Cole raised his head a little, and a surge of pain and nausea hit him so hard that he nearly blacked out. His insides felt full of broken glass that jabbed and sliced as he breathed. Not only was he out of the fight—he doubted whether he would live much longer. Helpless, hurting, he continued to watch with desperate interest.
Morgassa waved an arm, and two dozen shimmering spears sizzled through the air to impale the giant figments Callista had conjured. An invisible wave of power accompanied the spears. Cole felt it wash over him, never physically touching him, but present nonetheless.
Skye tore off her mask. No longer a bear, she stood, apparently uninjured. Though as a bear she had lost a paw, she now had both hands and both feet. Skye held out her hands toward Morgassa.
A wooden crate appeared around the white knight’s helmet, resting on her armored shoulders. Morgassa tried to grab it with her free hand, but her metal glove passed right through it. Skye had blindfolded her with an illusion!
The Rogue Knight charged in. His sword clanged against the side of Morgassa’s waist, making her stumble and leaving a dent. His return stroke smote the side of her knee, and Morgassa went down.
Cole sensed a surge of power from Morgassa as blank figments appeared all around her. Two of them ripped the illusionary crate from her helmet. The Rogue Knight dispelled the figments with Verity while the white knight rolled nimbly to her feet.
Another wave of power proceeded from Morgassa, and a crowd of figments materialized near Skye. One of them lunged into her, merging with her even as the Rogue Knight swung Verity to erase the others.
Her expression feral, Skye hunched and scowled, then dashed toward Callista. The Grand Shaper had created two new giant figments to protect her, but Skye ran through them as if they were made of smoke. Mira came to the rescue, shoving Skye to the ground with her curled horns, then sitting on her to pin her down. Though Skye thrashed and growled, she couldn’t squirm out from beneath the large ram.
Back on her feet, Honor joined the Rogue Knight in another attack against Morgassa. As the white knight fought them off, Cole could feel power radiating from her as the gashes in her armor smoothed away. She inched a bit taller, and the blade of her sword extended an extra foot.
Morgassa landed a kick that sent the Rogue Knight soaring. He bounced and rolled down the slope, toward the edge of the clearing where his knights labored to hold back the changelings. Spurred on by his proximity, a few changelings lunged through to attack him.
Once again, Honor was entirely on the defensive. After a particularly harsh series of blows, Morgassa struck with her shield. Honor hacked at the bulky metal rectangle, and her blade shattered. Morgassa followed up with her sword. The powerful swipe sent Honor to the ground with a ragged tear across her breastplate.
Cole sensed shaping energy gathering off to one side. Turning his head slightly, he saw Callista transform into a huge knight in a full suit of black armor, armed with sword and shield. She grew to almost Morgassa’s size and then charged.
Cole yearned to help. His instincts told him this was the end. The clearing continued to shrink as the knights and their mounts grudgingly retreated. Another knight was down, as were a few of the horses. Armor battered and scarred, the Rogue Knight was tangled up helping the knights hold the horde at bay, aided by the animals who could still function. Mira continued to pin down Skye. Honor remained on the ground.
The Rogue Knight and Honor were outmatched against Morgassa. If the white knight defeated Callista, they were going to lose. Cole tried to rise, and pain howled through him, crippling the attempt. Dizziness and darkness almost overtook him.
As Cole held still, his vision cleared, and he beheld the white knight and the black knight locked in combat. Sparks flew as blades chopped against shields and armor. They lunged and shoved and kicked, armor scraping and clanging.
Callista slashed Morgassa’s sword from her grasp, then followed up with an overhand swipe. Morgassa caught the blade in her gauntleted hand, then jerked it from Callista’s grasp, reversed it, and stabbed it through Callista’s armor and into her belly.
For a moment, they stood together. Morgassa’s hand squeezed Callista’s shoulder, fingers denting the armor.
Then Callista stumbled back and dropped to her knees an instant before a blow from Morgassa’s shield leveled her. Her own sword protruding from her breastplate, Callista lay on her side and did not stir.
Morgassa retrieved her sword and strode toward Honor, who staggered back to her feet, sidestepping unsteadily. With another burst of power, the dents and scrapes Morgassa had received from Callista disappeared.
In that moment, Cole realized he had been sensing their power. He had felt it surging as they gathered and used it. His awareness had felt so natural that he hadn’t considered how new the perception was.
Turning his attention to himself, Cole sensed the power radiating through him from his face. All he sensed was the mask. His own power remained invisible.
Cole thought about how Skye had been healed from her injuries when she removed her mask. He wondered if it could be the same for him. His injuries felt too deep to be healed. He was the cougar. Its body was his. But what if that wasn’t true? What if his body was somehow separate? What if removing the mask would let him rejoin the fight?
Raising his paw was agony. His shattered insides sawed against his nerves. His vision swam.
If he removed the mask, he would become vulnerable to the blank figments. How long before he became a deranged changeling like Skye? He had no desire to experience that fate. But all his instincts agreed that he was about to die from his injuries. And Morgassa was about to strike down Honor, who swayed as if the ground were heaving beneath her.
Part of Cole wanted to surrender to his injuries. His fatigue beckoned him to rest. What was he going to do? Get slashed again? It would be so easy to go limp and fade off to sleep. But the cost was too high. His friends needed him. He had to try!
Electric pain sizzled through his body as he dipped his head to his paw. Gripping tightly, he ripped off the mask.
The pain was gone. His mind was clear. He could still sense the power emanating from Morgassa. More important, he could now sense the power inside of himself. How had he missed it before? As he focused his attention on it, his power flared brighter. Cole drew the Jumping Sword and pushed his power into it. Ghostly flames engulfed the blade.
“Take your mask off!” Cole yelled at Jace, whose wolfish form lay still.
Morgassa swung at Honor, who blocked the blow with her sword but fell to the ground and lost hold of her weapon. As Morgassa prepared her finishing strike, Cole pointed his sword at her and shouted, “Away!”