The Heart Forger (The Bone Witch #2)(82)
And then it was my turn to drop, the pain unbearable. I had dizzying visions, all juxtaposed on top of one another: an image of Kalen in front of me; an image of the azi in the air, roaring and veering off course; an image of Fox on his knees like I was, clutching at the scars on his chest and howling in pain; and an image of swamp water and marsh and of scale-tipped claws.
“Fox!” I gasped out. “Take me back to Fox!”
Kalen needed no explanation. He was already on his horse with me in his arms before I’d finished my sentence, Chief cantering behind us.
Zoya and Inessa were administering to Fox. My brother was breathing hard, his heartsglass wavering between silver and green. It was the first time I had ever seen it change color. His shirt was stained red.
“What’s wrong with him?” Baoyi asked in alarm, riding up to us. “Who attacked?”
“No one.” Inessa had a death grip on Fox’s hand and was on the verge of tears. “He just collapsed.”
I tore Fox’s shirt open. His wounds had opened up and were bleeding profusely.
I traced the Bloodletting rune in the air, to no effect. Desperate, I dove into his mind and staggered back from the overwhelming pain there.
“What’s happened to him?” Zoya asked grimly.
“He has some connection to the savul.” I turned back toward the lake, allowing the new, strange mind into my own. The savul might have been good at camouflage, but Fox’s unexpected link to the daeva was my only chance at detecting it.
It was there; basic, primal thoughts I could sense but could neither touch nor influence and a vision of something dark and foreboding rising to the surface of the lake.
The savul broke through the surface, screaming. While it was the color of the blue waters it had jumped out of, it shifted to a spectrum of olive greens when it landed among the grass. It was corpulent as wide as a barn, its massive fishlike scales shining.
Lightning shot out of Kalen’s hands, peppering the creature’s hide. It hissed in anger, turning to face him.
“Get the princess and the emperor out of here!” Zoya yelled to the army, most of whom were staring at the savul in horror. Tansoong was the first to act, grabbing Emperor Shifang’s hand and leading him away, shouting at the guards around them to follow, though he was quaking so hard, it was a wonder he managed to remain upright.
“No!” Inessa refused to relinquish her hold on Fox. “I’m not going!”
“Princess!” Zoya shouted. “Stop being a twit and go with the soldiers!”
But the girl shook her head doggedly, lifting my brother to his feet and staggering under his weight.
I put myself between her and the savul; I could touch its mind, but try as I might, I could do nothing to commandeer its thoughts, which stood heavy and putrid against my own. I could feel Fox’s pain through our bond, but I gritted my teeth and forced my way through it. My best chance at helping him was to attack the savul first.
Zoya had taken up defenses beside Kalen, fire shooting out from her fingertips as she spun runes as large as she was, sending torrents of flames upward. But despite all their efforts, the savul simply shook off the excesses and cawed mournfully at the sky. It leaped into the air, its six limbs extending like a twisted, grotesque toad’s, and landed on one of the soldiers unfortunate enough to be in its way. There was a sickening crunch, and the creature’s head lowered, prepared to enjoy its feast.
“It’s not working!” Zoya hollered.
I turned toward the sky. I could feel the thrum of the wind underneath the azi’s spread wings as it closed the distance.
The savul turned to look, almost quizzically, at my brother on the ground and at the princess still clinging to him. It took a step toward us and then another.
“Zoya, take them away,” I said through gritted teeth, trying to sort out all the different contrary perspectives running through my head as I wove more Compulsion. But the runes did nothing, and the savul continued its inexorable trek toward us, yellow eyes filled with malice.
One of the soldiers beside Inessa turned, his eyes suddenly blank. He lifted his sword, and both the princess and Zoya were too busy watching the daeva to realize the danger.
“Look out!” I screamed, tearing myself away from the savul and redirecting the Compulsion swiftly into the man’s mind. I found the exact same barrier that had stymied me back in Kion when the Odalian soldiers had attacked the city.
Before the blow could fall, a hand reached up, gripping the blade of the sword. Blood flowed down his arm, but Fox was relentless, ripping the blade away. The soldier staggered back, and Fox punched him, hard enough that he was out in an instant.
Don’t worry about me, Tea! Focus on the savul!
Zoya dragged both Princess Inessa and Fox away, leaving me to face the approaching daeva. “Some of the soldiers are being controlled!” I yelled behind me, and she understood. A few more soldiers, eyes glazed over and swords raised, were already ambling toward Inessa and Fox but were thrown back several feet by a surge of Hurricane and a quick weave of Zoya’s fingers.
“Tea!” I could hear Kalen yelling, but I refused to budge, concentrating on the solitary speck in the sky flying above us, growing closer and closer until—
The savul lunged forward with its serpentlike tongue extended and jaws open to reveal several rows of brown teeth. And then Kalen was there, grabbing me and angling his body so his back was exposed to the savul, Shield runes popping up around us.