Soul of Flame (Imdalind Series #4)(97)

The rumble of the earth’s energy roared through me as Ovailia’s hands moved to wrap around my face. She clenched her fingers into my cheeks, pressing against the gentle bones before her hands lunged forward, sending my face into the hard surface of her knee. I screamed in agony as the pain rippled over my face and down my spine, the bones snapping as my nose broke. Blood flowed freely down my face as my magic swelled to heal it, but I knew it wouldn’t be fast enough.

I knew it would be foolish to wait.

My head spun as the blood flowed, a sight I knew would kill me threatening to break through. I fought it, knowing that if I were to black out for even a moment, Ovailia would end me. I couldn’t let that happen, even if I were to survive it; I couldn’t risk Edmund finding out that I was a Drak.

I was beginning to understand why Drak’s did not have offensive magic.

The fearful pressure in my chest ached as I spit the blood out of my mouth and pushed the sight away with a gasp, my blood-covered hands jutting forward as I pulled at Ovailia’s slender legs. The action was unexpected and she tumbled to the ground in a heap right onto the already smoldering leaves. She screamed as the fire surrounded her, rolling away from it as she extinguished her now-singed clothes.

I shuffled away from her just as the air prickled with the storm, the magic of the earth screaming into my heart, crying through my fear and telling me what to do.

I wasn’t one to question it.

My breath heaved as I stood, lifting my hands to the sky just as it broke apart, the bolt of lightning cutting through the dark clouds to strike against the palms of my hands. A pulse of steel surged through my body in a million volts of pain and fire. I screamed as it hit me, as it moved through me—moved into me—until everything that I was had turned into heat and agony. My ears filled with the sound of thunder, with my own scream, and with Ilyan’s yells of terror as he registered what had happened to me.

I heard them; I felt them, but ignored them all. I let the energy move into me, let it rock through me before I moved my hands, pointing right into Ovailia as my body redirected the power that had just filled me. The air snapped with a rumble of thunder that moved out from me as the lightening erupted from my hands, shooting right into Ovailia’s chest and sending her flying away from me. Her body crumpled against the large trunk I had sent her into before. The flaming tree broke apart easily as her body continued on, speeding through the dark forest until it swallowed her and I could no longer see her.

I panted as she disappeared, wishing that it would be the end of her, but somehow knowing that it never would be. That she would be back.

I sunk to my knees as Ilyan’s magic flooded me, the warmth welcome. My lungs pulled in desperate gasps of air in an attempt to find my footing, to find calm.

I breathed in deep spurts as Ilyan broke away from the thinning Trpaslíks he still fought, most running in the other direction after the explosion I was sure they had just witnessed.

That I had just witnessed.

I had seen it, felt it. I could still feel it, feel the rumble of electricity that surged through me, and yet I had no idea how I had accomplished such a thing.

I stared at the darkened patch Ovailia had disappeared through, twigs snapping as Ilyan broke through the trees, his movements quick as he rushed to my side, gathering me into his arms. His hands were warm against my skin as he pulled me into him, his worry so strong it almost scared me.

“You’re okay?” I asked as I turned to look at him, my heart fluttering at seeing him there, at the wide blood stain that spread over his shirt.

I reached my hands up shakily, almost afraid that the lightning I could still feel buzzing through my veins would seep into him. I held my hand above his skin, the warmth of his body radiating into me before my hand pressed against his face, the skin soft and calming, the lightning still restrained within my body.

“Thanks to you,” he gasped, his voice broken and soft in emotion.

I smiled before I turned toward where Ovailia had disappeared, almost expecting her to come strolling from the darkness, ready to continue the battle.

Ilyan’s hand wrapped round my waist as he lifted me to standing, his pace slower with the extra work. I pushed my magic into him, warming him as I moved to heal him, feeling his skin already knit together from the deep cut he had received, the bone he had broken already bound and repairing.

“We need to finish this,” I said as I clung to him, my heart beating in fear and excitement at what I had just said. I let the words flow, hard and strong, as the truth rocked me. I knew I didn’t have another choice; it wasn’t true that I ever had.

I grit my teeth as Ilyan’s acceptance filled me, his pride strong as he wrapped his hand around my destroyed braid, his magic sparking as he repaired the damage that Ovailia had done.

“I will follow you wherever. You are my forever,” Ilyan whispered as we turned toward the abbey, the flickering fire that was far ahead of us a shining beacon of where the building sat.

It was there, just beyond those trees, that I would find my destiny. That my life would define the fate and future of all those that I held dear.

I clung to Ilyan as I heard my own words repeated back to me, my thoughts moving through him as his so often did through me. There was no stopping this anymore; that much was clear. The only thing left was to face it.

“Where is my father?” Ilyan asked, his voice hard as he moved forward, his magic flaring through me as our bodies lost contact.