hard, it made her stumble, but she barely felt the pain and instinctively pushed it down. However Ubad managed such a heavy and unwieldy weapon, he easily kept pace with her. And his unnatural ability to shift places like a ghost left Chap's teeth closing upon empty air. Magiere's instinct warned that he was only toying with her.
He lashed at her with words harder than the iron rod. "You were born of life and death to be more than either. Both will bow before you... if you accept who you are. You cannot hide from yourself any longer. "
Magiere shuddered as if his words were the cold sweat upon her skin.
As long as she clung to hunger and hatred—the same that this madman claimed were her birthright—she could keep at this all night and face exhaustion afterward. How long before Ubad would tire of this play and his preaching? How long before he turned to something more within his talents?
"You have no one else, " he said more quietly. "No one but me who understands these things. There are so many more questions you have that only I can answer. To find your place, your family... I am all that is left to you. "
Ubad's block was slower this time.
Magiere threw her weight behind the sword and into his staff. He was forced to exert more effort, and his attention fixed firmly upon her. In an instant, he screamed out and stumbled.
As Ubad twisted about, Chap jerked hard upon the man's ankle clenched in his teeth. Magiere grabbed the iron staff's end with her free hand and thrust with the falchion. The blade split through the robe and into Ubad chest.
He screeched, and the staff jerked from Magiere's hand. As she pulled on the falchion to free it, the staff cracked back across her temple, and she lost awareness of the world.
There was no pain at first, but it rushed into her skull as her sight returned.
She looked up into the dark sky above the clearing and felt wet earth beneath her. There came two sounds as if from a great distance—Chap's growl and strange whispered words of a twisted language she didn't know.
Ubad was chanting.
Magiere flopped over to her hands and knees.
Strange guttural words issued from Ubad mouth as he swept the staff's end at Chap. The dog whirled away, and Ubad rammed the staff's end into the ground.
"Khuruj," he shouted, "fe nafsi htalab!"
These words didn't match those of his chant. They rolled from his mouth in a familiar manner like a demand to someone Magiere couldn't see.
A shudder answered from the earth.
Magiere stood up as best she could, uncertain whether to assault Ubad once again or to back out of the clearing. Chap let out a snarl that mixed with a mournful yowl. He rushed at her, skidded to avoid crashing into her, and then began shoving at her legs with his head and shoulders. He was trying to drive her back toward the trees.
Ubad repeated his strange words in a commanding shout. "Khuruj, fi nafse htalab!"
The earth rolled beneath Magiere's feet. As she started to fall, Ught gathered all around her. Something lashed around her arms and legs, and she was lifted from the ground. Before she saw what held her, she spotted Chap running across the clearing's floor as a crack in the earth extended to race after him.
Blue-white light lanced upward from the split. It congealed and took shape in the air, forming into long tendrils that moved with a life of their own. They lashed out at Chap, winding around his body and neck. The dog was wrenched back from his flight and lifted in the air within their coils.
Tendrils curled up around Magiere's limbs, as well, like ropes of living light.
"The dead may be my preference," Ubad said. "But I can still conjure and summon other things, such as the collective spirit of this forest."
Magiere fought to move her arms. If she didn't kill Ubad, what would become of Leesil and Wynn?
"Are you prepared to be rational?" Ubad asked.
Anger faded from her into numb loss. When she spoke, her mouth moved freely, teeth receded to their normal state.
"My companions ... Leave them be ... and I'll listen to anything you wish to say."
"How generous," he answered mockingly. "I will be your father, your teacher, your only family. You have no other. Vordana has finished your half-blood by now, and my other servants have fed on the sage."
Leesil's face filled Magiere's thoughts, and she