Page 15 of Mistake of Magic
“Shouldn’t we join as well?” I call over the sudden sandstorm.
“We aren’t a new quint,” River says calmly, extending his hand against the onslaught. The ground shifts slightly beneath one of the orange warriors.
The male stumbles. Falls. The quint disconnects and the attacking storm dies away.
“Tye will be fine,” River says, plucking the flag from Tye’s hand. “Go set up the flank. Once they are close enough, I’ll release Tye with the flag. That will force them to scatter, and you can pick them apart to your heart’s content. Try and keep the mess on the other side of the arena from Leralynn.”
Coal and Shade, still in fae form, nod once and separate right and left, jogging around the arena’s sides as Malikai’s regrouping quint continues to advance on us, their assault of wind and sand once again stressing River’s shield.
“They want to pin us against the arena wall,” River says casually, as if there isn’t anything deadly about such a plan. From down here, the walls of the arena look like jagged yellow stones, giving off more preternatural heat than glowing embers. “We’ve greater experience in direct combat, so Malikai will try to keep his warriors from having to cross swords with any one of us.”
River holds out his hand and the ground rumbles beneath Malikai’s quint, though this time the males manage to keep their footing and the power of the wind pressing against us diminishes for only a moment. “It will be more difficult for me to hold them off when they are close, but at that point, there will no longer be a reason for them to approach us at all.” He turns to Tye. “Ready? You bite me while I’m tying this on, and there will be hell to pay... eventually.”
Tye grins widely and, in a flash of light, shifts into a gorgeous tiger with white-stuffed ears and sparkling green eyes. The tiger swings his wide muzzle to River and roars, opening its maw wide.
River swears and glances at the approaching quint, now halfway to us. “We don’t have time for this, Tye. Stand down.”
The tiger paws the sand and snarls, the feral predator taking over Tye’s fae senses. But he is still there, my Tye. I can feel his essence, thriving and pulsing behind the teeth and snarls. He won’t hurt me. I know it in my soul, even as my common sense protests. The tiger standing before us, ready to rip River into shreds, will not harm me.
I pluck the flag from River’s hand before the quint commander can argue and hold my palm out to Tye, catching his green eyes with my own. “I’ll do it,” I say, my voice soft. “Stand back, River.”
The tiger’s nostrils flare delicately, his long tongue lapping at his nose. I take a step toward him and crouch, my palm still out despite River’s warning growl.
The tiger yawns. Then condescends to step forward. My heart quickens, those sharp, white teeth glistening in the sun.
“Good boy,” I whisper, fear and trust colliding inside my chest. “It’s me, Tye. It’s you and me.”
Another step. His large orange head comes in line with my face, the powerful jaws strong enough to sever my jugular in a single snap. I stay still even so, waiting. Not breathing. A final step and the tiger’s head reaches me. Lowers.
And rubs against my shoulder with enough force to knock me flat on my butt.
“Very funny, kitty.” Climbing back onto my feet, I tie the flag around the tiger’s neck like a bright neckerchief, while the animal stands still but for his tail, which swishes back and forth like a pendulum. I test the knot and glance at River, who watches the exchange with a mix of rapt attention and amusement.
“Good.” Taking my hand in his, River pulls me away from Tye, whose tiger launches across the arena, his wide paws kicking up sand.
Someone in Malikai’s quint shouts, pointing to the tiger and flag, which streams like a scarf from the animal’s neck. The quint pauses. There is but a quarter of the arena separating them from us now, with Coal and Shade waiting far at their backs and Tye now going on a merry dance across the sand.
River pulls me close to him. “The hard part is over,” he says, his grip reassuring. “You and I are of no more value to them.”
I nod, waiting for the five warriors to turn back toward the flag and the greater threat that Coal and Shade pose.
Two against five are not odds I like, but River’s sheer confidence in his quint brothers flows through his skin into mine. I wonder how many battles it took to forge that measured calm that he projects—as if even now, in the midst of a trial, we’ve all the time in the world to get it right.
Two of Malikai’s warriors separate, their attention going to Shade and Coal. The sand flies from beneath their boots as they retrace the very ground they just conquered.
Coal and Shade wait, luring their adversaries to the other side of the arena as ordered. Coal’s opponent reaches him first, and I wince for the orange-clad male as Coal’s blade strikes his ribs, dulled metal flashing in the sunlight.
The male drops to his knees with a scream, the fire he’d been kindling dying in his palms.
On the other side, Shade flashes into his wolf, the beast’s snarl a battle cry of its own.
“Go!” Malikai shouts, and the three remaining fae—the ones who are supposed to be going after Tye and our flag—rush at River and me instead.
My heart stops before leaping into a gallop. “They don’t want the flag, do they?” I say, even as I feel River’s power pulsing through him, his free arm drawing his sword. “They are going afterme.”
River pushes me behind him, his broad back covering me from the assault of wind and sand and steel. “Yes,” he says calmly, his voice rumbling through my body, purpose radiating off him as fiercely as the heat blazing from the arena’s walls.
I swallow, my world narrowing for a moment on my quint commander. The dark hair at the nape of his neck is damp with sweat. His pulse, beating evenly beneath the three runes that he accepted for my sake. His back, swelling with each slow breath, undaunted by the murder riding at us full force.
