Blackbird Broken (The Witch King's Crown #2) - Keri Arthur Page 0,90

but not even she could counter the combined magic of three full earth witches.

The other six stood in a circle facing them. It would be easy to believe they had no interest or knowledge of what else might be happening in the cavern, but I suspected that was highly unlikely.

I ran on through the rain of dirt, skirting fissures, leaping over rocks, trying not to think about how close to collapse the cavern had to be. Trying not to worry about the man who still battled the screaming, hungry horde behind me.

I was still some distance from the witches when the six figures turned as one and linked hands. Then, again as one, they began to spell, the words too soft for me to hear. The resulting hum of energy sent unease prickling down my spine even though it didn’t appear to hold an immediate threat.

Was it some form of protection?

I suspected it was, but there was only one way to find out. I called the lightning from the daggers and split it into three, sending two at the circle and the third at the kneeling witches.

The figures didn’t move. Didn’t react in any way. Their pale faces were expressionless, and if it wasn’t for the soft rise and fall of their chests, it would have been easy to believe they were simply robots—even if no currently existing technology could make such perfect human replicas.

Just as my lightning was about to hit, light speared the darkness and formed a dome around the silent figures. It was a deep, sickly brown-green in color and pulsated with an energy that appeared to be a warped combination of earth magic and darkness.

My lightning hit it and, with a sharp crack, exploded.

I swore, gripped my daggers tightly, and ran straight at the bastards. The only way to break any circle of power was to move or remove one of the elements. I had no idea if it would work here, simply because I had no idea what magic was being employed. But if it didn’t work—if the dome protecting the earth witches didn’t fall—we were in deep trouble.

My footsteps echoed loudly, despite the roar of the battle behind me, and the deep, quivering groan of the earth. It was close—so close—to succumbing to the pressure being applied by the witches; the fall of debris was now so bad the daggers’ light provided little in the way of guidance. I was running on instinct and hoping like hell that instinct and my footing didn’t betray me.

My heart pounded so fiercely, it felt ready to tear out of my chest, and each breath was a sharp rattle of fear.

I could do this.

I had to do this.

There was no other option. Not if we wanted to survive; it was very evident survival was not in the minds of the nine.

With another resounding crack, the cavern’s ceiling began to crash down in very large chunks. It was now or never …

I sucked in a deep breath, then launched myself at the nearest guardian. She didn’t move. She didn’t even look at me. Didn’t react when I hit her feet first in the gut. The force knocked her backward, ripping her hands from the grip of the two motionless figures on either side. The sickly green dome immediately began to pulsate.

But it didn’t fall.

I hit the ground, rolled onto my knees, then slashed Nex across the calf of the guardian to my right. The sharp blade cut through tendons, muscle, and bone with ease, and her lightning cindered the lower portion of his leg. He collapsed, but he didn’t lose his grip on the woman beside him, and the dome remained intact.

I swore, scrambled over the top of the collapsed man, and severed his hand, thereby breaking another link in the chain.

The dome began to retract; as a hole in the still-pulsating wall of energy formed, I flung in three bolts of lightning.

Between one heartbeat and the next, the three kneeling witches were cindered, and the dark caress of their energy stopped feeding the collapse.

But the cavern still shook, and I had to wonder if perhaps I’d been too— The thought cut off as a scream rent the air. Or rather, six screams that sounded like one.

Before I could react, they hit me, tearing at clothes and skin with nails as sharp as knives. I instinctively raised my arms to protect my face and then called on the lightning again. It burst from my body rather than the blades,