Page 47 of Iridian

They would be hard to keep back, and he knew it.

That’s why he stopped laughing and started chanting when I was still only halfway to him.

I was right—the rough surface and the sharp edges of the rocks made it fairly easy to climb, but the Devil could see me from where he stood just fine, and so when he raised his handtoward me and chanted his spell, there was nowhere I could hide or get out of his way.

My wards were about me, two that I’d made with the bracelet, so I had hope that they would hold against his magic as well as they held against bullets. But even so, I raised my arm in front of my face on instinct when his Blackfire shot out of his hand and came for me lightning fast. A scream built up in me and stuck in my throat, and the taste of his magic coated my tongue, even though I felt no pain and my wards held back the worst of it.

Still, the effect of his magic vibrated on my skin, and I knew that if he kept at it, I wasn’t going to be able to withstand it forever. That’s why I forced myself to keep moving, even while he chanted his second spell, this one longer, and I had a plan. I was going to let him do his spell, hit me with it this time, too, while I got closer. The smaller the distance between us, the more effective my magic would be. And hopefully, when he hit me with the second spell, I’d be ready and close enough to unleash mine on him.

So, when his magic slammed onto my wards for the second time, it was much more powerful, indeed, definitely a fourth-degree, and it was a miracle I managed to hold onto the edges of the rocks. The Devil was done playing around, and if he hit me with that same spell again, my wards were going to shatter, and I was going to feel the full strength of his magic.

That’s why I was chanting even before I blinked the stars away from my vision—and he did, too. Except he chanted out loud, and he was going for another fourth-degree, but so was I, and I was going to complete my spell faster. But I kept my head down while I whispered so he didn’t see it, didn’t know what I was preparing, couldn’t protect himself as well as he should have.

I only raised my head and my hand toward him when I was on the last words of the spell, and colorful flames were already taking shape on the palm of my hand, my magic so eager to come out of me, todestroy,it would have scared me any other day. As it was, I watched the colors shoot for the Devil, and I’d never forget the look in his eyes when he realized he couldn’t move away in time.

No smile on his lips. His eyes widened and he still tried to step back, but my magic was faster. It hit him straight in the face, and of course his wards protected him, but the sheer force of my magic pushed him back a couple steps, then knocked him down on that rock, too.

Go, go, go, go,I kept repeating to myself, as if that was going to make me move faster.

Behind me Taland was already climbing together with Zach, while Aurelia still fought a few soldiers who were left standing. Goddess, I only looked back for a second, and when I saw the bloodbath and the trail of bodies we’d left behind, I was fucking sick to my stomach.

Then I had no choice but to focus on pulling myself up to stand on that rock where the Devil was struggling to make it to his feet.

My legs shook a little and my arms hurt, too, from the climbing. My fingers were bloody, but I still raised my hand at him, prepared to chant.

Before I could, Taland put his over my forearm. “Save your energy,” he said, his eyes focused on the Devil.

“Move out of my way!” Zachary called, and we stepped to the side to let him up. The guy was smiling, and he sounded cheerful, and Aurelia was coming up fast behind him, too,laughinglike the Devil had been doing until now.

“We got this,” Zach said, wand raised at the Devil who was on his feet already, pretending to dust off his pants as he watchedus and smiled. But it wasn’t a real smile—it was one he forced himself to keep on because he was afraid.

Oh, he was afraid, all right. And to see that fear in him boosted my hope even more.

“Go ahead, keep climbing,” said Aurelia. She had a cut on her cheek that was bleeding but seemed perfectly fine otherwise. And focused on the Devil.

“Have fun, friends,” said Taland, pulling me to the other side so we could continue to climb higher.

“Oh, that’s awfully rude of you. You don’t think I’m worth the effort?!” said the Devil, and when his Blackfire shot out of both his hands at the same time, the entire mountain seemed to shake in its foundation again. Even though the magic didn’t reach us—both Zach and Aurelia were already countering it with their Bluefire that had spread like a shield in front of them—the ground was uneven enough that I couldn’t keep my balance. I fell on all fours, and so did Taland.

Before I could get back up, I looked.

I looked out into the valley, and all the hope I’d felt swelling in my chest until now faded away.

Here I’d thought that Helen and Radock and the others had already killed every soldier that stood in their way and they’d already ruined the bones of the Delaetus Army, but I was wrong. They were still fighting, and the ground beneath their feet seemed to be loaded with fucking mines because it kept exploding and throwing them off the closer they got to the Army, and the more of those soldiers they took to the ground.

Holy shit, they were bloodier than we were, slower, covered in dirt. The skeletons were still there—and Hill was still up on that landing.

“Move!” Aurelia screamed at us, and Taland was already pulling me to my feet, basically throwing me against the rocks. The Devil’s magic came at them again, and Aurelia and Zachstepped in front of me to act as a shield. For a moment, Zach looked back and his nose was bleeding, probably from the sheer pressure of the magic he held back with his own, and in his eyes, I saw that same hope that had faded from me just a moment ago.

“Go!”he said, but I didn’t hear his voice over the screams in my own head, only read the word on his lips.

I turned to the rocks again and I started climbing with Taland right behind me.

Don’t look, don’t look, don’t look,I was telling myself now because if I looked down and saw that the Devil was winning, I might lose my grip on these rocks. If I turned to find out why he was laughing—again—I was afraid I’d have no choice but to get down there myself and make sure he died.

Why the fuck was he laughing still? Could he not see that he couldn’t win?

Who says he can’t win?said the ugly voice in my head, and it was a bloody battle up there in my mind.

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