But the fireball did not strike my shield like a normal projectile and bounce off or dissipate. Instead, it seeped into my shield like liquid fire, and I felt all that explosive powertransferinto it. Pressure built so quickly that I was almost drained before realizing that magic was siphoning my power into the shield. And now the shield was ready to detonate. The longer I tried to protect the people who were seeking safety beneath, the more power it bled from me and the more explosive the shield became…
The realization settled in my stomach with an acidic dread that made me feel sick.
Sage had asked me to stay close to his people to keep them safe… and now I was about to kill them all…
Sage… I am so sorry! I love you! I thought to him.
Then I let go of the shield before it could become any more explosive and began to channel healing magic into the people around me. I had to at least try…
No…I heard Sage’s guttural denial as Pyrope pushed me to the ground and covered me with her massive body. Just as my shield became a weapon to magnify the very destruction it had been meant to protect against.
And detonated with catastrophic force.
Chapter forty-nine
SOMETHING TRULY ANCIENT
Nuala
Ifelt a prickle of intuition that made me turn my head from the Fuath that were trying to get by us to attack the bridge behind. Next to me, Rian continued to wield magic seamlessly as if he would never tire, but I was starting to sweat from the exertion.
We were not with the rest of the southern section of the army because the magic we used was too dangerous in close proximity to others. Instead, Rian had stationed us right in the thick of the monstrous tide where we thinned their numbers before they clashed with his army.
I turned, trusting Rian’s shields to deflect any arrows or spears thrown at me. I could have sworn something glimmered in the darkness of the eastern fields.
I was about to tell Rian, but then an enormous fireball appeared as if from thin air and hit the eastern troops.
“Rian!” I shouted, but I could tell he’d already seen it. He froze for a moment like he was listening to something before he turned back toward the Fuath. With one pulse of power emanating from him, the enemies around us were suddenly obliterated by the black shrapnel of his magic.
“Come on,” he urged as he grabbed my hand to pull me into a portal after him.
We stepped through into the chaos of Ciaran and Sage, completely surrounded, fighting back-to-back with both of their vargr. Rian flattened their foes in a second, which drew an annoyed sigh from Ciaran.
“Where did that missile come from?” Rian demanded, clearly not in the mood to loiter. I supposed that I should be relieved not to be the only one he was short with.
“We are not sure,” Sage admitted.
“Ornella is convinced—” Ciaran began, but he was cut off by screams as another fireball appeared in the sky above us. This time I could hear the roar and crackling of flames as it soared over to strike the army behind us.
Just before it would have hit the ground, I saw a large blue dome form beneath it, which I knew to be Ornella. But rather than burst apart or fizzle out, the massive ball of fire seemed to be absorbed right into Ornella’s shield, melting into it like it had turned into a liquid.
I flinched when a sudden flash of explosive desolation flooded my mind with screaming fey and the aftermath of an ashen crater in the earth.
“What is that?” breathed Ciaran just before all three of the men stiffened with the same knowing I’d just had.
I looked up, dreading what I would see, but watched as the blue dome slowly turned red and began to vibrate.
“Summer,” Sage gasped with a sort of fear in his voice that was unlike anything I had ever heard before.
Rian pulled me against him seconds before the shield completelydetonated, and even at such a great distance, the ground shook hard enough to send us to our knees.
A moment of silent horror befell the whole battlefield for several gut-wrenching heartbeats as debris thrown up from the explosion pelted the earth. And then the faraway screams of anguish and fear began to pierce the night.
It had all happened so fast, just seconds, but the effect had been catastrophic.
Sage almost seemed drunk as he stumbled to his feet, like there was no real feeling in his body as he fumbled. But he managed to form a portal that would no doubt take him straight into the burning and ashen desolation.
“Fuck,” Ciaran choked as he pushed himself upright and ran after Sage into the portal that had been left open. They were followed by both of their vargr.
