Cursor's Fury (Codex Alera #3)(260)

He sprinted forward, out of the wall, and charged Sari.

Once more the power crackled in the air. Once more, lights blazed along the ritualist's body. Once more the scarlet lightning filtered through the clouds all around the single shaft of clear blue sky Crassus had opened.

Once more blinding, white light and thunderous noise hammered down upon Tavi.

And once more it did nothing.

Chips of hot stone flew up from the bridge. A ritualist, accidentally standing too close, was charred to smoking meat. But Tavi never slowed. He crossed the remaining space in a single leap, sword raised.

Sari had a single instant in which he stared at Tavi, eyes wide with shock. He fumbled for a defensive grip on his fangstaff.

Before he could get it, Tavi rammed his sword into Sari's throat. He stared at the Cane's startled eyes for a single second-then he twisted the blade, jerking it free, ripping wide the ritualist's throat.

Blood sheeted down over Sari's scarlet armor, and he sank limply to the bridge, to die with a surprised look still on his face. There was a horrified cry from the ritualists as their master fell. "Battlecrows! " Tavi howled, signaling them forward with his sword. "Take them!"

The Battlecrows charged the Canim with a roar.

And a moment later, the Battle of the Elinarch was over.

Max came running up to Tavi after the last of the ritualists had been slain. The maddened Canim had neither given nor asked for quarter, which Tavi supposed was just as well. He wasn't at all sure that he could have restrained his le-gionares after the losses they'd suffered.

"Calderon," Max demanded. "He tried the lightning on you. Again." Max was sweating from the effort of his crafting and looked pale. "How the crows did you survive it?"

Tavi reached to his belt and drew the Canim knife they'd captured while engaging the raiding parties the day before the battle. He held up the skull-shaped pommel. A bloodstone glimmered wetly in one of the eyes. Wet, red blood dribbled down from the jewel and over the handle. "We had another gem, remember?"

"Oh," Max said. "Right." He frowned. "So how come you can hear me?"

"Opened my mouth and had some lining in my helmet," Tavi said. "Foss said it made a difference. Something about air pressure."

Max scowled at Tavi, and said, "Gave me a heart attack. Thought you were dead, and you just had another gem the whole time." He shook his head. "Why didn't you just give that one to Crassus?"

"Wasn't sure it would work," Tavi said. "I knew the one I gave him would. He was more important than me for this."

The young Knight in question descended wearily from the sky and landed on the bridge to the cheers of the Knights Pisces. Crassus walked slowly over to Tavi and saluted. "Sir."

"Well done, Tribune," Tavi said, his voice warm. "Well done."

Crassus smiled a bit, and Max clapped him roughly on the shoulder. "Not bad."

Ehren, still bearing the standard, also offered his congratulations, though Kitai only gave Crassus a speculative glance.

Tavi looked around him, struggling to order his thoughts. It was more difficult than he had thought it would be. Too many emotions were rushing back and forth through him. Elation that his plan had succeeded. Crushing guilt, that so many had died for that success. Fury at the Canim, at Kalarus, at the treacherous Lady Antillus, and fury, too, for Sari and his like, whose lust for power had killed so many Alerans and Canim alike. Sickness, nauseous sickness at the sight and scent of so much blood, so many corpses, cut down with steel or charred by the savage sunfire he'd had his Knights unleash on the enemy. Giddiness that he had, against difficult odds, survived the past several days. And... realization.