All That Lives Must Die

With her injuries, he wasn’t sure she could stop them all. . or even survive. He wished he had stayed with her.

“Let me go first.” Sarah set a foot on the balance beam. “I’ll clear the way.”

Fiona frowned, but nodded and motioned her ahead.

Sarah pulled back her hair and tied into a knot. She walked onto the beam as graceful as a ballerina.

She approached the first deadly pendulum. . took a deep breath, and then stepped into its path.

Eliot and Robert both involuntarily started toward her.

“No,” Jeremy warned. “Donna break her concentration.”

Sarah faced the spiked ball rushing toward her, one slender hand held to ward it off.

There was no way she’d stop it. The steel ball was as big as her head.

Her face was a mask of pure focus.

Inches before the ball struck Sarah-it burst into a cloud of confetti and fluttered to the ground in a thousand flashing colors.

“Bravo!” Jeremy cheered.

Of course. The Covingtons were conjurers, able to sometimes transmute one thing into another.

Sarah continued along the beam, confident now, pausing only to alter the deadly steel weights into more confetti, a splash of water, and a shower of tiny glittering garnets.

Robert, Fiona, and Mitch then crossed, using the now dangling lengths of chain for balance.

Amanda hesitated before the beam. Eliot thought she was going to chicken out, but she glanced back at him, turned, and stepped forward-not looking back.

Then Eliot went. It was like crossing the stone bridge from Uncle Henry’s island to the Council’s amphitheater. He moved without fear and found himself stepping onto a bamboo platform on the opposite side.

This new landing had ropes that ascended into the fog.

Jeremy was right behind him.

“Up!” Fiona told them-then she whirled around.

Donald van Wyck and four bruised members from Dragon and Wolf teams clambered onto the deck on the far side of the beam. They glared at Team Scarab across the distance.

Eliot looked behind his opponents to the field below.

The Infernal combat form of Jezebel took to the air, white bat wings beating in a vain attempt to fend off a pillar of fire on one side, a whirlwind on the other. Three students lay motionless on the ground, tangled in masses of flowering vines.

Eliot reached into his pack for his violin. He wouldn’t stand by and just watch her be hurt.

Fiona clamped a hand on his shoulder. “No way,” she whispered, and then as if knowing his thoughts, said, “The best way to help her now is to get to the flag. End the match.”

Eliot tore his gaze from the battle and nodded.

A boy from Green Dragon with military-cropped hair ran across the beam.

“He’s a Kaleb,” Jeremy whispered. “Don’t let him get close.”

“I’ve got him.” Fiona plucked the rubber band from her wrist. “Go!”

Eliot grabbed a rope and pulled himself up, hand over hand-a feat that a month ago would have been impossible. Robert was next to him on an adjacent strand. Mitch, Jeremy, and Sarah were behind them. Amanda struggled, but at least she was trying.

Fiona knelt and with one quick thrust severed the foot-thick balance beam.

The Kaleb boy and the timber fell into the fog.

Van Wyck pursed his lips and nodded to his teammates-one of whom vanished. The rest of them backed down. They’d have to find another way around.

Eliot climbed up onto the edge of straight runway. It was thirty feet long, five wide, and made of worn planks.

This gave him pause.

There was no trap to block their way. . just a wide path that led to a wrought iron circular staircase.

At least there were no obvious obstacles.

Robert got up next, and together they helped the others climb.

Eliot and Robert, though, actually had to pull Amanda up. She clung to the rope stubbornly, her hair in her face but her mouth set in a grimace of determination.

Fiona joined them and marched forward.

“Wait. . ” Mitch set a hand on her forearm. “It’s too easy.”

Eliot reached into his pack and strummed Lady Dawn.

The air along the path wavered. Spiderweb-fine wires appeared, resonating in sympathy with his violin.

These wires crisscrossed up and down and side to side, so it’d be impossible to pass. They were so thin, they’d have tripped over them-so razor sharp, they’d certainly have been sliced.

“What’s Mr. Ma trying to do to us?” Amanda set her hand to her throat.

“Apparently,” Sarah replied, “amputate a few arms and legs.”

Eliot wondered if Sarah was serious or just trying to scare poor Amanda.

“I’ll cut them,” Fiona said.

“You might not see them all,” Eliot countered.

He withdrew Lady Dawn and plucked three crisp notes.

Every wire twanged in sympathetic vibrations-and each one snapped, under so much tension that as they broke the air “cracked.”

Sarah hadn’t been kidding about amputation. Whoever engineered this had upped the stakes of gym class.

Robert took a careful step forward. “All clear. Should be easy from here on-”

Van Wyck and six more students swung through the fog on ropes and landed before them, on the far side of the runway.

He grinned as he approached Team Scarab.

“Finally,” Van Wyck said. “No more running. We settle this.” He snorted. “Although contrary to my best efforts, it appears we are evenly matched.”

“They just want a fight; they’re not even trying to win,” Fiona whispered. “The way to the flags is right behind them.” She looked to Robert and Jeremy and told them, “So we three will give them their fight.”

Then she glanced at Eliot, Amanda, Mitch, and Sarah. “And you guys get to the flag.”

Eliot started to protest.

But Van Wyck and the others charged.

Robert rushed to meet them. Fiona was right behind him. Jeremy, however, hesitated, and slinked to the edge of the runway.

Robert leaped, hitting Van Wyck and two other boys. They all went down in a heap of arms and legs. Eliot caught a glint of brass held in Robert’s hands as he punched one boy so hard, he broke the boards of the runway underneath.

Fiona skidded to a halt, both fists held out before her-her rubber band stretched between them.

Two girls and one boy stopped before her, confused, not knowing how to approach without getting cut.

Jeremy, meanwhile, touched the seasoned wood of the runway. The outer boards creaked and groaned and split away-the braces and supports beneath extending shakily outward along with them.

He turned and winked at them. Then, laughing, he jumped in the melee pile with Robert.

“Go!” Sarah urged. “He’s made a way around.”

Eliot jumped to the extended path. It was only a foot wide, and shuddered under his weight.

He held out his hands to Amanda (making sure he was braced).

She gulped, but jumped into his arms.

Mitch and Sarah leaped onto the boards as well, and they all ran past the fight.

A boy from Green Dragon pulled free of Jeremy’s grasp, whirled, and jumped into Eliot’s way.

The boy teetered, slightly off balance. He was twice Eliot’s size.

Eliot made a fist. . shifted his center of gravity lower and hammered his fist upward, using his leg muscles to