All Spell Breaks Loose Read Online Free PDF

that, it’d be up to Mychael. He was known throughout the seven kingdoms as the Paladin of the Conclave Guardians, and had the respect that came with the job. However, Mychael’s powers of persuasion wouldn’t do us a damned bit of good if he didn’t have anyone to persuade.
    A sudden creepy-crawly sensation ran down my back that had nothing to do with goblins running amok in the city or Carnades within spell-slinging distance behind me. Power was building; power that wasn’t from Guardians with a collective case of magical jitters and nothing to smite. Even with no magic myself, I sensed it.
    It was dark. Ugly.
    And it was here.
    A deep throb came from the far corner of the room, from a mirror mounted on the wall, framed in dark, rune-carved wood. Hands encased in armor tipped with bright steel claws ripped through the canvas covering. Goblins came through, armed with blades and crossbows. They were between us and the door; we were between them and Carnades’s mirror.
    Like I said, ugly.
    Nine Khrynsani, two of them mages. That was as accurate a count as I could get or cared to get as I scurried to the left to give myself room to fight. I left the power packers to Mychael and Justinius. I had a sword in each hand and balanced on the balls of my feet, ready to move in whatever direction the closest goblin picked. More Khrynsani poured through the mirror like a black-armored wave, and Piaras’s voice rang out from behind me, a commanding baritone aimed at the Khrynsani. I recognized the quickly cascading notes and words as a spellsong I’d heard Mychael use before. The goblins should have dropped in their tracks.
    They kept coming.
    With some kind of dark plugs in their ears.
    Oh crap.
    They’d known spellsingers would be guarding the mirror room.
    We’d been betrayed from the inside out. Now our enemies were in here with us and deaf as doornails to any spellsong Piaras or Mychael could throw at them.
    “Where’s Tam?” Piaras shouted. I wasn’t the only one who knew we needed to get through that mirror while we still could.
    I parried a lunge that came entirely too close to finding its mark. “Good damned question.”
    Piaras had a sword in one hand, a long parrying dagger in the other, and was putting both to good use. His opponents lately had had a fatal tendency to underestimate him because of his young age and brown eyes. Anyone who looked that innocent couldn’t have the nerve or instinct to kill. They soon found themselves wrong on all counts, not to mention dead. Piaras wasn’t a killer, but two months ago, his mind had been briefly taken over by Sarad Nukpana. The goblin’s link with Piaras and his ultimately unsuccessful attempt to control his mind had left the kid with the goblin’s masterful skill with a sword, among other deadly talents. Nukpana knew only too well how to kill, and as a result, so did Piaras.
    Two Khrynsani found that out the hard way.
    Seconds later, an explosion blew the door off its hinges as well as disintegrated a goodly chunk of the stone wall around it. Several Khrynsani who’d had the misfortune to be standing too close went flying.
    Tamnais Nathrach was reckless, his magic powerful, and danger was just another way to have a good time. The man also knew how to make a damned fine entrance. Tam had weapons anywhere he could strap them. He was going home and was amply prepared for a less-than-warm reception. Tam followed up the concussion spell he’d used to destroy the door with his armored fists.
    Behind Tam came Imala, Prince Chigaru, and his two bodyguards. Since we’d be stepping through a mirror to Regor, they were all armed and armored for trouble. That was good, because we had plenty of trouble right here, no walking through a mirror needed.
    Carnades Silvanus was now somewhere behind me. He was even more likely to kill me than the goblins were. Fry me where I stood, then claim that one of the goblins had done it, or that his shot went wide and it was a horrible