Victor threw himself at me again, I shoved him hard to one side and risked a glance behind me. There! My other knife was on the floor just out of reach. I flung an arm back anyway, and Victor yanked me closer, just as my fingertips brushed the hilt.
He reared back and then lunged for my throat. As if time itself had slowed to a crawl, I realized what I had to do.
With a deep breath, praying I wasn’t about to get myself killed, I stopped dodging and raised up an arm to shield myself. I bit back a scream of pain as his fangs sank into my forearm, sending waves of agony through me.
But the expected blinding panic didn’t come. It took me a beat to realize I was completely present, somewhat stunned and in a hell of a lot of pain, but very much not freaking the fuck out.
Even without some serious emotional trauma, most magics would have frozen up from the bite, giving Victor more than enough time to savor his small triumph before a killing blow.
Instead, I rolled with it and flung my free arm above me and stretched. The motion tore open the flesh around his fangs, but I grit my teeth, blocked out the pain, and strained… just another inch… until I could…
My fingers closed around the knife and I swung it around and buried it in the side of Victor’s neck, dead center into where I could sense the rush of liquid.
His fangs ripped painfully out of my arm, while my knife slid out of his neck, as he reared back with a scream and a spray of blood. I jumped up and followed, plunging my knife into his chest. He landed hard on his back, with me right on top of him, momentum driving the knife in deeper.
“You picked the wrong water elemental to fuck with,” I told him.
I stood slowly on shaking legs. I couldn’t tell if my knees were weak from pain or fatigue. Or maybe I was going into shock after all.
My instincts screamed at me and I whirled, only to see razor-sharp claws and a wall of orange and black. I staggered back in alarm; I did not have another fight in me, not with a weretiger.
Suddenly, instead of coming toward me, the shifter was hurtling sideways. Kiana screeched as she hit the wall, then bucked like a horse, trying to throw off the person who had landed on top of her.
Tom locked his arm around her neck and held on as she snarled and cursed him, swinging her massive paws and deadly claws toward him.
With renewed energy, I drew my last knife and rushed at them, slashing into Kiana’s neck, just under Tom’s arm. As hard as vampires were to kill, a good blade to the jugular was a pretty surefire way to mortally wound them; shifters with all their flesh and fur were a little harder and using nothing but a dinky throwing knife didn’t help.
It did, however, slow her down. Tom got a better grip and in seconds Kiana’s legs gave out. She struggled, but he had her. Another minute, a hard twist for good measure, and it was over. I wiped the knife off and tucked it back in my pocket.
“You okay?” he asked, getting to his feet.
“Yeah. Could’ve used you a few minutes ago,” I said.
Tom looked at me with a strange half-smile for a moment and said softly, “You had me.” He inclined his head in the direction of the stairway. “Just figured you needed to do it yourself.”
“Thanks,” I said in surprise. Oddly enough, I felt like smiling too. “I think I did.”
A scream from a bit too close echoed down the hallway, followed by the distinct words of a blood caster spell.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” I suggested.
He nodded and we raced down the hall. I couldn’t believe it, but the way to the doorway was clear.
“They’re there!” Thomas gasped as we ran. “They made it!”
Relief coursed through me as we hurried up the last staircase and out into a clear hallway. Charlie and TS met us around the next corner. I threw my arms around Char and hugged him tightly. That was it, I was never going into danger like this again. With or without him. And sure as hell not if I had to split up and leave him on his own.
He pulled back and I got a good look at him.
“Char!” I cried, staring in horror at the ink-black veins crisscrossing his skin. “Are you okay?!”
“I’ll be alright,” he said, examining me. “You’re covered in blood.”
“It’s not mine,” I snorted, far more concerned about the blood magic.
Charlie let out a weak laugh. “Obviously.” Then he gently reached toward the blue bloodstain on my arm and pulled up my sleeve. “This is.” He gasped as he caught sight of the unmistakable twin punctures and I felt the urge to retch as I did too. “Oh, Dan…”
“I’m okay,” I said. TS whimpered softly in response and Charlie looked at me skeptically. I took a deep breath. “Really. I’m, mostly, okay.”
“We need to go, the fights are moving all over the castle,” Tom said.
The four of us hurried toward the labyrinth doorway.
“Problem,” I said, as we reached it. “We still don’t know how to open it.” Knowing where the doorway was wasn’t going to help if we couldn’t get in.
“I have an idea,” TS said. “It leads to a labyrinth, right? On Mystic Cay, we opened one with blood.”
“Does it have to be human blood?” Tom asked.
“As it happens, I have some,” TS said. He pointed to a large bloodstain on his shirt. “Most of this is Fletcher’s.”
I couldn’t resist a grin. I knew TS wouldn’t have left him alive, not after what he had done. “I got it.” The blood was still wet enough to gather most of it into a small ball. “Where do I…”
“Just…” TS gestured to the door, so I lobbed the blood at it.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then, with a creak and a click, the door opened slightly. Hardly daring to believe it, I carefully eased it open to reveal a stone spiral staircase.
“Is anyone else concerned we’re going back into a labyrinth willingly?” I chuckled.
“Better than here,” TS said.
