Last Stand (The Black Mage #4)(89)

“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.

“Isn’t this a surprise,” Darren snarled as the weapons collided with our globe, “the two of you, together again.”

“Go.” I tried to push Ian back, but he was too busy fiddling with a scabbard at his waist. “Ian,” I tried again, my panic rising, “leave him to me.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” The sword was in his hand.

“But—”

A blast shook our shield, and for a moment, all I could see was a whirlwind of red. It was only a matter of minutes before Darren breached our defense. The throbbing ache was building in my head with every second. The sheer effort to hold a casting of this magnitude was depleting my stamina too fast.

I could barely blink from the pain, much less think.

“He’s trying to kill us, Ryiah.” Ian’s breaths were ragged. He wasn’t faring any better. “Even you.” He took a step back so that his shoulders were parallel to my own with the weapon drawn. “All bets are off.”

Darren’s voice thundered behind our shield. “You two must have enjoyed playing me for the fool all these years.”

Thud. Crasssh. Our shield was splintering, and my grip was slipping down threads of control like a web.

There was another ear-splitting screech, and then the magical bond Ian and I shared snapped.

I ducked and dove, skinning my knees and palms—the bandage included—along the ice and rock. Ian collapsed; he hadn’t been so quick and had received the blunt force of Darren’s attack.

“Ian!”

I heard rather than saw my friend fall as a blur rushed us by.

Another jarring echo and whatever Darren cast next hit something solid, blocking it from the obvious path.

I blinked and the shadows registered, the ache subsiding in my head just long enough to focus.

Ella.

She and Alex had never left, and she had thrown herself in our path while my brother clutched a blade.

Alex was kneeling at Ian’s side, green magic flickering along his fingers as he saw to his wounds.

I struggled to rise, but my arms, especially the one with the bad hand, refused to hold still long enough to push. The pain was making me see stars.

Outside of my vision, there was another clash, and then a loud clap as steel hit something across the way.

“You don’t have to do this.” I could hear Ella shouting. “For Ryiah’s sake, Darren—”

Bright light flared across the cavern, and I pushed harder, biting down to keep from screaming as I rose to my knees.

“—But if you do—” Ella gasped as something slammed against her defense, again and again. “—then I have no c-choice.”

I was pushing to my feet as the sound of splintering glass crowded my ears.