straw wavered slightly as an unseen creature shifted its stance.
It could not help but have seen him. Jus deliberately rose, passed his gaze across the rooftops as though seeing nothing, then went walking slowly down the open street. Above his helmet, Cinders grinned a gleeful, manic grin. The two partners moved quietly down the street. Obligingly, the attack came from the roof just above.
A blinding light stabbed downward. The Justicar whirled, put his back to the blast, and hunched as a fireball exploded all about him. Cinders’ black fur took the heat of the blast.
The Justicar was already on the attack. Burned and streaming flames, the Justicar leaped through the dissipating fire, his black sword already clearing its scabbard. Cinders’ head swung, and a vicious column offlame shot from the hell hound’s jaws to blast the rooftops above.
Something screamed, and suddenly a shape materialized. The tiny blue figure staggered, beating at itself. It shifted shape, changing even as it dropped out of view.
Leaping across broken roofs, the blue-clad figure seemed nearly human, but it was only two feet tall and sported a pixie’s wings. Longblack hair streamed in the wind as the creature landed on its perch and turned a look of hatred at the Justicar. The creature wore a cloak that had been sliced almost in half-a cut long and precise. Scorched blue threads trailed from thedamaged cloth.
Cinders fired again before the creature could finish the spell half woven on its lips. It dodged aside, taking a painful blast of fire. The creature turned invisible and fled, speeding so swiftly through the leaves that twigs shattered as it passed.
Thatching gave a single tiny crack. Jus dived through a cottage window, just as a spell thundered down from another roof farther along the street. The second visitor had opened fire, missing Jus but collapsing an entire row of houses. The assassin leaped from roof to roof, invisible and fast, then sped over to the rubble. Mud and wattle steamed. Thatch burned. Hissing, the assassin pounced upon a rooftop and tried to catch sight of its prey.
A black sword blade erupted through the thatch, ripping a line of blood from the invisible assassin. The creature screamed a feminine scream, rolling aside as the black blade stabbed through the roof again.
The Justicar burst upward through the straw, roaring like a mad god as he ploughed the black blade through empty air, trying to cut his invisible assailant down. Visible at last, the assassin briefly took the form of a pixie and then suddenly became a spider with butterfly wings. The winged arachnid managed to tumble sideways and stab out a spell that filled the street with shards of flying ice. The Justicar disappeared in the hissing torrent of razor- sharp frost, and a triumphant laugh rang out. Seeing its spell strike home, the intruder hovered and laughed viciously, peering through the ice clouds and looking for its victim’s corpse.
Streaming blood, the Justicar flung himself upward from the ice cloud, scything his black sword downward at his enemy. The spider-creature screamed and tried to leap aside. The sword tip narrowly scored a cut across its back, springing blood into the air. The spider-creature sped aside, landed on a roof ridge, and cocked back its limbs to summon energy for another savage spell.
“Jus!”
The entire house the creature stood upon exploded. Hovering outside the tavern clutching her beaver skins about her shoulders, Escalla snarled and blasted energy into the distant hut. Her enemy dodged, spider eyes wide. Blinded by the power discharge, Escalla ripped her spell sideways in pursuit of her unseen enemy, gouging stones from walls and sending thatched roofs tumbling in a cloud of straw.
As the flying spider fled into the ruined cottages, a swarm of little golden bees sped out from Escalla’s hands. The magic insects swirledin a mad shield all about the Justicar. As a lightning bolt stabbed out from a ruined house nearby, the bee swarm darted and swatted the energies aside. Escalla snarled in glee as she saw a dark shape run flitting through the weeds.
“Hey, spider! Suck on this!”
Escalla slammed her hands toward the ground, and a savage ripple tore the earth toward her enemy. Black tentacles writhed upward from the street, lunging for prey.
With a curse, Escalla’s enemy dived through a garden archway.Light flashed, and the assassin disappeared. The hungry tentacles slammed against the archway and tore it to shreds in a petulant burst of anger.
Stones cascaded to the street. Maddened tentacles thrashed. Clutching a bleeding shoulder, the Justicar hunched in the street, his face savage, golden bees still weaving about him in a dancing shield. Magic flashed as he shoved a healing spell into his shoulder, then another into his left hand. Burns and wounds closed over. Ignoring the hurt, the big man straightened and looked toward the thrashing tentacles.
“Thank you.”
The dancing bees faded and disappeared. Escalla settled down to land upon Jus’ unwounded shoulder, pulling her beaver pelt about her nakedskin.
“What was that?”
“Spies.” Jus lifted his sword. The tip showed a brief sheenof blood to which a fine metallic blue thread adhered. “There were two of them,shapeshifters.”
“Shapeshifters?” Escalla carefully lifted her hand andspellfire shone. She coldly and efficiently scanned the village. “Nothing.They’ve gone now.”
Jus examined his black scale armor where an ice bolt had punched a ragged hole through the shoulder and into the flesh beneath.
“Small. Magic using. One of them looked like you.”
“Like me?”
Dismissing it with a quirk of her brow, the faerie gave a superior little smile. “That’s
“Small humanoid. Wings.”
Escalla turned to take a sharp look at where her foe had disappeared. She stared for a moment in puzzlement, then shrugged and dismissed the whole idea.
“If it was a shapeshifter, then it could be anything.” Thegirl shivered in the cold and tugged her beaver skin tight. “Are you all right?”
“It will pass. It’s only pain.”
“J-man, did I ever tell you that you’re my hero?” Escallaruffled Cinders’ fur, patting both of her friends on the head. “Let’s getindoors. I forgot my wand.”
“And your clothes.”
“Hey, man! I just woke up!” The girl opened her hands inprotest then made a grab for her beaver skin. “I rescued you!”
“So you didn’t rouse the others as I told you?”
“Sure I did!” Escalla rolled her eyes. “They all fell back to sleep. You knowthose guys-not a dedicated bone in their bodies.”
“Right.”
The Justicar took a careful look at the weeds, frost, and buildings. Hell hound flame, magic spells, and tentacles had combined to obliterate any hope of tracks and evidence.
“Cinders, anything still here?”
Jus reached up to pat the hell hound and said, “Good boy. You just keepburning them.”
The threesome trudged back up the street, Jus stepping over the ruins left by Escalla’s tentacle spell. The big man looked at the spell’sremnants and gave a grunt. “Good spell.”
“You like it?” Escalla preened. She sidled closer, waggling her brows. “Hey,Jus! I finished reading that spellbook.”
“And?”
“We got
“Stoneskin?”
“A spell! Oh, it’s hotter than a volcano. This one you’regoing to love!” Escalla rubbed her hands together. “I just need a teeny eenylittle ingredient or two. You reckon we can find some diamond dust anywhere?”
The Justicar looked at the girl and said, “We have exactly eleven gold piecesleft.”
“Ack.” Escalla crossed her legs as she sat on Jus’ shoulder. “Well if yousee any diamonds, give me a yell.”
