Sorcerer's Edge (The Tethered Citadel) by David Hair

Author:David Hair [Hair, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Quercus Publishing
Published: 2022-10-12T16:00:00+00:00

7

Kite

Running the path of light was one of the strangest things Raythe had ever done, but with his senses overloaded by the throbbing air and shimmering tunnel, he couldn’t spare thought or breath to enjoy the wonder of it. Instead, he concentrated on drawing power from Cognatus to put everything he had into the act of movement.

‘Plus amplius, Cognatus!’ he shouted when he could spare the air, begging for more strength, more speed, more everything. ‘Ego postulo magis!’ I need more!

Cognatus, also drawing from the gate itself, gave him everything. Raythe had never travelled faster. Fists and knees pounding, sprinting like an athlete at the Royal Games, lungs and muscles burning, he shot across the sky – but still the dark thing behind him was gaining on him.

Then a ring marking the far end of the path of light appeared, and though he felt like his heart was about to explode and his legs melt beneath him, he made one last momentous push for safety.

Still it wasn’t enough.

Instinct warned him of the witch looming up behind.

His shields repelled the blow and he spun, slamming a burst of energy into her face, sending her reeling back. But he’d learned his lesson: this was not the time to stay and fight. The ring of light, the end of his path, was so near . . .

He turned back and pounded on, shouting to Shiazar.

But Teirhinan Deathless was screaming in rage as she renewed her furious pursuit . . .

It was going to be a matter of a split-second.

*

Shiazar, gazing down the dizzying tube of light, heard Raythe shouting – but there was a shape behind him, clearly an enemy. ‘Run!’ she shouted, doubting he’d hear, and in any case, he didn’t need her to tell him that. Behind her, Onkado waited beside the control plinth, his hands hovering over the icons, ready to disable the gate the instant she gave the order.

‘Not yet,’ she told him. ‘Wait . . .’

She saw fire burst, and a shriek echoed, full of almost palpable malice and rage.

‘Raythe!’ she shouted, gripping the ring’s edge and willing him on as both shapes streaked towards her, closing the distance impossibly fast. ‘Run! Run!’

Onkado called to her, hands poised, ‘Majesty? When?’

She began counting down: ‘San . . . ni . . .’

*

Shiazar’s voice, and a jolt of pure terror that he was leading this monster straight to the Queen, gave Raythe the spur he needed. ‘Cognatus, magis, magis!’ he roared, blindly blazing energy behind him as he forced his legs to move faster and faster. He dared not look back, but he didn’t need to: he could feel Teirhinan surging up, right behind him . . .

. . . then he hurtled through the ring, bursting past Shiazar’s silk-clad form and clipping the top of a low railing, then space yawned before him and he went off the edge of the cupola. He flailed and twisted and smashed into a cushion of tangled vines, fifteen feet below, his half-formed shields keeping him intact, though they couldn’t prevent him having his breath knocked out.

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