Sacrifice (The Snow Queen #2)(74)

Rakel grit her teeth and strained, strengthening the walls to hold against the black fire—which pushed at them with the strength of a glacier. The shouts and screams of the soldiers hit by Tenebris’s curse brought tears to her eyes, and she sobbed as she pushed back, throwing off his magic.

She barely had time to straighten up before Tenebris nearly hit her with a cloud of his magic. It got so close, Rakel raised her ice shield an arm’s length in front of her. When the forces collided, the darkness pushed with such strength that her ice buckled, slamming into her. She was thrown through the air, but Farrin caught her and planted his feet, leaning in so they didn’t budge when her ice shield—still being pushed backwards—hit them.

Rakel screamed at the burning sensation but threw more of her power into the shield, pushing it back.

Farrin dropped to his knees when Rakel’s ice shield crawled forward, regaining lost ground. He panted, and his forehead beaded with sweat. “Are you wounded?”

“No, but that hurt.” Rakel’s stomach flipped as Tenebris’s magic continued to push down on her shield—which held strong. She slid from Farrin’s grip and stood, her legs trembling.

Farrin planted his sword in the ground to help him stand.

“How are we doing?” Rakel asked, risking a glance at the rest of the troops.

Farrin opened his mouth to speak, but in a heartbeat, he disappeared.

Rakel blinked, startling when he reappeared an arm’s length away, swinging his sword at her. She almost screamed, but when she felt hands close around her throat, she realized who he was really targeting.

Kavon threw off his illusion and leaped backwards, dragging Rakel with him. “Not a step closer, Graydim,” he panted.

Farrin swiveled his eyes to Rakel, who—as she had done weeks ago when Farrin tried to manhandle her in Ostfold—flash-froze her skin. Kavon yelped and jumped away from her, giving Farrin enough space to tap his speed magic and slide between them.

Rakel—re-energized by the rush of adrenaline that surged through her—pushed at her ice-shield, which dispersed Tenebris’s magic like a puff of smoke. She drew her magic to her fingers and raised ice walls to catch the blasts Tenebris lobbed at the Verglas forces. She caught two of the three and blocked most of the third, but pieces of the attack got around the wall and dug into the Verglas soldiers that trusted her to protect them.

Rakel saw two soldiers drop their weapons and shout, their hands clasping their throats as Liv ran to purify them.

That’s it. I have to finish this. This is too evil!

Rakel tried snapping another ice cage around Tenebris. He disappeared in a cloud of darkness, but, hoping to keep him distracted, Rakel threw more of her power into the ice—which was half closed around him like a bear trap—and risked glancing at Farrin.

“We don’t have to fight, Farrin,” Kavon said, his hands in the air.

Farrin wasn’t paying attention. Instead, he studied the ground.

“We could join forces. I don’t like Tenebris’s tactics any more than you do. If we band together, we can beat Tenebris and take the mirror for ourselves,” Kavon continued. “You know you won’t be able to defeat him like this—not for good. You see how your little princess strains against him? She can’t kill him.”

Rakel glared and was about impale the illusionist with a spike of ice, but Farrin sprang at her, thrusting his sword in her direction. Rakel didn’t flinch or doubt him for a moment, but she was surprised when Kavon, holding a dagger near her, appeared in thin air, shouting when Farrin’s sword bit into his shoulder.

The Kavon that spoke flickered and died—one of his illusions.

Rakel felt Tenebris’s power grow, and turned back to him, easing off her magic holding the ice cage in place. Tenebris shot bolts of darkness down on the Verglas army like arrows. Rakel countered it with a wide-spread shield of ice.

When she looked back at Farrin again, Kavon was dead. Farrin grimly turned from his old comrade. “Is he too much? Do we retreat?” he asked.

Rakel shook her head. “I’m signaling to Phile that we’re ready for Liv.”

“Are you certain?” Farrin asked. “I’ll have to leave you to go get her.”

Rakel pushed needle-thin spikes of ice out of the ground where Tenebris stood. He retaliated with another shot in her direction. She caught it with an ice shield but had to lean into it to keep it stable. “I’m certain. It is time we end this,” she said. She glanced up at the sky and crafted a giant snowflake the size of a cottage. It spun in the air three times, then broke into fluffy bits of snow.

She waited, her heart throbbing, as Farrin blocked and reflected a fireball from a Chosen officer. When the snow from her shattered snowflake swirled around her, she threw her magic into her shield and dissipated Tenebris’s cloud of curses. She opened a path that stretched between her and Tenebris, making it treacherously slick with ice.

Tenebris glowered at her and gathered his magic in his hands, but he didn’t notice the glacier she formed behind him. She pulled it towards her, ramming it into him. He was thrown into the icy pathway and skidded towards her.

A huge plume of fire erupted in the Verglas forces—the signal for Farrin to retrieve Liv.

“I’m going. Don’t be afraid to wall yourself in,” Farrin said.

“Yes.” Rakel hastily raised an ice wall when Tenebris bore down on her with fury. She feebly blocked it, hoping to entice him closer. Her lungs squeezed in her chest as she glanced back at Farrin, all the love in her heart screaming out for him. “Farrin…”