Conspiracies (Mercedes Lackey) - By Mercedes Lackey Page 0,112
could hear cries of pain, and screams.
The Breakthrough guards who were supposed to be keeping the kids safe were nowhere to be seen.
Of course. Some tiny, calm part of Spirit’s mind wondered what excuse they would use for not being here.
But the Oakhurst students weren’t down yet. Illusory copies of Dylan led the kids charging at the lines; kids who were throwing whatever came to hand found themselves with piles of perfectly round ice balls beside them. There must have been a couple of people who had Animal Telepathy and Animal Control, because the mounted Knights found their horses practically turning themselves inside out to be rid of their riders.
The Knights managed to deflect the magical weapons, but they did so at the expense of not deflecting the physical objects being hurled like missiles. And the Oakhurst kids had been getting a lot of target practice these past several weeks. It showed. Spirit had the satisfaction of seeing one of her own ice balls make a direct hit inside the hood of the Knight nearest her, and seeing him go down. Silence from the Shadow Knights turned to cries of fury and pain of their own.
Thank goodness they hadn’t brought any physical weapons along!
Please, please, please let them NOT remember there are a lot of guns here!
Someone here could Jaunt—Spirit couldn’t make out who it was in the chaos, just a kid-shaped blot against the bonfire. Just as her eyes fastened on him, he vanished—then returned a split second later with his arms full of kendo weapons and fencing sabers. He dropped them and vanished, returned again, and repeated the trip three more times in the space of a minute or so … but on the last return, he swayed and pitched over, exhausted. She pulled on Burke’s arm and pointed.
Burke dropped her hand and they both ran for the pile of weapons. The barrage of fire, ice, and wind was falling off, as everyone reached the end of their energy.
There was a moment of utter stillness as the winds fell and the fire and ice stopped The circle of Knights faced the circle of kids again. It was deathly quiet.
One, then another, and another of the Knights revved their snarling snowmobile and ATV engines. The mounted Knights got their horses under control again.
Spirit’s heart nearly stopped. No—no—
The terror swelled, pressing down on them. Someone sobbed.
And that was when some of the others, now with real weapons in their hands, turned to face the Knights.
Dylan stepped forward defiantly, head up. He didn’t look cowed or frightened. In fact, he looked as if he was out for some blood.
“CHARGE!” Dylan screamed at the top of his lungs. He seized a kendo sword from someone next to him and brandished it over his head before bullrushing the line. His impromptu army, including Spirit and Burke, followed on his heels.
The Shadow Knights broke and ran. And the terror collapsed.
Those who could still control their horses picked up some of those on foot. The rest were snagged by those on ATVs and snowmobiles. There was no way the students could catch them on foot, but they pursued them out past the bounds of the campus, returning only when they were sure the Knights would not be back.
And that was when the party really started.
* * *
There was no chance the teachers would be able to chase them back to their rooms before dawn, so no one even tried. Doc Mac and Lily Groves even made a raid on the kitchen and put sandwich fixings out with the drinks at the gym—probably to ensure the students didn’t tear the kitchen apart looking for something to eat.
While Doctor Ambrosius didn’t go out to the celebrants having a pagan war dance around the dying bonfire, he did go around to those who’d decided to go back to the gym where it was warmer. By the time he got around to Burke, Addie, and Spirit, the consensus was that this had all been Dylan’s idea, from the “prank” to the defense of Oakhurst, a tale none of them intended to dispute.
Spirit felt as cratered as if she’d been on an all-day endurance ride, and when Burke suggested they move over to the lounge, she readily agreed. It wasn’t as if she had any more energy for dancing.
“I’m starving,” Burke said, looking with dismay at the food table in the gym, which seemed to have been attacked by swarms of locusts.