Crowned (Beholder #4)(28)

“All sorts of things.” That was the best answer I could get from Jicho on critical items. “Oh, did I tell you that the tinker’s name is Obadiah?”

“You did.” Six times.

“Now this Obadiah—” Jicho paused, his gaze fixed on the water. All the color drained from the boy’s face.

This wasn’t good.

“What’s wrong?”

Jicho didn’t answer. Instead, he kept his gaze locked on a strange ripple on the water, as if something was moving under the river and heading toward us. I pointed to the spot. “Is that what you’re looking at?”

“Yeah.” All the color drained from Jicho’s face. “I don’t know what that is.”

A chill crawled up my neck. “You don’t?” Jicho was my resident expert on odd happenings in the jungle.

Jicho spun about in a slow circle. “There are more of them.”

Standing up, I scanned the water around us. Sure enough, more of the strange waves were shifting across the surface of the river. About a half dozen somethings were moving toward us, their motions hidden by the dark river. My pulse sped.

The charge of magick filled the air, making my hair stand on end. An odd chill licked across my skin, followed by a strange heat.

Heat and cold.

Necromancer and Caster power.

I shook my head.

It couldn’t be…

A pulse of violet light shot under the surface of the water.

It was.

Whatever was coming, it wielded hybrid magick.

My stomach twisted with worry and doubt. Yes, I couldn’t cast any spells right now. But if I were about to face Caster or Necromancer magick, then I’d at least know what to expect.

Jicho moved to stand beside me. His small hand gripped mine. “You know what’s coming, don’t you?”

“Whatever it is, it’s got hybrid magick.”

“Then it’s not your friend Nan?”

“Nan wasn’t even a trained Necromancer,” I explained. “She barely could pull in death magick, let alone hybrid.” More waves of cold and warm energy moved across my skin. I shivered. “Whoever is casting this, they’re as powerful as…” I stopped myself before saying the Tsar Viktor. Jicho was already wide-eyed and panting.

Suddenly, a bony arm burst through the water’s surface, the skin covered in what looked like bubbling tar.

My eyes widened. I’d seen that tar-like effect once before when I’d spied on the Sire and Lady. Back then, the Sire’s hand had glowed with hybrid power before he spoke the words that still haunted me: “hybrid power always corrupts.” After that, the Sire’s hands turned as black and bubbling as the ones before me now.

I didn’t like that, not one whit.

The hand dug into the water’s surface with claw-like fingers. Whatever this thing was, it treated the water as if it were solid instead of liquid. After that, a creature dragged itself out form under the surface of the water. It was tall and bony with an oversized head. Every inch of its body seemed to bubble and sag with tar. All-yellow eyes peered at me from a massive face with drooping features.

It strode across the surface of the water, staying a few arms lengths from the side of the ship as it slowly lumbered along the surface of the water, keeping pace with the ship.

Jicho scooted behind me a bit, his grip on my hand tightening. Using my Necromancer training, I schooled my features into a semblance of serenity and confidence.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“We are the Rushwa.” The creature’s voice was a deep gurgle. “I am the Rushwa.”

My brows lifted. “You are a we?”

The creature chuckled as six more creatures broke through the surface of the water. Like the first monster, these all hauled themselves onto the water’s surface and then walked over.

“We,” repeated the Rushwa.

At that moment, the ruddy bird let out another ear-piercing squawk. The sound sent waves of movement through the Rushwa. The creature hissed in pain.

I pursed my lips. So loud noises affected the Rushwa. Interesting.

Jicho shook my wrist. “Look, Elea!”

Spinning around slowly, I scanned the waters nearby. Together, these seven monsters now surrounded our little vessel, stepping along in unison as they followed our journey along the river.

Now, I couldn’t cast a spell, but the Rushwa didn’t know this. Focusing my mage senses, I pulled in Necromancer power from around me. Bones lined the riverbed and lay embedded deep in the jungle floor. To me, they all seemed to vibrate with magickal echoes of their lives. I drew the power into my soul and focused it into my limbs. My forearms soon glowed blue with Necromancer power. I made sure to show them off as I spoke.

“If you value your existence, you’ll go back where you came from. Leave us alone.”

The Rushwa gave another gurgling laugh. It stepped around the MAJE until it reached the next Rushwa in line.. A short burst of violet light encircled the two Rushwa as they merged into one, larger entity.

I blinked hard, not believing what I was seeing. The creature didn’t appear to be solid, but some kind of liquid lighter than water and just as malleable.

This was magick unlike anything I’d ever heard of before.

Jicho buried his face in my side. “What are those things, Elea?”