The Invisible Ring
Rage boiled up in Jared.
“Jared?”
As Jared shook off Brock’s restraining hand, he noticed the three boys scrambling among the boulders a little ways upstream, jostling each other as they threw sticks into the creek.
Jared roared to vent some of his temper. “Tomas! Eryk! Corry! Get away from there!”
Tomas grinned and waved. “We’ll be careful,” he shouted.
“Keep an eye on them,” Jared snapped, pushing past Brock.
Ignoring the worried looks of the others waiting by the wagon, Jared headed for the Gray Lady, who’d been wandering around in the field next to the creek since they’d had to stop. She limped toward him, her arms wrapped around her belly, too focused on the ground just ahead of her to notice his approach until he was almost on top of her.
Jared grabbed her arm, too angry to be careful. “Make the Ring visible. Prove it’s there.Prove it .”
Her eyes widened. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
His hand tightened. “Or add the Ring of Obedience to it. I’m not going to play your games. I’m not going to fall for your tricks. You may own my body, but you’re never going to own my soul.”
She stared at him as if he’d lost his mind.
Right now, he wasn’t so sure he hadn’t.
“The Ring of Obedience,” Jared snarled.
“No.” She tried to pull away from him. “You wear the Invisible Ring. That’s sufficient.”
“It’s not going to be sufficient for long. I’ll fight you with everything I am. You’re not going to own me. Not that way.” She had to strike back now. Shehad to. No witch would allow a slave to state bluntly that he was going to fight without punishing him for it. And once that pain blazed along his nerves, he would know for certain the Invisible Ring existed and she hadn’t played him for a fool.
She didn’t strike back. Instead, she snapped, “You presume a great deal, Warlord. What makes you think I want to own you in any way?”
“A bill of sale, Lady.”
For some reason, his response upset her. She yanked her arm out of his grasp, stumbling back a couple of steps. “Is wearing the Invisible Ring making you suffer?”
“Yes!”
“Good!”
He opened his mouth to blast her with the foulest language he knew . . . and tasted something in the air that shouldn’t have been there.
Wariness and fear shadowed her eyes as he stared at her. She slowly backed away from him.
Jared shook his head. “You can’t—”
The scream came a second after he felt a surge of power.
Whipping around, Jared saw Eryk standing on top of the boulders, his arms windmilling frantically to keep from falling backward into the creek. Tomas held on to the front of Eryk’s coat, leaning back and pulling hard, trying to keep the older, heavier boy from falling.
There was no sign of Corry.
Before Jared could move, another surge of power hit the boulders, shattering the rock and tossing both boys into the air. They screamed as they fell into the rushing water.
Garth burst out of the bushes at the same moment, holding up his trousers as he raced downstream and leaped into the water.
“CORRY!”
Jared whipped around again, responding to the Gray Lady’s voice.
She was running—running!—toward a break in the trees a little ways downstream from the bridge.
Jared watched her for a moment in frozen disbelief. Then, swearing viciously as he gave in to instinct, he took off after her, counting on his longer legs, the difference in their ages, and her inexplicable moontime to stop her from doing something courageously foolish.
She must have used Craft somehow to make her knee work as if it were fully healed. And, Mother Night, she had speed!
In that moment, when he knew he wouldn’t catch her in time, he would have admired her if he hadn’t been so furious with her.
Instead of scrambling down the slope to the water’s edge, she lengthened her stride for the last few paces and made a Craft-enhanced leap, flying over the sloping dry land and new shallows. As she neared the middle of the creek, a blast of power struck her, spinning her round and round, smashing through the Craft she’d used.
She hit the water on her back and disappeared.
Thera’s voice, shrill and furious, filled Jared’s mind in the same instant the Gray Lady hit the water. *Don’t use Craft!Don’t use Craft ! There’s a spell here that twists it and turns it back on you!*
Jared veered to the right, downstream, pushing himself harder. Using Craft, he could have lifted her out of the water as soon as he caught sight of her and floated her to dry ground. Instead all he could do was try to get ahead of her and think of something then.
He plunged down the slope, grabbing at trees to stay on his feet. As soon as he had a clear view of the creek, he stopped and scanned the water, looking for some sign of them. He spotted Corry thrashing helplessly, slowly drifting toward the tangle of branches and debris.
