The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 2 Blood Honor and Dreams (38 page)

It was only fair that he have these weapons
on his ship. He had, after all, helped his father perfect the
method of making them. The premise behind them was so simple he was
amazed that no one else had thought to implement it. Simple runes
lined the inner barrel, trapping air and gradually increasing the
pressure. When activated, the air released, shooting whatever
ammunition one had on hand, flying at terrifying speed toward the
chosen target. Overall it was easily countered with wards of
protection, if one used normal ammunition that is. Shade however
had no intention of using mundane ammunitions.

He stood quickly, his decision made. Within
moments, he had his tool box and the weapons case outside. If he
worked quickly he could have all the weapons mounted and
functioning by morning, and he had a feeling he would need all of
them. A moment’s hesitation gave him pause as he considered the
implications of weapons on his ship. Once he took her into battle,
The Shade
would be branded as much as he himself was.
Strange that the thought of dying as an outlaw didn’t faze him
nearly as much as the thought of his ship being destroyed. He let
loose a long sigh and shook his head. He didn’t have time for this
if Remedy was going to be rescued.

Sanctuary

Jala barely dodged as the fire grazed past
her shields. She had failed the counter spell entirely and hadn’t
had time to deflect it. A loud concussive boom resounded off the
wall behind her as the full force of the Flame bolt struck it. She
heard Neph mutter a curse and prepared herself for the ranting that
would follow. With a heavy sigh she moved back into position and
shifted back into a ready stance.

“Could you explain where your mind is
wandering to, today?” Neph snapped as he glowered at her. A glower
on Neph’s handsome face was as intimidating as Finn with drawn
swords. The combination of his tall muscular frame and his black
leathers already granted him enough menace without the dark
expression. He shook his head in disgust and ran a hand through his
tousled blond hair. While in others that action usually signified
frustration, in Neph it signified his temper was extremely
frayed.

“Did you know Finn is dueling?” she asked,
guessing that would satisfy him and he wouldn’t press her further.
In truth it was a combination of many things - Finn dueling, Finn’s
association with Hemlock, and her concern for Emily. She hadn’t
heard from the Blight all afternoon and even Marrow didn’t know
where the child was.

“The entire fucking city knows Finn is
dueling. Since he killed Kithkanon, it has become fashionable to
watch him kill people,” Neph growled and paced back a few more
steps. “We are going to try something a bit rougher on you. Check
your shields and make sure they are good,” he ordered and flexed
his hands limbering the fingers.

Obediently she checked her spell shields and
nodded, once she was satisfied they were still up and holding well.
“What do you have in mind?” she asked, already guessing she
wouldn’t like the answer.

“A legitimate fight. No more of this tossing
things gently at you. If you are determined to be distracted
tonight, I’ll remind you why you need to focus on me. Recite the
three rules for me,” Neph said, his voice still harsh with
annoyance.

“Use the opposite of your opponent’s spell
for the best effect,” she said calmly. That had been Neph’s first
lesson and it was drilled so far into her mind that she would never
forget it. If someone so much as lit a cigarette near her now she
had a water spell ready. “Counter the spell if you can, rather than
deflecting,” she continued. That too was heavily ingrained in her
from the few deflections she hadn’t gotten quite right. If you
didn’t master the angle with perfection the spell could still graze
you and certain spells hurt even if you did have shields up. Force
magic, for example, one of Neph’s favorite weapons, would hit you
like a club with or without a shield.

“And? Are you planning to take half the night
to recite it?” Neph snapped again and she frowned at him.
Apparently his temper was very frayed and surely it wasn’t all from
her being distracted. She was almost always distracted with
something and he never got this upset over it.

“Is something wrong Neph?” she asked in
concern.

“Beyond the fact that you haven’t recited the
final rule?” he growled and motioned with his hand for her to
continue.

“Use the simplest magic possible. No one ever
expects something simple and it will save your energy,” she
finished, still watching his expression which hadn’t lessened from
a scowl in the least.

“Ready?” he asked, as a bolt of lightning
erupted from his hand.

