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Ground that was trembling. The snake was free and coming at me.
I scrambled upright, but my movements were slower, every muscle ached, and I wasn’t sure if the cause was hitting the tree, the freezing magic, or a combination of both.
It didn’t matter. Nothing would if I didn’t fucking get out of the basilisk’s way.
As I stumbled around the tree, magic rose. A heartbeat later, a sphere erupted from the darkness that hid Monty. It curled around the basilisk’s neck, then split in two and sped off in opposite directions, each end lashing itself to several trees.
The basilisk reacted violently to being roped, thrashing itself back and forth, its keening reaching fever pitch. The trees holding the leashes shivered and shook, and limbs exploded, sending deadly wooden shards spearing through the air.
This time, the trees would break before the magic did.
I swore, knelt, and called to the wild magic. The earth magic, rather than mine. It swept up from the ground and coursed through me, judging my need between one slowing heartbeat and the next.
Then it leapt away and flooded the trees with its strength. The shattering stopped, but that only increased the basilisk’s desperation. Once again, the magic that leashed it began to tear apart.
Eli’s voice was rising. The banishment spell was close to culmination. We just had to hold on. Just had to give him time.
Movement, fast movement, from my left.
Aiden, coming in fast, holding a long, thick bit of metal as if it were a javelin.
The basilisk’s head snapped his way, teeth bared, but I jumped up, shouting to gain its attention. The acid meant for Aiden streamed my way, and I leapt back behind the tree, a protection spell falling around me but not quite fast enough. A thin stream of dark liquid began to eat into the leather of my boot; I kicked it off and flung it away. The basilisk’s head followed the movement, and Aiden was in the air, the metal held high above his head. I watched, heart in my mouth, magic buzzing around my fingertips, as he landed on the creature’s thick neck and plunged the metal straight through the basilisk’s brain.
It reared up and shook its head violently from side to side, tossing Aiden from its back. He tumbled through the air but landed on his feet, running hard as the basilisk tried to squash him with its tail.
Then Eli finished the banishment spell.
The basilisk’s body began to vibrate, its scales rippling, shifting, separating, becoming smoke that was swiftly sucked into the void the banishing spell had created behind it. It drove its fangs into the ground in a desperate effort to hang on, but the disintegration continued unchecked, sweeping up its body, tearing it apart scale by scale, until there was nothing left but fangs stuck in the ground.
Then they too were gone, swept back to whatever hell it had been called from.
I dropped my head to my chest. We’d done it. We’d survived.
Soft steps approached, and I knew without looking up it was Aiden. He squatted in front of me and grabbed my hands, his gaze sweeping me, full of concern. “Are you okay? I thought for a moment that the basilisk might have caught your gaze.”
“It did, but the sunglasses successfully diluted the power of it.” I reached up and tugged them off. “I’m fine.”
He didn’t look convinced. I smiled and touched his cheek with a grubby hand. “When the basilisk disappeared, the effects of his gaze did also. I really am fine.”
“Good.” He paused. “Does this mean everyone else who survived its gaze will similarly recover?”
I nodded and held out a hand. “Help me up.”
He clasped my hand, pulled me upright, then tugged me into his arms. He smelled of sweat and caring, and it was the sweetest scent ever.
“You do realize,” he said, “that you scared the goddamn life out of me when you stood in front of that basilisk armed with only water.”
“Notonlywater. I did have a knife.”
“Which you didn’t use.”
His voice was dry, and I smiled. “That knife would barely have gotten through its scales. Besides, using it would have meant getting even closer, and I didn’t think that advisable.”
“Common sense.” He lightly touched the back of his hand to my forehead. “No temperature…”
I laughed and knocked his hand away, then glanced around as Monty approached. He was limping quite badly and had torn his shirt in several places, but other than that, seemed fine.
“That was a movie-worthy move you made there, Ranger,” he said, clapping Aiden lightly on the shoulder. “I was mightily impressed.”
