I spoke a fast incantation and released more power. Instantly a blue haze appeared around me. The mist quickly rose up to the ceiling, where it solidified into a dozen battle skeletons of my own. While the Fantome warriors were silver, mine had ebony-dark bones with bright sapphire eyes. Long razor-sharp claws jutted out from their hands and feet. Perfect for crawling around upside-down while shredding everything in sight.
More power rushed out of me as the skeletons engaged the enemy. My limbs turned boneless as my power flowed out. Hunching over, I braced my arms on my knees and gasped for breath. From the corner of my eye, I scanned the ceiling, seeing my ebony skeletons take on the silver warriors. My fighters sliced through the opposition, turning them into a cascade of small bones and white dust that fell to the floor.
I grinned. Perhaps these Fantomes weren’t so strong after all.
All around us, the skeletons and scorpions kept up a chaos of battle. Rowan’s giant creatures chittered as their huge claws bit through bone. My ebony skeletons laughed as they sliced into their opponents. The Fantome’s silver skeletons gave as good as they got. Soon, all the skeletons had been pummeled into shards of bone that lay strewn across the laboratory floor. Rowan’s scorpions lay in pieces around us, dead. I tried to see through the cloud of dust and bone.
We’d survived, but what about the Fantomes? Had the paralytic spells worked?
It took a few seconds for the air to clear. When I could see again, there were six Fantomes standing by the smashed-in doorway. Moving in unison, they raised their left arms. All of their hands glowed blue with power. Not good.
Our paralytic spells had failed. The Tsar must have cast some serious protections on these mages. There was no question about it. I needed to launch a counterstrike.
I searched my soul for more magick. Casting the battle skeletons and paralytic orbs had drained me. Now, it would take a little bit to recharge. I looked over to Rowan. “Tell me you’re ready to cast.”
He shook his head and kept mumbling an incantation. Gods-damn it.
The Fantomes lowered their arms and set loose another spell. A crackling sound filled the air as hundreds of skeletal hands burst through the stone floor. Bits of gray rock shot out in every direction. These hands weren’t attached to any bodies. That didn’t make them any less dangerous than a full skeleton. I knew this spell, and it was bad news.
Skitter lancets.
A skitter was a skeletal hand that could crawl across a room in the blink of an eye. Every bone in this casting was razor-sharp. One skitter lancet could slice through virtually anything in its path, and hundreds were coming at me. Even worse, my protection spells were useless against these things. My heart sank to my toes.
The skitters crawled toward me at incredible speed. Their fingertips clicked against the rock floor. I pulled in magick, but it wasn’t enough. Gods-damn. I looked to Rowan. “I can’t cast yet.”
Please tell me you’re ready.
“I got you.” Rowan knelt down, set his hands on the floor, and whispered the end of an incantation. A thick coating of red scales spread out from his fingertips. The movement reminded me of ripples in a pond.
A protective skin. Yes.
The scales spread out over the mages and lancets, covering them all in a layer of red alligator-thick skin. Everything became frozen in place, both the Fantomes and the lancets. I had thought that impossible to do both, yet somehow, Rowan had managed it.
Or not.
The skitters wiggled under the alligator skin before bursting free. They tore through their scaled coverings and came after us once again, only faster this time.
At last, enough magick inhabited my soul once more. I was ready to cast. I spoke a new battle incantation at double-speed. Power glowed in my left hand. I set it loose. Blue mist shot across the floor, covering the biting hands.
After that, my bone melter spell went to work. The skitters twisted as they were reduced to small puddles of white goo. It was a beautiful sight.
My spell had worked.
Agony erupted in my ribs. I looked down at my right side. A lancet had burrowed into my rib cage. I hissed in a pained breath. Blood oozed across my torn dress. I gripped the skitter, tore it out of me, and tossed the skeletal hand onto the floor. Fresh waves of hurt burned through my chest and up my arm.
Rowan marched over to the skitter, stomped on the thing with his boot, and called out a single word. “Die!” His voice was laced with magick as the skitter got smashed into bits.
I fell forward onto my knees. What a relief.
Rowan knelt beside me, his eyes wide with concern. “Let me see your wound.”
“What about them?” I spoke the last word through gritted teeth. There was no need to say more. No question what “them” I meant here.
“I have the Fantomes encased in a Caster shell. They aren’t going anywhere for a while.” His voice gentled. “Show me your side.”
I lifted my arm and Rowan leaned in closer. My breath came in rough gasps. “How bad is it?”
Rowan gripped my wrist and turned it up. The skin there was sliced to ribbons from the skitter. Rowan met my gaze. Rage glimmered in his emerald eyes. “You’re too good for these people. I’m killing them. Now.”