Watching Esh had always roused something in her. He was made to fight, his movements strong and deadly and so decided. There was fear for him, but it was a small undercurrent, barely noticeable amidst her admiration. Instead, she concentrated on the animal grace he exuded as he went after his prey, the muscles bunching with restrained strength and his body sinuous in the way it flexed and spun.
Now, with the phoenix, it went further. He fought as one with his flame, the new power giving a heretofore unknown power to his blows, the flame following each strike to deepen the wound, painting the albino in streaks of blue and black and red, breaking bone and crushing flesh.
The albino once terrified her, but now it was pathetic how it fell before Esh. Esh stepped back as the albino lay on the ground, the body releasing magical vapors. The phoenix lifted its head in a war cry.
The Pale Lady had an intense frown on her face as she stared first at the body, and then toward Esh. “I don’t like this game anymore.”
The black coils of magic surrounding the woman arced out with sudden speed, the ends morphing into the faces of snarling black dogs with rows and rows of white shark teeth, green saliva dripping from their fangs, magic that was visible only to Nalah, but all three fell to the ground as the dogs tore into them.
Pain was her world, but she fought to keep her eyes open because Esh rose beside her, his own magic coming to the fore, his magic in the form of the phoeniex with wings beating fast, the beak sharp and ripping into the black magic, but the multitude of dogs clamped down onto it with fierce jaws, and the bird screeched in fury and pain.
And then…
and then
The world was no longer red or black, but a deep rich green shot with silver. It separated the magics and threw back the dogs. The dogs howled with rage, snapping and growling at the intruder but pulling back all the same.
A wave rolled through – so hot it froze all in its path or such a deep, deep cold it incinerated?
The black tentacles of the Pale Lady circled in long sweeps across the landscape, probing and pausing and when confronted with the wave, jerking back, hesitating in their path before they rushed forth, and the two opposite magics collided.
And Nalah’s magical shields, battered and bloodied for so long, fell.
Chapter Nineteen
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What the fuck? The pale woman pulled back her attack, and now something else was entering the battle. Esh’s flame settled in him, aware but still. This incoming second power must be connected to someone good, or at least on their side.
Beside him on the ground, Nalah tore at her braids and began screaming, bringing her knees to her chest and rocking her body.
“Nalah!” He fell to his knees, the elf coming to crouch beside her as well. “Was she hit?”
The elf ran her hands over Nalah’s head, across her still screaming mouth. Nalah seemed unaware, still locked in her mind. “Strong magic can break the minds sensitive to it.” The elf looked up to the pale woman, then around. “And the magics here are some of the strongest of this world.”
Nalah’s screams were interspersed now with sobs, her head moving back and forth. “What can we do?”
The elf shook her head. “I have no skill in this area.”
Esh rose, ready to tear through the pale woman, but the elf grabbed his wrist. “Let go,” he said, and the words were a snarl. She may be an ally, but he’d destroy anything to protect Nalah.
“Wait,” the elf replied, and motioned with her head to the path that led to the building.
Down the path came the red-haired woman, the impressive sword in her hand glowing with blood and magic, a veritable inferno of escaping power. The skin of her sword arm was marked with red flames…no, not marked. The flames moved in the skin, reaching up past her shoulder to the edges of her neck.
Rorth moved at her side but traveled some steps behind, enough to let her swing that huge sword without hitting him.
The woman walked straight ahead and never took her gaze from the pale woman. The white-haired woman returned that look, her face twisted and without the previous maniacal glee. The child at her feet hissed at the swordswoman, but clung to the pale woman’s skirt.
The redhead walked without stopping on her journey to the other woman while Rorth went toward the elf. As the swordswoman passed before him, the flame in him rose, and it bowed to her.
Beneath him, Nalah’s screams turned to constant whimpers. Ahead of him, the redhead walked until several feet away from the other, the sword steady at her side and the other woman square in her sights.
The look between the two women was as familiar to Esh as the break of bone. It marked bitter enemies, those who would fight without the promise of money or glory, only to feel the pain and humiliation of the other.