The Black Mage: Apprentice (38 page)

But I missed. My lightning missed its
mark.

And now I didn't even have pain magic. Not
unless I wanted to kill myself summoning more.

Two sets of hands pinned my arms and legs to
the ground. My hands and feet were bound in a matter of seconds and
then an oily cloth was shoved into my mouth as another wrapped it
in place.

A face entered my vision and I saw the same
woman who had killed the knight squinting down at me. Her lip was
curled in disgust.

"Who else is with you?" she demanded. A large
wad of saliva landed on the side of my cheek. "Hold up your fingers
for the count of your men."

I trembled. I would not tell her anything.
From Derrick's past accounts I knew I was going to die no matter
what. Caltothians never kept prisoners. But at least I would not
die a traitor.

The woman slapped me hard across the face. My
lip split open from the sting of her impact.

"Tell me and I will let you live."

Never.
I shook my head and tried to
ignore its unwelcome spinning.

"Kinsey, shouldn't we keep this one?" one of
the men probed. "She put up a good fight. If we break her, I bet it
would be worth our time. We could use another mage-"

"You know the orders as well as I do, Wade,
no survivors."

"Not if we don't tell them."

"Do you really want to take that chance?"
Kinsey drawled. "Two times a traitor would only bring a slow and
painful death."

The woman pulled out a curved dagger. It was
the same blade she had used to slit the knight's throat. She
cradled it against the side of my face. "One more chance before I
gut you like a fish," she crooned. Her blade carved a shallow cut
across my neck.

Be brave, Ryiah
. I shut my eyes. I
would spend my last moments of life envisioning something more
pleasant than the ugly face of my enemy.

What would I see in my last breath
, I
wondered,
Derrick's laugh, Alex's crooked grin, or my parents'
kind smiles?

Kinsey cackled. "Enjoy the Realm of the
Dead."

Darren
.

In my last moments I saw
Darren
.

A sharp sting was followed by the withdrawal
of pain and the shrill sound of a woman's scream. I opened my eyes
and realized that I was not, in fact, dead. I touched my throat and
realized the blade had only nicked it.

I was very much alive.

The woman who had been brandishing the knife
was not so fortunate. Kinsey lay face down in the sand next to me,
dead. A javelin was in her back.

All around me was panicked yelling.

Sensation returned to my limbs. I propped
myself up with my elbows so that I could take in the scene around
me.
Was it too much to hope? Had someone seen my
casting?

All around me were great flashes of light and
smoke. The heat from the forest fire was growing: the air was
sweltering. Any residual cold from my icy bath had faded quickly in
its presence.

The Caltothians guarding me were busy,
engaged in a battle of sorts with two others in the clearing ahead.
It was hard to make out my rescuers' faces but I could tell from
the way they fought that they were winning.

Only three of the Caltothians were mages and
one of them – the woman who had threatened me - was already dead.
The enemy soldiers were hiding behind their mages – only one of
them was an archer, the rest carried swords.

There was another great blast of magic and a
storm of knives rained down from the sky. The enemy shrieked and
scattered. The only two still standing were the Caltothian
mages.

Another great blast of magic and the mages
were forced to flee – leaving me behind as they relocated to the
opposite side of the forest. As they traded sides my rescuers drew
forward, one leading the way while the other guarded his back.

I choked back a cry of relief. It was Darren
and Eve.

He had come back for me.

The prince set to work on my bonds. "Just
couldn't stay out of trouble, could you, Ryiah?"

"Mmmph." The gag was still in my mouth. When
it finally came free I turned to Eve. "How did you find me?"

"I went looking for the two of you when you
never returned. Then I saw the fire and decided to investigate."
Eve shot out another barrage of weaponry at the enemy mages and
checked Darren's progress. "How are those ropes coming?"

"Not fast enough," he said through gritted
teeth. "Whoever bound them wanted to make sure she stayed that
way."

