Kiss of Fire (Imdalind, #1)(79)

“Now,” Ilyan looked at me eagerly, “make the seed grow.”

I exhaled deeply, flexing my fingers as the buzzing shifted into the tips of them. I closed my eyes and focused. I could feel the energy; I could feel what it wanted to do. I placed my hand onto the ground and felt my magic move out and into the ground. Everything shifted under my fingers and a loud popping noise filled my ears. Talon and Ilyan yelled out in irritation while Wyn laughed hysterically.

My eyes popped open. Instead of being surrounded by large craters or flames, I sat in the middle of long grasses and prairie flowers up to my head. I hadn’t conjured all of these, had I?

I looked around in a panic before jumping to my feet. Ilyan, Talon and Wyn all sat in the same places they had a moment ago, except that now they were all covered in dirt and sticks. Wyn continued to laugh hysterically as Ilyan spat and wiped dirt out of his mouth and ears.

“Well, I don’t think we have to worry about how strong your magic is, just how to control it,” Ilyan said between dirt clumps.





TwentyFive


I was devastated that Ilyan was right, that Edmund’s restraints had moved through the necklace into me. I didn’t want to think about what Edmund could do to me if he knew about the necklace, about the connection. What worried me so much more was the thought that if Edmund’s magic was restricting me that much, what was he doing to Ryland? I couldn’t get the image of Ryland’s blood-covered bedroom out of my mind; it added to my tortures.

“I can’t believe it was that easy. Especially after all the trouble I had before,” I spoke quietly to myself as I stared at my hands. I almost expected them to catch on fire.

“Evil overlords can do that to you,” Talon said as he handed the wrapped necklace back to me.

I took the necklace and looked at it solemnly. I desperately wanted to put it on, but wasn’t sure if I could, or even if I should. The thought of how much it hindered me, of what it was now beginning to mean, was a heavy, choking weight.

“Go ahead,” Ilyan urged as he sat beside me again. “Put it on.”

“Do you think I should?” I carefully peeled away the folds of fabric to look at the jewel nestled there, the fine silver chain circling around like a snake.

“Yes, I do. I want you to try something,” Ilyan replied.

I removed the necklace from the cloth and carefully placed it around my neck. At almost the exact moment that the ruby touched my skin, I felt my magic slow down, the energy lose some of the wriggling nature that I was becoming used to.

“How bad is it?” Ilyan asked, and I knew what he was referring to.

“Everything slowed down; it almost feels like my body has become sludge.”

Ilyan nodded his head in understanding.

“Your magic is very strong, Joclyn. I think you can fight through this. In fact, if you can master it, it might help everyone in the future, especially Ryland.”

My head perked up. I leaned closer to him, even though my instinct was to move away. My dark hair fell around my face as I bent toward him.

“How, Ilyan? How do I do it?” I asked.

“I don’t know. You will have to figure it out yourself.” He smiled, and I had the distinct impression he did actually know what I was supposed to do.

“Can’t you just tell me?” I pleaded. I needed to know if it could help me save Ryland.

“I would, but I have never actually witnessed something like this. I have ideas, but they will probably not work for you.”

“Why not?”

“Well, Joclyn, because your magic is not developed. For example…” His voice had taken on that deep, commanding tone that I had heard in him the first moment I had met him, in front of the school.

I flinched away.

“…if I told you to try to perform a double barrier and reverse it, would you be able to do it?”

I just stared.

“Or, how about an extended growth spell? No. You would not know what to do. I could teach you all that in a month, maybe two, but not today, not when your knowledge of magic is so limited. You have to figure it out for yourself because you don’t know all of the basics yet.” He looked away from me with superiority.

Wyn rubbed my back sympathetically, whether because Ilyan had just put me in my place or because I looked absolutely forlorn, I had no idea.

I lay back in the grass, dejectedly. Of course, it couldn’t be quite so simple. I looked through the grass to the dirt, my mind spinning as I tried to figure out what to do. I could feel the low buzz of my magic. I still felt the desperate need for it to get out, but no matter how hard I tried, it wouldn’t come.

I flexed my fingers and placed the very tips in the dirt, digging them in a bit. The warm earth and the electric hum from within me combined aggressively, but the magic would not move. I had the foolish thought to cut my skin to simply let it out. While probably a very natural progression, the image of cutting my own skin brought visions of Ryland being tortured to the forefront of my memory.

I flinched at the image, wiping it from my mind. Then I paused; the image had instigated something. I could still feel the super-charged buzz as the magic released into the ground where my fingers touched it. I now knew what I needed to do, and although I sincerely didn’t want to, I brought a vision of Ryland to my mind.

This time, I chose the gentle image of him placing the necklace around my neck. The beautiful memory caused my heart to swell, and with it, a tiny bit of energy expelled itself. It wasn’t enough to do anything, but it was something. I felt the warmth of it leaving my fingertips before it subsided.