AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Here, hold him.” He transferred the wounded WOTA leader to Asu.
With a determined glare, Abiditan made a move to intercept the Akurns.
Zamush waved him back and faced the male who’d spoken, the obvious captain of this particular guard. “You’ll only have this one chance to get out of our way.”
The male threw his head back with a deep laugh. When he stopped, he put his fists on his hips and stared at him with fanatic intensity. “And just who do you think you are, you disgusting Adamou, thinking you can give me an ultimatum?”
“You’re asking the wrong question, Akurn.” Not that Zamush intended to school the man on what the right question should be. He raised his hands and created a wall of fire between them and the guards, then turned to the group behind him. “Go to the end of the corridor. I sense there might be another way out down there.”
He ducked. A laser spear missed him by inches. Hmph, their weapons didn’t have any trouble going through the flaming wall.
“Get back!” Jelena pushed him away and held up her palms. Blazing blue orbs spun from her hands. With a grimace, she pushed and a wall of ice replaced the flames between them with a solid block of ice.
“Let’s see if those assholes get through that!” She dusted her hands together and gave him a triumphant smirk. “Ha! Ice beats fire.”
The images of the Akurns behind the ice were a blur, but their shouts and curses came through loud and clear. The morons even tried to pound on the two-foot frozen wall with their fists and spears. No reason to wait around.
“Come on, let’s go.” He grabbed Jelena’s arm, spun her around and sped down the darkened way.
“I hope I made it thick enough to give us time to escape.”
Damn, he loved her breathless tone.
“Let’s hope so.”
It didn’t take long to reach the end of the room. The whole gang was there, looking like a bunch of lost children. The angry shouts at the other end of the room were getting louder.
“I don’t know how long that’ll hold.” Jelena pulled her crossbow from her back harness. “And I’m afraid I can’t do that again until I’ve refueled.” Her sharp cheeks reddened.
“We don’t have time for that.” Qhasheik spouted. He turned to Zamush with a frown. “I don’t know what you were sensing, but there isn’t any doorway we can find.”
“Why can’t you just knock the wall down like you did that steel door?” Asu asked Qhasheik as he adjusted Sychar in his arms.
A low moan came from the unconscious man.
Jelena stepped toward them with her hand out, but stopped when Katsuki grabbed her arm with a frown.
“No can do, my man.” Qhasheik shook his head. “If I did that, this whole place would collapse on us. Living life as a pancake isn’t on my bucket list.”
Zamush called up a small ball of fire to rest on his palms so he could shine a light on the wall for a closer look. Ah, there near the corner. “Jelena, can you send Shther over there? See if he smells fresh air.”
The lizard hadn’t moved from his perch on her shoulder, his six-footed legs steady as his independent four eyes swiveled with each blink.
She lifted her shoulder and whispered to him.
Her pet sprinted and stuck himself to the craggy rock wall. He scurried to the area Zamush pointed to. With a backward glance, the lizard poked his apple-red nose beside the man’s finger. A couple of sniffs later, the lizard’s head pointed. After a flick of his forked tongue, he scampered up Jelena’s shoulder and resumed his perch.
Zamush sent Jelena a mischievous grin. “And now, fire beats ice.” He placed his palm over the area Shther pointed to in the middle of the wall. He envisioned the amount of space he’d need to get everyone out. Concentrating with his eyes closed, he called up enough intense heat to create a river of lava.
“Everyone, stand back while I create room enough for a door. Jelena”—he didn’t bother to open his eyes—“once it gets big enough for everyone to go through, blast it with some ice to cool the magma enough so no one gets burned. Got enough in you to do that?”
“I think so.” The ring of her crossbow echoed as she put it back in its harness. Then came the sound of her shaking her fingers as she shifted from foot to foot. “Okay, I’m ready.”
Letting all other sounds fade, Zamush focused on the rocks beneath his palms. Forcing his fire into the wall, he pushed the stream, making it as hot as possible. The feel of the melting magma oozing through his fingers barely crossed his mind. He was too busy directing where the liquid rock should go. As the wall gave way, fresh air bathed his skin and cooled the sweat pouring down his temples. When he met no resistance, he jerked back and opened his eyes. Instead of the thick rock wall, a narrow opening greeted them.
Jelena sprayed the edges with ice, freezing the hot magma.
He was about to step through when Abiditan went first.
