Clearly alarmed by my wide eyes, Aurelia said, her voice tightening, "What's happening, Nic?"
I raised a shield around us and put her directly behind me. "Something is coming for you. Something I might not be able to stop."
The Mistress had gone quiet, though I faintly heard Atroxia crying again for help. I didn't think she was in her human form; rather, it seemed that Atroxia was fighting as hard as she could to separate herself from the dragon, and failing.
Though I heard no response from Diana, I also knew that she would respond. The Mistress had called upon Diana's powers with certainty, fully expecting an answer. It wasn't safe to leave Aurelia here, not anymore.
"Let's ride Callistus away from here," I said, taking Aurelia's hand in mine. "Whatever Diana sends after us, Callistus is our best hope to outrun it."
"If she s
ends anything, it'll be a stag." Aurelia's eyes widened. "A stag! That's Diana's animal!"
Such as the stag we had seen on Radulf's land, and again in the forum. Diana had been watching me for some time; I realized that now. She had been waiting until the moment her servant called upon her to act.
Aurelia put a hand on her bow attached to Callistus's saddle, though it would take a moment for her to undo the knots around it. I opened the stable gates, but hadn't yet turned back around when I heard her cry out with fear. My hands filled with magic as I saw that same stag already within the stables, its dark eyes fixed on Aurelia.
I whistled to draw the stag's attention to me, yet it didn't waver in its gaze. I tried again, throwing enough magic its way to get some reaction from the beast, but it only edged closer to Aurelia.
"No offense, Nic," Aurelia said, her voice rising with panic, "but I've become used to these strange things only happening to you."
So had I. It would've made sense for the stag to focus on me, but it didn't seem to even care I was here. Suddenly, my heart slammed against my chest. I'd been wrong before. The stag hadn't been watching me. All this time, it had been watching Aurelia. Diana, Goddess of the hunt and of the moon, was watching Aurelia. But why?
"You're shielded," I said, keeping my voice calm as I started to move between them. "Get on the unicorn, quickly. We can outrun it."
Aurelia put one foot into the saddle's stirrup. The stag immediately charged at her, hitting her in both legs and knocking her back to the ground. She rolled and scooted beneath Callistus for protection, but he was nervous and prancing around. She wouldn't be safe there for long and maybe wasn't safe at all. The shield that protected her came from the bulla, filled with Diana's powers. I was willing to bet that meant her stag could run right through it. My shields were useless.
I sent a fireball toward the stag, expecting the animal to retreat from its flames. But the fire only evaporated upon contact, leaving the stag perfectly unharmed. I could use the Malice, but its greater powers worried me. Both Callistus and Aurelia were ahead of me, and past them was Crispus's home filled with him, his mother, and their servants. I'd already exploded one home. A second home seemed like too many for one week.
The stag pawed at the ground, preparing to charge. It would crash directly into Callistus, if necessary. Anticipating that, Callistus ran, openly exposing Aurelia. She stood and raced toward me, but the stag immediately took aim at Aurelia.
I threw myself between them, this time using the Malice to repel the stag. It felt the magic and hesitated a moment, then collided against me with a fierceness that would've killed Aurelia, and possibly even Callistus. I landed hard on my back, and though I could scarcely draw a breath, that was the least of my problems.
For by the time I rose up, ready with more magic, the stag had already circled back to Aurelia. She was running for the villa, but tripped on her robes and fell. I sent harder magic to the stag, determined to stop it, but this too, only caused it a brief pause.
Just before it reached Aurelia, the stag dipped its head, and Aurelia cried out. The gold bracelet from Crispus had become hooked on one of the stag's antlers, and it was already speeding away with Aurelia, out of the stables and down the hill into open fields.
I leapt onto Callistus's back, immediately giving chase. The unicorn's speed was unequaled by any creature on land, and I hoped that was still true with a stag from the heavens.
It was too dark to see Aurelia ahead, but I occasionally heard a cry. I could only imagine what it was doing to her to be dragged alongside a stag's leaping strides.
"Faster, Callistus," I whispered, and the unicorn responded. The scenery rushed past me in a blur. Before I even realized something was in our path, it was already behind us.
The general direction we were going was no great surprise. We were headed south again, leaving the city. To Lake Nemi, no doubt. It was Diana's one refuge within any distance of Rome.
Once the hillside flattened out, I got a better view of the stag, racing beneath the moonlight. Aurelia's body wasn't being dragged, as I had expected. She had somehow managed to get astride the animal, though she was lying low upon its back, probably her only way of remaining balanced. I was grateful to see her there. It could've been so much worse for her.
Callistus pushed forward yet again, until we were close enough for me to use magic. While Aurelia was on its back, I wouldn't send anything too powerful, but there were other options that might work better.
If I could call up water from Radulf's baths, could I also call up water from the earth? It made sense. So I stretched out my hand, focused on the ground ahead of the stag, and called any moisture within the soil to bubble up to the surface.
In the darkness, I couldn't be sure if it had worked, and remained unsure until suddenly the stag slowed. It was still running, still leaping, but with much greater effort and more slowly than before. It wasn't slow enough for Aurelia to safely roll off its back, but as long as Callistus stayed to the side of the mud, we could easily catch up to them.
As we got closer, I noticed a glimmer in the moonlight along the stag's body, reminding me of something from early in my battles with Radulf. He had a trick with the Divine Star I'd never been able to quite learn, one that allowed him to fight in a place where he was not. That was exactly what this stag was doing. It was here in front of me, carrying Aurelia away, so its presence was very real. But it wasn't entirely here. Nothing of my magic could do anything more than bruise it.
If stopping it wasn't an option, then at least I could stop Aurelia from riding on it.
Not so long ago, Aurelia and I had been in a chariot race together, one where it was necessary for me to leap from my chariot into hers. I didn't see how this was too different. She'd make the jump this time, and onto Callistus's back rather than into a chariot, but I knew she could do it.