Snake Heart (Chains of Honor #2) -Lindsay Buroker Page 0,111

rather than throwing accuracy, the lodestone had found its home within that crater, the spot that had pulsed with magical energy. Now, the entire top of that volcano seemed to pulse. The waves on the surface barely stirred, but Yanko could feel the magic resounding in his mind like a drumbeat. If Sun Dragon worried about what he had started, it did not show on his face.

He lashed out at Yanko, the scimitar in his right hand and a ball of fire burning above the palm of his left. Yanko deflected the blade strike, turning his side to Sun Dragon, as Dak had taught him to do when he had only one weapon. Almost without thought, he parried the sword blows while his mind focused on coming up with a magical attack that he could use against the mage.

A woman’s cry of pain came from behind Sun Dragon, and he glanced back for an instant. Dak had the mage hunter down, down but not defeated. She rolled away from him, leaving blood on the deck. Dak lunged after her.

Focused on Sun Dragon, Yanko took advantage of the brief respite. He blasted his opponent with the same mental attack he had used on others in the last week, trying to make him believe that his fiery hand had flared out of control and that the flames would burn him. Yanko doubted the trick would fool him for long—or at all—so he scoured the sea under the ship, hoping he might find some ally to call upon once again. But every fish, jellyfish, octopus, and clam was swimming away or burrowing into the sand for safety. The lava had stopped flowing from the volcano, as if the tiny lodestone had somehow plugged up all of the outlets. Energy built up down below, distracting Yanko from his search.

“You’ve gotten stronger, boy,” Sun Dragon said, wiping away the attack like a man dashing a splash of water out of his eyes. “She’ll be upset to lose you.”

“Do you feel what’s going on underneath us?” Yanko asked, shouting to be heard over the clash of steel, because Sun Dragon was attacking him again, that silvery scimitar leaving streaks of light in the air as it slashed in and out. “We could all be destroyed if it keeps building up.”

“Not me.” Sun Dragon paused his attack long enough to call upon another type of magic. Though his hand still burned with a fireball poised to throw, his feet lifted a couple of inches from the deck.

“You can’t levitate all the way home.” Yanko summoned more energy and hurled another blast of wind at him. Maybe it would knock him over the rail.

The attack did seem to startle Sun Dragon, but he recovered before he was knocked back more than a couple of feet, and he deflected the wind, turning it instead toward the soldiers crowding the top of the stairs. Flames still danced, threatening them, and keeping them back. But one or two had started shooting. A bullet clanged off the deck between Sun Dragon and Yanko.

Grimly, Yanko realized he would be as likely a target for the worried soldiers as his foe.

“I won’t have to levitate all the way home.” Sun Dragon nodded toward a distant horizon.

Yanko couldn’t see anything, but could only assume that some other ship waited out there for him. Maybe even one hidden by an illusion or a shield of invisibility?

“You’re planning to destroy the entire Turgonian fleet first?” Yanko kept yelling, hoping the soldiers would hear him and realize that they had a stake in the outcome of this Nurian-on-Nurian battle. He also hoped they would realize who the true threat was. “What will that accomplish? Some of them will survive and know you were responsible. It’ll be war again.”

“Excellent. There’s nothing like an external threat to unite a squabbling people. Especially when a superior war chief appears to lead them.”

“You?” Yanko asked incredulously.

“Me. This seaweed-drenched mass is worthless. But we’ll weaken Turgonia by demolishing this fleet, and then we’ll send our armies to their homeland. Their ore and fertile farms will be ours, once a powerful leader takes charge.”

“Are you addled? We can’t start a war now. Our people need to eat.”

“There will be food aplenty once the world is ours.” Sun Dragon lifted his arm, the fireball growing from palm-sized to head-sized in his hand. He flung it at Yanko.

Pure energy roared at him within the dancing orb of flames, and Yanko struggled to shield himself. Some of