Slowly. As if something was holding the boy back. As if someone’s feet were digging into the creek bottom.
Damnthat woman. This wasn’t a chess game!
Muttering vile promises of what he was going to do when he finally got his hands on her, Jared looked around for something, anything he could use to reach them. Then he bared his teeth in a feral smile.
Like to like.
If he couldn’t use Craft to help, he would play the game by the enemy’s rules and use it to destroy.
Raising his right hand, he aimed for the ground in front of a slim, tall tree that stood at the water’s edge several yards downstream and unleashed the Red.
The ground around the tree exploded, tearing out part of its roots before his Red strength rebounded, heading straight for him.
Jared dove, rolling the rest of the way down the slope.
The blast of power sizzled over his head, tearing up the ground where he’d been standing.
Cautiously raising his head, Jared watched the tree topple into the creek. Still tethered to the land by what was left of its roots, it bounced on top of the water.
Scrambling to his feet, Jared plunged into the water, cursing as his feet tangled in submerged undergrowth. Once he pulled free, he swam across the current, fighting to reach Corry.
It took seconds, seemingly centuries for him to reach the middle of the creek. He pulled his legs under him and planted his feet to test the water’s depth. It broke against his shoulders.
Too long, Jared thought as he ducked under the water, clamped his hands around the Gray Lady’s waist, and yanked her to the surface.She’s been under too long .
She gasped for air, swallowed water, and choked. Jared swore as he wormed one arm between her belly and Corry's back to hold her up. At least he didn’t have to worry about losing Corry. She could barely breathe, and her arms were still wrapped so tightly around the boy it was going to take a couple of strong men to pry him away from her.
She coughed up water, and Jared swore again.
“Breathe, damn you, breathe!” Jared shouted at her. “You arenot going to die just to get out of a fight!”
“Sounds fair,” she gasped.
Relieved that she could breathe enough to talk, Jared’s arm tightened around her until she squeaked.
“We’re going to play hop frog,” Jared said, working to keep his voice calm while his instincts shivered a warning that some terrible danger was coming closer.
“I amnot going to jump over your shoulders,” she growled.
“Not leap frog.Hop frog. Didn’t you play any games when you were a girl?”
“You can’t hop if you can’t touch the ground.”
“The tallest one hops. The shorter ones just hang on for the ride. I used to do this all the time with my little brothers when the creeks were running high. It’s fun.” And thank the Darkness Reyna had never found out about it.
“Only a boy would think a stupid, dangerous game was fun.”
“Lady, you’ve got a lot of brass to call anything anyone else does stupid or dangerous.”
He made the first hop before she could sputter a reply, letting the current push them a ways before planting his feet again. On the second hop, his foot slipped and they all went under. Since the Lady was too busy coughing and cursing him to say anything useful, he hopped again.
They reached the toppled tree on the fourth hop.
Jared grabbed the tree to keep his balance while he started to walk them toward the bank.
“Jared!” Blaed rushed down the slope to the water’s edge. Bracing himself against the tree, he waded in far enough to yank Corry out of the Gray Lady’s arms. “We’ve got to get out of here. Thera says a spell’s been triggered and the power feeding it is going to hit this place anytime now.”
Hell’s fire, Mother Night, and may the Darkness be merciful.
They scrambled for the bank.
“I brought the saddle horses,” Blaed said. “The others took the wagon and will get as far away as they can before it hits.”
“Go,” Jared said as soon as Blaed reached dry ground.
Blaed didn’t bother to answer. Carrying Corry, he climbed the slope as fast as he could.
Jared half carried the Gray Lady the last few steps to the bank and didn’t think it strange that she was struggling so hard until she tried to take a step up the slope and almost fell.
“Go,” she said, trying to push him away while balancing on her left leg. “Go.”
“Feather-brained, mule-headed woman,” Jared growled as he ducked under her batting hands and hoisted her over his shoulder. “Stop squirming, or you’ll get us both killed.”
“I can—”
“Shut up,” Jared said in a deceptively mild tone that no one but a blithering idiot—or a Queen—could have failed to understand.
Her breath came out in an angry hiss.
Choosing to interpret that as agreement, he scrambled up the slope.
“I told you to go,” Jared said when he reached the top and saw Blaed holding both horses, waiting for them.