Scholar of Magic (Art of the Adept #3) - Michael G. Manning Page 0,34

harm. As it was, he had never seen his aunt jump such a distance horizontally at the same time.

All of this registered in the span of a second. The newcomer hit the ground and sprang forward, racing toward them with a strange, unnatural grace. Although the stranger had two arms and two legs, the man’s movements would leave no doubt in any viewer’s mind. He wasn’t human.

Will’s expression shifted, showing surprise and determination as he lifted his hands to aim. In return, Laina’s face hardened. Will tried to warn her, “Behind you!”

“You asked for it,” she spat, then she released her spell.

He expanded his outer shell, hoping he could absorb whatever spell she was using, but he kept his eyes on the man running at Laina’s back. As fast as the creature moved, Will didn’t want to risk missing, so he cast the force-lance at the last possible second. He was gratified to see it connect, blowing a fist-sized hole in the chest of the thing behind his sister.

Then the blazing orbs struck, all five of them hammering into him in quick succession. They flew in a spiraling pattern, and while the first hit him from the front, the following orbs came at him from a variety of different angles, landing a second or so apart. The first was no problem. The second and third taxed him, and the air around him began to glow as he struggled to contain the fiery turyn. The pain began when he absorbed the fourth. He was also still holding onto the energy from her earlier attack.

Rather than vent the power back at her, Will thrust his hands skyward, releasing a gout of flame as though he meant to burn the heavens. The fifth orb hit while he was still trying to make space and his world became an inferno.

Incredibly he wasn’t incinerated, but his hair and clothing caught fire, and there was no doubt he would be blistered in places. He continued trying to vent the excess energy skyward, though he couldn’t see much around himself, for he was wreathed in flame.

Then Laina stepped through the flames, a cobblestone in her hand. Will was so surprised that she nearly brained him with it before he could stop the blow with a point-defense shield. The flames around them died down as he continued emptying the power he held into the air, and the expression on Laina’s face told him she had finally figured out that he wasn’t trying to kill her or her bodyguard. She seemed puzzled, though still angry. “What the hell are you doing?” she demanded.

She took her eyes off him for a second to check on Darla, and they both saw the creature rise from where it lay on the street, the hole still visible in its chest. Laina’s eyes widened with shock as she realized what had happened, just before the thing charged at her once more.

Will brought his hands down and released the rest of the fiery power at the man who should have already been dead. He hoped the angle was good enough to avoid hitting Laina’s bodyguard, but there wasn’t time to be sure and he was out of options.

The old, familiar smell of burning flesh found his nose seconds later, as the man-thing became a human-shaped torch. It flailed wildly and seemed to still be trying to find Laina, though its eyes were gone. Will had other things to worry about as he beat out the smoldering flames at the hem of his gambeson.

His sister, for her part, seemed stunned into immobility. The sight of what was, at least in her mind, a living human burning to death in front her had sent her into a state of shock. And yet she was perfectly willing to try and burn me to death just a few seconds ago, thought Will wryly. He caught Laina’s arm and guided her back a few feet to avoid the burning creature’s grasping hands. The burning figure collapsed to the ground a few seconds later, still kicking feebly.

“You just burned that man alive,” mumbled Laina, still trying to process what had happened.

Will nodded, taking the moment’s respite to pull out the crossbow bolt that was still lodged in his mail.