‘No,’ Dion said, shaking his head.
‘Dion, we have to run! The spell is breaking!’
‘I have to kill him!’
Piercing shrieks sounded above. Chloe and Dion both looked up.
Five dragons plunged down from the sky. Their wings swept furiously as they fought the growing chaos of the wind. Narrowed, glaring eyes were fixed on Dion and Chloe, and their claws were extended, jaws parted and ready to snap. Whip-like tails trailed behind them as the creatures descended. The spear-carrying warriors astride them were coming to the protection of their king.
Dion glanced one last time at Palemon and cried out in frustration. Palemon had to die.
But Chloe needed him more. And now, for the first time since Kyphos had found him at his palace in Xanthos, there was nothing stopping Dion from being able to fight.
He sprinted up the marble steps, gaining height, shifting his shape even as he moved. He had no difficulty bringing on the sensations of wild ferocity, imagining his hands growing to ten times their size, feeling his body stretching and changing, his legs pushing his torso into the sky, head and shoulders becoming enlarged and grotesque. As the magical wind shredded the mist into nothingness, Dion lunged up, bunching his gigantic hands into fists. As the first dragon came down, he dodged the snapping jaws and punched it hard in its wedge-shaped head.
Screaming in pain, the stricken creature tumbled, the rider almost losing his grip on the reins as it veered. When the next dragon came, Dion weaved and gripped it behind the head, shoulders straining as he threw it, sending it flying through the air until it struck the ruins of a stone house, shattering the structure to pieces, the building caving in on top of both the dragon and its screaming rider.
Panting, he looked up at the sky.
The first dragon he’d hit in the head had rejoined its fellows. There were now four of them, preparing to attack as one. Already feeling weak, Dion knew he couldn’t defeat them all.
He heard Chloe call his name.
‘Run!’ she cried.
‘Sorceress!’ Kyphos grabbed Zara by the upper arm. Again she shook him off. She was hunched over a magically sealed chest, trying to decipher the spell holding it closed. Ignoring him completely, she muttered to herself and traced symbols with her fingertips. ‘Zara!’ he cried. ‘We’ve taken all we can. We have to leave!’
The chest suddenly snapped open, and with a sound of triumph Zara peered inside. Leaning over her, Kyphos saw two heavy tomes, one beside the other, both several inches thick.
‘They’re too heavy!’ Kyphos urged. ‘We’re the only ones here. We have to get out of the city!’
The sorceress reached inside and grabbed the first of the heavy volumes, struggling with it as she gave it to Kyphos’s unwilling hands. He hefted its weight, knowing that even he would struggle to carry it.
Zara reached inside once more, but Kyphos grabbed her and stared directly into her face; this time he didn’t relent. ‘You are not listening to me. Surely you realize we’re in danger?’
She suddenly looked around as if waking from a dream. The blood drained from her face. ‘The spell. Something’s happening.’ She looked at the book still in the chest.
‘Leave it,’ Kyphos hissed. ‘I’ll take this for you, but there is no way you can carry the other.’
She hesitated, but then nodded. ‘You speak sense. Come on.’
Clutching the tome to his chest, Kyphos now followed as Zara led the way, and together they ran out of the vault, but it wasn’t until they came to the level of the cages and heard the howling wind that they both started sprinting. They dashed along the long passageway and through the golden door until they came to the sloping corridor and finally burst free of the tower.
The wind felt as if it was coming from all directions, first pushing them one way, then the other. Moving against it was difficult, but at least the towering waves on both sides were still holding. Sea spray filled the air, shrouding the city below in gusts of salt water.
‘We need to get to safety!’ Kyphos called above the wind, struggling to carry his burden.
They rushed down the steps, but then Zara made a cry of surprise. Following her gaze, Kyphos saw a figure in dark clothing near a large block of stone, trying to rise to his feet against the pressure of the gusts. ‘The king!’ Kyphos cried.
He threw himself against the flurries of air that felt like solid punches, reaching the king’s side and setting the book down. The king was panting, eyes half-closed as he tried to stand.
‘Sire, what happened?’
