He soared through the air, up toward the white helmet. It drew near before he had time to think, and his sword gonged against it. Kicking off her armored shoulder, Cole called the command again and landed some distance away.
Morgassa wheeled to face him, extending her sword in his direction. “How dare you!” she and her horde snarled together.
Blank figments streamed toward Cole. Before he could try to jump out of the way, they disappeared. The Rogue Knight was charging Morgassa, and he had just swung Verity.
“Cole!” Jace called.
Cole saw that his friend was no longer a wolf. The mask lay at his feet.
“Get your rope out,” Cole called, using his sword to jump over to Jace.
As Cole landed, Jace produced the golden strand. Cole touched it and forced his power into it. Lukewarm flames flickered along the rope.
The Rogue Knight met Morgassa fiercely, but she was faster and fresher. After their blades had connected several times, Morgassa dropped to one knee and slashed off both of his legs at the shins. The Rogue Knight fell heavily.
Honor had recovered her sword. Hobbling like a punch-drunk prizefighter, she stumbled into a brutal blow from Morgassa and collapsed beside the Rogue Knight.
Jace’s golden rope snaked forward, caught Morgassa by the boot, jerked her high into the air, then slammed her down with a sound like a tank falling off a skyscraper. Again Morgassa went into the air, and again she crashed down. By the third impact, her armor looked crushed.
Golden rope flexing, Jace heaved Morgassa upward again, but her armor suddenly disappeared. Once more she looked like a floating schoolteacher, though her face was scraped and bleeding. The rope no longer held her.
“What devilry is this?” Morgassa shrieked along with her horde. “Such shaping has no place here!”
As the golden rope reached for Morgassa, a sword appeared in her hand, and she batted the rope away. With her free hand, Morgassa summoned a large group of blank figments and sent them at Jace.
“Away!” Cole shouted, jumping sideways to avoid the swarm of blank semblances.
Jace retracted his golden rope to coil it and spring. To his horror, Cole saw that Jace wouldn’t get away in time.
And then Honor was on her feet, her armor gone, the knight mask discarded. With both hands, she clutched Verity. The sword seemed too large for her, but that didn’t stop her from swinging it.
The blank figments evaporated.
Using his rope, Jace jumped, ending up on the far side of Morgassa. Morgassa whirled to confront Honor.
Cole pointed his Jumping Sword at Morgassa’s head and shouted, “Away!”
As he rocketed into the air, Morgassa pivoted to face him, her sword ready. Cole knew there was no way to change his direction, so he tried to get ready to block her swing.
Two duplicates of Cole appeared, flying through the air toward Morgassa. Cole noticed that Dalton had set aside his bull mask. The power behind the seemings came from him.
Beyond Morgassa, Cole saw Jace’s rope stretch over to Honor, heaving her into the air and whipping her toward the hovering schoolteacher. As Cole rushed near, Morgassa swung. Cole met her blade with his, feeling the shock of impact throughout the bones and joints in his arms. He lost his grip of the hilt and the Jumping Sword spun away through the air.
Hitting Morgassa from behind, Honor jammed Verity through the center of her back. Sword protruding, arms raised, Morgassa dropped from the sky.
Cole fell too. Morgassa had been well above the hillside. With no chance of making another jump, it would be a rough landing.
With the ground rushing toward him, talons gripped his shoulders, significantly slowing his descent. It took Cole a moment to realize that Twitch had swept in to rescue him again.
Cole still hit the ground roughly, but it could have been much worse. As he turned to thank Twitch, Morgassa lurched forward and slapped the eagle away.
Coughing and gurgling, Morgassa’s face was locked in a desperate and fearsome grimace. The sword remained in her back. Her blouse was ruined. Her eyes bulged.
Lunging at Cole, Morgassa fell on top of him. Her long fingernails stabbed painfully into his sides as she spattered him with wet coughs. Cole struggled against her, but even without her armor and gigantic size, Morgassa was very strong.
A wrenching disorientation shook Cole to his core. Everything folded and twisted, as if he were being turned inside out, body and mind. He could feel Morgassa’s frightened, furious presence inside of him. Power coursed through him, obscene and spiteful.
Cole’s eyes were malfunctioning. He beheld swirling shades of darkness ranging from incredibly black to incomprehensibly black, voids within voids. He heard many voices screaming; an army of voices, hundreds of thousands. Not fun amusement-park screams—burning-building screams.
Reaching for his own power, Cole tried to resist Morgassa. But his ability to sense his power was lost in the stormy flood of her wrath.
And then Morgassa was torn from him. The golden rope yanked her into the air and thrust her down one last time. Verity tore loose. Morgassa lay limp.
Chapter 38
HONOR
Panting and sweating, Cole sat up, his vision clearing, as if a veil had been torn away. His ears rang with the ghosts of screams. All was silent now, right? He could feel the four burning wounds on each of his sides where her fingernails had entered him.
In all directions, Morgassa’s horde fell. The blank figments disappeared, and the changelings dropped as one, puppets with the strings cut, either dead or unconscious.
Honor approached Morgassa with Verity in her grasp, ready to strike. Morgassa looked different. She was now the height of an average woman, dressed in black, her features duller and less sculpted. Her injuries were no different. She was dead.
Cole shakily stood up. He felt detached from the moment. They had won, hadn’t they? That was good, wasn’t it? Twitch came to his side, no longer an eagle, his mask discarded.
“Are you all right?” Twitch asked.
“I don’t know,” Cole replied.
“What did she do to you?” Twitch asked, crouching to peer at the little gouges in Cole’s side.
“I’m not sure,” Cole said honestly. “It wasn’t fun. Thanks for catching me.”
“Thanks for helping take her down,” Twitch said.
“Okay,” Jace said, coming toward Cole, his golden rope now small again. “You get some points for that one. Good timing on finding your mojo. You okay?”
Cole rolled his shoulders experimentally. The cougar wounds were gone. His sides burned a little where Morgassa had marked him. Otherwise, physically, he wasn’t bad. Inside he felt oddly drained. Numb. He wanted to lie down in the dirt and go to sleep.