Page 37 of Pawns of Fate

Ava was hiding around a corner, just as Lyla said.

While no other monsters appeared in their vicinity, there was a lot of roaring in the distance.

Trolls usually traveled in packs; it was doubtful that the one Lyla killed was the only one in the city.

The smell of dust, smoke, and blood permeated the air.

Anyone who had been using a cooking fire before the attack started might come home to a pile of ashes when all of this was over.

“Are we going back to Onanish?” Ava asked with a shaky voice. The roar of at least two more trolls sounded in the distance.

Rose didn’t care where Lyla took them, as long as it was away from here.

“I’ll get us as close as I can,” Lyla replied, already forming the spell circle.

“Now, the magic takes a bit longer when I have to teleport more people than just myself. We’re going to hold hands and there will be bright lights.

” The spell circle started to grow. “You might feel sick as the magic unfolds. Whatever happens, don’t let go of my hand until I say so. ”

“I understand,” said Rose.

“Yes,” said Ava.

Lyla gave a command in the ancient language, and the spell grew large enough to encircle them.

Light enveloped all of Rose’s senses; on its heels was a strange heat.

And then a feeling of incorrectness, like putting a shoe on the wrong foot—only the foot was her entire being, maybe even her soul.

It tugged on her skin, sucking her in and pushing her away all at once.

And then everything went black.

“You can let go now.” Lyla’s voice echoed. Rose didn’t think the mage was actually yelling across a canyon, but it felt like she was.

Rose opened her eyes. Then her stomach decided it didn’t care for teleportation magic and staged a protest. Rose doubled over, vomiting up what little breakfast she had left.

Someone patted her back. It was probably Lyla. Rose could hear another person vomiting, presumably Ava.

Lyla fished around in the pockets of her skirt. She produced a couple of flasks .

“Drink this to help with the mana sickness.”

“Lyla, I can’t stomach alcohol right now.” Rose grimaced.

“It’s water and a few herbs. It will help with the nausea.”

The concoction smelled medicinal in a soothing, minty way. It tasted a little funny, but Rose could tell it was calming her stomach, so she eagerly drank it all.

Her head cleared. Rose took in her surroundings. The terrain was rocky, and it looked like they were near the top of a hill. In the distance, she could make out the faint outline of Uddedin. Lyla had gotten them away from the city, but certainly not close to Onanish.

“What are we going to do now?” Ava asked, practically sobbing.

“I can’t teleport us any further,” Lyla replied with an even voice. She was back to her usual cool demeanor. It made Rose feel more at ease, but Ava seemed put off by Lyla’s casualness.

“I want to go home! We’re nowhere near Onanish. We can’t survive out here without help.” Ava waved her arms toward the distant city. “Should we go back?”

A reptilian screech tore through the air.

“Hide!” Lyla commanded, dragging Ava and Rose behind a boulder.

Two fire drakes passed above them, thankfully taking no notice. The drakes flew toward the city, screeching and occasionally breathing flames.

“We’re not going back to Uddedin,” Lyla said flatly.

“But, the Ojoh, they need help!” Ava cried.

“How the hell are we going to help them?” Lyla snapped .

“What are we going to do then, Lyla? The whole city is under attack,” Rose asked quietly, hugging Ava in a desperate attempt to keep both of them calm. The Ojoh had treated them kindly and fairly during their stay. And they had just run away in their hour of need.

“Use your aura on her,” Lyla commanded.

Rose blinked and shook her head. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“A lot has happened today. Don’t worry about it,” Lyla replied, offering what Rose assumed was supposed to be a comforting smile. It looked horribly forced, but Rose decided Lyla was trying, and that was enough in these circumstances.

It took a few tries, but she connected to the aural plane and managed to take Ava’s state of mind from pure panic to something closer to mild discomfort. While Rose and Ava calmed themselves, Lyla quickly scouted the area.

“If we want to help the Ojoh, the best thing for us to do is contact Marquess Sharp or Nicholas,” the mage said when she returned. “Uddedin needs military help. Not the help of two foreign noblewomen and a shadow mage who is almost out of mana.”

“What about the treaty?” Rose asked.

Lyla pointed to the smoke that was now visible above the city. Even with heat waves obscuring things, it was clear that the monsters had dealt a huge blow. Rose was confident the Ojoh could fend them off, but there would be damage.

“If the Sharp army shows up with aid and men willing to hunt monsters, they won’t need the treaty. At some point, we’ll send word to the Ojoh that we left the city because of the troll,” Lyla replied.

“When will your mana refill?” Ava asked.

“I’ll have enough to send Syzman a short message through this spell—” Lyla tapped on a black spell circle that decorated her bicep “—after a few hours. I can’t do much more than that. Teleporting all three of us is out of the question.”

“Will Syzman come help us?”

“Depends on where he is,” Lyla said with a noncommittal shrug. “I left him with teleportation scrolls. I adjusted a few to the mana of lightning mages, so he may bring Nicholas or York.”

Hope Rose had forgotten flooded into her when Lyla mentioned Nicholas.

“Will they come find us?” Ava’s voice wobbled with relief.

“I sent Syzman a short message after Rose was attacked in the library, but before the troll. So they don’t know we’ve left the city.”

“Shit,” Ava and Rose replied simultaneously.

“It’s likely Syzman won’t have enough mana to help teleport all three of them to Uddedin, even with the scrolls. Our best option is to find a border village and wait for them there.”

“How far is the border village?”

Lyla grimaced. “I don’t know. We didn’t get nearly as far from Uddedin as I wanted us to.”

“Should we wait here, then?”

“No. Trolls and drakes aren’t the only monsters in this desert. Not to mention the heat.” Lyla was right. It was still early summer, so it was bearable, but sitting under the sun for hours, maybe even days, was a bad idea. “We need shelter.”

“We walk, then. Which way?” Rose asked.

Lyla pointed toward the highest of the looming rocky foothills. “I’ll climb one of those trees. If I don’t spot a village, we’ll head north until we do.”

Rose suppressed the panic that clawed at her chest. It wasn’t much of a plan, but it was all they had.

The three women set off, and a thought tickled the back of Rose’s mind. All of this time, she had been worried about Nicholas fighting for his life in the swamps. She couldn’t help but laugh at the irony that now she was the one in a more precarious situation.