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I expected Cal and me to be sent shooting into the sky, but something far different happened. The light around me sank into the bones and the jumbled mess began to arrange itself into the long broken bodies of the victims. I nearly lost my concentration when a bone flew out from beneath my foot and attached itself to one of the forming creations.
I whipped my head to Cal who had pressed his back against the wall to keep out of the way of the rearrangement. “Is this a good sign?” I shouted above the wind storm.
He opened his mouth to respond, but a look of surprise came upon him and he drew his arms forward. The manacles had dropped behind him and picked them up to examine the open bindings. “This is far from what I expected, but most definitely not unpleasant.”
The bones continued their merry work rebuilding bodies and connecting them with my light. The finished skeletons tried to scurry up the walls, but their bony fingers couldn’t find enough handholds to carry them up. The rattle-bones after them climbed onto their shoulders and reached higher, with others scurrying on top of them and slowly building up an ever-rising wall of bones.
I started to get the feeling that they were being greedy, however, as my energy began to wane. The light around me carried downward into the pile ever faster so that the whole bony floor of the pit glowed. Skeletons now leapt out from the pile and scurried onto the shoulders of their stacked brethren.
One of the bones underfoot slipped out and in my weakened state I lost my balance. I braced for a hard fall onto some pointy bits, but instead I fell against what felt like a hard piece of wood. My heart skipped a beat when I found myself staring into the grinning face of one of the bone fellows. This one was particularly large and was easily able to heft me over his broad shoulders. I wrapped my arms around its neck bones and the skeleton stalked toward the rising tower of its bony brethren.
Cal was likewise hefted onto the shoulders of another large skeleton, and together our riders climbed the mountain. My legs swung freely behind me and I glanced over my shoulder to watch my light reach to the bottom of the pit. Hundreds of skeletons now lined the walls and they had nearly reached the top of the pit.
Shouts came from somewhere above us and I glimpsed the terrified face of a wolf man. The man disappeared as the skeletons finally reached the top and climbed over. Screams could be heard and feet stampeded, but all that was drowned out by the rattle of the bone army I had created.
We, too, reached the top and I breathed in the fresh scent of the old forest. My skeleton escort set me down on the ground and I found myself standing in the middle of destruction. The tents had been torn to shreds and the gear scattered to the far reaches of the clearing. The werewolves themselves had cleared out. Not even Gasric had stayed to fight my private army.
But then, how could anyone fight what was already dead?
I turned to face the pit and watched as the skeletons pulled all their brethren out of the hole. The last of the bonies merely looked up at the sky and opened their mouths as if truly smiling. Then, one by one, the skeletons collapsed into piles of dust. A gentle breeze blew through the ruined camp and took away the bodies.
Cal sidled up to me and softly smiled at the empty field. “It appears your magic has not only freed us but has done those poor souls a good deed.”
“Compliments later,” I scolded him as I grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the woods. “Escaping now.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY
“A moment, Millie!”Cal interrupted me as he used our connection to pull me toward Gasric’s tent. He ducked inside and soon came out with the flute which he held out to me with a smile. “You are forgetting your staff.”
I pursed my lips as I looked between the flute and its former owner. “Are you sure?”
He grasped my hand and set the flute in my upturned palm. “I have never been more certain in my life. Besides, if memory serves me, you were once able to change this into a broom to escape my men. I had hoped you might do the same now.”
I lifted my gaze to the stormy skies and pursed my lips. “I’m not sure which way we’d head-” My question was answered before I finished by a bright flash of light in the distance to the west. The illumination was followed by a terrific roar of fury. My eyes lit up and a smile brightened my face. “Ben!”
Cal lifted an eyebrow at me. “Pardon?”
“No time to explain!” I told him as I clutched the flute in both hands. I shut my eyes and pressed the object against my chest. “I have to get to Ben. Take me to him.”
My hands glowed and the light was matched by the flute. The wood lengthened and transformed into the broom. I scurried onto the handle and Cal did the same. Together we pushed off from the ground and high into the air.
The rain pelted us and lightning sheared the sky. I turned toward the west and beheld a huge billowing smoke cloud. Ben was angry. Really, really angry.
I stiffened my jaw and shot us over the canopy of the thick forest. Ben’s trail led from Rookwood toward where we had been held captive. He had probably been following my scent but lost it due to Gasric’s efforts, and now he was rampaging.
His fury hadn’t gone unnoticed by others and I glimpsed werewolves running through the woods toward the calamity that was my fiancé. They were more slender and faster than Gasric’s clan, and I guessed they were those loyal to Eall.
We flew close enough that the trees parted and I glimpsed the fully transformed Ben. He stood in a clearing of his own making. Charred trees surrounded him and many had been toppled by his thrashing tail. A narrow trail of fire followed behind him. The wolves had their hands full merely putting out the flames.
Cal pursed his lips as he inspected the destruction. “If we do not stop him soon the truce will be meaningless. There will be nothing to exchange.”
A short figure raced among them putting out the flames with magic and I recognized it as Dreda. I landed close beside her and she jumped at our abrupt appearance and spun around to face us. A bag hung at her hip, carried by a sling over her person. “Don’t go startling me like that!” she scolded us as we hopped off.
I hurried over to her and grasped her hand. “How do we reach Ben and get him to stop?”
She pursed her lips and shook her head. “I don’t know. He’s never been this far gone before. I tried to reach him, but he didn’t recognize me.”
I steadied my nerves and shoved the staff into her hands. “Let me try.”
