The Outcast (Summoner #4)(39)

The tip of the quarrel swam in and out of focus, the black-and-white stripes of Arcturus’s quarry blurring in the background. Perspiration trickled down his spine, pooling in the hollow of his back.

Arcturus closed his eyes and fired, and the crossbow leaped in his hands, thudding into his shoulder as it spat the bolt with a dull twang. It whistled harmlessly over the zebra’s head, disappearing into the long grass beyond.

The creature froze for a moment, blinking its long eyelashes as it looked in their direction, then went back to cropping the grass with its buck-yellow teeth.

Edmund squeezed his shoulder, even as Arcturus was flooded with relief. He hadn’t wanted to kill it. It reminded him too much of the horses he had cared for in the past. They were probably the closest things he had ever had to friends.

“It’s all right, old chum,” Edmund whispered. “There’ll be another chance tomorrow.”

There was a rustle as the young lord raised his own weapon.

Arcturus tried not to breathe, watching as Edmund’s crossbow eased upward, then hung perfectly still in the air. The boy had barely broken a sweat, squinting down the quarrel with a practiced eye.

The zebra bolted, galloping toward its nearby herd. Then, in a shifting mirage of black-and-white stripes, the herd itself moved on in a tumult of thundering hooves.

Edmund cursed, but Arcturus was already up, his head cocked to hear the noise that had startled the zebra. There it was again. A scream in the distance, somewhere to the east.

He turned and saw Elaine running toward him, her black hair streaming as she twisted her head to look behind her. It was then that he noticed the demon.

It was green-brown in color and as large as a stallion, with hooked claws and snakelike fangs. It chased Elaine, lumbering across the plains like an iguana, its three heads swaying on their sinuous necks with every step. Arcturus recognized it immediately as the demon he had seen but an hour before on the stock of Zacharias’s gun. Arcturus could now see the boy beyond, doubled over in laughter as Elaine’s shrill screams rang out. Zacharias was tormenting her.

Without thinking, Arcturus tugged free his summoning leather and unleashed Sacharissa. Then the two were running, and Arcturus was cranking back his crossbow with strength born of fury.

He waited for Elaine to rush past him before kneeling and loading the crossbow. His eyes focused along its length, narrowed against the setting sun on the horizon. Sacharissa crouched beside him, and he laid the stock against her back, steadying his aim as the demon trampled closer and closer.

It was only now that Zacharias seemed to notice, and the demon faltered as its master ordered it to turn back. But it was too late. Arcturus took a deep breath … and fired.

The bolt whipped into the air, striking the beast square in its chest. Its front legs collapsed on impact, and the demon twisted and fell, throwing up the dry savannah dust as its trio of squeals echoed across the plains.

“Trebius!” Arcturus heard Zacharias scream his demon’s name.

He looked up at the boy, now no more than a stone’s throw away. The young lord’s eyes were blazing with hatred, and he raised his hand and traced a symbol in the air.

Then the world flared with light as a ball of fire erupted into existence, streaking across the savannah and setting the long grass ablaze.

Sacharissa covered Arcturus with her body, for all the good it would do. He closed his eyes. Stupid. He had been so stupid. Injuring a noble’s demon, when Elaine had never been in any real danger.

The world roared hot, and beneath his eyelids his vision seared white at the intensity of the blaze. And yet … no pain.

He cracked open his eyes, only to see the flames buffet harmlessly around them, stopped by an opaque wall that seemed to hang in the air ahead of him. Tiny cracks appeared along its surface, but it held strong. Soon the fireball dissipated, until the only sign of its existence was the channel of blackened, smoldering grass left in its wake.

Sacharissa whined and licked his face, her fear and confusion mirroring his own feelings.

“Zacharias!” Edmund shouted, and now Arcturus knew the source of the strange spell that had protected them. A blue symbol hung from Edmund’s outstretched finger.

But the blond noble ignored him, instead running over to his collapsed demon and tugging at the bolt stuck in its chest. It had barely penetrated the thick chest muscles, and came out with little more than a wiggle. Zacharias tossed it aside, then there was a flash of white light as Zacharias performed a second spell, sketching a heart shape in the air. Moments later the wound was gone, and the only sign it had been there at all was the bloodstained projectile in the grass beside it.

“Zacharias,” Edmund repeated, squaring up to the boy opposite him, rigid with anger.

“Why did you stop it?” Zacharias growled, standing and facing Edmund. He was a full head taller than the raven-haired boy, but that did little to faze his opponent.

“You mean why did I stop you from murdering my guest?” Edmund growled, shoving Zacharias.

Zacharias stared back at him, confusion spreading across his handsome face. It was as if nobody had ever pushed him before.

“He’s a commoner. Who tried to kill my demon,” Zacharias said, as if he were explaining something to a child. “It was a joke, for heaven’s sake.”

“I didn’t know it was yours, and I was protecting Elaine,” Arcturus yelled, the half lie coming easily to his lips.