Blount charged Evylin, slashing with his hands, sending out shadows, waves, and torrents of all other magic. Evylin dodged them, some with more success than others. She sensed that her friends had procured weapons for themselves. Deckard took down several soldiers, and, finally, his and the others’ chains dissolved through his powers.
More Mages and soldiers pressed in around them. An eruption of Terrae magic blasted Rafferty across the marble floor to the foot of the dais. Ethenn defended Thom’s weak side, doing twice the work. Brea fought beside Vayden, both of them wielding the broadswords of fallen Waulden soldiers.
Heat and burning flesh seared the air. Ilain appeared beside Evylin, her hands raised. A flame roared toward Blount, but he lifted a hand, the Fire Relic flickering on his chest. He took hold of the fire and controlled it, rolling it inward on itself before turning it back to hurl at Ilain. The fireball hit her square in the chest, tossing the woman across the dais.
Obel stepped up, throwing a deep purple shadow surging toward Blount. Again, Blount controlled the attack with the added power of the Relics. “Traitor!” he accused, hurling the magic back at his godfather. “You were supposed to be withme.”
Obel barely deflected the shadow’s blow and was forced a step back. “Iwaswith you,” he shouted back. “Until I saw the man you’d become.”
“A god?”
“A tyrant like your father.”
Blount attacked with renewed fury. Deep amethyst shadows swirled around him, growing and undulating. They surrounded the dais, choking the rest of the room from sight. Evylin tried to dart closer to attack, but Blount’s control of the magic was toostrong. Any step she took, the shadows erupted, slamming into her and sending her reeling backward.
Obel tried to fight at her side, but he was now the focus of Blount’s attacks. Shadow after shadow pummeled the duke. He threw his hands up to block the attacks. But one slipped past his defenses, striking him like a whip. He shuddered against the pain.
“Eve.” Rafferty popped up beside Evylin, a singular knife in his hand. The blade was bloody, and his face was splattered with gore. Yet, he wore a bright smile.
Evylin and he ducked behind the throne as Blount’s shadows lashed out at them. “I’m a little busy, Raff,” she said. “Did you need something?”
“It’s more thatyouneed something,” Rafferty said with a wily grin.
Blount’s Mages appeared through the shadows. Evylin and Rafferty jumped up, dodging the sudden fresh onslaught of magic. She grimaced as a bolt of Day slammed into her shoulder. She twisted, flicking her dagger toward the Mage. It landed in the precise center of his throat. Blood spurted from the wound as Evylin called the blade back.
“Here,” Rafferty said, pulling a hand from his pocket. He tossed a small, glittering object toward Evylin.
The gold pendant hit Evylin’s hand. Instantly, it transformed. The onyx blade of the Space sword rippled with power, filling Evylin with a renewed sense of energy. A surge of magic swept through her, and Deckard’s magic swelled in response across the throne room. She didn’t have long to appreciate it as the Mages continued their attacks.
With Rafferty at her side, Evylin dashed forward through the violet and amethyst shadows around them. They slashed and sliced. At close range, the Mages weren’t nearly as dangerous. They struggled to create bursts of magic large enough to inflicttrue damage. Evylin and Rafferty dispatched them easily, their months of teamwork turning them into a frightful force.
“How did you get this?” Evylin asked, spinning away from a crackling flame.
“Your noble husband isn’t quite as boring as he seems.” Rafferty dropped to a crouch, hamstringing one of the Mages before he was even aware of his presence. “He teleported the bloody thing right into my pocket when we entered the throne room. A contingency plan, he called it.”
Evylin slashed with the glittering sword. “Remind me to kiss him later.”
“It’s me who deserves your thanks.”
“Then remind me to kiss you later too.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
As the last Mage crumpled, Evylin turned to find Ilain fighting at Obel’s side. But Blount was still too strong, the Relics granting him vast wells of power. The pendants glowed around his neck. Flashes of red, yellow, blue, purple, gray, white, and green filled the shadows around him like colorful lightning strikes. His attacks were so fierce that all Ilain and Obel could do was defend themselves.
Evylin raced forward, but she wasn’t fast enough.
In one coiling purple shadow, Blount’s magic slammed into Obel and Ilain with more power than Evylin had ever seen. Its force was like the bomb at Renaul’s estate, rocking the very ground under her feet. The Alliance Mages tumbled away through the air. Obel crashed into the throne, landing against the base. He didn’t move, either unconscious or...
Ilain flew clear off the dais, crashing hard against the tile floor. Evylin heard a sickeningcrackas her head slammed on the marble. Vayden and Ethenn called out, even as they continued to fight. With the Waulden soldiers and Magessurrounding the troop, only Evylin and Rafferty were near enough to check on the woman.
Evylin left the task to him.
Charging up the steps, Evylin brandished the Space sword. Blount sent a gust of wind laced with the shadow of Night. Pointlessly, Evylin slashed the sword out. But to her surprise, the blade caught the magic, absorbing it.
Blount took a step back in surprise. “You little liar,” he seethed. “You do have it.”
Feeling the heat of Deckard’s magic creeping up her arms, Evylin’s vision darkened once more. “I lied about a lot of things.” A tingle worked across her skin as Space magic coiled around her. “A vice I picked up from my husband.”
