Scorched Treachery (Imdalind, #3)(37)
Her magic crackled and boomed within the protective layer I had created, flashes of light shooting over the dark walls of the cave. My fear grew as the onslaught I had just trapped Joclyn in got worse, and I realized the possible danger that she could now be facing alone.
I ran to her as I kept the shield strong. My magic pushed through the ?tít in its desperate attempt to get near her, but still, it was restrained.
The powerful barrier I had placed around her was no match for her magic. The fact should not have surprised me, but given the situation, it only meant danger for her and for the rest of us around her.
I stepped back, although my heart called me forward. My jaw tensed as I looked at the danger before me, my blood ready at any instant to intercede.
“Dramin!” My voice was barely able to rise through the large space before the shield shattered, the loud crack of her magic hitting the stone resounding through the cave in a fearful rumble.
The sound rattled in my ears, the danger calling right into my gut. My muscles tensed and pulsed in my shoulders as the danger announced itself. My magic bubbled as my shoulders stiffened, my breeding guiding me toward her, toward the danger.
Dramin’s footsteps were barely audible above the destructive sound of Joclyn’s magic as she continued to writhe, the uncontrolled streams of power flowing out of her. The white hot torrents escaped from her fingers and out of her chest as they continued to tear through the mountain, the contact impact beginning to shake the ground beneath us. I stopped as many of her magical attacks as I could, my magic surging away from me as I attempted to protect us, but I was no match for the power that Joclyn held inside of her.
A rumbling sound ricocheted through the cave, echoing off walls as it intensified and the mountain began to fall apart around us.
Thom and Dramin called out from somewhere behind me when the shaking increased and sent us all to the ground, our feet unable to stay steady inside of the rumbling cave.
The current that now had a life of its own ripped the rock of her bunk apart, pieces of it falling around her and covering the bed she lay in as she unwittingly entombed herself in fallen rock.
I didn’t think. If I had, I wouldn’t have moved. But my soul stepped in, moving me forward in an attempt to save her. I dodged as the magic crackled in the air around me, yelling as one long tendril sliced deeply into my arm.
I could hear Dramin and Thom yelling behind me, begging me to stop, warning me of the danger, but I didn’t listen. I ignored the blood that flowed freely down my arm. I ignored their voices. I could only focus on the girl who was fighting for her life right in front of me. I reached her just as the attack stopped and her arms went limp. I grabbed her body and brought her safely into my arms, the bunk shifting into a mass of rock and debris as it collapsed over where she had been only moments before.
Everything was silent. I held her in my arms as I let my pulse steady, as I accepted the safety of the girl I held.
One moment of silence, and then the groaning of the cave opened up. The loud rumbling sounds had been a deep warning of what was to come.
My muscles tensed as my fear rose and swelled into a power I always tried to restrain, but not now. Now, I needed it.
The deep sound rumbled around us, ripping through our ears as it warned us of what was to come. I turned toward the two men behind me to see my own fear mirrored in their faces. Thom looked around as the groans increased and Dramin’s head whipped around as a loud bang sounded through the cave as the roof began to collapse on itself. If we didn’t move now, we would find ourselves buried in here.
“Get out of here! Jít!” I yelled loudly in Czech, fully aware that I had placed the magical stream into my voice that would require them to comply. I knew that neither Thom nor Dramin could perform a stutter, and I was not willing to leave them here to die alone.
Both men turned and ran, their speed increasing as more groaning echoed around us. I held Joclyn’s body to me, praying she did not continue to attack her unseen assailant before I could get her to safety.
The floor shook as bits of ceiling continued to fall around us. The sizes of the stones increased as the mountain shifted; the groans responding to the destruction that Joclyn had caused to a now unstable cave. I listened to the groaning that echoed as we ran, the deep moans from the mountain warning of us of the end.
I followed them as we attempted our escape. Thom’s long dreads bounced around his shoulders, and Dramin’s night robe flew behind him like a cape. Joclyn’s continued jerks and spasms were masked by the jostling movements of my run as we dodged around falling rocks and dirt. I ran as I watched the intricate stonework of the cave crumble around us, the beautiful iron work that once hung from the ceiling crashing to the stone floor only to crinkle like paper left too long in water. We darted through obstacles as the noise grew until each of us had made it into the hall that would lead us out, only to find it blocked.
My heart plunged to see our escape route clogged with rock, the only way to safety encapsulating us in our danger. Thom and Dramin looked to me, fear and anger lining their faces. I ignored the emotion, stepping into my role as I had been raised to do.
“The training room.” My commanding voice barely resonated above the groaning of the mountain, but even without the magical pulse weaved inside of it, both men quickly obeyed.
The sound of the collapsing mountain had grown so loud that I could barely hear anything above it. I shifted Joclyn’s body up, leaving her dangling over my shoulder as the two men ran ahead of me toward the training room.