“They both want to do you,” she purred. “You should just ask them to do it toget--”
“Come on,” I said, “I gotta save the kingdoms first. If the romance between the three of us blossoms naturally, I’ll be fine with it, but I don’t want to force anything.”
“Of course,” she sighed, and I leaned back into the vent.
I listened at the vent to try to hear the rest of Irenya and Arieste’s conversation, but either they had stopped talking or spoke in voices too low for me to hear, so I sat back onto my bed. let out a long breath and closed my eyes.
Instinctively, I used the Mark of the Guardian to scan my surroundings as I let my mind work at the problem of the women. They weren’t dragons fighting for territory or trying to build a hoard of precious objects anymore, just human women attracted to a human man who was also attracted to both of them.
My eyes popped open and a spike of worry drove all the thoughts of gorgeous women from my mind as my magical senses screamed at me. I could feel that faint hint of magic coming from the city around me, maybe two or three hundred yards away. The magic tried to evade me, but I recognized it now as the pulse of Emroth’s power.
But it wasn’t one pulse. It wasn’t even five or ten. The number was too high for me to count, but I knew there had to be scores of ghoulins in Ironfast.
They were all heading toward us.
Chapter Twelve
I leapt to my feet, fully awake in an instant.
“Sergeant Dai, get up!” I shouted and raced toward the door. “Ghoulins are coming!”
I heard the sergeant’s boots thump on the floor behind me as I ripped the door open, then banged on the door to the women’s room.
“Arieste, Irenya--”
The door flew open before the words were fully out of my mouth.
“What’s wrong?” Arieste asked. Lines of exhaustion showed on her face from the lack of sleep.
“Ghoulins!” I said almost in the same instant. “A fucking lot of them. We need to get out of here now.”
Without hesitation, the woman whirled and darted back into the room, and I could hear her shouting for Irenya.
“Captain!” I called down the corridor. Captain Daxos turned from his position at the door to our apartment rooms and shot me a curious expression. “Ghoulins on their way here now.”
I reached out again with the Mark of the Guardian and searched for their presences around us. Emroth’s power made it difficult to pinpoint their exact location or determine their precise number, but I could feel the faint pulses of their magic drawing closer. In minutes, they’d reach the building where we were staying. If they swarmed inside looking for us, we’d be fucked.
“We’ve got to get out of here and get deeper into the city,” I told him. “At least put enough distance between them and us that they can’t find us.”
“Understood,” Captain Daxos said with a nod. He seemed to understand the danger of being caught in the enclosed space of the building, and he hurried to pack his gear along with the rest of us. Sergeant Dai thrust my pack at me, and I nodded my thanks as I slung it over my shoulder. A minute later, Irenya and Arieste both emerged from their room. They looked as exhausted as they had earlier, but grim determination sparkled in their eyes.
“Let’s go,” I said as I stepped out into the hall. “I’ll take the lead. Follow me as quietly as you can.”
“Quietly” proved a lot more difficult than I’d anticipated. It was nearly impossible to step quietly across the rubble- and garbage-littered hallway, and I winced as my boots struck an overturned chair and sent it crashing into the wall. The sound of crunching wood, clattering stone, and clanking metal echoed in the hall all around me, and I prayed that the monsters outside couldn’t hear us.
I scanned our surroundings once more and found the pulsing mass of magic had drawn closer. The ghoulins had passed the open-air marketplace at the entrance to Ironfast, and I guessed they were at the beginning of the apartment-like buildings.
I paused at the double doors of the building and peered into the darkness of the city outside. I could actually hear the faint gurgling, groaning cries of the ghoulins and the rattling of crumbled masonry they kicked up as they shambled toward us. I didn’t dare light a torch for fear it would draw them, since I didn’t know if they hunted by smell, sight, sound, or a combination of the three.
“What are your plans?” Irenya’s warm body pressed up against my back.