Tom leaned around me and sniffed. “Alaria went up these… recently.”
“So she escaped,” I snarled.
“That or she’s still in the labyrinth,” Charlie said.
We all exchanged a nervous look, but there was no choice. I took a deep breath and started in.
“Stay together,” Tom warned.
Slowly and carefully we climbed the steps, around and around and around the spiral. At the top, was another door.
“Are we in the labyrinth yet?” I asked.
“I have no idea,” Tom said.
“Dunno,” said TS, “The wards are still blocking Shannon…”
We pushed open the door and stepped into a room.
It was not a labyrinth.
I clenched my hand around my knife, realizing too late that I had left the other one in Victor. Not that a second tiny throwing knife would make any difference…
A gust of wind blew across the room, slamming the door shut behind us and Alaria lowered her arm as a twisted grin spread across her face.
Chapter Nine
Jen
I listened in horror as Victor announced that my friends were MES spies and the arena echoed with people screaming for vengeance. I didn't know how I could possibly help them.
Nothing was more important than me being able to kill Alaria, but it didn't make it any easier to look down at the people I loved – chained helplessly in the center of the arena – knowing that in order to maintain my cover as a blood witch I would have to watch them die.
I tried desperately to think of a way to help them, but nothing was coming to mind. I considered trying to get close enough to surreptitiously cast an unlocking spell to free them, but even if they got loose, where would they go? They were standing just a few feet away from Victor and Alaria and Reave and Fletcher, surrounded by dozens upon dozens of other people who wanted to kill them. I had never felt more helpless.
“What exactly are you doing here, Morgan?” Thomas asked suddenly, loudly enough for me to hear. “You can't expect me to
believe that you'd give up your magic to become a vampire, not when you were just going on and on about how great being a blood wizard is.”
I gasped; all around me people muttered in confusion. To my amazement, the others joined Thomas in egging on Fletcher until Victor was compelled to join in.
Soon it seemed as if the audience was forgotten. A heavy silence filled the arena, broken only by the occasional vampire relaying the quiet conversation they could hear to the people sitting next to them.
As the spectacle unfolded, I realized that they did know it was Alaria. Of course! I could have kicked myself, TS had seen her on Mystic Cay; he had recognized her for what she was and it seemed that everyone else would soon know too.
It soon became clear they were trying to divide Victor and Alaria! I watched, heart in my throat, hardly daring to hope that their desperate plan would succeed. But as Alaria visibly grew frantic, I remembered Serana’s warning about making her sister angry and thought of Alaria’s explosive temper and desire to make the people who crossed her suffer; the thought filled me with dread.
Even though my friends hadn't been warned about her temper, I could tell from their expressions that they all knew how this would likely end. I felt sick knowing that they were willing to sacrifice themselves for the slim chance that Victor and his people would turn on Alaria and defeat her.
A cheer went up when Dani mentioned that he had fought a berserker and a disbelieving laugh escaped me. I had heard about the fight from two perspectives; the non-humans who thought it was one of the greatest fights they had ever seen and the blood casters, who were livid that the only berserker Alaria had been able to recruit had been killed before she could sacrifice him. Even though the tales had always made it very clear that whoever killed the berserker was sorely outmatched, I had no idea it had been Dani.
While everyone was still cheering about the berserker, I realized that they were distracted and took advantage to slip down several more rows, closer to my friends, and get farther away from the rest of the audience. If I could just get closer, maybe there was something I could do.
I looked down at the arena just as Alaria hurled a knife at Dani. I gasped in horror, then sighed in relief as he somehow managed to avoid a serious hit.
Then Alaria slammed Victor to the ground and everyone gasped. I couldn’t hear them and was too far from any of the vampires quietly relaying the conversation, but I could tell from their body language that things were about to boil over.
“Don’t just stand there, you idiots,” Alaria screamed. “Draw your wands and help me!”
I yanked mine out obediently, not wanting to be the only one who didn't. Several other blood casters started rushing down the stairs toward the arena, so I did the same. As I did, I saw the stunned, horrified looks on the faces of the non-humans nearby. I realized in alarm that it wasn't just my friends’ lives I had to worry about; if I was going to have any hope of defeating Alaria, I was going to have to find a way out of the arena alive first. I had a feeling that the witches and wizards had suddenly gotten very unpopular.
To my confusion Alaria screamed for us to stop and the equally confused blood casters paused, surrounded by an uneasy, silent crowd of non-humans.
It wasn't until Alaria’s voice clearly said, “Oops,” and the real Alaria started to lunge at Dani that I realized what happened.
Silence fell over the arena as the blood casters and the non-humans stared at each other. Any second now someone was going to attack and I knew that it would start a chain reaction that would send the entire arena into a battle, no matter who started it. But one by one people began to direct their attention back to the center to where Victor and Reave were having a heated argument with Alaria.
Then to my complete shock, Dani sprinted across the platform and launched himself into the air, drawing a knife as he did. My hope soared for one wild moment, certain Alaria didn’t see him coming. If he killed her maybe, just maybe, this whole thing would be over and they would all survive…
I barely even saw her move, but suddenly lightning was shooting through the air, hurling Dani backward. His limp form completely cleared the platform and he tumbled to a stop in a cloud of dust. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him, waiting for him to move…
Screams redirected my attention and I turned just in time to see Alaria plunge a stake into Reave’s chest. Victor lunged at her and she waved a hand, sending him flying away.
