It was Monty.
Which meant I was truly hallucinating, because he was supposed to be at Fordey Boutique with LD, not here facing off against psychomage Evers.
Evers pulled the blade out of my hand and backhanded me across the floor for good measure. I gently moved my jaw to make sure it was still connected to the rest of my face.
“Stay there, scum,” she said, looking down at me. “I’ll be right back to put you out of your misery.”
That’s when I heard the growl…and smiled.
THIRTY-FOUR
My hellhound padded up to my face, dropped Grim Whisper in my lap, and gave me a slobbering of a greeting. I holstered my gun and hugged my hellhound.
<You were lost in between.>
<I was busy trying to find Monty.>
<The angry man smells better now. You smell different. Good, but different. Do you have any meat?>
<I will take you to the place and get you all the meat you can eat…after we deal with her.>
<I like that. She hurt you. Can I bite her?>
<No, she’s dangerous. I want you to stay away from her. She will try to hurt you.>
“How quaint. Your beast came to say goodbye,” Evers said, looking at Peaches with disgust. “What kind of mutation is that?”
I hugged Peaches to my side, and replied with a one-fingered answer.
“No matter,” Evers said, turning to Monty, ignoring me. “I will dispatch that creature along with the both of you. Thank you for saving me the trouble of finding you, traitor.”
“I did what was right,” Monty said, his voice low. His body was covered with dark energy that crackled with bursts of violet light as it criss-crossed his body. “It needed to be done.”
“You cost me everything, everyone,” Evers answered. “I will erase you first, and then you will suffer, like I suffered. You will beg me to kill you, and I will refuse.”
Monty drew the Sorrows.
“Evers, how many times must I remind you, that only simpletons spend their time talking when there is killing to be done?”
Evers let out a low growl and raced at Monty, blade in hand. If I ever thought I could take Monty in bladed combat when he was serious, I was mistaken. Evers was dazzling to watch. She moved in a blur, attacking, causing openings only to have them close again. For all her skill, Monty made her look like an amateur.
She was good. He was better.
He wielded the Sorrows as an extension of his body. Every slash, every attack from Evers was met and countered. Then I saw it—he wasn’t attacking, but only defending.
“What’s the matter, Tristan?” Evers asked. “Can’t deliver the killing blow? Seems like the schism affected you more than you anticipated.”
She was right. He was doing his best to stop her attacks, but couldn’t capitalize on the openings. She was too fast, and he was slowing down.
“You plan on wrapping this up anytime soon?” I asked from where I stood. “Or do I need to lend a hand?”
“I’ve been told you’re keen on helping,” Monty answered as he fired a violet orb at Evers, only to have it deflected into a wall. “It seems like there is still power in the one to rule them all. Now would be a good time to use it, I think.”
I looked down at the totem.
“You can’t beat me,” Evers snarled at Monty. “Not you or your uncle. I’m stronger than you, I always have been.”
“That has always been your weakness,” Monty said. “Your self-reliance.”
“I need no one,” Evers snapped. “My self-reliance is my strength.”
“My friends and family are mine.”
Monty parried a sword thrust and followed up with one of his own. Evers deflected his thrust, ducked under a slash, and launched a fist at Monty’s chest. If it had connected, it would’ve shattered his ribs.
Monty executed a cross block that absorbed most of the blow and sent him back, sliding across the stone floor for several feet. Evers gestured, and Monty shot me a glance that said, It’s now or never, but now would be preferable.
Evers unleashed a barrage of black orbs at Monty. Another swarm materialized behind her, and sped at me. I reached for the energy around me again. It felt like dunking my head in a bucket of ice water.
I took a deep breath, as the sensation of cold washed over me.
“Ignisvitae,” I said, as golden light exploded from the ring. A large, golden orb formed in front of me, like a miniature sun. “What the…?”
I saw the fear in Monty’s eyes.
“Release it!” Monty yelled as he dove to the side. “Now!”
I mentally let go of the orb, and it raced at Evers. It devoured her swarm of orbs, cut a trench in the stone, and punched through several of the columns as if they were made of paper.
Evers, figuring I wasn’t much of a threat, turned at the last second.
She was too late.
She raised both hands and created a shield of silver energy, but it wasn’t enough. The orb slowed for a few seconds, and then, as if revving up, steamrolled through her shield and her, engulfing her in energy.
She screamed for a few seconds, and then suddenly went eerily quiet.
She was gone, but the orb remained.
It didn’t stop.
It blasted through the far wall, and started to expand once it was outside the temple. I sensed the energy around the orb grow. The ring went black and crumbled to dust around my finger.
TK peered through the newly created opening, glared at Monty for a second, then looked back out in the direction of the ever-growing orb. She stepped into the temple and examined the destruction.
“Whoever unleashed the runic nova will get to explain to Dex how you obliterated the entirety of the Sanctuary,” TK said, gesturing and frowning. “Tristan, I need your assistance. The orb is siphoning the energy faster than I can cast a circle. We are
