Warrior Rising - By Pamela Palmer Page 0,76

begun to think they stood a chance than Rith stopped, turned and raised his hands. The arrows had already fallen from his flesh, leaving no marks visible from this distance.

Below him, Tarrys lifted her bow, cocked an arrow, and shot. The arrow whizzed through the air, straight for him, then stopped abruptly and fell to the ground as if it had hit a wall.

An invisible wall.

"He's erected another damned barrier," Harrison muttered.

Tarrys shot two more arrows, but both crashed and fell at the same spot. Rith turned and led his riders up and over the rise as Charlie and Findris chased after them, Tarrys close behind. As the three neared the spot where the arrows had crashed, the two men slowed, making their way cautiously, hands out in front of them.

To no one's surprise, they hit a wall.

As Ilaria and Harrison caught up to them, Findris and Charlie spread out, trying to find a way past the barrier, but to no avail.

Findris frowned. "He used the draggon stone to hold the last barrier." He lifted the stone that now hung around his neck. "How has he created this one?"

Ilaria joined him, placing her hand against the invisible wall. Beneath her fingertips, energy flowed like a living warmth, an energy she recognized. "He's using the power of the temple. Since the stones of Orisis were created here, they're strongest here."

"Which is why he had to return to the temple to access their deepest power," Tarrys said.

"Yes." Ilaria's stomach clenched. "Already, he's far stronger." Their chances of beating him had sunk to near zero. "We have to find a way through this barrier!"

Harrison's hand clasped her shoulder. "Tell us what to do."

Hopelessness swept over her, bitter and devastating. "I don't know."

"The draggon stone holds the source of your power, Princess." Findris lifted the necklace from around his head. "You've barely tapped into the strengths it's given you. Perhaps you can find the way with the draggon around your neck."

Harrison pulled back without her having to ask. Findris placed the silver chain over her head and the stone settled against her chest, welcoming her with a rush of warm power.

Closing her eyes, she embraced all that it sought to give her, seeking a gift she might have overlooked, a way through the barrier. Understanding came to her.

"Within this stone lies the essence of those who've come before. The six kings and queens who have ruled Esria from the dawn of time," she murmured.

"Can they speak to you, as Jack's ancestors talk to him?" Harrison asked quietly.

"I don't know. If so, they haven't tried." But she knew what she had to do. The question was...did she possess the strength to do it?

As she stepped forward, her hands raised as she prepared to embrace the wall of energy Rith had erected to keep them out, a sudden gust of warm wind tore at her skirts and hair.

"I thought this place didn't have weather," Harrison said.

"It doesn't." Findris's voice was flat and ominous. "Look."

Ilaria gasped at the sight of the sky. Above them, the bright orange gave way to a jagged mosaic of human and Esri skies, as if the dome had cracked, with great shards of orange falling away to reveal a vast, deep human sky dark with lightning-filled storm clouds.

The winds grew even stronger, beginning to howl.

"It's starting." Charlie's words rang with doom. "He's tearing down the walls between the worlds."

"Get us through the barrier, angel," Harrison urged at her side. "It's all up to you."

She met his fierce gaze, drawing strength from him as he enveloped her in the warmth of his eyes. With a nod, she turned and placed her palms flat against the barrier. Pain scorched her palms, shooting up into her arms, and she jerked her hands back.

"What's the matter?" Harrison asked.

"He doesn't want me doing this." Gritting her teeth, she lifted her hands and pressed them against the barrier again. She couldn't let go this time. Inside, she felt the power swirling, battling the evil energy.

The pain grew, taking root in her bones until just the act of breathing was torture. The energy sensitized her skin, tearing at her scalp, until even the weight of her hair became a torment. But at the place where her palms connected with the wall, she felt the battle rage, the power of the draggon stone fighting that of the stones of Orisis. Her power was a match for the evil, but little more. Eventually, she would win...if she could hold out long