I peered out cautiously from a pile of debris that had been a workbench. Cinder was standing in Belthas’s circle, the lecterns melted and broken at his feet. I didn’t dare stick my head out to get a look at Belthas but I knew he was a little way back.
“You were a fool to come here.” Belthas didn’t sound out of breath. “You and Deleo couldn’t defeat me together. What did you expect to do alone?”
Cinder didn’t answer. Flame smouldered around his hands. “I can kill you through that circle,” Belthas said calmly. “It’ll just take longer.” I heard the crunch of rubble as he moved around closer to me. “But I think I’d rather finish this quickly.”
Belthas drew level with the doors to the storeroom and I saw what he was going to do. Rachel was still lying unconscious on the bed, visible through the dust and smoke. Belthas lifted a hand towards her and blue light gathered around him.
Cinder got between Belthas and Rachel just as Belthas fired. The ice snuffed out Cinder’s shield with a crack and he went spinning to the floor.
But to break Cinder’s shield Belthas had needed to draw on his full power, and just for an instant, he wasn’t focused on me. I came around the bench at a dead run, my left hand holding the gun, my right reaching into my pocket. Belthas spun, a shield coming up.
A gun’s no use against a battle-mage who knows it’s there—but it can make a good distraction. The shield was between Belthas and my left side, and as I hit the ice, feeling the deadly cold freeze my body, my right hand came out of my pocket holding the dragon’s fang. As Belthas lifted his hand for the spell that would kill me, I spun off the shield and as my fingertips brushed Belthas I shouted the command word.
It was nothing like the gate spells that mages use. A normal gate opens up a similarity between two points in space, forming a portal you can step through. It takes time. This didn’t. One minute we were in the shattered remnants of Belthas’s sanctum, dust and smoke filling the air, the next we were in an vast cavern.
And there was silence.
Belthas’s shield and the dragon’s fang had disappeared. I stood toe to toe with Belthas, my fingers still resting against his arm. For an instant we stared into each other’s eyes.
Then Belthas hit me with an ice hammer the size of a door.
I twisted to soften the impact but there was no way to dodge this one. If the blow had hit me square on it would have broken my ribs. Instead it only smashed the breath from my lungs, lifted me off my feet, and slammed me down on the rock ten feet away.
Belthas walked forward as I struggled to breathe, stopping with his hand aimed towards me. I looked up to see a deadly blue-white glow hovering on his palm. His voice could have been pleasant, if you didn’t meet his eyes. “Explain. Quickly.”
I couldn’t speak. I fought for breath, trying to make my lungs work. “Verus,” Belthas said when I didn’t answer. “I have had a long and frustrating day.” He sounded calm but I could hear the tightly controlled anger beneath the surface. “Thanks to you, I am going to have to rebuild my plans from the ground up. Now on top of that, you appear to have transported me from my sanctum. So if you do not explain exactly where we are and how you broke through my gate ward, I am going to kill you.”
I looked up at Belthas and started to laugh. I couldn’t help it. I knew Belthas wasn’t kidding, that I was literally seconds away from death. But somehow it was so funny I couldn’t stop.
Belthas just waited and I could feel cold hatred radiating from him. He wasn’t planning to let me live no matter what I told him. I tried to speak, but between laughing and the pain in my ribs, I couldn’t manage it. Only after a few deep breaths was I able to get the words out. “No one … ever believes me.”
The glow around Belthas’s hand brightened and he sighted on my head. “Last chance.”
“Doesn’t matter … how many times.” I stopped laughing and met Belthas’s eyes. “Look behind you.”
I’m pretty good at telling when someone’s lying to me. I guess Belthas was the same. Something in my face must have told him I wasn’t bluffing.
He turned around.
The dragon was staring down at Belthas. It made me think of a mountain looking down on an insect.
I’ll give Belthas credit: He didn’t freeze. I saw the blood drain from his face but his reaction was instant. His hands came up to cast a spell.
The dragon flicked Belthas with one claw.
Human bodies are tough. But they’ve got their limits. When a body is struck by something the size of a city block moving at the speed of a freight train, the results are … hard to convey. Broken, torn, or even shattered doesn’t describe it. The best word I can come up with is shred-ded.
Drops of blood splashed my face. The dragon and I watched as the bits scattered over a square mile of cavern. It took about ten seconds for the pieces to finish hitting the ground. Then the dragon turned its massive head, looking down at me with diamond eyes.
“Um,” I said once I’d caught my breath. “Any chance I could have another one of those things?”
chapter 12
It was two weeks later.
“How much longer?” I muttered out of the side of my mouth.
“Shh,” Sonder whispered.
“Did she stop to do her hair or what?”
“Shh!”
We were standing in a high, arched hall, the walls russet and gold. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling and rows of stylised lamps were mounted on the walls, filling every inch of the room with light. About twenty people were scattered around, talking quietly. The acoustics of the hall made them hard to hear, but Sonder and I were up on the stage and anything we said would be amplified.
But I’d been waiting nearly an hour and was getting restless. “Do these things always take this long?” I whispered.
“Alex, can’t you please be quiet?” Sonder pleaded. He was wearing brown-and-cream ceremonial robes. “You’re not supposed to talk till the ceremony starts.”
I thought about asking why but decided it wasn’t really fair. At least the outfit Arachne had made for me was as comfortable as ever. She’d gone for a black design with slashes of midnight blue, and while it made me feel like a giant bat, I had to admit it looked good. Off to one side, Talisid was speaking quietly with Ilmarin. Talisid had agreed to preside and find a second, and had arranged the venue too. Before I could open my mouth again, the doors at the far end swung open and two people walked in.
The girl on the right looked twenty or so, with black shoulder-length hair and odd reddish-brown eyes. We’d met only once, though I’d gotten a good feeling from her; she had a gentle manner I found appealing. Sonder had known her through some of his old classes. Her name was Anne.
Luna walked a little behind and to the side. Her robe was done to Council standards but Arachne had somehow made it look better than any apprentice robe ought to. It was pure white with green highlights that set off Luna’s pale skin, and the conversation died away as heads turned to watch the girls. Anne led Luna up the steps and the room fell silent as Talisid stepped forward. “Who comes before us?”
Anne and Luna came to a stop. “One who seeks knowledge,” Anne said in a soft voice.
“How does she approach?”
“In darkness, unknowing of the Light; in humility, knowing of her ignorance; and in faith, that she might become what she is not.”