formed a wall, overlapping the desks. Higher and higher she pulled the malleable stone, creating a dome that sealed away the children. At the very top she left a hole so light and air might still enter. From within she heard sniffling, but both children remained brave. Proud of them, Aurelia turned, eyes focused on the ice barrier blocking the doorway.
“I don’t know how Kevin’s planned to kill me,’ she told the guards. “But the ice will let him know where I am soon enough. Please understand what I ask of you. If any of you refuse, I will let the ice remain, and we’ll wait for the trap to unfold to its fullest. Otherwise, I plan on taking down as many of that bastard’s men as I can before he knows what’s hit him.”
She met their eyes, saw their apprehension had disappeared, leaving behind only bravery and determination.
“I’m not one for hiding,” said the youngest of them.
“We’ll be outnumbered,” said another.
“That’s what I’m here for,” Aurelia said. “Draw your swords.”
Electricity encircled her hands as they readied themselves. With a thunderous roar she unleashed her fury upon the ice. The lightning blasted it outward, showering the stunned soldiers with painful shards. The spell continued on, finding plenty of bodies for its ravenous power. Kevin’s soldiers screamed as the lightning swirled through them, frying lungs and knocking dozens to the ground.
Among the smoking ruin of the dead, the rest of the soldiers gathered themselves, raised their shields, and charged.
“Stay clear of the doorway!” Aurelia shouted to the four. “Take out those who make it through!”
They listened, and even if she hadn’t said so they most likely would have figured it out anyway. From her hands tore another blast of magic, this time of fire. The inferno bathed over the men struggling to enter the room, turning their shields to ash, their armor to liquid. With barely a moment to breathe, she unleashed a second burst of fire, refusing to relent. She’d seen their numbers when they entered the castle. Each one she killed was one less to threaten her family. One less to keep Harruq from safety.
The four with her looked on, awe and wonder etched across their faces. Only a rare few made it through such overwhelming destruction, and they were easily dispatched by the guards. Aurelia collapsed to one knee after the last spurt of fire, ignoring the momentary dizziness. Blood had begun to pound through her veins, and despite the strain she suddenly felt shockingly alive. It was more than she could say for the fools allied with Kevin Maryll, somehow convinced they could defeat a sorceress like her. So far the last barrage seemed to have cowed them, for they did not try to enter, and they stayed far from door’s edges.
“It’s only five of us,” she shouted to them, a dark grin on her face. “Is this all you can do?”
She stood, her fingers dancing. Before the others could stop her she rushed out into the hall, twirling on her feet. Her first spell unleashed great flashes of light from her palms, blinding any unfortunate enough to be watching when it went off. All around her, Aurelia saw soldiers gathering, at least a hundred on either side. She felt a thrill surge through her, pride in the danger she represented. Gregory was under her protection, nearly half of Kevin’s forces coming to take him, but they could not surpass her. They couldn’t even begin to understand the raw power they faced.
Arms spread wide, she unleashed that power. From either hand arced lightning, bouncing from man to man, igniting their nerves, burning the flesh beneath their armor. Letting out a scream, Aurelia poured more strength into the spell. The lightning focused, became a beam that blasted through her enemies, punching holes in their armor and ripping men in twain. It continued down either side of the hall, the power of its shockwave knocking to the ground even those who the beam had missed.
And then the spell passed, and she stood alone before the survivors. Blowing them a kiss, she stumbled back into the room, collapsing in the arms of one of the soldiers.
“Buy me time,” she said, pushing herself off him.
The four stood side by side, swords ready. It seemed even they were afraid of the carnage she’d unleashed. It almost made her laugh. If only they’d seen her in Woodhaven, dueling the prophet. Now
She stepped back, already feeling better. It felt like forever since she’d been forced to battle in such a way, pushed to her very limits to protect the lives of those she loved. She wouldn’t say she missed it, but she couldn’t deny the thrill it gave her. The four guards tensed, but it seemed like the remaining soldiers had no desire to challenge her…though she wasn’t certain just how many soldiers she’d even left out there to fight.
Just when she was thinking things might be easier than she hoped, she saw a small, painfully familiar sphere roll to a stop just before the soldiers’ feet.
“Get back!” she screamed, knowing it was already too late. Her magic useless, she could do nothing as a man and women wearing matching red and gray outfits vaulted into the room, twisting and turning to avoid the guard’s useless defenses. Their twin daggers lashed out, finding openings in their armor. Desperate, Aurelia ripped a chunk out of the wall and hurled it with her mind, the momentum continuing on despite coming into range of the voidsphere. One of the soldiers had his throat slit, and as he fell the stone slammed into him, knocking him into the hallway. The assassin before him tumbled aside at the last moment, avoiding the hit. Aurelia held in a swear as she readied her staff.
With the guards dead, the two assassins rolled a second voidsphere toward her, chasing after it with frightening speed. Aurelia twirled her staff, reminding herself that Harruq was faster. She’d fought him before, which meant she’d faced the deadliest there could be. With her elven grace she shifted and spun, her body like water as she avoiding a combination of thrusts and slashes. Her staff continued spinning, knocking aside the attacks she could not avoid. The exhaustion, the pressure of such intense focus, wore on Aurelia quickly, and it took all her willpower to fight down the panic she felt rising in her. There was no way she could win. Retreating with each step, she would soon have nowhere to go, no way to fight back. With such proximity to the voidsphere, she felt naked, deprived. Twice she tried to shift the fight toward it, so she could smash it with her staff, but the assassins seemed to be aware of her ploy.
At last she couldn’t keep up the necessary speed. She shifted her body left when it should have gone right, and with a cry she felt the tip of a dagger pierce her shoulder. A heel connected with her midsection, and then an elbow struck her across the face. When she fell to her knees, fists rained down upon her, knocking her to the ground and stealing the breath from her lungs. Fighting back tears, she pushed herself off the floor, only to be beaten again.
Defeated, she lay there, struggling for air. The stone cold against her cheek, she stared at the entrance to the room as one of the assassins sat atop her, binding her wrists together. Mere feet in front of her lay the voidsphere, glowing its soft, mocking rainbow of colors. As if from another world she heard Aubrienna and Gregory crying, and the helplessness, the inability to go to them, gave her far more pain than the bleeding wound in her shoulder. Through her tears she watched Lord Kevin Maryll stride into the room, dragging the queen along by the arm.
“Even knowing you’d be difficult, you still surprise me with your tenacity,” Kevin said, shaking his head and smiling at her.
The female assassin grabbed her by the hair and yanked her head up. As she let out a cry, the assassin scooped up the voidsphere and jammed it into her mouth. Her slender fingers pushed, overriding her gag reflex to shove the object farther down her throat. Her body heaved, followed by an unstoppable coughing fit as the assassin pulled away her fingers, but there was little Aurelia could do as she swallowed the voidsphere, bringing its accursed denial of magic down into her very stomach.
“Harruq will kill you,” Aurelia said as her face was shoved back to the floor.
“Will he now?”
Kevin moved aside, his grin spreading. Behind him were two more of his strange assassins. Into the room they stepped, and with a heave they dumped before her the unconscious body of her husband.
28
The first thing Harruq realized when he came to was that for some reason he was still
