CIRI BIT HER lip, nervous. So many things could go wrong...
And what about the Demons? Would they be where she asked them to be?
Of course they would. Both Takoda and her father trusted her word, even if they didn't have all the details.
What would happen when they got there? Would they just outright attack Ace and Rem? Or attempt to capture them?
She had made it clear that she wanted them dead, but would her father override her request?
"So," Ace said, breaking the awkward silence and bringing Ciri back to Earth. "Who's the baldy?"
Ciri narrowed her eyes, but didn't turn back to look at him. He already knew who Brocklyn was and he was playing dumb. Smart move.
"Samuel Brocklyn. Where did you meet?"
"He attacked Rem and me in the apartment we were staying in," Ace said angrily. "Held knives to our throats and all. I still have bruises on my arm from where his Speed Demon buddies held me."
He lifted his sleeve, and Ciri glanced back to see the red marks surrounding his upper arm.
So he wasn't in league with Brocklyn.
Horror filled Ciri, and she forced herself to inhale. When they caught Brocklyn and his men, they would be tortured, then put to death, and only the latter if the Council was feeling forgiving. It was the regular punishment for conspiring against the Council.
But Ace was innocent. At least for treason. He was still involved in the murder of a human.
The punishment for murder was lifetime imprisonment, not death. She was putting Ace to death.
Her mouth suddenly dry, Ciri scanned the horizon for signs of the ambush squad. Only dehydrated trees and brown earth met her penetrating gaze.
"Ace," she said, fighting to keep her voice from wavering. "Put up a shield."
"You think Brocklyn is following us?"
"Yeah," she said quietly. It was half of the truth.
A shield sprung up around them, almost invisible in the sunrise.
Guilt was tugging at Ciri, and she licked her lips, trying to ignore it.
"Are you okay?" Roarke asked, looking concerned.
Of course. Animal instincts. He could sense her guilt.
"No," she said quietly. "I-"
Figures rose from the shadows, raising guns and aiming at them. They were going for the kill-on-sight technique.
"Aim! Fire!" a voice shouted, and the gunmen fired.
"Ace!" Ciri shouted, running to his side.
"Who the hell are these guys? Friends of Brocklyn's?" Ace said angrily, checking his shield. Bullets ricocheted off his shield, but the gunmen didn't pause.
"No, they're from the Council. I called them here," Ciri confessed.
"You what?" Ace yelped.
"Hold your shield!" Ciri shrieked.
Ace doubled its strength, before turning back to her. "You called them here?"
"I thought you were working with Brocklyn. He's had it in for me since I caught him."
"Oh, brilliant," Ace snarled, running a hand through his hair. "So they're trying to kill me? Can't you tell them to stop?"
"They wouldn't hear me over their guns. I'm a Sight Demon, not a Sound Demon," Ciri said, agitated.
"So what's your plan for escape?"
Ciri inhaled, thinking. "You can't hold them forever. We need to get them away."
She chuckled, not believing how insane her plan was.
"What?"
"You ever produced a Force Wall?" she asked him. She'd only seen a Force Wall performed a few times, but she knew of its power when produced by a skilled Deflection Demon. It was a shield that expanded rapidly when released, knocking objects in its path flying.
"Once or twice," Ace said slowly. "But only a few metres."
"Well, third time's the charm," she said. "I need you to make a Force Wall. Make sure your shield's up. I need to talk with some people."
She walked up to the shield barrier, facing a group of men.
She might not be able to talk verbally, but signs were just as good. She used her Sight to create a sign.
Hold your fire.
Immediately, all gunfire ceased.
Ciri ran back to Ace.
"You need to shift your shield. It'll be strongest if you're the only one inside it."
"You want me to set off a Force Wall with you outside?" Ace said, disbelief lining his tone.
"Just do it!" Ciri snapped. "Don't hold back. If you hold back, you'll make it too weak."
"You'd better make sure you don't get yourself killed," Ace said, and Ciri could hear genuine concern in his voice.
Ciri nodded, stepping back as Ace dropped his first shield, creating a newer, smaller one around him.
"Get down," Ace ordered.
"Rem!" Ciri screamed across the plain at the three figures standing dumbfounded. "Hold them down!"
Rem nodded, jerking Roarke and Abby down and shielding them with his body, digging his hands into the ground. As a Strength Demon, he had the most chance of being to hold himself in place.
Ace gasped, perspiration beading on his forehead as he compressed the air into a tight circle around him.
"Ciri," he shouted, and she turned to face him. "Find cover."
She gave a sharp nod, sprinting for a small cliffside. She leapt over, scrambling backwards and pressing her back into the earth. She shoved her heels against some scattered rocks, clamping her hands over her ears and squeezing her eyes shut.
ACE'S BODY ACHED and his head screamed with agony. He couldn't hold the shield any longer.
He flung his arms out, and the wall of air tore across the plain, uprooting all vegetation in its path. A metre of earth was tossed into the air.
His vision faded, everything blurring and darkening
CIRI'S HAIR BLEW past her, flicking sharply in her face as she gasped at the raw power Ace wielded. The rocks were torn from beneath her feet, and she turned onto her stomach, hands clawing into the earth until she found a sturdy object to cling to.
ABBY CLIMBED TO her feet, face streaked with dirt and hands trembling.
Ace had collapsed, surrounded by three miles of bare earth.
She glanced at Roarke, whose face was also patched with dirt.
Rem staggered to his feet, small scratches and bruises lining his arms.
"Where's Ciri?" Abby demanded, worry clutching her.
"Over here," Roarke said, helping her up.
Her hair was a complete mess and there were scratches all over her arms and face. A small gash ran down her leg, blood slowly trickling over her skin.
Abby rushed over as Ciri lowered herself down onto the ground.
"Let me get that," Abby said, kneeling down and pressing her palms against the girl's leg.
"Where's Ace?" Ciri asked, swiping some blood from her face.
"He's over there," Roarke replied, pointing to the unconscious form.
She sucked in a shaky breath, and Abby saw guilt flicker across her face as her eyes filled with concern.
"There," Abby said, exhaling and releasing Ciri.
"Heal him," Ciri ordered.
Abby nodded, running to Ace's side.
His skin was pale and he seemed unconscious, but he seemed unhurt physically. So far.
She rolled him onto his back, and noticed the blood trickling from his lip. She opened his mouth gently, and saw that he had bitten right through his tongue, obviously unaware of what he had been doing.
She could heal that.
Abby placed her index and middle fingers on each side of his jaw, breathing deeply.
Healing refreshed her, cleared her mind, helping her focus only on the needs of the patient.
She pulled away, checking his mouth, satisfied that he had been fixed.
His hands were stained red, and Abby frowned, checking them. A large hole had been punched through each palm, spewing blood.
Deflection Demons drew their power from their brain, pumping it through their nerves and out through their skin. Normally it didn't cause any physical wound, but Ace had used a tonne suddenly, without warming up. He had drawn power through his brachial plexus and shot it through his median nerve, before pumping it out of his palm. She knew from her medical journals that the median nerve was intertwined with the brachial artery. He must have put it under pressure, and when the power had burst through his skin, it must have shattered with it.
Luckily, he was unconscious, so he wouldn't be feeling its affects.
Abby linked her fingers with his, palm to palm, and clamped the other hand around his wrist.
Arteries weren't really her specialty. She usually passed out after reconstructing a main artery, and the brachial artery was the main vessel in the arm.
She clenched her teeth and prayed that she'd stay conscious long enough to heal Ace before he bled to death.
