Scorched Treachery (Imdalind, #3)(68)

“Nonono,” Edmund taunted. “Remember, he dies first, and then you die, and if I am not mistaken, Timothy still lives.”

Edmund and his games, I should have known better. I should have expected this. I was a fool to have hesitated. My father should have been dead by my hand. The fact that he wasn’t, and that there was some way he had lived through his fall was mildly disturbing.

My jaw clenched, my eyes glaring at him for a moment before moving back to look at where Cail lay on the bed. Choose light, Sain had said. What was he thinking? Light and dark, I thought I had chosen correctly. Had I really chosen the wrong path? I wanted to say no, but I could hear the footsteps of Edmund’s army surrounding us, and I felt Sain cower by my feet, his practically useless magic no help to me.

That was fine. I had enough power for both of us.

I narrowed my eyes at Edmund, my lips turning up in eager anticipation. I felt the army surround us as their magic surged through the stone. The large stone cavern was now protected from every angle, trapping us in place.

For the moment.

Forgive me, Cail.

I surged my magic into the rock I stood on, sending Sain into the air as I tapped my toes to the ground, a deep rumble spreading out away from me like a ripple on water. The rock shifted as it opened up and swallowed those around me to the waist before solidifying again and trapping them in the stone. I didn’t wait, I knew I only had a matter of minutes to use this diversion, and we needed all the head start we could get. I took off into the air, grabbing Sain around the waist and cutting our bodies through the air toward the exit.

I heard the yells and explosions behind us as the rock I had trapped everyone in, was blown apart, releasing those I had trapped from their temporary prison.

“Wynifred!” I felt the ripple of Edmund’s magic travel through the air behind me, my body turning as I dodged, afraid of what the magical current he had placed in his words might do to us.

It was too late anyway, I had gained the time I needed. There was only one way in and out of these caves, through the gate. You couldn’t even stutter in entrance or exit, Ilyan had seen to that.

The massive reflective carving that served as the gate into the underground circuit of caves towered above us – the large man sitting astride his horse, surrounded by a large intricate arch.

I angled us toward the carving, toward what appeared to be a wall of solid rock. Without stopping, I pulled us through the rock and into the large canyon on the other side, right into a large group of tourists that had hiked through the moss-covered trench to see the mirror image of the carving that we had just passed through.

Shouts of surprise echoed around us as a few tourists at the front witnessed our miraculous appearance from the stone.

I pulled Sain behind me as I plunged into the thickening crowd of tourists, the initial shouts drawing others from nearby. I didn’t care about their mortal worries right now, I had bigger problems right on my heels. Of those that had seen us appear, many stepped away in fear, while others came closer, their curiosity bringing them dangerously close and slowing our progress. I glared at each of them, unleashing the full anger of my eyes on them.

We were attracting too much attention, and I knew Edmund and the guards he had left were not far behind us. I shielded us quickly, the decision only causing more screams of fright to echo round the dark stone of the canyon as we disappeared from view.

I moved us through the horde of tourists that had congregated around the ancient carving at the end of the damp canyon. The carving was known as the dwarves door to the tourists but was known as the gates of Imdalind to my kind. It was those gates I needed to seal.

At this point, I did not care about the upset I caused. If I had, I might have been more careful, but my only goal was to get us in position before Edmund could find us. I needed him out of the cave before I could block the opening and seal him away from the wells of Imdalind. I pushed people out of the way, causing more fear as people reacted to being manhandled by an invisible entity.

We reached the end of the line of tourists and moved around the edges of the crowd back to the side of the ornate carving we had just emerged from.

My heart thumped in anticipation as I locked my jaw. The tourists had begun to settle down, forgetting what they had seen quickly, as is the case with magic, their fully mortal brains unable to process what had happened. There were a few others, the ones with un-awakened abilities in their blood, who were still so worked up that they were lingering on the edge of panic.

I watched and waited, trying to control my breathing as I placed my hands against the rock face. My magic surged under my skin, the pulse of my magic matching the hectic beat of my heart. I felt the magic surge as it prepared to burn the rock and destroy the portal. I needed to find him first.

It was only a matter of minutes before I caught sight of him, my chest tightening at seeing Edmund in the middle of the crowd. He had appeared there, having shielded himself to get through the gate, but unable to maintain his cloak as he moved through the panicking tourists. Edmund was out. Timothy and my brother were still inside.

I narrowed my eyes and let my magic surge, filling the rock behind me with the heavy fire magic, the rock melding and morphing as I urged it to shift. I was careful to keep the labyrinths of mazes intact, careful to keep Cail safe. I moved the rock until I was sure I had covered the entrance, hoping to block Edmund from the wells of Imdalind. Of course, I was also trapping Cail inside, and I was leaving Talon’s body behind.