“The entire fucking city knows Finn is dueling. Since he killed Kithkanon, it has become fashionable to watch him kill people,” Neph growled and paced back a few more steps. “We are going to try something a bit rougher on you. Check your shields and make sure they are good,” he ordered and flexed his hands limbering the fingers.
Obediently she checked her spell shields and nodded, once she was satisfied they were still up and holding well. “What do you have in mind?” she asked, already guessing she wouldn’t like the answer.
“A legitimate fight. No more of this tossing things gently at you. If you are determined to be distracted tonight, I’ll remind you why you need to focus on me. Recite the three rules for me,” Neph said, his voice still harsh with annoyance.
“Use the opposite of your opponent’s spell for the best effect,” she said calmly. That had been Neph’s first lesson and it was drilled so far into her mind that she would never forget it. If someone so much as lit a cigarette near her now she had a water spell ready. “Counter the spell if you can, rather than deflecting,” she continued. That too was heavily ingrained in her from the few deflections she hadn’t gotten quite right. If you didn’t master the angle with perfection the spell could still graze you and certain spells hurt even if you did have shields up. Force magic, for example, one of Neph’s favorite weapons, would hit you like a club with or without a shield.
“And? Are you planning to take half the night to recite it?” Neph snapped again and she frowned at him. Apparently his temper was very frayed and surely it wasn’t all from her being distracted. She was almost always distracted with something and he never got this upset over it.
“Is something wrong Neph?” she asked in concern.
“Beyond the fact that you haven’t recited the final rule?” he growled and motioned with his hand for her to continue.
“Use the simplest magic possible. No one ever expects something simple and it will save your energy,” she finished, still watching his expression which hadn’t lessened from a scowl in the least.
“Ready?” he asked, as a bolt of lightning erupted from his hand.
Startled Jala blinked and then hastily deflected the spell at the last moment. The edge of the bolt grazed her shield and she felt her muscles contract briefly. Neph had never attacked without being sure she was ready before. She opened her mouth to speak and realized he was already throwing another bolt. Apparently there wasn’t going to be a respite here.
Do not think so much. React to him, don’t analyze him, Marrow said.
“React to him,” Jala repeated quietly as she deflected the next bolt as well and felt the lightning energy course through her again. Her muscles clenched once more and she fought down the wave of pain. With a deep breath she began her first spell and tried to focus on instincts instead of rational thought. Fire coursed down her fingers as she hurled the Flame bolt at Neph’s head and she felt her irritation grow as the mage countered it easily.
“Pathetic,” Neph muttered, his next two spells already rushing toward her. The first was a Force bolt, impossible to see beyond a shimmer in the air. The second, close on its heels was an Ice bolt. No opposite magic for the first spell then.
She fumbled the counter on the first one and the force bolt hit her directly in the center. Her shield held but she was still knocked back several feet, her sandaled feet digging grooves in the loose sand. Pain lanced through her ribs from the impact but she kept her focus and managed to counter the Ice bolt just before it hit. Her victory however was short-lived as Neph already had another spell on the way. It was easy to understand how he had won the mage duels at the Spring Games so many years in a row. Despite what he had said, she knew he was taking it easier on her than he did other opponents.
Stop thinking so much! Marrow scolded once more.
Jala frowned and hastily countered Neph’s latest assault and tried once again to quiet her thoughts. With the rate he was throwing spells, she wasn’t sure how she was going to get a spell in edgewise. She was barely managing to counter them.
The ground beneath her dropped suddenly and she felt her heart lurch. Frantically she cast a levitate and felt Neph’s Force bolt hit her hard from above forcing her down into the crater he had made. Spots danced before her eyes from the impact and she felt her shields falter. Desperately she tried to regain her focus as another Force bolt hit her in the chest smashing her back against the dirt. Her shields collapsed entirely and her temper flared. Neph had never been so brutal before and he wasn’t even letting her catch her breath between hits. At this rate she would be laying on one of Rose’s healing tables by morning. With a snarl she spit dirt from her mouth and tried to ignore the protests from her injured body.
