himself. He was ready, his hands up as he cast a spell. Isai watched intently as the mage wove a protection spell around himself. He listened intently.
I call upon the power of the moon
Sky above
I call upon your energies
Both small and large
I call to the wind to surround me
Protect me from that which cannot be seen
Moon surround me with your light
Let that which would do harm be destroyed
I call to the four directions
Envelop me with your powers
Protect me as I fight.
Above, below and from either side. Isai shook his head. Sam was supposed to be a very experienced mage, yet he’d left a loophole. He had given himself protection from every direction, including above, but he’d been specific, using the sky. Isai dropped down, as light as a feather, standing on the overhang. The one Sam thought protected him.
He paced across the entire overhang. It was very thick, much like the roof of a cave. It felt firm. There was grass and even some small bushes and saplings growing in it, the roots holding it in place. Each featherlight touch of his foot removed the roots and loosened the rocks holding the dirt.
Sam looked up as dirt rained down, small particles of almost dust. Realizing he hadn’t completely protected himself, he had to make the decision to step into the open or remain in the enclosure and once again throw up a protection spell. His hands went up.
Isai stood in the middle of the roof, right above Sam, and jumped. The structure collapsed instantly, burying Sam under all the debris. The weight of the dirt, rocks and brush was enormous. Sam was driven to the ground, buried, with only his eyes showing. His mouth and nose were covered in the massive mound of dirt. He looked at Isai frantically, but he couldn’t weave a spell and he couldn’t breathe. It took only a few moments, but it was a hard way to die.
Isai left him there and found Andrew about twenty feet away. The fog had remained thick, which surprised him. He wasn’t the one maintaining it anymore. He couldn’t care less if the mages saw him or not. He was almost bored, used to going up against humans, mages and vampires alike. These mages knew they were hunting a Carpathian, yet they took no precautions against him.
You are going to get yourself killed. You may have all the experience in the world, but when you underestimate your enemy, you will lose every single time.
Now he knew who was maintaining the fog. He had recognized all along that the streaming whirls of droplets were feminine, but now they stung his face and neck, sending shocking charges of electricity through him.
You little demon. He didn’t know whether to laugh or head back to the bluff to teach his wild mage a lesson. He was afraid the lesson would go badly for him immediately. Worse, he was feeling the cats’ amusement as well. Who knew shadow cats could find humor in situations?
Someone needs to wake you up. Not to mention, you’re an old man and may have slowed down, especially since they locked you away in that prison . . . er . . . monastery, you call it?
Andrew lay prone in the grass, rifle to his shoulder, finger stroking the trigger of the rifle. Isai, from his vantage point above Andrew and just behind him, waved toward the grass and dirt. Immediately, the earth responded the way it did to all Carpathians. The particles began to fill the rifle. Dirt and grass packed themselves in thickly while Andrew looked through his scope first up toward the steep pass where Julija had been sitting and then sweeping each side slowly in an effort to find a target.
Suddenly Andrew looked down at the barrel, frowning. He reached out to brush a leaf of grass from it, his entire body over the barrel of his weapon. The rifle went off, the barrel exploding. Metal ripped apart, shrapnel slicing into his neck and face. The blast of hot gas engulfed his face, burning his skin, bursting through one eye. He screamed and rolled over, away from the hot metal, unaware that it was sticking out of his flesh.
Isai closed his fist, and Andrew couldn’t get air to his lungs. He gasped. One hand went to his throat as if he could remove the fingers he felt there. There was nothing to pry loose. His good eye bulged out as he tried desperately to breathe.