Blood Runner: Book Three of the Empress Saga

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

     Teleportation had rules. Important rules, even. When Lady Renoit first demonstrated the spellcraft for Ambrose and Starra, she'd been clear on that point. Which wasn't to say there wasn't a wee bit of wiggle room. Otherwise, Starra might have ended up a league off from her intended destination.

    She hadn't taken all due time to familiarize herself with the starting point of the spell, to say nothing of the destination. A few minutes of idle observation for the former, a hurried glance for the latter. Neither was enough to form a proper connection between her imprint and those of the two areas. What Starra had going for her was that in this situation, it didn't quite matter where she ended up so much as how high.

    To her chagrin, she came out of the teleportation very high up indeed.

    For an outside observer, there was light and noise somewhat like a lightning strike. For the teleporting arcanist, it was silence accompanied by a brief and disturbing sensation of being in two places at once. It was also hot enough to burn— something to do with how the surrounding air was displaced in an instant— so fire wards became necessary.

    At the least, Cardin had been blinded by Maya's astramancy, so he wouldn't be able to study Starra's spell with his ethersight and manifest it himself. The gods granted small favors. If anyone on the Continent should be kept from learning lost magics, it was Elise of bloody Eastrun and her lackeys.

    Starra had little time for gratitude as she found herself high above the battle.  Her ears were assaulted by painful popping, and she couldn't draw in a proper breath. Luckily, Starra was still more or less where she needed to be, and she conjured small bursts of wind to steer her fall.

    A human in such a situation would have few options left to them, but vampires were a little more fortunate. She hadn't the heart to tell Saveen that her daring, aerial rescue in the Spired City hadn't been necessary where Starra was concerned. Vampires were shifters, after all, and Starra shifted. Vampiric shifting wasn't as dramatic as a were's— taking on the physical abilities and form of a beast— but altering the density of her body had many practical uses. For instance, when her effective mass was reduced to a tenth of normal, the wind resistance slowed her descent to an almost leisurely pace.

    As she fell, Starra deftly adjusted her weight to aim her landing just right. She swept past the aerial blockade of dragons, well wide of Kimpo and the silver dragon hot on her tail, and made an adroit landing on the back of a handsome black dragon, right between the wings. Starra immediately shifted to increase her weight to avoid being blown off.

    This black dragon was smaller than Trell, and his face appeared less skeletal. Still thin like a whip with a serpentine neck and tail, however. The dragon wore an ingenious harness, though his crew had already disembarked. There was only a single rider now, a broad-shouldered Altieri man in dark lacquered plate and armed with one of those massive full blades. By his green and gold cloak, Starra surmised the knight was a Karst or in service to them.

    The dragon might not have noticed Starra's feather-light landing, but now that she was heavier, he couldn't miss the extra passenger.

    "Boarders," the black called to his knight.

    Without hesitation, the knight detached his harness and jumped, the move sending him hurtling over the dragon's back at Starra. It was a terrifying maneuver, and Starra doubted she'd have had the courage to attempt it in his place. The Onyx Knight landed on his feet in front of Starra, but he didn't pause to reattach to the harness. Both hands held his overlarge sword brandished at her while the dragon maintained a level flight.

    Starra held out her open palms. "Peace, my lord. We're on the same side."

    While the Onyx's expression was hidden behind his visor, his posture was incredulous. Starra could feel his eyes passing over her cotton dress before settling on her face. He tensed.