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No. Weaken.
Azriel?
She’s right. It’ll weaken him. He paused. But it will also kill him if she goes too far.
His mental tones suggested this might not be such a bad thing. Anger rolled through me, but I ignored it. I had bigger battles to fight right now.
I stopped moving, drew my sword, and held her—point first—in front of me. Lilac flames began to roll down her sides, and her hissing became filled with anticipation.
Okay, Amaya, I said. Do what you have to do to drain his energy. But don’t kill him.
Kill not. It was somewhat begrudgingly said.
Her flames leapt from her shadowed blade, then raced across to the elemental and ran up one tree-trunk leg. Her lilac fire contrasted sharply against the red and gold flames of the elemental as she ringed the creature’s rotund belly. For several seconds nothing happened; then, as Amaya began to hum softly—almost contentedly—her steel began to vibrate and the flames around the creature’s stomach suddenly seemed less incandescent.
The creature never stopped moving, however, and the closer it got, the hotter it got, until I stood in the middle of a firestorm that tore at my hair and burned my skin. Until I felt as much a creature of fire as the one who was now only feet away from Amaya’s tip. And yet, for all that it burned, the creature’s heat didn’t destroy me, and this close, it should have. Whatever my sword was doing, it was working.
“Tao,” I screamed, more out of fear than any real need to raise my voice above the roar of the flames that swept around me. “You must get control of the elemental again.”
The creature growled—an ungodly sound that came from somewhere out of its flaming middle—and swiped at me. I didn’t move—I didn’t dare, lest I break the contact Amaya had with the elemental—but the blow never struck. It stopped inches from my ear, the heat of it singeing hair but not actually touching skin. The creature roared again, and this time, it was a sound of frustration. The vibration in Amaya’s steel grew stronger, and fingers of dullness were quickly spreading from the creature’s belly to the rest of its body.
If you’re going to touch the elemental, do so now, Azriel said, his voice barely hinting at the anger and concern I could feel within him. If Amaya drinks too much more of the creature’s power, she will kill both the creature and Tao.
Amaya, don’t, I warned.
Fun, she grumbled. You not.
I snorted softly, then, as the creature roared and took another swipe at me, raised my hand and caught the flaming paw. This time, my skin did burn, and I screamed.
Risa! Do not expect me to stand here and see you harmed—
I can, I cut in fiercely. And you will.
Closing my eyes, I gritted my teeth against the agony and the screams that pressed up my throat and gripped the fiery paw harder. For several seconds, nothing happened, and I began to wonder if Azriel was right. Maybe Tao was lost and I was burning my hand for absolutely no reason. Then, suddenly, my fingers were touching flesh rather than heat. I opened my eyes. The flames were receding—grudgingly, but retreating nevertheless—from the point where my fingers clasped Tao’s hand. His fingers twitched, then convulsed around mine, his grip fierce. It hurt like hell, but I didn’t say anything, biting my lip and blinking back tears as the flames continued to retreat, first up his arm and then across his shoulders, revealing his head and upper body.>An unpleasant tingle ran across my particles, a telltale sign that the wards were definitely working. I spun around and headed skyward, arrowing northwest, straight toward Macedon. There was no point in following the roads—not in this form, anyway.
I was going so fast, the streetlights were little more than vivid streaks. The wind buffeted my body, occasionally throwing me sideways, but I still made good time. Soon the lights of the civilization started giving way to longer patches of darkness as I moved from the city to the country. After a while, I found the Calder Freeway and started following it, simply because the elemental seemed to be. For several miles, there was nothing more than the occasional car zooming past; then, gradually, a deeper, richer glow began to show up on the horizon. It was slightly off the highway, walking through paddocks, flicking flames through the undergrowth and sparking more spot fires.
I sped up. The closer I got, the more certain I became that it was Tao. Or rather, the elemental. Fear slithered through me, but it was fear for my friend, not fear for me.
Soon a fiery form became visible. It was trunk shaped, with thick arms and legs and no head. It dripped fire as it moved, the molten globules sizzling as they hit the ground. The dark energy that rolled off the creature crawled through my particles, making them quiver in discomfort.
This is Tao, I reminded myself fiercely. He wouldn’t hurt me. I had to trust that, if nothing else.
I flew downward, shifting shape as I neared the ground. I landed on hands and knees and skidded forward, skinning my palms and ripping the knees out of my jeans. I cursed softly—more from the pain of those injuries than the incapacitating pain that usually followed such a shift—and forced myself upright. The abrupt movement had the world doing a brief three-sixty around me, but I ignored it and forced my feet forward. A heartbeat later, an all-too-familiar heat ran across my skin.
“I have no sense of Tao within that creature,” Azriel said, voice soft and holding little in the way of emotion.
“You may not sense him, but he’s still there somewhere.”
“If he attacks, you must defend yourself.”
“No.” I glanced at him. “And you won’t defend me, either.”
Anger flickered through his eyes, even though his expression was as remote as it had ever been. “It is my duty to protect you from all danger. That includes threats from friends.”
I stopped and swung around to fully face him. “If you even go near Tao, I’ll fucking attack you myself.”
“Tao is not in control of that being,” he all but growled. The fury he was barely showing washed through my mind, a whirlwind of heat that left me singed. “And he will attack you.”
