, and feelings of terror shook my core as my retaliation did nothing.
I had to keep up my stream of destruction and somehow make it stronger or more effective if I wanted to live.
Or...
I flung myself backward into the magic-free bubble around the Epic kids. Sir Avery’s bolt of black destruction fizzled and faded into nothing at the barrier, but I also found myself in sudden shock, like I’d been doused in icy water. My body seized up and stopped functioning as Sir Avery dashed back to help Kit and Iquis. I barely kept my feet beneath me and struggled to gasp a breath, cursing the Escali magic that usually strengthened my veins but crippled me now.
It was like I had stepped into a different world, where nobody could reach me unless they chose to run and tackle me, but where I was useless and vulnerable. I forced my fingers to bend, and feeling spread slowly back into my limbs as I desperately coaxed each joint back into working condition. I wouldn’t be able to take down either of the women I needed to, but Ratuan might be small enough to grab before I collapsed.
“Allie!” Ebby cried as Ratuan prevented her running to me and she flung her shoulders violently to shake him. “Help me! I know what I want. I need your help!”
I stumbled forward, and knowing I was going to fall, I lunged ahead and slung my arms around Ratuan’s shoulders, bringing myself, him, and Ebby to the ground in a heap.
“What are you doing?” Ratuan shouted as I latched onto his arms with a
sluggish grip, but one that could bend metal.
Ebby squirmed away from Ratuan and got quickly to her feet, her small white dress now bearing red and green stains on the shoulders and around the middle.
And then she froze.
“Ebby!” I shouted. She could not back out of this. Not with all I had just given up.
Ebby set her frightened eyes on me, and I realized she was just looking for a hand to hold. She was afraid to act on her own. “Go, go, go, GO!” I shouted as Ratuan kicked me and jabbed his elbow into my ribs.
Ebby turned and fled, and Ratuan screamed, “NO! What are you doing?” He thrashed with nearly enough intensity to knock me over as I got his hands pinned into the grass.
“She’s alright,” I told him quickly, feeling like nothing more than dead, exhausted weight.
“Get off!” Ratuan screamed, working one of his hands free to dig his nails into my arm. He looked up at me with more hate in his eyes than a young face should be able to hold.
“Ratuan—”
“No, don’t let her go!” he cried. “Please, I can’t lose her again.”
I wasn’t about to let him up, but his desperation tore at me because it was so sincere. Ratuan truly wanted her back because he loved her.
“Ratuan, listen,” I demanded, but my next words were cut short as a rock the width of my foot sailed through the air and hit one of the women in the temple, knocking her unconscious.
“Shanking life!” the other mage swore as a slightly larger stone slammed into her shoulder. I could see Ebby outside the magic-free bubble, levitating another rock up from the ground to fling it toward the mage, which convinced me she was smarter than I’d ever given her credit for. Magic had nothing to do with the momentum of an already-moving stone, and the woman had to leap back to avoid the next one. Ebby sliced both arms dramatically through the air, and I let Ratuan wriggle away as I realized she’d severed the trunk of a now leaning maple tree.
Ratuan bolted straight for her as the tree picked up speed and careened toward the ground, splitting the air between Vack and the still-conscious mage. It was going to crash onto both of them. I made one frantic leap toward Vack and landed on him, ducking my head against his face and throwing my arms over us as soft leaves turned into piercing twigs and branches. My scream turned into a shriek as the largest boughs crashed beside us, leaving us in one piece, but pinned under the weight of the tangled foliage.