Aldrin's Arc

Chapter 6 of 9

Aldrin still felt the tower's cold under his palm. Then Warwick's voice changed. It stopped speaking to him. "Cedric," the dry voice said, pleased. "Your friend. His signature is a bright little candle now. I can reach it from here." Aldrin's stomach dropped. Warwick meant to kill Cedric first, tonight, before Aldrin could bring the watch. Cedric was his oldest friend. He had risked everything to name the killer. Now his life bought Warwick time. A green glow woke in the runes along the tower's base. Aldrin knew that pull. It was the same magic that had marked his master. The spell was aimed far away, at Cedric. "Stop," Aldrin said. He raised his hands. Blue light swirled between his palms. But the tower's wards drank his spell and threw it back. It knocked him flat. Selara stood over him, the glowing flower still in her fist. Her gold eye followed the green light climbing the stone. "He's casting through the tower," she said. "The chains carry it out. I feel it move." "Then help me break the chains," Aldrin said. He got to his knees. "You warned me once. Warn Cedric now. Break it." Her tail went still. "I can't fight what's in my head." "You don't have to fight it." He held her gaze. "Just drop the flower." Selara looked at the bloom. Its cold light hid her true face, the way Warwick liked. Her hand shook. "He told me to hold it," she whispered. Then, quiet: "I am tired of holding it." She opened her fingers. The flower fell and struck the ground. Its light went out. The chains on the wall shuddered. The green glow in the runes stuttered, then dimmed. Inside, Warwick's voice cracked with anger. "You witless girl." The spell aimed at Cedric snapped. Aldrin felt the pull break like a cut rope. Somewhere far off, his friend was still breathing. He was sure of it. The candle Warwick reached for had slipped from his hand. But breaking the flower had a cost. Freed of it, the chains lashed loose and seized Selara's wrists. They dragged her against the stone. Her gold eye rolled toward Aldrin. "Run now," she said. "He knows I turned." Warwick's laugh filled the doorway. "You saved one friend and lost another. She belongs to the tower now." The chains pulled Selara through the arch, into the dark. The door of the tower groaned shut behind her. Aldrin stood alone before the black stones. He had stopped the killing spell. Cedric would live to hear him coming. But Selara was inside now, deeper in Warwick's grip, the price of the warning. Aldrin pressed his hand once more to the cold wall. "I'm bringing the watch," he said to the shut door. "And I'm coming back for you."