Hexed and cursed, bruised and broken
What comes first, the dark words spoken
The veil is torn, the spells diminished
Mage firstborn, the final finish.
Phaines drops to his knees before me, holding up his hands.
“You have betrayed me,” I say to him. Calm. Collected. Commanding.
“Never, Dark One. I am only trying to claim the spell for you.”
“It is not yours to claim, Priest.” My eyes go wide, and now I raise my voice. “Usurper, divider, betrayer, betrayed! All who deceive me shall be repaid!”
Phaines trembles, holding his hands in front of his face.
Holy shit, and I totally made up that last verse too. What a dickless coward!
I’m trying to think up another creepy-sounding chant when I catch something moving in the distance. Overhead, a shadow glides in front of the moon. And when I look up, I see him.
My owl. My gleaming, powerful, beautiful owl. He’s alive.
Phaines sees him too. Whether he believes me now is irrelevant.
I no longer believe him.
He grabs the books, the chalice, his blade. And then, without another word, vanishes into the mist.
My head slumps forward.
Third rule of survival: deal with the most pressing problem first.
Well, Phaines is gone, no longer bleeding me. But he’s got the books. He knows what they contain, even if he can’t yet see it. The real Dark Oneisout there, biding his time. My healing has slowed, my energy completely drained, half of my blood soaking into the dusty ground, and I still can’t move my damn arms or legs.
The owl has vanished once again. Maybe he was never there at all.
No one knows where I am.
I laugh.Ah, life. What a fucking joke.
Guess it won’t be Mother Nature taking me out after all.
* * *
“Over here! Hurry!”
A flurry of voices, all of them talking at once.
“She’s hurt!” This from Baz.
“Cut her down,” Kirin orders.
“On it.” Gentle hands cutting my binds, Ani’s perpetual warmth pulsing over me, promising things will
My body slumping into a pair of strong arms, a blanket wrapped around my tightly.
Water held to my lips.
