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Back Copper Chain Save as PDF
Chapters (62)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication
  4. CONTENTS
  5. MAP
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. 48
  54. 49
  55. 50
  56. 51
  57. 52
  58. 53
  59. 54
  60. 55
  61. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  62. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

She took a deep breath and began to summon her magic. She could feel it inside her, begging her to free it. Silver flame darted up to fill her vision with white.

She drew on the fire until she was holding onto as much as she could, feeling it writhe and twist. With a shout she released it, throwing a strong gust down the path between the twin walls of water. Again she summoned her power, feeling the wind that was holding the sea at bay drawn to her staff. Once more she pointed her staff and released a torrent of air.

She could sense the spell unraveling, like threads plucked from a tapestry. The howling wind became even more intense; now its direction was chaotic.

Pain built up in her head, but she ignored it, drawing almost more of her power than she could handle, preparing to rip the magic to shreds.

She stopped. Her heart beat out of time.

Two figures were walking in the opposite direction to the slaves, following the pathway in the parted sea as they headed toward the sunken city. Already they were in the area of danger. One was Palemon, tall and imposing, with dark clothing and gray-streaked hair.

The man following behind was Dion.

Chloe suddenly remembered the Oracle’s words.

You will have an opportunity to destroy our ancient enemy and end a great threat.

Chloe knew without a doubt that this was the opportunity the Oracle had foreseen. If she could break the spell, she would destroy almost every one of the descendants of Aleuthea. She would kill their king. Zara and Kyphos, whom she hadn’t seen leave the tower, would surely die. The artifacts would be washed away, never to be seen again. The soldiers would drown in their heavy armor. The sorcerers would fall to magic of their own making.

She was faced with a choice. Finish breaking the spell and abandon Dion to his fate, or try to save him and let the artifacts make it to shore.

Her staff was still leveled down the pathway between the waves, and without warning her power burst free, torn from her body, sending another blast of air down the corridor. She had drawn so much that she was unable to hold onto it, and she sensed still more threads of Zara’s magic being torn.

As the wind tore at her hair and clothing, panic filled her. Dion, the man she loved, was directly in harm’s way. She realized she might not have a choice at all. She had already started to unravel the spell, and soon it would break completely.

48

48

Leaving behind the procession of people carrying heavy metallic artifacts, Palemon walked with long strides, impatiently glancing over his shoulder, lip curling in scorn as Dion lagged behind.

Dion’s struggles were only partly pretense; he was weary from the journey to Cape Cush and weary of life.