“Everyone, follow me. We can’t use light, so be really cautious where you step.” With a deep breath, I slipped out of the double doors and into the darkened streets of Ironfast. The gurgling of the ghoulins sounded like it was coming from fifty or sixty yards behind us, back toward the bridge into Ironfast. I had no idea where they came from or how they’d gotten into Ironfast in the first place, but it was enough to know that the way ahead of us was clear of ghoulins. As long as we kept them behind us, we had a chance of outrunning them.
The light of the glowing mushrooms on the cavern ceiling provided almost no illumination for the way ahead. I could make out the tall looming shapes of the stone buildings but nothing else, and I heard a muffled curse behind me as one of the Blackguards tripped over an invisible obstacle. It took all of my willpower to place one foot blindly in front of the other when I wanted to use my fire magic to create light.
A loud gurgling cry echoed from behind, and I knew the ghoulins had detected us. Either they’d caught our scent, heard the sound of our footsteps, or, and I hoped this wasn’t the case, could see us in the dark. The magic pulsing inside them drew closer at a much faster pace.
“Shit!”
I tapped into the fire magic and shot a small pillar of flame into the sky above my head. The momentary illumination revealed a mass of the shuffling, skeletal, grey-skinned creatures less than two blocks behind us. Their black eyes sparkled in the darkness, and they let out cadaverous growls as they shambled toward us as fast as they could.
“Run!” I shouted as I turned to sprint away from the horde of ghoulins. I counted six heartbeats then summoned the fire magic again. This time, instead of shooting it out in a massive pillar, I kept a steady stream of flames burning from the end of my hand as I ran. We had to see where we were going if we wanted to have any chance of outrunning the ghoulins.
But it was more than just ghoulins behind us. I could feel a larger presence of magic among the creatures lurching toward us. It was the same evasive power I’d felt from the ghoulins, but it seemed to be hovering above the packed mass of shuffling bodies. I shuddered and poured on more speed as I ran. I did not want to find out what those things were.
My heart sank as I heard the sound of rushing water growing louder around us. The broad avenue through Ironfast ran for another ten blocks through tall stone buildings before it rose into another curving bridge over the fast-flowing river. I glanced to the left and right as I raced toward the bridge, and saw the river stretched far in both directions, cutting off this section of Ironfast from whatever lay on the far side.
Ice froze in my veins when I took my first step onto the bridge. The other stone bridge had been as solid as the ground beneath our feet, but this one seemed to tremble under my pounding boots, and within five yards of the incline, the stone of the bridge had crumbled away into nothing.
“Shit!” I whirled toward the others racing up behind me. “It’s a dead end. We’ve got to find another way.”
Even as the words left my mouth, I saw the first glimmering black eyes of the ghoulins shuffling up the street behind us. I could see no other bridges to cross the river, and there were too many for us to try to get around them.
We were trapped.
What now? Face them with magic and steel? Such a large horde would be fucking tough to kill, and I could see the lines of exhaustion on the faces of everyone around me. Captain Daxos and his Blackguards would fight, but what chance would they stand against so many enemies? Even with the little magic Irenya and Arieste could summon, they�
�d have little chance of survival.
I thought about turning the women into dragons so they could fight, but the horde I sensed was massive and moving toward us quickly. I doubted there would be enough time to change the women into their dragon form, and even if I could, we’d probably get surrounded. Maybe they could fly us across the river, but then I thought of a better idea when I recalled the river I’d crossed with Sir Galfred on our journey into Frosdar’s lair.
“Follow me!” I shouted as I dashed down the bridge, back onto flat ground, and toward the river bank.
The water of the Iron River flowed fast and strong just five feet below the level of the ground where I stood. My plan would work, but it would require a great deal of effort. I could feel my tired body protesting as I reached for the ice magic flowing within me. I let out a gasp as the chilling power coursed through my veins, but I forced myself to ignore the biting pain as I willed the magic to take shape. A twenty-foot-long dome of ice popped into existence in the river below me, but the force of the river slammed into the ice and swept it from my control. It hurtled downstream at a fast pace, crossed beneath the crumbled bridge, and disappeared from my sight within seconds.
