Page 79 of Knight's End
Hell sarding yes!
He’d stolen a wish!
I wanted to fist pump. I didn’t even know such a thing was possible.
But a second later, Blue scooped me up as the captain appeared to stumble into the side of the soldier wielding the scimitar, knocking them both off balance.
The building blurred as Blue rushed away with me.
Why didn’t you wish for them to all disappear back to Cheryn?I asked.
They’d just wish themselves back seconds later. I needed an advantage. Speed is something I know.He ran down a stairwell so fast it appeared to be just a dip in the stone floor.
Seconds later, I saw Quinn next to us in full armor. He was running too—at full speed. It was disorienting to see Quinn clearly but the world around us was just a smear of color. My knights zigzagged through the halls.
Quinn mentally yelled at me,Right about now would be a great time for you to wish something.
No!I thought back at him.If I wish something, it's gonna be thought out. I'm not gonna waste a wish.
I saw another sparkling golden haze shoot toward us.
You sure we can afford that?Quinn asked.
We ducked around another corner and the wish magic shot past us, surrounding a frozen butler in glimmering light.
"It's not sarding fair that wish magic is so beautiful!" I complained as one of our butlers turned into a wooden puppet.
Donaloo appeared down the hall with a mirror shield in his hand. Dini was notably absent from his forehead.
He ran forward with more speed than I expected. “Traitors have betrayed my spells, let them in and cut the bells. Go!” he yelled at us—raising the shield so that a new stream of golden light reflected back at the djinn.
For once, I knew immediately what Donaloo meant. His spells should have made Raj see a broken capital; a castle destroyed by explosions. The wizard had carefully maintained those spells each day. How could Raj have seen any different? Someone had told the sultan it was all an illusion. My blood ran cold. I listened, but Donaloo was right. We were under attack, but no alarm bells sounded in my towers. No piercing toll roused the guards down in the city to come to our aid.
We’d been betrayed.
Blue hefted me higher as he ran. I watched over his shoulder as the wish magic rebounded from Donaloo’s shield to hit one of the djinn soldiers. The man was encased in a gold cloud for a moment before he turned into a stumbling newborn lamb.
Three of our royal guards appeared then. They gave war cries as they ran toward the fight carrying mirrored shields just like Donaloo had.
As we went down the hall, I saw plenty of people who hadn’t been lucky enough to have reflective armor. Frogs hopped, worms wriggled, two baby deer cowered behind a statue. The djinn might not be able to wish for death, but they could wish for other things. Worse things.
Did they wish for my soldiers to change consciousness when they wished for them to change their bodies? Or were the men’s human minds trapped in an animal form? Would a wished worm still dry out in the sun?
How devastated would their families be if they returned home as animals?
These random questions filled my head as we rushed down the hall.
Our trio entered the Great Hall, where the rest of my knights were already engaged in battle. Blue set me down between himself and Quinn when we reached the hall, their bodies shielding me from the fight.
Quinn tried to offer me his shirt, but he was attacked from the side and had to whip around the man, using his speed to trip the half-djinn and make him fall onto his own sword.
The clash went on all around us. Hundreds of bodies were engaged in battle. Swords were flying, and a golden haze, like the aftermath of dozens of wishes, floated above everyone’s heads like smoke.
The tiny purple warrior fairies that Donaloo had created for the mage’s tower swooped down on the djinn, targeting one at a time. They worked en masse, covering a man’s entire body, until he ended up howling and bloody, their tiny swords sticking out of his body like a hundred metal toothpicks.
Ryan and Declan stood off to the side. Ryan was using a chair to lean on, supporting himself on his good leg. But, like any true general, he couldn’t stand to be left out of a fight. I had no doubt he’d threatened Declan into bringing him up here.
The djinn who tried to get near them ended up collapsing on the ground, clutching their heads in their hands and crying. Some of them unsheathed their knives and slit their own throats.
