The Shadow Queen (Ravenspire, #1)(92)
She threw herself to the side, narrowly avoiding a woman who came at her with an ax clutched in one hand and a baby on her hip. Three men old enough to be grandfathers lunged at her from behind, and she flipped forward only to dive into a shoulder roll when a girl who couldn’t be older than twelve ran at her with a shard of metal in her hand.
Gabril and his family would be nearly at the castle by now. Kol’s mind was a cold, dark place that refused to acknowledge her.
And the crowd around her kept doubling in size as more people thronged to the cottage, makeshift weapons in their hands.
Lorelai needed a way out. Fast.
Someone knocked into her, and she rolled forward, coming up on her hands and knees, only to be sent sprawling by a well-aimed boot to her back.
She whirled to avoid a sword, and it plunged into the ground beside her face.
Before she could move, a woman fell on her, and then two more piled on, pinning Lorelai to the ground as they grappled for her neck.
Lorelai shoved her palms against the ground and screamed, “Pros`rashk!”
The grass caved inward, an enormous, mouthlike circle with Lorelai at its center, and then exploded outward like a giant exhaling a gale force wind.
The throng that had been closing in on Lorelai flew backward, crashing into the cottage, the fence, and the trees, and lying dazed.
Lorelai lunged to her feet, cringing at the injuries she saw. Blood. Some broken bones. And already, the crowd that had been on the fringes was climbing over their fallen comrades and coming for her—a solid wall of people in every direction.
She couldn’t afford another huge drain on her magic. Even when working with a willing heart, magic took its toll. She needed her energy for Irina.
Magic couldn’t save her, but she’d spent the last nine years of her life saving herself without ever relying on the power that ran through her blood.
She could handle this. She just had to think like a warrior. Use her surroundings. Be unexpected.
First, she needed to know how deep the crowds were and which direction she should flee. As the horde clambered over the injured and came for her, she locked her gaze on a thick red leaf maple that leaned toward the cottage’s roof.
At least ten people stood in the way, and there were no branches low enough to grab with her hands, but it would have to do.
Sasha, path. She sent an image of the tree, and her bird whirled away from the cluster of men she’d been keeping at bay and barreled toward the tree, skimming the ground and crashing into those who stood between Lorelai and the maple.
The princess raced toward the tree, hurtling over prone bodies and grabbing a man’s outstretched arms so she could push against him for leverage as she launched herself at the maple’s trunk. She struck the tree with her right foot and pushed up and out. Three more leaps and she’d reached the lowest branches.
Sasha circled overhead, eyeing the crowd that was now crushing themselves against the tree as they fought to climb over one another and follow Lorelai into the branches.
Lorelai climbed until she was nearly eye level with the cottage’s roof, the closest she could get before the branches became too slim to safely hold her weight, and then sidled out along a branch that was barely wide enough to allow her to keep her balance. Taking a deep breath, she judged the angle and then leaped for the roof.
She landed at the feet of a bespelled soldier.
He swung his sword, and she rolled to her left and straight into another soldier. More boots stood beside his, and when she craned her neck to take in the entire roof, her stomach dropped.
People were pouring onto the rooftop, using a twisted hemlock tree that grew close to the back porch. It was like Irina had seen what Lorelai was doing and had sent her bespelled army up the hemlock tree in a countermove that left Lorelai with very few options. She looked behind her to find an escape route.
Several peasants had clambered over the throng around the maple tree and were clinging to its trunk.
The yard below was so crowded, Lorelai couldn’t see a single blade of grass.
Even her survival skills couldn’t get her out of this. She was going to have to use magic and pray that she didn’t kill any innocent people, and that she didn’t have to overpower any hearts. She needed enough strength to face Irina before Gabril and his family died, and Kol was lost to her forever.
The man standing above her snatched her arms as she tried to spin away from him, and a woman who looked far too delicate to be so strong grabbed Lorelai’s feet. Together, they moved toward the edge of the roof while Lorelai fought and bucked against their hands. She couldn’t reach them with her palms. She couldn’t reach the roof either. Her magic burned, begging for release that was impossible to give.
Help! she sent to Sasha but before the gyrfalcon could dodge the host of sword-wielding soldiers that crowded the rooftop and get to Lorelai, a tremendous roar of fury shattered the air.
Lorelai twisted to look past her captors and saw an enormous dragon, black as ebony, sweep the roof, knocking soldiers flying with the force of its wings.
“Trugg!” Her breath was a sob of relief.
Her captors skidded toward the edge of the roof, and then Lorelai was airborne. She flew toward the ground, back first. Twisting, she tried to correct her trajectory, but then something hard and sharp snatched her arms and lifted her toward the sky. She looked up into the face of a very angry-looking silver dragon with black wings and a line of glistening black scales running down its spine and tail.