Startled Jala blinked and then hastily
deflected the spell at the last moment. The edge of the bolt grazed
her shield and she felt her muscles contract briefly. Neph had
never attacked without being sure she was ready before. She opened
her mouth to speak and realized he was already throwing another
bolt. Apparently there wasn’t going to be a respite here.

Do not think so much. React to him, don’t
analyze him
, Marrow said.

“React to him,” Jala repeated quietly as she
deflected the next bolt as well and felt the lightning energy
course through her again. Her muscles clenched once more and she
fought down the wave of pain. With a deep breath she began her
first spell and tried to focus on instincts instead of rational
thought. Fire coursed down her fingers as she hurled the Flame bolt
at Neph’s head and she felt her irritation grow as the mage
countered it easily.

“Pathetic,” Neph muttered, his next two
spells already rushing toward her. The first was a Force bolt,
impossible to see beyond a shimmer in the air. The second, close on
its heels was an Ice bolt. No opposite magic for the first spell
then.

She fumbled the counter on the first one and
the force bolt hit her directly in the center. Her shield held but
she was still knocked back several feet, her sandaled feet digging
grooves in the loose sand. Pain lanced through her ribs from the
impact but she kept her focus and managed to counter the Ice bolt
just before it hit. Her victory however was short-lived as Neph
already had another spell on the way. It was easy to understand how
he had won the mage duels at the Spring Games so many years in a
row. Despite what he had said, she knew he was taking it easier on
her than he did other opponents.

Stop thinking so much
! Marrow scolded
once more.

Jala frowned and hastily countered Neph’s
latest assault and tried once again to quiet her thoughts. With the
rate he was throwing spells, she wasn’t sure how she was going to
get a spell in edgewise. She was barely managing to counter
them.

The ground beneath her dropped suddenly and
she felt her heart lurch. Frantically she cast a levitate and felt
Neph’s Force bolt hit her hard from above forcing her down into the
crater he had made. Spots danced before her eyes from the impact
and she felt her shields falter. Desperately she tried to regain
her focus as another Force bolt hit her in the chest smashing her
back against the dirt. Her shields collapsed entirely and her
temper flared. Neph had never been so brutal before and he wasn’t
even letting her catch her breath between hits. At this rate she
would be laying on one of Rose’s healing tables by morning. With a
snarl she spit dirt from her mouth and tried to ignore the protests
from her injured body.

“Cassia would slaughter you in a duel,” Neph
called as two more Ice bolts hurtled toward her.

He is right
, Marrow agreed sadly and
her temper snapped.

With another snarl, she countered the bolts
without a second thought and sent a series of Windblades flying
toward Neph. Of all of the battle spells Neph had taught her so
far, the Windblade was her favorite. They were hard to spot and
lethally effective. The razor thin sheets of compressed air were by
far one the most dangerous spells she had to call upon. Moving
forward she threw spell after spell as he had done to her. Ice bolt
and then Flame bolt followed with a flurry of Windblades. With luck
she would keep him as off balance as he had her for the first part
of the fight. She felt her pulse quicken as she pressed him and a
sense of euphoria washed over her. Her fingers flexed and twisted
with each complicated casting and it was like a dance for her. He
returned fire with far less frequency than he had and she countered
the spells as they neared not bothering to raise her shields again.
She didn’t need shields, this was her calling, to fight. To kill.
The thought froze her in mid cast and Neph’s next spell hit her
hard sending her crashing to the Arena floor. Her mind fogged as
pain lanced through her chest and shoulder. Without shields it was
a wonder the spell hadn’t killed her with that direct of a hit.

“Fuck, Jala, what happened? I thought you had
finally found the trance and then you just froze!” Neph demanded as
he dropped to the ground beside her and began patting her shoulder
roughly.

I’m on fire, she realized dimly and nodded
stupidly at the realization. That would explain why it hurts so
bloody much. She tried to summon words to answer him but her voice
caught in her throat. Spots danced before her eyes and the massive
white walls of the arena seemed to blur, blending momentarily with
the twilight sky. She blinked rapidly, trying to focus and the sky
shifted once more above her.

