Alena swore again as the city watch bells began ringing.
This street was not where she wanted to be right now.
11
The frantic ringing of a city watch bell drew Brandt’s attention.
The wolfblades stood as a pack in the street. They had been patrolling the city, looking for some clue as to the diamond’s whereabouts.
They hadn’t even known where to start, and they’d made no progress. How did one find a single stone inside a city?
A sudden premonition caused Brandt to shudder.
More bells joined the first, a chorus of need, playing for all who would listen.
They shouldn’t respond.
They were still recovering from their fight the day before. By all accounts, Ryder should still be on bedrest. Ryder, though, refused to let the wolfblades leave without him.
Glances passed between members of the group. They all thought the same as him, Brandt suspected.
There were no coincidences.
Brandt listened to the bells, his concerns mounting. The five of them hadn’t defeated the bandit in their last encounter, when the conditions were nearly ideal. In Landow, there would be watchmen and civilians to worry about.
His stomach twisted at the thought.
Their duty was clear. The bandit was a threat, regardless of whether he possessed the diamond. Brandt didn’t believe in the diamond’s powers, but even the chance of truth was enough to warrant action.
Brandt focused on Ryder, the question unspoken.
Ryder nodded.
Brandt didn’t share the other man’s assessment, but he trusted his wolfblades. And they owed the bandit a rematch to prove once and for all who possessed superior skills. “Stay close.”
Brandt became light, speeding toward the sound of the bells. No doubt, the city watch was doing the same.
The sound abruptly ended.
Brandt ran faster, checking behind him to ensure everyone kept pace.
It wasn’t long before they could hear the battle. Steel rang against steel. Men yelled as they attacked, then screamed as they fell.
A moment later they saw the fight.
Brandt skidded to a stop, surprised by the extent of the damage. Men and women clothed in the uniforms of the city watch lay motionless in the street.
Ryder, sensitive to the currents of air that swirled around them, gave him a better idea of what he observed. “Most of them still live. Three are dead.”
Farther up the street, the bandit and another man passed one another with a furious exchange of blows. In the darkness, Brandt barely tracked the exchange. A closer glance revealed the other man was Zane Arrowood.
Brandt understood, after watching the warriors for a few moments, why Zane Arrowood was favored by the emperor.
His wolfblades were some of the best warriors in the army. Each of them possessed an affinity. And none of them alone would last more than a few heartbeats against either of the warriors in the street. They fought as if they were warriors of legend.
Zane didn’t possess an affinity, but his martial skills were clearly second to none. He was a living spiral, his body in constant, circular motion. His sword spun, deflecting stone after stone while still threatening the bandit.
Stepping into that fight was suicide.
The sight of a young girl in the street froze the order to retreat in his throat. She possessed some small amount of martial skill herself, although it appeared relatively untrained. She tried to escape the battle, but deadly stones darting around her locked her in place. Only her quick reflexes kept her alive and uninjured.
It took Brandt a few moments to understand.
The bandit was intentionally pinning her in. He wanted her there.
Brandt couldn’t guess why, but he knew the bandit had to be stopped.
He felt the eagerness of his warriors behind him. Wolfblades didn’t take defeat well. He held out his hand, restraining them for a moment.
Desire or no, charging haphazardly helped no one.
Brandt watched Zane move and assessed his skills. For tonight, at least, they shared a purpose. The wolfblades needed to support the master swordsman.
“Ana, Kyler, and I will use our affinities from a distance. Our goal is only to distract the bandit. We’ll give Zane an opening. Lola, Ryder, get that girl out of here, but keep her close. She knows something.”
A chorus of affirmations followed his order and the wolfblades sprinted down the street. Brandt listened for the song of the fire, hearing it as he passed an alley lit by a torch. He pulled the fire to him, splitting it in two. He fed it with some of his own energy, flinging one ball of fire at the bandit as soon as an opening presented itself.
The bandit stepped back, giving up ground in exchange for safety. Zane pressed into the opening, refusing to give the bandit even a moment to recover.
Ana pulled a string of water from the skin at her hip, whipping it at the bandit just as Kyler flung a rock at the bandit’s head.
The tide of the battle turned in a heartbeat. Zane and the bandit had been well-matched, but the addition of the wolfblades overwhelmed the thief. The man in black retreated, surrounding himself with a wall of swirling stones.
Brandt flung his last ball of flame at the bandit, the fire passing through the storm of stone without problem. It struck the bandit on the left shoulder, burning through his clothes, but he uttered no cry of pain.
The stones spinning around the bandit launched away from him.
Brandt could do nothing but raise his arms to shield his face as stones blasted into him. They cut into his skin and bruised his arms and torso, but thankfully, he avoided taking any worse damage.
When he brought his arms down, he saw the bandit lunge at Zane.
The movement was desperate, and Zane rewarded it by stabbing his sword into the bandit’s side.
It didn’t look to be a fatal cut. The bandit’s move had been too unexpected and too fast.
The two men grappled. Zane looked like he was trying to throw the bandit, but the bandit stood rooted, his footing firm. The bandit drove quick strikes into Zane using hands and elbows.
Across the street, Lola and Ryder reached
