Page 55 of Cry of the Damned
With Fideles dead, only three magistrates remained. At all times, the number of magistrates was kept at eight. I never understood why until I realized the magnitude of the secrets they kept. Taking in a new member into their ilk had to be done carefully, lest their deck of cards come crumbling down.
The day the triad attempted to kidnap me, Magistrate Candor had died. Later, we killed Magistrate Magnus as he hunted me throughwildlingterritory. And this time around, I’d done away with Sonticus, Celox, and Fideles. That meant that only three magistrates remained. And they were here.
Before charging in, I did one more check on Ila and Bethel. They weren’t where I’d left them. For a moment, I panicked, then noticed that Rob had joined them, and they were positioning themselves in the passage that led to the dungeon. There, guards would have to funnel in one at a time in order to fight. It was a great move.
Smart. Very smart.
Reasonably confident that they could hold their own, I stalked forward, my head lowered, and sidled closer to my wolves. They stood parallel to each other, facing the three remaining magistrates. All three cloaked figures held balls of crackling energy in their hands, ready to lob them at us. Behind them, the guards formed a line, their swords pointed at the floor, ready for a command from their leaders.
Everyone grew silent, and only the sound of metal against metal from the narrow passage’s direction could be heard. I could only hope that Ila, Bethel, and Rob wouldn’t find it too hard to defend their position. Eventually, they would tire, though, so we needed to end this as quickly as possible. I just didn’t know if we would be capable of such a feat.
Maybe, just maybe, there was a way to end this without any more bloodshed. Determined to at least try, I shifted to my human form.
CHAPTER 20
Isteppedinfrontof the triad. Novus and the other magistrates sneered.
“Ah, the traitor shows her face,” Novus spat.
Ignoring her words, I said, “It’s time to abandon your monstrous existence. Your precious Academy is done.”
Novus laughed and glanced around, the blue light from her crackling magic illuminating her face. “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re surrounded, and you’ll pay for what you’ve done. I will make sure of that.”
“The spring is ruined. It’s only a matter of time before this place becomes nothing but a bad memory. Leave now, abandon our lands, and finish your miserable lives elsewhere. If you don’t, you will perish here.”
“Enough of your ludicrous talk,” Novus said, then lobbed her magical attack straight at my face.
Instinctively, I shifted into my wolf form, completely avoiding Novus’s attack. Her magic sailed above me and hit the back wall. The impact sounded like an explosion and caused rocks to rain down from the ceiling. We jumped out of the way of the falling debris at the same time that we rushed forward to meet the charging guards and magistrates.
I went straight for Novus. She was my main target, but instead of coming forward to join the melee like everyone else, she took several steps back, letting the guards stream around her. Growling in frustration, I faced the thrust of a sharp sword. I barely dodged the attack by throwing my weight to one side and getting tangled in the legs of another charging guard, who fell, knocking one of the magistrates down just as he prepared to release an attack on Maki.
The electrical attack went rogue, hitting the magistrate and the guard I’d knocked down. They both fell, limbs twitching violently. I jumped out of the way just in time to avoid getting caught in the current.
Repositioning herself, the guard who had tried to slice my face off came at me again, slashing her sword. Hind legs exploding in a burst of energy, I darted between her legs, then slammed my weight against the back of her knees and pushed her right into the twitching magistrate. She cried out as she lost her balance, fell forward, and began to twitch in unison with the others.
Another one down, two more to go. I glanced around, trying to catch sight of Novus. I dodged right and left, doing my best to avoid oncoming guards, wincing as swords whizzed by me, nearly lopping my ears off.
I finally spotted her running toward the secret exit. She meant to let more guards in. I couldn’t allow that. I doubted we would be able to handle them.
Running in a zigzag, I evaded every oncoming guard and ran toward Novus as fast as my legs would allow. As I went, I allowed myself a moment of concern for the others and carefully listened to the information traveling through our bond. Novuk was wounded. There was a gash on his side, but he was already siphoning energy from Maki and healing quickly. Kall was battling two guards at the same time, but they were no match for him as he quickly got them turned around, and they nearly clipped each other instead.
Through them, I sensed the location of the other magistrate. It was Nitidus, and she was letting the guards attack first, holding back her magical attacks, saving her energy for the right moment. No doubt, she was hoping we would tire, and in the end, we would be easy prey.
Pushing aside the knowledge of my triad, I pressed forward, dodging the last guard and finding the way open to pay Novus back for what she’d done to me in that room.
As she got close to the wall, I lunged, caught a mouth full of her cloak, and jerked my head back, throwing her off-kilter. She staggered back, arms windmilling, and managed to stay on her feet. She whirled to face me, her hands moving in a magical attack, electricity quickly building around her fingers.
Without giving her a chance to gather her energy, I dived in her direction, mouth opened wide, aiming for her middle. Her eyes went large and, swiftly weaving her hands one last time, she gathered enough energy to set her fingers ablaze with energy.
As I crashed into her, Novus took hold of my head and released her attack. The jolt of her attack hit me full-on, sending searing pain across every nerve of my body. Still, my momentum carried me forward, and I managed to clamp my maw close around her flesh, if only for an instant, before my jaw snapped open as my entire body convulsed.
I heard Novus scream as I collapsed to the floor, limbs jerking, eyes rolling to the back of my head, my wolf form slowly falling away. I hoped Novus might stay down, but I was dimly aware of her climbing to all four and crawling in my direction. I struggled to focus on her approaching shape and thought I saw a dagger in her hand.
It didn’t take long for the others to start siphoning the pain and electrical attack through the tetrad bond. The throbbing agony diminished, but not quickly enough to move out of the way of Novus’s plunging dagger.
I expected her to stab me and do away with me right away, but instead, she pressed the dagger to my neck, the blade biting into the flesh and causing a trickle of warm blood to slide across my skin.
“Order them to surrender, or I’ll slice your throat,” she said through the cage of her clenched teeth.
