The strategy was apparently to just let the bad guys wear themselves out against Owen's presumably greater resources. I wondered if Merlin had similar strengths. He was, after all, Merlin.
I felt a tingle, then caught movement out of the corner of my eye. One of the guys who'd been hiding was making his move. "Owen, look out," I called. He turned just in time to deflect the surge of energy the guy threw at him, then he immobilized that guy the way he'd done the one up in the roller coaster.
"Cheating, Phelan? Doesn't that indicate a lack of confidence?" Owen said to his opponent.
"Or lack of morals." Idris sounded out of breath. Then he suddenly whirled like he was defending himself against an attack, leaving his back open for Merlin to hit him with something that temporarily paralyzed him. I hadn't seen anything attacking him, and I realized that the attacker must have been one of Owen's sleight-of-hand tricks.
Idris brought extra people and used magic to hide them, while Owen was conjuring up imaginary attackers to distract Idris.
The henchmen gave up trying to fight directly with magic, and soon just about everything that wasn't nailed down—and a few smaller things that were—was flying through the air at Owen and Merlin. I ducked beneath a bench but still tried to keep my eyes open for even more treachery. A trash can flew through the air toward Merlin, but Ethan jumped in to pull him to safety. It did hit Owen, striking a glancing blow that sent him to the ground before he waved a hand and flung it toward Idris.
I didn't know enough about magic to have a sense of how the battle was going.
Owen looked a little battered from the barrage, but was otherwise unruffled. Merlin looked like he was out for an afternoon stroll. Meanwhile, the other guys gasped for breath, all red-faced and sweaty.
Merlin pointed in the direction of one of the henchmen, and the man froze in his tracks. He sweated and strained, but apparently no longer had the strength to free himself. That was one out of the way. Owen similarly pinned another one. Now we were down to a more fair two-on-two fight—if we counted the official combatants. I suspected the bad guys had a few more tricks in reserve, and Ethan and I were still there. If it came down to it, I supposed I could contribute a few catfighting skills. I'd grown up with older brothers, so I could hold my own in a dirty brawl for a little while.
But for now it seemed that Merlin and Owen had the situation more or less under control. The air crackled with power that gave me goose bumps. I felt like I was caught in the middle of an electrical storm. A visibly weary Merlin finally disabled the remaining sidekick, while Idris and Owen were locked in a standoff. They stood about six feet apart, Idris with his arms stretched out in front of him, Owen with his hands at his sides. I was sure I could see the power glowing between them. Now Owen was beginning to fray around the edges, but he still looked better than Idris did. Idris resembled those people they show on the news crossing the finish line after a marathon and promptly collapsing.
It seemed like it was just a matter of how long either of them could hold out. The last one to collapse would win the fight, and I'd put my money on Owen. I'd never before seen a full demonstration of what he could do, but now I could tell for sure that he was more than just a pretty face.
He seemed to have it more or less in the bag. Idris was wilting, backing away. But he was also smiling, which was not right for the situation. Now I got nervous. I looked around for a looming threat and saw nothing.
Then I looked again, and something was coming out of the east, flying through the sky, zooming toward Owen so rapidly that it became clearer to me in a fraction of a second. At first I thought it was a gargoyle like Sam, but it was some other kind of winged creature. I would have to find some mythology books if I was going to stay in this line of work.
"Owen, look out!" I shouted.
nineteen
As it got even closer, I could see that the flying thing looked like a cross between a pterodactyl and a really, really ugly woman. Was this a harpy? It didn't matter all that much at the moment because it was right on top of Owen, and I hadn't managed to yell in time to give him a chance to react while he was still fighting off Idris. Neither he nor Merlin seemed to see it. The thing grabbed his shoulder with its claws, and that gave Idris a chance to catch his breath. Merlin jumped in to keep Idris occupied,
but the thing still had a hold on Owen.
Whatever it was must have remained veiled, for Merlin couldn't seem to figure out what to do about it. He waved a hand in its general direction, but it did no good because it squirmed around so much, dodging whatever Merlin sent its way. That couldn't have been good for Owen's shoulder. Then Merlin had to turn his attention back to Idris to keep him from launching a magical attack on Owen. Owen struggled, and the bird thing jerked about like something was hitting it, but it didn't let go. I was sure the thing was going to eat Owen alive at the rate it was going.