“Cassia would slaughter you in a duel,” Neph called as two more Ice bolts hurtled toward her.
He is right, Marrow agreed sadly and her temper snapped.
With another snarl, she countered the bolts without a second thought and sent a series of Windblades flying toward Neph. Of all of the battle spells Neph had taught her so far, the Windblade was her favorite. They were hard to spot and lethally effective. The razor thin sheets of compressed air were by far one the most dangerous spells she had to call upon. Moving forward she threw spell after spell as he had done to her. Ice bolt and then Flame bolt followed with a flurry of Windblades. With luck she would keep him as off balance as he had her for the first part of the fight. She felt her pulse quicken as she pressed him and a sense of euphoria washed over her. Her fingers flexed and twisted with each complicated casting and it was like a dance for her. He returned fire with far less frequency than he had and she countered the spells as they neared not bothering to raise her shields again. She didn’t need shields, this was her calling, to fight. To kill. The thought froze her in mid cast and Neph’s next spell hit her hard sending her crashing to the Arena floor. Her mind fogged as pain lanced through her chest and shoulder. Without shields it was a wonder the spell hadn’t killed her with that direct of a hit.
“Fuck, Jala, what happened? I thought you had finally found the trance and then you just froze!” Neph demanded as he dropped to the ground beside her and began patting her shoulder roughly.
I’m on fire, she realized dimly and nodded stupidly at the realization. That would explain why it hurts so bloody much. She tried to summon words to answer him but her voice caught in her throat. Spots danced before her eyes and the massive white walls of the arena seemed to blur, blending momentarily with the twilight sky. She blinked rapidly, trying to focus and the sky shifted once more above her.
“Jala, can you hear me?” Neph asked, his expression growing frantic.
She nodded faintly and gasped for air, her throat felt raw. I must have had my mouth open before it hit, she realized slowly. A low moan escaped her lips and the sound sent lances of pain through her.
“Can you heal yourself or do I need to get Rose?” he asked, staring down at her, a faint sheen of panic hid in the deep blue depths of his eyes.
“I …,” she began but broke off as the word tore at her throat. Her gaze was locked on the sky above and the clouds that refused to return to normal. She blinked again, wondering if she could heal her eyes if needed as unfocused as she was.
Shall I fetch Rose? Marrow asked. He was beside her she realized and wondered how she had failed to notice a three hundred pound cat approach.
Slowly she shook her head, “No,” and instantly regretted the movement. She took a deep breath and called on the healing magic sending it coursing through her charred flesh. A wave of dizziness washed over her as the worst of the pain faded. No matter how hard she tried she could not tear her gaze from the sky. With effort, her breathing slowly returning to normal.
“Neph,” she said, her voice quavering. She forced her eyes to meet his.
The mage was staring down at her with a bit of glassiness to his pale blue eyes. He was biting down hard on his lower lip as he watched her. At the sound of her voice he leaned closer, a bit of
relief showing in his expression. “Yes? Damn it, Jala, I’m sorry. I thought you had shields up,” his voice was rough as he spoke.
She shook her head and waved a hand at him dismissing his guilt. “Don’t worry about it, it was my fault,” she said, her voice regaining some of its strength. “But Neph, is the sky really turning red or do I need to repair damage to my eyes,” she waved a hand feebly in the direction of the sky and watched as the crimson colored clouds grew above her.
Neph blinked once and then looked up. She watched silently as the blood slowly drained from his face. He licked his lips and then looked back down at her quickly. Without checking to see if the healing was complete, he looped an arm behind her shoulders and picked her up. “We have to get to Sovann’s,” he whispered, his gaze flicking once more to the cloud.
“What does it mean?” she asked in complete confusion. Neither Sovann or Neph had ever mentioned such a spell to her before. Her mind slid back to Merro and a black cloud that had been summoned with magic and she shuddered.
