Caleb stared down at me with wide eyes.
I grinned at him, even though he couldn’t see it. “Hey. Hi. How are you? Gauntlet, wouldn’t you know. Made of dragon scales. A gift.”
“How did you—”
“Get here in front of you in the blink of an eye? Here’s a hint: magic.”
He nodded, drawing the sword away, squaring his shoulders. “You’re going to regret the intrusion. Whoever you are.”
I stood up slowly. “I haven’t decided yet.”
He squinted at me. “Decided what?”
“If you’re gonna walk away from this. Oooh. Holy shit. I just gave myself chills.” I glanced back at Brant and Katya. “Did you guys get chills? Because I did.”
They both shook their heads, then seem to change their minds before nodding.
I frowned. “Well, this is awkward.”
“Get him,” Caleb snarled.
The Darks raised their hands, and their magic began to gather, wild and untamed. Lightning crackled from the Darks I’d met long ago
on the road, crawling along their fingertips, and I almost laughed at them.
Instead I said, “Flora Bora Slam, mothercrackers.” I barely had to push.
There was a sharp crack before a hush fell over the cliffside.
“Huh,” I said. “That was easier than I thought it would be. I’m so good at this.”
Caleb turned slowly to look behind him.
Four stone statues stood there, hands raised, fingers spread wide.
“Can’t argue with the classics,” I told him. “So, wanna surrender, or should we do this the fun way?”
The sword fell from his hand, sticking upright in the soft earth. “You’re good,” he said quietly. “But unfortunately for you, I’m better. I will deal with you myself.”
“The fun way, then. I’m down with—”
He moved then, almost quicker than I could follow, hands coming up, twitching dangerously. There was a rush of a magic, a sick and infected yellow, knocking into my chest and trying to wrap around my heart. I was lifted off my feet and flew up and over Caleb and the stone Darks, then landed on my back on the other side of them. Katya cried out near the cliff, but I didn’t have time to focus on them. Caleb was stronger than I expected him to be. I underestimated him.
I wouldn’t make that mistake again.
I tilted my head back in time to see the statues of the Darks begin to break apart under Caleb’s magic. It shouldn’t have surprised me as much as it did that he was sacrificing his own men. I’d heard the stories, of course, from Dimitri, about how the Darks had descended upon Verania, but nothing they had done so far had matched this level of brutality. I had never been turned to stone before, so I didn’t know what it felt like. I almost hoped the stone Darks weren’t aware of being broken apart.
I pushed myself up off the ground as the last bits of the statues broke apart and spun lazily around Caleb.
“Okay, I can admit, that looks pretty cool,” I said. “It’s kinda hard-core for my tastes, though. I mean, those are chunks of people, dude. I could have totally turned them back.”
Caleb’s eyes narrowed. “Do I know you from somewhere? You sound familiar.”
“We’ll get to that in just a moment. First, I need to—oh, that was a distraction.”
Caleb was moving even before I finished speaking. I didn’t have time to think, much less come up with a counterspell. The stones slammed into me, starting with my feet and legs, wrapping themselves around me, fusing in place. They rose up my legs, past my knees to my thighs and hips. They hit my hands and arms, my stomach and chest, and my heart beat thunderously as the stones rose to my shoulders and neck.
“No,” Katya whispered behind him. Then, “Stop it! Leave him alone!” Brant held her back as she tried to rush Caleb.