"Well, make it faster." Eve's skin – already
so pale - was even more so. There were beads of sweat trailing down
from her brow to her chin. Her violet eyes were bloodshot and I
could tell from her stance it was costing her a great deal to
continue to hold the two mages off.

"Got it!" Darren hacked off the last bit of
leather rope proudly and held it up for Eve to see. Just as he did,
his eyes caught sight of something behind her. He cursed.

Eve and I followed his gaze.

"There's more."

"It's the ones from before." Darren's voice
had lost its edge. "They must have seen Ryiah's lightning."

My stomach fell.
More
Caltothian
mages. The barrier Darren and Eve had cast was already faltering.
The two mages Eve was holding off were growing confident. A couple
more castings would shatter it.

"I can't pain cast." My panic had returned in
light of our newest discovery. "I've already reached my limit." Not
unless I wanted to kill the others - and myself - in the
process.

"There are three of them." Eve's voice was
labored from her continuous casting. "Plus the two we've already
been fighting. We might have been able to take on two but-"

"-But we don't have enough magic left to take
on all five." Darren's statement was void of emotion. "The new
three haven't even touched their magic. They'll have full
reserves."

My voice quavered. "Then we don't fight."

Silence, then:

"Yes." Darren nodded. "Ryiah is right. We
need to run."

"On my count," Eve said, "we drop our casting
and head east."

I glanced to Darren and saw him pocket the
blade Kinsey had dropped.

"One."

What was he doing?

"Two."

He was facing the wrong direction.

"Three."

There was a loud whoosh as the non-heir and
Eve released their magic. I hardly noticed it – I was too busy
tackling Darren to the ground. A heavy mist of sand rose up around
us as I wrestled the knife out of the prince's grasp.

"Ryiah!" Darren spat through a mouthful of
dirt. "Let me go!"

"You are not going to be a hero today,
Darren!"

"That is not your decision to make!" He
struggled to break free of my hold. When he found the effort harder
than he expected, he glared at me. "Let me go or I'll cast you
off."

"You can try but I'll still-"

All at once, an ear-splitting screech rang
out across the forest floor and I was sent flying back into the
shallow stream behind us. A second later, Darren landed to my
right. There was a loud slap as his body hit the water. We barely
had time to catch our breath before the trees began to tremble and
groan.

The two of us scrambled to stand just as the
first pine fell. One by one they all broke free of their giant
roots. Great towers of flame were crashing down all around us.

"What's happening?" I squinted, trying to see
through the thick cloud of smoke. I could hear screaming. "Is it
the regiment?"
Had help arrived?

"I don't – I can't see any…" Darren abruptly
stopped talking and he started to sway. I was close enough to
steady him just before his knees buckled and collapsed.

"Darren?"

"Eve." His entire body was a series of
tremors. "She…" He pointed. "She had the same idea as…" He couldn't
finish, choking on his words.

My heart stopped. I had been so focused on
stopping Darren that I hadn't bothered to consider what Eve might
do.

Somewhere in the burning forest to our right
was a pale girl with ash blonde hair and violet eyes that had just
closed for the last time.

Darren was having trouble breathing next to
me. I could hear his ragged breaths, in and out, his shoulders
shaking. I hated him, or I wanted to, but my hand still fell to his
arm.

Eve had never intended to run. Neither had
the prince.
I
had been the only one foolish enough to think
we would - Darren and Eve had been too busy plotting how to let me
and the other one survive. Because there was only one way any of us
could evoke enough magic to take on five mages in our weakened
state.

Pain casting. By death.

Eve had given her life to save us.

And that's when I saw it – a dark silhouette
making its way along the flickering river of flame. I strained to
see through the smoke.
Was it Eve? Had Darren been wrong – was
she alive?

The limping figure was much too tall.

"Darren." I shook the prince's shoulders and
said in a loud whisper, "Darren!"

He didn't hear me.

"
Darren, we've got to get out of
here!
"

I could see more clearly now. It was a man.
One of the mages from before. He was making his way among the
trees, one palm in front of his face as he parted the flames in his
path.