‘Woman with a wind staff,’ Palemon gasped.
Turning, Kyphos scanned the area, looking up toward Widow’s Peak but seeing nothing. He now looked down into the city, and his eyes widened when for a moment the spray cleared. Fighting the fierce gale, dragons were swooping at the buildings. The creatures snapped at something hidden in the structures.
‘The dragons will do what they need to,’ Kyphos said. ‘Zara, help me with the king.’
Working together, they lifted him up, one on either side of him. Kyphos suddenly felt a sharp pinch on his arm and saw Zara pointing at the tome on the step. Scowling, he bent and picked it up, struggling to help his king and hold the heavy book to his chest.
‘Come on,’ Kyphos grunted.
Feeling resistance, Kyphos glanced at Zara. She had stopped in her tracks, and was looking out at the towering waves. Her face was completely white. ‘We’re too late,’ she said. ‘Someone is breaking the spell.’
49
Chloe and Dion were hiding in a broken structure, a bath house, with rows of sunken pits and the occasional mosaic still visible in patches on the grimy tiled walls.
Chloe glanced at Dion, now in his normal form. He looked awful. His eyes were bleary and red, and an ugly blue bruise circled his neck. It seemed impossible that moments ago he’d been a towering giant.
She peered through a crack in the wall and saw a dragon craning its neck to peer into the window of a house across the road. The spear-carrying warrior on its back scanned in all directions. A shriek sounded somewhere above, sending a chill running down Chloe’s spine.
The dragons were searching the area. It wouldn’t be long before she and Dion were found.
‘If you have any ideas, now’s the time,’ Dion said.
‘I can tear the spell apart. Break it completely.’ Chloe cast Dion a frightened look. ‘But we’re in the direct path—’
‘Palemon is still in the city,’ he interrupted. ‘Do it.’
‘But . . .’ She trailed off.
He came to stand beside her. He took her hands, his piercing, soft-brown eyes full of intelligence and compassion. ‘Trust me. I’ll protect you.’
Taking strength from him, she nodded.
Staff in hand, she headed to the half-collapsed doorway, poking her head out to scan the immediate area. For the moment, the dragons’ attention was elsewhere.
Chloe rushed out of the bath house, and now she was exposed. She sprinted to the center of the wide avenue made of stone, surrounded by ancient buildings of Aleuthea. Lifting her staff, she drew in a deep breath.
Even louder than the fierce wind, she heard piercing animal cries of triumph as her enemies spotted her. A moment later a sinuous shape of charcoal gray plummeted down from the sky, gold-flecked eyes glaring with malice. The soldier on the creature’s back hefted his spear, leveling the sharp point at her.
She forced herself to ignore them as she raised her staff, closed her eyes, and cleared her thoughts of everything except the feel of the wind. She sensed the fire at the bottom of the well surge up, and she fed it still more, seizing as much power as she could and then sparking the flame again.
The snap of fluttering wings was suddenly broken by a thunderous bellow and then a thud followed by a crack. It was a struggle for her to keep her eyes closed. She stood in the middle of chaos, the raging wind trying to push her body in all directions. She ignored the grunts of a giant and the shrieks of t
he dragons he was fighting. A great shattering crash of stone sounded nearby, but she remained steadfast.
When she opened her eyes, everything was washed with silver.
She lifted the staff still higher, pulling all of the power from the fire inside her into her body, feeling it drawn to the metal device. The silver glowed so brightly that she couldn’t see anything else. All she was aware of was a thick, pulsing cord of white energy, pouring into the staff.
With a sharp cry, she severed the connection. Chloe unleashed her power.
She felt it roar through her body, making her stand up on the tips of her toes as she shuddered. The silver faded from her vision, but now she could actually see the wind gathering pace around her, drawn toward her staff and converging, forming a tornado. With another cry, she pointed the staff and sent the whirlwind through the path between the walls of water, ripping through the opposing magic and tearing it to shreds.
As the fiery glow of silver flared up and then began to fade, she saw the dragons screeching as they fled into the sky. On both sides the walls of water were breaking, forming crests that collapsed in slow motion.
