Ravenna Blackthorn's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

Ravenna left the manor at dawn with the hare in her coat. The path to the warlock's cave climbed the mountain, and she knew the danger. Her magic still shimmered off her skin. Up here the trees thinned, but the predators had followed her scent from the forest. She had seen tracks since the first mile. Five sets of claws, one body. The thing from the tree line had not forgotten her. Half a day up, the slope narrowed to a ledge. A plant grew across it, roots gripping the stone. Its bloom was wide and bright, ringed with teeth. The petals glowed and leaned toward her. Vines uncurled, hooked with thorns. One lashed at her boot. The hare went stiff against her ribs. Ravenna pressed her hand to the familiar and sent her magic down, aimed and thin. A bolt struck the bloom. The plant shrieked and curled tight. The ledge was clear. Then the ground shook. The five-headed beast came down the slope above her. Black body, twelve tails sweeping stone, wings half-open. Ten eyes burned at her. Fire lit the inside of every mouth. It had been waiting for her climb. Ravenna raised her hand and reached for the hare. The warlock's warning rang in her head. One spell at a time. She could burn one head. The other four would take her. The beast crouched to spring. "Down!" The shout came from above. The warlock stood on a high rock, horns dark against the sky, staff raised. The red stone flared. He flung something small and bright down the slope. It landed at Ravenna's feet. A pendant shaped like a shield, runes bright along its edge. "Put it on, girl. Now." Ravenna snatched it up and dropped the chain over her head. The beast leapt. All five mouths opened. Fire poured down at her. She threw up her arm. A dome of light snapped out from the pendant. The fire broke against it and washed around her like water on glass. The shield held while she stood frozen beneath it. The hare trembled. She did not have to aim. The pendant did its own work. Then she reached for the hare and aimed her own spell through the shield's gap. One bolt, clean, into the center head. The beast screamed and reared back. It beat its wings once and climbed into the clouds, wounded, gone. Ravenna sank against the rock, breathing hard. The warlock climbed down to her. He looked at the pendant, then at the hare, then at her. "You held a spell and a guard at once," he said. "You couldn't do that this morning." "The pendant did the guarding." "For now." He turned toward the cave above. "Keep it. You'll learn to be your own shield. Come. The climb's not done." Ravenna stood. The cave mouth waited above. For the first time, the path up was open.