FORTY-FOUR

A primal shout echoed through the canyon. Arius held the crystal in his upraised hand like a trophy, his face reflecting furious triumph. Fresh bursts of purple, blue, and green shuddered into the shimmering barrier in front of him. The giant strode toward Arius. Arianna raised a hand and the barrier expanded to protect all three.

Thomas fell to his knees. The plan had failed. Instead of destroying the crystal, he’d given it to a madman. As if from a distance, he heard Enrique swear. Professor Reilly’s shout of “No!” trailed off into a pained whimper. Huxley’s cry was wordless, a wounded seagull lost in the canyon.

Arius suddenly looked up, his eyes wide, a look of shock and pain flashing across his face. He dropped the crystal into his other hand, then passed it swiftly back and forth as if it were suddenly on fire.

And it was.

The crystal was glowing, the black material blazing like a meteor crashing through the atmosphere on a moonless night. Beams of blue and green and purple shone from the center of the crystal, radiating outward until the canyon ledge was a symphony of light and color. Arius gasped in pain as he struggled to keep hold of the blazing crystal. The giant stared, his face as impassive as ever. Arianna’s lips curled in a snarl of confusion.

A blinding flash exploded outward as the crystal shattered into ten thousand tiny pieces. A thunderous crack split the air.

Thomas flinched, half deaf and two-thirds blind. He stumbled to his feet, trying to catch his balance. The sound of Arius’s scream and the deafening echo of the explosion overwhelmed his senses. Enrique grabbed him by the arm. Thomas turned and saw his friend’s mouth moving. He could make out the shape of the word even though the sound was lost. “Go! Now!”

Thomas took two steps and then dove, sliding across the rock surface as Arianna blasted red-white fire across the ledge. He reached for Huxley’s hand, grabbing hold of the alchemist as he visualized the training room and projected himself forward. The damp heat vanished, replaced by the shocking cool of a stone floor and conditioned air.

Thomas opened his still-stinging eyes. Huxley was on the ground at his side, blood oozing from the gash in his shoulder. He looked weak, hardly able to keep pressure on the wound.

“Help! Adelia! Adelia, we need help! In the training room. Hurry!” Thomas pressed his hands against the wound and shouted again. “Adelia!”

“It’s okay.” Huxley grabbed Thomas’s arm with his left hand, groaned, and pulled himself to a sitting position. His face was pale, but his hazel-gold eyes crinkled with the touch of a smile. “It’s been a long time since I was last blasted like that. I’d almost forgotten how much a magical injury can hurt.”

Enrique materialized across the room with Professor Reilly. The professor’s face was pale and clammy, his eyes blinking open and shut. A crimson stain covered the lower half of his pant leg. Droplets of fresh blood pooled at the cuff and splashed onto the floor, forming a rapidly growing pool at his feet. Enrique stripped off his shirt and pressed it against the wound.

Professor Reilly groaned. His voice was weak, full of pain. “Oww! That bloody hurts.”

“You’re gonna be okay, Professor,” said Enrique. He looked at Thomas and Huxley, his face strained with fear. “He needs help. Fast.”

“Adelia!” Thomas shouted so loudly his voice cracked and his throat burned.

“Help! We need help in here!” Enrique took over, his voice thundering in the little room.

Footsteps pounded on the stone slabs and the door flew open. Adelia rushed to Huxley’s side, Ling Sun following close behind.

“What happened?” asked Adelia. She moved Thomas’s hands out of the way to look at the damage. Her voice was shockingly steady as she reached into her medical bag. “Gunshots? Both of you?”

“Not gunshots.” Huxley grimaced and held his shoulder. “Arianna. She and Arius tried to use us as leverage.”

“He didn’t get the crystal, did he? No? Oh, thank goodness!” Adelia’s fearful expression shifted to one of concern. She turned her attention back to Huxley and Professor Reilly. “We need to disinfect and close these wounds. Magical injuries fester if they’re not treated quickly. Thomas, hold Huxley while I work on his shoulder. Enrique, you help Ling Sun with the professor. Okay?”

“Will it hurt?” asked Professor Reilly. He looked as if someone were already jabbing him with needles.

“Buckle down, you big baby,” said Adelia, grabbing a bottle of disinfectant and a pair of scissors from a tray of medical supplies. “This is the easy part.”

“Baby?” Professor Reilly groaned indignantly. He lifted his head, a touch of color flushing his pale cheeks. “I got blasted by magic, for crying out loud. If this isn’t the time for a bit of sympathy, I don’t know what is.”

Huxley gritted his teeth and squeezed Thomas’s hand as Adelia poured disinfectant over his shoulder. When the area was soaked, she quickly cut away the surrounding cloth and dumped a second splash directly onto the wound. She handed the bottle to Ling Sun and grabbed a fresh gauze pad.

“What’s that—yeeoowwww!” shouted Professor Reilly. Enrique grunted as the professor squeezed his arm. “Bloody hell!”

“Sorry,” said Ling Sun. “Disinfectant hurts, but better to hurt now than lose leg later.”

Professor Reilly gasped and let his head fall back to the floor. He looked up, his eyes suddenly wide again. “Wait. Did you say that was the easy part?”

Ling Sun handed the professor a piece of wood. “Bite on this. I have to check inside before we stitch you up.”

Professor Reilly’s eyes widened, but he took the wood and clamped it between his teeth. Ling Sun cut the cloth around the professor’s wound and poured another splash of disinfectant. Satisfied, she inserted long tweezers into the holes. Professor Reilly squirmed and groaned.

Ling Sun lifted the tweezers, bringing with them a fragment of cloth. She patted Professor Reilly on the stomach. “You’re going to be fine. A little bit of bleeding, but the extra padding protected the bone.”

“I’ve been saying for years it’s a good idea to be a bit husky.” The professor’s voice was a pained whisper, but Thomas felt a wave of relief at hearing the man joke.

“Wood back in,” said Ling Sun. “One more time with the disinfectant, and then we’ll do the stitches. Bite on that wood, husky man. Hard!”

“You, too, Huxley,” said Adelia. “Come on. Let’s get you sewn up.”

When the last stitch had been tied, Professor Reilly pulled the wood from his mouth and lay back on the hard stone floor. “Arius is going to pay for that. Blasting a couple of old men with magic! The next time I see that power-hungry jackal, I’m going to shove this wood so far up his arse he’ll be farting splinters for a month.”

“Farting splinters?” said Enrique. “Ooh! That sounds awful.”

“A woodblock-wedgy is the least the man deserves,” said Professor Reilly. “I have half a mind to do him worse than that.”

Relief spread through the room, which filled with gentle laughter.

“Oh, oh, no more,” whimpered Huxley. He gripped his shoulder. “It hurts too much.”

As the laughter tapered off, Thomas felt a sudden stab of fear. “Hey, what happened to Scott? Where’s Scott?”