Page 69 of Blood Fist

Their attacker was smart. They’d chosen to hit the market—a wide swath of temporary stalls made entirely of fabric and wood. The fire had no opposition, spreading in a wave of heat. Most of their warriors were watching the fights clear on the other side of the field. They might be too far away to even hear the panic until it was too late, and if they did, they wouldn’t be able to get in against the wave of people trying to escape the inferno.

Which meant that the masses gathered here were completely defenseless—merchants, craftsman, families, elderly. They were unable to put up a fight and worse, they were in a panic. Between the smoke and the fire, it was difficult to see a way out.

A flashof a sword caught his attention and through the haze he saw Corric lifting a piece of burning tent, freeing a family. He held it aloft as they scurried away, joining the throng of people crushing each other trying to escape.

“Who is with me!?” Ridan screamed above the din; his voice hoarse. It left him doubled over, coughing, with tears running from his eyes.

“I’m here,” Brune called back, closer than Ridan thought.

“Jonen and I,” Corric confirmed, tossing the wood he’d been holding down and covering his mouth with his elbow. Ridan couldn’t see Jonen, but that meant nothing.

“Priority is getting the people out,” he shouted. “Jonen, Corric, you two help get them out. Bust out some exits.”

No one answered him, but a moment later he heard crunching wood and Jonen was standing in a shaft of sunlight, guiding merchants through the opening between tents he’d made.

Brune slid next to him. He was panting, his face dark with soot and his hair falling out from where he’d had pulled back.

“I’m not leaving you,” he said seriously, one hand on his hammer and the other hefting his shield.

Ridan shook his head. “Wasn’t going to ask.” Using Brune’s shoulder, he pushed himself to his feet. “We need to find this guy and get him the hell away from here.”

Brune twisted his hammer in his hands, face set. Just as Ridan was about to tell him to go right, another fireball came flying at them. It hit a tent just ahead of him, quickly engulfing what looked like a stall of pelts. Betweenshielding his face from the flames, Ridan saw they didn’t look normal.

It was almost as if the flames had a life of their own. Impossibly, they seemed to be tinged…white, and they moved like they were seeking something. Leaving devastation in their wake, they moved far quicker than any fire Ridan had ever seen.

An icy shiver ran down his spine.Magic.

He’d never seen it before, of course, but he knew it existed. They joked about it; spoke of it the same way someone might speak of pigs flying. And now here it was, licking across the ground and destroying everything in its path.

“Ridan!”

He had a split second to register his name before Brune was tackling him to the ground, shield lifted over them both. Heat exploded around them, so close he could smell burning hair. But Brune held fast, the Maladon’s Aegis taking the hit like it was nothing. He blinked up, eyes hooded against the heat, to see Brune above him. He was holding him close, tucking Ridan against his chest to hide behind the shield.

When the heat died down, he pushed himself up enough to check that they were safe to move. Brune grabbed him, pulling him behind a barrel of water like he weighed nothing. Crawling over his lap, he peered around the barrel.

The Magician was tall and thin. His clothes were battered and burned and his hair was matted around his face, hanging down his back unevenly. He was so filthy Ridan couldn’t tell the color.

Not that he was looking too closely at the man himself—he was distracted by thefirelicking up his arms. It seemed to sprout from his hands, twiningaround long fingers before the man tossed them like a child’s ball.

“Chief!”

Osmond jogged up with Niklas close behind. They looked singed and sooty, no doubt stopping to help people on their way to them.

“Niklas, I need you to get up high. Somewhere you can keep an eye on him. And if you get a shot, take him the fuck out.”

The beta didn’t even nod, just took off while slinging the bow from his back. Osmond looked after him, jaw tense.

“We’re dealing with a magic user,” Ridan told Brune and Osmond. Both alphas looked unsettled. It was one thing to take on a Snap Jaw, or even another Clansmen. They knew what to expect when fighting them. But this? This was something they did not know how to handle.

“It’s going to be difficult getting close,” Osmond pointed out unnecessarily. How could they get close to him, let alone fight him? He was on fire! If Niklas couldn’t get a good shot with an arrow, they were sunk.

“I can get you close,” Brune said confidently. He tapped the shield. “His flames aren’t getting past me.”

Eyeing the alpha, Ridan wasn’t sure. The shield withstoodonehit of flames. But multiple? Brune already had a reddening burn on his arm and blood on his lip.

Sensing his hesitation, he thumped his fist on the shield. “Nothingis going to get past me.”

Ridan believed him.