I drew a sharp intake of breath. The mage
still had magic.

Angry eyes met mine as he spotted me from
across the clearing.

I was done waiting. I shoved Darren back
behind me and pulled out the blade I had stolen earlier. I wasn't
going to let Eve's sacrifice be in vain. I lifted it to my
wrist-

Darren's hand clamped down on my arm while
the other sent my knife skittering into the stream behind us. He
had recovered fast. "Don't you even think of it!" he snarled.

"Darren, you are a prince of Jerar!" The man
was almost out of the fire. "I can't let Eve's death be for
nothing."

His eyes were hard. "I couldn't stop Caine or
Eve - but by the gods, if I must die, I want to die knowing it is
not because everyone is proffering themselves up as sacrificial
lambs every time my bloodline is in danger!" He released my wrist
and handed me my cut bonds from earlier. "You are not going to die
today, Ryiah. Now take these. That mage must have used up quite a
bit of magic to hold off Eve's casting. I still have some of mine,
and you have this rope. If you want to fight then
fight
, but
don't you
dare
sacrifice yourself for someone like me."

My lips parted in surprise. "
Don't you
dare sacrifice yourself for someone like me?"
That didn't sound
like Darren the Wolf at all. It sounded like the boy I had fallen
in love with.

Now is not the time to question
things
. I studied the landscape, knotting and unknotting the
leather cord in my hands. The mage had finished crossing the flames
and was now running toward us. He still had quite a distance to
cross, but he would he would reach us soon enough. "
A mage
employs every resource he has. We don't spend years training you in
both types of combat just so you can shirk your duties the second
you've used up your magic."
I bit my lip.
You are still a
warrior, so think like one.

I pointed to a thicket a quarter mile away
half-covered in ash. "There's a steep ravine just east of that
brush. When I was looking for a place to start the fire I almost
missed it."

Darren drew a sharp intake of breath. "So the
mage wouldn't be able to flee east. We could cut him off if we can
lead him to it."

The two of us both took off at a sprint. It
only took me a second to realize my mistake. There was no way I
could cross the distance in time. The searing pain in my thigh was
a quick reminder why. I hobbled after Darren, my pace no faster
than a walk. I was skipping, half-dragging my leg behind me as the
mage drew closer. The man still hadn't cast – it was a good sign
that he was conserving his magic - but he would be upon me in less
than a minute.

Darren looked back to see where I was and
stopped running.

The dark-haired prince was racing toward me
just as the mage raised his hands.

I ducked and a series of sparks shot out
across the distance between us. The mage's magic collided against a
barrier not two feet in front of me. There was a loud crack and
then Darren's casting shattered, shards of glass splintering the
air around me before subsequently vanishing with Darren's
magic.

"Get behind me," the non-heir gasped. The
mage was already calling upon his next casting. I shook my head and
took a stand stubbornly beside him.

There was less than fifteen feet spanning the
distance between us and the Caltothian. We could not outrun him if
we tried. And judging from Darren's last casting, we wouldn't be
able to out-magic him either.

"If we are going to die today," I told
Darren, "let's make it the best fight of our lives."

Before he could stop me, I had thrown myself
forward with the leather strap high above my head. I paid no
attention to the agony in my leg. I cut the distance in half,
springing into the air with the balls of my feet. The thick rope
shot straight up and then I let my elbow bend and snap.

There was the satisfying crack as the leather
met the mage's shoulder and then I fell to the ground, doubled over
in a pain so terrible I couldn't think. I heard Darren roar and
shut my eyes against a huge flare of light. Two men's screams were
followed by a loud thud.

I opened my eyes. My surroundings flickered
and spun, over and over. My stomach ate at me from the inside.
Something was piercing my abdomen. Black and red swarmed my gaze
and I could barely make out the dark heap in the grass next to
me.

Then I heard the short, sputtering coughs as
the person struggled to breath. There was a hoarse gasp and then a
terrible moan.