I launched to my feet and sprinted toward the mages. Olivia ran after me.
Bhardudlin pulled his hands apart and power surged to fill the gap. The sizzling air turned heavy and poisonous, and the ground trembled. With an ecstatic roar, the darkfae unleashed his attack.
A maelstrom of black magic hurtled toward the druid. Zak thrust his hands out and shadows erupted from his palms, forming a rippling dome. Bhardudlin’s attack struck the nebulous barrier. All the heaving, crackling power piled against the obstacle.
Zak had warned against fighting such a powerful fae. He’d also warned us not to take a direct hit. Now he was doing both because he had no choice.
I couldn’t let him die.
Bhardudlin’s ebony magic tore at Zak’s barrier and bolts of black lightning cut through the edges, shearing fissures in the earth on either side of the druid. Aaron, Kai, and Ezra braced against the howling wind that blasted out from the clashing powers. A branch tore off a tree and whipped past my face, scratching my cheek.
Olivia shrieked in pain and hit the ground with a thud, but I couldn’t stop. Bent against the gale, I ran toward the guys.
Lallakai’s shadow magic rippled. Faltered. Started to fail.
I opened my mouth to scream Llyrlethiad’s name.
A bolt of power ripped through the barrier and lashed at Aaron and Kai. It slammed into their raised swords, flinging them backward—into me. We crashed down in a tangle, the breath crushed from my lungs. I had no air to call for the fae lord.
Lallakai’s desperate shadow barrier shuddered. The edges had torn away. Bhardudlin’s power screamed against it, pushing harder, ripping deeper.
Then Ezra darted to Zak’s side.
He pressed his palms against Lallakai’s barrier—and crimson light flared beneath his fingers. The scarlet magic burst out of his hands and surged up his arms, veining his flesh and shining through his clothes. The power, a vivid red that was black at its deepest core, snaked across the inside of Lallakai’s failing barrier.
The temperature plunged. The darkness thickened into an inky soup.
Blood-red power erupted in a circle around Ezra’s feet. Lines spiked out of it, runes igniting in the leaf litter. A fully formed sorcery circle coalesced beneath him, red magic pouring out of it. The circle pulsed.
Then howling crimson power erupted from his hands and ripped through both Lallakai’s barrier and Bhardudlin’s ebony attack.
Chapter Twenty
I couldn’t breathe.
Aaron was on top of me. As the crimson magic had collided with black fae power and exploded, he’d rolled over me. His weight was crushing my lungs, and I hammered desperately at his shoulder.
He pushed off me and lurched onto his hands and knees.
Bhardudlin groaned furiously. The explosion had thrown the huge darkfae across the clearing. Great wounds raked his brownish-gray flesh, dripping dark blood over the forest floor, and the unleashing of power had torn smoking, foot-deep crevices into the earth.
Zak and Ezra, who’d been front and center for the explosive collision, were both down and unmoving.
Bhardudlin heaved to his feet and stretched to his towering twelve-foot height. His black eyes fixed on the downed druid and he hungrily licked his tusks. Ignoring the blood trickling from his wounds, he lumbered forward.
Aaron grabbed his sword from the scorched leaf litter. “Tori, take care of Ezra and Zak.”
Kai rose too, katana at the ready. The two mages advanced on the injured darkfae.
I scrambled up and raced to the druid and aeromage. Ezra’s face was slack, but red magic glowed across his fingertips. What the hell was that?
Aaron roared in challenge and fiery orange light flared. Bhardudlin snarled.
I grabbed Ezra’s shoulders, but he was six feet of solid muscle and impossible to lift. Planting my feet, I heaved on him anyway.
Silvery light glimmered. Hoshi appeared above Ezra, her long body floating effortlessly. She grasped the strap of his baldric with her little paws—and half his weight vanished. I lifted his shoulders off the ground, his head hanging limply. With Hoshi’s help, I dragged him into the trees, then ran back for Zak. Olivia was crumpled half behind a tree trunk, far enough away that she should be safe. I’d worry about her later.
As I took hold of Zak’s shoulders, he sucked in a sharp breath. His eyes flew open, then glazed with pain. Though Lallakai’s tattoos still marked his skin, his irises had no crystalline brightness. She must have used up her power.
Instead of dragging him away, I helped him sit up. “Zak, I have to call—”
“No. Bhardudlin is injured. We can finish him.”
As Hoshi flitted anxiously around us, Zak staggered to his feet and snapped a vial off his belt. He pulled the cork and downed the orange-gold contents in one gulp. Within three breaths, his rough exhalations steadied. Had the potion healed him or merely dulled his pain?