‘Take my hand!’ she heard Dion bellow.
With a roar louder than any thunder, the towering waves broke.
Hiding above a cloud, Liana waited for the scar-faced magus and his dragon to appear below her. In the brief moment of respite, she tried not to think about Chloe and Dion, wondering if they were safe. She knew she needed to focus on her own struggle.
She remembered being held down on the guesthouse bed while Tarik loomed over her. She again saw herself falling into the deep tower shaft, terrified beyond belief, forced to change her form, only to be brought down by the cold touch of iron.
But nothing was worse than the violation she’d experienced when the scar-faced sorcerer had connected his mind to hers with copper chain. He’d been able to feel what she felt, and to command her with a thought. She was no longer herself; she was his.
Killing the sorcerer would eradicate just a small amount of evil from the world, but it was hers to destroy.
Finally, gazing down, she saw her enemy appear, flying in a circle below the cloud, searching for her.
Staying silent, she descended from above, claws outstretched, her eyes narrowed as she flew directly at the magus on the dragon’s back. Tarik saw her at the last instant and attempted a tight turn, and although she missed him, she managed to grab the dragon with her claws. She soon found herself locked in a deadly embrace, with each dragon snapping at the other’s soft underbelly.
She screamed in pain when her enemy’s sharp teeth gouged a furrow in her neck. The tear was dangerously deep, and already one of her eyes was half-closed from their previous encounters. She craned her long neck, trying to keep it out of the way of the dragon’s jaws, at the same time trying to snap at either Tarik or a place where his mount’s gray scales were already torn. The magus sent a ball of flame at Liana’s head and she ducked, feeling fire scorch her back.
She shook her head in an attempt to clear the fog of agony. If she wanted to defeat her opponents, she would have to use abilities they could never match.
As soon as the thought occurred to her, she began to change her shape, and soon the shifting sensation came over her. Now, still in the air, she was a giant, with a thick torso and protruding jaw, but also a woman’s build. Far larger and heavier, she continued to grapple her winged foe, holding the dragon fast. Her enemy struggled, but she held on, her jaw set tightly. She squeezed, trying to break any bones she could. Her stomach was in her mouth; they were falling with speed. She looked down to see the sea rushing up at her.
With a mighty smack, they struck water, and the dragon shrieked as its wings thrashed at the sea. Still Liana gripped with all her strength, and now they were sinking. Her lungs screamed at her as the depth grew and the color of the sea became darker, carrying scant light from the surface to the depths. Her chest heaved, but still she held fast. She saw Tarik trying to untangle himself, but his wrist was caught in the copper chains.
Liana felt darkness come over her, along with a terrible feeling of weariness. She saw the magus on the dragon’s back writhe, his eyes wide with shock. He gave one last shudder, mouth gaping like a fish, and then went still.
The dragon continued to thrash, but it was deep enough now to simply let it go. Watching it drift away, Liana continued to plummet into the ocean depths. She closed her eyes as her limbs relaxed and she sank down, deeper into the sea.
But then she suddenly opened them.
Above her, she could just make out the fluttering silhouette of the winged dragon; it was still twitching. Liana arrested her sinking motion, kicking with her legs, but a giant’s shape wasn’t made to have command of the ocean.
She told herself that the sea was her element. She was longing to swim to the surface with her elongated body, thrusting at the water with her tail.
The change came over her.
Now a powerful serpent, she rushed for the surface. Swimming past the dying dragon, she had one final look at the motionless body of Tarik, still astride the drowning creature in the midst of its death throes.
Then Liana left them both behind.
Standing on the steps outside the Great Tower, Kyphos saw the dark-haired woman lift her staff and realized she must be the woman the king had mentioned. Then a bright light flared and suddenly it was impossible to see. Kyphos blinked as the light gradually faded. Wondering what was happening, he looked wide-eyed at the sorceress on Palemon’s other side.
‘We’re too late,’ Zara said again.
Kyphos watched in horror as the towering walls of water began to break. The waves closest to the shore of Cape Cush collapsed first, roaring with a thunder more powerful than any storm. Blue seawater became white foam, churning and roiling, surging over itself, pounding the ocean bed, making the cleared pathway vanish in an instant.
