The Perilous Sea (The Elemental Trilogy #2)

He was speechless—it must have been a millennium, at least, since bewitched spears were the most advanced weaponry in a mage battle.

But the advantage to raining down antique armaments was that few modern soldiers had been trained to deal with them. The spears sought out riders, instead of wyverns, the hide and scales of which were too tough for them to penetrate. The riders ordered their wyverns to bat at the spears with their wings, but a spear that had been knocked down to the ground simply sprang back up again and went after the nearest rider.

Some wyverns breathed on the spears, but wyvern fires were not hot enough to melt the spears, only hot enough to heat them to a glowing red, making them even more dangerous.

“Fly!” rose a clear, sharp voice above the chaos and the confusion. Titus recognized it as the brigadier’s, from the first day of Atlantis’s hunt. “The bewitchment on these spears cannot last more than a few miles in distance. We can outrun them!”

The din grew more distant as the Atlanteans followed the brigadier’s advice. Titus listened tensely. It could be a feint, to make him come out of hiding. But he did not have many choices. To flee was dangerous; to remain in place, equally so.

He murmured a quick prayer before he got to his feet and set the saddle on the sand wyvern’s back again. Lifting Fairfax in his arms, he carried her to the saddle and strapped her back in.

“Come on, old girl. If we are lucky, we could see the Nile before sunrise.”

If not, they might see the Bane instead.





CHAPTER 24


England

“IS WINTERVALE ANY BETTER?”

The question came from West, at the end of practice, as Iolanthe put on a wool coat over her kit. In the last few days, the weather had turned chilly, almost harsh. The twenty-two had practiced in a light misting of rain, with the spectators rubbing their hands and leaping in place to keep warm.

“Same as before, more or less,” said Iolanthe, buttoning her coat.

“How is he taking it, not being able to get about on his own?”

“With commendable stoicism, I must say.”

She had heard about his ease at wielding his power from the prince, who had accompanied him into the Crucible. Which was likely the reason that an otherwise active, almost restless Wintervale had been able to handle his loss of mobility with such grace. What did victories and losses on the cricket pitch matter anymore, when the boy who had always feared a life of mediocrity now had the opportunity to be a hero for the ages?

“I’ll call on him in a few days,” said West. “Don’t want Wintervale to think he stopped mattering when he stopped being one of the twenty-two.”

West had shaved off the mustache he wore at the beginning of the Half. Without facial hair he looked quite different. And it struck her for the first time that he resembled the prince somewhat—not like brothers, but they could pass for cousins.

“I’m sure Wintervale will be thrilled at your visit.” Or at least the old Wintervale would have been.

Iolanthe gathered up her equipment and started for Mrs. Dawlish’s, Cooper and Kashkari beside her. After a minute or so, it occurred to her that Kashkari was walking with a slight limp.

“What’s the matter with your leg?” she asked.

“You wouldn’t believe it if I told you.”

“I would,” Cooper said eagerly, as he wrapped a muffler around his neck. “My brothers always tell me I’ll believe anything.”

Iolanthe shook her head in fond exasperation. “At least you don’t want to be a lawyer—there’s something to be said for self-knowledge.”

“Well, here’s the story,” said Kashkari. “Wintervale and I stopped by the library yesterday—since he has to spend so much time off his feet, he wanted something to read. So there I was, browsing, and this enormous book fell off the opposite shelf and hit me on the back of the calf.”

Books didn’t just fall off shelves, though they could be made to, easily enough. At Iolanthe’s old school in Delamer, there had been a prominent notice in the library: No summoning spells allowed. Violators will report directly to the headmaster’s office.

“Did someone push it off on the other side?” asked Cooper.

“Nobody was on the other side. I was lucky I’d moved just then, or it could have fallen on my head.” Kashkari glanced at them. “Will you two disbelieve me now?”

“I don’t remember you limping yesterday,” said Iolanthe. Kashkari had supported Wintervale both going into and coming out of supper, last evening.

“I feel it more today. And the practice has made everything worse.”

“You don’t think the book fractured a bone, do you?”

“No, but it certainly left a big bruise.”

“Sometimes poltergeists do that,” said Cooper in all seriousness. “I haven’t heard about the library being haunted, but this is an old school. There must be disgruntled ghosts of old boys roaming about.”

A fierce wind blew. Iolanthe pressed down on her cap to prevent it from being carried away.