Read Online Promise of Wrath (The Hellequin Chronicles Book 6) by Steve McHugh - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Steve McHugh
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get to my feet to fight, but that didn’t mean I was helpless. With my hand out of sight, I created a sphere of lightning, spinning it faster and faster until I knew it would be a blur. The tranquilizer made it difficult to know just how much magic I was pumping into the sphere, but I didn’t care. I threw in as much as my body would take.
Kay’s expression of murderous intent as he walked back toward me was clear to see, and I knew he wanted to kill me up close. He took a look at the lit-up glyphs over my arms, and smiled.
“I don’t think so. I’m not stupid.”
Thunder rolled high above us, and Kay’s expression changed to one of ever-so-slight uncertainty. He glanced up and I took the moment, launching myself up and toward him, unleashing the magic inside the sphere right at him.
At the last second, Kay created a sphere of rock and fire to counter my own. The explosion as the two spheres met was powerful enough to throw both Kay and me away in opposite directions. For Kay, that meant a trip up through the top of the ceiling and part of the roof, tearing the building apart as he went. I was thrown back into a wall close to the patio doors, where I hastily created a shield of air as the entire structure began to collapse.
I quickly increased the air shield’s power as the room collapsed in on me, raining down huge chunks of wood, brick, and mortar. I kept my air magic flowing freely, keeping the tons of brick a few feet above me as the rest of the roof came down all around me. If I removed my magic, I was dead. A few tons of brick while I slipped into unconsciousness, with no way to escape, would probably do the trick.
That didn’t mean I was about to give up. I would fight to the end, and if I could keep the shield up for long enough, hopefully Diane would arrive before I died. I was only a few feet from the door. If I could just get to it, I could be free.
I tried to shuffle forward, but the movement of the shield forced more brick to fall, some of it slamming into my left leg and causing me to yell out.
I don’t know how long I was like that. I don’t know how long I knelt there, covered in brick dust and filth, as the tranquilizer went to work, as my strength ebbed away, but it felt like a long time. Eventually I heard voices, but couldn’t quite make out who was talking. I shouted for help, but only heard a muffled reply.
Suddenly half a dozen golems, the product of a sorcerer using water and earth magics together, crashed through the debris and lifted the rubble above me. My magic vanished, but I didn’t have the strength to crawl out through the new hole they’d made.
“Whoever you brought with you, I thank you,” I told the person I was certain was Diane, who stood just beyond the ruined building.
“No problem,” a man said.
I looked up, horrified as Mordred’s face came into view. He had a folding chair in one hand that he placed beside my head before sitting down.
I tried to throw magic at him, but I was too weak as the tranquilizer took its full effect.
“Don’t try to fight me, Nathan,” Mordred said. “We need to have a good long talk, you and I. And frankly I can think of no better time than when you’re helpless and about to be crushed by a falling building.”
CHAPTER 6
September 1195. City of Acre.
Y ou want to just tell me the names of everyone involved in the attack on Avalon, or would you prefer I start cutting you first?”
“Ah, Nate, ever the smooth talker,” Mordred said with a grin. “You don’t need to do anything to me. Just listen and maybe you’ll learn something useful.”
“Mordred, I’ve learned a lot from you over the years, mostly about how to betray your friends and murder innocent people. Those are two things you excel at. Oh, and being completely twisted in your head. That’s a talent of yours, too.”
“We will leave you two alone,” Nanshe told me. “Do not kill him. I will not have death committed here.”
“I promise,” I
Kay’s expression of murderous intent as he walked back toward me was clear to see, and I knew he wanted to kill me up close. He took a look at the lit-up glyphs over my arms, and smiled.
“I don’t think so. I’m not stupid.”
Thunder rolled high above us, and Kay’s expression changed to one of ever-so-slight uncertainty. He glanced up and I took the moment, launching myself up and toward him, unleashing the magic inside the sphere right at him.
At the last second, Kay created a sphere of rock and fire to counter my own. The explosion as the two spheres met was powerful enough to throw both Kay and me away in opposite directions. For Kay, that meant a trip up through the top of the ceiling and part of the roof, tearing the building apart as he went. I was thrown back into a wall close to the patio doors, where I hastily created a shield of air as the entire structure began to collapse.
I quickly increased the air shield’s power as the room collapsed in on me, raining down huge chunks of wood, brick, and mortar. I kept my air magic flowing freely, keeping the tons of brick a few feet above me as the rest of the roof came down all around me. If I removed my magic, I was dead. A few tons of brick while I slipped into unconsciousness, with no way to escape, would probably do the trick.
That didn’t mean I was about to give up. I would fight to the end, and if I could keep the shield up for long enough, hopefully Diane would arrive before I died. I was only a few feet from the door. If I could just get to it, I could be free.
I tried to shuffle forward, but the movement of the shield forced more brick to fall, some of it slamming into my left leg and causing me to yell out.
I don’t know how long I was like that. I don’t know how long I knelt there, covered in brick dust and filth, as the tranquilizer went to work, as my strength ebbed away, but it felt like a long time. Eventually I heard voices, but couldn’t quite make out who was talking. I shouted for help, but only heard a muffled reply.
Suddenly half a dozen golems, the product of a sorcerer using water and earth magics together, crashed through the debris and lifted the rubble above me. My magic vanished, but I didn’t have the strength to crawl out through the new hole they’d made.
“Whoever you brought with you, I thank you,” I told the person I was certain was Diane, who stood just beyond the ruined building.
“No problem,” a man said.
I looked up, horrified as Mordred’s face came into view. He had a folding chair in one hand that he placed beside my head before sitting down.
I tried to throw magic at him, but I was too weak as the tranquilizer took its full effect.
“Don’t try to fight me, Nathan,” Mordred said. “We need to have a good long talk, you and I. And frankly I can think of no better time than when you’re helpless and about to be crushed by a falling building.”
CHAPTER 6
September 1195. City of Acre.
Y ou want to just tell me the names of everyone involved in the attack on Avalon, or would you prefer I start cutting you first?”
“Ah, Nate, ever the smooth talker,” Mordred said with a grin. “You don’t need to do anything to me. Just listen and maybe you’ll learn something useful.”
“Mordred, I’ve learned a lot from you over the years, mostly about how to betray your friends and murder innocent people. Those are two things you excel at. Oh, and being completely twisted in your head. That’s a talent of yours, too.”
“We will leave you two alone,” Nanshe told me. “Do not kill him. I will not have death committed here.”
“I promise,” I
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