Storm Born Page 0,125

bring the spirits. They were currently too far out of range to simply hear me shout. Realizing what I attempted, Aeson threw me onto the ground, using his body weight to hold me while one hand covered my mouth.

"Hurry!"

The guard removed my athames and wand. For the extra gun, he wrapped his hand in the folds of his cloak to retrieve the weapon and then hastily tossed it away.

"You're a damned nuisance - and a deadly one," muttered Aeson. "Keeping you alive for nine months may be more trouble than it's - ow!"

I didn't see what happened to him but heard a thunk above me.

"You used your power to toss one rock at me?" he exclaimed, an almost comic note of incredulity in his voice.

"On the contrary," I heard Dorian say pleasantly. "I didn't use magic for that. I just threw it."

Aeson tossed me toward his guard, just as flames rose up from the ground. In the darkness, the bright light hurt my eyes, forcing me to glance away. Heat rolled off that scorching orange wall, instantly heating up my skin. The guard attempted to scramble back and hold me at the same time, doing a half-assed job at both, though he still managed - just barely - to keep me restrained.

My gaze stayed on the fire's flickering colors until I suddenly felt the ground shake. Jerking my head up as much as my restraint allowed, I saw a cloud of darkness rise above the flames. It crashed down, like the palm of one's hand, and the fire abruptly went out, extinguished as pounds of dirt slammed it to the ground.

Without missing a beat, Dorian gestured to the spot Aeson stood on. I felt shaking again and saw the earth ripple, like a wave of water moved under the surface. It knocked Aeson off-balance, and then a storm of rock shards - much as I'd seen with the nixies - swirled around, taking aim. Still on the ground, Aeson lifted his own hands. Waves of heat blasted away the rocks, scattering them in different directions. Some of them melted, dripping back to the earth in a molten shower.

Ashes filled the air, and I could hear Aeson coughing as he stumbled to his feet. The ground trembled again, pushing him back to his knees. He supported himself with one hand and gave a shaking, raspy laugh.

"It didn't have to come to this," he said. "If you would have just shared her, she might already be with child."

A shower of rocks spattered Aeson as Dorian strode forward. They weren't razor sharp, but they looked like they hurt. The Alder King winced and shielded his face.

"I don't share," Dorian said flatly. The earth near Aeson coalesced into ropes of dirt, winding their way around his limbs. Score one for bondage fetishes.

"Too bad. You might have lived had you felt differently."

Aeson suddenly burst up, breaking through the bonds of earth. As he did, fire blasted from all around him, outlining him and then shooting forward. My scream was smothered in my captor's hand as I saw Dorian fly backward. Aeson charged forward, his hands controlling and shaping the flames into a ring around Dorian's crouching form. The walls flared up high and thick, so hot they gleamed blue and white. I wouldn't have thought Dorian could survive that inferno, but Aeson kept talking to him as though he were still alive.

"Too many theatrics, Dorian, and not enough strength left now to free yourself."

I looked around desperately. There weren't many guards left. In the distance, I saw Kiyo nail some guy pretty handily - the man's pain-filled scream affirmed as much - but he was too far to help, just like the spirits. I realized then my guard's hold had slackened; he was apparently transfixed by his master's showdown. Others, just as captivated, stopped and stared.

Taking advantage of the guard's lack of attention, I shoved my elbow back into his stomach and attempted to spring free. I didn't really expect to achieve that goal, but it did uncover my mouth. I spoke the summoning words, and Nandi and Volusian appeared.

"Get Aes - " I began, just before the hand slammed on my mouth again. Another guard joined mine to help with the confinement.

The spirits shifted from humanoid form to something else, still vaguely anthropomorphic but more like a cloud of energy. They swooped toward Aeson, one shining and blue, the other black and silver.

He deflected them with flames while still holding the walls on Dorian.