“It means the Barrier around Sanctuary has been activated. I thought that thing was a fucking joke. I didn’t realize it was real,” Neph explained as he carried her quickly toward a transport arch.
“I can walk Neph,” she protested, but he ignored her. With a sigh she looked down to Marrow who paced quickly beside them.
What does that mean? Barrier on Sanctuary, I don’t understand, Marrow said with worry in his voice.
“I don’t know,” she replied and looked up to Neph’s pale face. The Mage normally had a fair complexion but at the present moment he looked like an albino. “Neph, what does that mean?”
“It means the Justicars are entirely in control of the city right now, but I don’t understand how it happened. As far as I understood from the legends, the Barrier needs the consent and signet rings of a majority of the council. Even counting all of their votes and the few that might have sided with them there aren’t enough to raise the Barrier,” Neph explained and slid to a stop by the archway.
Carefully he lowered her to the ground but kept one arm on her shoulder as he activated the transport. Marrow pushed in quickly against her leg and the familiar sense of vertigo washed over her as they reappeared in the Merro district.
“What does it do? The Barrier, that is,” she asked, her gaze once again rising to the cloud that was now mostly covering the city. It seemed to roil above them like a thunderstorm, the crimson fog pulsing as if alive.
Neph was staring upwards as well and his voice was faint when he spoke. “It prevents leaving the city by any means. We can’t escape by magic or spell hawk, or even a ship if we wanted to risk the Serpents. We are effectively trapped here with Lord Commander Kellis in complete control. The Barrier will weaken our magic Jala. It will weaken our spells and feed the energy to the Justicars. The Barrier was designed with the idea that the Justicars would be protecting the city and wouldn’t be corrupt.”
She nodded slowly, remembering her trial and the look of contempt Kellis had given her, and the smile he had offered Lord Morcaillo. She swallowed heavily and looked back toward the inner city. “What about Finn and Valor and the others?” she asked. It was possible that Wisp was already in this district. She had been helping Sovann most nights. She knew Finn and Valor were still at the Arena in the area reserved for blades. As of Jail she couldn’t even guess where he might be.
What about Emily? Marrow asked her, his concern clear in his voice and through their link.
Emily should be safe enough. The Justicars don’t know about her yet. It’s the ones they can see we have to worry about, and Kellis hates Finn, Jala replied.
“I contacted them and warned them. I hope they will take me seriously. At the very least Finn will show up here if for nothing more than to retrieve you. I told him we would wait at Sovann’s. I’m not sure the Academy is safe right now,” Neph replied and nodded in the direction of Sovann’s warehouse.
She gave another quick glance toward the inner city and moved to follow Neph. “Let luck bring them safely to us Fortune,” she whispered.
Neph gave a slight nod in agreement. Of all of her friends he was the only one that showed any signs of religion. “Let Fortune watch over us as well. There is nothing saying Kellis won’t send men in here after you. He has once before, after all,” Neph muttered and quickened his pace, glancing back to make sure she was keeping up.
“I didn’t fight last time. I would this time around,” Jala told him and the words brought the earlier thought back to her mind. This is your calling, to fight, to kill. It had seemed like her thought at the time, but now she wasn’t so sure, the idea of killing had never been appealing to her. Though if it wasn’t her thought, she wasn’t sure where it would have come from. Now wasn’t the time to worry over such things, though. The Barrier and the safety of her friends was more than enough to be concerned over.
* * *
The sound of low voices from the inner rooms greeted them as Neph quietly pushed open the door to the warehouse. It had changed drastically since the last time Jala had been here and she looked around the entry hall in amazement. The dingy wooden walls had been freshly painted a crisp white and the air smelled clean and pleasant. She followed Neph as he made his way into the main room, her eyes roving curiously over the new additions as they walked. It was evident Wisp had a hand in the improvements as curtains now covered the windows and occasional paintings dotted the once bare walls.
