They don’t reach him in time.
“For Irian!” he proclaims.
The air around him glows red and the smell of ashes fills the air. A blast of light, much like the one Paules used to kill the villager, rushes toward the guards. It’s broader and more diffuse, possibly meant to incapacitate instead. At the last moment, it veers away and rockets toward me. It’s fast, hellishly fast, and in my moment of indecision—whether or not to burn more magic throwing up shields—I lose the opportunity to dodge.
Nothing immediate happens.
I slink to another part of the room, hoping my invisibility wasn’t broken. I needn’t have worried.
The priest who was exchanging words with Egan straightens from his defensive crouch, pretends he was never afraid at all. “See? Even though you waited until Ristoph was gone an
