Eyes of Ember (Imdalind Series #2)(86)

I swung my sword wide while simultaneously shooting a wave of fire toward him from the other angle. Ilyan swore loudly as he turned to stop the magical attack, my sword hitting his arm.

“My point.” I jumped back, spinning through the air to land twenty feet away from him. I held my sword up in front of me, my head low in preparation for what was to come.

Ilyan froze and stared at me in awe before his jaw set and his eyes lit up in eager anticipation. I watched as he processed my new abilities and I winked before exploding into the air. He jumped at the same time, meeting me mid-air. Our swords clanged as we met in the middle of the room, the force of our collision sending me away from him. I could see that Ilyan was content to glide back down to the ground, so I quickly changed direction, shooting myself toward him. I met him as he landed. My sword moved fast, his moving only slightly faster.

I closed my eyes and continued to fight him, my mind seeing more than my eyes. My action offset him and he lost his nerve for a moment, but it was enough. I swung wide, sending a strong burst of wind into him that knocked him into my sword before he was slammed into wall with a dull thud.

“Two points,” I said as I smiled at him. He returned my smile and lunged at me, his eyes determined and dangerous.

“You’re going to keep trying, Ilyan?” I asked as he swung wide, his attack blocked not by my sword but by my magic.

He didn’t acknowledge the block. He continued to move, going from one attack to another as he got into his stride. I knew I was only going to have enough in me to barely match him, even with my new found power.

I sent another attack toward him and he spun away from me, the movement of his hair revealing tiny drops of sweat near his hairline. He was working hard in order to match me, and I was barely exerting myself. The thought made me laugh out loud, my hand swiping toward him and sending him off balance as I flew through the air away from him.

“You’re looking a little tired, Ilyan? You doing okay?” I asked lightly. I was shocked when he scowled at me.

I should have known what was coming, but his move blindsided me as he came behind me, his arm wrapping around my waist to bring me flat against him.

“Did I ever tell you how beautiful you are?” he said softly in my ear. He released me and I spun away from him, my feet faltering. He took advantage of my stumble and hit my leg with the flat side of his sword. “My point.”

“Once,” I replied, not going to give him the credit of admitting his dirty trick had worked. “Several hundred years ago. You were very sweet about it too.” I smiled sweetly at him as I moved carefully around him, watching my steps.

“Of course I was sweet. My mind was filled with images of kissing this beautiful girl I had been told I could never have.” He smirked and I balked again. My jaw dropped and my hand flew to my mouth in horror. Saying it like that made everything much more real.

He took advantage, swinging his sword toward me, but he was not fast enough. I jumped and swerved, my body moving faster than I had ever been able to accomplish before.

“You’re right,” I taunted him, trying to ignore the kicking in my chest. “You can’t have her.”

“Yet.”

I balked in confusion at his one simple word. “What do you mean, ‘yet’?”

Ilyan only smiled wider.

“I’ll tell you in a hundred years or so.”

“Not fair.” I pouted and pushed two waves at him from opposing sides. He grabbed me and shot us up into the air, his instincts to protect me kicking in.

“You don’t need to protect me here, Ilyan.” I smiled before kicking hard off of his chest and sending him flying back into the wall. I spun and flipped to land carefully on the ground of the cement hall.

“My point,” I said, as I carefully watched to make sure he was okay.

Ilyan jumped up and sped toward me, his body like a bullet through the space. I threw my sword to the side, the conjured weapon vanishing into the air at one simple thought, and jumped right before he met me, my arms wrapping tightly around his neck.

“Sorry, Ilyan,” I whispered in his ear. I kissed his cheek before spinning us around and pinning him to the ground, my sword appearing in my hand pointed right at his heart.

“I win.” We stared at each other for a moment longer, his eyes holding that same fiery look of desire that I had seen before.

Finally, I could take no more. I moved away from him, sending the sword back into the air.

“That was amazing, Joclyn!” Ilyan exclaimed as he jumped up. Who knew he would be so happy to lose? He hugged me tightly before stepping away; making it obvious he was giving me space.

“Of course, you always knew she would be, Ilyan,” Dramin laughed as he walked up, a reluctant Thom following him over to us. “You did see her in the sight after all, and a sight is never wrong.”

He smiled and looked between us, and I knew what he was getting at, all those images of Ilyan and me.

“What do you mean, ‘a sight is never wrong?’” I asked, alarm settling comfortably into my voice.

Dramin’s eyebrows arched precariously high. Ilyan looked worried, and Thom looked like he was preparing to settle in for a show.

“A sight is never wrong, Siln?.” Dramin’s voice was placating, like he was herding baby tigers.

“Now, that’s a matter of opinion, Dramin.” Thom interjected, his voice hard.