I needed to get back to her. Which meant fighting was not an option for us here. Our best chance was to fly toward Ilyan’s ancient evacuation tunnel hidden in the catacombs of St. Vitus Cathedral in downtown Prague.
There were a few problems with this plan. First and foremost, it was in downtown Prague. We were currently tucked away in the mountains, and it would take me at least fifteen minutes to fly us there, if Edmund didn’t track us right away.
The Cathedral also sat in the middle of one of the busiest squares in the old town, and at this time of year, it would be flooded by tourists. I would have to be careful. I couldn’t let Edmund follow us, too many people would die. Too many people already had.
“St. Vitus.” Sain’s voice was a whisper next to me. I had almost forgotten he was there. I turned to face him, not daring to keep my focus off the crowd in front of me for too long.
“Excuse me?” I asked, alarmed that he had somehow seen into my head, which given who he was, was a distinct possibility.
“We are going to St. Vitus, but we need to go by the Orloj where Kadan put his clock. I must retrieve something or this escape will have been in vain.” His voice wasn’t normal. It wasn’t like when he was given the Black Water, but more like when he had told me of Talon’s death. I couldn’t doubt that what he was saying was true.
Considering what Edmund had done to him over the centuries, it was amazing his sight was still part of him at all, but if this was how the remains of his power chose to make itself known, then I would take all the help I would get.
I grabbed Sain’s frail hand and held it in my small one. Our best bet was to fly, and if I could do this without detection, it would be a miracle.
I tensed my bare toes into the loose dirt that I stood on, letting the power inside me build. It bubbled and boiled until my body felt like it was vibrating; the anger and power bleeding together in a torrent that flooded out of me, through the dirt, and into one of the large wooden benches that someone had placed on the side of the path.
The second the power had filled it, I sent a pulse, one strong surge of magic that boomed through the air in a violent explosion. Fire filled the sky as screams of the tourists sounded, the noise barely able to be heard above the echo of the blast that was still bounced around the small canyon.
Tourists screamed and ran in their mad attempt to escape the blast. People ran into each other, children and women screamed as frantic men trampled over them. I could just make out Edmund as he turned toward the explosion, his eyes scanning the crowd for me.
I wasn’t stupid enough to expect him to run toward the blast. He was smart, and hundreds of years of working with him had taught me his weakness.
I dropped the shield around us, the lack of security making us visible to him, but making it easier for me to merge with the crowd. I didn’t wait to see if he had noticed us, because I knew he would. I took off running toward the now destroyed bench, my hand tight around Sain’s as I weaved us through the terrified hoard that was fleeing the scene.
Please don’t let anyone get hurt.
I shielded us again, hoping that our brief stint of visibility was enough time for Edmund to have noticed us, and sent my magic into a bench on the other side of the canyon.
This time, I didn’t wait for the pressure to build. I just sent the pulse into the wood and sent the shards of wood into the air into a fiery explosion.
The effect was instantaneous. The remaining tourists screamed and turned to run toward the narrow opening in the canyon that had led them here, the only way to truly escape. They panicked and screamed as they ran, and I was swept up with them as they fled toward safety, their exodus taking Sain and I along for the ride. Edmund and his guards were forcibly turned about and separated as the crowd intercepted them, forcing them toward the bottleneck that was now forming in the crowd.
At any other time, I might have expected Edmund to attack. He saw mortal life as useless, but they were his cover as much as they were mine. He was being smart.
So was I, and I couldn’t wait any longer.
I stomped my foot into the ground, sending out a pulse of energy that shook the mountain. It rippled away from me and sucked the energy out of the legs of all those within range. Mortals fell as the power surged through them, their primitive minds signaling an earthquake as they screamed in fear.
I kept the shield strong around us as I took off into the sky, Sain’s body unsupported as he dangled below me. I couldn’t risk bringing wind to support his weight as that would be much easier for Edmund to detect. Sain would have to wait until I was sure we were not being followed.