Keeping my gaze down, I pretended to run my stone over a specific location. Any decent mage watching would know Iwasn’t doing anything of substance, so it was with relief I received Avie’s signal.
“Now!”
White, green, purple, and blue energy exploded from inside the circle. Surprised shouts came out of nowhere, followed by groans of pain and angry curses. The surrounding trees suddenly appeared full of mages and gems. We were outnumbered, but it appeared we’d taken more than a few out of the fight. Some of those who faced us were not as steady on their feet as they should be for entering a mage fight.
A volley of spells flew toward us from all directions.
“Incoming!” someone shouted as I raised my shield.
Chapter Twelve
Cinaed:
“Impossible!” Blackstone’s face contorted with rage as he pointed his mage stone at Bart. “How did you get here?”
I’d been skeptical when Bart said he could sneak everyone in with him. Blackstone was an asshole, but he was a very good mage. The others agreed, but they also believed he’d be overconfident.
They’d been right. Behind the glow from Bart’s purple tourmaline, Cael, Otto, Leo, Percy, and Anso had their stones out, ready to fight.
“We followed Cinaed,” Bart said calmly. After fighting a demon prince, it didn’t surprise me that a few mages didn’t rattle him.
I flew higher into the cavern’s shadows. Blackstone’s attention might’ve shifted away from me, but there were other mages in the area.
Blackstone’s eyes narrowed to slits. “This day has been a long time coming, Bartholomew. I should’ve killed you whenyou were a child, but defeating you now will be so much more satisfying.”
A torrent of midnight energy surged from his mage stone, but Bart deflected it with a shield of purple light. The collision of magic sent tremors through the cavern floor.
Bart didn’t engage in a war of words—he simply went on the offensive. I couldn’t tell what spell he used, but its power pushed Blackstone back several feet even as he deflected the attack.
A group of mages charged into the room from the same opening Blackstone had used. If they’d held my grandfather in these caves, he’d be in that direction. I stayed in the shadows, waiting for a chance to fly past our enemies.
Blackstone lost some of his swagger after Bart’s first blow. He moved warily and launched a series of swift strikes. The fight moved too fast for me to follow as Bart blocked the deadly magic and fired back a complex sequence of spells. Purple light clashed with black, charging the air with magical energy.
From my vantage point near the roof of the cave, I watched the fight unfold. Blackstone’s mages outnumbered our side, but they were still overmatched. Otto’s red zircon blazed against the dark, meeting his opponent with controlled bursts, while Leo’s yellow heliodor created bubbles to trap his foes. Together, they put a group of six mages back on their heels.
Anso and Percy pressed their advantage against another four mages, who spent their time defending rather than attacking. The green and yellow light from their stones wove a deadly dance that Blackstone’s associates had trouble following.
The only real contest was the fight between Cael and a woman dressed in black. Her stone blazed as they attacked each other. After the initial exchange, however, Cael pressed his advantage, and the outcome wasn’t in doubt.
Taking advantage of the distraction my companions created, I swooped down and raced toward the opening.
“Stop him!” Blackstone shouted.
I braced for an attack, but a burst of purple light followed by a grunt from Blackstone allowed me to reach the tunnel entrance. Without looking back, I opened my senses, searching for any sign of my grandfather. Flying as fast as I could, I wove my way through the warren of passages carved into the mountain.
The tunnels beyond the main cavern formed a labyrinth that seemed designed to disorient. As a phoenix, however, I left a trail of fire in my wake that would help me find my way back.
If Grandfather had been in these caves, his magic would have left traces. Even in human form, a phoenix would exude traces of distinctive energy that would linger for days or more. Any of our flock could detect his presence, but as his grandson, my affinity for him was greater.
As I flew deeper into the maze of tunnels, however, the absence of any such signature became increasingly apparent. I landed in a small chamber branching off from the main path, but didn’t shift back to human form. The room was unnaturally cold, even for a place the sun had never touched. There was also a residue of dark magic somewhere close to me.
Centuries of dark magic had tainted this cave and everything around it, but what I felt was different. Otto and Thal had banished the corruption when they destroyed the Demon Sword. This, however, was more than an echo of that magic. Whatever was here was new and made me shiver from its malevolence.
A flicker of energy in an adjacent chamber caught my attention. Phoenix energy, except not. Similar to the image of Grandfather in the main room, this was fake. Cautiously, I flew toward the connected room, but didn’t enter. Someone had carved symbols into the walls and across the floor. I didn’t recognize most of the runes, but I knew what the one resemblinga twisted flame meant. It was a glyph meant to capture a phoenix.
Why was this here? If I’d made it this far, I’d have already known the energy signatures weren’t real. Searching around me, I saw faint outlines of spells hidden beneath the dust. Having found one, the rest were easier to find. They covered every inch of the floor and walls. If I’d touched any part of the cave, I’d have triggered the spell.
Coming here, we knew we were walking into an ambush. We wouldn’t find my grandfather, but maybe we’d find some useful information. Seeing the surrounding magic, I realized we’d underestimated Blackstone. The entire cave was a snare.
