Jayna pulled on more power.
Then she could feel the Toral ring filling with energy.
Strangely, there was still a hint of smoke within it.
No, not just a hint. A flood.
Somewhere, Eva was pushing power into the bloodstone.
Smoke swirled around Jayna, up her legs, chest, and arms, then out through her. That smoke gave her a strangely solid connection to the bloodstone.
She focused.
The power was out there, that edge of energy she always saw tinged with darkness, but this time there was no nearly incapacitating pain. There was only a cloud of smoke, as if Eva somehow protected her.
Jayna called that energy to her. She breathed it in, and with her connection to Char, she created a pattern. This time, the pattern was only in her mind, and as she pushed it down, creating a ring of power, it erupted outward, and she tossed the two sorcerers away.
They went flying to either side.
Jayna sent her hands out, and a burst of power streaked from her, smoke twirling along it, as if Eva were helping guide her magic, and it struck both sorcerers.
She stormed forward.
Where was Eva? She still wasn’t here, though she had felt her power, and she knew Eva must be around here somewhere.
Jayna found Dorian in front of the fountain. She used a burst of power, sending it streaking toward him, but it bounced off of a protective spell.
He glanced over his shoulder. “You really are a nuisance.”
“I’m going to be more than a nuisance.”
“And you brought one of those lovely Ashara with you. You know, I thought that one was already dead.” He nodded, and Jayna glanced behind her to where Eva stood.
“Why?”
“We came across her on our way to Nelar.”
Dorian was responsible for what had happened to her?
“You aren’t going to complete this,” Jayna said.
“Oh, that is where you’re wrong. You see, I have already made my preparations, and all I need to do is this.” He flicked his wrist, and a spell began to build.
Jayna could feel it building, rising up with power, and the ground began to rumble around her. There was something she could do that she hadn’t yet tried, but why not use the ring to fortify herself? It was something Dorian wouldn’t anticipate.
She darted forward, pulled on power from the dragon stone, and brought her fist around, connecting it with Dorian, catching him in the chin.
With the power she held, he went flying.
Jayna followed him and grabbed him by the shoulders, slamming him down again, holding on to the power of the Toral ring.
“I bet you weren’t expecting that.”
She got up and made a quick circle around him, pouring power into it, holding him in place.
Now she had to stop the enchantment from breaking. Now she had to keep the power of Sarenoth from escaping.
24
Jayna headed back to the fountain. The spell attempting to destroy the seal had been sealed off. Smoke drifted everywhere, and she could see it creating a thick barrier that held the other sorcerers away. She would have to deal with them later, but for now she needed to check on the fountain.
On the enchantment.
It was a powerful one. And now it was damaged. The fountain itself had cracked, and Jayna could practically feel darkness spilling out.
Worse, it was a familiar darkness. She had felt something like that before.
She looked over to see Asaran approaching as smoke swirled around. He had a different form than the last time; his dark features, his dark hair, and his pale skin all seemed to glow.
“Do you have any way of sealing this back off?” she asked him.
“Unfortunately, one of the great enchantments cannot be restored.”
“Can we prevent the rift from expanding more?”
“We would need more bloodstone than we have.”
Bloodstone would change it. She’d seen how bloodstone was the key to augmenting enchantments, which meant she might have a way. “What if we have more?”
“Then it might be possible.”
They still had some in her home that they’d collected from the manor homes. “Can you keep him from going anywhere?” she asked, nodding to where Dorian lay motionless. “I think there’s a place that can hold him.”
Char was still there, along with two of the other sorcerers. She had no idea if they were dark sorcerers, but given the bewildered stares on their faces, she doubted it. She created a quick spell, tapping the two others and clouding their minds.
“Jayna . . .” Char said.
“It’s just a confounding spell. You can take it off if you feel it’s inappropriate.” She looked over to where Dorian lay. “The Sorcerers’ Society has been infiltrated. Perhaps it always has been. I need you to take him to the cell beneath the outpost. It can hold him.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s one of the twelve who served Sarenoth.”
“Not Master Agnew.”
“This isn’t Master Agnew. This is Dorian Hale. He’s a dark sorcerer hiding as Master Agnew. And if we don’t hold him, we may not learn what the twelve plan.”
Char looked over. “Jayna . . .”
“I know you don’t want to believe it, and I wish it wasn’t the case, but it is. We need to figure this out. There’s darkness coming. Sarenoth will escape. If they’ve already broken one of these great enchantments, I don’t know how many more they might be able to break, but I fear we aren’t going to be strong enough, or fast enough, or—”
Char took a step toward her, grabbing her hands. “I’m going to work with you.”
“You are?”
“I felt what was going on. I felt what was happening to you, even though I couldn’t do anything about it.”
“I’m sorry, Char. I didn’t want you to get involved in this.”
He smiled sadly. “You didn’t force me to get involved in anything.”
“Can you take him beneath the outpost? I can join you when this is done.”
“I don’t know if I can hold him,” Char said.
“I can help with that,” Asaran said.
Jayna still didn’t know what was going on with Eva. She looked around the courtyard. She had felt her smoke, her influence, but still didn’t see her anywhere.
Dorian had mentioned her though.
Jayna made a quick circuit around the courtyard. She didn’t want to get too close to the enchantment, but every time she got nearer to the fountain, she could feel something.
The Toral ring constricted. Dark power.
She found Eva lying on the ground, injured.
There were three sorcerers around her, none of them moving.
Jayna pressed her hands down on her, and immediately began to call upon power from the dragon stone ring, pouring it into her. She didn’t even try to anchor her head and feet the way she should have, and as soon as she started pouring power into her, she realized there was something going on, something she couldn’t correct.
“You won’t be able to help her,” a voice said from behind her.
Jayna looked over to Asaran standing there holding Dorian, smoke swirling around them as Char stood nearby.
“I am going to help her.”
“You cannot. She was the first sent. She was to have prevented this, and she failed.”