The Binding (30 page)

“Oh my God, Tharin! Life and death? Why did you have to say that?
I can’t do this .
”

“As long as we’
re doing this together, we’ll be a l l right. You just need to breathe and not let what’s going on affect you. Okay?”
He’s so calm that I take a deep breath and relax.

“That’s better, Lily. Are you ready?”

“Y
eah , I’m ready.”

As soon as I said that I watch as Tharin, Tolan and Alorn leap off the concession stand with lightning speed and hit the ground running. At once, the Ange are also on the move, all three heading for Tharin. Mellis remains at the top of the concession stand and the odd—
looking elf stays on the bleacher. With an unseen signal, the two charge each other, leaping from where they stand , hitting the field at once and then are instantly airborne again, blades from nowhere spark with savage ferocity.

I track Tharin as I watch him speed through the field aiming his charge directly at the Demlok. The demon watches Tharin’s approach, moving side to side like a cobra ready to strike. I hold my breath as I see Harlu charging straight for Tharin whose eyes are focus ed on the Demlok . With hi s ivory blade up, Harlu comes hard and fast ready to strike .
Just when I’m about to scream , Tharin shoots back at me, “Stay focus ed !”

The twins are running side by side so close together that it looks a s if they a re one and the same person. Just as Harlu co mes in, Tolan shoots off toward him, his silver cha ins dancing and striking Harlu on the cheek causing him to cry out in pain.
He’s thrown off from his straight course to Tharin, but comes out in a roll to stand up facing Tolan, his blade at his side. I hear Julia’s soft intake of breath from behind me.

The instant
that Tolan pulls away, Alorn makes his move against the other two by taking down the first one immediately . He then engage s in a combat of blazing steel with the other, stopping them both from reaching Tharin. I watch in amazement as the warrior takes down the second elf and , without losing momentum , attack s his first opponent again within seconds of getting up. Julia was right to have Tolan take Alorn with them, and seeing how he covered his cousin’s back, I was grateful fo r her earlier insistence that Alorn go with them.

“Lily! Stay focus ed ! Where is it?”
This time there i s no calmness in Tharin’s voice, only determination with a hard edge to it.

“He’s still in front of you, Tharin, but it’s moving its upper body from side to side, like a snake.”
I answer, h oping that I sound just as determined and focused .

“It’s quick, Lily. It’ll move at the last minute. Yo u’ll have to tell me which way it ’ll go.”

“Okay,”
as fast as Tharin is moving, it seems like forever for him to get there, until finally, “Right!”
I yell in my head.

As the Demlok move to evade Tharin, Tharin leaps into the air, spinning straight forward to where the demon once stood, but at the last minute spins out striking toward his right, hitting nothing but a ir.

Tharin lands on the track portion of the field landing on one knee . H
is blade arm pulled back behind him, the sword up in the air ready to strike again .

“Damn it, Lily!”
His voice is quiet in my head, but the words are sharp.

“I’m sorry, I meant HIS right…I’m sorry!”
I can feel myself getting worked up and I take another deep breath.

“
It’s okay, my l ove. Stay calm, that’s it. Just breathe. Do you now see how important it is for you to stay emotionally unattached?”

His voice is so calm that I release another breath before answering, “
Okay, okay, I’m sorry. I know that now .”

“Good, now where is he?”

“He’s moved to YOUR left, circling you slowly. I think it’s trying to decide if you can sense it.”
I explain as I watch the demon move to Tharin ’s left .

“Tell me when he gets behind me,”
Tharin demands quietly, his eyes focused toward the bleachers.

I wait for the demon to continue to move around Tharin, but it stops and straightens as if sniffing the air around him. Oh crap!
I realize Tolan’s extra protection has prevented the demon from seeing me as he did earlier at the desert, but if I continue to focus on it, it senses my presence.
I turn my head toward the others on the field trying to refocus my attention on them. My eye s catch Tolan and Harlu as they a re caught in a tug of war. One of Tolan’s chains is wrapped around Harlu’s sword, his other chain is nowhere in sight. I look at the ground near them and see nothing, no t even the light from the blaze is enough to see the chain.
They charge each other in hand-and—
feet combat while still connected by Tolan’s chain.

