Inspired, I conjured a ball of fire in each hand, then tossed them both at the soldiers as they tried to rush me. The first one ducked it, but the second one didn’t get out of the way in time, and he screamed as his clothing burst into flame, then dropped onto the ground and started rolling to stamp out the flames.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Argon and Iannis continue to fight. Iannis was on the defensive, working as hard as he could to try and absorb Argon’s blasts so that they didn’t hurt anyone or destabilize the tunnel. Unable to use full force against a well-shielded enemy, he was at a major disadvantage. If I didn’t do something soon, Iannis was going to get hurt.
The hiss of a blade swinging through the air drew my attention to an attack from one of the remaining soldiers. I swung my crescent knife out to block the arc of his sword, but I didn’t quite catch it at the right angle and his blade bit deeply into my fingers, straight into the bone. I cried out, my knife slipping from my mutilated fingers, and jumped back, out of the soldier’s reach. He laughed at my pain, and the fear in my gut morphed into a towering flame of rage. Snarling, I lifted my other hand, then blasted him straight in the chest with a gout of flame. He flew backwards, landing hard on his ass, a scream erupting from his lips as the flames raced across his body, but I didn’t wait around to see if he was going to do the stop, drop, and roll like his buddy. Instead, I drew a chakram from the pouch on my hip, then flung it at Chartis using my non-dominant hand. Too busy trying to blast Iannis and simultaneously shield against his attacks, Chartis didn’t see the blade coming, and it sliced clean through his left leg. His scream echoed off the rocky walls, and blood spurted from the stump of his leg as he dropped onto his uninjured knee.
“You mangy beast!” he shouted, dark green eyes blazing with hatred as his gaze clashed with mine. He lifted a hand to blast me, but before he could, Iannis took advantage of Chartis’s lowered shield and blasted him with a bolt of his own. Argon screamed as the electric shock ran through him, and he toppled to the ground. I watched him shake and tremble for several moments before he braced his hand against the wall and tried to rise.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Iannis said coldly. “In case you haven’t noticed, you’re surrounded and outnumbered.”
It was true. Fenris had freed the delegates from their bonds, and they were on their feet now. Even though they looked like they could be knocked over by a stiff wind, they came to stand around the former Director of the Mages Guild, their lips tight and their eyes filled with the need for retribution. Fenris had his arm at the elbow of the oldest delegate, holding him steady, but I had no doubt that if Chartis tried anything, Fenris would kill him.
“This isn’t how it was supposed to happen,” Chartis cried in a trembling voice as his body collapsed against the dirt. Rivulets of blood seeped into the ground beneath him, and his face was growing paler by the second. “I should have been the next Chief Mage, not you! I was next in line for the position!”
“Had you been more interested in serving the people rather than serving yourself, perhaps you might have gotten the position,” Iannis said. There wasn’t an ounce of compassion in his stony voice. “Instead, you abused the position that you did have, and rather than trying to work your way back into the good graces of the Guild after I rightfully dismissed you, you’ve turned traitor.” His eyes lifted to Fenris. “Bring me a set of those cuffs so I can bind him and cauterize his wound.”
As Fenris went to gather a pair of the magic-suppressing cuffs lying on the ground, I noticed Chartis make a furtive move out of the corner of my eye. Turning, I saw that he was clutching a star-shaped charm, and though his lips were pressed together in agony, his eyes gleamed with a kind of triumph.
“No!” I shouted, jumping forward, but I was too late. Chartis spoke a Word, and the charm exploded with light, knocking us all back. I squeezed my eyelids shut against the blinding glare, bracing myself against the wall for whatever was to come. Power sizzled in the air as a tremor shook the ground, and rubble rained down onto my head.
“This is not the last you’ve seen of me!” Chartis’s voice echoed through the tunnel as the light faded. When I opened my eyes, he was gone, the severed leg lying in a pool of bright red blood the only proof that he’d ever been here.
19
I turned to ask Iannis what the hell just happened, but before I could speak a portion of the ceiling at the back of the tunnel caved in. Clouds of dust and debris filled the air, making my eyes water and the flames in the torches sputter, and the ground beneath my feet began to tilt. Fuck. The whole damn tunnel was about to collapse on top of us!
“Come on!” I shouted, grabbing the sleeve of the nearest delegate and dragging him forward. He stumbled over the body of a fallen Resistance soldier, but I continued pulling him along. “We’ve got to get out of here!”
The delegates were too weak to levitate themselves out of the shaft, so Fenris and I ushered them into the elevator cage, choking on clouds of dust and rubble as we went. Fenris got into the cage with them, then shouted several Words. The elevator began to glow, then slowly rose up the shaft with a loud screech, taking the delegates to safety.
The next thing I knew, Iannis’s arms were around me, and I bit back a scream of my own as he jumped out of the collapsing tunnel and straight into the abyss below. We fell for ten very long, very terrifying seconds, and then the levitation spell finally activated, dragging us to a halt. I sighed in relief as we began to float upward, leaning my head back against Iannis’s chest.