“Kill them.” Alaria’s voice echoed around the entire arena. “Kill them all.”
The blood casters weren't the only ones who flew into action; I was sure that a couple of vampires had even been the first to attack. I didn't stop to watch, I dove down a few more rows, ducking and weaving through the seats, trying to get as far from anyone as I could; so thankful that I was already well away from the rest of the crowd.
As the fighting intensified all around me I could hear screams and roars and curses. There was a door not too far away and I crouched down and started crawling for it. The rows of chairs shielding me broke into an aisle between sections and I carefully stuck my head out to see if it was clear. It was, but the aisle also gave me the perfect view into the arena, where my friends were still trapped.
If everyone was distracted then… I rushed closer and drew my wand. As quietly as I could, I whispered the word for an unlocking spell, focusing on Thomas’ handcuffs. If I only had time for one spell, he had the best chance of helping TS and Charlie. To my relief, the cuffs almost immediately fell away. With a quick glance around, I cast it twice more, a little more hope building as the three of them jumped off the platform and hurried to Dani. I wondered if I could risk going to them now. Surely I didn’t have to worry about my cover anymore.
“Skal-ven-resh!”
I jumped at the sound of the familiar blood magic spell and dove behind the chairs, looking around in alarm. Kayla was nearby, far too close for comfort, palm and glowing wand dripping with fresh blood. Had she seen me rescue them?!
A human-looking woman, a dhampir based on her fangs, lunged toward Kayla, who raised her wand and stood her ground.
“Skal-ven-resh, ayer-ven-resh!” Kayla cried. She lunged forward and stabbed the dhampir with the wand. The glow around the wand intensified and wisps of smoke began to curl around it.
Despite several weeks among blood casters, I hadn’t seen the sacrifice spell since Mystic Cay, even though I had learned it from Serana. This was the moment when I would have to choose between finishing the spell by killing Alaria and taking her powers for myself or destroying the wand and remaining just a witch.
There was no doubt that Kayla didn’t have to worry about that choice as she began to chant again. I knew what was coming next, but I couldn’t look away.
“Skal-ven-resh, ayer-ven-resh!” Kayla drew the wand across the stunned dhampir’s throat. The body collapsed to the ground and Kayla stood still for a moment, a look of utter bliss across her face, as the magic seemed to swirl from the wand and up her arm. For just a moment her veins seemed to darken, then it was over. She exhaled as if she had been holding her breath for hours.
I barely had time to register the movement as a vampire vaulted over several rows of seats and tackled Kayla. For one brief instant I thought Kayla would lose.
“Skal-ahn!” Kayla shrieked, throwing herself away from the vampire’s attack.
I knew the spell from my book, but hadn’t seen it used.
Kayla followed the blood magic spell with a regular air spell, forcing the vampire away from her. The vampire hit the ground and Kayla started to run; the vampire jumped to his feet to chase her, but after only a moment stopped abruptly, gasping for breath. Kayla hurried away, leaving the dying vampire behind her.
“Ahn!” I whispered, trying to cast some sort of air spell to help. “Ahn!”
Nothing happened, confirming what I had been told; only blood magic could counter blood magic.
The vampire slumped to the ground, gagging and clawing at his throat. There was
only one thing I could do.
“Dyn.” The spell knocked him out almost instantly, probably quite a bit sooner than suffocating would have.
I backed away and looked around, hoping no blood casters had seen. I turned my attention back to the arena and my heart sank – my friends were nowhere to be seen. On the bright side, I couldn’t see their bodies either.
I looked for Alaria and cursed, she was gone too! Even if there had been enough non-humans here to defeat her, they were all busy fighting regular blood casters and many were dying. Her plans may have been delayed, but it looked like I was still the only hope of stopping her. Maybe, amid all this chaos, I’d be able to catch her by surprise. But I had probably already lost my best chance to strike, there was no way anywhere else in the castle would be as loud and confusing as here in the arena.
Alaria was probably down in the area where all the blood casters hung out. I suspected there was a labyrinth entrance down there, although none of the initiates had been entrusted with that information yet. A sudden panic filled me as I realized there was a chance she’d use it and escape!
As much as I wanted to find, and reunite, with Thomas and the others, I had to find Alaria before she got away and did this all over again.
The way to the closest door was clear, so I sprinted for it and out into an empty corridor. I rushed along, listening to the sound of the fighting as it seemed to get louder and louder.
I ran down a stairway, mentally counting down the halls and stairs and turns I would need to get safely down away from the fighting. Surely it hadn’t gotten so far out of the arena yet that it would reach the lower levels where the non-humans never went.
Just as I thought I was in the clear, I rounded a corner and spotted another magic at the far end of the hallway. For one moment, I assumed it was a witch. Then she hissed and bared her long, wicked fangs. Vampire! She began to close the distance between us in a rush.
Rise of the Arcanist Series: Books 1 - 6 Page 72