“What’s happened , Lily ?
”
asks Tharin a little concern ed.
“
A re you a l l right?”

“Ye ah, I’m sorry . I forgot not to focus on it and I think it sensed me.
It felt me, but I didn’t give it enough time to find me. I’m okay, Tharin.”

“Good. Where is it now?”

I turn back to where he’s still kneeling , making sure to keep my eyes just off the Demlok. In frustration, it rears its head back and vocalizes that terrifying scream again.
It’s all that Tharin needs. He spins from where he’s kneeling sending his black blade into the demon , and the scream becomes less terrifying and more painful. Tharin’s sword thrusts through the other side of the Demlok and in a blink of an eye, it spits black liquid into the air as Tharin brings h is sword down hard , hitting the track with such force that he half buried it into the man-made surface.

“Tharin, it’s gone! Oh my God, Tharin, it’s gone!”
I’m so ecstatic that I find myself jumping up and down in place.

“Yes, Lily, I know. You did well, thank you.”

With that he disconnects me and all of a sudden I’m alone again. I didn’t realize how safe and comfortable I was being mentally connected to him. Looking around me, I feel a change in the air and I glance back to see Phoris leaning on Julia . I move back to stand on the other side of him and s omehow the air around me feels different , signaling that he has almost completed his task . I stand next to him taking some of his weight by placing his arm over my shoulders . Julia and I look at each other and, after we each take a deep breath , we make a run for it.

*

As soon as Lily said the Demlok was gone, I ma k e my way over to Alorn. Janlu is down, but not before slicing through Alorn’s coat. I can see bl ood at his side, but you wouldn’t know that he’s hurt as he faces off with Fien. It doesn’t take long for the downed Ange to recover. With his back to Janlu, Alorn doesn’t see or hear him come in from behind as Fien rushes in with a loud cry from the opp osite direction. A distraction, but it’s too late for Alorn to realize the danger. I dive into him, knocking him down. The five mini kwolics shoot from Janlu’s hands, missing both of us by a hairs brea d th . Unfortunately for Fien, with us no longer in the way, all five kwolics bury themselves into his chest. After a moment, they drop out from his back landing harmlessly to the ground .

Time seems to stand still. The look of betrayal on Fien’s face is one of disbelief as he stares at Janlu. Janlu tries to reach for him, but with lightning speed Alorn is up landing a spinning roundhouse kick squarely on Janlu’s temple. The Ange crumbles to the ground unconscious.

Sensing the odds are against him, Harlu dives at the ground toward Tolan’s missing chain. As he hits the turf, he rolls out picking up the chain as he goes. Without losing momentum, Harlu strikes out at Tolan with his own chain, with Tolan barely evading the strike.
It’s enough time for Harlu to leap backward landing at the edge of the track field, putting several yards between him and my brother. He whistles and Morlo abandons his fight with Mellis, a fight in which Mellis seems to have the upper hand. When Morlo leaps away, Mellis follows suit, only to be knocked down quickly . Alorn is at his side in an instant, catching him before he hits the ground. He holds Mellis’ head up. I watch as he searches Mellis for injuries and when he pulls his hand away from Mellis’
midsection, there i s blood. The dagger that took him down is buried almost to the hilt in his stomach.

Harlu looks over at the dead body of Fien, then to J
anlu. Before I realize what he’s doing, Harlu pulls the Lorelei Cord from his waist. The mythical cord lashes out knocking me to the side. It feels as if I’ve been hit by lightning, even with my coat I can feel pain along my left side.
Tolan is immediately at my side.
The c ord wraps itself around Janlu, lifting and pulling him back toward Harlu. Morlo is already at his side, and when Janlu reaches them, Morlo takes hi m as the c ord unravels from the unconscious Ange and wraps itself around Harlu’s waist once again.

