Page 21 of The Sundered Realms

What?

Liris balked, then on instinct twisted out of his hold, flipping down his back—

And then her limbs buckled beneath her, and she hit the ground.

She tried to rouse herself but instead just blinked stupidly.

Lord Vhannor looked down at her and rolled his eyes. “Thank you for that demonstration.”

Liris was almost too confused to be embarrassed. “What just happened?”

“Are you going to be difficult about this, or can we go?”

Liris pondered that more seriously than he probably meant. “I’m much less difficult when I understand.”

“The ground here is treacherous, and after your first spell you’re going to be weaker than a newborn kitten until you’ve had a full night’s rest at least,” Lord Vhannor said flatly. “It’ll be easier to get you out of here this way. Now can we go?”

Liris nodded; he crouched down in front of her; she clambered back on his back. All wordlessly, as Liris’ mind tried to catch up and not put her foot in it again.

Get her out of here. Words she’d always wanted, though she didn’t think he meant that the way she wanted. She tried to hold still and just let him carry her, but...

She never had been good at not acting.

“I wanted to see what destroying demons looked like,” Liris murmured.

After a moment, the Lord of Embhullor actually answered. “Flashing lights, mostly. I’m efficient.”

“Sounds pretty.”

He snorted. “It probably is, if you’re not busy making sure you don’t get eaten. I rarely get to appreciate the sight.”

“You never have time for anything, do you?”

Blurting that out loud was enough to jolt her properly awake and get an actual grip on her tongue. That wasn’t politic, but she was definitely getting the sense that this man never stopped moving and everything he did was important—except carrying her personally. But he was an inexorable force, and inexorably compelling to someone who’d spent most of her life held still.

Lord Vhannor paused.

But still made no move to put her down.

“I’m focused.” Wow, you don’t say. “A field caster has to be. If your spell isn’t powerful enough the first time, you might not get a chance for another strike, or you might not have enough power in other spells left. Spellcasting teams make up the difference, but spells still take time to write, even if you’re practiced.”

“Why wasn’t there a team? I thought you were here to investigate a drop in ambient magic.”

He blew out a frustrated breath. “There are only so many trained teams available to dispatch, so we reserve them for situations determined critical. This should have just been an investigation. Until I’ve vetted a new partner, I shouldn’t be on active dispelling missions for exactly the reasons that occurred. I’m sorry I was forced to involve you.”

And another apology, too. She wasn’t sure what he had to gain from this one, but she knew the elders certainly never apologized to those less powerful than them, even strategically.

“It’s not an excuse,” the Lord of Embhullor bit out, “but I’ve been a field caster for more than a decade and have never seen a portal grow like this. I have questions for you about Thyrasel. It’s been a long time since I came across a spell language I couldn’t translate.”

“I’ll answer them. I started making notes to teach others as soon as I got away. And I’m the one who should apologize. I knew they would search for me—“

“But not kill you?”

“I knew that was coming eventually, but not like this,” Liris said. “Serenthuar wouldn’t have thought I would be able to do anything against them. They were careful to keep me isolated.”

“Jadrhun has many faults,” Lord Vhannor rumbled, “but I can’t imagine he’s become so careless as to underestimate you.”

“We only interacted for a few minutes.”

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