Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
Ellery
Power coursed through my body as the weathers stormed around me. There was so much of it, right here at my fingertips, and I craved unleashing it on all those who’d dare to attack us. While it didn’t consume me, as it had in the past, I had to consciously keep it under control.
I didn’t feel like my abilities would take me over, but if they did get out of hand, they could do a lot of damage to Tempest. We were too close to the fishing village of Seacrest to take such risks, even as my body thrummed for more.
And as the power invigorated me, I knew I could have more. I felt the energy pulsing beneath my feet, vibrating against my fingertips, and crackling through the air like little waves of static electricity.
Instead of being an unpleasant, prickling sensation, this was exhilarating as tingles ran over my skin. The air felt so alive that its particles danced before me. Those particles reflected the colors of a rainbow and were letting me know I could take from them if necessary.
There was so much power in Tempest, and it was mine to draw forth and unleash on all those who’d dared oppress us. And I would make them pay for taking everything we had and caging us here.
Movement on my left drew my attention to the guards emerging from the blizzard. Snow covered them as their shoulders hunched forward, and they struggled to break free of the storm.
Some of the horses remained mounted while other guards fled over the hills, and still more skidded down the knolls before toppling or breaking free of the storm. They were coming, and while I could keep them at bay for a little longer, it was time to get out of here.
Some of them released snow and rain on us and the wind was starting to pick up, but most were too panicked to cause any real damage. I wiped the rain from my brow before twisting my hand to send the water back toward them.
Ryker and the others emerged from the carriage, carrying more chests. Because of the close-fitting spaces between the hills, we’d known it would be impossible to steal the carriage during this robbery like we had with our last.
Because of that, we couldn’t take as much carisle with us this time. However, we hadn’t anticipated the carriage carrying guards. That revelation meant that even if we could take the conveyance, we still wouldn’t have gotten as much money from this robbery as our last.
The guards had taken up a fair amount of space in the carriage, but the duke would have ordered them to stuff as much carisle as possible inside the contraption. We’d still get enough of a haul to make a difference in the lives of those who required it most.
While keeping my focus on maintaining the fog, wind, hail, and snow going on the hillsides, I stopped paying attention to the guards still on the road. Now that the lightning had stopped pushing them back, they’d reemerged and were coming at us once more.
Arrows flew, and I turned in time to use a gust of wind to stop the projectiles from striking me and my loved ones. Some of the arrows still traveled through the storm, and while they didn’t hit anyone, they peppered the ground, and one thudded into the chest that Mr. Fletcher carried.
I twisted my hand once more to keep the tornado turning before I flung it at the guards. Lightning flared at the tips of my fingers before lashing out in a wave that stayed connected to me while it sizzled across the space separating us.
When the slender, finger-like tentacles of lightning crashed into the first five guards, it flung them into some of the others. Screams resonated from them as I turned my other hand toward the guards at the other end of the road.
I was keeping them at bay, but I could feel the storms on the hillsides weakening as my attention remained diverted from them. It was only a matter of time before those guards broke through everything.
As I thought it, the mounted soldiers spurred their horses onward. They knew they far outnumbered us, and I was losing the battle.
Their fear of the duke outweighed their fear of me. Either that, or the reward for capturing me and Ryker was tempting enough to risk death.
“Ryker!” I screamed over the wailing wind.
My growing terror propelled my abilities higher and intensified my lightning. The power sought to take me over and lift me off the ground, but I was a big enough target without levitating.
I was sure the duke had commanded them to take me alive, and just as sure they could kill me by accident. Some of them might do it on purpose.
I terrified them, and they probably hadn’t realized yet that I could control all five weathers, at least not while this battle raged on, but it wouldn’t stay a secret for long.
I’d always kept my lightning and fog hidden, but the fog blanketed the hills so thickly that it had swallowed all those still trapped within its silvery radiance.
A blizzard raged, hail pelted all those coming toward us, and tornadoes of lightning churned up the land. To make sure I truly hammered the point home, I lifted my hands and circled them around me as I drew moisture from the air and unleashed a torrent of rain on the nearest guards.
Now, they would know for sure what I could do, and I hoped it petrified them. I was tired of hiding and tired of playing games; I refused to kowtow to these bastards anymore.