He was lying. My mother was right about the Praetors only taking. He had no intention of letting all of us go.
"Honor our agreement," I said. "When you do, I'll honor my part of the bargain and return to your control."
After a moment of consideration, Brutus ordered, "Release the girl! Nobody touches her!"
"Nic?" Aurelia called to me.
"Give a shout when you're free of the woods," I said. "I'll hear you."
"You're supposed to come with me."
"Will you just run?"
And she did. While I waited, with my hand still held up to Brutus, I let the magic build inside me. Praetors were surrounding me, but I was ready for them. All I needed was to hear Aurelia's voice, that she was safe.
She ran fast, because it wasn't long before I heard her cry, "I'm out, Nic!"
And I lowered my hand. "There's no shield?" Brutus asked. "I can touch you."
"Yes." I kept my expression steady. "If you want to."
He did, but immediately yanked his hand away with a cry.
"What's the matter?" I smiled as I stretched out my arm. "If you don't accept my surrender, that's fine. I won't offer twice."
And other Praetors grabbed me too. I felt the spark as they tried to take the magic, but they couldn't hold on long enough to do any serious damage.
"His skin is like fire." One of them scowled, cradling his burned hand in his arms.
The heat I was generating made me nauseous and sweat emptied from every pore in my body. But for now, I was untouchable.
I turned and started to run back to the caged wagon. Once I got my mother, I couldn't generate this heat, but I could make us disappear somewhere. For her sake, I would not fail at duplicating Radulf's trick.
Except that she was gone. The wagon was still there but the door was open, and I had no idea in which direction they had taken her. More Praetors were coming down the hill from behind the wagon. Wherever she was, I could not follow. All I could do was run back toward Valerius's field and hope to escape from there.
I threw punches of magic ahead of me, brushing aside every Praetor in my way. I saved a special force of air for Brutus, knocking him into the shadows, where I hoped he landed on the back of a mother bear. She could teach him a lesson about why one should never threaten a mother.
And then I ran. I let the heat burn off me as I raced through the trees, throwing magic ahead of me to keep the path clear. These woods were littered with Praetors -- so many that they rivaled Radulf's armies. How were we to defeat them all?
I got back into the field, startling the Praetors who were still there. I couldn't see Aurelia anywhere, so I hoped she had remained free once leaving the woods.
They immediately began closing in around me, but I wasn't finished fighting.
I ran into the center of the field. At least forty Praetors surrounded me and more had followed from the woods. I fell to one knee, then put my fist to the ground, releasing everything within me. Magic poured into the earth, creating waves from solid ground. If I'd had the bulla, it might've exploded the entire area, and me along with it, but the Divine Star merely sent out ripples, violent enough to topple every man standing in the field.
Once they went down, I tried to raise a shield, but too much of my strength was already gone and I stumbled.
No, things would not end so quickly. I forced myself to stand but felt an arrow pierce my thigh. The exact reason I had wanted a shield actually.
I collapsed again, hearing the laughter of the Praetors as those who were not injured got to their feet. I yanked out the arrow and put a hand to my leg, searching for enough magic to heal it. There wouldn't be time before they grabbed me again.
"You will not touch him!" Valerius yelled, scurrying down the path and into his field. "Praetors of Rome, I am the presiding magistrate of the Senate, your superior. You will obey my orders. Let that boy go!"
At that moment, Decimas Brutus emerged from the woods, to my disappointment, free of any bear scratches, although he did seem more tousled than usual.
Brutus faced Valerius directly, on opposite ends of the open field. "Walk away, Senator. You are useless to us now, and if you want to stay alive, then you will remain useless."
"Threatening a Roman senator is treason," Crispus said, walking into the field with the guards of his home. "You will leave at once, or our guards will arrest you and deliver you to the emperor himself."