Chapter 28
Chapter twenty-eight
Seraphina
Sera’s heartbeat drummed in her ears as the beasts on the ground twitched.
“Sera! Run!” Al screamed again.
He raced by, his grip like steel on her arm, and she moved. They shot through the trees, Snik ahead of them on all fours, howling a battle cry.
Sera ducked under branches, everything a blur of brown and green. Her lungs burned, and she pushed her legs to move, to hurtle over logs. She barely felt the stinging on her arms, the sharp pulling in her thighs, as she moved.
“Faster,” Alistair yelled.
The trees thinned with every step forward. She stopped short and looked up. A wall of solid granite blocked their path, reaching at least sixty feet into the air. A straight drop. They had to be close. The ruins could hide them.
Or kill you.
Sera followed Al. They sprinted along the bottom of the cliff. Her side cramped, and she hissed, trying to breathe through it. Something thudded behind them. Claws pounding dirt.
“Grab Snik!” Al yelled between breaths.
Snik stopped short and jumped into her arms. Before she could register what happened, they were on a deer path much farther ahead. Nausea rolled through her. Her abomination’s cage rattled, and dark spots crept into her vision.
“Keep going.” Al pushed her forward. “They will not stop.”
“How are they alive?” she managed to ask, choking down her bile.
“They fucking regenerate,” he said through gritted teeth. A bright white light blinded her as Al healed his side, then turned, whipping his arm through the air. His glorious glimmering magic whipped out like a fan behind them. The demons’ flesh smoked as the beasts fell onto their backs.
He stumbled. Sera gripped his arm, but blood still streamed from his side.
“Go.”
They continued around the cliff face.
Clicking all around her… above her. Sera glanced up, where a dozen of the monsters stared at them from the cliff’s edge. Raising her hand above her head, she grunted, getting a barrier in place just in time to prevent boulders and rocks from crushing them.
A beam of white light sailed through the sky, knocking a few beasts down. Then, to her horror, they jumped, slamming into the canopies of the giant ironoaks. The tops of the trees swayed violently under the weight. The raven pendant tied around her neck thumped hard against her chest.
“Fuck,” Alistair growled from behind. His breath was ragged.
“Why aren’t you healing?” The snarls grew louder, the clicking rising to a near-deafening level. She gulped down precious mouthfuls of air. “Snik, you need to get out of here.”
Snik shook his head, his oversize ears swaying with the motion. The goblin set his chin like he was ready and willing to die by her side. She didn’t know why he’d given her such loyalty, but it broke her heart when she said, “It’s an order! Get out of here!”
Snik whimpered, then veered off.
Sera threw down her pack, snatched Al’s, and tossed them into some bushes. Maybe she and Al would come back for them if they made it through this, but right now they needed to run.
“Al, travel us.”
Al nodded and grabbed her arm. She gasped, barely getting a moment to prepare for the dizzying fold through space.
Sera slammed to her knees. But when she opened her eyes, it wasn’t the white Citadel walls that surrounded her. Instead, they were still deep in the forest, just a few hundred yards from where they’d been. The beasts no longer in front of them, but behind.
Alistair panted and took a perfect warrior’s stance, his sword raised to the sky. With a pained grimace, he unleashed a wall of power. An instant later, at least two dozen of the creatures lay dead… for now.
Al fell to his knees.
“Holy shit,” she said and stumbled to him. “That’s the reason they wanted you as the Mesar.” She swallowed. The carcasses smoldered, but it didn’t look like they were moving. Al fell forward on his hands and knees, panting. She pulled his hood back; his hair curled with sweat.
Sera draped his arm over her shoulder and pulled him up.
He’d given them a chance, and clearly he was too hurt to travel. He looked at her then, and Sera saw how much pain he was in. His skin pale, his eyes bloodshot. He was close to burnout, had to have been, and if they didn’t get out of this forest soon, they were going to die.
The ruins had to be there somewhere.
“I need you to put whatever magic you have left into healing that wound at your side.”
He nodded. A white flash burst into his skin, and he winced but stood upright.
“Let’s go.” She pulled him.
A break in the wall of stone ahead had her rounding a corner, entering a path lined by low stone walls. This had to be the right way. The farther they ran, the tighter the sides closed in. If they could hide, even for a short time, then Alistair could regain enough of his magic to travel them out.
Sera dragged him behind her. His magic whirred, and she knew it wasn’t being directed at healing his side. Glancing over her shoulder, she sucked in a breath as she beheld the horror behind her. The beasts’ numbers had doubled.
Crumbled piles of rocks and wood littered the sides of the path. Sera ran ahead of Al, looking for a cave, a cove, somewhere to hide. She’d fucking climb into a doorway straight to the underworld right about now. But…
Sera sagged to a halt. There were no ruins, no doorways, just a solid rock wall that was too high to climb. They were trapped.
Her lungs spasmed as she heaved in air. When Alistair rounded the bend behind her, their eyes locked, and sorrow crossed his face. He grabbed her, pushed her back against the stone using his body like a shield.
“Throw up your barrier,” he rasped.
“I don’t think it will hold.”
“Do it!” He pulled her to his chest, and she threaded her arms through his and pushed a blue wall out the enhancer. It was the only thing between them and the beasts. The horde of demons watched. Their jaws snapped, drool raining from beneath their skull masks.
“I’m going to travel us out of here,” he said between gasps.
“You don’t have enough left. You’ll burn out.” Her arm trembled.
“I just need another second. I’ll be fine.” Blood was actively flowing down his side. The bottom of his tunic and his pants were soaked with it. Al closed his eyes.
He wasn’t going to make it. No matter how strong he thought he was. They might get out of the ravine, but not alive. There had to be another way.
“You can’t,” Sera begged.
His eyes met hers, and she watched them take in every inch of her face. Her arms strained from holding her barrier out around them. The demons snapped their jaws and growled.
“It will be fine, I promise. I’ll just get us over this cliff.”
“No,” she said, unable to stop her tears.
“You can’t hold this forever,” he said and made a pained sound. “They aren’t going to keep their distance much longer. It’s the only way.” His eyes settled on her lips.
This was it. She would be at the top of a cliff, holding on to dust. And he would be gone.
“Please,” she begged.
He lifted his hand, cupped the back of her neck, and slammed his mouth into hers. Every emotion was in that kiss: Desperation. Want. Hope. Need. She opened to him, and he kissed her deeper. It wasn’t soft… it was the wish to survive so that they might do this again.
She whimpered, then her barrier dropped. Sera clung to him, waiting. Waiting for the rush, for his life to drain from his body and his magic to take over.
A scrape across her back had her gasping, and instead of falling up, they fell backward.
“Oh fuck,” Al groaned, barely catching himself before he crushed her. Still, in the chaos, somehow he’d cradled her head to keep it from smashing on stone.
Another scrape and the sky disappeared, leaving them in complete darkness.
“You okay?”
She didn’t try to stop her voice from shaking. “Yes.”
Slowly, the heat of his body left her. “I’ve got you.” Reaching for him, she felt his hand and clung to it. Al hauled her to her feet. “I’m going to guess you can’t make a mage light right now?”
“No.” She shivered. The cave was cold. She couldn’t see a thing, but she could hear water dripping, smell the damp musk of the earth.
“A witch and a warlock in my cave. How interesting.”