Spellslinger (Spellslinger #1)(92)

‘Don’t do this,’ Pan said, a look of genuine concern on his face for the first time.

I guess it’s one thing to make threats against an enemy and another to realise you’re about five seconds away from killing your childhood friend. ‘Don’t worry,’ I said. ‘I’ll try to be gentle.’

The way I had it figured, my one chance was to stop thinking like a Jan’Tep and start thinking like an Argosi, the way Ferius did when she kept tricking them. All Pan and the others understood was magic – who had what spells and when to use them. They didn’t notice the uneven terrain and the shifting darkness around us. They didn’t consider how close together the four of them were standing, or that I might not be alone in this. All they saw was a good old-fashioned Jan’Tep tale of good versus evil, where good always wins. What I saw was a card game with a half-dozen different decks in play. Ancestors save me, I thought. I really am turning into an Argosi.

‘Come on,’ Tennat urged. ‘Make your move, coward.’

I almost laughed. Even now, after everything that had happened, with us ready to maim or even kill each other, Tennat was still using the same old taunts he’d tossed at me our whole lives. I ignored him and turned my mind to solving the first of my very real problems: Ra’dir. If he hit me with the flames or lightning from a war spell, I’d be dead before the fight even started. Then again, if Ra’fan got one of his chain spells around me, I’d be helpless. I needed a way to get both of them off balance at the outset. I glanced up at Tennat and smiled. ‘Hey, remember that time I nearly got you to crush your intestines with your own spell? How much do you want to bet I can make you blind yourself?’

He took a step forward. ‘I can’t wait to get you in a small room away from prying eyes, weakling.’ He spread his arms wide apart – the opening of the strongest of the blinding spells. Once he set his intention and uttered the words, he’d bring them together and it’d be like a curtain closing over me. The second he opened his mouth, I flung one of Ferius’s steel cards straight for him.

Ra’dir and Ra’fan were more experienced and knew not to flinch, but Tennat suddenly fell back – right into them. ‘Get out of the way, you idiot,’ Ra’dir shouted, trying to shove him aside to get a line on me.

I dived to my right, rolling awkwardly over my shoulder but managing not to drop the cards or slice my own palm on them. As I came up on one knee, I flung two more. One sailed harmlessly off into the darkness, but the other caught Ra’fan in the leg. He gave out a yell and stumbled forward into Pan’erath.

A burning sensation passed my left ear as one of Ra’dir’s spells flew by. If I hadn’t still been in motion, he’d have set me ablaze instead of the tree behind me. I kept moving as fast as I could. This isn’t going to work for long, I reminded myself. War mages train to hit moving targets.

I ran behind the trees, flinging cards as I went, trying to keep the group close together and prevent any one of them from getting a line on me. A lucky throw sent another card spinning into Ra’fan’s left hand, a thread of blood appearing where his palm was cut open. He wouldn’t be casting any chain spells for a few minutes. It’s working! I thought. Then a shape of almost black light enveloped me and I found myself pinned against a tree. Pan’erath had finally cast his own spell.

I’d known this was coming of course. If I’d prepared pinches of powder instead of the cards I could have blasted the shadows apart, but that wasn’t my plan. I guess now I find out just how reliable squirrel cats are. ‘Reichis, now!’

For a second nothing happened. The others had just started to relax when a chittering voice said, ‘Okay, but you’re really going to owe me for this.’ A dark shape swooped down from the treetops onto Pan’s head. I watched in sick fascination as Reichis covered Pan’s face with the furry webbing that stretched between his front and back limbs while his rear claws drew gashes into the back of Pan’s neck, causing him to stumble back, screaming in pain.

I felt the shadow release me and flung two more cards to keep the others from grabbing Reichis.

‘Get him off me!’ Pan shouted.

‘Lousy torturing skinbag,’ Reichis growled. ‘Let’s see how well your blood magic works once I’ve ripped your eyes out.’

‘Reichis, don’t!’ I screamed.

Fire flared in Ra’dir’s hands as he prepared to blast the squirrel cat out of existence. I wondered if he cared that he was probably going to kill Pan at the same time. Reichis didn’t take any notice, his complete commitment to revenge outweighing any sensible fear he might have. I launched the remaining cards at our enemies, desperately trying to distract them. I missed them all, except for Ra’fan, for whom I was seriously starting to feel some sympathy, since I’d now hit him for the third time, this card lodging deep into the muscle of his shoulder. ‘Damn it!’ he screamed. ‘Blind him, Tennat!’

‘My name is Ra’ennat,’ his brother insisted, but in the chaos and confusion he couldn’t summon the concentration to make the spell work. Still haven’t learned that you can’t cast spells when you’re scared.

Ra’dir had a lot more training and composure though. He fired his spell, eyes on Reichis. The squirrel cat leaped off Pan’s face, but his left side still got caught in the blast and his fur caught fire. I took off at a run and by some small miracle caught the squirrel cat mid-air. I curled into a ball and tumbled forward to roll on the ground, smothering the flames with my body. From the burning sensation on my torso, I guessed I wouldn’t be growing any chest hair for a while.