Scholar of Magic (Art of the Adept #3) - Michael G. Manning Page 0,233

How had he known they would appear there? “Decoys for what?” asked Will.

“That’s the beauty of Androv’s plan,” said Rob. “It doesn’t matter what you do. All roads lead to an ending with two results, a dead city, and a dead king. Both will happen, and even if you managed to prevent one through some miracle, the other would be all but inevitable.”

“Help me then,” Will pleaded. “Despite what they’ve done to you, you know what’s right. Help us.”

“You don’t know what it’s like. The pleasure, the hunger, the taste of someone’s life flowing through your lips. Even if I could return to my old self, I wouldn’t want to now. I only warned you out of some strange feeling of sentiment, a feeling that has almost faded away.”

“But you came here to warn me again?” asked Will. “Or is this an ambush?”

“This is farewell, my friend. Whatever you do here doesn’t concern me. Androv will protect me.” Rob began backing up, moving closer to the stained-glass windows that lined the galleries.

“Androv is dead!” declared Will.

“Believing that was your biggest mistake.” Rob’s body blurred into motion, and glass shattered as he flung himself through the window. Will’s force-lance passed through the space a half-second later. I wasn’t quick enough, he chided himself, but he knew it wasn’t true. He had hesitated because he couldn’t bear to hurt his friend.

Chapter 52

Janice and almost two-thirds of the rest were in the cathedral by then. She moved closer to Will and asked, “That was him, wasn’t it?”

He nodded, unsure what to say.

Her features carried a multitude of emotions, but she stuck to the issue at hand. “Is it going to be safe to continue? Do they know we’re here?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “But we don’t have a choice. We have to try.”

Laina glanced between the two of them, then went back to the doors to encourage the last of the line to hurry up. Soon Elizabeth Sundy and the baron were in, and they were at last able to shut the doors, though Laina found herself staring upward at the dark windows.

Elizabeth didn’t waste time. Moving to the altar in the center, she began pointing at people and barking orders. “You, we need the doors sealed with stone! You, over here, we’re going to chalk out the circle. Move everything; we have to clear a space. Someone light the candles so we can see.”

Laina was already covering the windows with stone, and soon it seemed they would be sealed inside the cathedral, like a caterpillar within a stone cocoon. Darla moved closer to make a suggestion. “You should leave one door open. Let me watch outside.”

Will heard the conversation and joined them. “Why?”

“How many defenders do we have?” asked Darla.

“Twenty-seven students, plus the baron, Laina, Tiny, and yourself,” he answered.

The Arkeshi pointed at the windows Laina had already sealed. “Can the Drak’shar break through these?”

Laina shrugged. “It’s an inch thick. It should slow them down. If we have enough time, I can double that.”

Darla nodded, then pointed at the east door, which they had entered through. “If there is a way in, they will take the path of least resistance. If there is not, they will climb over everything and begin creating their own entrances.”

“They may not even notice the open door,” Will pointed out.

The Arkeshi pointed at herself. “That is why I will wait out there. As soon as I spot them, I will light a candle and move inside. The candle will announce the position of the open door and draw them to it, like moths to a flame. Our small number of defenders can concentrate their efforts just inside the door, destroying them as they come.”

“Unless they have someone with them smart enough to figure out our plan and redirect them,” Will stated glumly, thinking of Androv.

“With how few we have, this is the best we can do,” said Darla. “If they do have a brilliant commander, we are already dead.”

Tiny spoke up, as he had been listening from a few feet away. “Let’s