The voices died abruptly as she stepped into the room and she looked up sharply to find her friends staring at her in dismay. Wisp’s eyes were nearly the size of saucers as she crossed the room quickly to Jala’s side.
“What happened?” The little Fae demanded as she tugged the charred remains of Jala’s dress back into a more modest covering. Jala glanced down at herself and gave a snort of amusement wondering how many people had seen the charred remains of Lady Merrodin stumbling through the streets. That was likely to be interesting gossip tomorrow.
“Her shields dropped during our duel,” Neph explained and seemed intent on explaining further but Sovann cut him off sharply.
“You set my sister-in-law on fire?” Sovann demanded, rising from the chair he had been lounging in.
“Are you OK, Jala?” Joseph asked from the far corner of the room.
Jala nodded slightly and smiled warmly at him. She hadn’t had a chance to see much of him since she had saved him from Finn at the Pits, but from what Sovann said, he was doing well here. One of these days she would have a chance to sit and talk with him, she promised herself. Though by the pile of ledgers stacked on the table before him it was clear that he was just as busy as she was. Isador sat at the table as well, with a paper held loosely in her hand. The Fionaveir’s full attention was focused on her right now, though, with an expression of concern.
“It was a spell duel, Sovann, but never mind that right now we have bigger troubles,” Neph replied sounding irritated at being interrupted.
“I think setting Jala on fire is a rather big issue,” Sovann pressed. He had crossed the room now and was closely examining her alongside Wisp.
“Really, I’m fine,” Jala assured them as she tried to back away from the combined prodding.
“Finn is going to see it as a rather big issue,” Wisp said to Neph, the look of disapproval written clearly on her normally smiling face.
“It was not intentional, but we have bigger issues,” Neph continued still trying to inform them of the Barrier.
“I can’t believe you were so careless Neph,” Sovann cut in again and Neph responded with a growl. Grabbing Sovann roughly Neph drug him to the window and tore the curtain down. Sovann struggled briefly against the bigger mage’s grip but subsided as Neph grabbed him under the chin and forced him to look up at the crimson sky.
Wisp ceased her prodding examination as Sovann stared blankly out the window, his body limp in Neph’s grasp. “What is it?” Wisp asked as she released Jala and made her way to the window.
> “Our bigger problem,” Neph said, pointing up to the clouds.
Jala watched Isador and Joseph cross the room as well and waited patiently for the realization to settle on her friends. Joseph simply seemed confused as she had been, but the other three were as pale as milk.
“How did they get majority?” Isador whispered. She above all, had reason to be terrified. If the Justicars found her in the city they would kill her without question, simply for the tattoos she bore, and now she had no hope of escape.
“I have no idea,” Neph admitted and moved back to stand by Jala. With a slight frown he looked her over and motioned toward the back room. “It might spare me a fight with your husband if you would consider changing clothes,” he suggested quietly.
Jala nodded her agreement and smiled at Sovann. “I’m going to borrow your bath again Sovann,” she informed him and crossed the room wondering if she would be able to hear the conversation despite the walls. She didn’t really want to miss this discussion, but Neph was right, she did need to change before Finn arrived.
“What are we going to do?” Wisp asked, her voice faint with shock.
“Stay here for now, I don’t know if the school is safe,” Neph answered, his voice strong and steady. He had apparently recovered quickly from his own shock.
“Agreed. I don’t think any of us should be in the inner city until we know more about what is going on,” Sovann said.
She closed the door to the bathroom and looked down at Marrow who was pacing along the wall. The Bendazzi kept turning his direction toward the inner city as if he could sense the Blight from this distance.
“I’m sure she will be OK,” Jala offered, though she had been worried about the child herself all day.
I do not care for the feeling of being trapped. Adjusting to the city was hard enough when it wasn’t a cage for all of us, The Bendazzi’s voice was a low growl in her mind and agitation coursed through their link.
The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 2 Blood Honor and Dreams Page 29