Crown of Cinders (Imdalind #7)(124)

It was then that she truly attacked, her smile dangerous as she unleashed her magic. Now she wasn’t holding back.

Perfect.

My heart stuttered with angry excitement, every muscle tensing in fear of what was heading my way as I sent another attack right toward her, determined to meet her head-on.

I sent her attack into the wall with a bang that shook the stone, and she sent mine into the ceiling, the mess of metal and mirrors they used to reflect the light in the room crashing to the floor. Glass sparkled over the floor as everything exploded. What little light remained glittered over everything like a mutated disco ball.

She attacked again, Míra’s following right behind as the girl began to run toward the door, blocking me from the exit by quickly sealing the door.

Hands moving fast, I attempted to deflect and felt the heat of Míra’s magic brush against my skin when I didn’t quite move fast enough, a large headboard behind me making the movement difficult.

Ovailia’s incessant attacks ceased for a moment as I took a step back, her smile glinting as she saw the realization spread over my face, the power I was trying so hard to display fading into shock. They had successfully backed me into a corner.

Then fight your way out.

You wanted to kill them, so do it.

The words supercharged my anger, bringing it right back to the forefront of my mind. I took a quick glance toward Míra, the fickle child fueling me more.

“Fine,” I snapped to no one in particular.

The single word confused Ovailia enough that she didn’t notice the smoky attack I sent toward her, the strand of magic singeing the hem of her shirt.

She stared at it in disgust before turning back to me, an orb of magic already forming in her hands. Electric yellow crackled over the surface a split second before she released it, letting it stream toward me dangerously.

I knew orb attacks well, and if I didn’t stop it, I would be in trouble.

Swallowing down my doubt, I let my anger fuel me, my magic buzzing as I released a powerful wave toward it, ready to stop her in her tracks.

The defense had hardly moved before the one she had already sent toward me devoured it, absorbing the energy as it began to shift and mutate into a wall.

Pathetic.

My father’s voice was a growl as my heart fell to my toes, my muscles tensing in painful fear.

Her smile was barely visible from behind the thick wall of magic that was now heading toward me, her smug smile fueling me as I once again countered.

That’s it, son.

Destroy her.

Letting my magic flow the way my father had trained me, I unleashed a powerful jolt that I knew would rip past the wall, break through it in its journey to injure her. To hurt her. To hurt Míra. I needed it to. I needed the chance to take them down completely. To make them pay.

Magic crackled dangerously across the air, slamming into her wall with a jolt that shook the room, a rebound of energy moving back through the room and smacking against me, sending me stumbling back as my magic was zapped into smoke and air like a bug against a blue light.

The air around me was buzzing, the irritating sound rattling in my head as I stepped back to where I had been, watching her wall continue to swell as it absorbed the power from my spell.

You can do better than that.

Destroy her!

You are weak!

No, I’m not.

Then prove me wrong.

The magical wall was inches from me, pinning me against the wall with no escape as I tried to counter, swinging my hand through the air in a desperate last attempt. But her spell was too strong. It moved past mine as though it was nothing but air, slamming into my gut, moving into me with burning ice that twisted and writhed into my muscles, sparking against my nerves in tiny, agonizing jolts.

The buzzing in the room swallowed me whole as I screamed, the sound echoing again and again as the pain spread through me, splitting my skull until I could hardly hear. I could hardly see. Even my own scream faded into a lost depth, my pain swallowing it whole.

I was once again thrown backward. I could feel the air blow past my hair, over my skin, but I couldn’t comprehend what was happening over the pain that cleaved my bones and nerves. My vision shifted from the spinning world I was thrown through to an encompassing black, everything fluctuating back and forth in a strobe of light and dark.

The wheel of color faded to nothing as my spine and shoulders slammed against the wall with a thud, the impact mixing with my own scream, with my father’s laugh, in a cavalcade that echoed inside my bones, twisting them further. Yet another pain adding to the agonizing burn that ripped through me.

My scream of pain turned into a whimper as I sat, sagging against the wall and floor. The sound was pitiful as the world continued to shift and fade around me. The spell was still working its way through me as my own magic, my own attacks, were turned against me.

I tried to move, but everything was paralyzed under the pain, a new jolt of torture moving through me every time I tried. So, I sat there, trapped in pain, the sound of my father’s laughter filling my head before everything around me began to mutate again. Ovailia’s and Míra’s voices drifted inside the rotating darkness as though they were from another world.

“Keep him here. He shouldn’t be much of a hassle like that,” Ovailia said, her voice sounding strange with the tiny bit of emotion that had seeped its way into it.

The pain must have been making me delusional to even think that. Ovailia had no emotion.