The Heart Forger (The Bone Witch #2)(83)

Master.

With a loud wail, the azi landed, one of its heads biting savagely into the savul’s neck before it could strike us, sending deep-ocher-colored blood spurting up from the wound. With a horrible cry, the beast fell back, righting itself before turning to face the new threat.

“Are you OK?” Kalen whispered against my hair.

I nodded, fighting off my dizziness. The confusing perspectives were now down to only two—my own and that of the three-headed dragon before us. “You idiot. Why did you…?” He couldn’t have known that the azi was on its way. And yet he…

“Because you make me careless, Tea.” He punched out more Shield runes that glowed in the air as more of the blank-eyed soldiers turned. “What’s happening to them?”

“Same as in Kion. There are seeking stones here.” I wove Strangle this time, still keeping my eyes on the azi and savul, who continued to watch each other. I’ve never seen daeva fight each other before, and I didn’t know what to expect.

The runes took hold, and I found a glow inside one of the soldiers approaching Inessa and Fox. With all the strength I could summon, I poured everything I had into shattering that light. It broke, dissipating from view, but the soldier gasped. He stumbled forward, blood pouring out of his mouth, and collapsed.

I watched him fall, stunned, and tried to move forward. Kalen pulled me back. “Focus on your pet, Tea!”

“But…”

The azi hissed. Its three heads threaded through the air and its wings extended, drawing to its full height and span. Not to be outdone, the savul squatted and let out a hoarse croaking sound, blowing up its body like a bullfrog’s. Its outline shimmered in the air, green scales becoming more and more translucent until, before our eyes, it faded from view.

“Camouflage!” I saw nothing, but the grass bent, web-shaped footprints stamping onto the ground, toward the azi. And then they stopped.

“It’s jumping!” I barreled into the azi’s mind. We swiveled to face the savul just as it reappeared, its scaly body slamming into us. I felt its talons rake into our body, and we cried out, both in pain and with rage.

We opened all three of our mouths and breathed firestorm onto the savul. It shrieked, the heat from the flames intense enough to burn its limbs and a goodly portion of its body. Runes didn’t work, I realized, but daeva could kill its own.

The air reeked of charred flesh and smoke, the stench burning our eyes. Our chest hurt, the wounds from where the savul had raked its talons pulsating with every heartbeat. I could still feel Fox’s pain as he struggled to defend himself and Inessa from the soldiers going after them. Inessa had yanked out a sword from one of the fallen and was training it on the approaching mob, trembling. “Get out of here!” Fox rasped.

“I’m not leaving you!”

Zoya successfully kept most of the Daanorians at bay, but I knew she was tiring quickly. Of the elemental runes, Wind required the most strength, and she’d been slamming dozens of soldiers into the ground with it.

I was conscious enough of my own body to know that Kalen still held on to my limp form. I could feel the power of the runes he was hammering in the air, following Zoya’s lead and pushing the soldiers away with more Wind. But he was tiring too.

“Tea, leave one of the stones untouched if you can! I’ve got an idea!” Zoya clapped her hands above her head, and a sinkhole opened underneath most of the men, sending them tumbling down.

“Copycat,” Fox murmured.

“I’m saving your ass, you ass!” Zoya had been around Polaire more often than she should have.

Kill, I told the azi, not wanting to prolong the fight and Fox’s pain, and we unleashed more torrents of fire in the savul’s direction. It avoided the onslaught, leaping high into the air again.

Its attack patterns told me the savul preferred close fighting, relying on its camouflage to get away unscathed. I kept ourselves still, one of our heads remaining immobile and presenting itself as an obvious target as the nearly invisible daeva descended toward us, its talons primed to strike. I shoved away my disgust and poured myself into the azi’s mind, anticipating the blow.

It never reached us. From behind the savul, both our other heads lashed out, jaws snapping at either side of the savul’s neck. A fountain of blood spurted into the sky.

The frog-like daeva squalled. It thrashed its nearly decapitated head frantically from side to side, but that did nothing to stop the torrent of russet-colored blood from flowing to the ground, staining and rotting everything it touched. The Daanorian soldiers stumbled back, clutching at their heads. The Compulsion surrounding them lifted briefly, and I could finally see the source: two of the men carried glowing orbs hidden within their clothes, and I wasted no time reaching for one with my mind and destroying it quickly.

“Over there!” I yelled at Zoya, pointing at the second man, and the asha moved with great speed. A small hurricane all but slammed the man to the ground, knocking him out.

I tried again. My Compulsion bored straight into the savul’s mind without any other interference. I could feel a part of it struggling still, furious that someone else had been given access to its brain.

And then, just as suddenly, I found myself punted out of its thoughts as the other presence occupying its head took back control.

Howling, the savul dissolved from view. I could hear it leaping, this time away from us, and just as quickly, its presence was gone.