We all froze and tensed, waiting for our own attack, but it never came.
“Jax and Cal,” is all Lex said.
“Should we break off and go help?” Sol asked. I shook my head.
“No, they’re trained for this. Stick to the plan,” I gritted out, even as my own worry overtook my thoughts.
We moved quicker now, covering more ground in the next minute than we had in the previous five. Suddenly, shapes moved out of the darkness from either side of the street, a line of fire stopped us in our tracks as it extended across the entire street and through the buildings on either side. I heard shouts of pain and smelled burning flesh, the line of fire clearly extending to where the fight was happening in the residential sectors of town.
I sent up a quick prayer that it was the rebels who were burned and not my own Mages.
Lex, Sol, and I took an instinctive step back from the fire, only to feel a second line trap us from behind. The fire burned hot and sweat started to course down my back and over my brow. I strained through the first line of fire, searching for the Mage using their power, but couldn’t see one.
As I was searching, three figures approached, their faces and features clear in the glow of the flames.
The first man was tall with sharp cheekbones and intelligent hazel eyes. His blond hair was cut close on the sides and left longer on top.
He looks so familiar.I tried to place his face, but kept drawing a blank, like the memory I wanted was rightthere, but just out of grasp. I growled infrustration, and the blond man smiled, a wicked and cunning thing that had goosebumps appearing on my body.
Who is he?
My thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of two other equally wicked looking men at each of his elbows. One was clearly an Earth Mage—his size alone gave him away—and he looked half-crazed, his eyes were wild, and he vibrated with the energy in the air. The second man was smaller and lithe, with an air of wickedness about him. He had close-cropped black hair with eyes to match and, when he smiled, he revealed file-sharpened teeth. Sol drew in a breath through her teeth at the revelation, which only caused his predatory smile to widen and the purple-hued magic of Pain to flare around him.
These men aren’t average rebels.I was suddenly thrown by that thought. For some reason, the Last Keeper sent her commanders here.
But why?More than ever we needed to bring a prisoner back to Vespera with us. Alois needed to spend some . . . time with them extracting information.
“General d’Alvey, what a pleasant surprise,” the blond man said. His voice was like pure honey and silk, his accent untraceable. “Though I can’t say it’s really a surprise at all.” The other two men laughed, but it was a sinister sound.
“She told you we’d be here, I imagine?” I kept my tone as light as possible, not wanting to provoke the unhinged men.
The blonde offered me a sharp smile. “Of course. She saw the possibilities, most of which pointed to you all showing up. Which means one of the villagers must have escaped the farmlands. No matter, we’ll still leave here with what we came for.”
“Which is?” I prompted.
If I could keep him talking, we could maybe find a way out of this.I glanced at Lex, but he was already focused on something, clearly having the same thought process.
“Nowthatis information I will keep close to me, General. You, at least, will make it out of here alive. That much she has seen. There is a role for you to play yet.” The sounds of battle crashed around my little group and my heart jumped at the thought that my Mages might not make it out of here alive.
ThatImight be the only one leaving. And I couldn’t let that happen.
Suddenly, Pain Magic flashed from Lex’s hand and wrapped around the throat of the Earth Mage while Pleasure wrapped around the blond man. At the same time, Sol released a blast of Air Magic that encapsulated the Pain Mage on the other side.
Clever. Lex’s magic would have been negated by the other Pain Mage and Sol’s by the Earth Mage.
As quickly as their attacks landed, they just as quickly dissipated by a flick of the blond man’s wrist. Both Lex and Sol were left gasping as if he had pulled their magic from them.
He tsked as he lowered his hand.
“No, I don’t think so.”
How can he do that?I schooled the shock that was clearly written on my face, just as Mages burst through attached alleyways. I did a quick head count and saw that the majority, if not all of my Mages were still living.
The blond man growled suddenly and motioned for each of the two men to engage. The Earth Mage made his way toward Jax while the Pain Mage turned toward Cal. I also motioned for Lex and Sol to follow as best as they could. I felt, more than saw, the battle rage around me. Air from Sol and our other Air Mage ruffled my hair and sent the flames into a tizzy while droplets of water hit my face and clothes from Water Magic attacks. All the while shouts and screams echoed about, I even heard the rasp of metal on metal at one point.
Still, the blond man and I stared at each other.
“You could end this all right now, you know, General? Just use that power that thrums through your veins.”
