Page 132 of Enchanted Shadows
I heard their curses and hisses, but I was drenched in Kessara’s shadows again, my body jerked as she moved us away.
It might not deter them for long, but at least now they had to focus on getting through her shadows and dealing with my attacks too. I might have messed up earlier today in forgetting Kessara and I were a team, but dammit if I was going to make the same mistake twice.
“Again,” she whispered, “on my count.”
The seconds ticked by like minutes, like time itself had been dipped in syrup. I loathed it. I wanted her to release me to the assailants, sure I could handle things on my own, and yet shadow magic was not something I was an expert on.
I trusted her. I trusted she knew what we needed to get out of this alive.
And then finally, “Now.”
Kessara sent her own gold magic out at the same time I sent mine. It was wrapped up in her shadows and I didn’t fully understand how exactly Theon had used his shadow magic to move his palm magic faster until I witnessed it again, this time from Kessara’s gold magic, this time understanding what it was Theon had done.
She was vicious, splitting the shadow clumps with her shadows and gold lightning like power, then striking the men themselves.
I saw three of them spasm as bolts of her power hit them, before they regained control of their own powers and fought her off.
But by the time they had, Kessara had covered us and moved us yet again.
“Once more,” Kessara hissed.
I could feel how shaky she was. She was strong, but under the weight of an attack like this? From four or five other shadow wielders? Plus lifting and moving us around? She had to be pushing burnout. Particularly after spending months not using that Enchantment.
So I rallied my own magic, building and building. I willed my magic to specifically search out Calix’s darkness. I had seen his location with Kessara’s last attack, but I willed my magic to seek him out regardless.
“Now,” Kessara commanded.
Together, gold and green lit up the dark spots. The shadows lingering places they shouldn’t be able to reach. Except this time, there was one less pocket of darkness, which had to mean one of them had already retreated.
I heard rather than saw Calix cry out in pain.
Good. The prick deserved every bit of what my magic was doing. I knew Kessara was about to move us again, but I sent a few more strands of power out, a second attack to Calix.
Between the rolling darkness heading toward the ship alerting them that something was up, and the yelling I heard in the distance, it was safe to say Kessara and my fighting back was not unnoticed.
I sank down to the dirt and willed my magic to travel unseen through it to the men, pissed at myself for not considering it sooner. The flash of my power leaving my fingertips may give our location away but would be a sneakier way to attack them. They wouldn’t see the vine of magic I had willed in their direction until it was too late.
Kessara moved once more, just as someone with an authoritative voice rang out, “Stop! Stop it immediately.”
Kessara made no move to reveal us.
“The queen demands it. The princess is the only one whoknows a hint of the location of Prince Artem. You hurt her, and we lose him.”
Kessara must have felt the threat around her lessen, my magic seemed to burn less also, and then all at once Kessara dropped the shadows.
As everything came back into sharp focus, it took me a moment to realize we had moved far closer to the docks than I first thought.
Molly and Wren were there, veins glowing, ready to help. If they hadn’t already.
Three of the five men remained where they had last attacked us. The man yelling at us to stop was one of the queen’s personal guards she had likely sent to make sure we arrived at the ship without issue.
I wasn’t prepared for Kessara to march straight toward Calix, Calix still locked in my vines of magic, and send her own gold magic out to join, wrapping and squeezing around and around him.
Her magic held him in place as she slapped him. Hard. “I never want to see your face again. If you ever attack my husband like that again, I will end you. Do you understand?”
He fought beneath our magic. “Your husband doesn’t possess shadows. You haven’t bonded.”
This again?