He extended his hand and a red rune ignited on his forearm. A crimson saber materialized in his grip. Shadows rippled on either side of him, then four vargs took form, their fangs bared and ruby eyes glaring.
Leaving me standing there, helpless and terrified, he ran for Bhardudlin with the vargs speeding ahead of him. The darkfae whirled away from Aaron to meet the druid and his wolves. Zak swung his saber and Bhardudlin caught it with one hand. Unconcerned by the spray of blood from his palm, he grinned through his tusks.
Aaron drew his sword back and whipped it in an arc. A band of searing blue fire struck the fae’s back, tearing an infuriated howl from him. Kai flung a handful of throwing knives into Bhardudlin’s shoulder, then pointed his katana. Lightning leaped from his blade to the knives.
The darkfae dropped to one knee under the barrage, then flung both giant arms out. His sweeping fists missed Zak and Kai but sent Aaron and two vargs flying. Aaron hit the ground and rolled into a tree.
Panic choked me, but Zak had said not to call Llyrlethiad. He’d said they could handle it.
With Hoshi holding on to my collar, I sprinted back into the trees and crouched beside Ezra. His eyes fluttered open. He squinted blearily at me, his jaw tight. Like Zak, he was in obvious pain, but he tried to sit up.
I slung an arm around his shoulders and helped him. He breathed harshly, then raised his head, his attention pulled toward the sounds of battle.
“Where’s my weapon?” he panted.
I shook my head. “You can’t fight like this.”
“Can.” He grabbed the nearest tree and levered himself to his feet. “I’m just bruised. The fae’s magic hit like a tank.”
Deciding not to point out that Ezra’s mysterious crimson magic had hit even harder, I stuck my head around the tree. Zak had unleashed another rune on his arm, and green bands of magic spiraled around Bhardudlin, restricting his movements—but the darkfae kept fighting. His wounds had barely slowed him. He was unstoppable.
A few yards from the edge of the battle, Ezra’s double-bladed staff lay in the leaf litter, the steel reflecting Aaron’s firelight.
Ezra leaned against the tree, panting for air. Whatever he’d said, he was in bad shape. He needed a minute to recover. Clamping down on my fear, I set my feet. In and out. I could do this.
“Wait here,” I told him.
Before he could argue, I sprinted toward the battle.
Hoshi hung onto my shoulders like a streaming blue banner as I ran. The vargs harried Bhardudlin’s ankles but seemed incapable of inflicting real damage, and Zak darted back and forth in front of the fae, preventing him from defending against the two mages. Aaron and Kai rained fire and lightning down on the fae’s back.
Bhardudlin’s flesh was torn and blackened. His blood drenched the forest floor. But he was still standing, still fighting, and seemed more furious than frightened.
Skidding through the leaves, I stooped to grab Ezra’s weapon.
Bellowing, Bhardudlin flung his huge arms wide. A wave of black power surged out of his thick fingers, expanding in every direction. Zak ducked. Aaron and Kai dove to the ground.
But I didn’t have the reflexes of a trained combat mythic. I didn’t even have my Queen of Spades card in my hand.
As the crackling black power shot outward, Hoshi’s long tail snapped around me and squeezed. In a rush of cold magic, my vision turned to colorful ripples. For an instant, Aaron and Kai disappeared, but I could see shadowy shapes: Bhardudlin, a massive gray monster; the black vargs; and Zak, whose body was overshadowed by Lallakai’s wings.
The darkfae’s attack swept right through me.
I saw its shadow pass through my shimmering chest like I wasn’t even there. Then my vision snapped back to normal, and Hoshi faded out of sight. Shock kept me rooted in place—then Bhardudlin’s hand shot out with super speed. He grabbed Zak around the chest.
Clutching Ezra’s weapon, I spun. As Ezra sprinted out of the trees, I drew the heavy staff back and hurled it at him like a javelin.
It flew straight and true—then dropped out of the air and stuck into the ground like a crooked flagpole, halfway to him. Goddamn it! I needed to work out more.
He veered toward it, snatched it from the ground, and charged for Bhardudlin. As the darkfae lifted Zak into the air, Ezra closed in from behind. Aaron and Kai hurled attacks at the darkfae’s face, blinding him.
Launching himself with a gust of wind, Ezra leaped onto the fae’s hunched back. He raised his staff, the air distorting around it, and slammed the blade down. The foot-long steel sank into grayish-brown flesh, then the wound exploded like a starburst as blades of air ripped outward.