“Shit!” I gritted my teeth and tried to think of how to make the magic work. If I couldn’t hold the domes steady, we’d never get across the river. I could hear the gurgling cries of the ghoulins growing dangerously loud behind me, and I knew they’d reach us in less than half a minute.
“Not a dome!” a voice cried from beside me, and I turned to see Arieste kneeling on the edge of the riverbank. “You need to form a coating of ice to cover the river without interfering with the flow of water.”
Of course. In nature, ice crusts formed on the surface of rivers and lakes, but the water beneath still flowed. I couldn’t try to freeze rushing water into a solid mass because there was too much power in the flowing liquid.
“Show me how to do it,” I told Arieste as I reached for the magic again.
“No time!” she shouted. “Give me the magic and I will do it. Quickly!”
I knelt beside her, placed my hand on hers, and willed the ice magic to pour down my arms, through my fingers, and into her hands. When I’d done this with Irenya, the fire magic had proven difficult to control because fire wanted to roam free and burn. The ice magic now proved stiff, as inflexible as its nature and unwilling to deviate from its normal use. It wanted to form a solid shield of ice around Arieste’s hand, and I gritted my teeth as I willed it to pass through her skin and into her body.
She let out a little gasp of delight as she felt the rush of magic, and I felt her drawing out as much power as she could. The connection of our bodies served like the grounding of an electrical current, and she pulled at the ice magic from within me until it felt like I was being hollowed out from the inside.
But whatever she was doing was working. A loud crackling sound echoed around us as the uppermost layer of river water turned to ice, and the freeze radiated outward from just below her outstretched hand across the seventy feet of rushing water. It was a beautiful sight to behold, and I felt in awe of the power of the ice magic as the entire Iron River was covered with a thin layer of ice.
“We need to move!” I shouted and waved for the others to jump off the edge of the river onto the icy surface below.
“Do not let go of my hand,” Arieste said through clenched teeth. Despite the chill of the ice, beads of sweat stood out on her forehead. “I need the magic to keep thickening the ice and prevent it from being washed away.”
I held her hand tightly as I helped her stand, and then lowered her over the edge of the cliff. The ice crackled loudly under my boots when I jumped down, and my heart leapt to my throat. Thankfully, the ice held.
“Can I help?” I asked. “Tell me what to do.”
“Keep the ice from melting,” Arieste said, her voice tight with strain. “Focus on the ice beneath our feet, and I will keep it strong beneath the others.”
Captain Daxos, Irenya, and the two Blackguards had gone ahead of us and were now walking gingerly across the icy surface. It proved difficult to maintain our balance on the slick ice, so we had to go slowly to avoid falling. Arieste’s ice bridge was ten feet wide, but none of us wanted to risk sliding off and into the current of the fast-flowing Iron River.
We weren’t even halfway across the river before I felt the ice shudder beneath my feet. I glanced over my shoulder, and horror roiled through me as I saw a trio of ghoulins staggering along the ice toward us. They were moving slowly, but more and more of the hideous creatures dropped, fell, or clambered from the riverbank to cross behind us.
“We’ve got to move faster,” I shouted.
Irenya and the Blackguards turned, caught sight of the pursuing ghoulins, and immediately set off at a quick jog toward the far bank of the river. It took all of my concentration to keep the ice beneath our feet firm using the magic, maintain my balance, and still cling to Arieste’s hand as we walked. Sweat soon trickled down my face and back from the effort.
The ice behind us gave a loud crack, and I heard a gurgling cry turn to a shriek of panic, then fade into silence as the ghoulin was swept away by the river. The ice shuddered beneath my feet, and I could feel it threatening to give way. An angry roar burst from my lips as I reached for the ice magic and poured it into the section of ice I stood on. The use left me drained and barely able to keep staggering forward, but the bridge no longer threatened to give way beneath the pursuing ghoulins.
“They’re off!” Arieste gasped, and I was relieved to see Captain Daxos help Irenya up onto the river bank and then clamber up behind her.
