Obsidian Ridge - Jess Lebow [116]
It was an extraordinary experience-hanging in midair, suspended between the humming rubies, weightless and free to move as he pleased. By lifting his hands over his head, he could rise toward the ceiling. By lowering them to his sides, he would drop back toward the floor A shift to his right or left would move him around the triangle.
The closer he was to the center, the more control he had. At the edges, he would lose the connection to one of the rubies, and he'd drop a few feet. If he lost the connection to more than one, then he'd fall back to the floor altogether.
His feet touched the ground, and he stepped out of the triangle. Being inside was rather exhilarating, but it was also quite tiring. His heart was beating very quickly, and he sat down, a rest to catch his breath.
"I think this belongs to you."
Quinn spun to see a man watching him from the other side of the triangle. His face was warped and cast in an orange glow from the humming rubies and their magic. In one hand he held Quinn's bladed gauntlet.
It took him a moment, but Quinn eventually recognized him. "Jallal."
"Put this on," Jallal demanded. "Perhaps it'll prolong your inevitable death. I'll enjoy it more that way."
He threw the weapon at Quinn, tossing it into the triangle.
Tiny threads of energy shot from the gemstones. The magical strands wrapped themselves around the blades, slowing the gauntlet and lifting it high in the air. Reaching the ceiling, it came to a stop, suspended between the rubies at the highest point in the room.
Taking two large steps, Quinn leaped into the triangle, his arms held high over his head. He could feel the gemstones' magic take hold of him and shoot him into the sky. As he reached the ceiling and his weapon, he kicked his legs out and spun his body around in a somersault. Grabbing his gauntlet as he passed, he flipped over, landing feet first on the ceiling.
Standing upside down, he strapped the gauntlet to his wrist and motioned at Jallal. "I don't know how you got here," he said. "But if you want a fight, then I'm happy to oblige. Come and get me." "•
Jallal stated up through the orange light, a look of confusion on his face. Then his eyes narrowed, and he stepped across the inscribed line on the floor. The moment he made contact with two of the rubies, he was lifted into the air. He hovered not far off the ground, his arms and legs flailing while he got used to the weightlessness.
Quinn didn't wait for him to find his balance. Diving down on Jallal, he slashed the man across the back of his neck, tumbled over, touched the floor with his feet, then shot back up to the ceiling.
Drops of blood glistened bright red in the strange light of the rubies. They fell from the fresh wounds but did not hit the floor. Instead, they remained floating in midair. Tiny threads of magic reached out to each one.
Jallal growled at the pain of four keen-edged blades ripping his flesh. "I suppose I owe you my thanks. If you hadn't killed me that night in the slaughterhouse, I never would have been given the gifts I have now." He straightened, admiring his powerful limbs. Then he turned his glowering gaze up at Quinn. "But you owe me for killing my brother. And I have come to collect on that debt."
Lifting his arms as he had seen Quinn do, Jallal rose through the air, aided by the magic of the rubies. He brought his wicked-looking sword to beat, holding it out and turning himself into a human javelin as he flew toward the ceiling.
"You and your brother were plotting to kill the king," said Quinn. "You kidnapped the princess. Both of you deserved to die."
Quinn watched the man come, waiting for the right moment. When Jallal was almost upon him, he dodged hard to his left, losing his connection with one of the rubies and falling quickly to a spot just a few feet off the floor. Jallal's outstretched blade missed Quinn by several feet,