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“Coral them!” the large wolf shouted at his wolves, and I could only assume it was Eall himself who had come to grace us with his presence.
A fancy tent was set up near the wagons and the flaps were flung open. Belmonte stepped out wielding a long staff and sporting an expression of fury. He grasped the staff in both hands and glared at Ben.
“You will pay for this, Rookwood!” he snapped as a black shadow flowed from his body.
Ben grinned as he held up his hand and a fireball exploded from his palm. “I think not.”
The men leapt into combat with Ben tossing his fireballs and Belmonte blocking them with his cane. The soft glow grew brighter the longer they battled. Something about the fight seemed off to me. Belmonte dodged and repelled the blows, but he wasn’t throwing any blows himself.
“Ben!” I shouted as the glow about our foe burst outward. “Get out of there!”
Ben’s eyes widened and he leapt back. Tendrils shot out of Belmonte’s staff and latched on to Ben’s arms and legs. My mouth dropped open as Ben fought against the dark coils. They should have been dispelled by his innate magic banishment ability, but the things survived.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-TWO
Nay,they grew stronger as Belmonte grasped his cane in both hands. Ben was yanked forward and off his feet where he landed hard on the ground. The blow knocked the air out of him and he didn’t have time to react as he was dragged toward his foe. Ben’s hands lengthened into claws, but he couldn’t reach any of the tendrils.
Belmonte’s eyes widened. “What have we here? The curse of the Dragon Thief?” His surprise turned to maniacal glee and he threw back his head and laughed as Ben thrashed in the hold of the magic. “So there is a magic the great Dragon Thief cannot break! The magic that comes from my dragon scale cane!”
That was it. That was the creepy vibe I’d gotten off the cane earlier. Ben reached Belmonte and was lifted off the ground to hang in front of his foe.
I rushed forward with my broom in hand and swung at Belmonte’s face. The man stepped back and one of his tendrils shot out. The darkness wrapped around my broom and we grappled for it for a moment before my light burst out of the sacred object. My eyes widened as the broom transformed into the sacred staff I had picked up on that fateful night.
Belmonte took a step back and raised one arm in front of his face as he glared at me. “What devilry is this?”
I grasped the staff in both hands and snorted. “You’re one to talk.” I pointed one glowing end at him and stared the man down. “And if you don’t let Ben down right now you won’t be able to do even that.”
Belmonte sneered at me as more shadows pulsed out of the cane. “You are nothing before my dragon cane! Nothing!”
At his shout, dozens of tendrils poured from the scales. I grasped my staff in both hands in front of me and focused on Ben. Light as bright as the sun burst out of me and crashed into the shadowed coils. Light and dark fought together, pushing back against one another in a game of tug-of-war.
I wasn’t going to lose. Not to this lowlife. Not when Ben’s life was on the line.
“You’re not winning this!” I shouted as I swung my staff like a bat.
A wave of light flew out and shattered his cloud of darkness. The flood rammed into Belmonte’s stomach and sent him flying into the rear of his wagon. The man slumped to the ground and the cane clattered to his side. The shadows around the scales dissipated.
I leaned heavily on my staff as my world became a little dizzying. Ben had landed on his feet and hurried over to me where he grasped my shoulders. I grinned up at him. “Don’t ask. Even I don’t want to know how I feel.”
He chuckled. “However you feel, you look wonderful.”
A terrible shriek came from one of the tents and I spun my head around in time to watch Dreda drag the Matriarch out by her hair. The Matriarch thrashed and struggled in Dreda’s terrible grasp, but the woman would not be denied her revenge as she tossed her to the ground and clamped Cal’s manacles on her.
“That’ll teach you to mess with my Werd!” Dreda snapped.
I gently drew myself out of Ben’s grasp and moved over to them. “Wait a sec.” I stopped beside the Matriarch and rummaged through her attire.
“What are you doing?” the crone snapped as she struggled to squirm away. “Get away from me, you thief!”
I drew out my ribbon and grinned at her as I pocketed it. “I’m just taking back what’s mine.”
The Matriarch spat at me. I dodged and the spittle flew toward Belmonte.
“Catch that spit!” Dreda shouted.
Too late. The spittle landed on his cane and oozed over the scales. The Matriarch cackled as the cane began to levitate of its own free will. “Let’s see you take care of that curse, fools!”
Shadows burst out of the cane, but this time they weren’t tendrils. The darkness formed itself into the shape of a huge dragon.