“That’s two of mine you’ve now taken from me, Prince,” sneers Harlu , “it’s only fitting that I take one of yours .
”

He lifts his hand , and we prepare for his next assault .
Alorn is on the move, heading toward the bleacher s trying to reach Harlu before he either attacks or leaves. Morlo is quick , however , and shoots out four kwolics causing Alorn to leap back and out of the way of the spinning missiles . Tolan whips out his chains as two of the glick s head toward us , the force of his strikes obliterates the glicks.
I’m still on the ground struggling against the pain to get back on my feet.

“Falsad
, give me what I need!” y ells Harlu at his unseen employer . A black sphere of energy appears in his outstretched hand , and with gleeful malice he throws the sphere into the field where it explodes the instant it touches the ground.
Tolan and I dive in opposite direction, away from the sphere. T
he piercing ring deafens me as I continue to reel from the c ord. I watch as my cousin and brother fall to their knees clutching their ears, their lips pulled back as they clench their teeth against the pain.

I see Harlu call out . T
hinking that another attack i s coming, I force the pain out of my head and struggle to my feet once again. Instead of another attack, however, a mist grows around Harlu and his Ange. The cloud surrounds them, but I can still see Harlu staring at me , and I can feel the hate roll ing off him. I watch him , wondering why he and Morlo are not finishing us off.

Then the ringing begins to clear, and I realize it was only meant to delay us. The spell was not strong enough to last longer . By the time either h e or Morlo could reach us, we would have been back on our feet, finishing them off instead.

The light from the portal finally appears in the middle of the field. I turn as if in slow motion, my left side shooting pain through me once again. The shield is down and I watch from a distance as Phoris collapses to his knees, Julia and Lily struggling with his weight, help ing him back to his feet . Phoris , regaining some strength , assists them and gets up slowly. The girls have his arms around their shoulders as they make for the opening.

As they run
to the portal, both Julia and Lily have their heads down concentrating on where they ’
re stepping , trying to stay steady under the big Sidhe’s weight. Then Lily looks up to ga uge the distanc e to the portal. I turn toward Harlu and notice his eyes widen as he sees Lily for the first time. Whoever is controlling the clouds has trapped him in it. I watch as he releases the Lorelei Cord fro m his waist and whips it toward Lily .
Terror I’ve never known before grips me tightly .
I push aside the pain and start running, trying to reach her before the c ord does. Finally seeing the gold cord coming at her, Lily’s eyes widen in startled awareness , skidding to a stop . The c ord is just within my reach as I dive for it…and miss . From my left, with light ning speed, black stealth leaps over m e. W
ith her large fangs, Cessa mauls the c ord , pulling it away from Lily.

The scream that comes from the c ord is no match to that of the scream that comes from Harlu. I watch as he roars in frustration at being thwarted when he’s so close to having Lily in his hands. He turns and stares at Cessa as she continues mauling the screaming c ord, hatred and vengeance in his eyes. Finally, Cessa lets the Lorelei Cord go, and it whips back to Harlu. He glares at me before setting his eyes on Lily, finally disappearing into the night.

Lily let
s Phoris go and runs to me. I let her help me up as Tolan rushes to Julia . He moves to Phoris’ free side and takes most of the big Sidhe’s weight. The portal is now fully open. Once I’m up, I hug Lily briefly, o verwhelmed and grateful that she’s still here with me. I let go and turn away from her as I go to meet Alorn. He carries Mellis who is motionless, but breathing.

I see the blood at Alorn’s side and I take Mellis from him. I look down at the youngest of us and I’m swept with rage. I look at Alorn, his face unreadable, but I feel his own rage seething just below the surface. We quickly make our way to the portal where Tolan is assisting Phoris, allowing some of his healing powers to re-energize him. When he sees us, he quickly turns away from Phoris and helps us lay Mellis on the ground.