Page 42 of Wind and Water
“I only want my mother. Send her down safely, and we can talk about whatever you want.” Chin up and voice clear, Wren shows none of the fear she must be feeling.
Pride for her courage swells inside me.
“Who is that with you, human? Is that another of Elspeth’s spawn? Shall I tell you what I did to your brother, Riordan, or would you prefer to be surprised when you meet him on the other side?” Even at the distance of an eighty-foot-tall monstrosity, her eyes meet mine, and the venom she feels toward my mother reaches me.
Hearing that one of my beloved brothers has fallen cuts like a knife deep in my soul. Still, I hold my emotions at bay. She wants a reaction. She uses fear to manipulate people. “My mother is the true queen of Domhan. My brothers and I have always been willing to die to serve her.”
“You will make an excellent shadow demon, and I will revel in absorbing your magic. I can already taste the sweetness of your power, like liquor one can’t get enough of.” She points to the demons flying in a circle around the peak. “Bring him to me.”
They swoop down and their shrieks rise to a deafening pitch.
I call the golden light, and when they close in, I put myself between Wren and the evil and throw the light while calling for fire.
My magic streaks across the air toward the shadow demons.
A wave of centaur magic blasts into the gold, and it erupts so brightly, both Wren and I have to shield our eyes.
Two demons are shredded to nothing, and their essence falls to the water like ash.
“Not possible,” Venora cries. “What have you done?”
Wren steps to my side. Her voice is gritty and commanding. “Give me my mother back right now.”
Face twisted with hate, Venora reaches through a magic wall. Her hand disappears for a moment. She pulls Birdie into the daylight by her hair.
Birdie squints against the sunlight. Probably blinded for a moment before she focuses on us and the long fall she faces if Venora lets go. She locks her gaze on Wren and screams, “Run!”
“Never,” Wren says under her breath. “Send her down here unharmed or you will regret ever being born.”
Venora’s laughter is sickening as she hangs Birdie half over the edge of the parapet. “I make no deals. The only way this useless human lives is if you trade your life for hers, chosen one.” The last two words are biting and disdainful.
“Why don’t you come down here and get me?”
Gripping the hilt of my sword and conjuring another ball of fire, I swallow my desire to grab Wren and run to keep her safe. Instead, I whisper, “Don’t take it too far.”
“You are so small. Do you think I have to lower myself to reach you? That tiny human mind has no imagination.” A bolt of black lightning shoots from Venora’s free hand. Sulfur fouls the air. Magic powered by the demon realm stinks of it. These are lessons from my youth.
Rather than attack her quarry, the bolt is headed straight for me. I leap out of the way, and the water explodes around us.
Unharmed, but wet, we barely catch our breath before the shadow demons swirl toward us. There must be a hundred of them. It’s a wonder their shrieking doesn’t deafen us all. The closer they get, the more grim the impending outcome. It’s the effects of those who have lost their souls and their magic to the witch queen. I must fight the sense that there is no good in the world.
When they are nearly on us, I scream, “Now, Wren!”
Venora shoots another bolt of her dark magic toward the ground.
Wren’s cheeks turn bright red. The water around her feet pushes back as the wind swirls around her. She screams, and the wind gusts upward as she pushes her palms toward the demons. The demons struggle against the gale, but it blows them back.
Changing her focus to Venora, Wren sends the wind up the side of the tower.
Venora stumbles back from the edge, similar to what we saw in the dream, her lightning shifts and arcs away, harmlessly hitting the water in the distance. She looks at Wren with black eyes. “You want her, you can pull her broken body from the lost lands before my army kills your false heir and brings you to me.” She throws Birdie over the side.
Birdie’s screams fill the air.
Even with my mind closed off to her, Wren’s horror, rage, and fear wash over me.
I use my magic to slow Birdie’s fall, but I know it won’t be enough.
Wren stretches her arms wide and brings them together, her palms slapping above her head. The water rushes forward and up until it meets Birdie’s flailing arms and legs.
