Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 149470 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 747(@200wpm)___ 598(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149470 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 747(@200wpm)___ 598(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
In that way, little one had played right into his hands—not that it was her fault. If she hadn’t said a single thing, Gra’multh would still have found a way to claim insult.
I touched the cool circlet of metal around my temples, feeling my Mental muscles flex. My Mental Abilities were a large part of me and I had been training and exercising them almost from the time I was born. My father had been adamant about it and now I was glad he had been.
But would I be strong enough to defeat a male who had much more experience and the added benefit of age to boost his own Mental strength?
I didn’t know, but I had the uneasy feeling I was about to find out.
FORTY-EIGHT
ELLI
I watched the two of them staring at each other and felt like someone had dumped a whole load of ice cubes into the pit of my stomach.
Oh, Sir, I thought. Oh please, please be careful! Please, don’t let him hurt you! Don’t—
My thoughts were interrupted when Gra’multh struck the first blow. How do I know he did? Because I could actually see it—it looked like a flaming red spear shooting out of the older Korrigon’s forehead straight at Sir’s chest.
Sir managed to throw up a shield of glowing blue fire in time to deflect it and the red spear bounced off and flamed out of existence before it hit the floor.
“Ah-ha!” I heard one of the guards, who was standing behind me, out of range of the action, mutter. “Good deflection by the Overlord of the North!”
At first I couldn’t understand what was happening—I had never seen any of this before when I watched Sir use his Mental Abilities. But then I remembered what he’d said about the dueling bands he and Gra’multh wore—how they focused and amplified Mental Power and also made it visible to outsiders watching. That must be what was happening—I was actually able to see what Sir could do with his mind.
It would have been fascinating if it wasn’t so terrifying. I gasped and winced as the two males exchanged fiery spears and arrows and shielded against the attacks of the other. It seemed to me that they couldn’t launch an attack and defend against one at the same time, so it was a kind of game to see which one of them could get off an arrow or spear before the other one could get up his shield.
Despite my intense worry, Sir seemed to be holding his own. He even hit Gra’multh several times, his blue spears and arrows finding their way to the older male’s chest before Gra’multh could get his shield up.
But though Gra’multh staggered and gasped when he was hit, he showed no signs of slowing down. And meanwhile, Sir was getting hit pretty regularly too. I watched him anxiously every time it happened but the mental projectiles didn’t seem to do outward damage. There was no blood or gore—but maybe they were causing internal damage to the organs? I pushed that thought away, not even wanting to consider it.
The whole time the guards behind me were making comments about how Gra’multh was undefeated in duels and had the strongest Mental Ability in all of Korrigon Four, which didn’t make me feel any better. I wanted to turn around and yell at them to shut up, but I was afraid I might miss something if I looked away or distract Sir if I shouted. So I held my tongue—which was what I should have done in the first place—and just watched the duel with my hands clenched into fists and my heart pounding in my chest.
At last Sir seemed to get an advantage. Instead of trying to shield against one of Gra’multh’s arrows, he let it hit him. At the same time, he sent out a projectile but instead of a spear or an arrow, it was a flaming blue rope.
The rope wrapped around Gra’multh from his shoulders all the way down to his ankles like a snake determined to strangle its prey. No matter how much the older Korrigon struggled, he couldn’t seem to break free. And since he was trying his best not to get squashed—I knew because I could see little fingers of red flame prying ineffectually at the glowing blue rope—he couldn’t launch a counterattack of his own.
“Yield!” Sir spoke, panting with effort, but his voice was loud and clear. “Yield the duel, Gra’multh. Admit you’ve been beaten and I’ll release you.”
“Never!” Gra’multh’s voice was tight but angry. Suddenly the red flames prying at the rope that held him vanished I saw him turn his head and look directly at his pet.
I blinked. Had I imagined it, or had a little fiery red dart moved between Gra’multh’s forehead and his pet’s? If it was true, I was pretty sure I was the only one who saw it. Everyone else was concentrating on Sir and the effort it was taking him to hold the glowing blue rope in place.