“Then let’s double-time it,” I said.
My blood turned to ice as Arieste sagged in my arms, exhausted by the strain of using her magic. She was still breathing, but she had fallen unconscious, so I lifted her bodily and carried her the last ten feet to the riverbank.
“Hand her up to us,” Captain Daxos shouted as I raced toward them. He and Sergeant Dai bent over with their arms outstretched to take the slim body of the unconscious woman.
My shoulders protested as I swung Arieste up toward their waiting hands. It felt like military pressing five hundred pounds, since my body was exhausted from the travel, lack of sleep, and the use of magic. But the sounds of the ghoulins behind me and the shuddering of the ice beneath my feet lent strength to my arms. The moment the Blackguards took the unconscious women from me, I climbed the five feet onto the riverbank.
I half expected to hear the panicked cries of the ghoulins behind me as the ice melted and the river swept them away, but their gurgling and growling grew steadily closer. With horror, I realized I’d made the ice of the bridge too thick. The river would take too long to melt it, and the ghoulins would get across to keep pursuing us.
“Irenya!” I called. “Melt the bridge and bring them down.”
The red-haired woman stepped toward the river and concentration screwed up her face as she reached for the little fire magic remaining inside her. A small pillar of fire streamed from her hands toward the ice bridge. The glistening surface sizzled, but the flames died out too quickly to do more than melt the top layer of ice.
“Damn it!” she cursed. “It’s not enough. I don’t have enough power.” The look on her face told me exactly how that made her feel. She was the sort of woman who needed to have the power and be in control.
But right now, neither of us had any choice. We needed each other to get out of this alive.
“Take my power,” I said as I reached for her right hand. Her fingers were strangely warm and soft beneath my palms, and I felt a little thrill run through my skin at the contact. Her eyes widened slightly, so it seemed that she felt it, too.
I tapped into the river of fire flowing through me and poured it into her hand, as I had when healing Jian, People’s Councilor Danikel’s daughter and Captain Daxos’ sister, back in Ironfast. An almost sensuous delight echoed in her gasp as she felt the magic flowing through me and into
her. At that moment, joined together by such wild, unrestrained power, we were like two individuals moving as one. It almost felt better than sex, the way the fire set my nerves jangling and waves of heat pulsing back and forth between us. Her eyes met mine, and I could feel that same desire sparkling there.
The gurgling cries of the ghoulins shattered the moment. Irenya whirled toward the river, stretched out her left hand, and pulled on the magic flowing between us. I felt a huge surge of power as a pillar of flame ten feet wide and forty feet long blossomed from her fingertips.
The flames engulfed the ghoulins on the ice bridge and charred their flesh to the bone in the space of a heartbeat. An ear-splitting hiss sounded, and a moment later a billowing cloud of steam filled the air as the heat turned ice to water and water to gas in an instant. The few ghoulins to survive the fire were silenced by the relentless fury of the fast-flowing Iron River, and a bit of relief poured into my stomach.
But our enemies were not yet defeated. I felt a little throbbing pulse of magic coming from above me, and I looked up in time to see a hideous creature illuminated by the light of Irenya’s fire. The thing’s parchment-thin skin stretched over an angular skull, bat-wings easily five feet long, and six-inch talons in place of hands. It flapped its wings to escape the column of flame and soared through the air to land on our side of the river.
“Giant monster bat!” I shouted as I pointed to the creature.
Confusion twisted Captain Daxos’ face at the name, but his face went pale as he spotted the creature.
“Aswang,” he gasped.
The creature let out a piercing shriek and darted toward us. The thing seemed to move on its bat legs with inhuman speed, and its long claws dug a furrow in the stone as it charged Captain Daxos.
Time slowed to a crawl around me. Captain Daxos was drawing his sword, but I could see it wouldn’t clear its sheath before the giant bat-looking monster hit him with those long claws. His scale mail could fend off a ghoulin attack, but I had no doubt this beast would shred the armor like a winnower through a cornstalk. If I didn’t act, he would be dead.
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