Page 74 of The Blood Rites

Huge shards of razor-sharp rock hurtle towards us and ricochet off my shield. My arm trembles with the impact, and I plant my feet as dust billows around us.

There’s no time to process the miracle. We have to keep moving.

“We need to go,” I say. “We can’t stop.”

Marissa nods, reluctantly releasing me, and we take off running.

I risk a glance over my shoulder. Rask is gaining, his hands bloody to the wrists. Orla follows close behind, her fingers twitching dangerously. The air seems to vibrate around her as she channels.

The terrain opens onto a narrow shelf suspended over a sea of broken rocks. At the far end, a cluster of rocky outcroppings rises towards higher ground.

“Don’t be scared,” I urge, but Marissa stumbles, falling to her knees and catching herself with splayed hands.

She cries out, more in frustration than pain, and forces herself upright again.

By the time we reach the midpoint of the walkway, Rask is almost on us. I spin, placing myself between him and Marissa. Mana burns hot in my chest, primed and restless, waiting to be released.

I throw up a loose, desperate bubble of golden light.

Rask slams into it, and a crack splits the air like a breaking branch.

He staggers backwards and nearly steps off the walkway, but a thin veneer of shining onyx forms beneath his foot. At the rear, Orla stands with one hand outstretched.

Saving him from the fall.

Rask grins. “There he is.”

He eyes the shimmering golden bubble between us, then glances back at Orla, who has joined him on the walkway.

“You want to break it or shall I?” he asks her.

She grins, lips peeling back to reveal yellowing, broken teeth. “I’m sure you can handle one Lightborn kid, Rask.”

Rask lowers his head and charges again, coating one shoulder in rough chunks of dark stone before slamming into the shield.

The force knocks the breath out of me, but the shield holds. Barely.

Behind him, Orla summons a boulder sharpened to a wicked point. It spins in the air, growing larger with every rotation.

“Marissa,” I yell. “Go. Now!”

She hesitates. I can see in her eyes that she wants to stand her ground and help me, but she knows she can’t. She sprints for the far end of the walkway, looking back only once.

I pour more of my Mana into the shield. Orla launches the spike at speed and I brace for impact. The shield buckles as the spike hits, dissolving into shining splinters. The spike also shatters, the broken pieces falling to the rocks below.

Rask seizes his opportunity and lunges for me again.

He stops—

“The wave is coming!” Orla barks.

I risk taking my eyes off them as I follow their gaze. She’s telling the truth.

This one is worse. Taller. Faster. The water isn’t even blue anymore. It’s black. And it’s moving with purpose, racing towards us.

“I’m not going out like Brannic!” Orla shouts, hightailing it back across the walkway.

Rask turns and runs after her, fixing me with a hateful sneer. Orla is already scrambling up a ridge at the far side. So Brannic was the first to fall.