Page 42 of Invocation

Chapter 9

She’d thought the last time they’d traveled by magic had been bad. Apparently it could get much worse if you didn’t have a skilled mage guiding you.

As she activated the device, the air and land twisted around them. The world turned on itself, thrusting them back and forth. Novikke’s hair whipped in her face. Colors and shapes flashed past in a blur, like unformed dreams. Aruna pulled her closer and held on, as if afraid she might lose him otherwise.

And then her back hit something hard and lumpy, knocking the wind out of her. She grunted as a weight slammed on top of her.

The world stopped spinning. It was dark, and a lantern flickered nearby. Familiar canvas hung overhead. They were in a large tent. Aruna had landed on top of her. He gingerly pulled back to look at her.

“What in all the hells?” said a female voice.

Novikke groaned, struggling to catch her breath. Thala, Vissarion, and Kadaki stood in front of them, gaping.

There was a tense, shocked pause in which no one moved. Then Vissarion drew his sword.

Aruna scrambled off Novikke and pulled her to her feet. She’d landed on top of another soldier, who was clutching his head in pain. She started to draw her sword, and then a blade pressed against her back.

“Don’t move,” the soldier behind her said. Novikke stopped moving. Aruna glared at the man behind Novikke. He had a hand on the knife on his belt, but he didn’t draw it.

“Take it easy,” Novikke said carefully. “We meant no harm. Sorry for the interruption.”

“Where the hells did you come from?” Vissarion said, waving his sword. “How did you get here?”

Kadaki had taken a step backward, out of Vissarion and Thala’s line of sight, and was chanting something under her breath.

“Magic,” Novikke said.

Kadaki shot her spell at the man behind Novikke. Novikke jumped out of the way to avoid impaling herself on his blade as the man slumped to the ground, asleep.

Vissarion’s eyes bulged. He whirled and grabbed Kadaki by the arm. She tried and failed to jerk away from him.

“Stop! Vissarion!” Thala shouted, and a scuffle broke out between all three of them.

As Thala tried to peel Vissarion off Kadaki, Novikke sliced through the canvas behind them and ducked through, pulling Aruna after her.

They ran blindly into the night—at least, Novikke was blind. She let Aruna guide her as the sounds of shouting and fighting faded behind them.

“Where are we?” She looked over her shoulder and was surprised to see an entire camp—several dozen tents were lined up around them.

What was Kadaki doing here?

“Don’t know,” Aruna said. He sounded out of breath even though they hadn’t run far.

Novikke saw Vissarion leaving the tent and sounding an alarm as they passed the edge of the clearing. She pulled Aruna to a stop behind a clump of brush.

“Hide us?” she whispered.

He nodded. There was the familiar tingle-rush of a spell falling over her. Her body began to fade to shadow.

Then Aruna jerked as if he’d been shocked. His hand went limp in hers. They both became solid again as the spell failed.

“Aruna?”

He slumped. Novikke caught him, and he leaned heavily on her. “Aruna?” she hissed.

Bright eyes looked up at her, heavy-lidded. “Can’t,” he said breathlessly. “Sorry.”

“It’s all right.” She swallowed tightly, ignoring the Panic creeping at the edges of her mind. She pushed him behind a tree, trying not to notice the way he sagged weakly against it.

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