I just had to hold on, even if the pain was eating me from the inside.
“Y-you want me to f-fight…” I gasped; the overwhelming pressure was making it hard to speak. “B-because if I d-don’t… it m-might m-mean B-Blayne was wrong.”
“Liar.” Darren’s chest was rising and falling, but his fingers were trembling against my skin.
The pain was building, and there was a terrible pounding in the back of my head. Every instinct urged a defense, but something screamed at me not to move. Not yet.
“No.”
Darren still held the dagger trapping my hand; his other fist dug into my shoulder blade as he pinned me against the wall. But I could feel the erratic beating of his pulse against my own. He was slipping. “You are just a-afraid of the truth.”
“I already know exactly who you are.”
“I know y-you.” My voice cracked and I felt him flinch. “Whatever you t-think you b-believe, you d-don’t want this.”
I saw a flicker of something, and I pushed. “You want to s-save Jerar,” I whispered, “and you still c-can.”
I had him. For just a second, I could see the indecision in his eyes.
And then the pounding of footsteps and voices reached us.
Darren’s shoulders went rigid as his eyes shot to black.
“Ever my distraction.” Darren withdrew the blade and a cry escaped my lips. “And here they are, just in time.”
“Ryiah, Ryiah!” I could hear all three of their shouts echoing throughout the walls. They must have heard my screams.
Gods, no. Darren thought…
The king cocked his head to the side. “Looks like I won’t have to look for your brother after all. And is that Ella and Ian I hear?”
“Get out of here!” I screamed the words as Darren released me, stepping back to face my friends head on.
But of course, my panicked scream only made them come running.
I had less than a second to decide as magic crackled in his palm.
Fight, or watch the most powerful mage in Jerar take on my brother and two best friends. He had used my screams to draw them out, just like he promised.
Fight Darren. Or watch them die.
I launched myself from the wall and ripped the sleeve off my cloak, wrapping it as tightly as I could around my hand. The blood seeped through, but I didn’t have time to fix it now.
The Black Mage kept his gaze on the passage as the footsteps grew louder. “A bit too late, my love. We have a score to settle first.”
“Ryiah!” My brother was first to turn the corner.
And I raced forward, palms outstretched as I screamed, “Alex, run!”
Darren’s magic took off like a storm. Miniscule shards of ice collected in a whirlwind that would shred its victim to bits. Some of the older mages in our apprenticeship had once demonstrated something similar in the desert with small granules of sand.
My brother skidded to a halt as I threw myself in front of his path.
My casting roared to life, and I threw my hands over my ears, praying the others would copy the defense.
The vibrations rose like the toll of a heavy bell; I felt the rattle in every part of my chest. The screech was ear shattering and set every nerve on edge.
My magic turned Darren’s casting to dust.
For a moment, the air was thick with a crystalline powder, and the only thing I could hear was an endless ringing in my skull.
I released my ears just as the first icicle crashed to the floor.
An icicle the size of a small house.
Another followed. Ice was dropping from the ceiling and bits were cracking along the walls.
I couldn’t see where Darren was across the passage. Things kept falling.
The cavern… was breaking. In my haste to counter his magic, I had forgotten where we were. The effect of so many vibrations in a prism of ice.
Boom.
I leaped back just as another splintered in my path.
Pop. Swissh. Craaaack.
“Run!” I turned and shoved the three of my rescuers back; Darren would be on us in seconds.
Ella hesitated, but Alex’s eyes were locked on my bandage, his outrage rising. “Ryiah, you’re—”
“Ella, get my brother out of here!” My screech was frantic. I didn’t have time to argue as a flare of light lit up the room, and I spun, magic rising.
The barrier rose just as the passage exploded in a torrent of arrows. The fireheads hissed and sparked as they smacked against my casting and crumbled to ash.
I braced for the next onslaught, but Ian had already taken off, sprinting toward the king, twisting and diving around heavy mounds of ice.
“Ian, no!”
Darren had two axes in hand.
Ian launched a javelin.
And I tore off after them as fast as my legs could manage.
Darren deflected the older boy’s casting with an axe that spun, sending both of their blades skittering off to the side. Then he lunged forward, his second weapon in hand.
Ian circled, his chest rising and falling, his eyes darting everywhere as he searched for an opening.
I reached Ian, joining my magic with his just as Darren launched the second axe and an onslaught of knives.