Page 192 of Sunsplitter

Fi surged to her feet. Energy scorched out of the daeyari capsule in her pocket, down her arm, the fastest blade she’d ever Shaped. A lighter current leached from the muscles of her left arm, gathered at her fingertips. Not much time. Seconds, maybe.

She watched the aedari grab an antler.

Then swiped a hand and pushed herself into the Void.

The shift from heat to cold struck her lungs with an urge to gasp. No air.

No time. Fi had one shot at a sneak attack, one chance to strike before the aedari learned this trick. She visualized the snow-covered clearing, the smell of old ash, the pattern of stone crumbling down the old hearth, Antal on his knees with an immortal reaching for him.

A roar filled Fi’s ears as she plummeted through the Void. A little easier each time.

She re-emerged on the Winter Plane mid-swing, bringing her sword down on the aedari’s elbow.

Of course she’d considered the neck. With how reinforced the last one had been, she didn’t trust herself to sever it, not with the aedari’s hand on Antal already. Safer to remove the arm itself. Even that proved difficult, a momentary snag of her sword against energy, against immortal bone, an ache in her teeth as she pushed.

Then sliced through.

The aedari shrieked. Her wings came down like a superheated guillotine, but Fi shoved Antal clear, toppling together through the snow. She could imagine his chastisement later.The same thing you did to Verne, he’d say.Too obsessed with dismembering hands, he’d say. But hands wereuseful—especially for a magician, half her glyphs now lying on the ground.

Fi dug into her pocket. She grabbed the box Ixli hadgifted her—a lifesaver. Metal claws slipped cool onto the fingers of her left hand, covering vulnerable flesh down to her knuckles. Better shielded, she grabbed the arrow in Antal’s chest.

“Like you mean it, daeyari!”

They yanked together. A smell of burnt flesh flooded her nose, the char of Antal’s palms, the seared skin of her fingers as energy sank through the metal claws. Fi screamed but didn’t waver. A sizzle. Ashlunk.

The arrow slid free of his sternum.

Antal lunged for the aedari.

Still dripping black blood, the hole in his chest sparking as it healed, he sank his claws into the aedari’s flesh. Sank his teeth into her throat. Her cry came gurgled as she shoved the daeyari off her. Fi was ready in the opening, sword arcing for the aedari’s neck.

A pulse of glyph-sparked energy sent both Fi and Antal backward.

Antal snarled as he hit the ground. Fi hit something hard, rock or ice, leaving her dazed. She pushed through lightheadedness, unsteady as she regained her feet.

Several yards away, the aedari clutched her severed arm, golden blood dripping onto snow. Fi still didn’t know if immortals could regenerate limbs. Even if they could, that much healing would take time.

The aedari hissed, “Aslowdeath, then!”

She pulled an arrow from the quiver at her back. Fi gave a cruel laugh. Not so dangerous with those arrows, if the aedari had no second hand to draw her bow.

This thought was followed a moment later by the realization… she didn’thavea bow?

The aedari dropped the arrow in front of her. A burst ofglyphs on her fingers, and the projectile hovered midair. She pointed, and the arrow faced its target.

Well,thatdidn’t seem fair—

The aedari snapped her fingers. In a flash of gold, the arrow shot out.

It all happened so fast.

Antal swiped a hand in front of him, crimson energy solidifying into a shield. The arrow hit the barrier. Acrack. The shatter of the energy shield slaked ozone across Fi’s tongue, static over skin, a flurry of snow as the arrow struck the ground.

The aedari was already lining up another.

It should have been enough time to teleport. But Antal hunched, red energy sparking at his chest, still attempting to heal.

The arrow flew.