Page 24 of Heir of Autumn
I planted myself between their bodies and the kraken’s bombardment. I poured more power into my grimoire, ready to use it as a shield once more. The doves dispersed. The Wilde grimoire floated for a brief two seconds, then flopped to the ground with a thud.
“Oh no,” I breathed. All out of essence.
Something hit me in the face with a wet slap. Every last drop of warmth drained from my body. The leech devoured whatever was left of my essence, and when it found none, sapped my physical stamina instead. Like Evander, and then Namirah, I went down like a sack of potatoes.
By some great stroke of fortune, I didn’t hit my head on the way down. Yet I could hardly move, my bones and my muscles sore, every limb as heavy as stone. My breath came in labored gasps. I turned my head, found Namirah’s eyes staring into mine. She mouthed something, but the words didn’t come.
The kraken pelted one last halfhearted salvo of leeches, missing us completely. It wasn’t really an attack, more of an insult than anything, like it decided it’d had enough fun. It sank into the sea, one tentacle bending at us like it was waving a taunting goodbye.
Somehow it felt more like the kraken was giving us the middle finger. I could swear I heard a burbling chuckle from somewhere in the water. No way this vindictive bastard was just giving up now that it had neutralized us as threats.
And then the waves rippled as the guardian sliced through the water, carving a path directly in pursuit of Sylvain’s boat.
He had Satchel with him, at least, provided Satchel actually found him. Hopefully before the kraken caught up, to give them time to strategize. Sylvain was a force to be reckoned with, but even he couldn’t survive on a measly boat against a monster that called the ocean its home.
And it left him far out of range of our water-breathing spell, too. Should I have sent Satchel with my necklace? Gods, I should have sent the necklace. But then the spell wouldn’t sustain itself without me to power it. Even now, with my energies drained, the spell probably wasn’t any more useful than going snorkeling with a plastic straw.
Summon him. I could summon both Sylvain and Satchel back to me, as my eidolon and my familiar. Easy as pie. I would have sat up with an excited start, except I didn’t even have strength enough to do that.
That fucking leech. Where was it, anyway? Crawled off the rocky outcropping already, no doubt, slipping back into the ocean to complain to its gross leech friends about its most unsatisfying meal. I wasn’t even good enough to be an essence leech restaurant. Terrible service, went home hungry. Zero stars.
I curled my fingers, or at least I tried to, straining to drum up enough energy to summon them back. But nothing. I swiveled my eyeballs downward, struggling to see my own hand. I bet I couldn’t even move a single finger.
Great. We were fucked. The three of us on this tiny rock, Satchel and Sylvain out on the open sea? All fucked.
“Somehow,” Evander started to say, very slowly. “Somehow, Locke, I want to say that this is all your fault.”
He was the first one to get leeched. Maybe it meant his strength had returned sooner, too.
“Fff,” I said, air hissing out through my two front teeth as they bit into my lower lip. “Fuck you, Skink.”
“Yeah, that’s about what I expected.”
Namirah grunted. “Why are you here anyway, Evander? Locke would have put his own eyes out before asking you to come.”
“I asked Locke if I could come.” Evander sighed. “The unicorns. Strength in numbers, etcetera.”
Namirah scoffed. “Then you have no one but yourself to blame.”
“You’re right, you’re right. I guess I’m just playing the role of a prick again.”
“Playing?” I grunted, struggling and rolling onto my back. “You’re not acting like a prick, Evander. You are one.”
Evander laughed. “Fair is fair.”
Out of my peripheral vision I could see that both of them were also on their backs, facing skyward. Maybe our bodies instinctively craved the light of the sun, or the warmth. That leech had left me feeling so empty and cold.
Kind of like Evander’s soul, really.
10
Evander Skink sniffledinto the sunlight. From the corner of my vision I watched as locks of his golden hair wafted in the breeze, his lashes fluttering like the wings of his butterflies. A single tear rolled down the side of his face. For once, I didn’t feel like punching him in the throat.
“I suppose this is how we die. Shriveled into prunes under the harsh glare of an unmerciful day. I knew I should have worn more sunblock.”
Namirah rolled her eyes. “Oh, shut up, Skink.”
“We’re not going to die, Evander,” I said, surprising myself with the softness of my tone. “A minute ago we couldn’t even talk. We’re just getting our strength back. And once I have enough, I can summon the others. We’ll regroup, eat up to replenish, and we’ll be as good as new.”
