“Gyda forgive me,” Timo said. Then he closed his eyes and released the largest relocation spell he’d ever created. The island shuddered and dropped a few inches before everything fell silent. Timo exhaled and leaned over his knees.
It was done. He’d moved the centre of the island a few miles south, out over open water. Without most of the spells that kept the island aloft and without Mages capable of immediately creating them, that part of the island was even now sinking into the bay. He had just killed people he knew—evil people like Inigo but also misguided ones. And there were others who had been—not friends—but at least not enemies. Now most of them were probably dead.
SHE WOULD HAVE
missed it if she hadn’t been trying to count the boats that were scattered across the bay. Suddenly, clouds of multi-coloured mage mist towered over the water. Then a huge mass appeared and immediately dropped into the sea.
In the few seconds that it took to sink below the surface of the bay, Kara caught glimpses of dirt and buildings. Moments later an enormous swell lifted their small boat, causing the rowers to scramble to hold onto the oars. Then the wave was past them, heading towards the rest of the islands of Rillidi.
“What was that?” Reo asked.
“Timo,” Kara replied. “Following through on his promise to destroy Mage Guild Island.” She looked over at the island. The skyline was different—many of the highest towers could no longer be seen, and the amount of mage mist that swirled around the island was diminished. “At least some of it.”
Where the land had dropped into the bay, the surface of the water swirled with debris. A few boats near the area headed towards it.
“Should we look for survivors?” Kara asked. “After Timo sent them to their deaths?”
Reo placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “Yes, we have room, the other boats may not.”
Kara sighed and closed her eyes. They would help who they could, and if Inigo was one of the survivors, they’d deal with him separately.
In the end they picked up just two bedraggled and confused men, neither of whom had any magic. Other boats rescued people as well but Kara was too far away to know if any of them were Mages she knew—Mages who it would be dangerous to let live. She had to be content with the knowledge that most of the powerful Mages had little or no magic. Perhaps any who did escape would hide, or find a way to use their gifts to benefit others?
Their small boat paused once, to let the men rowing trade places. Fresh rowers bent to the oars, and they resumed their journey to Old Rillidi. The shoreline of Merchant Guild Island was littered with broken boats and debris—damage caused by the wave that had swept past them—and when they slipped under the bridge between Merchant Guild and Mason Guild Islands, the water mark reached almost to the underside of the bridge.
On Old Rillidi, the old boat at the docks had been pushed further up on the sand, but there was little damage this far from Mage Guild Island.
Kara was grateful to see that both the old manor house and her small cabin were undamaged. Figures waited along the shore, and when the boat got closer, she recognized Mole and Giona.
Mole waded into the water, grabbed the prow of the boat, and dragged it into shore. Reo and a few of the men jumped out and helped, and soon the boat had been hauled up onto the beach. Kara took the hand Mole extended to her and stepped out onto Old Rillidi.
“Where’s Timo?” Mole asked.
“He stayed behind,” Kara said. “To finish it.”
“With Santos?”
Kara shook her head and blinked to keep the welling tears from falling. “Santos is dead,” she said.
“Gyda.” Mole looked down. When his head lifted again, there was a grim smile on his face. “I thought that old man would live forever.”
“So did I,” Kara agreed. “We weren’t able to bring him home.” She would always regret that, but Santos would have understood.
“So Timo’s alone?” Mole asked.
“He said he’d follow as soon as he could,” Kara said. “And we had to leave.” She gestured to the confused people who were climbing out of the boat. “We released dozens of boats. The rest were filled completely.”
Mole nodded, his mouth a tight line. “He’ll be happy to hear that.” He looked out towards the bay.
“What news?” Reo asked. He placed an arm around Kara’s shoulder, and she leaned into his steady warmth.
“Giona’s using spells to try to hear what’s happening,” Mole said. “But he’s never met Timo, so he hasn’t been able to find him. All we’ve heard is a general confusion.” He rubbed a hand across his face. “But a while ago something big happened.”
“I pinpointed it to the centre of the island,” Giona said. “It just went . . . silent.”
“It was Timo,” Kara said. “We think he moved a big section of Mage Guild Island and dropped it into the sea.”
Mole’s eyes brightened. “So he’s really doing it? Sinking the island?”
“We think so,” Reo said. “If Giona’s right, then the centre is gone. I think we can assume Timo’s targeting the Council.”
“Kara?” Elman approached her, eyeing Mole warily. “Is there a place to take these folk? The women say Derry’s time is soon, and she needs a warm place to have her child.”
“Of course,” Kara said. “Mole, can you take her up to the manor?”
“No. Sorry,” Mole said. “I’m going to get Timo.”
“You can’t,” Kara said. “The island is sinking.”
“And with the Mages gone, Timo will let it sink slowly.”
“It’s too dangerous,” Kara said. “I won’t let you.”
“If I don’t go, you’ll never see Timo alive,” Mole said. “He won’t even try to leave.”
“He will,” Kara said. But in her heart she knew Mole spoke the truth. She knew because she would feel the same way. She’d killed Valerio Valendi in order to save her and Reo’s lives but it had taken her a long time to be able to live with that. Would she have wanted to live if she’d been forced to kill hundreds, maybe even thousands of people? Especially since some of those who would die were victims themselves?
“Go,” she said to Mole. “Bring him back if you can, but don’t sacrifice yourself if you can’t find him. I need you to come back.”
Mole nodded. He turned and grabbed a surprised Giona, and the two of them headed up the beach, leaving Kara and Reo to deal with the refugees.
KARA SAT BESIDE
the bed that held the sleeping mother and infant. One of the women from the boat poked her head through the door. When she saw Kara, she smiled and gently closed it.
