Endure - Sara B. Larson Page 0,81
his arms. He lurched forward, his grip loosening ever so slightly as he stumbled to regain his balance. But that was all I needed. Using every ounce of strength I had in me, I twisted, ripping my arm free. Swinging it around before he could lift his hand to stop me, I stabbed the metal device straight back above my head — directly into his throat.
The Summoner’s arms convulsed around my body as he let out a gurgled cry of agony before dropping them completely. He stumbled back, and I spun around, yanking the device out of his neck as I did. But when I saw Damian standing there, his blue eyes wide and glazed with pain and shock as the blood rushed down his throat to coat his black-and-white robes, I had to choke back a scream of shock. I shook my head and stepped forward, out of the cloud, and when I blinked, I no longer saw Damian, but The Summoner, swaying on his feet.
“No,” I said, stalking toward him and shoving him to the ground, holding him down with my foot on his shoulder. “You will bleed, and then you will die. And then your master can take what’s left of your soul for himself.” I lifted the device above my head and sliced it down through the air, straight into his heart — if he even had one anymore.
His mouth opened, and he tried to say something, but blood filled his throat, and with a final shudder, he became still and his eyes grew glassy.
Trembling now that it was over, I spun and dropped to the floor to avoid the hallucination-inducing smoke, searching for Akio on my hands and knees.
“Akio!” I called out, hurrying forward, away from the flames that were quickly reaching for The Summoner’s body. “Akio!”
I heard a quiet sound, not quite a word — more of a coughing gasp — and I rushed toward it to see Akio lying on the ground, half of his body charred and bleeding, his eyes squeezed shut against the pain.
I dropped to my knees beside him. “Akio,” I murmured. “Can you heal yourself? Can you stand?”
His eyes opened, searching for me. When he saw me leaning over him, he jerkily shook his head. “Go,” he managed to whisper, his voice gravelly with pain. “Stop … him … he will destroy … the whole world … stop him….” he gasped the words until I reached down and clutched his unburned hand. Tears stung my eyes as I stared down at Akio. “Go … before … they come….”
“Thank you,” I said, bending forward to press a kiss to his forehead. His eyes closed, and with a soft sigh, the air released from his lungs, and he didn’t breathe again.
I let my forehead rest against his for a brief moment as a tear slipped out and dripped onto his charred skin. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.
And then I stood and rushed toward the open window and freedom.
Though The Summoner’s horse was bigger, I didn’t want anything that had ever been his, so I hurried up to the mare I’d ridden the whole time I’d been captive on this trek. The Summoner had left the saddle and bridle on both animals, so it only took a moment to swing myself up into her saddle and gather the reins as Eljin had taught me to with Mira, after wiping the grit and tears from my eyes. She needed little urging to hurry away from the burning home, where the flames were now bursting out of the window and licking up toward the roof.
I’d opened the gate, and when my mare galloped through it, The Summoner’s horse lifted his head and followed after us for a bit before slowing to a trot and then stopping again, once he was away from the fire. Exhaustion and weakness threatened to drag me under as we galloped away from Bikoro and King Armando toward the jungle. I hadn’t exerted myself like that in far too long — and I also hadn’t had enough nourishment to sustain that kind of energy for the same length of time. I had to force myself to hang on until we had put as much distance between us and the Dansiians as possible. The moment The Summoner’s death and my escape were discovered, King Armando was sure to drive his men into the ground to pursue and recapture me. My defeat of his most powerful sorcerer would most likely only solidify his