“Jala, can you hear me?” Neph asked, his
expression growing frantic.

She nodded faintly and gasped for air, her
throat felt raw. I must have had my mouth open before it hit, she
realized slowly. A low moan escaped her lips and the sound sent
lances of pain through her.

“Can you heal yourself or do I need to get
Rose?” he asked, staring down at her, a faint sheen of panic hid in
the deep blue depths of his eyes.

“I …,” she began but broke off as the word
tore at her throat. Her gaze was locked on the sky above and the
clouds that refused to return to normal. She blinked again,
wondering if she could heal her eyes if needed as unfocused as she
was.

Shall I fetch Rose
? Marrow asked. He
was beside her she realized and wondered how she had failed to
notice a three hundred pound cat approach.

Slowly she shook her head, “No,” and
instantly regretted the movement. She took a deep breath and called
on the healing magic sending it coursing through her charred flesh.
A wave of dizziness washed over her as the worst of the pain faded.
No matter how hard she tried she could not tear her gaze from the
sky. With effort, her breathing slowly returning to normal.

“Neph,” she said, her voice quavering. She
forced her eyes to meet his.

The mage was staring down at her with a bit
of glassiness to his pale blue eyes. He was biting down hard on his
lower lip as he watched her. At the sound of her voice he leaned
closer, a bit of relief showing in his expression. “Yes? Damn it,
Jala, I’m sorry. I thought you had shields up,” his voice was rough
as he spoke.

She shook her head and waved a hand at him
dismissing his guilt. “Don’t worry about it, it was my fault,” she
said, her voice regaining some of its strength. “But Neph, is the
sky really turning red or do I need to repair damage to my eyes,”
she waved a hand feebly in the direction of the sky and watched as
the crimson colored clouds grew above her.

Neph blinked once and then looked up. She
watched silently as the blood slowly drained from his face. He
licked his lips and then looked back down at her quickly. Without
checking to see if the healing was complete, he looped an arm
behind her shoulders and picked her up. “We have to get to
Sovann’s,” he whispered, his gaze flicking once more to the
cloud.

“What does it mean?” she asked in complete
confusion. Neither Sovann or Neph had ever mentioned such a spell
to her before. Her mind slid back to Merro and a black cloud that
had been summoned with magic and she shuddered.

“It means the Barrier around Sanctuary has
been activated. I thought that thing was a fucking joke. I didn’t
realize it was real,” Neph explained as he carried her quickly
toward a transport arch.

“I can walk Neph,” she protested, but he
ignored her. With a sigh she looked down to Marrow who paced
quickly beside them.

What does that mean
?
Barrier on
Sanctuary, I don’t understand
, Marrow said with worry in his
voice.

“I don’t know,” she replied and looked up to
Neph’s pale face. The Mage normally had a fair complexion but at
the present moment he looked like an albino. “Neph, what does that
mean?”

“It means the Justicars are entirely in
control of the city right now, but I don’t understand how it
happened. As far as I understood from the legends, the Barrier
needs the consent and signet rings of a majority of the council.
Even counting all of their votes and the few that might have sided
with them there aren’t enough to raise the Barrier,” Neph explained
and slid to a stop by the archway.

Carefully he lowered her to the ground but
kept one arm on her shoulder as he activated the transport. Marrow
pushed in quickly against her leg and the familiar sense of vertigo
washed over her as they reappeared in the Merro district.

“What does it do? The Barrier, that is,” she
asked, her gaze once again rising to the cloud that was now mostly
covering the city. It seemed to roil above them like a
thunderstorm, the crimson fog pulsing as if alive.

Neph was staring upwards as well and his
voice was faint when he spoke. “It prevents leaving the city by any
means. We can’t escape by magic or spell hawk, or even a ship if we
wanted to risk the Serpents. We are effectively trapped here with
Lord Commander Kellis in complete control. The Barrier will weaken
our magic Jala. It will weaken our spells and feed the energy to
the Justicars. The Barrier was designed with the idea that the
Justicars would be protecting the city and wouldn’t be
corrupt.”