Scorched by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #7)(44)

“Half the city will be tumbling down right now,” Fenris ground out through clenched teeth. His face was white with pain. “Kardanor and Director Chen did not have nearly enough time to quake-proof all the buildings on their list, and there were many more they’d written off completely. This will have been one of those. I doubt anyone will be able to find us—they won’t think to look in the rubble of a condemned building,” he added bitterly.

“Iannis will be able to find us eventually with my serapha charm,” I said, reaching up to touch it with my hand. I closed my eyes and activated the charm, pinpointing his location. “He’s still at least a day away,” I said, sighing heavily.

“We can’t rely on Iannis,” Fenris gasped. “We’ll need to move some of the debris aside to make an escape shaft. I know a spell that would work perfectly, but I am too weak…”

“Let me try.” Ignoring the pain in my leg, I scooted myself up into a sitting position, then held my hands out and concentrated on the wall of debris. Raw magic poured out of me, and I used it to push as hard as I could, but it was no use—the wreckage was too heavy. Panting, I shut off the magic before I used it up—I couldn’t risk the fragile barrier above me failing.

“I could try transmogrifying it—” I began, but Fenris shook his head.

“That would take too long, and use up too much magic.” Gritting his teeth, he hauled himself forward a few painful inches and grasped my hand. “I’m not going to make it, Sunaya. You should take the girl and leave me.”

I recoiled, his words a physical blow. “No! I can’t leave you here to die. What kind of person do you think I am?”

“A compassionate one,” Fenris said fiercely, his yellow eyes glowing. “And one who has responsibilities that are far more important than keeping me alive. I should have died three years ago, Sunaya. I’ve been living on borrowed time, and we all know it.”

“That’s bullshit,” I growled, tears in my eyes. But before I could convince him—and myself—that he was wrong, he pulled me down on the ground next to him, close enough to embrace me.

“Hush,” he chided, cupping the back of my head as he leaned my cheek against his broad chest. His heartbeat was surprisingly steady despite the danger and his wound—had he truly accepted his fate? “Let me give you one last gift.”

Magic surged through me, fast and furious and so powerful that I gasped. My body went rigid as I was bombarded with an onslaught of impressions, thoughts, words, feelings. Memories, I thought numbly as I struggled to keep the wave of sensory input from overloading my mind. But it was almost impossible, and the best I could do was fashion a sort of vault inside my head, then open the door and allow the new memories to rush inside it.

As soon as it was over, the door slammed shut, and I sagged against Fenris, breathing hard. He was panting, too, his strong body shaking from the effort.

“What…” I took a second to catch my breath, still reeling, “What the hell was that?”

“The knowledge transfer,” Fenris said, sounding oddly at peace. He lifted my chin to look in my eyes, and I was surprised to see a small smile on his dirt and sweat-smudged face. “All of my memories and knowledge about magic are now yours, too, Sunaya. All the Loranian lessons of a lifetime that I won’t be around to give any longer. You now know everything you need to get yourself, and the girl, to safety.”

I eased open the vault door a crack, startled to realize he was right. A spell to safely create a tunnel through the debris and up to ground level sprang straight to my mental fingertips. It was a complex spell, not something I would have been able to master the first time around as an apprentice, but with Fenris’s knowledge inside me, I knew I could do it with ease.

“This is great,” I said, hope easing the crushing weight on my chest. “I can get us all out now. You’re coming with us.” I struggled to my feet, mindful of my healing leg.

“No,” Fenris said, ignoring my outstretched hand. He looked exhausted, his normally tan skin pale and dark smudges under his eyes. “I am too weak, and one of us needs to maintain the shield while you cast the spell. You cannot do both, Sunaya.”

“Fine.” A tear escaped my right eye, but I pushed the emotion away—I couldn’t afford to let it distract me. Clearing my head, I focused my attention on the debris, then called up my magic and spoke the Words of the spell. The power sank into the pile of crushed stone and metal, which began to groan as it was shifted and manipulated. I held my breath as another tremor shook the walls around us, and I wasn’t sure if it was from the quake or the spell. Long, agonizing minutes passed before the debris and dirt finally stopped shifting, and then the magic pouring out of me abruptly stopped, the spell completed. A wave of dizziness passed through me, and I had to catch myself to keep from stumbling sideways—I’d used a lot of magic just now, and I was dangerously close to burn-out.

“Take Rusalia,” Fenris shouted, grabbing my leg to get my attention. “Take her and go!”

“I’m coming back for you,” I growled, dropping down to my knees. I wrapped my arms tight around Fenris in a brief hug, then pulled Rusalia onto my back and climbed into the makeshift tunnel. It wasn’t large enough to walk upright, and with the burden of the sleeping child and the agonizing pain in my leg, it was slow going. Even so, I pushed myself as fast as I could. There was no telling how long I had, and I was determined to get Rusalia out. I wouldn’t let Fenris’s sacrifice be in vain, and I wouldn’t fail my promise to Comenius to bring his daughter back safely.