Once they’d gotten Derry settled into a room, it had been an uneventful birth, thank Gyda. Little Panna had worriedly hovered near her mother until Reo had taken her to play with their children. The baby, a healthy girl, had been born a short time later.
“Thank you,” Derry whispered from the bed. “For everything. Saving Panna and me. And now my baby.”
Kara smiled and met the woman’s eyes. “You’re welcome.” She leaned over and gently lifted the cloth that covered the baby’s face. “She’s beautiful. Do you have a name in mind? Maybe the father’s?”
Derry scowled. “She’s got no father,” she said. “Neither does Panna. They’re my girls though the Mage as got them on me didn’t give me a choice.”
“Shh,” Kara said. “Of course they’re your girls. No one here will ever try to take them from you.” She settled back into the chair and sighed. Poor Derry had suffered the fate Kara herself had escaped so many years ago. But they were safe now, and would be able to make their own choices.
She’d introduce Timo to Derry and her children when he made it to Old Rillidi. People like this were why Mage Guild had to be destroyed.
THE GARDEN WAS
eerily silent. No birds sang, no insects buzzed. It was as though they knew that danger lurked here.
Timo closed his eyes against the fading sun and felt his way through the island to the magic. The newer spells—those that were years rather than decades old—had been concentrated in the very centre of the island, the very part that no longer existed. He’d used that magic to fuel the spell that relocated that part of the island out to sea. Only wisps of spells devoid of purpose were left behind. He gathered them to him, feeling his own power rebuilding as he absorbed each partial spell.
The ground shuddered. Timo opened his eyes and blinked. The island was sinking, a little bit every hour. Left alone, it would take days, maybe even weeks, for it to fully submerge. Plenty of time for even the most foolhardy to realize what was happening and leave. Now that he’d ripped out the black heart of Mage Guild, he was tempted to simply let nature take its course, let the already weakened spells falter—as they eventually would. But that meant
he’d
have to wait weeks as well and he wanted this over.
He’d give them a day, maybe a day and a half before he started draining the power from the oldest spells—the original spells that had created the island and lifted it up out of the bay.
That’s how they’d done it, so many years ago. The shape and feel of the power that was still contained within those first magnificent spells, told him that the Mages who had created this island had swept dirt and mud and plant life from the bottom of the bay, dredging it miles from the south to this spot. They’d lifted it up out of the water and then others had formed it into a mass of land that could be lived on—built on.
What a sight that must have been! How proud those Mages must have been—
should
have been—to create something so wondrous out of nothing but their talents, determination, and vision.
But in the years since that glory, the heart of the guild became poisoned and twisted with power until Timo had no choice but to destroy it. He sighed. Kara had agreed with him. Santos would have too, if he’d lived. But that didn’t stop him from wondering if he was just the same as the rest of them, just as power-hungry and ready to dispose of anyone in his way.
The council was corrupt—evil—and Inigo felt he had the right to use Guildsmen in any way he wanted. Even if it killed them.
He
would rather be dead than have someone drain his power like that, and he had made that same decision for hundreds, thousands of people. Did that make him any different from Inigo?
Timo awoke with a start. He’d slid down against the wall, his body twisted against the now cool stone. He shoved himself upright and dragged a hand through his hair.
A few hours had passed, and it was dusk now. He stood up and stretched, automatically searching for magic. And froze. A powerful spell was close and it was moving towards him. Would it tell whoever had sent it where he was? He scrabbled away from the wall and headed to the small door to the kitchen. Once inside his mother’s house, he barred the door and set a series of spells around the entrance to keep intruders out. They would know he was here, but it would give him more time.
He stared out at his mother’s garden while he poked at the mist that was steadily heading his way. It was pure power. The spell sucked at his magic. He pulled all his senses back from the spell. Only Inigo and Jinaro knew about pure power.
They were in the garden now. The mage mist was so bright that Timo had to shield his eyes. Ah, now he could see. It
was
Inigo and Jinaro. And they’d brought Hestor. Jinaro’s hand was clamped on his wrist, and spells coiled tightly around the younger Mage. His face was slack, and he didn’t seem aware of anything around him—and he was incandescent with pure power. Timo’s eyes took a few minutes to adjust to the brightness but then he saw two lines of mage mist snaking from Hestor—one to Jinaro and one to Inigo. The Mages stopped outside the kitchen.
Inigo had gone from using the power of the workrooms to enthralling a full Mage even more quickly than Timo had expected. Not that Hestor didn’t deserve some punishment for trying to kill him all those years, but this? How long before Hestor’s power was depleted? Would they drain him until he died? Inigo would only care that his source of power was gone—would Jinaro? Timo surveyed the glassy, fevered look in Jinaro’s eyes. The Mage seemed so intoxicated that Timo doubted he would even notice that he’d helped kill someone.
Carefully, Timo reached out and gently drew power to him—and was thrown against the kitchen table. He stumbled and fell to his knees, grasping the edge of the table. He steadied himself and looked out the window directly into Inigo’s eyes.
The self-appointed Primus smiled and made a sharp downward gesture with his hand. A flash of mage mist flew towards the window, shattering it. There was a burst of white light when the spell hit Timo’s defenses.
Timo covered his eyes a moment too late. The flash temporarily blinded him, and he had to feel his way to the back hallway. He tested his defensive spells and grimaced. The pure power that Inigo was feeding into his spells was more powerful than the old magic Timo had put into his own. He wouldn’t be able to hold them off for long.
The dim light in the hallway seemed too bright for his sensitive eyes as he hurried to the door that led to his mother’s sitting room. He quickly drew power from the many spells still active around the house. Then he sat in his mother’s favourite chair and shielded it.