Page 62 of Pawns of Fate
LYLA
“You need toget here.”Syzman’s voice tugged on the back of her mind as she marched through the streets of Uddedin.
“Not now.”
“It’s important.”
Lyla eyed the guards. They were less than useless againsthim. She had to stay vigilant. They had to make it back to the house, had to make it back to the safety of the wards. Evenhecouldn’t get through her wards.
“Lyla.”
She ignored Syzman and scanned the crowds—well, more like clusters of people. The monster sightings and attacks on nearby settlements had the whole city on edge, but this was a suspiciously small number of people.
“Lyla, please.”
“Syzman, I can’t. Whatever it is, I’m in deep shit here.”
“What happened?”
“It’shim,Syzman. Andhealmost got Rose.”
It was Syzman’s turn to go silent for a minute.
“Truthfully, Syzman, I could use you here if they can spare you. Perhaps Nicholas, too, since my cover’s blown.”
Still silence.
Lyla did feel a tinge of regret. She wanted to help them with whatever it was, but she couldn’t leave.“Use the scrolls.”
It was then that Lyla heard the screams and noticed the crowds of panicked citizens running straight for them. If Syzman replied to her, it was lost in the ensuing chaos.
ROSE
“We’re leaving! Now!”Lyla shouted, attempting to grab the arms of both women with one hand and wield her knife with the other.
Bewildered, Rose looked around, but their guards were already lost in the crowd. Whatever was happening, Lyla was their only protection now.
“We’re teleporting out of here,” Lyla yelled over the rising sea of panicked citizens. She tugged on Rose and Ava’s arms again.
Rose acquiesced to the demand. Ava, however, was frozen.
“I’ll follow you! Grab her!” Rose shouted as more people ran past, bumping into them. The oranges, reds, and yellows of the Ojoh’s hair no longer reminded Rose of peaceful autumn leaves. It felt more like she was being swept up by a fire.
“We have to get to an alley or a back road. Someplace where no one will interrupt the spell,” Lyla shouted as she attemptedto drag Ava anywhere more safe than the middle of the road.
Desperate to stay close to her friends, Rose grabbed the back of Lyla’s skirt. Her eyes darted around, looking for a place that matched Lyla’s requirements. They were in the market district. Several produce stands had already been turned over by people’s eagerness to escape whatever was coming. The screaming was getting louder somehow, which Rose hadn’t thought possible.
It didn’t escape Rose’s notice that the threat seemed to be coming from the direction of their house, but she tucked that thought away for later. Right now, she needed to help Lyla find a quiet space.
“There! An alley!”
Lyla dragged Ava along while Rose pushed, but their progress was slow. To Rose, it looked like Lyla was about to just carry Ava. That might have been faster, given how paralyzed with fear Ava was and how many people kept bumping into them as they made their way across the street while everyone else frantically ran down it.
The stream of panicked villagers grew thicker around them. One person squeezed and stumbled between Rose and Lyla. Rose lost her grip on Lyla’s skirt.
“Ava, Lyla!” She screamed.
Lyla turned around and yelled something. But another person, then another, squeezed between them. Rose couldn’t hear her.