As the spell tore apart and the waves collapsed, the sorcerers below disappeared in the blink of an eye. Down in the city, the dark-haired woman with the staff and the king of Xanthos were enveloped in an instant.
‘To high ground!’ Kyphos cried. ‘The tower!’
Palemon groaned as they got him moving. Kyphos risked a quick glance over his shoulder and saw the sea rushing in their direction, flooding the city’s streets and rising quickly. Palemon saw the threat and forced his body into a run, the three of them now sprinting for the tower’s entrance. They dashed through the arch and found the second entrance that led to the vertical shaft. Immediately they started to climb the slippery steps cut into the wall.
Even as they sped up the stairway, waves pounded at the tower from the outside, shaking the structure to its foundations. Just below their footsteps, the frothing water was now rushing up as fast as they could run. Zara and the king helped each other over the rubble at the top. Soon they were at the highest point of the tower, staring out at the surging ocean. Wind was screaming, pushing and pulling in all directions.
First Kyphos, then the others looked up into the sky.
The spell still had some power in it. A wave twice the tower’s height was speeding toward them, on the verge of breaking.
‘We’re dead men,’ Palemon said.
But then, looking still higher, Zara lifted her hand and waved. Following her gaze, Kyphos saw that the dragons had already seen them and were swooping down. As the wave surged forward, the broad backs of three winged creatures reached their level. Palemon leaped off first, the rider catching him deftly before immediately flying away. Zara went next, and then it was Kyphos’s turn.
He jumped across, almost sliding off the dragon’s leathery back but grabbing hold of the man in front at the last moment.
He hoped Zara appreciated the efforts he’d made to keep hold of her precious book.
50
Cob scoured the sea, tightening the sail to send the Calypso leaping over the wild waves. The hull smacked against the water, making his teeth jolt together. Time an
d time again the vessel’s bow threatened to plunge under the sea when it dipped into a hollow. His arm was tight and sore, the tiller shuddering in his hand.
‘Faster!’ Finn called back to him.
‘I’m doing all I can! In this wind, you’re lucky I’m keeping us heading in the same direction!’
Appearing from nowhere, a wave was suddenly coming at the boat from behind, which made no sense at all. Water crashed over the stern, swamping the interior and soaking Cob to the skin. Another wave struck them from the port side, tilting the boat precariously before it righted itself. A series of smaller waves rocked the vessel to and fro.
‘Do something useful and start bailing!’ Cob bellowed.
‘Look!’ Finn pointed.
Closer to Widow’s Peak the sea was more than frenzied, filled with towering waves and spinning tornadoes, mountains of foam and gusting wind.
‘What in the names of all the gods is happening out there?’ Finn cried.
‘How should I know?’
Cob held the tiller with a white-knuckled grip, angling the Calypso directly toward Widow’s Peak and the worst of the ocean’s fury. A powerful geyser of foam rose up to momentarily envelop the sharp peak of rock before falling back down again. The Calypso was a tough vessel, but she’d already been nearly swamped, and they had yet to approach the isle.
‘What now?’ Finn’s eyes were wide with fear.
‘We follow the plan,’ Cob said grimly. ‘We sail for the peak.’
If they’d been in dangerous seas before, a mile from the isle they realized that what they’d experienced was nothing in comparison to what they felt now. Cob had sailed his entire life, but at least the storms he’d survived followed rules.
He took them in one direction then another, doing everything he could to face the waves as the boat climbed one face and then tumbled into the next. He prayed to Silex, his heart hammering in his chest. The onslaught was terrifying. The Calypso heeled to the side as a squall slammed into the sail, threatening to capsize the small vessel. Finn bailed constantly, his face as white as a sheet. Fighting the unpredictable wind and navigating the waves that came from all directions, Cob’s arm ached so much that he had to focus all his concentration on holding fast. The boat was half-full of water, and if another wave rushed in, they would sink.
Copper Chain (The Shifting Tides Book 3) Page 30