legs felt like
they were turning into jelly. All she could see was a tangle of
black shapes, and she kept one arm out in front of her as she ran,
feeling for obstacles. Then she spotted a house—wide and squat and
so white, it seemed to glow under the moonlight—through the bare
trunks ahead.
The Way Station. It had to be.
A creeping feeling told
her that the specter would appear behind her next, and she spun on
her toe while swinging her right blade. She glimpsed the specter’s
glowing, silvery outline just before her sword slashed through it,
making it explode into wisps of smoke. Completing the turn, she
continued forward without missing a beat. Then, spotting the
spirit’s hideous face right in front of her, she swung both blades
forward—an instant before the specter actually appeared. Somehow, she’d
seen it in her mind before it had made its actual move.
Her gut twisted with discomfort at that
thought. She’d always been freakily good at predicting an enemy’s
moves, but recently she’d come to realize that there was something
more to her uncanny ability than fast instincts. She still hadn’t
fully grasped how exactly it worked, though, and wondered if she
ever would. But she wasn’t about to question it now—especially when
it was telling her that the specter was three feet to her right.
Without looking, she stabbed one blade in that direction and caught
a glimpse of the grotesque, ghostly face in the corner of her eye
before it shattered.
She fixed her gaze on the
Way Station, trying to make out details as she drew closer. It was
a long, one-story building topped with a sloping roof, and patches
of black windows sat against the whiteness of the walls—defensible
enough if the enchanted barrier around it didn’t hold … but not
from a specter that could walk right through it. The perimeter’s gotta work , she told herself. Williams
wouldn’t send me here if he weren’t sure.
A barrage of cracking noises suddenly
assaulted her hearing, and she recognized it as the sound of dry
branches being snapped off trees. A soft whistle rang out; the
specter was hurling the branches at her from behind. She dropped to
the ground without thinking about it, and the branches flew over
her head. A split second later, she sprang up, then sprinted the
last few feet.
The specter would make another attempt to
materialize, but it didn’t matter—she’d already won.
She stopped and whirled back in time to see
the specter crash into the invisible wall created by the enchanted
perimeter. Though the barrier didn’t shimmer like the one
surrounding the Capital—probably because it guarded a smaller area
and therefore wasn’t as powerful—she could feel its magic crackling
around her like the static of a storm.
The specter vanished as it hit the
perimeter, and her ears buzzed from its cry of frustration. It
rematerialized a second later, gnashing its teeth and contorting
its face.
Aurelia lifted her chin in triumph. Her
shoulders were heaving from her fast, deep breaths, and sweat
covered her entire body, but the exhaustion that should have hit
was absent. Instead, her blood pumped with gleeful energy. Maybe
she hadn’t banished the specter, but she was still the victor.
“ And you’re the loser,
because you can’t get me,” she said with a smirk.
The specter screamed and rushed forward
again—only to shatter against the barrier. With the threat gone,
Aurelia suddenly found the creature’s freak-outs to be hilarious,
and a giggle escaped her lips. Unable to resist, she stuck out her
tongue. “Nyeh, nyeh!”
Then the tiredness hit her, and it hit hard.
She suddenly felt like dropping into the ground and going to sleep
right there in the dirt. But she couldn’t let herself relax just
yet. Maybe her supernatural enemy couldn’t get through, but the
humans chasing her could. The Triumvirate’s Sentinels. And Tydeus
Storm. They were still after her, and for all she knew, they could
track her here. She had
they were turning into jelly. All she could see was a tangle of
black shapes, and she kept one arm out in front of her as she ran,
feeling for obstacles. Then she spotted a house—wide and squat and
so white, it seemed to glow under the moonlight—through the bare
trunks ahead.
The Way Station. It had to be.
A creeping feeling told
her that the specter would appear behind her next, and she spun on
her toe while swinging her right blade. She glimpsed the specter’s
glowing, silvery outline just before her sword slashed through it,
making it explode into wisps of smoke. Completing the turn, she
continued forward without missing a beat. Then, spotting the
spirit’s hideous face right in front of her, she swung both blades
forward—an instant before the specter actually appeared. Somehow, she’d
seen it in her mind before it had made its actual move.
Her gut twisted with discomfort at that
thought. She’d always been freakily good at predicting an enemy’s
moves, but recently she’d come to realize that there was something
more to her uncanny ability than fast instincts. She still hadn’t
fully grasped how exactly it worked, though, and wondered if she
ever would. But she wasn’t about to question it now—especially when
it was telling her that the specter was three feet to her right.
Without looking, she stabbed one blade in that direction and caught
a glimpse of the grotesque, ghostly face in the corner of her eye
before it shattered.
She fixed her gaze on the
Way Station, trying to make out details as she drew closer. It was
a long, one-story building topped with a sloping roof, and patches
of black windows sat against the whiteness of the walls—defensible
enough if the enchanted barrier around it didn’t hold … but not
from a specter that could walk right through it. The perimeter’s gotta work , she told herself. Williams
wouldn’t send me here if he weren’t sure.
A barrage of cracking noises suddenly
assaulted her hearing, and she recognized it as the sound of dry
branches being snapped off trees. A soft whistle rang out; the
specter was hurling the branches at her from behind. She dropped to
the ground without thinking about it, and the branches flew over
her head. A split second later, she sprang up, then sprinted the
last few feet.
The specter would make another attempt to
materialize, but it didn’t matter—she’d already won.
She stopped and whirled back in time to see
the specter crash into the invisible wall created by the enchanted
perimeter. Though the barrier didn’t shimmer like the one
surrounding the Capital—probably because it guarded a smaller area
and therefore wasn’t as powerful—she could feel its magic crackling
around her like the static of a storm.
The specter vanished as it hit the
perimeter, and her ears buzzed from its cry of frustration. It
rematerialized a second later, gnashing its teeth and contorting
its face.
Aurelia lifted her chin in triumph. Her
shoulders were heaving from her fast, deep breaths, and sweat
covered her entire body, but the exhaustion that should have hit
was absent. Instead, her blood pumped with gleeful energy. Maybe
she hadn’t banished the specter, but she was still the victor.
“ And you’re the loser,
because you can’t get me,” she said with a smirk.
The specter screamed and rushed forward
again—only to shatter against the barrier. With the threat gone,
Aurelia suddenly found the creature’s freak-outs to be hilarious,
and a giggle escaped her lips. Unable to resist, she stuck out her
tongue. “Nyeh, nyeh!”
Then the tiredness hit her, and it hit hard.
She suddenly felt like dropping into the ground and going to sleep
right there in the dirt. But she couldn’t let herself relax just
yet. Maybe her supernatural enemy couldn’t get through, but the
humans chasing her could. The Triumvirate’s Sentinels. And Tydeus
Storm. They were still after her, and for all she knew, they could
track her here. She had
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