Wicked As You Wish (A Hundred Names for Magic #1) - Rin Chupeco Page 0,111
“It’s been enchanted to keep them from getting close!”
The fight turned quickly in their favor and was over in minutes. The creatures hesitated noticeably, able to draw within range of their weapons but not close enough to attack effectively with their teeth and claws.
Loki had given up on finesse, and simply slammed the blunt edge of their staff into an ice wolf’s body, like a chopping ax.
Another creature raced toward Alex, but its roar was abruptly cut short when Zoe raised her hand and spun, whip flying back and forth to unleash a powerful barrage of lightning that effectively cleaved the beast in half. Zoe sagged against the wall, weakened, but the creature fell, forepaws clawing uselessly at nothing. Its hind paws, lying several feet away, had already stopped moving.
Four or five more wolves came bounding out of the mist. Ken lifted his sword, but the new wolves paid him little attention, tearing past him and halting before the few ice wolves still on their feet, snarling and baring teeth. Their eyes shone red in the gloom.
“Those aren’t ice wolves!” West said in surprise, blurring back into human shape, his hand still in midswipe.
Unwilling to be intimidated, the ice wolves snarled back, but the flesh-and-blood wolves held their ground, growling fiercely. An unspoken agreement seemed to pass between them. After a moment, the ice wolves retreated with utmost reluctance, loping back into the darkness.
The remaining wolves were silent. The largest of the pack regarded Tala steadily. Unlike the ice wolves, its bright red eyes were alert, intelligent. It paused to eye the firebird with suspicion, though the latter only managed a faint scowl in their direction.
Finally, the pack leader turned toward where Cole sat and dipped its head in acknowledgment. The boy nodded, and the large wolf let out a harsh, singular grunt. The others took it as a signal; they padded away with little ceremony, the night soon swallowing them up.
“Dad told me about this.” Loki looked awed. “Ice wolves are afraid of wolves. No one’s sure why.”
“Maybe they don’t attack things that look an awful lot like them, even if ice wolves aren’t technically alive to begin with,” Ken said, surveying the remains strewn around him, now beginning to melt back into the snow. “Not that I’m complaining. Much. Everyone all right?”
There was an audible click as Loki’s staff shrunk, and they stuck it back behind their ear. “Barely.”
West was struggling into a fresh set of clothes from one of the saddlebags. Cole sat, sweating profusely and still nursing his arm, and the dark-skinned girl who had saved them was sitting beside him, already armed with bandages.
A soft moan made Tala turn, and she found the firebird staggering drunkenly on the ground. Alex was by its side in moments, scooping and cradling it protectively. “What’s wrong?”
“Is it a creature forged from magic?” the newcomer asked, looking at the firebird with a certain professional interest. She reached up and combed the veil away from her face, revealing a beautiful Ikpean girl. She looked very familiar to Tala. “Keep it away from the wall as well. The tower enchantments must be affecting it too.” She rooted around her pouch and pressed different kinds of leaves against Cole’s wound. “That’ll stop the bleeding for now.” She glanced over at Ken. “Is there something on my face?”
“What the hell are you wearing?” he asked, still unabashedly staring.
“Never seen a wedding veil before? I didn’t have time to change into something more suitable.”
“Your hair isn’t long enough.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Well, I, uh…how did you get down from the tower?”
The girl raised an eyebrow at him. “Hidden staircase round the back.” Her left eye was brown, the right eye a very light, almost golden color. Underneath the veil she had a thick head of hair, curly and lush in defiance of the winter, and stood a head and a half higher than the diminutive Tala. “I use it often, but the guards don’t like me exploring outside.”
A gate of ivory, and a gate of bone. Tala realized now why her face looked so familiar.
She’d dreamed of the girl at Tintagel Castle, rising out of the sea.
“I didn’t fly down, if that’s what you’re thinking,” the girl continued, amused.
“I thought that…well, there’s been some stories where some girls used their own hair to…”
She snorted. “Do you know how long it’d take to wash hair that long? That’s what you’d been hollering about?”
Ken glared back, mainly because he couldn’t find a better