Bloodlust - Helen Harper Page 0,98

began to waddle over in his direction; he was at least two hundred feet away, but I had to get there. I looked up and spotted Corrigan emerging from within the tower of rocks, along with many others.

“I don’t know how you knew I’d be here,” Endor boomed at them, “but you know it’s futile. You can’t beat me. Haven’t you learnt that by now?”

No-one bothered answering him. Instead several withdrew weapons, and the mages among them sparked up blue flames.

“Where’s the dragon?” Endor taunted. “Or has she worked out that it would be pointless to face me? You know you can’t break my wards without her.”

I shuffled forward faster, cursing my lack of mobility. Endor sent out huge thick streams of black towards the Otherworlders. I watched horrorstruck as they approached, then almost collapsed in relief as the black fire slammed into a ward. At least the mages had thought to construct one. It was obvious, however, it wouldn’t last for long. Already it was shimmering blue – an indication it was weakening. A few more hits like that and it would be broken.

There were some hurried voices to either side of me as the few remaining tourists were being ushered out due to what sounded like ‘preparations for a later show’. I nodded my head to myself. That was smart. A faerie began to head over in my direction, no doubt to tell me to do the same. I gave him a wave and continued forward. I was hardly inconspicuous dressed like this. With any luck, the faerie would think I was one of them and would leave me alone. Fortunately it seemed to work.

Someone broke away from the main group and began running towards the necromancer. It was Tom. My heart in my mouth, I tried to yell at him to get back, but my voice was muffled by the thick fabric of the penguin’s head. One thing the necromancer had been right about was his wards: without my blood, they were unbreakable. Tom was about to be slaughtered in front of my eyes. I was too far away to do anything. I watched helplessly as he sprinted forward. He was toast.

Several mages began throwing out blue fire towards Endor, distracting him. They may have been powerful streaks of Protection enhanced magic, but they bounced off him with barely a sizzle. I tried to run, but the costume just wouldn’t let me. Then, all of a sudden, when Tom was barely ten feet away, he threw something towards him. It was some kind of liquid, but I couldn’t make it out clearly. It slapped into Endor and his ward with a tremendous spitting hiss, instantly breaking it. Then Tom was running back to the relative safety of the mountain, dodging a spray of returning black fire as he did so. My blood. He’d thrown my blood. They must have somehow gotten it back from Tarn. I wondered what the UnSeelie Fae had demanded in return and hoped the price wasn’t too high. My relief was overwhelming, however.

With Endor’s wards broken, the mages were free to hit him with everything they had. Despite that fact, however, their streams of blue flame seemed to be doing little damage. Again and again, they smacked into Endor’s body. All he seemed to be doing in return was laughing. I was still more than a hundred feet away. I couldn’t move any faster without taking off the costume. The trouble was I couldn’t let Endor know I was there. Corrigan had been right about that: if the necromancer knew where I was I would simply provide too easy an alternative. If he didn’t turn round though, he wouldn’t see my fat penguin shape coming until it was too late.

Sweat was dripping off me as I pushed myself forward. Endor attacked the mages’ own ward again, this time with a stronger bolt. There was another sizzle, as it too was destroyed. Now it was a level playing field: no magical protection in either direction. With a roar, a group of shifters already in their were forms burst forward, fur and fangs flying. Endor took them down with one strike, as if he were simply at a bowling alley and leisurely knocking down some pins. I snarled deep within my costume.

The Fae were next. They swooped down, with speed and elegance. Several reached close enough to hit him, dancing away before he could take a shot. He produced something from within the folds of