Free Baleful Betrayal by John Corwin Page B

forces to spare a moment for me, so I spun to face the crystoid. Locking my legs around the rocket stick, I drew upon the primal forces of destruction and creation and threaded them into Stasis. When the sphere of gray grew as large as my torso, I willed it toward the glowing core.
    The reaction jerked me down so hard I flipped upside down on the rocket stick, clinging by the backs of my knees for dear life. Despite the precarious situation, I didn't dare stop channeling, pouring everything I had into the infernal meteor below.
    Something stuck my back, but the Nightingale armor held. Another attack slammed my leg and I nearly lost my grip on the rocket stick, but I couldn't look away, couldn't lose my concentration. A flier silently fell, and then another. Brilliance sizzled past me as another flier swooped in. A beam of Murk intercepted him before he took another shot.
    My legs began to slip and the rocket stick sagged from the strain of holding me aloft. Slowly, it sank toward the pit. The crystoid seemed to suck up everything I had. I heard Elyssa shouting my name, but I couldn't spare even a split second of attention for anything else.
    I have to finish this!
    I tried to summon more power, but my floodgates were already wide open.
    Out of the corner of my eye, I saw dozens of fliers gliding my way. Sweat trickled down my face and rained from the tip of my nose, freezing into tiny crystals when it hit the sphere of Stasis. The rocket stick dropped another few feet, engine whirring at top speed. Another twenty yards and I'd hit the crystoid.
    Touching a smaller one had nearly turned me into a mindless malaether zombie. I didn't want to think what one this huge would do to me. In a few seconds the fliers would kill me or the crystoid would.
    The stink of burnt electronics stung my nose and the rocket stick died. Without an anchor to hold me up, the magnetic pull on the crystoid jerked me mercilessly earthward.
    Shouting as I fell, I refused to stop channeling. The meteor rushed to meet me, crystal spikes ready to spit me like a pig. The Stasis finally suffused the core. The center sagged. With a dull roar, the meteor collapsed and I smacked into a mountain of gray dust and sank. Crystallized ash filled my mouth and nose and another threat immediately replaced the crystal spikes.
    Blindly, I thrashed, still upside down, the rocket stick tangled between my legs. I was going to choke to death. I tried to find firm purchase, but it was like climbing a hill of goose down, sagging and slipping away. My lungs burned and panic gripped my heart, burning through my remaining oxygen.
    I tried to gasp for air and only filled my mouth with brittle soot. I wanted to scream as terror strummed my insides with sharp claws, whispering, "You're going to die."
    A soft voice reached me. You will be okay, my friend. Stop struggling and find the cold calm that will help you.
    Who is that? I sent, shocked out of my panic.
    No answer came, but then I sensed the cold calm lingering gently on my senses. It wasn't the cold of death, but the chill of creation. The aether is back. I drew it in focusing on my skin as I'd done before. Channeling Murk from every pore, I created a shield and shoved away the mountain of dust in all directions until I sat in a small dark void.
    I hacked up a lungful of gray dust and took a breath of delicious air. When the dizziness faded, I channeled a small orb of Brilliance to light the area. Despite being buried alive, I felt oddly safe, like a child hiding beneath the bedcovers from the monsters in the room.
    The luxury of remaining hidden wasn't something I could afford. I had to reach the surface and help Elyssa and the others. I channeled a thick rod of Murk from the bottom of the sphere, thrusting it down until it hit solid earth, then used it to push my bubble upward. When it burst from the ash, I widened it so it would have the surface area to roll across the top.
    Using it like a gerbil sphere, I ran and rolled the